What If? The Mechelen Incident

An example of Case Yellow plans

In a break from the Italian series, I have decided to introduce a new segment to this blog: What If? This segment is designed to identify what might have happened had certain events not happened. In this instance, we shall observe the Mechelen Incident.

It is early January 1940. Germany has successfully invaded Poland, Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands have all officially declared war on Germany, however due to the lack of immediate retaliation by the Allies the so-called "Phony War" is begun.

At this time, Germany is planning an invasion of the Low Countries, that is Belgium and the Netherlands. The invasion is set for January 17, and the Allies are wary. However, a lapse of judgement on the part of two German officers may have cost Germany the war.

On the morning of January 10, a German aviator had offered to transport a fellow officer, Major Helmuth Reinberger, from Loddenheide to Cologne. The pilot got lost and was heading west, trying to spot the Rhine and get his bearings. However, having passed the Rhine he inadvertently passed Germany and the Netherlands and crossed into Belgium.

At this time, the pilot may have inadvertently cut off fuel to his engine and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a Belgian field. Both officers were unscathed, however after the crash Reinberger revealed to the pilot that he was transporting parts of the plan for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), the invasion plan, and they needed to destroy them as soon as possible.

In a slightly humorous exchange, the two Germans search frantically for a way to burn the documents. They finally find a single match but before they can burn the documents completely they are discovered by Belgian border guards and taken into custody. When they are taken to the border guard shack, the two officers try again to burn the documents. Failing once again, Reinberger attempts to grab the Belgian officer's pistol in order to kill himself, but he fails that too.

When the Belgians were finally able to read the documents, they discovered that the Germans intended to invade the Low Countries in less than a week. The Belgians deployed a deception to make the Germans think that they didn't know their plans, and to buy time to consult with the other Allies.

Unfortunately for the Allies, the subterfuge eventually fails, and while Hitler had intended to go on with the plan unchanged, foul weather on the 17th of January force the invasion to be postponed, and the Allies' tensions abate.

The larger implications of this incident, however, resulted in the Allies being unprepared for the change in tactics that lead to the German blitzkrieg strike through the Ardennes and into France. The 'what if' comes in to play when one considers what might have happened had the plans not been changed. also, what might have happened had the Allies not considered the plans to be a 'plant' by the Germans?

It has been argued that had the Germans continued with their plans unchanged the Allies would have been better prepared and the campaign would have taken far longer than it did, and it may have resulted in an entirely different outcome. Until next time, take care, and thanks for reading.

WWII Movie Review: Von Ryan's Express

Frank Sinatra. This is probably the first thing people see before even the title of the movie. Of course, it is a common practice to put a big name in a movie and bill that as the main selling point of the movie. "The Longest Day" and "A Bridge Too Far," for example, have many big names for their times and toe them proudly. However, in this case it is not the star that makes the movie, rather the story that makes the star seem more watchable. Thus, in continuing with our Italian series, we now look at "von Ryan's Express."

The historical background for this movie is relatively sound. As stated in the opening scenes and Sinatra's character later, it is August 1943, the Allies have taken Sicily three days earlier, and they are posed to land on the mainland of Italy itself. Colonel Ryan (Sinatra), a P-38 pilot, is shot down and is taken to an Italian POW camp where the British and some American troops are working towards escape. However, Ryan assumes command of the prisoners and tells them that their best course of action is to wait it out until the Allies can liberate the camp.

Eventually, the Allies land in Italy, the Italians surrender, and the camp is self-liberated. However, the Germans soon turn Italy into an occupied country, and while the prisoners attempt to make it to the coast for rescue, they are instead captured by the Germans and put on a train bound for Vienna. This practice of moving POWs away from the front lines would prove to be more common, and much more difficult to do, near the end of the war.

The prisoners do not take their recapture lying down, however. The officers among the prisoners manage to break out of their boxcar and hijack the train. In an effort that will eventually take them to Switzerland, the prisoners are forced to fool their way past the Germans, taking advantage of the chaos that ensued after the surrender of Italy and the repelling of the Allied invasion. Tragically, after making sure the majority of the prisoners made it to Switzerland, Ryan is gunned down mere feet from the Swiss border by German troops who had been pursuing the prisoners.

The only major historical inaccuracy that I could see was that when the prisoner's train enters the mountain pass leading to Switzerland, the Germans dispatch planes with HVAR rockets to slow down the train in order so German infantry could recapture the prisoners. However, the planes used, referred to as Messerschmitts, are actually Bf 108s. This model was never used in combat situations, and it would have been more accurate if the film used Bf 109s, the most produced German fighter during the war. Nevertheless, this is a good war movie apart from the cliche combat movies. Until next time, take care, and thanks for reading.

No One Remembers Who Came...First?

Allied troops by the Coliseum June 5, 1944

June 6, 1944 is one of the most hallowed dates in the history of World War II, and possibly of the history of Europe as a whole. The Allies finally opened the "real" second front that Stalin had so hoped for in order to take pressure off of the Soviet Union. However, another great achievement occurred one day earlier, and hardly anyone cared about it.

On June 5, after months of stalemate on the Anzio beaches and by the main Allied army in Italy, the Germans finally began to withdraw. The plan was to cut off the German 10th Army from retreating to the Gustav Line, a fresh set of defenses north of Rome. However, General Clark, in charge of Italian operations, wanted to take Rome very badly. As a result, the bulk of the 10th Army was allowed to escape.

However, the Allies were able to take Rome and they were greeted as liberators. It is doubtless, though, that those soldiers who had been fighting up the Italian peninsula for over a year felt slightly depressed that their success was all but forgotten in light of a greater success the next day. Nevertheless, the capture of Rome would prove to be a sign that German influence in Italy would soon come to an end. Until next time, take care, and thanks for reading.