Chapter 224: A Beer Hall Putsch (1-21 March 1944)
Introduction
Operation Manzikert had led to a breakout into the mountains of Austria in February 1944 as Turkey re-entered the fray in full force. The Soviets advanced freely in the north against both Germany and Finland. Even Britain had begun to show some aggression, striking out to reclaim ground in eastern India and Malaya, while Australia and New Zealand hung on for grim life against Japanese invasions.
Repeated Italian aerial assaults on Split had damaged but not destroyed the Turkish fleet harbouring there and the Turkish Air Force took a heavy toll on the Italian naval bombers sent in so relentlessly. It almost seemed the enemy had spies in Split that kept reporting every time the fleet began to repair itself to operational fitness …
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1 Mar 44
Early in the month, a range of unit mergers was begun in Split as new units earmarked for the invasion follow-on force arrived. This would continue as the month wore on. An example of this was 16 Inf Div, returned from the Far East, which received its fifth brigade - of engineers (3 x INF, 1 x AT, 1 x ENG) and was no longer designated as ‘Light’. The serviceability of the fleet ranged from 92-100% strength, though many of the transports and landing craft in particular were still considerably disorganised after the Italian raids in February.
New infrastructure (to Level 7) was completed in Iskenderun, further extending the improved rail line from Ankara. At the front, the Italians probed six Turkish divisions in Nova Gorica with three divisions from Gorizia and Bovec at 1am. It was called off four hours later after heavy and growing casualties (Turkey 95/75,732; Italy 446/22,980 killed), though air raids began at 2am and would continue for the rest of the day, causing a further 681 Turkish casualties.
After that battle ended, 1 Armd Div and 217 SD (Nova Gorica) and 1 Inf Div (Maribor) were redeployed by rail south to Split to become part of the invasion follow-on force.
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2 Mar 44
At midnight, Kaya’s secret police apprehended a British spy in Ankara: it seemed a new nest of agents had infiltrated the capital and had been discovered due to Turkey’s increased counter-espionage stance.
At 1am, the air raid sirens went off in Split again as bombs started raining down on the port and the Turkish CAP rose to meet the Italian marauders – again without fighter escorts. Their initial strikes did some damage to the fleet, but as they persisted during the morning they were intercepted three times by a varying mix of Turkish fighters, finally being driven off at midday.
As the dogfights were ended over Split, MAJGEN Ayguc’s 3 Mot Div ran into the German HQ VII Armeekorps in Vöcklabruck and pushed through them after a three hour skirmish (Turkey six, Germany two men killed). Ayguc continued to lead the advance alongside Soviet mechanised forces north of the Austrian Alps.
Entertainment News: Hollywood, US. The 16th Academy Awards were held at Grauman's Chinese Theater, marking the first time the ceremony was held in a large public venue.
Casablanca won Best Picture.
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3 Mar 44
German newspapers – those few left in print, anyway – finally acknowledged what everyone knew but they had refused to report until now: the fall of Berlin to the Soviets on 31 January! By now, its main facilities had all been rebuilt under Soviet occupation.
The terminus of the Ankara rail line in Kirikan (south-east of Iskenderun, on the Syrian border) was improved that morning.
In the Austrian mountains, the advancing 11 Inf Div encountered weak Italian resistance in Mauterndorf at 5am and dispersed them an hour later (Turkey six, Italy ten troops killed). If the province could be taken quickly enough, it would seal two otherwise surrounded German divisions currently trying to retreat from a pocket in Tauplitz, to its north-east.
OTL Event: Italy. On the Anzio beachhead, the 3rd US Infantry Division repelled a German counter-attack in the locality of Ponte Rotto.
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4 Mar 44
As 11 Div continued to push on to Mauterndorf early on the 4th, a strong probe was launched by specialist Italian mountain troops at 6am on the two Soviet divisions that had just arrived in Jesenice two hours before. The troop estimates for both sides were exactly even! It could prove a close battle.
At the same time, in the northern sector the fast-moving 3 Mot Div was in Vöcklabruck by 5am, brushing off a short Italian probe an hour later, then continuing their rapid advance to the west: their new objective was Munich itself – depending on what enemy units may lie in between them and their target. They would go as quickly as they could, hoping Turkish and Soviet troops could follow on and protect their lengthening supply lines.
At 10pm, it was decided to reinforce the spearhead into southern Germany by switching (by SR) 3 Cav Div all the way from Murau, around Tauplitz and then west to Vöcklabruck, so their speed could be used to support 3 Mot Div in their breakout.
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5 Mar 44
Midnight saw another British spy detained in the capital: they had been unusually active (or careless) of late.
