Dark Earth Timeline Discussion

[Simon Darkshade]

Thank you kindly. I do hope to stimulate some discussion or questions with these timeline entries, as well as providing a way to add further depth and detail whilst the combination of writer’s block, work, study and health steers me away from more extended prose.

[Bernard Woolley]

November 5: Royal Space Force Space Commander Roger Blake is appointed as the new Officer Commanding, Moonbase Alpha, with the promotion coming after his renowned success in the Dreadnought expedition to Jupiter and Saturn.

Reassure me, there aren't nuclear waste dumps on the Moon in the Dark Earth TL?

November 11: An errant weather observation balloon operated by the Luftwaffe inadvertently drifts across the Iron Wall along the Neisse into Poland, with the dreadful potential to start an international incident of dire proportions avoided by it being mistaken (by virtue of its bright red colour) as a wayward asset of the GDR’s secretive Rotes Ballonkorps.

It could have been worse. There might have been 98 other errant balloons accompanying it. There might also have been bugs in the system back at a Polish military base. No need to call the troops out in a hurry, thankfully.

[Simon Darkshade]

There are no major ones on any of the three moons - Luna, Minerva or Bellona - nor are any forecast until, say, 1999. Never fear, though, as Blake and his six or seven best officers will do a stand up job in the meantime.

Even if there had been something of a worry or even a super scurry, the current state of affairs in the post Vietnam sigh of mutual relief would have lead to any pilots being ordered to identify/clarify/classify before anything further up the ladder of escalation.

[jemhouston]

When are they starting construction on Heinlein City on the Moon?

[Bernard Woolley]

Or Lunarville 7?

[Rocket J Squrriel]

Did they find any ruins on Luna located on the shores of the Sea of Serenity? Something about a legendary Moon Kingdom?

[Simon Darkshade]

Rocket J Squirrel:

No ruins per se. The relevant extracts from Space: The New Frontier are:

"At 3:24 in the morning of July 24th, 1876, Captain William Ashton bought the Victory to a smooth landing on the cold, gray surface of the Mare Serenitatis, sending his famed signal back to Earth – “At last. We are here.” After an hour of careful preparation, he stepped out onto the ladder and descended to the lunar surface, recorded for posterity by a kinesigraph operated by Sutcliffe. As he set foot upon Luna, he uttered the words that have been subsequently etched into the memory of the civilized world – “Now, by the grace of God, man walks upon a new world. I claim this territory for Her Majesty Queen Victoria and for the British Empire. God save the Queen!” He was joined in his initial explorations on the strange, dusty surface by Sutcliffe several minutes later and the pair planted a large Union flag, the photograph of which is one of the most recognizable of the 19th century. They encountered a thin yet breathable atmosphere and a bizarre landscape of rocks, craters, twisted plants and lichens. There was no immediately apparent surface water in their vicinity and any wildlife apart from insects had been frightened away by the Victory’s fiery landing.

Over the next two days, they explored the immediate surrounds of the large crater they had landed in and proceeded to collect a number of samples, take photographs and make copious notes on local wildlife, which included crustacean like creatures, giant spiders and a large, burrowing mammalian beast they dubbed a lunar mole. Every morning, the sunrise would bring with it a thawing of the surface and a proliferation of growth of blue, green and grey plants and flowers. Ashton was approached by a number of curious blue insectoid creatures who became agitated at his gesture of greeting, but fled after he fired several warning shots from his Martini-Henry. The Victory departed Luna on May 27th and landed in Egypt on May 29th, touching down close to the Great Pyramid. Both Ashton and Sutcliffe were knighted for their deeds and preparations began for a second expedition, which returned to Luna in August.

Captain Ashton was match his feat the following year, flying the Victory to the surface of Minerva and Sir Christian Alexander landed on Bellona, Earth’s smallest satellite, in March 1878. By 1880, small British field camps had been painstakingly established on all three moons, manned by volunteer troops from the Rifle Brigade, Royal Marines and Gurkhas. These were supported by the Mark I Aetheric Spaceship, which could deliver up to two dozen men and large amounts of equipment and supplies to the moons, their new design being possible thanks to the discovery of a huge cavorite deposit in British Columbia. It was a harsh existence on the farthest of imperial frontiers, but from small beginnings, greater things would grow."


