Dark Earth Timeline Discussion

[jemhouston]

William Burke and William Hare: Convicted of 16 murders, body snatching and wickedness. Burned at the stake in Edinburgh in 1828.

What would constitute wickedness? I doubt it's felony stupid, but it seems vague.

[Simon Darkshade]

An obsolete crime abolished in the 1840s on DE, and never existing on Earth, it was to witchcraft as the crime of treachery was to treason - a means of getting a conviction on a charge requiring slightly less onerous elements to be proven.

[Rocket J Squrriel]

Give AI an extra year or so, and a trailer could be generated to an even better standard than today; a full film might take a little longer.

I do mean to put together an updated list of films.

I gave the AI a shot and got something basic but the elements are there:

Create a synopsis for Conan the Barbarian, directed by John Milius and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the eponymous barbarian hero, Bruce Lee as his bold companion Subotai, Reb Brown as Fafnir, Sandahl Bergmann as the beautiful Valeria, Lynda Carter as Red Sonja, Brian Blessed as Crom/Kull, Tomasz Wiseau as the mysterious sorcerer Thoth-Amon, Max von Sydow as King Osric, Chuck Norris as Wal-Kar the Ranger, Geoffrey Bayldon as Wotan the Wanderer and Sean Connery as the wicked Thulsa Doom.

ChatGPT said:

Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Directed by John Milius
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, Bruce Lee as Subotai, Reb Brown as Fafnir, Sandahl Bergman as Valeria, Lynda Carter as Red Sonja, Brian Blessed as Crom/Kull, Tomasz Wiseau as Thoth-Amon, Max von Sydow as King Osric, Chuck Norris as Wal-Kar, Geoffrey Bayldon as Wotan the Wanderer, and Sean Connery as Thulsa Doom

In the untamed, brutal world of Hyboria, Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a young warrior with a tragic past, embarks on a perilous quest to avenge the slaughter of his village by the ruthless warlord, Thulsa Doom (Sean Connery). Thulsa Doom, a sorcerer-king with the power to control minds and an army of fanatical followers, wields the powerful Snake Cult, and his reach stretches far and wide, poisoning the land with fear and bloodshed.

Conan is joined by a group of unlikely allies: Subotai (Bruce Lee), a masterful archer and skilled martial artist; Fafnir (Reb Brown), a hulking and fiercely loyal warrior; and Valeria (Sandahl Bergman), a fierce fighter and Conan's love interest. Together, they traverse a brutal landscape, facing dangerous beasts, rival warlords, and treacherous magic.

Along the way, Conan crosses paths with Red Sonja (Lynda Carter), a fiery and independent warrior woman, who has her own vendetta against Thulsa Doom's forces. The unlikely group also seeks the counsel of the enigmatic sorcerer, Thoth-Amon (Tomasz Wiseau), whose cryptic wisdom leads them to ancient secrets that could hold the key to defeating Doom's forces. The journey leads them to the majestic, war-torn kingdom of King Osric (Max von Sydow), where they discover a plot that could change the fate of the world.

But it is Crom (Brian Blessed), the mysterious god of strength and vengeance, who watches over Conan with a gruff, omnipresent presence, blessing him with the courage to face Doom's ultimate weapon: a giant serpent that guards the gates of the dark citadel.

As Conan inches closer to his final confrontation with Thulsa Doom, he finds himself drawn into a battle not just for revenge, but for the very soul of the ancient world. Alongside allies like Wal-Kar (Chuck Norris), the stoic ranger, and Wotan (Geoffrey Bayldon), the wandering sage, Conan must rise above his primal instincts to confront the dark forces of magic and war.

The final showdown will test Conan's strength, resolve, and honor, as he challenges the twisted sorcerer and his army in a fierce clash of sword, sorcery, and blood. Will Conan’s unyielding will be enough to destroy Thulsa Doom’s reign of terror, or will Hyboria fall to the cult's all-consuming darkness?

A Visionary Epic:
Director John Milius brings his bold, atmospheric vision of Robert E. Howard's iconic character to the screen in a brutal and visually stunning tale. With Arnold Schwarzenegger as the towering, unstoppable Conan and a cast of legendary figures like Bruce Lee, Sean Connery, and Max von Sydow, this film delivers action, drama, and the fantasy spectacle that defines a classic. The combination of raw physicality, philosophical musings on fate and destiny, and memorable performances from the all-star ensemble creates a timeless epic that still captivates audiences.

[Simon Darkshade]

Ah, ChatGPT delivers its combination of ‘tantalisingly nice’ and ‘vaguery in the field’, through starting off with the 1982 film and then throwing in a lot of pseudo profound adjectives and imagery, whilst only giving the scantest of detail.

