The campaign in North Africa demonstrates the essential interdependence between sea power, land power and air power, and was only won when all three were able to be exercised concurrently. To prevent the Germans from taking the offensive, the key requirement was to disrupt the Axis supply lines, which could only be done by the Navy and Air Force/Fleet Air Arm, however, this necessitated air support from the Air Force, which in turn could only be provided when the Army was able to hold air bases within range of the German supply convoys. Unfortunately, for much of 1941 and most of 1942 these three elements were not in place at the same time.
During the l930s Italy had begun to develop an empire in North Africa, which by the outbreak of war, stretched from Tunisia to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), except for Egypt which was controlled by Britain. Once Italy joined the Axis, however, its presence in the area posed a significant threat to the Suez Canal. Besides stationing a large number of troops in North Africa, Italy possessed a large and powerful fleet.
In a series of offensives during 1940 the Allies pushed the Italians back in North Africa, as far as Tripoli and south-eastward into the Sudan and Abyssinia. At sea Admiral Cunningham gained ascendancy over the Italian Fleet in a series of actions.
The first of these was an attack by the Fleet Air Arm on the major fleet base at Taranto. Only one aircraft carrier was available for this operation, with the result that only two strikes, one of 12 aircraft and a second of nine aircraft, could be mounted. Attacking on the night of 11 November, complete surprise was achieved with the result that three battleships were sunk at their moorings, for the loss of two aircraft.
In March 1941 Admiral Cunningham flying his flag in the battleship Warspite, with two other battleships, an aircraft carrier, four cruisers and 16 destroyers met an Italian fleet consisting of a battleship, eight cruisers and 11 destroyers, late on the afternoon of the 28th, off Cape Matapan. In a series of engagements through the evening and night, three of the Italian cruisers and two destroyers were sunk, with the battleship and other cruisers damaged.
While this placed the Italians firmly on the defensive, the ground gained could only be weakly held, a factor compounded by the Army having completely outstripped its supply lines. All supplies and equipment had to be moved by sea, through the ports of Tobruk and Benghazi.
Two other events changed the balance in the first half of 1941. Firstly, the larger part of the Allied Army was withdrawn to Greece and secondly, Germany began to deploy forces to North Africa. The German supply route was from southern Italy to the port of Tripoli and the strategic importance of Britain holding the island of Malta became critical.
By mid 1941, the situation of the Allies in North Africa was desperate. The ill-fated Greek expedition had been ended by a strong German offensive and the even more disastrous occupation of Crete had resulted in the loss of many soldiers and the sinking/damage of 34 warships. Coupled with this, General Rommel’s Africa Korps had advanced into Egypt. The port of Tobruk remained in Allied hands, but for the Navy, this meant an isolated port which had to be kept supplied, in the face of strong air attack. Between April and December, 25 ships were sunk on this task.
Despite this, Malta held out and a combination of air strikes and attacks by both surface ships and submarines based there, against Axis convoys, reduced the flow of supplies to the Africa Korps significantly. It was while employed on this mission that HMS Neptune, with 150 New Zealand sailors on board was lost in December 1941. Operations against enemy convoys were also mounted from the Mediterranean Fleet base at Alexandria. On 24 November the fleet sailed to provide support to a cruiser force which had been tasked with intercepting an Italian fuel convoy. At 4.29pm the following day the battleship HMS Barham was torpedoed by U-331 and sank following a spectacular explosion, within ten minutes. Supply Assistant Roy Bowden of Auckland, NZD 2368 was one of the fortunate 450 survivors - 861 were lost. An Army offensive in November exploited the success of operations against the supply lines and by Christmas the port of Benghazi was again in Allied hands.
In January 1942 the Germans launched almost continuous air attacks against Malta, making the islands ports and anchorages unusable by either surface ships or submarines and severely hampering the mounting of air strikes against its supply convoys. Additionally, the Italians began providing strong surface escorts, in the form of battleships, for the convoys. Throughout the year there were also about 21 German submarines operating in the Mediterranean. Together these measures enabled General Rommel to take to offensive and by May the Africa Korps was on the border of Egypt and by October, well inside the country and threatening the Suez Canal.
The King acknowledged the pounding that Malta was undergoing, by presenting the Island with the George Cross on 16 April 1942. Meanwhile the Navy was attempting to resupply the island, but with little success. Early in February an attempt was made to get a convoy consisting of four fast merchant ships, with a close escort of a cruiser and eight destroyers to Malta from Alexandria. Supporting the convoy were two further cruisers and eight destroyers. In the ensuing air attacks two of the merchantmen were sunk and the other two badly damaged and were unable to make Malta.
