|
JeffroK -> RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land (3/6/2016 4:48:22 AM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: warspite1
Here is the 2nd Australian Infantry Corps
[2001] [Australian 2nd Infantry - by Robert Jenkins]
.P This counter represents the infantry divisions of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
.P The AIF was an all-volunteer force, raised at the time of the Australian declaration of war on Germany in September 1939. It was designed to create an army to fight overseas and was commanded by Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey.
.P The units that would contain the 6th and 7th Infantry Divisions were sent to the Middle East to begin forming in early 1940 and the 6th Division was ready, although lacking some elements, by mid-December. At this time the 6th Division was commanded by Lieutenant-General Iven Mackay.
.P That month the British launched Operation Compass, an attack on the Italian forces that had crossed over the Libyan border into Egypt the previous September. The Australians joined the attack three days into the operation, replacing the 4th Indian Division, and units of the 6th Division were key in taking the Italian strongholds of Bardia and Tobruk. Thereafter the division kept up its harassment along the coast of the retreating Italians while British armour raced across the desert to cut the enemy off. Operation Compass was a stunning victory for the Commonwealth forces.
.P Having almost pushed the Italians out of North Africa, the British then decided that it would be more important to assist the Greeks in their struggle with the Italians than finish the job in Libya. A woefully inadequate force was sent to Greece in March 1941, consisting of the 6th Division, the 2nd New Zealand Division, 1st British Armoured Brigade and support units. The following month the Germans launched their own invasion of Greece and the small Commonwealth force was quickly pushed back; evacuation became the only option.
.P While most of the 6th Division was evacuated to Egypt, the 19th Brigade plus parts of units from the rest of the division, was evacuated to the island of Crete. However, in May the Germans launched an audacious airborne assault on the island and, having taken key airfields, were able to reinforce their paratroopers. Another Allied evacuation soon began.
.P Whilst this was taking place, the Germans had taken advantage of British weakness in the desert. Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel and a small, but powerful force was landed at Tripoli and in March 1941 began an offensive to push the British out of Libya. This attack almost succeeded, but the 9th Division together with the 18th Brigade from 7th Division along with British Armour & Artillery units were pushed back to the port of Tobruk to delay the German advance. And they did.....
.P What was supposed to be a delaying action turned into an epic siege that lasted until November 1941 when the siege was lifted following the British Operation Crusader offensive. By then it the Australians had been evacuated by sea back to Egypt and replaced with the British 70th Division and Polish formations. The 2/13th Infantry Battalion had been left at Tobruk due to shipping losses and served throughout the siege. The Australians, commanded by Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead, had withstood numerous attacks during the siege but stubbornly refused to yield to the Axis forces. Australia's first Victoria Cross of the war (the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be won by men and women of the British and Commonwealth armed forces) was won during this siege - Corporal John Edmonson winning the award posthumously for bravery exhibited during a German attack in April.
.P With the 7th Division's 18th Brigade performing heroics in Tobruk, the rest of the division was ordered to Syria in June. The Vichy authorities allowed Axis aircraft to refuel in Syria to assist their support of the Iraqi rebels fighting the British. The Commonwealth forces, including two Free French brigades, took just over a month to quell the Vichy forces and bring them to the peace table. During this operation, the 7th Division, commanded by Major-General Arthur Allen, won its first Victoria Cross of the war; Lieutenant Roden Cutler was the recipient for his bravery at the Battle of Merdjayoun. His award was followed by a similar medal for Private Jim Gordon the following month. As units of the 6th Division recovered from their Greek & Cretan campaigns they were added to the Allied force in Syria & Lebanon.
.P With the Japanese entering the war in December 1941 it was decided to return the 6th and 7th Divisions to Australia for the defence of the home country. It was agreed that the 9th Division would remain in the Middle East and the Americans would send a second Division to Australia. Two brigades of the 6th Division were sent to Ceylon until July 1942 but the remainder of the divisions returned to Australia for rest and refit.
.P By the time these units had returned to Australia, the fourth division of the original 2nd AIF had already been destroyed. Two brigades of the 8th Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Gordon Bennett, were sent to Malaya, while the battalions of the third brigade were deployed in defence of the islands of Ambon, Timor and at Rabaul on New Britain.
.P The fall of Malaya and Singapore in February 1941 was one of the most painful episodes in the history of the British Army. Despite the bravery of men such as 8th Division's Charles Anderson, who won the Victoria Cross during the Battle of Muar, the loss of Malaya and Singapore could not be stopped. Following their victory, the Japanese steamroller swept through the Dutch East Indies and a host of Pacific islands. The small Australian forces at Ambon, Timor and Rabaul were amongst the casualties of this seemingly unstoppable force.
.P Back in the North African desert, the 9th Division recovered from its defence of Tobruk and was stationed in Syria briefly before being brought back into the fronttline following Rommel's great victory at Gazala, a victory that had seen the Axis forces finally take Tobruk and push the British back to the Egyptian border.
.P A series of battles were fought between July and October; the First Battle of El-Alamein and Alam Halfa were attempts by Rommel to finally break through to the Suez Canal and eject the British from Egypt. However, both of these attacks were repulsed, with the 9th Division in the forefront of these battles. During the First El-Alamein, Private Arthur Gurney won the VC at Tel-el-Tisa on the 22nd July.
.P These two battles had blunted Rommel's Panzer spearhead and his dream of entering Cairo was effectively gone. However, the 8th Army still had to beat Rommel and eject the Axis forces from Egypt and then North Africa. The first of these goals was achieved thanks to the 2nd Battle of El-Alamein in October 1942. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Australian, British, Indian, New Zealand and South African forces (together with two Free French Brigades and a Greek Brigade) began the battle on the 23rd October. Once again the dependable Australians were given a key role in the battle, occupying the most northerly of the 8th Army's positions; it was in the north that Montgomery concentrated his attack. Two more Victoria Crosses were won by the Australians in this battle - Private Percy Gratwick was killed on the 26th October during an attack on Miteiriya Ridge and Sergeant William Kibby won his award, also posthumously, a week later. Kibby's award recognised his actions that entire week, during which he exhibited the utmost bravery.
.P Before the battle was won and the Axis forces sent into headlong retreat, there were two more Victoria Crosses for the 9th Division, evidencing once more their bravery and commitment to the battle.
.P In early 1943 the 9th Division was transferred to the Pacific. There is no suitable write-up for the "what-if" 1st Motorised Corps Counter and so the story of the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions in the Pacific is continued on that counter, numbered 2007.
|
|
|
|