There is something there, but if you really want a plot, I’ll slap one up.

[Belushi TD]

I am particularly intrigued by the "Urdmer" case. I see what you did with the name, but what's an X classification? And why burn him at the stake within an hour of the conviciton?

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

It is from the 1947 short stories, which it seems I haven't reposted here; as I remember, the reason I was waiting was that there was some vain hope that archives from the old sites could be recovered, as that particular thread had a very large number of comments between 2015 and 2019.

Here is a link to 'House of Hell' : https://alternate-timelines.com/post/43552

Executive summary: A literally undercover Templar agent is sent to investigate a suspected devil worshipping cult in an isolated Norfolk mansion, and discovers, amongst other horrors, evidence of the ritualistic sacrifices of several victims. The house was raided as his investigatory activities came to their climax, and all of the surviving diabolists were given swift trials and burnings, very much 'in camera' and classified to heck and back.

The reason that it was classified is given in the epilogue to the short story:

It was almost dawn when the last of the remaning cultists had been hauled away in chains, the full plate and surcoats of the silently watching Templars only looking slightly incongrous next to the blue uniforms of the local policemen, the ill-fitting suits of the Security Service men and the dark Puritan garb of the acolytes of the Office of the Witchfinder General. Three other fortunate prisoners locked in the depths of the house had been taken away in one of the two ambulances present, whilst great care was taken with two shrouded litters that were carried out under Saxon’s personal direction.

“A good night’s work, Thomas.” Marshal William said quietly, as they both stared at the house.

“Nay, sir. That would have been if we could have saved the other girl. This triumph is hollow.”

“That is where you are wrong, Thomas Saxon. We live in a world of terrible cruelty, of horrors unnumbered and of evil great, small and all in between. We walk the earth for only a brief time at His will, but each blow for right and each success for goodness is a victory, no matter how it seems. That is how the world is saved. That is how we all are saved.”

“What will happen?”

“To the foolish diabolists? They will all go to the stake and burn, each and every one, Urdmer chief among them. Black magic, torture, murder, cannibalism and attempted demonic summoning does guarantee it. But it will be secret. None shall know what happened here. There have been enough tales of horror in these past years, so that the good people of these sceptered isles and the world need no more.”

“And the house?”

The Seneschal said nothing, but simply handed Thomas a burning torch. He walked forward and threw it through one of the smashed front windows of the house. Within seconds, one of the curtains was ablaze and a few minutes later, the entire place was burning.

Thomas Saxon stared at it for a long while, then turned and walked away.

A fitting end for a house of hell.

- Thus, an X classification is something even more secret than issues of national defence, which would be covered by a 'D Notice'. A X Notice or classification puts the entire event under an arcane geas, making most of the low level types involved forget all about it, and those at higher levels of knowledge and responsibility unable to speak or write about it, save to a very, very limited number of men.
- Part of the reasoning was that the country and the world had put up with enough horrors in the War, and what had been subsequently discovered

I wrote House of Hell in early 2018, as an homage to this 1980s Fighting Fantasy gamebook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Hell
It was devilishly hard, highly atmospheric, amazingly illustrated (to the mind of a 7-8 year old), full of weird Hammer Horror-esque tropes and one of the few gamebooks at the time, outside of the fairly anodyne and childish Choose Your Own Adventure series, that wasn't set in a fantasy or science fiction setting, but in some horrific version of the real world.

I changed around the name from Lord Drumer to Lord Urdmer, and ran with a very different story after the initially similar beginning. In that, I like to think it shows some of the influences upon Dark Earth, and also demonstrates how it works differently to 'our place'.

[Jotun]

Did this timeline feature the debut and subsequent development of a certain German science fiction series that started in OTL's 1961 and is still running strong today, being the most expansive science fiction epic in history? I am of course talking about Perry Rhodan, by now past 3300 print issues and 190.000 pages?

[Simon Darkshade]

I hadn’t heard of it before now, but it would exist as a work of fiction, albeit rather modified to the circumstances of the Dark Earthverse. Call it my lack of engagement with a lot of pulp science fiction.

