German tank deliveries to North Africa

[Urmel]

UK convoys, only one convoy went through the Med. The others went round until the campaign ended. There were also direct convoys from the US, and convoys from India. Convoys did not go through the canal, they unloaded in Suez, and the TIGER convoy unloaded in Port Said I think. Best source for info is convoy web where all the dates are.

Axis convoys, the information is in the links from our site above.

[Tom from Cornwall]

In my dream world, I have ALL the convoys, their contents, which made it and which sank.

Hi,

I don't know if this helps but there are records in the UK National Archives which detail ship cargoes sent from USA to the Middle East.

The Reference is CAB115/278 and one example is:

12/2/2

CYPHER TELEGRAM

From B.P.C. Washington
Dated 10th Oct. 1941. Received 6 a.m. 11th Oct.

PLYSU 1981.
s.s. Windrush New York to Suez.
Sply/Mech/2019 Chevrolet parts 400 sets unit A – plates 400 sets unit B – plates 100 sets Unit A – spring 100 sets unit B – spring 136 instruction books unit B plates all in 29 cases and 32 bundles marked MSU – demand no special and consignee. Consigned Commanding Officer no.5 Base Ord. Depot Royal Army Ordnance Corps Middle East Forces Cairo.

---------------------------------------------------------

12/2/2

CYPHER TELEGRAM

From B.P.C. Washington
Dated 10th Oct. 1941. Received 6 a.m. 11th Oct.

PLYSU 1990.
s.s. Windrush New York to Suez.
1. Sply/Mech/1010 A 1381, 2 medium tanks type M3 weights each 58790 lbs also tool in 4 boxes 2 each nos. 1/2 and 2/2 cons. Chief Ord Officer no. 5 Base Ordnance Depot Suez.
2. Sply/Mech/2019 Chevrolet parts 600 sets unit A plates, 600 sets unit B plates, 136 instruction books for unit B plates all in 25 cases and 48 bundles mark MSU demand number special and consignee. Cons. C.O. no.6 Mech. Transport Service Depot R.A. Service Corps Mid East Forces Tel-El-Kebir.

---------------------------------------------------------

Someone would need to copy the whole file (assuming it covers all the US deliveries to the Middle East) and work through each message to work out what was being carried and then join that up with the lists of convoys. I only took a couple of photos of the file to see what kind of thing it contained with the hope that there would be a summary per convoy. There wasn't!

I think I copied those two telegrams cos the ship is quite famous in the UK! If that is the right ship - Empire Windrush?

Regards

Tom

[gehrig38]

Ok that's pretty cool right there. I may start a new thread about the game I am designing to elicit help from this group. It appears this is thee place to go to fill in any data I may need. I will likely describe my idea behind combat to start as I am trying to decide at what level (Division/Battalion/Regiment) I want to represent the units at. But I appreciate the stuff so far.

[David W]

Hi gehrig38.

The theatre did not have enough units for a divisional level game. Battalion works well, if you don't mind a lot of units/tokens.

[Urmel]

I agree division is a non-starter, but Brigade/Regiment should work.