History of the Second World War (137 page)

Potenza, 466

Potsdam: Conference, 691-2, 694, 696; Declaration, 696

Pound, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley, 438

Pownall, Rear-Admiral Charles, 510

Pownall, Lieut.-General Sir Henry, 227

Prague, 10, 13

Poznan, 29, 667-8

Prien, Lieutenant, 371

Primasole bridge, 444

Prince of Wales,
H.M.S., 208, 225-6, 377-8

Princeton,
U.S.S., 624

Prinz Eugen
, the, 377-9, 384

Pripet, River, 493

Pripet Marshes, 134; attack south of, 149; military exercises near, 154; divide German army groups, 159; counterattacks from area of, 159; Rundstedt’s advance S. of, 165; railway E. of, 495; widened front S. of, 571; stabilised front between Carpathians and, 574; offensive expected S. of, 578, 581; offensive N. of, 578-81

Prome, 235, 637

Prut, River, 573-5

Przemysl, 30

Pskov, 576-7, 581; Lake, 577

‘Pugilist Gallop, Operation’, 417

Pulawy, 665

Punch
cartoon, 10

Pyatigorsk, 252, 478

Qaret el Abd.
See
Bab el Qattara

Qattara Depression, 281, 293

Quebec, Quadrant Conference at (1943), 516

Queen Elizabeth,
R.M.S., used as troopship, 386

Queen Mary,
R.M.S., used as troopship, 386

Queensland, Japanese threat to, 345, 355; air support from, for Guadalcanal, 358

Quisling, Vidkun, 54, 56

Rabat, 321

Rabaul, New Britain, Japanese air and land base, 346, 355, 359, 362; U.S. plan to capture, 357, 502; Japanese Army and Navy Commands at, 501; not to be attacked, 507-9; air attacks on, 507; left unprotected, 513, 613; left to ‘wither on vine’, 688; mentioned, 344, 506

Radom, 665

Raeder, Grand Admiral E., suggests bases on Norwegian coast, 53; and Quisling, 54; his conferences with Hitler on Norway, 56; on plans for invasion of Britain, 90; on Hitler’s aims in Russia, 146; resigns, 388; mentioned, 390, 392

Raff, Colonel E. D., 335-6

Rahman track, 304

Ramree Island, 634

Ramsay, Major-General A. N., 688

Ramsay, Admiral Sir B. H., organises evacuation from Dunkirk, 78-9; Eastern Naval Task Force of, 440

Ramsden, Lieut.-General W. H., 286

Ramsgate, 90

Rangoon, Japanese advance on, 203; air attacks on, 234; British evacuate, 235; Japanese reinforcements to, 237; fleet and air force needed to cover seaborne attack on, 364, 368; amphibious operation at, 515, 637-8; British advance on, 635-7; capture of, 638, 687; Japan agrees to capitulate at, 689

Rapido, River, 469-70, 473, 527, 530

Rastenburg, E. Prussia, 309, 435; attempt to kill Hitler at, 582

Rathedaung, 634

Ravenna, 542

Razjelnaya, 574

Reggio, 457-8, 523

Reichenau, General W. von, in Polish invasion, 29-30; in Belgium, 68; army group of, in Russia, 148, 245; 6th Army of, in Russia, 166; death of, 245

Reims, 651; surrender at, 680

Reinhardt, General G. H., 72, 75

Remagen, 677-8

Remscheid, 601

Renault factory, bombing of, 597

Rendova Island, 504

Reno, River, 672

Repola, 44

Repulse,
H.M.S., 225-6

Reykjavik, U.S. Marines at, 380

Reynaud, Paul, urges modernisation of French Army, 32; appointed Prime Minister, 57; presses for Norwegian campaign, 57; realises battle is lost, 74; appeals to Roosevelt, 85; resigns, 85

Rhine, River, plan to drop mines into, 57-8; failure of Allied push to, 558, 561, 563-6; build-up of German defences covering, 560; plan for advance to, 562-3; bridges over, not prepared for demolition, 566-7; delayed Allied assault on, 663, 677-9; defence of, sacrificed to defence of Oder, 669, 677; Americans cross, 677-8

Rhineland, German re-occupation of, 6, 701

Rhone Valley, Germans reach, 85

Ribbentrop, Joachim von, signs Soviet-German pact, 13, 705; meets Molotov (1943), 488; in Finland, 578

Riccio, River, 472

Richards, Colonel Hugh, 518

Richtofen, General von, 8th Air Corps of, 138

Ridgway, General Matthew, 452-3, 464

Riga, 581, 587-8; Gulf of, 582, 584

Rigi, Mont, 650

Rimini, 539-40

Ritchie, General Neil, in command of Eighth Army, 191, 193, 268; at Gazala, 268-9, 272-4; retreats to and beyond frontier, 276, 278

