Thank you chaps.
The value of being able to do administrative landings from unmolested ports is that it allows a far swifter build up of men, equipment and supplies. However, we are still talking about a lot of men, a lot of equipment and a lot of supplies. Historically, Cherbourg could handle ~800 tons a day in peacetime, but was built up to 25,000t/day by the end of September 1944 (https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital ... 8/id/4360/), which gives us a figure of 3 months for the reconstruction and expansion process after German demolitions, which did not occur here.
This figure of 25,000 is significant, as the expected requirement for 37 Allied divisions was 26,000t. Extrapolated upwards, the British Liberation Army/British Expeditionary Force will need ~56,216 tons per day at a minimum. Cherbourg, Brest, Le Havre, Lorient, Saint Malo and Saint Nazaire together will allow for sufficient in flow of supplies, when fully improved, with the caveat that the French railway network is also a logistical bottleneck, necessitating a lot of road transport. Additionally, usage of a significant fraction of the limited skyship fleet (5 out of 29) can allow for daily delivery of ~25,000t to inland supply bases that bypass the bottleneck of the ports from D+3/June 19th.
Full air supremacy can be effectively guaranteed, given the disparity in numbers and technology, so there isn't a serious aerial interdiction threat.
Some limited counterattacks will take place along an expanding perimeter whilst supplies are built up over the first weeks, but the primary means of stopping the Germans will be through letting loose tacair over France. The French in the south will be able to stabilise along the Loire once German logistics get butchered, followed by a fair whack of an advance from Brittany/Normandy to Dunkirk-Sedan by two dozen British armoured and mechanised divisions.
The enemy: Army Group B with 47 divisions of 4th, 6th and 9th Armys and Panzer Group Kleist. Army Group A is engaged in the potentially threatening task of cutting off the French forces on the Maginot Line, but they will be starting to react at this point, even two days after the PoD. Jerry wasn't stupid or a pushover at this stage by any stretch of the imagination, so will not simply continue on their @ behaviour. Their weak link is the Luftwaffe, which took some heavy losses in the Battle of France and is about to take a whole lot more up against a technologically superior RAF that outnumbers them 10:1 in fighters and 7.3:1 in bombers. Even taking into account the smaller than expected/smaller than claimed losses of German ground forces to tacair over Normandy, this is a different paradigm that will yield different results.
Fall and Rise: An ISOT
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
I am going to include one other little segment in this part where advancing British special forces employ a terrible secret weapon against the Germans.
Joke warfare.
Joke warfare.
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Bernard Woolley
- Posts: 693
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 4:06 pm
- Location: Earth
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
The world’s funniest and most deadly joke?
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer?
Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
Sorry if I have inadvertently killed any passing German readers.
Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
Sorry if I have inadvertently killed any passing German readers.
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Version 1.1 (Some change of timing and the order of some bits and pieces, plus rebadging and collating)
Prologue
June 14 1940
Paris had fallen.
The City of Light was now under the Nazi jackboot and the armies of France collapsed inexorably to the south, streaming away towards defeat and whatever was then to come.
Yet, as the triumphant soldiers of the Wehrmacht goosestepped through the Arc de Triomphe, a curious occurrence happened.
In the West, there was a bright flash out on the horizon and a brief rumble like very distant thunder.
Strange.
It was probably nothing, though, thought Leutnant Verausdeutung. Probably just nothing.
But he was wrong.
………………
“What do you mean a new island? Have you lost your mind, Pluskat?”
…………
“Oberst Sündenbock, these reports have been very confused. What can you give me?” General der Flieger Hugo Sperrle adjusted his monocle and fixed an inquisitive stare on the colonel from Luftwaffe intelligence.
”More confusion, Herr General, or rather nothing that makes sense. Firstly, our fighter patrols over the Calais area report English planes of unknown types and frankly incredible speeds of 1000 kilometres an hour, as well as what seem to be Spitfires, also faster than previous experience. Secondly, our own airfields in Northern France have be overflown by other unknown twin engine aircraft, some at low level and unprecedented speeds and others…at 14000 metres. As said, frankly incredible.”
”So, the English have some aeroplanes we do not know about. No Great matter.”
”On their own, perhaps, Herr General. The third and fourth matters are a bit more disturbing.”
”In what way?”
”After the Calais incidents, a schwarm of our Ju-88s was assigned to conduct a reconnaissance flight. One made it back, reporting having encountered up to a hundred English planes, none of which seemed to have propellers or ordinary engines. The RAF let them go; there was no pursuit.”
”And what of this fourth matter?”
”An unconfirmed piece from the Kriegsmarine, Herr General. One of their U-Boats sighted a Tommy battleship coming down from the north near Scarborough.”
”Why didn’t they sink it?”
”Going too fast, apparently. And…”
”And what?”
”It was the size of the Queen Mary."
……………….
”What do you mean, giant zeppelins? Have you been drinking, Leutnant?”
……………….
“This is the second pilot I’ve had to relieve today, Herr Oberst. Yes, complete hysteria, the both of them. He was shouting about dragons of all things as they drove him away. Mad, I tell you!”
………………….
“General Brooke? Telephone call for you from London. In Hindustani.”
”Again? General Dill?”
”Field Marshal Ironside, it would seem.”
Strange.
”Very well.”
…………….
”Marshal Weygand.”
”General. Your message was quite insistent, but I am afraid there is nothing further that we can discuss so soon; much needs to be done to ensure that an armistice can be secured.”
”I can quite understand, Marshal. I have just spoken with…my superiors…in London. The circumstances have changed. Somewhat.”
”I think you had better explain.”
And so he did.
………………
”What forces do we have available, Field Marshal?”
”Insofar as the Army is concerned, aside those units outside the British Isles which have no yet made contact, we have 43 British infantry, 17 armoured and 4 airborne divisions; 10 Canadian infantry, 4 armoured and 1 airborne; the 3 Australian infantry and 2 armoured and the 2 New Zealand infantry; 3 South African, 1 Rhodesian and 4 Indian divisions. Out of all the exiles, we only have the two Polish corps.”
”None of the French or Americans.”
”We can state with certainty now that none of their men have come with us, nor their own equipment. Our stocks of American weapons are still present, and, with the build up for Overlord next year, we have the capacity to equip further forces as we can raise them.”
“It will depend on France. In any event, we’ll get General Brooke and his men back; I’m sure he’ll be very interested to meet you.”
“Very droll, Prime Minister.”
“Now, Admiral Pound, can you confirm the better news regarding the Navy?”
”Yes, Prime Minister. All the major overseas fleets have now made contact - Somerville from the Med, Fraser and the Atlantic Fleet, Mountbatten and the East Indies Fleet and Cunningham with the Grand Fleet. They are all as confused as we are as to what is going on. We have also established communications with the other Navy - one of their carriers was stopped as it was coming in towards Scapa. They are…different…”
”What isn’t, Admiral?”
Part 1
0130 June 15 1940
"All of them?"
"That is our belief at this time, Prime Minister. We now have communications with all major overseas units of the Army and RAF, relocated to vacant American bases over the course of the afternoon."
"Thank you, General. Continue with the process of taking stock of the 'newly arrived' forces and equipment in conjunction with your staff. Goodbye."
He turned to the Minister of Magic, who had arrived from Oxford in the rush and confusion of the previous day. "That does tend to settle the matter, does it not, Professor?"
"It would, Prime Minister, insofar as it indicates that whatever has occurred is definitely not natural. Whether or not is supernatural, arcane or something else remains to be seen; we can say definitively that this is beyond our ken and certainly the ability of our foes. It will be many days yet before our wizards can provide more than that."
"Very good, Professor. Carry on then and we shall keep as calm as we can in the knowledge that this is not some more devilish tricks bought forth by the Hitler and his demonic Nazi gang."
Prime Minister Churchill put down his long extinguished Montecristo and looked up at the War Cabinet arrayed around the table. On his right was Minister of War Sir Richard Harcourt, representing the Liberal Party; Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden; the redoubtable Sir John Anderson, Lord President, Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security; Lord Hankey; Minister of Production Lord Beaverbrook; Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin; Cabinet Secretary Sir Edward Bridges; Lord Privy Seal Sir Austen Chamberlain; Deputy Prime Minister Sir Clement Attlee; Chief of the Imperial General Staff Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke; Chief of the Air Staff Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Hugh Dowding; and First Sea Lord Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Fisher.
"Well, gentlemen, this is what we know. We have gone from September 1943 to what for all intents and purposes appears to be June of 1940, through an act beyond our understanding that may well turn out to be divine providence. Where there was a world at war, we are now at the very beginning of the long and terrible struggle; yet, by virtue of our years of fighting and production, we can muster forces far beyond the dreams of Hitler and Mussolini in their seeming pomp of victory. There is a great deal of confusion still as to the nature of this war we have been placed into, as our initial reconnoitering and intercepts of enemy broadcasts show a very different world indeed. Norway is effectively lost to Germany and France soon to follow. We shall continue in our efforts to divine what those differences are, as well as make use of conventional means; I have sent a pair of urgent flights to our embassies in Switzerland and Portugal for whatever histories, news and other archives, particularly from the League, that can be sent here for our examination and digestion. The time for consideration, though, is subject to the needs of the war and in many respects, we need action this day. Field Marshal Brooke?"
"Thank you, Prime Minister. We have been in contact with senior British personnel in France to assess the situation and it is, for want of a better word, dire. The French government is on the brink of collapse and asking the Germans for an armistice, pushed by strongly defeatist factions in their Army. Should they succeed and France sue for peace, then we are deprived of our most direct means of engaging and defeating the German Army. We do not have firm intelligence on the size or armament of the enemy at this time other than general figures - 150 divisions and over 3 millions of men, several thousand tanks and over 5000 aircraft. Overall, the balance of forces lies in our favour as, although the Germans can deploy more divisions than us, we have more men and a great preponderance of equipment; in the last instance, our weapons can reasonably be presumed to be more modern than those of Germany three years ago. In any event, if France surrenders, we would then be forced to invade to bring them to battle and to do so without the ships and landing craft supplied by the Americans. Overlord was at least 9 months away and we do not currently have the ships to launch a full scale assault on France with the British and Imperial forces now present at home.
We are currently working on an emergency landing operation based on a partial amalgam of Sledgehammer from last year and limited elements of Overlord, aimed at Brittany and Normandy. Whilst we considered the Pas de Calais, the damage done to the ports there during the fighting in France and evacuation makes them unsuitable to be used for our purposes. Our new plan, and I must reinforce that it is a work in progress, calls for an assault by three divisions, supported by two airborne divisions and large air and sea forces, aimed at seizing Britanny and the Cotentin Peninsula to build up our forces. Our window for such an operation is fairly narrow, encompassing approximately a month from mid July to mid August. For the time being, and as a deceptive measure, it has been designated Operation Sealion. Before we can land troops, though, the main blow that falls upon the enemy must come from the air."
"As matters currently stand, we have sufficient forces to engage this Luftwaffe on quite advantageous terms and defeat them." Dowding said evenly. "In our medium and heavy bomber forces, we have long range striking weapons that the Germans presumably cannot match; our current tactical reconnaissance missions tend to confirm this state of affairs, with no evidence of jet aircraft whatsoever. Regaining air supremacy over Northern France is achievable, but any fighter campaign needs to be accompanied by strategic interdiction of enemy supplies and attacks on their production. When the order is given, we can attack the German Army in France and the Low Countries and give the Luftwaffe the nastiest surprise they have ever encountered."