"The first base stations for repeated use were established near the north poles of the moons, with the first and largest being Victoria Station on Luna, founded on April 24th, 1877. Life on the moons was fraught with the difficulties of incredible distance, the bizarre environment, the hidden dangers of the unknown and their essential isolation from the Earth. Initial travel was limited to the immediate environs of the base stations and the defence of these forts and the landing sites they contained was the primary priority of British forces on the moons. Everything about them was alien, from the weird, twisted plant life and the sharp, astringent note of the air to the haunting whisper of the lunar winds and the rippling lights that pulsed on the horizons. Until water was discovered, only small forces could be maintained, but the successful sinking of wells in June 1877 allowed an expansion of the garrisons and the beginning of lunar exploration.

Regular supply flights by the Victory and her newer sister ships Vanguard, Valiant and Voyager would arrive twice a month, loaded with food, tools, machinery and all of the equipment needed to establish civilization. Observatories, greenhouses, workshops and manufactories rose up next to the first rough barracks, fuel bunkers and and aethership gantries. The sorcerously-assisted cultivation of crops and vegetables was a difficult process and it took until 1878 for the first potatoes and wheat to be successfully grown in caverns blasted out beneath Victoria Station by the crew of agricultural druids. The weirdest source of victuals came from the strange fruit of a purple cactus, which bore a strong resemblance to green cheese in taste and texture and when dried could last for months; mooncheese, as it became known, would serve as the mainstay of space rations for many a long year.

Surveying expeditions began to strike out to explore and map the new worlds, aided by the eventual arrival of horses and specially designed arcane steam rovers, which gave considerable mobility through hills, deserts, plains and craters alike. Surface water remained elusive, but the discovery of frozen rivers and small lakes of ice in the Lunar Alps gave some hints as to the workings of this strange natural environment. Minerva had many of the attributes of her older sister, although its vegetation and plant life bore a more amethyst hue, whilst Bellona was a much more barren and rocky world with little beyond endless deserts of dust and insects above the surface. Mineral deposits of iron and copper were relatively plentiful, but more precious substances proved to be harder to locate.

The beasts of Luna and Minerva proved generally inquisitive and innocuous towards the new visitors, but some of the more monstrous fauna were rather more predatory. Swarms of large carnivorous spiders were the most common threat, closely followed by the hidden danger of the rainbow death worms that struck up from the dusty sands at unsuspecting travelers and the marauding menace of packs of bloodcurdling razor bats, which seemed like a weird coupling of the familiar flying creatures and vicious sharks. Intrepid explorers needed to be on their guard at all times and heavy repeating rifles were as necessary equipment as the heliograph and iron rations.

The most important moment came with the first encounter with intelligent moon life. The blue insectoids encountered by Ashton and Sutcliffe were discovered once again in the foothills of the Lunar Alps, herding flocks of caterpillar-like creatures. With the aid of arcane translation, the first basic communication was established between the Earthlings and the S’lentzhz, a name swiftly anglicized to Selenites. Their initial appearance turned out to be deceptive, as the external resemblance to insectoid life was in fact due to their armour, carefully fashioned from the shells of sapphire ants that were their chief prey. Their species was a primitive one, making use of tools of stone and bone, but had a long and rich history that included tales of golden creatures descending from the skies before the dawn of time. From the Selenites, the British explorers learnt of the hulking Khalkur, the mysterious nomadic Dazyar, of the curious swarming gremlins and, strangest of all, of the tribes of goblins who plagued the other denizens of Luna from their subterranean lairs. The mounting tide of evidence of some sort of ancient and unknown connection between the inhabitants of the Earth and its satellites aroused great interest from scholars and sages alike."

Bernard and Jem:

Luna has a number of towns and cities, the largest of which is Luna City (the home of Dr. Robert Goddard), a fairly international city dominated by the Americans and British, followed by Victoria Station, the oldest, Nouvelle Lyon, Copernicus, Tycho, Clavius and Novy Stalingrad.

[Belushi TD]

Ahem....

Praytell, whyfor and how does the Vatican City possess nuclear weapons?

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

Whyfor?

