Invade Malta

Another controversial topic. If the Germans had invaded Malta:
1. Would they have succeeded?
2. If they did, how would turn of events have changed?

I for one think they could have succeeded if they invaded Malta instead of Crete. It would have made the supply situation better for Rommel. He may have entered Alexandria and reached the Suez. The supply situation was the reason why he stopped the first two times. Tobruk could have been left enseiged until their supplies ran out.

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Tschuss

 

Im not up to date on my Geography but, I think the Germans could have taken Malta after a bitter fight.

No telling what outcomes would have changed. I would think that the African campaign would have been easier for the Germans but, I think they would have still lost the North-African war or at least; had a stalemate similar to the trenches of WW1.

 

From what I have read, all of the defenses were directed towards the ocean/sea. The Germans could have taken from the Spanish border which is why I think was the only reason Hitler wanted Franco to join. I'm sure he didn't want to share any more spoils with another dictator.

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Tschuss

 

Crete ended up being a bit of a wasted effort but it was part of the German plan to envelop the Middle East and particularly to cut off British oil supplies. It was used by the Axis air forces to attack North Africa.

Of course it was Rommel who persuaded Hitler not to attempt the proposed attack on Malta. R thought that the intended forces would be better used to win the land battle in North Africa. Malta certainly would have posed more problems for the Brit/Com forces as it turned out and would have assisted the Axis supply situation.

Using the Crete invasion forces for Malta would probably have ensured success but I don't think they could have done both. While the Brit/Com forces did lose the Crete battle (bloody useless Fryberg) the Germans paid a high price for their 'victory'.

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sand digger

 

Fryberg was from New Zealand, wasn't he? I know of him and read some about him yrs ago but, know nothing else on him.

 

Yes, Fryberg was a Kiwi, Churchill knew him from WW1 so hence the appointment. Brit trained, say no more.

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sand digger

 

I think it would have been possible for the Axis to take Malta - but it wouldn't have been easy.

Crete was a bit of a waste. It was all very well to invade it (possible reasons: outpost for the protection ofBarbarossa's southern flank; deny it to Allies for base from which to bomb Ploesti oilfields) but once there the Germans didn't really do anything with it. There was no coherent plan to 'envelop the middle east' nor to go on and capture Cyprus. It was one big headache for the garrison, as the Cretans kept up a guerrilla activity throughout. In the end the Germans and Italians were almost under siege in what amounted to an island backwater.

The capture of Malta would have made much more strategic sense. To leave the Allies in possession of it whilst fighting a major campaign in North Africa is just bad strategy, as it sits right on the line of communication from Italy and Sicily to Tunisia and the western part of Libya. British and Allied forces did take a toll on supplies shipments, and according James Lucas more panzers lie at the bottom of the Med than ever reached Africa.

At times the terrific air bombardment of Malta- it was the most heavily bombed place of its size in the whole war - suppressed British offensive activity, and the blockade meant that its surrender was on the horizon. But the Axis didn't actually bite the bullet and go on to invade the place. There comes a time when aerial bombardment can do no more and you have to send troops in to physically occupy a place in order to reap the rewards for your efforts.

So if we assume an airborne assault using the troops that were actually used at Crete, what would have happened?

The two islands are very different propositions. Crete is about five times as big as Malta, long and thin with a rugged mountain range along the east-west spine, and a coastal plain to the north. Freyberg spread his defending forces around to cover the airfields and a section of coast vulnerable to amphibious assault. His use of ULTRA intelligence about German intentions is very controversial, and I will not go into it here.

The German plan was to capture an airfield with a parachute assault, secure it and then fly in mountain troops and supplies. So the key for Freyberg was to do his damnedest to deny them the airfields - to concentrate quickly upon the main point of attack to extinguish it before they secured an airfield. He failed, and given that the Germans had complete air superiority, once they captured the airfield Creforce was sunk.