[Jotun]

Despite the humongous scope of the Perryverse, it isn‘t exacrly well known outside of the German-speaking world, it‘s okay

[Simon Darkshade]

June 1975
June 1: President Reagan arrives in Tel Aviv for a state visit to Israel, meeting with Prime Minister Dayan to discuss a new proposed American arms sales deal, as well as being scheduled to address the Knesset and visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Royal Israeli Air Force moves to potentially make a major order for a new variant of the formidable F-15 Eagle as a long range multirole fighter, as well as acquiring several other air, sea and land weapons systems have recently raised a great deal of potential interest in Washington, which sees Israel as the best means to force open the Middle Eastern arms market.
June 2: Weather conditions across the British Isles see the fifth successive week of increasingly warm, stable conditions, with new weather control enchantments displaying marked stability. The task of balancing weather needs between agricultural preferences, sporting events, military exercises, transport concerns, public health and myriad individual requirements is carried out by a quintet of new intelligent supercomputers located in unspecified locations in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Lyonesse, and even these considerably capable platforms have proved unable to fully satisfy all Britons of the new weather arrangements to date, with old habits seemingly dying hard. On the other hand, the general arrangement of rainfall for nighttime hours has proved satisfactory to most people and has additionally had the unexpected side effect of reducing urban fires and partially reducing a number of different forms of crime.
June 3: The Department of the Army issues a study on the role of women in the United States Army, with it uncontroversially endorsing the current system, whereby females serve as nurses and as administrative and non-combat support staff through the auspices of the Women’s Army Corps. It notes that it is unlikely for women to be able to achieve the physical fitness test requirements of running 2 miles in 12:30, completing the 50 yard low crawl in 32 seconds, march 5 miles in full gear in 45 minutes, and complete a minimum of 50 push-ups, 60 sit-ups and 12 pull-ups in successive minutes.
June 4: A Conference on Space Colonisation, Manufacturing and Exploration at Princeton, attended by Dr. Robert Goddard, Dr. Henry Jones, Freeman Dyson and NASA Director-General Admiral Robert Heinlein, is opened with an expansive address by physicist and space scientist Gerald K. O’Neill on new prospects for extraplanetary colonial development in light of new breakthroughs and discoveries in the exploration of the outer Solar System.
June 5: A daring prison escape involving a helicopter landing in the prison yard of Southern Michigan Prison in Jackson, Michigan to extract habitual thief and confidence trickster Dale Remling. He is subsequently recaptured two days later by vacationing private investigator Jim Rockford at a bar in Leslie. An FBI task force on the prospect of future helicopter escapes and potential countermeasures is subsequently established in light of several similar incidents in the United States and around the world; a proposal for prisons to be equipped with pterasaurs results in the man responsible being reassigned to arboreal security on Johnson Atoll.
June 6: World premiere of Overlord, a new Anglo-American epic war film about the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 directed by David Lean and starring Harry Morgan as General Eisenhower, David Niven as Field Marshal Montgomery, Richard Burton as Winston Churchill, Ralph Bellamy as President Roosevelt, Edward Fox as Marshal Charles de Gaulle, Joseph Cotten as General Marshall, Karl Malden as General Bradley, Lyndon Brook as King George VI, Brian Blessed as Stalin, Hardy Kruger as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and Gunter Meisner as Adolf Hitler. Filmed on location in England, France and the Channel, Overlord uses innovative new arcane special effects to show the vast scale of the Allied invasion fleets of ships and aircraft, in addition to hundreds of period planes and warships, and displays the most realistic portrayal of the action, scope and cost of D-Day of any motion picture to day; some stunner reviewers state that it might well be the best war film yet made.
June 7: Opening of the inaugural Cricket World Cup organised by the Imperial Cricket Conference, in England, with matches between England and India at Lords, the United States and Canada at Old Trafford, Australia and South Africa at Headingley, the West Indies and Ceylon at The Oval, New Zealand and Rhodesia at Edgbaston, Ireland and East Africa at Bramall Lane, Prydain and New Avalon at Grace Road and Newfoundland and Scotland at Trent Bridge.
June 8: Over 2400 French Foreign Legionnaires land in Beirut on a goodwill mission to demonstrates Paris's continued commitment to the security and stability of the Principality of Lebanon. The deployment comes after several months of steadily escalating low level community tensions and violence between different minority groups in the Principality; Prince Charles considers that external forces will be better positioned to adjudicate between feuding parties than his own Christian forces, which have been labelled as inherently biased by some Moslem factions.
June 9: The Imperial German Army issues for a requirement for a replacement for the Leopard main battle tank, with Krauss Maffei, Rheinmetall, Krupp, Daimler-Benz and Hanomag invited to submit designs for consideration. Such a new tank capable of taking on the postulated Soviet armour of the 1980s presents a significant design challenge, with the precise incorporation of new emergent technologies in gun design, armour, engines and mobility promising to be an exacting task.
