“They were lucky, Captain. We were expecting them to bomb the airfield the other side of town and our fighters were stacked there, waiting for them. By the time the pilots realized the airfield wasn’t their target, it was too late. The bombers had an undisturbed run.” Contadino sighed; privately he was shaken by the attack. How had the British bombers known that the leaders of the bandit forces were held here? Asmara must be saturated with British spies. “What of the rest of the town?”
“The bombs are scattered all over the town. No great damage; a few buildings knocked down here, a road blocked by craters there. It’s annoying more than anything else. If it hadn’t been for those bombs disrupting our efforts to move through the town, we would have been here in time to chase the escapees. As it was, by the time we got here, they had got clean away. This was a very well-planned raid; an accurate main strike and wellexecuted diversions.”
Contadino nodded. “We underestimated the British badly. I will seek a meeting with the Duke of Aosta and tell him that he will now have to face a resumption of bandit attacks in this area. I do not think he will be pleased with that information.”
“Bill Slim shapes up well.” Wavell sounded pleased.
Maitland Wilson agreed. “Fifth Indian Division is pushing forward into Eritrea and advancing on Asmara. If he can just forget that he isn’t commanding a brigade any more and stop running around on the front line, he’ll make a good divisional officer. Fourth Indian Division is hung up on the ridges south of Kassala. We expected that; they’re pinning down the 40th Infantry Division there. Slim’s Indians will be taking the Cacciatori d’Africa in the flank very soon.”
“We’re taking a hell of a chance moving 4th Indian Infantry down there, Jumbo.” Wavell was flicking at the map with his fingers. “The 6th Australians are as green as grass and I doubt if any of their officers have commanded more than a battalion. Blamey makes a big show, but expecting those men to equal the performance of the Indians is pushing it. I hope we don’t have a disaster in the making.”
Maitland Wilson stared at the map. “We don’t really have much choice. We know Halifax will call for an armistice as soon as he has enough gains to make securing one politically worthwhile, or plead for one as soon as it looks like we’re losing. We’ve got to grab everything in one go. Once we have momentum on our side, we get freedom of action. If we let momentum slip, we’re going to lose that freedom.”
“Just how green are the Australians, Jumbo?”
There was a long pause as Maitland Wilson thought the situation over. “Very, but I’m not entirely sure that it matters. They want to fight. There’s no doubt about that and the treatment of the Canadian division back home got their dander up. On the other hand, they lack experience in combined arms operations and large formation actions. The question is, will they need to do either? If 7th Armoured defeats the Italian armored battle group and spearheads the advance, the Australians following behind will be doing little more than clearing up and taking prisoners. Looked at that way, this may even be the training exercise they need to shake down. Anyway, I say again, Archie; do we have a choice?”
Wavell shook his head. “No, we do not. We cannot rely on any coherent policy out of London. Between us, Jumbo, I must admit that my position here is about as uncomfortable as it gets. I’m supposed to report to London, but I am an Indian Army officer who is now supposed to report to Calcutta. Well, that’s always been something of a problem, we all know that; but we’ve never had a situation where India is at war and Britain isn’t.”
“Britain is at war with Italy; effectively, at any rate.” Maitland Wilson was looking for some ray of sunlight to illuminate the situation.
“Yes, now. And that brings us back to our initial problem. For how long will Halifax keep up his present position? Anyway, Jumbo, I have another problem. Have you ever heard of an officer called Wingate? Major Orde Wingate?”
“Heard of him? I’ve had the misfortune of dealing with him. Insufferable, arrogant, conceited man, with excessive religious beliefs. Did well in Palestine, but got convinced he was the messiah come to Earth and ended up part and parcel of the Jewish forces there. Working as much for them as for us. Why? He’s not in Egypt, is he?” Maitland Wilson’s face was so distraught at the possibility, Wavell couldn’t help but laugh.
“No, he’s in Ethiopia. Bill Platt knew his success in raising and commanding irregular forces in Palestine and brought him out. Anyway, I’ve had a message from our Major Wingate claiming to have organized a jail break in which nearly all the leaders of the Ethiopian anti-Italian groups have escaped. He wants to set up an irregular group in Ethiopia to help drive the Italians out.”
“That fits the man. He’s obsessed with irregular warfare and deep penetration operations.”
“They worked in Palestine.”
“Yes, they did. Give him credit for that, but he was operating in a very friendly environment for what he was doing. He could trust his own people implicitly and they knew exactly who the enemy were. Neither will be true in Ethiopia. Anyway, I have my doubts about his deep penetration operations theories. I think he’s going to try it one day against an enemy who know what they are doing and he’ll get cut to pieces. The problem is that he’ll take a lot of good men down with him.
Wavell nodded thoughtfully. “There’s a lot to be said there. I’ve got a different question, though; one that strikes right at the heart of this proposed operation of Wingate’s. Do we really want to go around starting up these irregular insurgency groups? It strikes me that the whole idea could backfire very badly.”
“You mean start something that will return to haunt us?” Maitland
Wilson looked thoughtful. “That’s a very real danger. However, there is something else we have to take into consideration. We’re desperately short of troops. We’ve got five front line divisions, one independent brigade and two divisions that are second line. We’ve got the whole lot committed to action right now and we’ve not got a man in reserve. Archie, if there’s a crisis now, you’ll have to give me a pistol and tell me to deal with it myself, because I’m the only reserve you’ve got.”
“I might have to take you up on that, Jumbo. But, I take the point. The two Indian divisions are over-extended in Eritrea already and their attack has barely started. We need that irregular force in Ethiopia or we just won’t have the men to boot the Italians out.”
“Do you know where are we going, Corporal?” The private was deferential, as befitted one speaking to somebody of higher rank.
“Of course.” Corporal Mongkut had already noticed the differences in the 11th Infantry since he had first been recalled to the colors. Where once men had made hard work of a few kilometers march, now they swung along easily; their steps accompanied by light-hearted banter. Yet, despite the rhythm of the march, they were keeping a wary eye out for a ‘surprise’ planned by their officers. Or, much more likely, the German advisors who had directed their training.
“Well, where are we going?” After a marked pause, the same private asked Mongkut with carefully faked patience.