Given Malta's small extent (maybe 25 miles by 9 or 10 pretty flat compared to Crete) concentration of the defenders to quickly counter attack the drop zones should in principle be much easier than on Crete. You can see almost the whole island from up on the hill at Medinah, and also as far as Sicily on clear days. The land is criss-crossed with hundreds of dry stone walls, about waist high, which would make for very bloody close fighting.

But with a determined - and large enough force - I think one of the 3 main airfields could have been secured by assault from the air. The Axis didn't have absolute superiority in the air over Malta, but a large enough preponderance of numbers to give local supremacy for long enough to invade. In fact, at some points in the siege, the RAF was virtually decimated, so careful timing and a campaign concentrated on suppressing the airfields immediately before the invasion could pretty much guarantee the safe arrival over the drop zones of most of the great majority of Ju52s. The bulk of the heavy anti-aircraft guns were in place around the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities – protection against anti shipping/dockyard strikes, but not invasion, as any assault on the Valetta area would have to come from the landward side.

Once established upon one or more of the airfields I think final victory would be ensured for the Germans and Italians. They could fly in plenty of reinforcements, although without their heaviest equipment. However, it could take quite a long time before the area surrounding the Grand Harbour could be fully cleared of Allied troops and the dockyards put back into working order. The fortifications are massive and the hand cut air raid shelters set into the bastions were known as the safest natural air raid shelters in Europe.

The prospects for an amphibious assault – either initially, or after an airborne attack –are a little more difficult to gauge. There are only a few places on the coast of Malta suitable for attempting an opposed landing on a large scale, and they are primarily located around the north west of the island. Concentration of force to meet such an assault should be reasonably straightforward if before the defenders were tied down trying to wipe out a parachute assault on the airfields, but would suffer from large scale air assaults. However, radar detection of the invasion fleet during the night could allow for troops to be concentrated during the night, in a location suitable for deploying against the landings at dawn (presuming they didn’t plan a night assault).

The Italian Navy would have needed to come out in force to cover an invasion or follow up fleet. Whilst the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet never shirked taking major risks in times of need, they tried to keep capital ships out of the narrows between Sicily and Malta, and between Malta and Tunisia. Operations off Crete indicate the risks they would run in attempting to cut off an invasion fleet for Malta – probably even riskier. Especially if paratroops had already established a secure area: why risk your fleet when the battle is already decided?

So the plan is:

1. Precede with major attritional attacks against fighter defence capability.
2. Use falschirmjager to attack Malta instead of Crete - recognise that heavy losses are part of the price.
3. Capture an airfield as priority number 1.
4. Fly in serious reinforcements.
5. Expand lodgement and advance on Valetta.
6. Land reinforcements and heavy equipment on north west of island, covered by Italian fleet.
7. Besiege Valetta and Grand Harbour area until defenders submit.

I think the key thing is to invade Malta instead of Crete. The losses at Crete put Hitler off using paratroops on a large scale – without this shock he would have been more likely to give them the go ahead for Malta, which was much the more useful island.

Phew!

S

 

Excellent posting and I agree with you. I forget exactly when the Germans started bombing Malta, but if im not mistaken, these air raids were very large ones in scale.

They were actually making invasion plans I think in 1942, and was a possibility that Rommel would have been in command. However, at that time, the Desert War was not going very well for the Germans.

General Auchinleck was there and he prevented a disaster from happening because of General Cunningham's wanting to withdraw all forces into Egypt. Auchinleck saved the British from disaster for the Crusader Battles, because he disagreed with Gen Cunningham.

 

The only probem with these assessmens lies in the fact that Hitler thought himself so capable a general that he neglected Malta, not so much because of the losses which might be incurred, but because he felt it inconsequential.

His obsession with first siezing England, and later terrifying its civilian population was a disaster for the Luftwaffe. Meanwhile it was an unfinished effort when Barbarossa began, similar to Hitler's hesitation in striking at Dunkurk. The Furher, though never consciously, made a series of only half-hearted efforts which consistently allowed him the chance for, but never a full victory.

