FIRE OVER BERLIN
Robert Oppenheimer. He was the head scientist running Operation MANHATTAN, a super-secret experiment being conducted in the deserts of Nevada. The plan was to create a bomb so powerful that it would render an entire city into flame. There were nay-sayers at all levels, but even the new president, Harry Truman, felt that "something had to happen" to end the war. Though "Germany First" was the policy, it was proving to be more difficult. The Japanese were being driven back on all fronts, due in thanks mostly to the US. If successful, the new "Atomic" bombs would be dropped on Germany. It was hoped that by destroying an entire city with just one bomb would break the back of resistance.
The USSR was bogged down in an extended line of trench warfare with the Germans. This gave the Germans the opportunity to rotate divisions in and out of the line, as well as to give new divisions some combat experience before heading to the Western or Italian front. Unlike 1943, the Eastern Front was the "quiet" front for Germany. The Western Allies noted that there were several attacks being conducted by the Soviets, but in every case, they were blunted by the Germans. Manpower was also in decline in the Soviet Union. Some "divisions" had fewer than 5000 soldiers! Tanks were plentiful, but tank crews were not. Any crewmen with experience were either dead or captured. Every year, it seemed, the Soviet tank arm had to reinvent itself.
The Italian front bogged down north of Rome. When liberated from the Germans in October 1944, the Pope himself greeted the British General commanding the forces upon his arrival at The Holy See. Following a short audience with His Holiness, the British and Americans went back to the deadly business of fighting the Germans. By April 1945, they were only 20 miles north of Rome: the terrain and dogged resistance of the Germans prevented any marked advance.
In France, the offensive near Brest was a psychological blow to the US forces. Thus far, they had conducted all offensive operations above division level. Though the Commonwealth forces had faced their share of offensives, all with mixed results, the allocation of the US Army Air Force to Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) missions had let them down. They were unable to note the build up of some six divisions south of Brest, in spite of warnings from the Resistance. It was noted, however, that the Resistance was heavily compromised by Canaris' effective counter insurgency campaign. In short, the Resistance was basically ignored. For the first time since 5 June 1944, there were no major combat operations occurring in France: both sides were spent, and the Allies decided to keep up the pressure with their air units, allowing the ground units to build up for a surge to finally break the back of German resistance in France.
6 June 1945, the first anniversary of the landings in France came and went with nary a fan fare. "Signal" magazine noted the anniversary with a photo respective of the event, and included an extensive photo spread of the 12th SS's attack into SWORD beach. Some of the photos were published for the first time, including one in which a smiling young Hitler Youth, brandishing an MG-42, is seen standing over the bodies of unidentified Allied soldiers. Later, the UK press used this very photo to accuse Germany of war crimes, suggesting that the dead were just gunned down by the smiling fanatic. In actuality, the photo was staged, and the "dead" were simply friends of the soldier lying face down in the sand, field grey greatcoats covering their distinctive "Flecktarn" tunics. In fact, the photo was taken well before D-Day, back in Germany, on exercise!
The summer of 1945 was one of flow and ebb in France. In the end, the US forces on the Allied right wing were able to break through the thinning German ranks and reached Brest. Though the city was still garrisoned by some 10,000 Germans, the Americans carried on their advance. It was not without loss, but once more, the front was moving, albeit at a snail's pace.
By the end of July, the Americans had doubled the amount of "liberated" French territory. The Germans simply failed to have sufficient forces to push the Americans back, though they still retained enough combat power to keep their advances minimal.
The summer of 1945 was quite quiet in the Eastern Front. The soviets simply didn't have any ideas left. Stalin was enraged and initiated his third purge. This time, the Generals had enough! Once word spread that any purge was underway, a group of generals, under a young Nikita Khrushchev, branded Stalin as a Nazi puppet and called for his head. Stalin was to blame, they asserted, and slowly but surely the USSR split into two camps. The effect on the front was negligible at first, as the front line divisions were content to let the rear echelon pigeons sort out the national leadership. As far as they were concerned, it mattered not who was in charge, for nothing would change the fact that they were at war with Germany. As the Communists fought amongst themselves in the rear, production was curtailed, limited supplies to the front. The Germans were well aware of the situation and chose to exploit it by not attacking. They simply allowed the USSR to fight amongst itself. The German High Command estimated that the USSR would implode in a matter of months, if not weeks, much as had happened back in 1917.
