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Jack is quite active on facebook, and responds to questions there. All the best Andreas

Hi Jeff I don't disagree with anything you say either. I've gone through the XXI C.A. war diary as far as I hold it and there's really nothing that immediately springs out in terms of relevant information. One would need the unit war diaries to come to an informed conclusion. Unfortunately it...

Not much to add, as it is all speculative. I do note Navarini's repeat complaint about the lack of motor vehicles in XXI. CA. here: http://rommelsriposte.com/2018/03/10/operations-of-italian-xxi-corps-in-the-western-desert-and-tripolitania-report-by-lt-gen-enea-navarini/ Given this, my starting...

I disagree with Jeff, and my assumption is that most of anything that had wheels was drawn off the units to enable supply to be brought forward. There was a substantial dumping program going on in the run-up to CRUSADER as the Axis were preparing for their own attack on 21 November...

I was just sent a ToR for bidding that required facilitating a workshop in Tripoli. Straight to the bin. All the best Andresa

Fantastic find! All the best Andreas

I'm only aware of the the USMM volume 'La lotta anti-sommergibile' by Rauber. All the best Andreas

The short explanation is that in the 1920s and early 1930s the Regia Marina was built for war with France. So countering the French light cruisers and super destroyers was a pre-occupation. So fast raids on supply traffic from France to North Africa were the name of the game. I am discussing...

There was a member (now deceased) on WW2Talk (Adm199) who was the expert on this. What exactly is the question? All the best Andreas

Jack is very active on Facebook. You can contact him there. If you don't have an account, DM me. All the best Andreas

There are official Italian reports on the situation of Libyan civilians. Regardless of whatever rosy picture they give, the short answer is, grim. The RAF bombarded population centers with not insubstantial civilian casualties (absolute numbers are low by comparison to the UK or Germany, but so...

Seriously? Kissinger's observation on academic infighting comes to mind. Enrico has published in a peer reviewed journal, and he has clearly done substantial work. The moniker 'respected' is meaningless, I am afraid. This kind of talk IMO reflects quite badly on the person doing the talking...

Someone has run machine translations of these. They are on archive.org - look for "USMM", or if you cannot find them, PM me. Note however that almost all of these predate the release of public information about ULTRA. All the best Andreas

I have no views on Enrico's conclusions as I am not an expert either way. We have communicated regularly, and I find him to be a very helpful gentleman with good contacts in the Italian navy hierarchy, and in my view conscientious when looking for evidence. He has regularly asked me to help him...

Some of the merchants also carried German guns, when it became necessary to increase anti-air firepower. https://rommelsriposte.com/2012/06/28/german-aa-armament-of-axis-merchant-vessels-26-nov-1941/ All the best Andreas

I have the book by Trizzoni, I think the guy is barking. The Germans didn't care about Trieste, they needed Ariete to move to Bir Bu Cremeisa. Ariete received the order on 4 December clearly specifying to get going that evening and to complete the move during the night, and then spent all of 5...

Sorry it didn't work out Jeff. Hopefully next time! All the best Andreas

It might help if you told us what you consider a definitive work covering a statistical approach to analysing [US/British/Japanese/Russian/German] tables of organisation and equipment for its various formations, the state of their logistics, their training and equipment use, combat performance...

My understanding is that the posts were of a standard design, and that they were constructed in the late 30s, when the strategic orientation of Italy changed towards considering the UK as a potential adversary. That's all I know about it. All the best Andreas

For 2 February, the war diary of Comando Supremo notes that convoy Urano (2 merchants going Messina - Taranto) was attacked by torpedo aircraft off Cape Colonna late in the evening of the day. Urano was hit and set aground off Punta dell'Alice north of Crotone. No news on any enemy aircraft...