Alexiades - Target Corinth Canal, 1940-1944 : Mike Cumberlege and the attempts to block the Corinth Canal

To the memory of Alex Stratoudakis
and Mike Cumberlege and his companions.

First published in Great Britain by
PEN AND SWORD MILITARY
an imprint of
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright Platon Alexiades, 2015

ISBN: 978 1 47382 756 1
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47385 955 5
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47385 954 8

The right of Platon Alexiades to be identified
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Contents

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for the assistance of:

Marcus and Maria Cumberlege

Eunice Cumberlege-Ravassat

The late Major Michael Ward OBE

Robin dArcy Ward

The late Dr Alexandros and Chrys Stratoudakis

Kostas Thoctarides

Caterina Callitsis

Rear Admiral Ioannis Maniatis (Retired)

Rear Admiral Giuliano Manzari

Ian Frazer

Professor Andr Gerolymatos

Robert Hall

Petros and Aline Haritatos

Alan Harris

George Karelas

Dr Steven Kippax

Robin Knight

Myrto and Heinz Larsen

Paul R. London

Gilbert Mangerel

Panayotis Manzaris

Jean-Pierre Misson

Alan Ogden

Bill Rudd

Ioannis Sambanis

Francis Suttill

Sir John Weston

At the Archiv Gedenkstaette-Sachsenhausen:

Monika Liebscher and Barbara Mller

At the Benaki Museum (Athens):

Maria Dimitriadou and her staff

At the British School at Athens (BSA):

Amalia Kikassis

At the Sedbergh School (Cumbria):

Katy Iliffe

At the Hellenic Naval Archives:

Rear Admiral Athanasios Panogoulos

Captain Spiridon Mimikos

Sub Lieutenant Panayotis Gerontas

Warrant Officer George Mastrogeorgiou

Staff at the National Archives (TNA, London)

Staff at the National Archives (NARA, Washington)

Staff at the Imperial War Museum (IWM, London)

At the Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare (USMM, Rome):

Capitano di vascello Francesco Loriga (Capo Ufficio Storico)

Capitano di vascello Giosu Allegrini (Capo Ufficio Storico)

Capitano di fregata Domenico Rotolo (Capo Sezione Archivio)

Capitano di fregata (Stato Maggiore) Ennio Chiffi (Capo Sezione Archivio)

Professore Marco Cormani

Franco Senatore

Rita Micheli

Romeo Perini

Primo Maresciallo Vincenzo Fiorillo (Capo Fotografo)

Staff at the Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dellesercito (Rome)

and the following individuals:

David Asprey

Andrzej Bartel ski

Yehuda Ben-Tzur

Jordi Comas

Brian Corijn

Francesco de Domenico

Theodor Dorgeist

Dimitrios Galon

Mark C. Jones

Francesco Mattesini

Bernard OConnor

Ren Stenzel

Paul H. Silverstone

Michel-Charles Tadros

My wife Viviane for her patience.

The maps are made by Robert E. Pratt

At Pen and Sword: special thanks to Henry Wilson, Richard Doherty, Matt Jones and Sylvia Menzies-Earl.

The author can be reached at:

Introduction

The making of this book came quite accidentally. During a visit at the National Archives in London, I was researching Allied submarine operations during the Second World War, when I came across a file related to an attempt to block the Corinth Canal in 1941. The operation appeared to have had some importance as there was a flurry of signals between the Admiralty, Admiral Andrew B. Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, and Rear Admiral Charles Edward Turle, the Naval Attach in Athens. The man entrusted to this mission was a Lieutenant Claude Michael Bulstrode Cumberlege of the Royal Naval Reserve. The story had nothing to do with the object of my research, but I had never heard of it before and my curiosity was aroused. The story appeared interesting but things might have stood there when, by sheer coincidence, the same afternoon I stumbled upon a file about Operation LOCKSMITH.

Allied submarines had carried out many special operations landing spies or saboteurs behind enemy lines. In their patrol reports, these operations were often described very briefly and for security purposes, even the location of the landing was omitted from their log. I began to investigate the HS series (SOE files) which contained references to some of the special operations in the hope that they would shed more light on the submarine movements. Operation LOCKSMITH was another cloak and dagger operation and its purpose was to block the Corinth Canal once again! The year was now 1943 and the team leader was none other than Lieutenant Cumberlege who was having another go at the objective, which had eluded him two years before. The story appeared to be quite an exciting one and many questions remained unanswered. By the end of the afternoon, I was hooked and embarked on a quest to elucidate the facts behind it. This book is an attempt to shed light on a complex story.

Montreal
July 2013

Prologue

Friday, 30 April 1943. On the Russian front, the Germans are still reeling from their defeat at Stalingrad and in a few days the Fhrer will discuss with his General Staff the means of redressing the situation by attacking the Kursk salient. Within a few weeks, the U-boats of Admiral Dnitz will be defeated in the Battle of the Atlantic. In the Pacific Theatre, the US Navy has been bruised at Guadalcanal but emerged victorious and the Empire of Japan is now on the defensive. Admiral Yamamoto has just been killed when his plane was ambushed by American fighter planes over Bougainville.

The war in North Africa is entering its final stage; the Allies are poised to capture Tunis, the last Axis stronghold on the continent. The tide of the war is turning. Already plans have been drawn to invade Sicily and deception operations are being carried out to draw away Axis forces by leaking that the main landings will occur in Sardinia or the west coast of the Peloponnese.