MAJGEN Diskoerecto’s 3 Mtn Div secured Klagenfurt early on 5 March and was ordered to continue south-west to Villach at 11am, after fending off a short Italian probe at 6am. It would be a slow march, despite their mountain specialisation.
As they advanced, a grim fight to their north for Mauterndorf commenced, with three Turkish divisions attacking a full-strength Italian division in an encounter battle at 6am. That afternoon, a holding attack was launched on Tauplitz to slow their escape. One of the German divisions soon broke for Mauterndorf, but the 161st Infanterie, unable to effectively defend the shock attack with delaying tactics.
That evening, the British Embassy in Ankara delivered some surprising news to the War Ministry: they had invaded Germany from the Heligoland Bight (apparently at Bremerhaven) with at least two corps now ashore. They had secured a beachhead that now included the port of Wilhelmshaven!
The race for France had now begun in earnest.
In the south, there was also a smaller race for Munich. That evening 307 SD had caught up with 3 Mot Div in Vöcklabruck as the latter encountered and quickly defeated the Italian 3a Divisione Alpina in Branau am Inn at 9pm.
Air Damage Report. Italians raids began on Jesenice that morning and would continue for three days, in support of the Italian attack that had begun on the 4th.
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6 Mar 44
After a few days of respite, Italian naval bombers once again raided Split at 1am, this time with fighters escorts: this would prove a tougher challenge. The port, ships and AA guns were damaged as the dogfight continued overhead, the old I-16s of 2 AF in trouble early.
Four more dogfights, each time with a slightly different mix of Turkish fighter wings, continued throughout the morning and early afternoon. The ships and port were protected from further damage and the Italian wings were worn down by the steady rotation of Turkish fighters. But this combat also took its toll on the Turkish flyers, with 2 AF taking heavy damage, forcing 1 AG to also withdraw pull out to allow 2 AF to be repaired.
The fighting over Split continued all afternoon and into the night, with 5 AF also having to be withdrawn. For some reason, the Yak-7s of 4 AG were not getting into the air to hold up the relay (they were on Air Superiority, but it seemed not to be working), so from 4pm onwards just a single wing (the F4Fs of 7 AF or the P51-Ds of 8 AF)pulled the CAP duty.
Still, they kept the port safe and slowly ground down the attackers until they ended their mission at 8pm. 8 AF then chased them into the Adriatic off Dalmatia, but by then it appeared the enemy were back in the range of the Italian fighters in Venice, who in turn jumped them at 11pm, ending another eventful day in the air. The fleet was a bit disorganised again, but not too badly damaged (93-99% strengths, but some TP at almost zero org).
Air Damage Report. The Italians raids on Jesenice continued all day, as did their attack.
OTL Event: Finland. Finland rejected a Soviet peace offer, objecting to the Soviet condition that all German troops in the country be interned and the 1940 borders be restored. [Comment: they will get no such generous offer in the ATL!]
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7 Mar 44
The day began with a quick skirmish in Traunstein as 3 Mot Div pushed towards Munich, dislodging the 132a ‘Ariete’ armoured division at midnight as they immediately broke contact, retreating back towards Munich (Turkey five, Italy nine troops killed). Battles continued in Jesenice, Mauterndorf and Tauplitz.
An infrastructure upgrade finished in Gaziantep and an upgrade of 9 Gar Bde to a motorised outfit completed in Patra: they were soon put on trains and sent to Split. The next upgrade was of the whole Adana Garrison Division into a light ‘triangular’ infantry division.
They should be ready by the end of April – in case needed against Syria, for example. The supply situation was holding steady and the stockpile had slowly increased to over 53,000 in recent days. With the shortage in manpower, the production queue remained quite lean at the time, many of the slots occupied by second echelon brigades on upgrade.
And also at midnight, another division was sent from the north down to Split: 2 Mot Div, whose two support brigades had repaired to around 55% strength by then. Inönü believed he had enough formations to conduct his ‘swinging door’ manoeuvre to cut off northern Italy from Germany and wanted any amphibious landing that might be made to be strong enough to be useful.
Victory finally came in Jesenice in the early morning, having proved quite costly for the Italians on the ground, but even more so for the Turks from the air by the end of the day when the Italians raids stopped. The Battle of the Tauplitz Pocket continued to the north.
With the victory at Jesenice, two more divisions – both Soviet EFs, 97 SD ‘Shar’ and 222 SD – were railed down to Split at 7am.
