Chapter 4: The Digby Diaries
One of the most fortuitous historical discoveries of the late twentieth century was the Digby Diaries. Although Alice Digby was already, perhaps, the most famous woman in the history of the United Kingdom, these diaries provided unique insight into the early days of the war. She was not the only person to write about that period, naturally, but she was uniquely positioned for several key early engagements in the Far East. Most historians and historical accounts focused on the campaigns in North Africa and Denmark.
Shortly after the declaration of war, every factory in the UK was geared for military production, including issuing the newest technological advances to soldiers, sailors, and airmen around the world.
The slow pace of reinforcement, however, delayed the opening of British offensive operations throughout the world. The fleet patrolled, true, but the soldiers of the Empire could only wait and train. Mobile warfare was a priority in the war exercises held at Sandhurst from that time onward. [1] Yet at the same time, the very first battle of the war was not a naval battle, but a land battle in Hong Kong.
The battle for Hong Kong and the subsequent naval actions were the subjects of some of Alice Digby's first diary entries.
From the War Diary of Alice Digby said:
3 December 1938, entry #1
I've spent so little time in Hong Kong, and now we're to flee. Even with the horrid winter weather, the Japanese are relentless. The British garrison fights valiantly, but there's no sense of control, no sense that someone is in charge. Admiral Harwood has asked us to gather our things; he intends to evacuate every civilian he can and sail west, if he can. Most of us in the radar staff are going to be on the
HMS Eagle. She is an older carrier, dating from just after the Great War, but she is a fine vessel. A few other key civilians are on the
HMS Norfolk, which is a heavy cruiser and very durable, or so I am told. It is certainly more well armored than the Eagle, I should think.
Entry #2
Only two hours have passed since my last entry. The Japanese were waiting for us as we escaped Hong Kong Harbor. Unfortunately for them, a series of transports will prove no serious obstacle to the Chinese Fleet.
A Yankee on the
Eagle told me that if anything happens to our fleet, his country is sure to join the war. That is encouraging, I suppose, but I would rather not be a martyr if it is all the same to God. He's an Italian, or his father was, and he is particularly displeased with Mussolini for joining Hitler's crusade. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Mussolini was at war before Hitler.
4 December 1938, entry #1
The transports scattered before we could strike a serious blow against them. I know those people are fighting for their country, just as Admiral Harwood and our boys are fighting for ours, but Hong Kong has been British territory as far back as I can remember. I see no reason for them to attack us. If they wish to quarrel with the Chinese, let them quarrel with the Chinese. We've done nothing wrong!
One of the pilots was talking to Cindy, one of my friends. Cindy is a bit daft at times, but a sweet girl all the same. Anyway, she tells me that the pilots have been encountering more and more Japanese planes as we sail west. That's rather curious.
Entry #2
Oh, sweet merciful God in Heaven. It's the bloody Japanese carrier fleet!
Admiral Harwood is going to fight them off, I'm told, but they have so many more airplanes than we do. I am going to go belowdecks and put on a life preserver. I will feel better.
5 December 1938
We escaped the first time, but the fleet followed us and intercepted us. It seems Admiral Harwood has been lying to us. I suppose it is for the good of the Empire, but he told us we were going west, to Ceylon. We were actually going east. Harwood's orders had been to engage the Japanese fleet; I suppose he hasn't a care for us civilians! Several vessels were engaged in hard fighting all day long before the Admiral, finally, sensibly, broke off the attack. He needs to get round Taiwan, but then he swears we will evade the Japanese fleet and go to India. A pair of small Japanese cruisers were sighted a few hours ago; I think we shall try to fight them off, even sink them (so they cannot radio our position). I fear the Admiral's bravery and bloodymindedness will cost us dearly.
7 December 1938
We are underway to Chittagong. We drove off those cruisers, but at a horrific price. The
HMS Norfolk went down yesterday. The Admiral... refused to stop for survivors. I understand why, since Hong Kong fell into the hands of the Japanese and British territory is quite far away, but it was a singularly cold attitude. I, at least, shall mourn the loss of those innocent civilians trapped in this damned war.
This set of diary entries cast a little doubt on the popular image of Henry Harwood. It also explains his reluctance to engage in the hard fighting more common in the European Theater. Strategically speaking, of course, the loss of
Norfolk was insignificant. Indeed, the Royal Navy had won impressive victories in the North Sea, sinking three German cruisers and a transport flotilla on 4-5 December alone. Her further entries detail another engagement off the coast of Indochina, but there, she praises Harwood's actions, in particular the decision to use the
Eagle to screen the more heavily damaged ships, allowing the entire fleet to escape to Chittagong safely, reaching the Indian port on 12 December. Admiral Tovey of the Indian Fleet made his way out to patrol the Indian Ocean and to protect Singapore, where he encountered extremely fierce Japanese resistance. He "won" the battle, but the balance of forces clearly favored Japan in the Far East. Patrols became more sporadic until reinforcements arrived from Europe.
On the Mediterranean, however, the mood was not one of retreat, but offensive advances. The sinking of the
Andrea Doria on 9 December was celebrated throughout the Empire as the first genuine victory of the war, and it inspired Sir John Gort to begin moving his armored corps to the west.
Their first engagement at El Alamein occurred, curiously enough, the same day of the Chinese Fleet's return to India. Facing the elite Italian alpine divisions with two full divisions of tanks, the Italians quickly fell back toward Tobruk. An attempt to divert British attention away from North Africa failed to do more than shift a division of infantry farther south towards Ethiopia.
As Colonel Wallace Graham wrote in a dispatch to Sir John Gort on 19 December, morale was very high.