Rommel once offerd to take Malta on his own, as a joke - or perhaps a real request - to the Furher. Raeder and Rhundstedt realized the issue, as did Guderian.

It's not so much Crete, either. If Malta falls, the British can supply no chain to Egypt, which would similarly fall given the number of Panzers which might reach Rommel. At the time, removing one division from the French regions would not have been too high a concession - save again, if we do not give Hitler the benefit of the doubt.

The British would be forced to flee the Med., Greece, Jugolavija, Turkey, and the others would then be compelled to fall behind Germany or Italy, deprived of both relief and supply without the loss of a single soldier. Why worry about Crete at all?

 

Avalon Hill or SPI did a very cool and fun game titled "Invasion:Malta",IIRC. They had paratrooper drift rates(after you rolled for wind speed)and it was cool to watch the other guys para's drift across your FlaK battery's zones of death. And the Tommy's were harder than hell to kill in the dense city terrain(I think i remember reading in the backstory in the game that during WWII Malta was the most densely populated place on earth), they kept Molotoving (is that a word?)my Panzers and vehicles. The Valentines are hard to root out to. It was only a game, damn good one though, I dont think the guy playing the Germans ever won.
Now I cant get anyone to play old AH games with me Im always up for a game, so just stop by Just dont tell the wife

 

Heh heh, Do you have Squad Leader or I think one called Stalingrad? and if you were here or I there, yep, I would be game for a game.

I last played it about 14 years ago. I played the Russians and my friend was the Germans. It was my first time playing the game, and I kicked his -ss.

Next time, I finally got to play the Germans, and I kicked him out of his positions.

We played a third time and again I was the Russians. I shot him out of the defensive postions his Germans were in, almost surrounded him, and chased him past some hills till he decided to end the game.

Any sources for these old Avalon Hill Games????????????????????????

 

I don't have a copy of Squad Leader, Panzer Leader, Panzer Blitz, Advanced Third Reich are my faves.

 

Grrrrrrrats. Oh well, I will stick with Eastern Front then.

 

I have GDW's"1941", a barbarossa game. Its pretty fun. GDW was the first company to figure out to make the hex's larger than the counters!!!

 

Is it still available? and if so, how much?

 

IIRC, GDW went out of business in '89 or '90. SSI/SPI was purchased by TSR in '87(?) and their non-computer wargames division was killed. Avalon Hill went out of business in '93 or '94, they were the last bookshelf wargame manufacturer Im pretty sure. Avalon Hill's brandname was purchased by Milton Bradley in '98 or '99(after the owners spent several hard years trying to get the company solvent again). MB started printing newer versions of a few Avalon Hill best sellers last year. MB since has spun off Avalon Hill as its strategy/wargames company, IIRC, Axis & Allies now is an Avalon Hill game, not MB.
The PC really killed cardboard counter wargames. In my opinion its just not the same, even playing with multiple people on the same machine. Used to be 4-5 friends sat around a table and BS'ed for hours and laughed and threw some dice to play Axis and Allies. Now I put a plastic wafer in my Compaq and play alone.

 

Rats.... I was hoping they were still alive and kicking, and thanks for the info.

At one time I also had Axis and Allies, but gave it away as it was a bit too boring and nobody to play against.

 

Geez, talk about nostalgia. I have all of the Squad leader gamettes in my closet. Forgot all about them. Time consuming but a lot of fun.

 

My old hitory teacher had world war two board games. I played one which was a battle of the bulge game and I didn't have patience to set it up and read the book, then play the game, but the biggest problem of all was that I couldn't get anyone to seat down and play a board game with me. They all looked at my like I was crazy. Hence that was the end of my experience of playing board games, except monolopy.

 

Pzjgr, you ever want to give them a new home, I will donate mine