Victory was reported in Tauplitz at 10am: despite two days of fighting, no casualty report was available for it, but they were likely to have been quite heavy for both sides. Good progress
[81%] was now being made against Mauterndorf, but the Italians still held on stubbornly. With a large gap opening in front of them, 9 Inf Div, by then in Klagenfurt, headed due west to try to secure the mountains of Spittal, though it was painfully slow (0.72kph).
At midday, the Italians began pulling out of Bovec – by that time the very last piece of pre-war UGNR territory still under Axis occupation. Muzir, with support from newly arrived troops in Jesenice, decided to test their mettle and soon attacked them, to ‘help them on their way out’. It turned out the two Italian divisions were still exhausted from their recent attack on Jesenice and retreated after just three hours.
Air Damage Report. Three days of Italians raids on Jesenice had killed a total of 1,388 defenders and a one-off raid on Nova Gorica (defensive air support for Bovec) killed another 130.
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8 Mar 44
A welcome research advance saw agriculture improved to modern standards, releasing more men for the recruiters. Procedures to improve interception tactics were the next priority, something not pursued ‘indigenously’ so far. Some of the older wings might eventually benefit from this, it was hoped.
Six hours later, victory was finally won in Mauterndorf, with it now being a race to see if 11 Inf Div could beat the Germans retreating from Tauplitz to seal the pocket.
9 Mar 44
The focus on the Turkish front had now switched to the north. At 4am, the fast-charging 3 Mot Div arrived in Traunstein, still hot the on the heels of 132a ‘Ariete’. The Italians were not motivated to stand and fight in Munich when the Turks attacked an hour later: the tip of the spear was now pointing straight into the great German city. Just two hours later, the door slammed shut on the Germans when 11 Inf Div secured Mauterndorf.
At 8am, 61 and 161 Infanterie tried to shock Baransel out of his hasty delaying position to effect their escape, but the natural advantages of the terrain and the continuing attack on the German flank was enough to hold them. But just to make the attack on Tauplitz stronger (and therefore hopefully less expensive), 177 SD in Murau was also thrown in at 8am. To their north, Turkish formations and EFs were already hooking around Tauplitz and heading west to reinforce the breakthrough towards Munich.
In the south, 1 Mtn Div secured Bovec at 9am, freeing the last and longest held UGNR province from the evil grasping talons of the Axis. Huzzah and vur ha! But the Italians broke the temporary lull that afternoon with an ill-fated attack with just one mountain division on the well-defended Trieste. After only five hours, they broke off the attack with casualties already mounting rapidly. At that rate, the Turks would have been happy for them continue!
At the slow rate of advance through the mountains and poor weather meant it could be up to another week before 3 Mtn Div would make it to Villach. The battles in Mauterndorf and Tauplitz continued, both firmly in Turkey’s favour.
In northern Germany, by 6pm the British had broken out of their beachhead and were beginning to advance south-west towards the Dutch border, side by side with the Soviet advance on the Ruhr Valley, where they were still three provinces from Dortmund, four from Essen and five from the new German capital of Dusseldorf.
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10 Mar 44
The Germans were forced to break off their attack on Mauterndorf at 1am (Turkey 148/10,642; Germany 189/12,346 killed), to concentrate on their defence. But this meant over 12,000 German troops were now ‘in the bag’. 4 SD (at 4am from Waidhofen in the north) and 2 Inf Div (Gürman, at 6pm from where they had just arrived in Mauterndorf) reinforced 4 Inf Div, 176 and 177 SDs in the grinding attack on Tauplitz, where the Germans were putting up a fierce last-ditch resistance. Inönü wanted the pocket crushed and those forces freed up for the general advance as quickly as possible.
But the big news came at 5pm when 3 Mot Div completed their bold dash in Munich! The conquest may fall into the Soviet zone of control, but everyone would soon know Turkish troops had taken it.
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11 Mar 44
Supply production was improved and research on it continued that morning. New fortifications – now redundant after recent dramatic advances – were finished in Vienna and the air base upgraded at Ljubljana. And the combination of improved agriculture efficiency and the seizure of Munich combined to increase the monthly recruiting of the UGNR from 19,200 to 20,900 men: everything in that area was welcomed.
Naturally, the morning papers were full of the great news of the Turkish liberation of Munich – where Turkish troops would no doubt seek to trash Hitler’s old beer hall rallying point. It had prompted a desperate speech overnight by Hitler from his makeshift bunker in Dusseldorf after having been conspicuously quiet for well over a month since the fall of Berlin. It was speculated the speech, including the recent reference to Munich, was mainly designed to reassure Germans that the Nazi
Şeytan was still alive. Something the Soviets hoped to rectify soon!