"Indeed. That we can deal the Nazis a blow is undoubtable, but we must make our moves carefully so that they have maximum effect. To that end, the first targets that the RAF must hit need to be those that hurt the Germans the most, both in terms of how they fight and where they fight. Before we hammer the Ruhr or their U-Boat ports, let us show what can be done. Air Chief Marshal, have Bomber Command attack the dams as soon as possible; the first order of priority is Berlin. Maximum effort. Shifting to the sea, the Grand Fleet has already been ordered to head for home - once in the Mediterranean, they will put paid to Mussolini's fleet and ambitions. Admiral Mountbatten is to take control of the 10 older battleships at Singapore to dissuade the Japanese from any rash steps. The other urgent task that we are capable of accomplishing is putting the Home Fleet to sea and attacking the Germans in Norway; RNAS reconnaissance flights indicate that Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Admiral Hipper are all in Norwegian waters. To that end, Admiral Tovey sailed last night."
"We are quite confident that his 8 carriers, 12 battleships, 25 cruisers and 60 destroyers will be able to do the job, Prime Minister." said the First Sea Lord. "Actually liberating Norway will be somewhat more complex, but brute force has a virtue of its own in this situation."
........................
“Circumspection. Simple as that, my dear Winston.”
“Pray expand, Richard. Expand as to why, when God gives us an opportunity, we should not seize it?”
Harcourt gave a tiny internal sigh at Churchill’s mercurial nature. This was not the first time that he or Brooke had sought to curb the Prime Minister’s instincts, with varying degrees of success.
“It has been around 36 hours since our arrival, if I can put it that way. We have at best partial intelligence on not only the Germans but the world at large that we find ourselves in. Now that our relative position with regard to air and land forces is established, do we necessarily lose anything by not committing ourselves to immediate general offensive action?”
“I would tend to concur, Prime Minister. Whilst we can launch an offensive into France, the longer we take to prepare it, the more our likelihood of total success. Our window for a cross-Channel invasion, if it comes to it, extends to mid September, just as the German one did back in 1940…well, our 1940. Even then, we would be dealing with a number of unknown variables, ranging from the weather to the French. We’ve spent a year and a half planning and preparing Overlord and we still had another 9 months yet to go.” said Brooke.
“We are not going to leave Europe to the mercy of Nazi tyranny for that long. We are delivered here to provide for a much swifter end to this war and their bloody murder.”
“That isn’t what I’d suggest at all, Winston. I’m all for action this day as much as you, but it depends on what action. If we shift our immediate steps to the periphery, as it were, then we keep the vast part of our strengths and options open. Every week that goes by makes us stronger, after all. We went through the production plans back in August; this month, we will add 480 tanks, all of them the new Super Crusader, at least 1200 carriers and 1000 guns, not to mention 7 new destroyers, 500 Spitfires, 250 rockets and 6 LSTs.”
“The last are what we really need, Prime Minister - not just LSTs, but all manner of landing craft as well. We’ve got what we had here at home, but we are now without not just the production from the United States, but also Canada. Whilst I cannot say it conclusively until we have more intelligence on the numbers and equipment of this Germany, I am fairly sure that we can outproduce them in every major category of military equipment for the rest of the year, cementing our advantage.”
“If not France, then where?”
“Two places: Norway and Egypt. In Norway, we can maul their fleet, as we discussed earlier, whilst having a relatively nearby combat theatre in which to gauge Jerry’s capabilities. In Egypt, we can wrap up Italian North Africa before the end of autumn.” Harcourt stabbed at the map with his pencil to emphasise each point.
“Very well. Unless Ironside’s mission to the French encounters some dramatic success on the morrow, we can work towards that basis. Whatever their decision, we will start hitting the Germans from the air, including letting Harris loose on Berlin. That will be a quite decisive factor that will show that, far from being stricken by the looming collapse of our ally, we are prepared to fight and win. To that end, have the Dover Guns begin firing across the Channel and have the BBC include a piece on the Grand Fleet heading back to us.”
Harcourt smiled. “I quite agree, Prime Minister. It is about sending a message.”
“Speaking of which, I have a cable to dictate to President Roosevelt before bed. That will be a rather interesting endeavour.”
………………….
“This is London calling in the overseas service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Here is the news. The main force of the Grand Fleet under Admiral Cunningham has been ordered home from the Far East, with 27 battleships, 60 aircraft carriers, 72 cruisers and 214 destroyers and escorts already underway; Admiral Mountbatten is to remain at Singapore with ten older 18” capital ships. The Prime Minister, Mr Churchill, has called upon Italy and Germany to surrender whilst they still can and that it was only a matter of time until all of conquered Europe would be liberated. Morning has come.”
…………..
Washington D.C.
President Franklin Roosevelt took a drag from his cigarette holder and then exhaled, just a tad more forcefully than usual.
“Do you have any idea what the British are playing at, Admiral?”
“Mr. President, short of them going completely mad, the only possible explanation is propaganda, but this frankly does seem to be of the most transparent kind possible. I can’t see who they are trying to fool, lying like this.”
“Perhaps it is something to do with the confusion of the last day or so and the French being on the brink of surrender.”
“Yes, Mr. President. Whatever it is, it will soon become clear.”
…………………
Admiral Yamamoto sat and thought. Surely, this could not be true in any way.
The alternative did not even bear thinking about.
Prologue
June 14 1940
Paris had fallen.
The City of Light was now under the Nazi jackboot and the armies of France collapsed inexorably to the south, streaming away towards defeat and whatever was then to come.
Yet, as the triumphant soldiers of the Wehrmacht goosestepped through the Arc de Triomphe, a curious occurrence happened.
In the West, there was a bright flash out on the horizon and a brief rumble like very distant thunder.
Strange.
It was probably nothing, though, thought Leutnant Verausdeutung. Probably just nothing.
But he was wrong.
………………
“What do you mean a new island? Have you lost your mind, Pluskat?”
…………
“Oberst Sündenbock, these reports have been very confused. What can you give me?” General der Flieger Hugo Sperrle adjusted his monocle and fixed an inquisitive stare on the colonel from Luftwaffe intelligence.
”More confusion, Herr General, or rather nothing that makes sense. Firstly, our fighter patrols over the Calais area report English planes of unknown types and frankly incredible speeds of 1000 kilometres an hour, as well as what seem to be Spitfires, also faster than previous experience. Secondly, our own airfields in Northern France have be overflown by other unknown twin engine aircraft, some at low level and unprecedented speeds and others…at 14000 metres. As said, frankly incredible.”
”So, the English have some aeroplanes we do not know about. No Great matter.”
”On their own, perhaps, Herr General. The third and fourth matters are a bit more disturbing.”
”In what way?”
”After the Calais incidents, a schwarm of our Ju-88s was assigned to conduct a reconnaissance flight. One made it back, reporting having encountered up to a hundred English planes, none of which seemed to have propellers or ordinary engines. The RAF let them go; there was no pursuit.”
”And what of this fourth matter?”
”An unconfirmed piece from the Kriegsmarine, Herr General. One of their U-Boats sighted a Tommy battleship coming down from the north near Scarborough.”
”Why didn’t they sink it?”
”Going too fast, apparently. And…”
”And what?”
”It was the size of the Queen Mary."
……………….
”What do you mean, giant zeppelins? Have you been drinking, Leutnant?”
……………….
“This is the second pilot I’ve had to relieve today, Herr Oberst. Yes, complete hysteria, the both of them. He was shouting about dragons of all things as they drove him away. Mad, I tell you!”
………………….
“General Brooke? Telephone call for you from London. In Hindustani.”
”Again? General Dill?”
”Field Marshal Ironside, it would seem.”
Strange.
”Very well.”
…………….
”Marshal Weygand.”
”General. Your message was quite insistent, but I am afraid there is nothing further that we can discuss so soon; much needs to be done to ensure that an armistice can be secured.”
”I can quite understand, Marshal. I have just spoken with…my superiors…in London. The circumstances have changed. Somewhat.”
”I think you had better explain.”
And so he did.
………………
”What forces do we have available, Field Marshal?”
”Insofar as the Army is concerned, aside those units outside the British Isles which have no yet made contact, we have 43 British infantry, 17 armoured and 4 airborne divisions; 10 Canadian infantry, 4 armoured and 1 airborne; the 3 Australian infantry and 2 armoured and the 2 New Zealand infantry; 3 South African, 1 Rhodesian and 4 Indian divisions. Out of all the exiles, we only have the two Polish corps.”
”None of the French or Americans.”
”We can state with certainty now that none of their men have come with us, nor their own equipment. Our stocks of American weapons are still present, and, with the build up for Overlord next year, we have the capacity to equip further forces as we can raise them.”
“It will depend on France. In any event, we’ll get General Brooke and his men back; I’m sure he’ll be very interested to meet you.”
“Very droll, Prime Minister.”
“Now, Admiral Pound, can you confirm the better news regarding the Navy?”
”Yes, Prime Minister. All the major overseas fleets have now made contact - Somerville from the Med, Fraser and the Atlantic Fleet, Mountbatten and the East Indies Fleet and Cunningham with the Grand Fleet. They are all as confused as we are as to what is going on. We have also established communications with the other Navy - one of their carriers was stopped as it was coming in towards Scapa. They are…different…”
”What isn’t, Admiral?”
Part 1
0130 June 15 1940
"All of them?"
"That is our belief at this time, Prime Minister. We now have communications with all major overseas units of the Army and RAF, relocated to vacant American bases over the course of the afternoon."
"Thank you, General. Continue with the process of taking stock of the 'newly arrived' forces and equipment in conjunction with your staff. Goodbye."
He turned to the Minister of Magic, who had arrived from Oxford in the rush and confusion of the previous day. "That does tend to settle the matter, does it not, Professor?"
"It would, Prime Minister, insofar as it indicates that whatever has occurred is definitely not natural. Whether or not is supernatural, arcane or something else remains to be seen; we can say definitively that this is beyond our ken and certainly the ability of our foes. It will be many days yet before our wizards can provide more than that."
"Very good, Professor. Carry on then and we shall keep as calm as we can in the knowledge that this is not some more devilish tricks bought forth by the Hitler and his demonic Nazi gang."
Prime Minister Churchill put down his long extinguished Montecristo and looked up at the War Cabinet arrayed around the table. On his right was Minister of War Sir Richard Harcourt, representing the Liberal Party; Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden; the redoubtable Sir John Anderson, Lord President, Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security; Lord Hankey; Minister of Production Lord Beaverbrook; Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin; Cabinet Secretary Sir Edward Bridges; Lord Privy Seal Sir Austen Chamberlain; Deputy Prime Minister Sir Clement Attlee; Chief of the Imperial General Staff Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke; Chief of the Air Staff Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Hugh Dowding; and First Sea Lord Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Fisher.