June 10: Brazilian soccer player Pele publicly signs a contract to join the New York Cosmos in the new National Soccer League, attracting the largest crowd to a soccer related event in New York City on record, and becoming the highest paid player in the sport’s American history. Several NSL officials comment positively on Pete’s signing, contrasting his star power with the events of last year.
June 11: Signing of the Treaty of Baghdad between Iraq and Persia, formalising the mediated agreement regarding the border between the two Near Eastern states along the Shatt-al-Arab facilitated by the British Foreign Office. It comes after months of pressure from London and Washington to come to an arrangement, with the stability of the oil rich Persian Gulf area being increasingly seen as of vital importance to Western security.
June 12: Opening of the new Grand Southern Mohammed Zahir Shāh Khan Railway in Afghanistan, running from Kabul through Tarinkot, Kandahar and Garmsir to the Persian border at Zaranj, having been completed by a conglomerate operated by the East India Company. It joins the existing Kabul-Herat line of the Grand Central Railway; construction of lines to the north of the country is still regarded as being highly complicated by the security threat posed by the Soviets across the border.
June 13: Los Angeles Mayor Richard Grayson once again defeats a move for the demolition of the Bunker Hill neighbourhood in Downtown L.A. and its replacement with an expansive series of skyscrapers, providing an extensive study by Wayne Industries into the threat of earthquakes to the city and the importance of maintaining the current 250ft cap outside of very specific zones.
June 14: Television debut of chef Keith Floyd on the BBC with Floyd on Fish, a presentation of piscine delights delivered with a unique character, interesting examinations of locations and a small handful of imbibations of the fruit of the vine. The initial episode expands at length on Britain's long love of all manner of seafood, moving aside from the popular favourites of cod, haddock, plaice, salmon and halibut to the likes of monkfish, hake, sardines, mackerel and flounder, and subtly criticises the fluffery of French grande cuisine, such as elaborate garnishes, in favour of solid, honest English fare.
June 15: A conference of paleo climatologists cautiously receives a new paper on the 'energy paradox' of the end of the last Ice Age, which postulated a series of bollide impacts, well before the suspected one that some think responsible for the fall of the Atlantean civilisation.
June 16: The expanded bounds of the Great Barrier Reef National Park are formally proclaimed, bringing a further 40,000 square miles under protection in the park, which now covers over 370,000 square miles. Even the passage of merchant ships and fishing vessels through the protected areas are subject to exacting restrictions.
June 17: A terrible sandstorm beyond any in living memory breaks out in the Mojave Desert on the border of California and Nevada, with the effects spreading out down as far as Palm Springs and, in some places, creating the appearance of darkness at noon, which leads to a most unfortunate mistake on behalf of an acutely photosensitive recluse in Indio; local residents report seeing hulking large shapes apparently passing by the outskirts of the latter town.
June 18: Strategic Air Command begins operation of a new series of underground hardened aircraft hangars for their fleets of heavy and medium bombers at five bases across the Midwest and Southern United States, as part of an experimental test of new defensive approaches in the light of developments in Soviet weapons systems.
June 19: Time Magazine carries a feature story on the ongoing popularity of drive-through restaurants in the USA, highlighting the competition between the notable hamburger chain restaurants McDonalds and Burger King, new ventures into the area from Kentucky Fried Chicken, Arby’s and Robin Hood, and future possible influences such as the world’s largest fish and chip restaurant in Sydney, Australia, and food ordering through the BT Teleview system.
June 20: The International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, negotiated through the auspices of the World Maritime Organization, enters into force after being adopted in 1970. It calls for specific measures for dealing with incidents of maritime oil pollution, by civilian commercial vessels and warships alike, sets out reporting procedures, and new frameworks for international cooperation in the event of incidents straddling national borders. It is thought that the new systems under the convention, provided that they are complied with, will provide for a significant reduction in the risk of serious oil pollution incidents.
June 21: The West Indies win the first Cricket World Cup Final over Australia at Lords in front of a crowd of over 42,000, batting first to score 8/356 , with Clive Lloyd top scoring with 102, Sir Garfield Sobers 79 not out, Viv Richards 60 and Rohan Kanhai 55, and then dismissing the Australians for 294 , with Ian Chappell making 62 and Doug Walters 54, whilst young fast bowler Michael Holding taking 5/49. Lloyd is named Man of the Match, with South African star Barry Richards awarded Man of the Series for his three sparkling centuries, whilst legendary West Indian champion Sobers retires on the highest note possible, taking the Windies to the world championship.