Graham to Gort said:
Sir John,
I cannot express to you how... incredible these new tanks are. Any resistance from the Italian simply melts at the sight of one of these monstrosities. North Africa is marvelous tank country, is it not? We have already stopped the Italian advance, driven them out of our territory, and I predict that Tobruk will fall by the end of the week. It is almost too easy to outflank the enemy.
With events well in hand in North Africa, it was Field Marshal Gort's decision to fly back to London to begin planning the operation to invade Denmark. Sir Ernie Chatfield of the Naval Staff had already recalled the Home Fleet's battleships for repairs and authorized the construction of more convoys to continue supplies churning throughout the Empire. [2] The operation, as originally planned, was simple.
The Battleship Fleet would sit in the Eastern Norwegian Trench, training their guns on the enemy beaches. ABC Cunningham would take the Home Fleet's carriers and blockade Fredrikshavn, providing air support if needed. Two divisions of the Royal Marine Corps would seize the harbor there, with two more landing at Jammerbugt. Once a beachhead was secured, the transport fleet would return, pick up a corps of Infantry, and push south. That was the plan, at any rate. The operation began 29 December after a very brief scare when U-boats were spotted right along the transports' route. Thankfully, a squadron of cruisers easily engaged and sunk the enemy submarines.
A particularly good omen for the success of Denmark was the capture of Tobruk mere hours after that submarine patrol was found and sunk.
A review of North Africa by Gort, General Hobart of the Royal Hussars, and Colonel Graham demonstrated the very satisfactory progress of the First Armored Corps as it pushed farther west.
1939 was, unfortunately, less kind to the forces in Denmark. Color Sergeant Larry Quentin of the Royal Marines was one of the first ashore, as befit his rank and ten years of experience, and his initial impressions were unfavorable.
Memo dated 4 January 1939 said:
I wish I could find the bloody idiot who came up with this [expletive deleted] plan. I'd beat him to death with some of these Danish rocks. Might get the point across.
We have a secure position in Jammerbugt, but Fredrikshavn is another matter. Jerry is fighting tooth and nail to hold onto it. Worse still, a scouting party identified the division colors of at least five full infantry divisions a few miles south of our position.
Those Navy boys might be proud of themselves for sinking the 'Pride of the German Fleet', but I don't see any damned battleships climbing up these rocks. Where's the air support we were promised?
I've heard from some mates of mine who fly for the RAF that the [expletive deleted] Jerry Air Force is [three expletives deleted] tearing up our fighters in France. Maybe that's why the navy carrier planes stay nice and safe on their runways.
We are going to have to pull out soon. It will be bloody, but the alternative is losing the entire Marine Corps for a few rocks. Not bloody worth it.
Sergeant Quentin's remarks proved prophetic: the failed invasion of Denmark cost almost two thousand British marines their lives.
Of course, the Japanese marines had no such problems moving into Kuala Lumpur -- or they would not have after seizing the port of Teluk Anson, had they chosen to attack.
The only theater that saw consistent success was the Mediterranean. Even as Czechoslovakia surrendered, the First Armored Corps continued to advance, completely encircled the key port of Benghazi on 21 January 1939, and captured it hours later.
At sea, there was a great victory on 19 January, where the Mediterranean battleships sank five cruisers and a destroyer flotilla at the cost of two British flotillas. When the February 1939 staff review began, the Mediterranean was a highlight. Sir John Gort thought that before spring, he could capture Tripoli and begin planning the invasion of Sicily.
Although that prediction seemed unnecessarily sanguine in the eyes of many other, few were willing to openly doubt the only successful ground force commander in the British Army. Reports of training for three divisions of paratroopers and rumors of their all-but-certain assignment to the Mediterranean sparked the imagination, almost as much as the almost completely quiet transfer of the RMC and several battleships to Gibraltar. Something big was coming.
Events in the Far East were less hopeful.
The two corps of infantry in Burma stood nervously. The Japanese would have to go through Siam to reach Burma, but their relentless assault showed no signs of slackening, apart from the curious indecision in Malaysia. Singapore would almost certainly fall in the first half of 1939 without serious reinforcements.
Yet the worst news came from a totally unexpected area.
Reports from the RAF had emphasized the speed and power of German advances, particularly with the Luftwaffe, but nothing had prepared the King for the intensity and ferocity of the Italians and Germans slicing through the south coast of France almost effortlessly. If French forces could not regroup, Paris was surely doomed, regardless of how well the Maginot Line had performed. Some military minds had suggested using the RMC to harry Axis forces in southern France; the boldest actually wanted to see every spare division in the UK sent to France. Every conceivable option was on the table: if France fell, the British would effectively have to resist Germany and Italy on their own.
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[1] Hat tip to Dewirix for a lovely suggestion; let's hope it pays off.
[2] By 20 December I had
zero convoys operating. I devoted a lot of IC to building up 200 more ships; thankfully, I wasn't hurting for supplies or resources because my navy was, as predicted, doing most of the heavy lifting.
I was actually very proud of my progress in North Africa and my minimal losses in the Far East until I saw that last screenshot. If I had more transports (or if I hadn't already sent them to Gibraltar), I might have landed two or three corps of infantry and maybe even tried to encircle those German/Italian forces, but I honestly don't think I'll have the time now. I'm definitely going to build some more ASAP. Hopefully the French can hold, but I have serious doubts about that. It might already be a lost cause.
Fortunately, the Royal Navy has done very well in Europe. I haven't shown you every battle, but I've won them all and sunk plenty of screens. I doubt very much the Germans could land forces in the UK. That should buy me enough time to continue my build up in the UK, take Italy out of play in Africa, and with luck, start pushing up the boot by the end of 1939. We'll have to see what happens!