Roatta, General, 436, 453

Roberts, Captain (later Major-General) G. P. B. (‘Pip’), 294

Robinett, Brigadier-General Paul, 324, 405, 408-9

Rochester, Kent, 100, 102-3

Rodimtsev, General, 260

Rodney,
225, 379

Roer, River, 656; dams of, 642

Rogachev, 164, 493, 496

Rokitno, River, 134

Rokossovsky, Marshal C., assaults of, at Stalingrad, 261, 478; in Kursk salient, 490-1; advances of, 492, 581-2; commands 1st White Russian front, 579; commands 2nd White Russian front in 1945 offensive, 665-7

Roma,
the, 465

Rome, German divisions near, 450; coup d’etat in, overthrows Mussolini, 450-1; disarming of Italians in, 452, 454; planned drop of U.S. airborne troops on, 452-3; an open city, 454, 536; Allies expected to land near, 455, 474; Allies aim at speedy capture of, 471; Fifth Army reaches, 535-6

Rommel, General (later Field-Marshal) Erwin, sent to N. Africa, 118; drives Eighth Army back, 118-20, 171-2, 711; dummy tanks of, 118-19; driven back to frontier, 171; out-manoeuvres 2nd Armoured Division, 172; attacks Tobruk, 173-4; Hitler refuses reinforcements to, 375, 433; improvises anti-tank traps, 177, 179, 185, 195; takes initiative at ‘Battleaxe’, 179-80; uses 88s in mobile role, 381; far-reaching effect of personality of, 182; British advantages over forces of, 183; improved anti-tank guns of, 183-4; on British tank strategy, 185; surprised by ‘Crusader’ attack, 185-6; and Battle of Sidi Rezegh, 187-9; has no tank reserves, 189; strikes into rear of Eighth Army, 189-90, 192-4; spends night among British troops, 190; thrust loses momentum and finishes, 191-3; criticisms of strategy of, 192-3; recovery of, 193-5; withdraws forces, 195-8; tank reinforcements for, 198, 267, 270-1, 288, 291; sweeps British troops back, 266, 268; halted at Alamein, 266; forced to retreat, 266-7; strikes first at Gazala, 269, 272, 311; narrow escape of, 273; on faults of British tank tactics, 273-4; gains superiority in tanks, 275; takes Tobruk, 276; pursues Eighth Army to Egypt, 277-80; promoted to Field-Marshal, 277; audacious attack of, at Mersa Matruh, 279; attacks at Alamein, 281-4; takes direct control in battle, 285; his tribute to Auchinleck, 289; and Battle of Alam Haifa, 291-7; reinforcements for, 291, 307; deprived of supplies, 299; illness of, 299, 301, 303, 401, 412; regroups forces at Alamein, 302-3; at end of resources, 304; in retreat, 305-9, 397-400; commanded to hold Mersa Brega, 308-9; visits Hitler and Mussolini, 309, 413, 435; not to be trapped between Allied armies, 397; pulls back from Buerat, 397-8; ordered to hold Buerat and then Tripoli, 398-9; wants to withdraw to Wadi Akarit, 400, 416; to be relieved of command after consolidation of position, 401; urges speedy follow-up of victory, 405-6; forced to change plan, 406, 410; Allies fail to exploit weakness of, 408-10; given command of Tunisian forces, 410; delayed eastward counterstroke of, 411-12; argues on impossibility of holding Tunisia, 412-413, 435; on supplies needed in Tunisia, 412, 426; leaves Africa, 413; mission of, in N. Italy, 451-2, 455; disbandment of army group of, 470; and Normandy landings, 548-9, 553; absence of, at time of landings, 550; tries to reason with Hitler, 550; injured in air attack, 551, 553; mentioned, 450

Rommel, General (Polish Army), 29

Roosevelt, President Franklin D., Reynaud appeals to, 85; cuts off Japan’s economic resources, 182, 199, 206, 211; thinks highly of MacArthur, 211; Pearl Harbor unites public opinion behind, 217; accused of contriving Pearl Harbor disaster, 219; advises against concentration on Middle East, 232-3; favours U.S. landing in N. Africa, 310, 312; favours 1942 Second Front, 311; refuses strategic switch to Pacific, 312; in discussion on sites for ‘Torch’ landing, 313-16; dislikes and distrusts de Gaulle, 319; Giraud’s conditions to, 320; asks for Petain’s co-operation, 327; on appointment of Darlan, 331; exchanges destroyers for bases, 375; at Casablanca Conference, 397, 451; in argument with Churchill on ‘Anvil’ plan, 533, 537; death of, 679-80

Roosevelt, Brig.-General Theodore, 323

Rostov, Germans reach, 168; capture of, 251; bottleneck at, 253; threat to Kleist’s communications with, 477-8; Kleist’s forces reach, 478-9; threat to line of retreat from, 480-2