June 22: Bradford City Police discover the drained corpse of a heavy goods driver, identified as one Peter Sutcliffe, in a rubbish skip in a dingy alleyway. Upon examination of his effects, materials found in his nearby lorry and a cryptic note written in the remains of his blood, they come to the conclusion that the rumoured Night Stalker vampiress had claimed another deserved victim, the first on this side of the Atlantic. The Department of the Witchfinder General takes control of the case.
June 23: An American tourist in Scotland reports sighting the Loch Ness Monster, paddling through the loch and happily yipping and yawping away. The sighting causes immediate relief from the extremely concerned Scottish Office, which had been increasingly alarmed at Nessie's absence from his scheduled appearance in 1973, validating a report by Dr Angus MacToot that the variation was due to climatic changes bought on by employment of the Sunstone in 1947, itself a year where Nessie made an unexpected emergence, similar to 1848, 1763 and 1745. Whatever the cause, several truckloads of sheep and cows are immediately rushed to the lakeside, whereupon the astonishing sight of a second, smaller Nessie-like monster and what appears to be pink-hued baby monster are reported. The resultant uproar in the world press sees road, rail and air transport to Inverness immediately swamped by hoards of journalists and tourists eager for a glimpse of the 'Family Ness'.
June 24: The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports to Congress that the process of Indian termination is on track to be completed by the end of 1975, ahead of schedule, with the transfer of previous reservation land to private Native American corporations, one of the notable changes to the policy under President Kennedy, partway complete. The entire policy of Indian termination is increasingly controversial in some political circles of different ideological hues, with the putative additional burden on general welfare, education and health care systems raising eyebrows across the political spectrum, and many liberals contending that the welfare of the Indian would be better served by renewed agreements aimed at their empowerment and progress.
June 25: Release of Conan the Barbarian, a highly anticipated epic sword and sorcery adventure directed by John Milius and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the eponymous barbarian hero, Bruce Lee as his bold companion Subotai, Reb Brown as Fafnir, Sandahl Bergmann as the beautiful Valeria, Lynda Carter as Red Sonja, Brian Blessed as Crom/Kull, Tomasz Wiseau as the mysterious sorcerer Thoth-Amon, Max von Sydow as King Osric, Chuck Norris as Wal-Kar the Ranger, Geoffrey Bayldon as Wotan the Wanderer and Sean Connery as the wicked Thulsa Doom. The 179 minute film, shot in Spain, France, Sweden, Egypt and Rhodesia, has a stirring score by young composer Basil Poledouris and an array of lavish special effects and set piece battles with thousands of extras. Immediate reactions are extremely positive, with The New York Times questioning how, after Overlord and Conan, another film released this year could top them for spectacle; upon reading the review, young director George Lucas is heard to say to his lunch companion “We’ll see.”
June 26: Prime Minister Stanley Barton, in an interview with Teatime with Trecandrius on the BBC, indicates that he is in full support of the principle of equal pay for equal work for men and women, and for the practical support of this principle through legislation and a range of new pay awards negotiated between trade unions and business. This represents a significant evolution in the Prime Minister's position, with some commentators ascribing it to the increasing number of young female voters, whilst others accept his argument that it was necessary for fairness in a changing society.
June 27: The South Australian Cabinet approves a plan championed by new Premier Thomas Playford V for the establishment of two new planned metropolitan areas around the Iron Triangle and the Monarto-Murray Bridge area, and for five further new major planned cities at Monash in the Riverland, Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln, Ceduna and Hanson. It is planned to supplement the growth and expansion of Adelaide with the new satellite metropolitan areas and cities, as well as support diversified industrial growth in the regions.
June 28: The Imperial Anglo-Australian Telescope begins operations, observing several nearby star systems and areas of interstellar space under special instructions from the SETI Program, the USSF and the Royal Space Force. The telescope is one of several new installations providing revolutionary new glimpses into the wonders of space.
June 29: Assumption of full powers of domestic self governance by the Cypriot Parliament, the latest step in the progress of the Crown Colony towards a plebiscite on either integration into Britain or Dominion status, scheduled for 1984. Some separatists still back a form of union with Byzantine Greece, or 'enosis', but the ardour of the idea has dampened in the aftermath of the World Wars and the value of Cyprus as a strategic base to the British Empire, which has seen considerable settlement of British migrant support workers, administrators and entrepreneurial types around the base complexes that accommodate nearly 100,000 British and Commonwealth military personnel.
June 30: Delivery of the first 'British Soldier Care Packages' to troops deployed overseas and in the Empire, with the idea coming from a letter from a primary school class in Surrey. Schools across Britain will progressively prepare and post hundreds per month, providing a small modicum of home comforts, foodstuffs, tobacco, socks, letters and sweets for soldiers deployed away from home around the world, and joining similar packages provided by the Women's Institute, Royal British Legion, the Church of England, the Hospitallers, the Crown Estate and Britain's richest man, Sir Charles Ratcliffe.