The world is a wicked and dangerous place, with the dangers not limited to other nation states of any ideology. The Vatican is also heavily associated with the Templars (in conjunction with the Crown of England, now the Crown of the United Kingdom etc) who act as a further force in the world; the nuclear arsenal, consisting of a pair of blessed special AA/AG/AS missiles, is kept in the underground fortress of the Vatican for special reasons, both political and otherwise.

How?

Italy is right next door and is a heavily Catholic monarchy, as are Spain and France...

[Belushi TD]

I had forgotten about the Templars being a serious political force in DE.

It amuses me to no end to know that the Vatican City has nukes!

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

Luxembourg is next to go and who knows, maybe Monaco. I guess we'll try to stay serene and calm when Alabama gets the bomb!

The proliferation of nuclear weapons is quite the concern to many, with the inherent destabilisation involved. Belgium, Mexico, Korea, Bulgaria, Portugal and Austria-Hungary all have active programmes.

[Simon Darkshade]

December
December 1: Beginning of the annual Operation Christmas Drop, with the USAF airdropping over 2 million pounds of humanitarian supplies, food and toys over the islands of Micronesia.
December 2: A hiker lost on Mount Kosciuszko is miraculously rescued by an RAAF search helicopter, after falling from a cliff due to vigourously waving at the chopper and losing his balance; he is saved by a rock catching his belt and trousers, leaving him suspended in mid air for a few precarious seconds.
December 3: Chilean Premier Allende authorises preparations for a potential military response to growing unrest regarding increasingly radical economic policies. The King is informed of the contingency measures and begins planning of his own.
December 4: British Army Crusader main battle tanks successfully penetrate the frontal armour of captured Soviet T-64 and T-68 tanks at a range of over 1.5 miles in gunnery tests on Salisbury Plain.
December 5: First journey of the experimental Auto-Train service between Virginia and Florida, the first test route of the expanded and Americanised adaption of the ‘motorail’ concept used elsewhere in the world.
December 6: Hospitals in Sofia report a rash of patients sickened by a strange grey mould that has begun to spread through the poorer areas of the city.
December 7: President Kennedy attends a solemn ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to mark the 30th anniversary of the infamous Japanese surprise air raid and later reviewing the arrayed battleships and aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet. In brief remarks later in the day, the President hails the strength and ingenuity of the United States, making pointed observations that the nation’s modern missile defences make another Pearl Harbor an impossibility.
December 8: The Illustrious Order of Scribes reports that the process of transcribing the collection of the Great Library of Alexandria onto modern computer storage is over halfway complete.
December 9: British tax receipts from North Sea oil and gas and other royalties reaches a record high for the final quarter of the year.
December 10: Former US Vice President and Secretary of State Atticus Finch is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work for international peace and diplomacy and being a driving force behind the Vietnam Armistice.
December 11: Strategic Air Command begins a revision of the Single Integrated Operational Plan to accomodate the increased number of targets in the National Strategic Target Data Base and the significantly increased US strategic nuclear warhead arsenal.
December 12: British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan arrives in Shanghai on the first leg of an official visit, seen by many as signalling a thaw in general Anglo-Chinese relations; despite this, British nuclear artillery remains on alert in Hong Kong.
December 13: A Soviet Naval Aviation Tu-100 Backfire crashes over the Caspian Sea after sending confused signals of some disturbance in the water below.
December 14: The Armee Nationale Congolaise launches a wave of offensives against rebels in Eastern Congo and moves to cut off supplies and communications to mercenary forces engaged in an increasingly tense stand off with the government in Leopoldville.