By 2pm, 161 Infanterie had surrendered in Tauplitz but the 61st fought on
[76% progress]. Two more divisions under Soviet command had also lent a hand unbidden 81 MRD (Wels) and 169 SD (Linz), making a total of seven divisions from all six directions: Comintern cooperation at its very best!
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12 Mar 44
Early that morning, the Turkish fleet in Split was almost fully repaired and fast gain organisation, as the reallocated divisions from the north approached.
307 SD had secured Traunstein by 5am an held their, guarding the narrow supply corridor to Munich as they waited for more reinforcements. To the south, the advance by 9 Inf Div on Spittal ran into the significant obstacle of the Italian 10a Alpina Divisione. They put in a quick attack, but made little initial headway.
And at 1pm, another Italian assault out of Gorizia, this time on Bovec, was expertly counter-attacked by Muzir and was quickly abandoned.
Late that night, 13 Inf Div back in Graz was the latest division to be put on trucks and redeployed all the way around the fighting in Tauplitz to reinforce the right hook on Munich, eight provinces distant.
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13 Mar 44
The air base in Trieste was upgraded to Level 5 facilities that morning, but while work on improved AA and radar would continue, no more air base upgrades were contemplated.
At 10am, with the battle for Tauplitz almost won 4 SD (in Waidhofen) was peeled away from the attack to join the others heading for the Munich salient. In fact, victory came an hour later, with around 10,500 prisoners taken from the two surrendered divisions.
While divisions advancing from the east in Judenburg would tidy up Tauplitz by 2pm, 8 and 11 Ind Divs struck south-west from Mautenburg to Tamsweg, to widen the axis of advance.
Air Damage Report. Two Italian raids on Wels that day killed 176 Comintern troops, while failing to save the Germans in Tauplitz.
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14 Mar 44
At midnight, in Tauplitz 176 SD was the latest to get on the trucks to be taken across to the Munich salient.
The next action of interest came at midday, when 3 Mtn Div, now with support from the heavy 5 and 15 Inf Divs, struck a worn-out 1a Divisione Alpina retreating through Villach from Bovec: the Italians fled after a short and one-sided fight. The difficult attack on Spittal continued.
In the north, 3 Cav Div arrived in Braunau am Inn at 1pm, and given its speed was ordered to leapfrog 307 SD and make for the Swiss border, aiming for Kempten as its intermediate objective, with the aim of cutting off Germany from Italy, thus hindering the attempts of Italian units fighting in Germany to quickly return home when Germany’s surrender came, as surely it would within weeks, if not days.
Air Damage Report. A day of air strikes by Italy on Klagenfurt killed a total of 223 defenders..
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15 Mar 44
10 Inf Div reinforced the spluttering attack on Spittal when they arrived in Klagenfurt at 10am that morning
[boosting the progress from 22% to 61%]. Then at 4pm, 3 Mtn Div pulled into Villach, about a day earlier than had previously been expected. They were given no rest, but kept slogging on to Tolmezzo to hopefully outflank the Italian stronghold in Gorizia.
By the end of the day, the British had secured Emden and were keeping pace with the Soviet advance to the south-west, on a three-four province front and approaching the Dutch border.
News Report: USSR. State Anthem of the Soviet Union replaced The Internationale as the new anthem of the Soviet Union.
(3:10)
State Anthem of the Soviet Union – 1944 recording.
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A day later, and the mid-month STAVKA situation, provided by Agent SkitalecS3, showed Soviet and now observed British progress since 1 March in Germany and by the Soviets and Romanians in Finland, where Helsinki had fallen some days before, taken in Turkey’s name by their Romanian puppets.
By 7pm, 10 Inf Div had reinforced the combat line at Spittal, while the Soviet 2 MRD had chimed in from the north out of Bischofstohen, joining in reserve to bolster the odds
[to 70%]. This was just as well, as the first of two days of Italian air raids had begun hitting Klagenfurt that morning.
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17 Mar 44
Very early on the 17th, an Italian mountain division arrived in Kaufbeuren, its intentions unclear. With 307 SD due in to take over the occupation of Munich later that morning, Gürsel put in a quick attack before the Italians could consolidate, though he was counter-attacked and progress was slowed. The 307th arrived in Munich at 8am and 3 Cav Div had made good ground and was in Rosenheim. They hit the Italian flank at 9am and by midday, the Italians had yielded. The drive to the Swiss border was on!