[jemhouston]

NASA Director-General Admiral Robert Heinlein, you have no idea how big of a smiles is on my face.

[Simon Darkshade]

I can imagine the relative extent; hopefully the presence of Goddard merits something of a grin.

[jemhouston]

I can imagine the relative extent; hopefully the presence of Goddard merits something of a grin.

Nod of satisfaction

[Simon Darkshade]

British Armament Program 1975

Tanks: 4447
(250 Royalists, 500 Valiants, 150 Super Conquerors, 2587 Crusaders, 960 Chieftains)

IFVs: 4814
(3254 FV-525 Warrior, 1560 FV-432 Saxon)

APCs: 5586
(2034 Centaur IMV, 1783 Saladin AMC, 1129 Sentinel LAV, 640 MAV)

Artillery: 4820
150 3.75" Vickers Whirlwind SPAAGs, 300 42mm Marksman SPAAGs, 600 25mm Sharpshooter SPAAGs
500 25pdr GP Guns
250 36pdr SVAT Guns
1250 L24 125mm Light Guns (1000 Britain, 250 Ors)
600 L121 6" Gun-Howitzers (500 Britain, 100 Ors)
600 FV433 Abbot, 500 FV236 Archbishops, 300 FV254 Lionhearts, 120 FV287 Excalibur
250 Catapult MRLS

Missiles: 524
(24 Black Arrow MRBM, 40 Blue Streak ICBM, 80 Golden Arrow ICBM; 60 White Knight, 40 Gold Crown, 40 Black Prince, 120 Blue Water, 120 Lance)

SAMs: 3600
(1840 Broadsword, 320 Blue Envoy (export), 480 Blue Envoy; 480 PT.428 Rapier SAMs, 480 EG.324 Sabre SAMs)

MANPADs: 2400
2400 Vickers Skyflash

ATGMs: 9200
2000 Hawker-Siddeley Javelins, 2400 Fairey Swingfires, 4800 Shorts Green Apples

Vehicles: 100000
(20000 Bedford MK 5t lorry, 10000 Leyland Ranger 5t 6x6 lorry, 5000 AEC Majestic 20t 8x8 lorry, 5000 Leyland Martian 10t 6x6 artillery tractor, 5000 Alvis Stalwart 10t 8x8 lorry, 30,000 Land Rovers, 2500 Humber Pigs, 2500 Scammell Commanders, 20000 Austin Champions)

Mortars: 2390
(2000 L13 2.5", 1640 L16 3.5", 300 L18 3.75" Automatic, 360 L12 4.5")

Small Arms
(256,793 L1A2 battle rifles, 196,352 L2A4 assault rifles, 87,429 L10 pistols, 125,664 L10A1 submachine guns, 45,261 L4 LMGs, 25,337 L6 GPMGs, 10,865 L12 HMGs, 2555 Maxim Guns)

Military Aircraft: 5392

Vickers (908)
140 Vickers Thunderbolts (60 RAF, Chile 30, Argentina 32, Greece 24)
40 Vickers Vimy (40 RAF)
120 Supermarine Eagle TSR-2s (40 RAF, 40 India, 40 USA)
364 Supermarine Spitfires
12 Supermarine Victorys
120 Westland Tigers
64 Westland Sea Kings
48 Westland Westminsters

de Havilland (822)
440 de Havilland Tornadoes (120 Britain, 120 Argentina, 80 Commonwealth, 80 Ors, 40 Benelux)
200 de Havilland Vanguard II (200 RN)
20 de Havilland DH.125 Jet Dragons
60 Handley-Page Vengeances (60 RAF)
20 Shorts Valentine (Paraguay)
32 Shorts Belfast Mark III
50 Percival Lynx

Armstrong-Whitworth (942)
12 Armstrong-Whitworth Solaris
20 Armstrong-Whitworth Warspite
30 Armstrong-Whitworth AW.249 AEW
240 Armstrong-Whitworth Warrior
120 Gloster Lions (120 RAuxAF)
80 Gloster P.462 Reaper (80 Persia)
240 Fairey Fireflies
120 Fairey Rotodynes
80 Fairey Swordfish ASW

Hawker-Siddeley (976)
250 Hawker-Siddeley Hawks (250 RAF)
320 Hawker-Siddeley Hurricanes
120 Sopwith Camels
30 Hawker Siddeley HS.681 Skyblazers
200 Blackburn Buccaneers (100 RAF, 40 India, 40 Argentina, 20 Greece)
40 Avro Vulcans
16 Avro Vindicators

BAC/Bristol (884)
24 Bristol Buckinghams
60 Bristol Bulldogs
60 Bristol Strikemaster (40 RIAF, 20 RRAF)
200 Bristol Rovers
240 English Electric Super Lightnings (240 RAF)
240 English Electric Scimitars
60 Folland-Miles Wasps

Royal Aircraft Factory (862)
156 Hawker-Siddeley Hurricanes
154 English Electric Super Lightings
138 de Havilland Tornadoes
162 Fairey Fireflies
132 Royal Aircraft Factory F-111s
120 Hawker-Siddeley Hawks

[Belushi TD]

Agreed about Heinlein. But only if he's able to write in his spare time!

