The Whale Has Wings Vol 3 - Holding the Barrier by David Row Read Free Book Online

the Kisargi, which blew her up with her own depth charges. The other seven planes attacked the transports, hitting two of them and leaving them on fire, although none of them sank. The Japanese force retreated to its base at Kwajalein. Meanwhile at Pearl Harbor the seaplane tender Tangier was being loaded with ammunition and supplies as a relief expedition was made ready for the island.
     
    In the eastern Mediterranean, the battleship HMS Barham is hit by two torpedoes from one of the U-boats operating in the Mediterranean. The old battleship is hit twice on the starboard side, and although the U-boat is attacked by her escort (and considered probably sunk), the Barham succumbs to the underwater damage, sinking an hour later.
     
     
    Dec 11th.
     
    The War widens as Germany and Italy declare war on the USA. In a gesture of reciprocity, Congress declares war on Germany and Italy. In other diplomatic initiatives, Nicaragua and Cuba declare war on Japan. The Japanese government shows no signs of concern over this.
     
    In Malaya, the Japanese 5th division increases the intensity of its attack north of Kota Bharu, and finally makes contact with the outlying defences of the town of Jitra. While successful, the progress has been slower than anticipated. It has also resulted in more casualties, and General Yamashita is pressing hard to get more of his force into Siam.  Sea transport is proving expensive, as the RAF torpedo bombers have not been suppressed as planned, and so he is trying to bring as much as possible in from French Indo China by the land route. This is much slower than by sea, but he hopes that his reinforcements will be on hand by the time he needs to support 5th Division. With the airfield at Kota Bharu now destroyed, the Indian troops are falling back southwards, while elements of the 9th Australian Division are moved up in support. Blamey intends to hold far enough to the north to support Jitra, in the hope the prepared defences there can hold out for some time. If this proves impossible, he will form a defence line further south. The training exercises held during the autumn have helped to identify feasible lines of defence and choke points, but the capability of the Japanese to infiltrate around strongpoints has been an unpleasant surprise.
     
    At sea, the reinforced Force Z was heading east for the coast of Borneo, covered by its CAP and a flight of Goshawks out of Singapore. While Somerville thought it unlikely he would be attacked this far south, he was hoping to intercept and destroy any reconnaissance planes to keep his movements secret. He was also worried about the presence of Japanese submarines in the area. A Spearfish from HMS Implacable had caught one on the surface during the night with its ASV radar, and while the plane's bombs had caught the boat unaware and sunk it, he was sure that there were more of them in his path.
     
    South of French Indo China, the Japanese naval force had now consolidated and had moved a little south and west. After hearing the pleas from General Yamashita to protect his troop convoys, it was intended to use the fleet to cover a series of convoys into Siam.
     
    The first raid of the Bomber Command winter offensive took place tonight against Hamburg. The RAF had been perfecting its bombing techniques over the last six months while waiting for the bomber force, and in particular the Lancaster force, to reach a level sufficient to do serious damage to its targets. The program of raids is also intended to see how the attacks work in practice. Later in 1942 it is intended, if these work as hoped, to add the new high-altitude bomber the Supermarine-Vickers Coventry to the raids. The tactics are fairly straightforward. The target will be marked by a Pathfinder squadron using the new Mosquito. Two other squadrons of Mosquitoes will perform deception raids and also engage night fighters. The Pathfinders will be followed by the first part of the Lancaster force, which will use