"Well, gentlemen, this is what we know. We have gone from September 1943 to what for all intents and purposes appears to be June of 1940, through an act beyond our understanding that may well turn out to be divine providence. Where there was a world at war, we are now at the very beginning of the long and terrible struggle; yet, by virtue of our years of fighting and production, we can muster forces far beyond the dreams of Hitler and Mussolini in their seeming pomp of victory. There is a great deal of confusion still as to the nature of this war we have been placed into, as our initial reconnoitering and intercepts of enemy broadcasts show a very different world indeed. Norway is effectively lost to Germany and France soon to follow. We shall continue in our efforts to divine what those differences are, as well as make use of conventional means; I have sent a pair of urgent flights to our embassies in Switzerland and Portugal for whatever histories, news and other archives, particularly from the League, that can be sent here for our examination and digestion. The time for consideration, though, is subject to the needs of the war and in many respects, we need action this day. Field Marshal Brooke?"
"Thank you, Prime Minister. We have been in contact with senior British personnel in France to assess the situation and it is, for want of a better word, dire. The French government is on the brink of collapse and asking the Germans for an armistice, pushed by strongly defeatist factions in their Army. Should they succeed and France sue for peace, then we are deprived of our most direct means of engaging and defeating the German Army. We do not have firm intelligence on the size or armament of the enemy at this time other than general figures - 150 divisions and over 3 millions of men, several thousand tanks and over 5000 aircraft. Overall, the balance of forces lies in our favour as, although the Germans can deploy more divisions than us, we have more men and a great preponderance of equipment; in the last instance, our weapons can reasonably be presumed to be more modern than those of Germany three years ago. In any event, if France surrenders, we would then be forced to invade to bring them to battle and to do so without the ships and landing craft supplied by the Americans. Overlord was at least 9 months away and we do not currently have the ships to launch a full scale assault on France with the British and Imperial forces now present at home.
We are currently working on an emergency landing operation based on a partial amalgam of Sledgehammer from last year and limited elements of Overlord, aimed at Brittany and Normandy. Whilst we considered the Pas de Calais, the damage done to the ports there during the fighting in France and evacuation makes them unsuitable to be used for our purposes. Our new plan, and I must reinforce that it is a work in progress, calls for an assault by three divisions, supported by two airborne divisions and large air and sea forces, aimed at seizing Britanny and the Cotentin Peninsula to build up our forces. Our window for such an operation is fairly narrow, encompassing approximately a month from mid July to mid August. For the time being, and as a deceptive measure, it has been designated Operation Sealion. Before we can land troops, though, the main blow that falls upon the enemy must come from the air."
"As matters currently stand, we have sufficient forces to engage this Luftwaffe on quite advantageous terms and defeat them." Dowding said evenly. "In our medium and heavy bomber forces, we have long range striking weapons that the Germans presumably cannot match; our current tactical reconnaissance missions tend to confirm this state of affairs, with no evidence of jet aircraft whatsoever. Regaining air supremacy over Northern France is achievable, but any fighter campaign needs to be accompanied by strategic interdiction of enemy supplies and attacks on their production. When the order is given, we can attack the German Army in France and the Low Countries and give the Luftwaffe the nastiest surprise they have ever encountered."
"Indeed. That we can deal the Nazis a blow is undoubtable, but we must make our moves carefully so that they have maximum effect. To that end, the first targets that the RAF must hit need to be those that hurt the Germans the most, both in terms of how they fight and where they fight. Before we hammer the Ruhr or their U-Boat ports, let us show what can be done. Air Chief Marshal, have Bomber Command attack the dams as soon as possible; the first order of priority is Berlin. Maximum effort. Shifting to the sea, the Grand Fleet has already been ordered to head for home - once in the Mediterranean, they will put paid to Mussolini's fleet and ambitions. Admiral Mountbatten is to take control of the 10 older battleships at Singapore to dissuade the Japanese from any rash steps. The other urgent task that we are capable of accomplishing is putting the Home Fleet to sea and attacking the Germans in Norway; RNAS reconnaissance flights indicate that Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Admiral Hipper are all in Norwegian waters. To that end, Admiral Tovey sailed last night."
"We are quite confident that his 8 carriers, 12 battleships, 25 cruisers and 60 destroyers will be able to do the job, Prime Minister." said the First Sea Lord. "Actually liberating Norway will be somewhat more complex, but brute force has a virtue of its own in this situation."
........................
“Circumspection. Simple as that, my dear Winston.”
“Pray expand, Richard. Expand as to why, when God gives us an opportunity, we should not seize it?”
Harcourt gave a tiny internal sigh at Churchill’s mercurial nature. This was not the first time that he or Brooke had sought to curb the Prime Minister’s instincts, with varying degrees of success.
“It has been around 36 hours since our arrival, if I can put it that way. We have at best partial intelligence on not only the Germans but the world at large that we find ourselves in. Now that our relative position with regard to air and land forces is established, do we necessarily lose anything by not committing ourselves to immediate general offensive action?”
“I would tend to concur, Prime Minister. Whilst we can launch an offensive into France, the longer we take to prepare it, the more our likelihood of total success. Our window for a cross-Channel invasion, if it comes to it, extends to mid September, just as the German one did back in 1940…well, our 1940. Even then, we would be dealing with a number of unknown variables, ranging from the weather to the French. We’ve spent a year and a half planning and preparing Overlord and we still had another 9 months yet to go.” said Brooke.
“We are not going to leave Europe to the mercy of Nazi tyranny for that long. We are delivered here to provide for a much swifter end to this war and their bloody murder.”
“That isn’t what I’d suggest at all, Winston. I’m all for action this day as much as you, but it depends on what action. If we shift our immediate steps to the periphery, as it were, then we keep the vast part of our strengths and options open. Every week that goes by makes us stronger, after all. We went through the production plans back in August; this month, we will add 480 tanks, all of them the new Super Crusader, at least 1200 carriers and 1000 guns, not to mention 7 new destroyers, 500 Spitfires, 250 rockets and 6 LSTs.”
“The last are what we really need, Prime Minister - not just LSTs, but all manner of landing craft as well. We’ve got what we had here at home, but we are now without not just the production from the United States, but also Canada. Whilst I cannot say it conclusively until we have more intelligence on the numbers and equipment of this Germany, I am fairly sure that we can outproduce them in every major category of military equipment for the rest of the year, cementing our advantage.”
“If not France, then where?”
“Two places: Norway and Egypt. In Norway, we can maul their fleet, as we discussed earlier, whilst having a relatively nearby combat theatre in which to gauge Jerry’s capabilities. In Egypt, we can wrap up Italian North Africa before the end of autumn.” Harcourt stabbed at the map with his pencil to emphasise each point.
“Very well. Unless Ironside’s mission to the French encounters some dramatic success on the morrow, we can work towards that basis. Whatever their decision, we will start hitting the Germans from the air, including letting Harris loose on Berlin. That will be a quite decisive factor that will show that, far from being stricken by the looming collapse of our ally, we are prepared to fight and win. To that end, have the Dover Guns begin firing across the Channel and have the BBC include a piece on the Grand Fleet heading back to us.”
Harcourt smiled. “I quite agree, Prime Minister. It is about sending a message.”
“Speaking of which, I have a cable to dictate to President Roosevelt before bed. That will be a rather interesting endeavour.”
………………….
“This is London calling in the overseas service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Here is the news. The main force of the Grand Fleet under Admiral Cunningham has been ordered home from the Far East, with 27 battleships, 60 aircraft carriers, 72 cruisers and 214 destroyers and escorts already underway; Admiral Mountbatten is to remain at Singapore with ten older 18” capital ships. The Prime Minister, Mr Churchill, has called upon Italy and Germany to surrender whilst they still can and that it was only a matter of time until all of conquered Europe would be liberated. Morning has come.”
…………..
Washington D.C.
President Franklin Roosevelt took a drag from his cigarette holder and then exhaled, just a tad more forcefully than usual.
“Do you have any idea what the British are playing at, Admiral?”
“Mr. President, short of them going completely mad, the only possible explanation is propaganda, but this frankly does seem to be of the most transparent kind possible. I can’t see who they are trying to fool, lying like this.”
“Perhaps it is something to do with the confusion of the last day or so and the French being on the brink of surrender.”
“Yes, Mr. President. Whatever it is, it will soon become clear.”
…………………
Admiral Yamamoto sat and thought. Surely, this could not be true in any way.
The alternative did not even bear thinking about.
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Part 2
June 15 1940
Cap Griz Nez, Pas de Calais
Leutnant Unglücklichesziel stood back with no small sense of satisfaction. His men had finished digging in their 10.5cm howitzer and machine guns; only a shadow of what be coming if the English chose to foolishly fight on now that the French were as good as beaten. The ruins of the old Blackness fort added to the strength of the position, a strength that was not needed when they had the might of the victorious German Army!
There was a rumble of sound from out across the Channel, distant yet very loud, followed by a ripping sound, strangely like a train.
Artillery fire
“Take cover!”
The sound of the shells screaming overhead was overwhelming, but was as nothing compared to the impact. He could only huddle as low as possible in his slit trench and pray for it to be over. When the titanic barrage finally came to an end, the Leutnant crept up to see what had been hit. The village of Audinghen behind them was intact, but the main encampment beyond and the gun positions being dug there were a scene of complete ruin. He raised up his powerful German binoculars and gazed through them.
Gruss Gott! Those craters must be ten metres across!
....................
The last day had not been at all combobulated for Ambassador Joseph Kennedy. On the morning of the 14th, he had awoken at his official residence at Prince’s Gate and driven to the Embassy in Grosvenor Square as usual, but shortly before midday, he had come over quite faint in a most uncharacteristic manner. That was when whatever happened had occurred, he had now decided.
The early afternoon had seen a flurry of issues with embassy telephones and telegraph connections and a great deal of activity on the other side of the square at Number 20 for some reason. Then the British came calling and the world had turned upside down. After a lot of work, he had spoken with Sir Anthony Eden, or this version of him. The attitude of the man had changed; the British position had changed from falling over backwards to get whatever possible from the USA to…something different.
The explanation they had given was plain crazy, Kennedy had thought - a ruse by a government on the edge of being made to say uncle by Hitler. Then he had driven home that evening and seen the tanks on the streets and guns in Hyde Park unlike any others, not to mention a different skyline, with a tower and statue off in the distance! In the skies above there had been planes moving impossibly fast and…other things…
He had read his papers, many of which had been delivered by this ‘new’ English government, late into the night. He had also been drafting what would be one hell of a cable back to Washington; the brief telephone connections had been quite garbled. These English seemed determined to go on and not come to sensible terms with Germany, that was for sure. There was something very, very wrong going on as well, what with them referring to Ireland as part of their country.
Now, on the new morning of the 15th, after a fitful and failed attempt at sleep, he was in the waiting room at Number 10 Downing Street. Some crazy fool in robes and a stupid hat had been at the door, like some stage magician in an obvious attempt to put him off!
”The Prime Minister will see you now, Ambassador.”
Churchill sat behind an expansive desk and rose as his guest entered.
”Mr. Kennedy. We meet again, as it were. A long time for me, but not, I think, quite so long for you. There is much for us to discuss. You have, I trust, acquainted yourself with the information we provided?”
”I have, Prime Minister. I must say -“
”There is much we both must say, Mr. Ambassador, much indeed, but for now, I fear I must prevail upon you to permit me to speak.”
