Free Double Cross in Cairo by Nigel West

to impossible to disguise, especially as it transited the Straits of Gibraltar, so the deception planners tried to divert the enemy’s attention to the eastern Mediterranean and promote the impression that the Allies intended to launch an invasion of Crete from Cyprus. This was reported by CHEESE which resulted in Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica Italiana reconnaissance flights being sent over Larnaca, Limassol and Famagusta to photograph landing craft and other preparations associated with amphibious operations. Evidently the combined evidence persuaded the Axis intelligence analysts who diverted Regina Marina surface vessels from engaging PEDESTAL , in preference to preparing for a major battle in Crete. In consequence, five of the PEDESTAL merchantmen reached their destination, including the SS
Ohio
carrying the vital aviation fuel, thus allowing Malta to survive. In David Mure’s view,
    a large detachment of the Italian fleet which had been ruthlessly blockading Malta detached itself and shot off to Crete to intercept the invasion from Cyprus and the expected threat of the Italian heavy surface forces never materialised. The result was that a high proportion of the convoy got through to Malta and enabled it to remain a thorn in the side of Rommel’s supply services. Fortunately the Italians chose to consider this scare, which may have tipped the balance in favour of the survival of Eighth Army in front of Alexandria, as a merciful deliverance enacted just in time.
    The Axis failure to eliminate the threat from Malta would have many consequences. The ability of the RAF to deploy Bristol Beaufort torpedo bombers from 39 Squadron and Wellingtons from 69 Squadron, coordinated with the submarines, proved decisive when on 30 August a relief convoy destined for Tobruk was ambushed and three vessels were sunk. Then the
San Andrea,
a tanker laden with 3,198 tons of fuel for Rommel, was sunk. Increasingly desperate, the Germansassembled another convoy of nine ships, but it too was betrayed by ULTRA and five were sunk. In these circumstances, on 1 September, the Afrika Korps began its long retreat from El Alamein, in vehicles dependent on Luftwaffe fuel, thus making air protection from Albert Kesselring impossible. Further losses meant that during the first week of October, at an absolutely critical moment in the conflict, two tankers were destroyed, and the DAK received not a drop of gas.
    During September 1942 the DAK took delivery of only 24 per cent of the 50,000 tons of supplies required each month to sustain the offensive. In that same month 33,939 tons of Axis shipping, mainly destined for Tripoli, was sunk.
    In a prelude to the main offensive, Rommel attempted, at the end of August 1942, to break through the British defences at El Alamein to reach Alexandria, Cairo, and the Suez Canal, but his plans had been compromised by ULTRA . Instead of taking Montgomery by surprise and sweeping through relatively weak lines, many of Rommel’s 203 tanks unexpectedly found themselves in a minefield sown with 18,000 mines and attacked from the air at night under the light of parachute flares. Worse, Rommel had gambled on the imminent arrival of six ships from Italy loaded with fuel and ammunition, but ULTRA had identified the vulnerability, and four of the merchantmen were found and sunk, and while the battle raged, the last two tankers, the
San Andrea
and the
Picci Fascio,
were destroyed as they approached Tobruk. After six days of intense fighting, in which the DAK lost thirty-eight tanks and 400 trucks, Rommel began to withdraw, blaming the failure on a leak from the Italians.
    By the time the British offensive at El Alamein began on 23 October, ULTRA had revealed the extent of the DAK’s plight, and on 25 October three tankers and one other merchantman were given a heavy escort and air cover, as learned from ULTRA , and another aerial ambush was prepared three days later, which resulted in the loss of three