Rosyth, anti-aircraft guns demanded for, 97

Rothermere, Lord, 589

Rotmistrov, General, 572, 580

Rotterdam, attack on, 67, 594

Rouen, 84

Routes, Italian: 3, 538; 4, 538; 6, 528, 533, 535-6; 7, 528, 535-6; 9 (Via Emilia), 540, 672-3

Rovno, 570

Royal Oak,
H.M.S., sinking of, 371

Ruhr, the, vulnerability of, 35, 37; Allied failure to drive into, 558; Montgomery’s thrust towards, 560, 562, 565; optimism regarding capture of, 567; plans for bombing attacks on, 593; strategic bombing raids on, 594-5, 608-9; ‘Battle of the’. 599-601; air attacks on communications of, 611; Allied advance towards, 643; re-entry of Rhineland provides cover for, 701

Rumania, capture of oil-wells of, 24; Polish Government and High Command in, 31; German Army assembles in, 133, 147; Russian ultimatum to, 143; Russian threat to oilfields of, 143, 147, 149; German influence in, 145; to participate in attack on Russia, 147; Russian activity in, 147; Russian armies on frontier of, 574; Germans compelled to hold line in, 575; makes approach to Russia, 577; Russian offensive on front of, 584; at peace with Allies and at war with Germany, 585; Russians occupy N.W. corner of, 586; British guarantee to, 704

Rundstedt, Field-Marshal C. R. G. von, army group of, in Poland, 29-30; in attack on West, 38, 69-70; accepts Manstein’s plan, 39; attacks through Ardennes, 69-70; on British counterstroke, 76; confirms Hitler’s doubts, 81-2; and invasion of Britain, 89; delayed in preparation for Russian invasion by Balkan campaign, 131-2; army group of, in attack on Russia, 148-9, 159, 165; advances on Kiev, 159, 167; overruns Crimea and Donetz basin, 168; relieved of command, 168, 244; urges withdrawal to Poland, 244; on site of Allied invasion, 548; on way of meeting invasion, 549; will not release panzer corps in reserve, 549; tries to reason with Hitler, 550-1; dismissed, 551; re-appointed as Commander-in-Chief in the West, 643; and Ardennes offensive, 643-4, 646-7, 649, 658-9; mentioned, 258

Russell Islands, 502-3

Russia, seeks to combine with Western Powers against German expansion, 9; Chamberlain and Halifax fail to come to terms with, 9, 12, 15, 704; need for, in support of Poland, 11-12, 704; makes pact with Germany, 13-14, 705; availability of raw materials to, 23; invades Poland, 31, 706; Hitler suspicious of, 34, 36, 143, 709; seeks adjustments of frontiers with Finland, 43-4; invades Finland, 44-7, 53; invaded by Germany, 141, 157-70; occupies Baltic States, 143; ultimatum of, to Rumania, 143; shows suspicion of German intentions, 144; asked to join Axis, 145-6; signs new treaty with Germany, 147; German plan to exploit conquered territory in, 150; warned of impending invasion, 153-4; primitiveness of, 170, 710; Japan apprehensive of, 204, 206; Japanese neutrality pact with, 206; hard pressed by Germany, 210; aircraft sent to, 231; bastion-towns held by Germany in, 241-2, 491, 493; tank production by, 245; reserves of manpower of, 257; British convoys to N., 392-3; campaign to divert German pressure from, 438, 578; liberation of, 569-80; Finland negotiates for armistice with, 577-8, 587; shuttle service of Allied bombers to and from, 577, 608; summer offensive of (1944), 578-83; refuses landing right to Allied bombers supplying Warsaw, 583; helped by strategic bombing of Germany, 606; West underestimates capacity of, 663-4; wants to take part in talks on surrender in Italy, 674; peace-seeking approaches of Japan to, 692-4; intends war with Japan, 693, 695; declares war, 696; U.S. does not want, in war against Japan, 697; central Europe opened to, 701, 713; German underestimation of reserves of, 710

Invasion of,
141, 157-70, 241-65; Hitler plans, 87, 89, 107-8, 143-56; postponement of, and Balkan campaign, 131-3, 152; deception programme to cloak, 147, 154; German Army Groups in, 148; Keitel on plan for, 149-50, 153; factors leading to failure of, 152; foreign warnings about, 153-4; space factor in, 157, 162, 264-5; mechanical factor in, 157-9; slowed down by stubborn resistance and roads of mud, 162-5, 170; disastrous pause in German advance through, 165-7, 169; halted by winter, 167-9, 241; exhausting effect of, on Germans, 241; German 1942 offensive in, is doomed to frustration, 244; failure of Germans to capture Murmansk during, 392; Germans in retreat, 477-97, 569-80