Kennedy nodded. What other choice did he have?
”Your staff has been most efficient in appraising us of the general situation insofar as they understood it. I shall endeavour to speak with President Roosevelt at the earliest possible opportunity to assuage his willingness to accept a direct mission from us to work towards what needs to be done in the war and the postwar world.”
Postwar world? Was he that delusional?
”Before that, though, it would be best if certain matters could be broached with your government in an expedited fashion. We will have no need for the arms or planes that apparently are currently on order in the United States, nor do we require the mooted transfer of surplus rifles, small arms and artillery. I am given to understand that there has been some correspondence regarding the transfer of destroyers; that too is quite unnecessary for our requirements. In the words of an acquaintance of mine, we have been given the tools; now we will finish the job.”
”I will of course relay whatever you wish me to my Government.”
“Excellent. Matters are going to be moving quite quickly, Mr. Ambassador. By this afternoon, we will be beginning our aerial strikes against the Germans in Northern France and rescuing a division of our men from the talons of the Nazis. By tomorrow, should the French be in agreement, we will begin moving our armies back to France, and sinking the German fleet in Norway. But tonight, Mr. Kennedy…tonight will be something that will give the Nazis pause.
For we go to Berlin and burn his black heart out.”
.........................................
7th Panzer Division HQ, Dieppe, Normandy
"Herr General!"
"What is it, Hauptman?"
"All of our radios have gone dead and none of the vehicles will start. And there is a man in the air.”
"What?! What nonsense is this?”
”Look, Herr General. There!”
General Erwin Rommel pushed past his aide to see what Hauptman Von Köpenick was raving about. There, fifty metres up above them in midair was a robed man, pointing some sort of staff down at them.
One of the guards went to level his rifles at the impossible sight, but as he did, he was distracted by a strange approaching skirl.
Bagpipes.
”Achtung! Tommies!”
Yet even as the warning cry rang out, Rommel could see the guards keeling over with arrows jutting out of their eyes before he was pushed bodily back under cover by the blast of a fireball.
”On them lads!” roared Colonel Jack Churchill, leveling his broadsword at the command tents as he charged forward at the head of his Commando platoon.
A few bloody minutes later, the erstwhile commanding general was escorted at bayonet point to where the commander of the special assault company stood, legs akimbo and hands on his hips.
”General Rommel, this is Brigadier the Lord Flashheart.”
“General! All deine Stützpunkt sind gehören uns! For you, the war is over! Soon, you will be back in England; I daresay Mr Churchill will be interested to see you!”
Rommel said nothing, still groggy from the effects of the magic.
Flashheart rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Bloody Fritz. They don’t like it up ‘em. How long until Rimmer is here with the dragons?”
“Another two minutes, My Lord.”
“Woof woof!”
……………….
Having never traveled by dragon before, General Rommel was perhaps understandably preoccupied by the experience and did not look up as they sped back across the Channel at only a few scant yards above the waves.
If he had, he would have seen a small number of the fighter-bombers unleashed upon his Panzer division. Hundreds of Typhoons, Thunderbolts, Beaufighters, Hurricanes and Tempests sped their way over the narrow sea, their wings heavy with rockets, napalm and cluster bombs. Throughout the day, nine separate waves of attacks and were to strike the 7th Panzer, inflicting sufficient damage to render it distinctly combat ineffective.
In another world, another time, another place, they had earned themselves the name of the Ghost Division.
Now, they were just ghosts.
.................
German submarine U-47
"Report, Leutnant!"
"Herr Kapitan..." How could he put this... "We are grounded. Atop a hill, by the look of it. No ocean in sight."
"What?!" Korvettenkapitan Gunther Prien rushed to the periscope, pushing aside the clearly delusional Leutnant.
Apparently not so delusional...
They were stranded atop a small green hillock amid fields of wheat. A short way off, several farmers looked up at the U-Boat, quite astonished.
...............
German submarine U-38
"Why have we stopped?"
"We appear to have run out of water in front of us, Herr Kapitan. From what I can see, we are in some sort of duck pond. And the ducks don't seem to be too happy."
....................
"And two further German submarines, identified as U-30 and U-51, have similarly ended up in the middle of Lyonesse, the latter in the middle of a Home Guard exercise."
"Casualties?"
"Five of the German sailors were killed by machine gun and anti-tank rifle fire before their captain gave them up."
"Anything else?"
"Home Fleet are reporting two definite U-Boat contacts in the Hebrides detected by land, sea and air forces. A full search is currently underway."
Commodore Jonathan Shepherd nodded with satisfaction. At least there was some good news amid the rush of madness today.
"Well, Lieutenant More, whatever has happened, that is at least four of the blighters we don't have to worry about. Hopefully six."
...................................
Bordeaux
2230 June 15 1940
Prime Minister Paul Reynaud was a troubled man with much to be troubled about. Paris had fallen to the Boche just yesterday morning, but now...now this news from Britain could change so many things. If it were true. If it were true. Could it be true?
"I tell you, it is a trick, a damned English trick!" raged Weygand. "A ruse to seize our Empire. We must make peace! It is the only way."
"It must be admitted that seemed utterly beyond belief. Yet the telephone calls we have had from General de Gaulle and his delegation just before confirm it, or large part of it. The English have thousands of tanks and aircraft and hundreds of thousands of men that he has seen." And other...things...but one step at a time. Reynauld responded carefully.
"Previous to yesterday, had General Brooke ever seemed mad to you?"
"No, Prime Minister."
"We have also all seen the photographs of the new island."
"That is beside the point. We must act to save France from destruction. This talk is just fantastic - the English have lost their minds." Marshal Petain spoke with a quiet dignity and resignation, having already surrendered to the only solution he could see.
There was an almost imperceptible knock on the door of the ad hoc Cabinet room.
"Enter!"
"Prime Minister, it is General de Gaulle - he has returned! General Brooke and Monsieur Eden are with him and..."
The aide never got the chance to finish before the door was pushed open by de Gaulle. He was followed through by the British officials and his staff and another. He was an old figure in an old uniform, yet his stride was strong and his eyes afire.
"Mon centre cède, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j'attaque. J'attaque, gentlemen. They were dark hours twenty six years ago, but it is always darkest before the dawn."
"But Maréchal...you're dead!"
"Do I look dead, Maréchal Petain? Is this what you have become after Verdun?"
"We are defeated."
"No longer. Where I am from, the Boche had overran and conquered the whole of France, but we still fight on. Here, that may no longer happen - will no longer happen! However it has come, our deliverance is here." said Marshal Ferdinand Foch fiercly.
"Monsieur le Prime Minister, I am come from England. It is as they say. They have the armies and planes to turn the tide, even now." de Gaulle spoke slowly, as if relishing each word.
"Prime Minister Churchill has instructed me to offer an expeditionary force of at least 100 divisions and 6,000 aircraft and the full resources of the British Empire to carry on the war until we achieve final victory over Germany and Italy. Should this be sufficient, we can begin landing the first divisions in Britanny and Normandy tomorrow and begin operations to sweep the Luftwaffe from the skies of France. As a further sign of our intents and capabilities, RAF Bomber Command will be attacking Berlin tonight with 2500 heavy bombers." Eden paused, not for dramatic effect, but as the sound of a very loud aircraft overhead made conversation difficult. "That is one of our eight engined bombers on its way to Rome."
"Within two weeks, we can establish an impenetrable bastion in Britanny and the north west. Once we have built up sufficient materiel, we can begin a full scale counterattack against the Germans." General Brooke, himself still getting used to the incredible shift of fortunes, said softly.
"What about their Panzer divisions? They have cut through our lines like knives through butter!" Weygand sounded hollow, like a broken man, yet somehow, somehow, there seemed to be flicker of flame within him, rekindled.
"We've been dealing with the two within immediate range earlier today. The others can wait."
.................
Northern France
The men of the 152nd and 153rd Brigades had been force marched for the better part of three days now. They were driven at a relentless pace by their German captors , who had beat them with rifle butts and kicked and abused the stragglers, whilst some who had fallen behind the column had been picked up and never seen again. The harsh summer sun beat down upon them and the Germans did not deem to supply them water.
Now, however, the column came to a halt. Some of their escort had driven past them to investigate the hold up over the crest of the next hill. There, they discovered something they did not expect.
Arrayed across the road in front of them and stretching out into the fields on either side were two dozen strange tanks, bigger than any of the familiar Panzers, and artillery pieces between them. Holding the shocked German reconnaissance troops and others at gunpoint were dozens of Tommies, whilst hundreds more rose up out of the fields on both sides, along with strange hovering autogyros that made no sound. Oberst Bauernknopfer blanched at the sight before him.
”Resistance is useless, Herr Oberst. We have you under our guns and your troops are are surrounded by a crack airborne division and a tank brigade.” said a British general atop one of the tanks, his voice impossibly loud and strangely overwhelming. “We have come for our men and mean to have them. It is up to you to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed.”
”Very well. May I have the privilege of knowing to whom I am surrendering?”
“Major General George Hopkinson, 1st Airborne Division. You and your men are to be gathered over there in the field, whilst we look to our men and get them loaded on our transport.”
”What transport?”
”That transport.” indicated General Hopkinson as a shadow covered them both.
Bauernknopfer looked up to see an enormous shape bearing down upon them, like a ship in the sky.
”Don’t worry. We’ve got room enough for guests.”
........................
At airfields all across East Anglia, as the late afternoon began to creep into evening, the hum of frenetic activity gave way to the first squadrons of four engined Vickers Wellington heavy bombers taking off for the night’s flight to the enemy capital. The 780 Wellingtons would be followed by the larger Handley Page Halifaxes, a mere 726 of them, from their bases in Bedfordshire, Rutland and Northamptonshire, and 1052 of the great Avro Lancasters from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Ten squadrons of de Havilland Mosquito night fighters were to provide the vanguard and flanking escort of the bomber stream, whilst three of the precious skyships would provide airborne radar, command and control from over the North Sea.
This was to be their largest muster for over a year, after the hammer blows of last May and June, as their force had been divided by the necessary exigencies of war. Now, however, the enemy’s defences were far, far less deadly and their night fighter force was as presumed to be a shadow of what their foes had been. Neither Kammhuber’s vaunted line, which had been smashed the year before, nor the network of radar stations in the Netherlands that might have later provided early warning were present.
Forming up into the bomber stream was a delicate dance that would have been far more arduous without the aerial command ships and the careful plotting put together by Bomber Command’s operational planning wizards and their Super Analytical Engines. If everything went to plan, then there would be over 50 bombers a minute hitting Berlin from 2236. Their route was direct - straight over Alkmaar and north of Hannover to Berlin.
Operation Whirlwind had begun.
…………
The first German warnings came from Army and Luftwaffe ground units in the Netherlands, reporting hundreds of English bombers flying at perhaps 8000 metres. These began to be echoed by frantic telephone reports over Western Germany and the aerial armada was picked up by the Freya stations along the border, but to little end. The Luftwaffe’s fighters were at the front, leaving almost all of the Reich’s defences to the guns.
…………
Major Brandt had just landed at Staaken Airfield with his assistant Oberleutnant Froedl for a meeting at the Air Ministry. The lights and charm of the city were a world away from the front.
