Three Kings

Jake Kinlan caught those names, another oddity, and scratched his head. Wavell? Rommel? And didn’t this man say he was out here looking for a downed British aircraft carrying a General O’Connor? The name was familiar, and a few taps on his library pad called up the file soon enough. There were several men by that name, a General Rory O’Connor who had served with 11th Armored Division, Middle East Command and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong before retiring in 1966. This couldn’t be the man they were talking about, nor the older entry for General Richard O’Connor dating back to WWII. Yet something about this man seemed to connect in his mind with these old files. The L.R.D.G. had fought here in Egypt and Libya, along with this ‘Popski’ character as well. Wavell was the man in charge; Rommel his enemy. And this General O’Connor had fought here as well. Was this some sort of elaborate hoax, a man playing at WWII in the desert?

No, he thought. Not possible. I don’t know who this Popski fellow is, but there’s no denying those are bona fide Russian Marines in that truck over there, and that’s a KA-40 sitting there. They came here for a reason, and they were up to no good.

He was interrupted again by his Communications Officer, who reported they had another message from Lieutenant out on point. The column was moving now, the continuous rumble of the heavy vehicles shaking the earth itself as the heavy tanks of the Scotts Dragoons were now passing by, obscured by the sand storm. Popski kept looking over his shoulder, a look of alarm as he listened to it, as if he thought a freight train might come crashing in on them at any moment. The sound of the moving column had a deep, threatening tone that spoke of power and steel on the move, and the unmistakable sound of tanks on the desert sand.

“It seems we have another group out there sir. Reeves is beside himself. Says six jeeps came up the road fromSiwa.”

“Berbers again? I thought we had that problem solved for the time being. They must have seen that fireworks earlier, and you’d think they’d want to stay out of it.”

“No sir… Not Berbers. Listen to this!”

Chapter 32

The difficulties of operating in the desert soon became all too apparent to Rommel and the troops of the fledgling Afrika Korps. Those first days on the new continent, walking along the broad streets of Tripoli, amid the bleached white stucco buildings were long gone. Then they were warriors arriving in a new land, full of optimism and vigor. The road move to their jumping off point at El Agheila had not been that arduous, but once actual operations started, the trials of desert combat were before them. Now they faced the empty wasteland, with maps that were far from accurate, dust and blowing sand everywhere, and Rommel’s hot pursuit driving them on like a lion tamer with a whip.

Soon his single division was strung out all across the desert, meeting little resistance beyond an occasional Jock Column or a small delaying force of a few 2 pounder AT guns. The ItalianAriete division bulled its way up the main coastal road, followed by two corps of motorized and leg infantry. The 5th Light swung south and east, hoping to cut off the British retreat.

He did not realize, in those hectic first moments of his offensive, that dark eyes were watching his progress, and the Generals in OKW were thinking what to do about it. His military instincts drove him on, and he pushed his men and vehicles hard to achieve the position he wanted.

Yet his enemy was too crafty and had not fallen into his trap. The British pulled out quickly, and started to retreat, with the infantry heading for Benghazi, and the remnants of 2nd Armored division cutting across the peninsula towards Tobruk. There the British retreat consolidated around that fortified port, with the armor attempting to reorganize to the south of ElAdem, protecting the port from a turning maneuver.

Wavell had managed to scrape together a few Indian motorized units and send them west to try and bolster the situation, and he was getting the 9th Australian Division ready to board the trains. That and the 2nd New Zealand Division might be enough to hold, and now he saw that the naval situation preventing the transfer of these good troops to Greece may be a boon in disguise, if the Royal Navy could survive what they were now facing.

The problem now was Rommel. How fast would he come east, and how far would he try to go? And what had happened to General O’Connor? Would the Russians make good on their promise to find him? As reports stacked up, Wavell wished he had the plucky General at his side to plan the defense. Now all he heard was one report after another of Rommel’s advance. He was coming at them like a bad desert storm.