Another convoy from the east set out for Malta on 20 March, consisting of a naval supply ship and three merchant ships. The close escort comprised one cruiser and six destroyers, which was to be supplemented by a further three cruisers and four destroyers, while another six destroyers were also to provide support as were a cruiser and a destroyer from Malta. To intercept this convoy the Italians sent a battleship, three cruisers and 10 destroyers. The two forces met on the afternoon of the 22nd and although out gunned, Admiral Vian was determined to get the convoy through to Malta. It must be noted that the enemy also mounted air attacks on the convoy throughout the day. Laying a smoke screen to hide the convoy Admiral Vian took the offensive, first against a group of Italian cruisers and then against the battleship group. The British destroyers played their part by pressing home torpedo attacks, which, while they failed to score a hit, deterred the Italians from closing the convoy. Although three destroyers were damaged by hits from 15
inch shells, the Second Battle of Sirte as it subsequently became known was a brilliant tactical battle against superior forces. Unfortunately two of the merchant ships were lost to air attack the next day.
In June two more attempts were made to get supplies through to Malta, this time by running a convoy from each end of the Mediterranean. Operation HARPOON, from the west comprised six merchant ships, escorted by a total of one battleship, two aircraft carriers, four cruisers, 17 destroyers and four minesweepers. From the east, Operation VIGOROUS comprised 11 merchant ships, eight cruisers and 24 destroyers. Under attack from the air and in the east, by surface vessels, two merchantmen from Operation HARPOON reached Malta, one damaged, while after losing two merchant ships and without air cover, the ships of Operation VIGOROUS were recalled to Alexandria. In these two operations six merchant ships were sunk, together with one cruiser and five destroyers.
The most famous convoy to Malta during this period was Operation PEDESTAL in August. This convoy consisting of 14 merchant ships was covered by three aircraft carriers, two battle ships, seven cruisers and 24 destroyers. Additionally, a fourth aircraft carrier ferried 38 spitfires to within flying range of the Island and eight submarines patrolled of the Italian bases. After an epic struggle five of the merchant ships reached Malta, for the loss of one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, one destroyer and nine merchantmen, besides another aircraft carrier and two cruisers damaged.
In addition to these convoys, there were also two successful operations in which Royal Air Force fighter aircraft were flown off carriers to the island. The second of these in May was particularly successful, 61 Spitfires being landed and these were quickly in action, causing heavy losses to Luftwaffe bombers. This event was the turning point in the battle for Malta and by the end of May the Allies had air superiority over the area.
From this period onwards, the Allies were again able to exert significant pressure on the Africa Korps supply lines, creating shortages of fuel and supplies of all types. In contrast, the Navy was able to ensure the continuous flow of supplies for the 8th Army, through the Red Sea.
At 10.00pm on 23 October 1942 General Montgomery, the new commander of the 8th Army, launched his offensive with a tremendous artillery barrage at El Alamein and commenced to advance westwards. On 7-8 November, in Operation TORCH the Allied 1st Army landed at Algiers and Oran and began to advance eastwards. By 20 November the 8th Army was in Benghazi and by 10 December the Navy was unloading 2,000 tons of supplies each day at the port with more being landed over the beaches in the Gulf of Sirte.
By way of a finale to the campaign, on 8 May 1943, Admiral Cunningham made to the ships under his command the signal Sink, burn, destroy — let nothing pass, closing the escape route of the Africa Korps from North Africa.
New Zealand’s participation in North Africa in the form of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force is well known. Less known is that numerous New Zealand naval personnel were engaged in the campaign. HMS Neptune has been mentioned but additionally there were many other men in the Mediterranean Fleet, in the ships supplying the Army through Tobruk and Benghazi. Some of these participated in many of the actions, such as the battles of Matapan and Sirte and others were in the ships and landing craft of Operation TORCH. Besides these, there were those in the Fleet Air Arm, not just at sea, but ashore with squadrons supporting the 8th Army in the desert and in Malta flying anti-shipping missions. Many of these were decorated for gallantry.
Operation Pedestal
‘On August 12th three merchant men were lost. Ohio laden with kerosene and diesel fuel was hit. The next day 6 more merchantmen were sunk, up with the Ohio was hit again and disabled. Then we caught up with Ohio. The Ohio was a tremendous problem because she had to be got through. She had no engines, her back was broken, there was a torpedo in her and a Stuka lying crashed on her deck. She was the prime target for the enemy. We tried towing ahead and then were attacked and had to cast off. We tried towing her with one destroyer ahead and one astern and then two astern, then decided that there was only one way to get the Ohio into Malta and that was for us to lash ourselves to port side of the Ohio another destroyer called the Penn lashed to the starboard side. We got underway, it seemed that we were only travelling about two knots but perhaps we were going up to 5 knots.
We were being dive bombed. Malta was now beginning to provide some Spitfire protection. The Ohio’s deck was awash with diesel and kerosene. There was none of the crew of the Ohio on board her; she had already been abandoned twice before. We went aboard the Ohio and tried to operate the Bofors in the stern. It took about a day and a half to get Ohio into Malta.’
Able Seaman Tony Worth, HMS Bramham