December 15: Testing begins on an experimental prototype British Army twin 2.5” SPAAG on Salisbury Plain; many officers in the Imperial General Staff have questioned the need for such a weapon, advocating instead a 42mm Gatling cannon with integrated missiles.
December 16: Five Michigan State University students and their Great Dane vacationing in a remote Tennessee cabin discover a strange Sumerian grimoire in the cellar. They wisely immediately leave the house, drive back to the main road and call the FBI, which sends in a special team of paladins and priests to recover the dangerous artifact. The youngsters and dog are rewarded with gold stars by FBI Director Dick Tracy for keeping their heads and doing the right thing.
December 17: The Committee of Imperial Defence approves plans for the moderate expansion and consolidation of British ground and air forces assigned to Mediterranean Command, the mainstay being the division of Royal Marines forward based in Malta.
December 18: President Kennedy signs the Wild Horses Act, providing for the protection and conservation of wild horses and burros on Federal land; the new law is seen as long overdue by members of the American Centaur Association.
December 19: Poisoner Graham Young is hanged at Wormwood Scrubs for the murder of his stepmother. He is followed to an appointment Mr Harry Allen at the gallows by child attacker Sidney Cooke.
December 20: The Indian princely states agree to a new formula for national defence funding that provides for credits for the greater incorporation of their own armies and air forces within those of the Union of India, settling a long and bitter dispute with New Delhi.
December 21: Swedish diplomat Gunnar Jarring is voted as Secretary General of the League of Nations by the General Assembly.
December 22: Founding of Médecins Sans Frontières, a non governmental charity for the provision of humanitarian medical aid to those beset by conflict, by a group of French physicians, journalists and wizards perturbed by the impediments to medical care they encountered in the ongoing Congo troubles.
December 23: The US Space Force behind construction of three new space battlecruisers on Minerva, seeking to expand their fleet and project power out to the riches of the Asteroid Belt.
December 24: A precocious Chicago youngster ends up stranded in New York and separated from his family on Christmas Eve. The angelic child prevents the robbery of a toy store amid other adventures, coolly delivering the coup de grace to two helpless and incapacitated robbers with a decorative tomahawk before being rewarded by the grateful store owner and police.
December 25: Children across Britain awake to special gifts from the Crown of a shiny gold sovereign, chocolate, sweets, nuts and fruit, distributed by Father Christmas under arrangement from Buckingham Palace.
December 26: Kangaroo shooters spot a blonde white women running almost skyclad (save for some strategic pelts) with a mob of kangaroos near Eucla, dubbing their discovery the ‘Nullarbor Nymph’.
December 27: British scientists begin testing of a Universal Translator capable of working with all manner of Earthly human, nonhuman and animal languages, including Southern American regional dialects.
December 28: World release of a motion picture adaption of The Hobbit, featuring some of the cast members of David Lean’s The Lord of the Rings hit trilogy, in London. Some American reviewers mistakenly label it as a sequel to the recent films, causing some confusion.
December 29: Vatican spokespriests report a breakthrough in discussions between the Holy See and the Eastern Orthodox churches, possibly heralding an end to the Great Schism.
December 30: US research wizards engaged in the Defense Department’s dimensional experiments propose the creation of a gateway or hole to the aether as a means of harnessing what is thought to be a new form of energy with possible uses in space propulsion. They imaginatively dub their postulated energy as ‘The Force’; the proposal is referred to an interdepartmental subcommittee for in depth consideration.
December 31: Japanese Prime Minister Akira Tanaka officially steps down from office for a well earned retirement of writing, kendo and bonsaiing pets. He is succeeded to the premiership by the popular Yukio Mishima.