Then at 3pm came news that the Italians in Spittal had given up their stubborn defence, though not without causing delay and drawing blood (Comintern 968/29,991; Italy 883/14,475 killed). Later that night, 3 Mtn Div had encountered 134a Armoured Division as it pulled back from Gorizia, which was being thinned out by Italy: straight into MAJGEN Diskoerekto’s path. He executed an effective assault and was attacking in its favoured terrain, even if their AT guns were not of the necessary calibre. Strong initial progress was being made and their commander was confident of victory.
Air Damage Report. Two days of renewed Italian air strikes on Klagenfurt killed a total of 1,240 defenders.
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18 Mar 44
At midnight, Mt Vesuvius erupted. Unknown to most except the most senior S.I.T.H. operatives, Darth Kelebek had been recalled to Ankara a week before, to interrogate the two British spies caught earlier in the month. Another was caught as he returned on the 11th: his interrogation led the capture of a fourth operative four days later on 15 March. At which point, Kelebek decided to take all four of them to one of his volcanic lairs – this time on the Italian mainland – for some ‘team sport’.
For most of the world, the eruption there three days later was unexpected. But then, no-one expects the Kelebek Inquisition – or its geological consequences.
At midday, 5 and 15 Inf Divs followed 3 Mtn Div into Villach. The 15th struck west towards Lienz, while the 5th reinforced the attack on Tolmezzo, which had been slowed down by the arrival of another Italian division in reserve. This swung the odds back again, slightly in Turkey’s favour
[58% progress].
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19 Mar 44
By the early morning of 19 March, the fleet was once again at near 100% strength and also (except for one or two of the TP flotillas) organisation. Even damaged, the port repair capacity was 15.68 ships/day, and the fleet only numbered nine.
Kaufbeuren, directly south-west of Munich, was taken by 3 Cav Div at 10am: with 3 Mot Div following from Munich, they kept pushing, aiming next for Kempten. The grim battle for Tolmezzo continued
[61% progress].
Air Damage Report. Italian air raids were resumed on Villach, to hinder the Turkish attack on Tolmezzo, with 448 defenders killed that day.
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20 Mar 44
Just as the Turkish fleet was nearing full operational fitness in Split, Italian spies in the town must have reported this fact, as escorted NAV raids began again in the early hours. As usual, the first strike hit home as the CAP intervened – with only 8 AF responding initially. Considerable damage was done by the time the raid was over, especially to the Urla transport flotilla.
In another attempt to get the Yak-7s in the air in numbers, 4 AG was allocated three wings – 9, 12 and 13 AFs – and ordered to ‘get up them’. This worked, with dogfights starting at 6am, 9am and 2pm, alternating between them and the solitary 7 AF (F4Fs) until it sustained heavy damage and had to be withdrawn. But the Mustangs of 8 and 9 AFs took their place in the punishing fighter rotation at 10pm, giving no rest to the Italians who were not able to get at the ships again for the rest of the day.
In the Munich sector that morning, 3 Cav Div took Kempten with 3 Mot filling in behind them and the slower ‘leg infantry’ formations starting to move up behind to secure the narrow corridor.
Air Damage Report. Four Italian strikes on Villach killed 1,072 men over the day and continued into the next.
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21 Mar 44
The Italians seemed ‘trapped in a loop’ over Split, as 4 AG hit them hard again from 1am and finally forced them to break off at 5am, as the fleet went about their repairs again.
At 6am, the Mustangs caught the enemy group retreating over the Adriatic and may have actually destroyed the whole group. They also caught sight of an enemy infantry division holding the port and air base of Pescara, valuable information for possible invasion planning.
By that night, the conditions in Tolmezzo were worsening and the air raids persisted on Villach. 5 Inf Div had reinforced, but 3 Mtn Div was down to about 50% organisation and little impression had been made on 134a Armoured.
Air Damage Report. Three Italian strikes on Villach killed 419 men during the day. That made a total of 1,939 over the last three days, with more to follow as the battle for Tolmezzo stretched into yet another day.
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Coming Up: the rest of March will see how the drive to the Swiss border goes, while to the south the Turks and some of their Soviet allies make their slow way through the mountains of Austria towards northern Italy. Germany remains in the fight, as does Finland: but will either still be in the war by the end of the month? And will the ‘race to France’ through the Low Countries between Britain and the Soviets continue to be ‘neck-and-neck’?
Elsewhere, we shall see how the war progresses in the Far East, India, Malaya, Australia and New Zealand. In the espionage war, Cennet is on her way back from the US, with orders to redeploy to her old stamping ground of Italy, where the Turkish spy teams have been untroubled in the first three weeks of the month. Inönü gives notice that a quick War Cabinet meeting will be held at the end of the month to consider plans and timetables for the invasion of Italy, based on the situation at that time.