“Would you believe it? Don’t they know there’s a blackout?” said Froedl.
”You know what Goering said: If ever a bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me Meier.”
”Hmm.”
As they drove along the Brunsbütteler Damm and marvelled at the bustling atmosphere of peace and normality, the street lights suddenly went out. A few seconds later, amid the confused tumult of the crowds, Berlin’s air raid sirens began their unmistakeable drone.
“As from today, we are called Meier.”
…………
Whirlwind struck the centre of Berlin along a a path several miles wide south of the Spree and nominally guided by the grand central boulevard of the Heerstrasse and the Kaiserdamm. Adolf Hitler Platz was hit by two errant 4000lb ‘cookies’, but this was merely the beginning. The bombers came on and with them cane destruction, fire and ruin, the like of which the world had not seen before this night.
Over ten thousand tons of high explosive and incendiaries had been dropped a little more than an hour, blasting through the historic centre of the city and the government quarters. The devastation was imprecise but, even with the huge volume of bombs, no firestorm like that in Hamburg was ignited. Wilhelmstrasse, the Gestapo headquarters on Prinz Albrechtstrasse and the new Reichskanzlei were smashed to shattered ruins, whilst the Reichstag itself was not spared another fire. The Brandenburg Gate yet stood, damaged but still intact amidst the rubble and bomb blasted buildings and the US Embassy in the Blucher Palace adjacent had been mostly spared by the vagaries of fortune. The death toll would not be known for days to some. The missing included Reinhard Heydrich, Martin Bormann and Fritz Todt, whilst Joseph Goebbels suffered a freak groin injury from falling masonry.
Hermann Meier, at his estate at Carinhall, was silent.
June 15 1940
Cap Griz Nez, Pas de Calais
Leutnant Unglücklichesziel stood back with no small sense of satisfaction. His men had finished digging in their 10.5cm howitzer and machine guns; only a shadow of what be coming if the English chose to foolishly fight on now that the French were as good as beaten. The ruins of the old Blackness fort added to the strength of the position, a strength that was not needed when they had the might of the victorious German Army!
There was a rumble of sound from out across the Channel, distant yet very loud, followed by a ripping sound, strangely like a train.
Artillery fire
“Take cover!”
The sound of the shells screaming overhead was overwhelming, but was as nothing compared to the impact. He could only huddle as low as possible in his slit trench and pray for it to be over. When the titanic barrage finally came to an end, the Leutnant crept up to see what had been hit. The village of Audinghen behind them was intact, but the main encampment beyond and the gun positions being dug there were a scene of complete ruin. He raised up his powerful German binoculars and gazed through them.
Gruss Gott! Those craters must be ten metres across!
....................
The last day had not been at all combobulated for Ambassador Joseph Kennedy. On the morning of the 14th, he had awoken at his official residence at Prince’s Gate and driven to the Embassy in Grosvenor Square as usual, but shortly before midday, he had come over quite faint in a most uncharacteristic manner. That was when whatever happened had occurred, he had now decided.
The early afternoon had seen a flurry of issues with embassy telephones and telegraph connections and a great deal of activity on the other side of the square at Number 20 for some reason. Then the British came calling and the world had turned upside down. After a lot of work, he had spoken with Sir Anthony Eden, or this version of him. The attitude of the man had changed; the British position had changed from falling over backwards to get whatever possible from the USA to…something different.
The explanation they had given was plain crazy, Kennedy had thought - a ruse by a government on the edge of being made to say uncle by Hitler. Then he had driven home that evening and seen the tanks on the streets and guns in Hyde Park unlike any others, not to mention a different skyline, with a tower and statue off in the distance! In the skies above there had been planes moving impossibly fast and…other things…
He had read his papers, many of which had been delivered by this ‘new’ English government, late into the night. He had also been drafting what would be one hell of a cable back to Washington; the brief telephone connections had been quite garbled. These English seemed determined to go on and not come to sensible terms with Germany, that was for sure. There was something very, very wrong going on as well, what with them referring to Ireland as part of their country.
Now, on the new morning of the 15th, after a fitful and failed attempt at sleep, he was in the waiting room at Number 10 Downing Street. Some crazy fool in robes and a stupid hat had been at the door, like some stage magician in an obvious attempt to put him off!
”The Prime Minister will see you now, Ambassador.”
Churchill sat behind an expansive desk and rose as his guest entered.
”Mr. Kennedy. We meet again, as it were. A long time for me, but not, I think, quite so long for you. There is much for us to discuss. You have, I trust, acquainted yourself with the information we provided?”
”I have, Prime Minister. I must say -“
”There is much we both must say, Mr. Ambassador, much indeed, but for now, I fear I must prevail upon you to permit me to speak.”
Kennedy nodded. What other choice did he have?
”Your staff has been most efficient in appraising us of the general situation insofar as they understood it. I shall endeavour to speak with President Roosevelt at the earliest possible opportunity to assuage his willingness to accept a direct mission from us to work towards what needs to be done in the war and the postwar world.”
Postwar world? Was he that delusional?
”Before that, though, it would be best if certain matters could be broached with your government in an expedited fashion. We will have no need for the arms or planes that apparently are currently on order in the United States, nor do we require the mooted transfer of surplus rifles, small arms and artillery. I am given to understand that there has been some correspondence regarding the transfer of destroyers; that too is quite unnecessary for our requirements. In the words of an acquaintance of mine, we have been given the tools; now we will finish the job.”
”I will of course relay whatever you wish me to my Government.”
“Excellent. Matters are going to be moving quite quickly, Mr. Ambassador. By this afternoon, we will be beginning our aerial strikes against the Germans in Northern France and rescuing a division of our men from the talons of the Nazis. By tomorrow, should the French be in agreement, we will begin moving our armies back to France, and sinking the German fleet in Norway. But tonight, Mr. Kennedy…tonight will be something that will give the Nazis pause.
For we go to Berlin and burn his black heart out.”
.........................................
7th Panzer Division HQ, Dieppe, Normandy
"Herr General!"
"What is it, Hauptman?"
"All of our radios have gone dead and none of the vehicles will start. And there is a man in the air.”
"What?! What nonsense is this?”
”Look, Herr General. There!”
General Erwin Rommel pushed past his aide to see what Hauptman Von Köpenick was raving about. There, fifty metres up above them in midair was a robed man, pointing some sort of staff down at them.
One of the guards went to level his rifles at the impossible sight, but as he did, he was distracted by a strange approaching skirl.
Bagpipes.
”Achtung! Tommies!”
Yet even as the warning cry rang out, Rommel could see the guards keeling over with arrows jutting out of their eyes before he was pushed bodily back under cover by the blast of a fireball.
”On them lads!” roared Colonel Jack Churchill, leveling his broadsword at the command tents as he charged forward at the head of his Commando platoon.
A few bloody minutes later, the erstwhile commanding general was escorted at bayonet point to where the commander of the special assault company stood, legs akimbo and hands on his hips.
”General Rommel, this is Brigadier the Lord Flashheart.”
“General! All deine Stützpunkt sind gehören uns! For you, the war is over! Soon, you will be back in England; I daresay Mr Churchill will be interested to see you!”
Rommel said nothing, still groggy from the effects of the magic.
Flashheart rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Bloody Fritz. They don’t like it up ‘em. How long until Rimmer is here with the dragons?”
“Another two minutes, My Lord.”
“Woof woof!”
……………….
Having never traveled by dragon before, General Rommel was perhaps understandably preoccupied by the experience and did not look up as they sped back across the Channel at only a few scant yards above the waves.
If he had, he would have seen a small number of the fighter-bombers unleashed upon his Panzer division. Hundreds of Typhoons, Thunderbolts, Beaufighters, Hurricanes and Tempests sped their way over the narrow sea, their wings heavy with rockets, napalm and cluster bombs. Throughout the day, nine separate waves of attacks and were to strike the 7th Panzer, inflicting sufficient damage to render it distinctly combat ineffective.
In another world, another time, another place, they had earned themselves the name of the Ghost Division.
Now, they were just ghosts.
.................
German submarine U-47
"Report, Leutnant!"
"Herr Kapitan..." How could he put this... "We are grounded. Atop a hill, by the look of it. No ocean in sight."
"What?!" Korvettenkapitan Gunther Prien rushed to the periscope, pushing aside the clearly delusional Leutnant.
Apparently not so delusional...
They were stranded atop a small green hillock amid fields of wheat. A short way off, several farmers looked up at the U-Boat, quite astonished.
...............
German submarine U-38
"Why have we stopped?"
"We appear to have run out of water in front of us, Herr Kapitan. From what I can see, we are in some sort of duck pond. And the ducks don't seem to be too happy."
....................
"And two further German submarines, identified as U-30 and U-51, have similarly ended up in the middle of Lyonesse, the latter in the middle of a Home Guard exercise."
"Casualties?"
"Five of the German sailors were killed by machine gun and anti-tank rifle fire before their captain gave them up."
"Anything else?"
"Home Fleet are reporting two definite U-Boat contacts in the Hebrides detected by land, sea and air forces. A full search is currently underway."
Commodore Jonathan Shepherd nodded with satisfaction. At least there was some good news amid the rush of madness today.
"Well, Lieutenant More, whatever has happened, that is at least four of the blighters we don't have to worry about. Hopefully six."
...................................
Bordeaux
2230 June 15 1940
Prime Minister Paul Reynaud was a troubled man with much to be troubled about. Paris had fallen to the Boche just yesterday morning, but now...now this news from Britain could change so many things. If it were true. If it were true. Could it be true?
"I tell you, it is a trick, a damned English trick!" raged Weygand. "A ruse to seize our Empire. We must make peace! It is the only way."
"It must be admitted that seemed utterly beyond belief. Yet the telephone calls we have had from General de Gaulle and his delegation just before confirm it, or large part of it. The English have thousands of tanks and aircraft and hundreds of thousands of men that he has seen." And other...things...but one step at a time. Reynauld responded carefully.
"Previous to yesterday, had General Brooke ever seemed mad to you?"
"No, Prime Minister."
"We have also all seen the photographs of the new island."
"That is beside the point. We must act to save France from destruction. This talk is just fantastic - the English have lost their minds." Marshal Petain spoke with a quiet dignity and resignation, having already surrendered to the only solution he could see.
There was an almost imperceptible knock on the door of the ad hoc Cabinet room.
"Enter!"
"Prime Minister, it is General de Gaulle - he has returned! General Brooke and Monsieur Eden are with him and..."
The aide never got the chance to finish before the door was pushed open by de Gaulle. He was followed through by the British officials and his staff and another. He was an old figure in an old uniform, yet his stride was strong and his eyes afire.
"Mon centre cède, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j'attaque. J'attaque, gentlemen. They were dark hours twenty six years ago, but it is always darkest before the dawn."
"But Maréchal...you're dead!"
"Do I look dead, Maréchal Petain? Is this what you have become after Verdun?"
"We are defeated."
"No longer. Where I am from, the Boche had overran and conquered the whole of France, but we still fight on. Here, that may no longer happen - will no longer happen! However it has come, our deliverance is here." said Marshal Ferdinand Foch fiercly.
"Monsieur le Prime Minister, I am come from England. It is as they say. They have the armies and planes to turn the tide, even now." de Gaulle spoke slowly, as if relishing each word.