[jemhouston]

Luxembourg is next to go and who knows, maybe Monaco. I guess we'll try to stay serene and calm when Alabama gets the bomb!

The proliferation of nuclear weapons is quite the concern to many, with the inherent destabilisation involved. Belgium, Mexico, Korea, Bulgaria, Portugal and Austria-Hungary all have active programmes.

Back in the 60s, I do remember reading some people thought large corporations would have the bomb.

[jemhouston]

December 27: British scientists begin testing of a Universal Translator capable of working with all manner of Earthly human, nonhuman and animal languages, including Southern American regional dialects.

That I will believe when I hear it. Then again, I've heard a six year old with a hard Boston accent, drove me up the wall.

[Simon Darkshade]

Large corporations aren’t quite there yet in terms of strategic interests, with the exception of the East India Company, who aren’t yet nuclear.

As for the translator, human languages are not all that different at the end of the day.

[Belushi TD]

I'm glad to hear the Michigan State students and their great dane were able to extricate themselves from the situation without resorting to snacks.

How, exactly, does one bonsai a pet?

December 19: Poisoner Graham Young is hanged at Wormwood Scrubs for the murder of his stepmother. He is followed to an appointment Mr Harry Allen at the gallows by child attacker Sidney Cooke.

Not sure how this is supposed to be read. It seems a bit confused. Fortunately, I am not piloting a Tu-100 and am in no danger of crashing.

As always, nice work and lots of fun to read.

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

Belushi,

The intrepid investigative gang managed to avoid any evil dead, thankfully.

I leave the bonsaiing of pets up to the imagination of the readers…

The paragraph in question is missing a “with” between appointment and Mr.

Thank you kindly as ever. Some notes will follow.

Simon

[Vendetta]

Have not actually found the time to read the stories yet, though I hope to at some point - but I did read through the ORBAT thread you posted over on Alternate Timelines a few years ago. I was curious if you ever completed ones for powers notably absent in that thread - Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain?

[Simon Darkshade]

1971 Notes Pt 1

January
- Saint Patrick really did drive the snakes away here, with an actual physical effect still killing serpents centuries later. Riddle's Sorcerous Supplies is run by one Tom Riddle, who was influenced into another path by a different magical education system
- The spice found in the Sahara is similar to Frank Herbert's spice melange, albeit much, much less potent and without an apparent use; the blue eyes stay. It's future? I'm not fully committed, but probably a recreational narcotic and something that people put on their chips, as it goes extremely well with fried potatoes
- The various Western air superiority fighters have characteristics based on the circumstances of their individual nations. Germany is on the frontline, so needs a plane that can get up very, very fast. Sweden is in a similar boat, but has more of an all-round/multi role emphasis. The French and British have a requirement for a bit more range so that they can both protect their airspace and fight over Central Europe, whilst Canada and the USA emphasise range and endurance even more
- The first ODI is a bit more high scoring and features some familiar names
- France putting the kybosh on any (very faint) prospects of European unit is driven in part by the Bonapartist instincts of their Premier and by the general interests of France; with a stronger postwar position, they lean more towards the de Gaullist position of the era of the Fouchet Plan and 'Europe des patries' at the very most. On top of this is the lack of the same degree of Franco-German rapprochement and the British playing funny buggers behind the scene with Austria-Hungary, the Benelux states, Italy and Scandinavia to make sure that a Big Continental Bloc doesn't emerge
- The Lake Michigan B-52 crash results in no casualties due to a more advanced ejection pod. By the by, the crew on board is larger, consisting of pilot, co-pilot, navigator, radar-navigator, EWO, WSO and two air gunners
- Sir Geoffrey Jackson's abduction is historical, but the outcome certainly isn't. The British are rather more aggressive against international terrorism in the aftermath of the 'Battle of London' and when third party countries are rather small and inconsequential, they are willing to tread on toes in order to send a broader message to Moscow
- Historically, January 71 saw the debut of Masterpiece Theater, but there really was not option other than the version with Alistair Cookie. He is somewhat more restrained and introduces conventional high brow dramas, but is given to certain flourishes of speech and the occasional devouring of his pipe
- The lower temperate comes from the larger continental mass. Rather than Rogers Pass, it is named after Jeremiah Johnson (cue the image of Robert Redford smiling and nodding)
- Rather than US oil production starting to dwindle down, it is still rising. Exports from the Middle East are quite smaller, as there are more diverse sources around the Western Hemisphere. There isn't the basis for the @ oil shock, but even if there was, there wouldn't be one
- The Cross Florida Barge Canal is built, with national defence trumping environmental concerns
- Whilst there isn't anywhere near the type of drug problem that existed in @ 1971, there is still a general disapproval of narcotics by the USG and this particular effort is driven by depriving the various revolutionary groups across Latin America from one of their sources of funding
- English Scouts and Cubs to be issued with AR-15s for the elementary training before moving onto proper rifles when they are older enough; there was something of a desire to outgun the Girl Guides and their Sterling SMGs, just in case
- The King of Sweden abdicates rather than passes away 2 years down the line, being replaced by a slightly older grandson (the @ Carl Gustaf) who has a different wife (Princess Margaret) and won't be rapidly losing his non-ceremonial roles and duties
- Soccer remains strong and popular in its heartlands, but isn't really penetrating large parts of the world; The Times is creating a bit of a mountain out of a molehill. Cricket remains a very close second and will be experiencing a very good 1970s thanks to extremely strong Australian, West Indian, South African and Indian teams. The emergence of Imperial Football/Aussie Rules as having more than a statistically insignificant profile beyond antipodean shores is a very small butterfly, but one beating its wings as fast as it bloody can.
- The North Sentinelese are forcibly bought into the modern world
- JFK's National Healthcare System/Medicare for All might be policy too far even for him, but there was quite a bit of bipartisan support in @ at this stage for somewhat similar measures
- The C-130 Hercules is retired after an honourable 18 year career, being replaced by the result of the Advanced Medium STOL Transport project, which has its roots back in a story set in 1960 (From Sea to Shining Sea) which set out the requirement for better transports and got the ball rolling
- Peter Benchley starts writing Jaws, but at the behest of shadowy English multi millionaire D.D. Denham. If the name doesn't ring a bell, type it into Google Images and have a look at the second picture that pops up. I'll just say he is from a 1973 British film...Something of an Easter Egg within an Easter Egg, even for me
- Turkey buys German weapons, making for a lot of lira going to Berlin
- Christopher Lee and Max von Sydow linking up to go vampire hunting is a bit of a set up for a potential story down the line
- Singapore joins Malta, Gibraltar, Heligoland and various other postage stamps, with a bit of a difference and inherent political issue
- In a very different development to @, Britain has kept a lot of famous ships as museum ships. Not mentioned are Warspite, Belfast and Ark Royal (the 1930s and WW2 carrier) which are on the Thames
- Stark Industries is trying to get a bit of help from Uncle Sugar

