“The 70th Division is still with Slim in Burma. It’s perhaps the most experienced division there.”
“We’ve already stolen away his 2nd Division. No, I think we’ll have to leave the 70th where it is.”
“Then there’s the Canadians,” said Alanbrooke. “1st Division under Guy Simonds is training up for the Med. The 2nd and 3rd Divisions are just sitting about here in the Kingdom on garrison duties, and training for the eventual invasion of France, whenever that might happen.”
“That’s the ticket,” said Churchill. “How good are they?”
“Now that we’ve re-equipped them, they’re up to snuff, and I think they have good fighting men there as well. But again, even if we did send one, it would be six weeks getting there.”
“Which brings us back to our friends in Australia and New Zealand,” said Churchill. “Prime Minister Curtin was very adamant that his Aussies return home, but he can’t honestly think the Japanese are about to land at Sydney any time soon. Those are well hardened soldiers, and what are they doing over there now watching the home front? MacArthur has landed on New Caledonia, and Halsey has troops in the French New Hebrides. The Americans are getting a good head of steam up, and that should have eased the concerns of our friends down under. I must make an appeal to Curtain for at least one division again. There’s too much at stake.”
“For that matter,” said Alanbrooke, “what about the Americans? They have troops just sitting about in Australia as well.”
“What? Rob MacArthur? He’s been moaning about being short changed all these months. No, I don’t think we can count on help from the Americans, at least not for troops in this matter. The Commonwealth will have to do the job. Alright. I think we’ll have to take the best of our own forces in Africa, even if some of those units aren’t fully equipped. See to that, will you General Brooke?”
“Of course, sir. The 11th East African would be at the top of my list there.”
“Good. Then, if I can’t get my hands on anything down under, we’ll have to send the Canadians. But all these infantry divisions… will they be enough?”
“Put enough on the line and they can be very tough,” said Alanbrooke. “As for any offensive aimed at kicking the Germans out, that’s another matter.”
“Yes,” said Churchill, “what we need is more armor.”
“Everyone wants more armor,” said Alanbrooke. “Alexander has been hankering for more, and so we’ve had to gut the 8th Army and take it from O’Connor. I have no doubt that Monty will soon put in a similar request. Here in the Kingdom we still have the 9th, 11th, and 42nd Armored Divisions, and Hobart’s Funnies in the 79th. They’re all in the cupboard for future operations against France.”
“That’s a long way off, in spite of what General Marshall and the Americans are proposing with this Sledgehammer nonsense. We’ll have to win through in Tunisia first to even contemplate any further offensives in the Med, let alone against France. So tell me about these other divisions.”
“Of the lot, the Black Bull is the best—the 11th under General Burrows. It’s built out with two good armored brigades, and with our best new tanks. Then there’s the 9th Armored Division. It only has one armored brigade in it, but we’ve added a support group, and an infantry brigade. The 42nd Division has two armored brigades, but no infantry aside from a small support group.”
“I think we’ll have to hold on to the 11th, but might we put together something by mixing the other two? We can call it the Provisional Armored Division, or anything else that suits your fancy.”
“Yes sir, neither one is doing us any good here at the moment, so I suppose we might pick and choose from the litter to build something new, and there you have it, your Provisional Armored Division for Iraq. Send it on its way with one of the Canadian Divisions, and the situation in Iraq will look a good deal better, I can assure you.”
“Let me see what I can get out of Curtin.”
On that matter, the Curtin would remain closed, and Australia continued to insist it needed its only real fighting divisions to serve at home, training up new divisions that were all in the works. But Churchill would have more luck with New Zealand. The 2nd New Zealand Division was a veteran unit that had fought in the Western Desert before being withdrawn. In Fedorov’s history, it never was recalled home, continuing to fight in Tunisia and the Italian Campaign, one of the best Commonwealth divisions of the war. Something in the history of these events would now continue to pull that division into the orbit of the Kingdom, and Prime Minister Peter Fraser, attuned to the gravity of the situation in Iraq, said he would be willing to release his 2nd Division again if it was needed.
It certainly was.
All these deliberations showed just how resilient the British Empire and Commonwealth truly was. Within just a few months, forces had been found to reinforce 10th Army in Syria, and build out an all new Paliforce Army in Iraq and Persia. By taking units from India, Burma, East and South Africa, and now New Zealand, Churchill had the makings of an entire new Army.
It was decided that the Provisional Armored Division would be created and sent from the Kingdom as soon as possible, but in the short run, 2nd New Zealand Infantry Division was much closer and soon to be welcomed again. The 11th East Africa Division was also scheduled for deployment to Iraq, and it would be the first to arrive, along with the independent 29th British Brigade from Madagascar. Churchill was then prepared to send both the new African divisions if necessary, though he preferred to keep them on track for Burma. Yet he instinctively realized that the gravity of the war had shifted dramatically, and much might be won or lost in Iraq that could not be gained or lost anywhere else. As far as he was concerned, even the campaign in Tunisia would take a secondary role now, until Iraq was deemed secure.
Bletchley Park revealed that the Germans seemed to be of the same mind, and that an old nemesis, once thought vanquished, would soon return to the field. So Churchill was absolutely convinced that the entire war effort must make Iraq its number one priority.
“Rommel again!” he said. “We thought he was finally beaten in Tunisia. The Italians were calling for his head and he was sent home. But now we see that Herr Hitler was only huddling with his Desert fox, and all the while finding him a new desert. He’s been appointed the commander of all German forces in Syria!”
“A serious matter,” said Alanbrooke. “We thought Rommel was thoroughly knackered, and that they were giving that man a much needed rest, but there’s no rest for any of us in this war. Hitler has doubled down on this whole affair.”
“He has indeed,” said Churchill. “This is what the loss of Turkey precipitated. That was a very heavy blow. So we’ll pull all the stops and play to win there at all costs. Yet I’m thinking that Jumbo Wilson may be overburdened there in Iraq.”
“He’s a good man,” said Alanbrooke. “I’ve already told you that I second his every decision concerning Baghdad.”
“It’s not that,” said Churchill. “It’s just that he’ll be juggling a good many divisions soon, and perhaps more than he can manage.”
“Auk is there,” said Alanbrooke.
“Yes, but he’s been administering things on the higher level. I’m told he’s quite good with operational matters.”
“One of our best,” said Alanbrooke.
“Then let’s use him. Tell him I want him to roll up his sleeves and take charge of the ground operations more closely. He can coordinate with Wilson, but I want Auchinlek to get into the thick of things.”
“All right sir, that may be wise. After all, this thing is much bigger than it initially seemed. Bletchley Park thinks all these German operations are part and parcel together. They see Operation Phoenix and the big push now underway in the Kuban as closely related. But I’ve read the latest reports very carefully. There may be a silver lining in some of these storm clouds.”