"Prime Minister Churchill has instructed me to offer an expeditionary force of at least 100 divisions and 6,000 aircraft and the full resources of the British Empire to carry on the war until we achieve final victory over Germany and Italy. Should this be sufficient, we can begin landing the first divisions in Britanny and Normandy tomorrow and begin operations to sweep the Luftwaffe from the skies of France. As a further sign of our intents and capabilities, RAF Bomber Command will be attacking Berlin tonight with 2500 heavy bombers." Eden paused, not for dramatic effect, but as the sound of a very loud aircraft overhead made conversation difficult. "That is one of our eight engined bombers on its way to Rome."
"Within two weeks, we can establish an impenetrable bastion in Britanny and the north west. Once we have built up sufficient materiel, we can begin a full scale counterattack against the Germans." General Brooke, himself still getting used to the incredible shift of fortunes, said softly.
"What about their Panzer divisions? They have cut through our lines like knives through butter!" Weygand sounded hollow, like a broken man, yet somehow, somehow, there seemed to be flicker of flame within him, rekindled.
"We've been dealing with the two within immediate range earlier today. The others can wait."
.................
Northern France
The men of the 152nd and 153rd Brigades had been force marched for the better part of three days now. They were driven at a relentless pace by their German captors , who had beat them with rifle butts and kicked and abused the stragglers, whilst some who had fallen behind the column had been picked up and never seen again. The harsh summer sun beat down upon them and the Germans did not deem to supply them water.
Now, however, the column came to a halt. Some of their escort had driven past them to investigate the hold up over the crest of the next hill. There, they discovered something they did not expect.
Arrayed across the road in front of them and stretching out into the fields on either side were two dozen strange tanks, bigger than any of the familiar Panzers, and artillery pieces between them. Holding the shocked German reconnaissance troops and others at gunpoint were dozens of Tommies, whilst hundreds more rose up out of the fields on both sides, along with strange hovering autogyros that made no sound. Oberst Bauernknopfer blanched at the sight before him.
”Resistance is useless, Herr Oberst. We have you under our guns and your troops are are surrounded by a crack airborne division and a tank brigade.” said a British general atop one of the tanks, his voice impossibly loud and strangely overwhelming. “We have come for our men and mean to have them. It is up to you to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed.”
”Very well. May I have the privilege of knowing to whom I am surrendering?”
“Major General George Hopkinson, 1st Airborne Division. You and your men are to be gathered over there in the field, whilst we look to our men and get them loaded on our transport.”
”What transport?”
”That transport.” indicated General Hopkinson as a shadow covered them both.
Bauernknopfer looked up to see an enormous shape bearing down upon them, like a ship in the sky.
”Don’t worry. We’ve got room enough for guests.”
........................
At airfields all across East Anglia, as the late afternoon began to creep into evening, the hum of frenetic activity gave way to the first squadrons of four engined Vickers Wellington heavy bombers taking off for the night’s flight to the enemy capital. The 780 Wellingtons would be followed by the larger Handley Page Halifaxes, a mere 726 of them, from their bases in Bedfordshire, Rutland and Northamptonshire, and 1052 of the great Avro Lancasters from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Ten squadrons of de Havilland Mosquito night fighters were to provide the vanguard and flanking escort of the bomber stream, whilst three of the precious skyships would provide airborne radar, command and control from over the North Sea.
This was to be their largest muster for over a year, after the hammer blows of last May and June, as their force had been divided by the necessary exigencies of war. Now, however, the enemy’s defences were far, far less deadly and their night fighter force was as presumed to be a shadow of what their foes had been. Neither Kammhuber’s vaunted line, which had been smashed the year before, nor the network of radar stations in the Netherlands that might have later provided early warning were present.
Forming up into the bomber stream was a delicate dance that would have been far more arduous without the aerial command ships and the careful plotting put together by Bomber Command’s operational planning wizards and their Super Analytical Engines. If everything went to plan, then there would be over 50 bombers a minute hitting Berlin from 2236. Their route was direct - straight over Alkmaar and north of Hannover to Berlin.
Operation Whirlwind had begun.
…………
The first German warnings came from Army and Luftwaffe ground units in the Netherlands, reporting hundreds of English bombers flying at perhaps 8000 metres. These began to be echoed by frantic telephone reports over Western Germany and the aerial armada was picked up by the Freya stations along the border, but to little end. The Luftwaffe’s fighters were at the front, leaving almost all of the Reich’s defences to the guns.
…………
Major Brandt had just landed at Staaken Airfield with his assistant Oberleutnant Froedl for a meeting at the Air Ministry. The lights and charm of the city were a world away from the front.
“Would you believe it? Don’t they know there’s a blackout?” said Froedl.
”You know what Goering said: If ever a bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me Meier.”
”Hmm.”
As they drove along the Brunsbütteler Damm and marvelled at the bustling atmosphere of peace and normality, the street lights suddenly went out. A few seconds later, amid the confused tumult of the crowds, Berlin’s air raid sirens began their unmistakeable drone.
“As from today, we are called Meier.”
…………
Whirlwind struck the centre of Berlin along a a path several miles wide south of the Spree and nominally guided by the grand central boulevard of the Heerstrasse and the Kaiserdamm. Adolf Hitler Platz was hit by two errant 4000lb ‘cookies’, but this was merely the beginning. The bombers came on and with them cane destruction, fire and ruin, the like of which the world had not seen before this night.
Over ten thousand tons of high explosive and incendiaries had been dropped a little more than an hour, blasting through the historic centre of the city and the government quarters. The devastation was imprecise but, even with the huge volume of bombs, no firestorm like that in Hamburg was ignited. Wilhelmstrasse, the Gestapo headquarters on Prinz Albrechtstrasse and the new Reichskanzlei were smashed to shattered ruins, whilst the Reichstag itself was not spared another fire. The Brandenburg Gate yet stood, damaged but still intact amidst the rubble and bomb blasted buildings and the US Embassy in the Blucher Palace adjacent had been mostly spared by the vagaries of fortune. The death toll would not be known for days to some. The missing included Reinhard Heydrich, Martin Bormann and Fritz Todt, whilst Joseph Goebbels suffered a freak groin injury from falling masonry.
Hermann Meier, at his estate at Carinhall, was silent.
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Part 3
June 16th 1940
"General Lee? They will see you now."
Brigadier-General Raymond E. Lee, the U.S. defense attache to Britain, nodded gratefully and walked into the large oak paneled meeting room where three British officers rose to greet him.
"Good morning, General. I'm Lieutenant-General Herbert Lumsden, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff. This is Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blagrove, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Home) and Air Marshal Sir Albert Ball, Vice Chief of the Imperial Air Staff. In light of the...changed circumstances...and Ambassador Kennedy's unfamiliarity with technical matters and the vagaries of military strategy, the Prime Minister thought it best that we might brief you on some aspects of our position and intentions. There is an intention for a direct personal mission to the President to discuss the war and our strategy for victory, but prior to that, it would be ideal for him to get a clear picture from you."
"Thank you, General. This all sounds good, or as good as it can be in such unique circumstances. This whole situation...has so much to take in. For example, not to put too fine a point on it, Air Marshal, but you're dead."
"Oh dear."
"Since 1917."
"I shall have to let my wife know; hopefully this won't upset her plans too much."
A slight wisp of a titter of laughter circulated among the officers, serving to bridge the gulf between the Britons and the American ever so slightly.
"Very good. To begin with the British, Commonwealth and Imperial Armies, we currently have 162 divisions, made up of 124 infantry, 30 armoured, 5 airborne and 3 cavalry, not counting those formations still training or the two divisions of West Indians, who have reportedly turned up in Ireland. 120 of those are British, 16 Canadian, 10 Polish, 6 Australian, 4 Indian, 4 Gurkha, 3 South African, 2 New Zealand, 1 Rhodesian, 1 Newfoundland and 2 Imperial. As of today, four divisions will be crossing over to Brittany as the first echelon of 80 divisions of the new British Expeditionary Force, the liberation army that will defeat the Germans and free Europe. 22 are assigned to potential deployment to the Mediterranean, Egypt and the Near East, 13 for India and the Far East, as soon as our transportation and shipping capacity can support their movement, whilst an infantry division will take over the occupation of Iceland from the existing understrength 49th and two corps are to be place on standby in case Spain becomes hostile. Finally, 10 divisions have been assigned to the liberation of Norway."
"General Lumsden, you will understand that this is a complete change of fortunes and circumstance from a few days ago, when your army had just been rescued from Dunkirk and the French front collapsed."
"Indeed, General Lee. If you think the situation is a shock for you, believe me when I say that it is equally surprising, if not more so, for us. In any event, those are our available forces. On top of them, we have a dozen more that will be ready from the 1942 mobilisation wave by November and a further eight divisions still in training from this year's tranche."
"Does the entry of the Italians into the war affect this?"
"We bombed Italy overnight, didn't we, Albert?"
"Rome, Turin, Milan, Genoa and Naples, all hit by Windsors and Yorks. 224 aircraft all up; Harris was a bit more occupied with Whirlwind over Berlin."
"Rather. Suffice it to say, General Lee, that from our perspective, the participation of Italy is no great threat or cause of fear. Over our last three years of war against them, we've flogged them from pillar to post, smashing their fleet, kicking them out of East Africa, North Africa and Sicily, invading Italy itself and forcing them to sign an armistice. Field Marshal Alexander's forces were on the Garigliano and a new landing at Anzio to take Rome was due for the end of the month. The Italian soldier is brave, but poorly armed and wretched; their cavalry some of the noblest in Europe, but the worst led. The Germans are a different matter, but we don't fight them man to man, but man to machine.
"As you can see from these figures," said Lumsden as he passed over a typed report "we currently deploy 29,387 tanks in our first line field formations - 12564 Crusader and 5296 Sherman mediums and 3287 Cavalier and 824 Stuart lights in the armoured divisions and independent regiments; 6546 Churchill heavy tanks in the 36 Army Tank Brigades assigned to corps and other independent formations; and 642 Cromwell, 172 Lee and 56 Dreadnought superheavies at army level. Our plans to complete the process of attaching a regiment of Crusaders or Shermans to each British infantry division have been suspended in light of the interruption to supply from Canadian production and your own plants in the United States. The Royal Artillery has 16,289 25pdr field guns, 6432 6", 1924 8" and 762 9.2" howitzers, 2596 Catapult rocket launchers, 9452 17pdr anti-tank guns and 5236 3.75" mobile anti-aircraft guns in field army formations, whilst the infantry has over 20,000 armoured carriers, most equipped with their own machine guns. Our photographic surveys of German equipment and operational reports from French and New British personnel in France are still being assembled, but the immediate indication is that we have them outnumbered and outgunned in most categories of weapon."
"The Shermans, Stuarts and Lees are American?"
"From our former America, as it were. None of them are in existence in your America. Yet. We don't require any augmentation insofar as tanks as concerned from your current US Army stocks or production, either of your M2 Light Tanks or the M2 Mediums. None of your current or projected artillery pieces are necessary or compatible with our artillery park and ammunition production, including the delivery of 75mm guns noted on Page 4; subject to your government's approval, we will be seeking to transfer them directly to the French. The rifles, machine guns, mortars and ammunition will similarly be used to re-equip the French, but the scale of that task is yet to be fully established."