February
- OPEC is a very, very different organisation by virtue of its membership and the earlier 'opening up' of North Sea oil and gas. It bears more of a resemblance to CENTO in a certain fashion; Pactomania has never gone out of fashion
- The Post Office Savings Bank has quite a large amount of money on deposit. The encouragement of child savings has several purposes - setting up young people for the future, accruing more capital for lending and economic expansion and a general culture of thrift and savings. I've said afore that here, Britain is not squandering the revenues of North Sea oil and gas on short term politics and tax cuts, but is making sure today helps secure all the tomorrows that may come. This is another facet of that principle
- This equivalent to the RB.211 has quite a different development cycle and doesn't lead to the bankruptcy of Rolls-Royce
- The USAF and RAF helping out in transport of Moslem pilgrims is an example of OOTW that has a decent potential payoff in the long run
- Italian arrests did come from a defecting Romanian intelligence officer; Alberto Bertorelli from 'Allo, 'Allo has come a long way since the war
- Thomas Andrews did not perish on the Titanic, which is a museum ship in Liverpool, having served in both World Wars; he had a hand in designing quite a few ocean liners after 1912
- The armed robbers having their boat planted on Wall Street is of course a reference to the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve
- USN and RN cruisers lurking around Chile is a sign that the major Western players in South America aren't too pleased at the prospect of a Chilean lurch towards socialism when it entails nationalisation
- The Commonwealth Special Forces Agreement effectively creates a unified special operations command, boosting the size and capability of special forces of the smaller member nations and creating a very formidable capacity
- London's skyline remains distinctly different and traditional, rather than it becoming Westernised City #362 replete with ghastly brutalist tower blocks and later postmodernist skyscrapers. The Twelve Sisters are quite distinctly British Art Deco in their design, being something of a parallel (rather than an equivalent) to the 1950s tall buildings in Moscow
- Reagan is very much the frontrunner for the Republican candidacy, with Rockefeller's loss in '68 (even if it was an unwinnable election) putting paid to the remnant primacy of the Eastern Establishment
- Robert Zimmerman's deeds all along the watchtower were worthy of song
- The brief mention of English cricket does have some names who had already retired at this point in @, such as Ted Dexter, or in the twilight of their career, such as Cowdrey. With Boycott, Edrich, Alan Knott, John Snow, Bob Willis, Derek Underwood and a couple of original/DE players, they have a very useful team, with a young Ian Botham joining them a bit earlier than @. Tony Greig doesn't make the England side, being in the very powerful South African team and there won't be a hint of World Series Cricket
- The Turks buying Badgers isn't a sign of any great Soviet influence per se, but rather them not being able to get bombers from any other source and Moscow being extremely keen on cracking the Middle East. The reactions are interesting, as the Israelis get a very, very powerful bomber in the Vimy (the strange bastard child of a modernised version of the supersonic Valiant variant from @ and the B-1A)
- JFK goes all in for universal health care as his big domestic legacy project
- HMS Pansy is a tough little ship and the effect of her fight provides a little change to the language/everyday argot for a bit
- Lionel Crabb is still around and kicking
- George Lucas's film will be quite an interesting one and fairly different to reflect the world it comes from here
- The Vatican doesn't need the H-bomb; as mentioned, they have some interesting capabilities locked up underground
- Historically, private gold ownership in Britain at this point was very heavily regulated to the point under laws put in place by Labour in 1966 www.chards.co.uk/blog/exchange-control-act/785
- Evel Knievel jumps over 30 rather than the historical 19 cars and looks cool doing it