However, the guy who was placed in charge of Arboreal Security on Johnson atoll actually made me laugh out loud.

Also - The armaments program. Is this what they are projected to purchase this year, or during the decade? Or what's on hand?

Belushi TD

Edited for spelling and clarity

[Simon Darkshade]

Belushi,

1.) He has a fair bit of spare time, dividing it between Luna City or in Houston.

2.) The arboreal security assignment, as well as being an American counterpart to the old Russian saying of 'counting trees' for Siberian exiles, demonstrates that the idea of flying dinosaurs around prisons is a bit too much for some; they draw the line at giant short-faced bears, which are far more efficient, albeit not against helicopters.

3.) The armaments procurement is the new orders to be made in the 1975/76 year; on occasion, they have fallen short of those objectives, but that happens less often. The number includes aircraft being upgraded or substantially modified above and beyond what would be classed as ordinary servicing and maintenance; the increased capacity has come after a full decade of modernisation, investment, expansion of existing facilities and overhaul/rebuilding of older ones.

Looking ahead, this year is probably the peak of a number of procurement lines, as stockpiles reach appointed targets set back in the early 1960s, which were increased (as in the USA and elsewhere) on account of Vietnam. This isn't to say that there will be a decline down to historical American production capacity of the 1980s (120 M1A1 per month from Lima and at least 40 from Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant for 1920 from ~ 1.25 factories vs the current DE British maximum capacityof 64 per month from each of the Royal Tank Factories in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield and 48 per month from Leyland, or 3648 from 4.75), as the former American number was likely not the absolute maximum rate that *could potentially* be achieved, with DATP fully modernised and employed.

(As an aside, I do have an outline of US armaments capacity similar to the earlier British one that I'm working on, but it is just waiting for that fabled occurrence of a day off and a clear run at writing without distraction. For example, the US has not 2, but 5 tank plants - Detroit and Lima in Michigan and Ohio, but also Springfield, IN, Rome, IL and Waco, TX , with the Springfield in question being that city - and thus has a lot of slack between her current and potential production numbers.)

So, looking ahead, small arms, mortar, field artillery and unarmoured vehicles are right on the cusp of 'requirements met', plus tanks, APCs, LAVs and the MAVs (effectively wheeled assault guns/tank destroyers akin to the Centauro), meaning that a lot of production will either focus on export, be retooled to work on tracked IFVs, wheeled IMVs and Armoured Mobile Carriers and SP 152mm artillery, or produce variant vehicles.

This won't make for a huge drop in the procurement budget, much to the chagrin of any Treasury types with pipe dreams of savings, as the cost for all types of equipment and particularly guided missiles is going through one of its big 'jump periods'. These historically occurred in the mid 1950s, mid 1960s, mid 1970s and mid 1980s, roughly speaking, and (again roughly) sort of aligning with generations of sensors/electronics and all the systems behind the systems. The first 'jump period' put paid to Britain's attempt to keep up with the superpowers and was one of the precursors to the 1957 Defence White Paper, whilst the second coincided with mounting fiscal pressures that lead to the withdrawal East of Suez and various other contractions of capacity. The third saw the origins of the big US weapons systems of the Reagan era build up, and the fourth in the 1980s was what finally put a stake through the heart of the Soviets. Some very interesting reading on the matter can be found in 'Britain and the Economic Problem of the Cold War'.

Simon

[Jotun]

Connery as Thulsa Doom? "Shteel ishn't shtrong, my boy. Flesh ish shtronger. What ish a shword compared to zhe hand zhat wieldsh it?"? Sorry...but I can't...

[Simon Darkshade]

Whilst there is capacity to alter voices and accents, which accounts for Arnold Schwarzenegger's flawless RP accent in some of his Shakespearian roles, I like to think that Connery declines to use it or have it added to film roles postproduction.

That said, our memories of his accent are perhaps more coloured by his roles later in life, when he did put less of an effort into putting on slightly different voices, and just used his plain Scottish brogue for every occasion; earlier on, such as in his first Bond films, there was more of a neutral character to a lot of his speech.