"You seem to be extremely confident, General, to discard the strength of American production so. Do you think you can stop the Germans?"
"Stop them, break them and defeat them. If it were our Germans, then it would be a completely different story, but the combination of three years of experience and three years of better weapons development changes the odds somewhat. Our indications are that they have fewer tanks and their logistics are still mainly horse based. We aren't planning on fighting simply on an even basis on land, either. Air Marshal?"
"Thank you, General. Put simply, our confidence comes from our advantage in airpower. In fighters, we outnumber them over 10 to 1, with over 12,500 to their 1200. In bombers, we have 9500 to their 1300, with over 5000 of ours being four engined heavy bombers. We additionally outclass all of their frontline aircraft in performance, armament and range based on our engagements thus far. They have absolutely no answer to our 470 jet fighters, which have top speeds of over 650 miles an hour. Operating from Southern England, our main fighters and fighter-bombers have a radius of action of 250 miles, covering Northern France, the Low Countries and Western Germany almost to the Rhine; when we are flying out of Brittany, Normandy and Aquitaine, we can cover even more."
"You plan to overwhelm the Luftwaffe with sheer numbers?"
"Numbers, quality and science. We have superior RDF to the Germans, ranging out to 150 miles beyond our shores from the ground based stations and considerably more by our airborne capacity and we have better weapons to strike at their armies on the ground. We are building more than Germany and more than the United States, at least for the moment in your case. As in the case of the Army, we don't require American aircraft with anywhere the same alacrity as with the case of your Old Britain. The orders for the Douglas DB-7s and the Lockheed and North American fighters are no longer necessary, whilst the Harvard and Hudson trainer orders will be maintained."
"There will be some interest from the United States in some of your aircraft and engine designs."
"I am sure that such discussions can be entertained by others at the appropriate juncture in the fullness of time, General. The Admiralty would also be involved in them, naturally. Vice Admiral?"
"Certainly. In terms of our capacity at sea with the Royal and Commonwealth Navies, we have a total of 26 fleet and 16 light aircraft carriers, 52 escort carriers, 51 battleships, 11 battlecruisers, 180 cruisers, 526 modern destroyers and 178 from the Great War, 204 escort destroyers, 504 frigates, 351 corvettes, 142 sloops and 219 submarines. We've listed the general specifications of each class on Pages 6 through 19. These numbers exclude the 'Old British' RN, naturally. On these figures alone, it is hoped that your government will understand that previous discussions regarding the transfer of old United States Navy destroyers are simply no longer required."
"Those numbers are gargantuan."
"They do seem that way, but comprise our global strength, Empire construction and our position four years into a world wide war. We had been fighting the Japanese for almost two years as well the current German and Italian enemy and our most modern and powerful ships are concentrated in the Grand Fleet which is currently making its way back to European waters. Once it arrives, the Regia Marina will have a rather short and eventful existence; it brings with it over 3000 modern carrier aircraft. Similarly, the threat offered by the Germans is not particularly egregious at this time, neither above nor below the waves."
.........................
Shortly after 7:30, the first soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division of the British First Army began disembarking in Cherbourg. The process of administrative landing in a friendly port was rather less arduous and complicated than their planned return to France in the middle of their 1944; tramping down a gangplank to the dockside was preferable to storming off a landing craft into machine gun fire. The landing of personnel was very much the simpler part of the process, with the division fielding 230 assorted guns and over 5200 vehicles that were carried on the LSTs, LSMVs and converted train ferries, with thousands of tons of supplies carried on the more conventional ships. It was upon these little ships with their innocuous acronyms that the whole process, hastily dubbed Operation Deliverance, depended.
“The 1st Division will be followed in the afternoon and evening by the Guards Division and the 127th Army Tank Brigade, with the 35th and Corps troops to follow tomorrow. Quite the show the Air Force has put on, don’t you think, General?”
General Alan Brooke, the erstwhile commander of the Second British Expeditionary Force, looked across at the commander of I Corps, Lieutenant-General Sir Jock Campbell and nodded. Ensconced in a requisitioned building overlooking the harbour, he could see the dozens upon dozens of circling Spitfires and Tempests above, along with the fewer but much faster “jets”.
”If we had this airpower a few weeks ago…”
”We would be in a rather different situation, I’d wager. Fighter Command guaranteed General O’Connor full air supremacy for the first landings and they are not messing about. They must have five hundred fighters up there, not counting those on the counter-air sweeps against the Luftwaffe further inland and the fighter-bombers hitting anything with a swastika this side of the Seine; over six thousand aircraft in all.”
”It gives us time and space, most definitely. Now, I’ve placed the Canadians at Coutances and the 52nd at St-Lo for now, supported by the 1st Armoured and the Poles.”
“The other three corps are landing at Brest, Saint Nazaire and Lorient and the Australians at Saint Malo. It will take several days for the real heavy artillery to get over here, but within a week, we’ll have a screen up around Falaise and Argentan alongside Second Army.”
”Don’t underestimate the Germans. They are in the position they are in for good reason.”
”Far from it, General. We’ve learned to respect the Hun in our time, but under the amount of airpower we can throw at him, it isn’t an even fight. They’ll keep them at arm’s length until we have our tanks and guns over here. Then we can give him a taste of his own medicine.”
”What on earth is that?” Brooke gazed up at a hulking shape that flew above them.
”Skyship. One of those taking the Kiwis down to Rennes, I’d wager. Shore up links with the French to the south and give them something to build upon. Now, on the matter on rearming your forces, we have a shipload of rifles and machine guns coming over tomorrow, then another of guns and mortars the day after that.”
”We’ll need more time than that to re-equip and adjust to them.”
”Naturally, sir. After tomorrow, the plan is for a phased movement to lines of communication security for your forces, to allow for proper adjustment to new equipment and other matters.”
...................................
The Deliverance administrative landings in France were not the only British troop movements beginning on the morning of the 16th, with the others being somewhat overshadowed by their scale and intent. Far above, the first pair of skyship convoys were making a longer journey to the Mediterranean and the shores of North Africa, to reinforce the garrisons of Malta and Egypt. The first carried the 68th Infantry Division, consisting of 24,632 men, 2304 Bren light machine guns, over 1000 Vickers general purpose machine guns, 192 2.5", 96 3.45" and 32 4.5" mortars, 72 17pdr anti-tank guns, 96 25mm and 64 40mm anti-aircraft guns, 96 25pdr gun-howitzers, 24 6" howitzers, 240 12t Universal Carriers and 64 Crusader medium tanks, in addition to units attached from GHQ Reserve; it was hoped that this modestly equipped division would provide for such necessary protection of the island fortress until such time as further forces could be dispatched. Having taken off from RAF Fairford at 0730, they would arrive in Malta at 1420, accounting for a somewhat circuitous dogleg to avoid Sicily; not that any Italian aircraft could reach their flight altitude of over 45,000ft, but nothing was being left to chance. Once their unloading was completed, they would head for Scotland, to load the 77th Infantry Division for a brief flight to Iceland, where they would relieve the two 1940 brigades currently occupying its northern shores.
The larger second convoy was bound for Alexandria, carrying the headquarters of XXV Corps, 8th Armoured Division and 23rd Infantry Division and, having taken off from RAF Brize Norton an hour before the Malta Convoy, would arrive in the late afternoon in time for tea. The reinforcement of Egypt, once complete, - and the aerial shipping of the necessary equipment, munitions and fuel would be the truly time consuming element of the process - would permit an invasion of Italian Libya in conjunction with the 1940 forces currently in the Western Desert Force. The proposal for offensive action had naturally been met with Churchill's seal of approval, whilst the forces necessary would also render Egypt and the Suez Canal effectively invulnerable to any Italian threat, mollifying the more conservative faction championed by Field Marshal Brooke. The four divisions of the Army would be joined by a substantial RAF contingent, whose departure from England would ease the overcrowding that had beset the home air forces since the mysterious transition.
Anything further east was of a much reduced priority; Japan had shifted from a present hated foe to a future hated one, whilst the main priority was the defeat of Germany and their southern apprentice.
...................................
Even as the larger part of Bomber Command’s heavies had been on their way to deal a dreadful blow to Berlin, the second partner in the Pact of Steel had not been forgotten. Five days before, the hand that held the dagger had plunged it into the back of its neighbour; now the reckoning had begun, first from the air.
The industrial northern cities of Turin, Milan and Genoa had been allocated two squadrons of Vickers Windsors each. The six engined bombers had first seen service in 1942 in Operation Chastise amid the Battle of the Ruhr, but had been used across Europe as a result of their tremendous range and altitude capabilities, including Spain, Romania and the USSR. The farthest Italian cities, Rome and Naples, were assigned to a further three squadrons of Windsors and the first eight Avro York superheavy bombers in the entire Royal Air Force.
Whilst some damage was inflicted by the raids, particularly over Genoa, where the Ansaldo shipyard had been badly hit, the primary purpose was one of sending a message. Indeed, one plane in each group was allocated a special load of propaganda leaflets, dropped away from the target areas. Each page bore a simple message:
Hai seminato el vento; ora raccoglierai il turbine.
Verremo.
.....................................................
Cap Griz Nez, Pas de Calais
Leutnant Unglücklichesziel stood back with no small sense of satisfaction. His men had finished digging in their 10.5cm howitzer and machine guns; only a shadow of what be coming if the English chose to foolishly fight on now that the French were as good as beaten. The ruins of the old Blackness fort added to the strength of the position, a strength that was not needed when they had the might of the victorious German Army!
There was a rumble of sound from out across the Channel, distant yet very loud, followed by a ripping sound, strangely like a train.
Artillery fire
“Take cover!”
The sound of the shells screaming overhead was overwhelming, but was as nothing compared to the impact. He could only huddle as low as possible in his slit trench and pray for it to be over. When the titanic barrage finally came to an end, the Leutnant crept up to see what had been hit. The village of Audinghen behind them was intact, but the main encampment beyond and the gun positions being dug there were a scene of complete ruin. He raised up his powerful German binoculars and gazed through them.
"Gruss Gott! Those craters must be ten metres across!”
…………………
Trondheimfjord
Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Admiral Hipper sat at anchor, the repair ship Huaskaran lying alongside the former Schlachtschiff. The mid morning was peaceful as it could be in the Norwegian fjord. The quietude of the sunshine was broken by the harsh discordant claxon of an air raid siren.
“FLIEGER ALARM!!”
“What do we know?” asked Kapitän Hoffman.
“There was a garbled signal from Nürnberg that it was under attack by giant torpedoes and dozens of English aircraft forty minutes ago, Herr Kapitan, and now the observation post on Frøya reports hundreds of planes coming over at very high speed and low level.”
Within 15 minutes, the first wave of Royal Navy Hawker Sea Fury fighter-bombers, Fairey Spearfish torpedo bombers, Blackburn Firedrake dive bombers and de Havilland Sea Mosquito strike bombers roared into the fjord, their escorting Supermarine Eagles coursing above them and engaging the Bf-109s out of Værnes. Two dozen of the Sea Furies peeled off and dove in on the flak batteries on the shore, unleashing with their rockets and cannon before dropping their canisters of napalm over their targets, enveloping them in blooming maelstroms of flame. The others focused on the battleships and cruiser, blasting their anti-aircraft defences whilst the attack planes began their run.