March
- The Martian tsunami has many flow on effects on not only the planet, but trade with Earth
- Tupamaros troubles in Uruguay continue for some time, building up to something
- India and China continue to butt heads over the North East Frontier
- The methods used to clear obstructions from the Century’s Snowstorm are a bit excessive, but reflect the opinions that arise from their availability
- Exercise Brave Defender represents the different approach to home defence and protracted conventional war
- An American mouse related company doesn’t succeed in throwing its weight around in Germany
- Frazier v Clay has a different result, with the tragic consequences overshadowing the Highlander reference at the end of the event
- The Safety Razor promotion is a slightly exaggerated version of a real life event, with added puns
- RAF Vulcan air exercises are designed to test their evolving role as ALCM/ALBM/Blue Steel stand off missile trucks, as the penetrator role is taken over by the Mach 3+ Victories and Avro 730s
- The national simultaneous school prayer is a nice way of showing the lack of a judicial prohibition on school prayer through a strict separationist view of the Establishment Clause
- Ottoman coups collapse into farce, mirroring the Marx quote
- The seeming breakthrough in US-Soviet strategic arms talks isn’t necessarily one; the US advantage is still over 2:1, with MIRVs adding more, along with a new generation of coming superheavy ICBMs. An equivalent to @ SALT is extremely hard in the face of quite larger British and French arsenals that aren’t limited to a minimal deterrent; I’m open to ideas
- The Chilean colonel trying to do a Brutus isn’t in possession of all his marbles
- Israel going for the Hurricane over the YF-16 is to some extent a case of the Empire striking back after the Phantom won the honours in the 1960s
- RFK is set up for a 1972 run, but the cycle is likely against him
- The artifacts found in Yanawayin Lake after the Peruvian landslide are very ancient indeed; the tragic occurence is a historical one
- Project Airwolf is designed to compete with the likes of the new Sopwith Camel VTOL as well as to open up new capabilities for aerial insertion of SF
- Byzantine Greece are the next big arms contract on offer after Persia and Turkey
- Austria-Hungary enters a period of parliamentary instability
- The 'rural purge' of US television shows does not occur; Skippy does get over his opium addiction
- Soviet PNEs continue at a high pace, but the number of devices required is very large
- The Jewish Legion is a strong formation that has evolved into a version of a foreign legion over the years since the World Wars
- The man who would be Tito in another world is but a successful politician here
- Japan's first fusion plant is at Fukushima, a bit of a case of future echoes
- The Duvaliers' exit stage left
- Britain's strategic position in the Indian Ocean and Far East is built upon the big bases at Suez, Aden, Trincomalee and Singapore, with supporting facilities including Gan and the Seychelles
- Xi the Bushman returns after 24 years
- Starbucks splutters and fails to expand
- Doctor Who makes a different entry to DE television, coming in an era of colour television and much better production values, not to mention being based on a real chap

[Simon Darkshade]

Have not actually found the time to read the stories yet, though I hope to at some point - but I did read through the ORBAT thread you posted over on Alternate Timelines a few years ago. I was curious if you ever completed ones for powers notably absent in that thread - Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain?

I've got bare bones ones for every nation in the world, with Italy and Spain being partway done. AH is a bit more skeletal, but still comprehendible. I'll put up an Orbat thread here, but I'm still waiting to see whether the old backup can be ported across with all the associated discussion.