Early August would bring about an end to the war, much swifter than anyone had expected. The USSR was for all intents and purposes embroiled in a civil war, though the front was still maintained. German forces opposite curtailed combat operations there such that Soviets were free to emerge from their bunkers and in some cases, mingle with German, Hungarian, Dutch, Finnish and even Rumanian soldiers in the bunkers opposite. This practice was officially forbidden, but in reality, it happened more often than the High Command cared to know about.
At Bremerhaven at 0100 on 6 August 1945, coastal RADAR detected a single bomber approaching the airspace of the Reich. This was not unusual: single bombers usually made reconnaissance flights over the Reich. They flew too high for most fighters, but due to operations elsewhere, none of the high flying jets were available for intercept. As well, Wasserfall wasn't very good against solo aircraft. To be most effective, the enemy bombers had to be in a mass formation, which they themselves needed to have any accuracy when they bombed. So, the operators reported the contact and began to track it.
The plane was a single RAF Lancaster. On board was a mixed Allied crew. The pilot was Canadian, the rest of the flight crew were British, but the bombardier and "special crewman" were American. Though the US wanted to use a high flying B-29 for this mission, Eisenhower decided against it. None were used as yet in Europe, and he didn't want anything tipping off the Germans that this mission was different. For purely political reasons, the crew was a mixed Commonwealth crew, but the bombardier and "special crewman" had to be American. The bombardier was trained in the use of the "Little Boy" Atomic Bomb. The target for the crew was Berlin. Specifically, the Reichstag.
Berlin was chosen for a few key reasons. First, as capital of the Reich, it was serve to give notice to the Germans that not even their vaunted "Reichshauptstadt" were safe. Also, it had been nearly two years since the Allies had bombed Berlin in any serious level. Therefore, any and all damage in the heart of the city would be seen to have been caused by one plane carrying one bomb. As well, with any luck, the German government may be caught in the blast, decapitating the German war machine, giving the Allies the upper hand they most desperately needed!
At 0315 on 6 August 1945, parts of Eastern Germany reported "the greatest flash of light" ever seen coming from Berlin. On the ground moments before the blast it was a calm Monday morning. The explosion changed all that in an instant. Though most people were sleeping, those who were out in the open were killed instantly. Farther away from the epicentre, there were survivors from the initial effects of the explosion, but soon the air was filled with flying debris of all kinds, from the expected, such as masonry, to the macabre, including bodies and parts of bodies. As fortune would have it, the German Government was readying for a meeting that was to start at 0330. An emergency session was called due to a recent telegram received "through Switzerland" from Khrushchev. Apparently he was seeking terms for a ceasefire, to be followed up by a peace agreement. The first elements of the government were just arriving at the Reichstag when the Little Boy exploded some 1,500 feet above them. There were no survivors.
Goering was still in Potsdam, his driver waiting for him outside a dank apartment building. What was going on in there was never questioned. Once it was clear that Berlin had just suffered an attack on a biblical scale, Goering and the remnants of his staff drove hell bent for leather for Rastenburg. Orders were given to shoot down any unidentified planes that came within 100 miles, and a significant number of Wasserfall batteries were positioned. Goering went into a radio silence mode as he contemplated his next moves. As the first streaks of sun began to fill the skies of Europe, Germans awoke to the sight of dark, foreboding clouds over Berlin. Though it was true that most of the city was unharmed by the blast, the centre had been gutted. There was no communication coming from Berlin, and a general sense of panic began to creep into the national German psyche.