[Simon Darkshade]

June 1975 Notes

- Reagan's visit to Israel is driven, in no small part, by the combination of diplomatic works and arms sales discussions, with the RIAF increasingly diversifying its aircraft supply. In terms of designs for long range strike fighters, there isn't a lot around from Western nations, with there being the proposed F-15 variant, a French proposal built around the Mirage 4000, and potentially the Commonwealth successor to the Avro Arrow
- Historically, June 2nd 1975 saw snow showers across various parts of England, followed by a heatwave several days later. This stable, mild weather then serves as a contrast to that, and as a bit of foreshadowing that there will be no heatwave Summer of '76 next year. The note about the supercomputers being unable to suggest weather patterns which make absolutely everyone happy is a bit of a comment on the human condition, as well as an offhand reference to such computers learning through games where the only winning move is not to play
- US Army Physical Fitness Test standards remain at a quite high level, with the cited numbers being for the 17-25 age bracket, and are one of several factors which make any change to policy regarding women serving in roles other than non-combat support rather unlikely for the next few decades, as well as different social mores, the lack of certain legal cases and subsequent changes, and the reasonably strong manpower supply of a drafted army
- O'Neill's conference, as well as having some illustrious attendees, will see some interesting discussion on potential habitation technologies and materials for use in some very long term projects
- Jim Rockford recaptures the helicopter escapee without much fuss; the new arboreal security manager on Johnston Atoll, in between counting palm trees, somewhat regrets his advocacy for his friend's flying lizard business
- Overlord makes Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day and My Way seem like McHale's Navy in comparison and scale; consider the bombardment scenes in Flags of Our Fathers, and then extend that out to more than a few brief seconds, then apply it to the scope of the air forces and the naval operation. It provides sequences on all of the beaches (Arizona, Montana, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Silver, Juno, Sword and Shield
From earlier works: "The 1st United States Army (6 assault divisions) landed between Valognes on the Cotentin Peninsula and Bayeux. The 2nd British Army (5 divisions) landed between Bayeux and Deauville in Normandy. The 2nd French Infantry Division landed near Bayeux, and were to advance to liberate the town, supported by Canadian and French airborne forces. Six British, Canadian, French and American airborne divisions were dropped to secure the flanks of the advance and at Bayeux to secure this key linking point of the Allied assault. Finally, the Royal Marines were to land forces on either side of Cherbourg, supported by reinforced brigades of the Royal Canadian Marines and French Foreign Legion and pin down the German garrison in conjunction with the Allied navies."
- The Cricket World Cup has a fair few more nations taking part; I'll do up a post of results for posterity's sake, and to confound the understanding of any American readers
- Ze Germans start development of what will be a very different Leopard II equivalent
- Pele's signing is the biggest thing to happen to soccer in America; further developments will follow...
- Afghanistan has a much larger rail network, befitting its place as a small modernising quasi-kingdom; said network avoids the Soviet border to make life potentially more difficult for them
- The Mayor of Los Angeles, an, ahem, long-time associate of Bruce Wayne, displays a bit of wisdom in not caving into developers eager for a host of ugly skyscrapers all over the place
- Floyd makes his TV debut, with a slightly different tone and message than that of 1985 in @, reflecting different fish consumption patterns in DE Britain and a less debased cuisine
- Digging into the past can sometimes find things that one does not expect
- Some things took advantage of the sandstorm to creep into or out of the Mojave
- SAC's underground hangars are expensive, not proof against nuclear weapons and difficult engineering challenges, but were pursued as a result of still having a strong strategic bomber fleet
- KFC has drivethrough restaurants in the USA, as well as some other real and fictional chains; the BT Teleview system is a more advanced version of the French Minitel
- Greater precautions against oil spills are driven by some divinations and by common sense
- The Windies win a higher scoring WC Final, with Sobers playing in a very strong team; some cricket-conscious readers may see some earlier debuts and different players from certain nations
- The Night Stalker gets Peter Sutcliffe, and there isn't a huge amount of mourning on either side of the fourth wall
- Nessie emerges later than scheduled, but with a mate and an apparent baby; Angus MacToot is a character from the 1980s British cartoon series The Family Ness
- Indian termination clatters towards its conclusion, with some now starting to see the downside of the policy
- Conan the Barbarian is quite the picture, and one of several films that coin the term 'summer blockbuster'
- Barton's position on equal pay is driven by both principle and practical politics
- South Australian city development, as well as being one of my little local flourishes, does come from the real pressures of a larger population in a state without a real second city, or even significantly large towns at this point
- Cyprus has a choice coming up in the future; note the absence of any Turkish role or threat, which does come from a different power balance and borders. The base complex is very large
- Soldier Care Packages are a small but welcome gesture

[Belushi TD]

Connery as Thulsa Doom? "Shteel ishn't shtrong, my boy. Flesh ish shtronger. What ish a shword compared to zhe hand zhat wieldsh it?"? Sorry...but I can't...

Verify the strength of his flesh. One stab only.


Belushi TD