A squadron each of Spearfish and Firedrakes had been assigned to each of the three large German ships and although they had all taken losses on their rough and fast flight in from the Home Fleet’s carriers, they now bought their payloads to bear. Half of the Spearfish dropped their two 24.5” torpedoes whilst the others fired their Hellhound rockets and glide bombs. The Firedrakes came hurtling down from on high, sending their 2500lb armour piercing bombs right into the vitals of the German ships. The Sea Mosquitoes added their own bombs and incendiary rockets to the attack, overwhelming the enemy anti-aircraft fire and joining in the destruction.
The ends of Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper and their accompanying destroyers came swiftly and with the cold precision of an execution.
..........................................
Generaloberst Franz Halder had not been looking forward to this conversation. Not only had he had no sleep, with the flow of information over the last 24 hours coming at a tremendous rate, but his audience was guaranteed to be...somewhat temperamental...
"Mein Fuhrer, we have now received sufficient information for some more conclusions as to what has occurred along the front. Firstly, we have the Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights of the last few days, which report a larger landmass in the location of England, along with extremely large numbers of enemy aircraft of unknown types. Secondly, there is the apparent heavy losses sustained yesterday by 5th and 7th Panzer Division from aerial attacks yesterday, including, so it would seem, General Rommel. There is now an enormous aerial operation underway over Western France and several reports of large landings taking place in Brittany and Normandy. The condition of Army Group B can be characterised as advancing, but confused in the face of this English air threat. Army Groups A and C continue their excellent progress against French forces in their sectors."
"Tell me, General Halder, are you an expert of air warfare, unbeknownst to me?"
"No, Mein Fuhrer."
"Then leave the issue of the Luftwaffe to Reichsmarschall Goring, when he arrives."
When he can be found
"Zuh befehl, Mein Fuhrer. What of Berlin?"
"Enemy propaganda and the fog of war. You yourself were telling me that the Tommies have been using some new electronic interference with our radio communications and telephones, just last night! All will be clear when we get through and hear from Minister Goebbels. The English will pay for whatever they have done, pay one hundred, one thousand-fold! They cannot, they will not interfere in our victory, my victory! As you say, our forces continue to advance and will do so until the French capitulate - it can only be a matter of days. We have Paris, Halder - Paris! I have achieved in six weeks what the Kaiser and all the Prussian generals could not do in four years of the Great War! The Allies are beaten, I tell you, they are beaten! "
"Absolutely, Mein Fuhrer. Whilst we are experiencing communication confusion and interruption, might it be prudent to insist upon our forces in Army Group B maintaining direct contact with each other, so as to strengthen our front and prevent French forces from slipping through our lines? You yourself rightly exercised such prudence during our victory in Belgium and Dunkirk. We would of course continue pushing forward to victory, not taking a single step back."
"Of course, Halder, of course. A front as solid as Krupp steel - that is good."
"Excellent, Mein Fuhrer. We shall of course be victorious in France - as you say, it is simply a matter of time until France realises it is beaten. It may also be prudent to consider that we are facing, at the least, a different threat from England than we had previously assessed and calculated, once all of their ludicrous disinformation is stripped away."
"We shall see. We shall see. Now, try to place another call through to the Reichsmarshall. Whatever could be keeping him?"
June 16th 1940
"General Lee? They will see you now."
Brigadier-General Raymond E. Lee, the U.S. defense attache to Britain, nodded gratefully and walked into the large oak paneled meeting room where three British officers rose to greet him.
"Good morning, General. I'm Lieutenant-General Herbert Lumsden, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff. This is Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blagrove, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Home) and Air Marshal Sir Albert Ball, Vice Chief of the Imperial Air Staff. In light of the...changed circumstances...and Ambassador Kennedy's unfamiliarity with technical matters and the vagaries of military strategy, the Prime Minister thought it best that we might brief you on some aspects of our position and intentions. There is an intention for a direct personal mission to the President to discuss the war and our strategy for victory, but prior to that, it would be ideal for him to get a clear picture from you."
"Thank you, General. This all sounds good, or as good as it can be in such unique circumstances. This whole situation...has so much to take in. For example, not to put too fine a point on it, Air Marshal, but you're dead."
"Oh dear."
"Since 1917."
"I shall have to let my wife know; hopefully this won't upset her plans too much."
A slight wisp of a titter of laughter circulated among the officers, serving to bridge the gulf between the Britons and the American ever so slightly.
"Very good. To begin with the British, Commonwealth and Imperial Armies, we currently have 162 divisions, made up of 124 infantry, 30 armoured, 5 airborne and 3 cavalry, not counting those formations still training or the two divisions of West Indians, who have reportedly turned up in Ireland. 120 of those are British, 16 Canadian, 10 Polish, 6 Australian, 4 Indian, 4 Gurkha, 3 South African, 2 New Zealand, 1 Rhodesian, 1 Newfoundland and 2 Imperial. As of today, four divisions will be crossing over to Brittany as the first echelon of 80 divisions of the new British Expeditionary Force, the liberation army that will defeat the Germans and free Europe. 22 are assigned to potential deployment to the Mediterranean, Egypt and the Near East, 13 for India and the Far East, as soon as our transportation and shipping capacity can support their movement, whilst an infantry division will take over the occupation of Iceland from the existing understrength 49th and two corps are to be place on standby in case Spain becomes hostile. Finally, 10 divisions have been assigned to the liberation of Norway."
"General Lumsden, you will understand that this is a complete change of fortunes and circumstance from a few days ago, when your army had just been rescued from Dunkirk and the French front collapsed."
"Indeed, General Lee. If you think the situation is a shock for you, believe me when I say that it is equally surprising, if not more so, for us. In any event, those are our available forces. On top of them, we have a dozen more that will be ready from the 1942 mobilisation wave by November and a further eight divisions still in training from this year's tranche."
"Does the entry of the Italians into the war affect this?"
"We bombed Italy overnight, didn't we, Albert?"
"Rome, Turin, Milan, Genoa and Naples, all hit by Windsors and Yorks. 224 aircraft all up; Harris was a bit more occupied with Whirlwind over Berlin."
"Rather. Suffice it to say, General Lee, that from our perspective, the participation of Italy is no great threat or cause of fear. Over our last three years of war against them, we've flogged them from pillar to post, smashing their fleet, kicking them out of East Africa, North Africa and Sicily, invading Italy itself and forcing them to sign an armistice. Field Marshal Alexander's forces were on the Garigliano and a new landing at Anzio to take Rome was due for the end of the month. The Italian soldier is brave, but poorly armed and wretched; their cavalry some of the noblest in Europe, but the worst led. The Germans are a different matter, but we don't fight them man to man, but man to machine.
"As you can see from these figures," said Lumsden as he passed over a typed report "we currently deploy 29,387 tanks in our first line field formations - 12564 Crusader and 5296 Sherman mediums and 3287 Cavalier and 824 Stuart lights in the armoured divisions and independent regiments; 6546 Churchill heavy tanks in the 36 Army Tank Brigades assigned to corps and other independent formations; and 642 Cromwell, 172 Lee and 56 Dreadnought superheavies at army level. Our plans to complete the process of attaching a regiment of Crusaders or Shermans to each British infantry division have been suspended in light of the interruption to supply from Canadian production and your own plants in the United States. The Royal Artillery has 16,289 25pdr field guns, 6432 6", 1924 8" and 762 9.2" howitzers, 2596 Catapult rocket launchers, 9452 17pdr anti-tank guns and 5236 3.75" mobile anti-aircraft guns in field army formations, whilst the infantry has over 20,000 armoured carriers, most equipped with their own machine guns. Our photographic surveys of German equipment and operational reports from French and New British personnel in France are still being assembled, but the immediate indication is that we have them outnumbered and outgunned in most categories of weapon."
"The Shermans, Stuarts and Lees are American?"
"From our former America, as it were. None of them are in existence in your America. Yet. We don't require any augmentation insofar as tanks as concerned from your current US Army stocks or production, either of your M2 Light Tanks or the M2 Mediums. None of your current or projected artillery pieces are necessary or compatible with our artillery park and ammunition production, including the delivery of 75mm guns noted on Page 4; subject to your government's approval, we will be seeking to transfer them directly to the French. The rifles, machine guns, mortars and ammunition will similarly be used to re-equip the French, but the scale of that task is yet to be fully established."
"You seem to be extremely confident, General, to discard the strength of American production so. Do you think you can stop the Germans?"
"Stop them, break them and defeat them. If it were our Germans, then it would be a completely different story, but the combination of three years of experience and three years of better weapons development changes the odds somewhat. Our indications are that they have fewer tanks and their logistics are still mainly horse based. We aren't planning on fighting simply on an even basis on land, either. Air Marshal?"
"Thank you, General. Put simply, our confidence comes from our advantage in airpower. In fighters, we outnumber them over 10 to 1, with over 12,500 to their 1200. In bombers, we have 9500 to their 1300, with over 5000 of ours being four engined heavy bombers. We additionally outclass all of their frontline aircraft in performance, armament and range based on our engagements thus far. They have absolutely no answer to our 470 jet fighters, which have top speeds of over 650 miles an hour. Operating from Southern England, our main fighters and fighter-bombers have a radius of action of 250 miles, covering Northern France, the Low Countries and Western Germany almost to the Rhine; when we are flying out of Brittany, Normandy and Aquitaine, we can cover even more."
"You plan to overwhelm the Luftwaffe with sheer numbers?"
"Numbers, quality and science. We have superior RDF to the Germans, ranging out to 150 miles beyond our shores from the ground based stations and considerably more by our airborne capacity and we have better weapons to strike at their armies on the ground. We are building more than Germany and more than the United States, at least for the moment in your case. As in the case of the Army, we don't require American aircraft with anywhere the same alacrity as with the case of your Old Britain. The orders for the Douglas DB-7s and the Lockheed and North American fighters are no longer necessary, whilst the Harvard and Hudson trainer orders will be maintained."
"There will be some interest from the United States in some of your aircraft and engine designs."
"I am sure that such discussions can be entertained by others at the appropriate juncture in the fullness of time, General. The Admiralty would also be involved in them, naturally. Vice Admiral?"
"Certainly. In terms of our capacity at sea with the Royal and Commonwealth Navies, we have a total of 26 fleet and 16 light aircraft carriers, 52 escort carriers, 51 battleships, 11 battlecruisers, 180 cruisers, 526 modern destroyers and 178 from the Great War, 204 escort destroyers, 504 frigates, 351 corvettes, 142 sloops and 219 submarines. We've listed the general specifications of each class on Pages 6 through 19. These numbers exclude the 'Old British' RN, naturally. On these figures alone, it is hoped that your government will understand that previous discussions regarding the transfer of old United States Navy destroyers are simply no longer required."
"Those numbers are gargantuan."
"They do seem that way, but comprise our global strength, Empire construction and our position four years into a world wide war. We had been fighting the Japanese for almost two years as well the current German and Italian enemy and our most modern and powerful ships are concentrated in the Grand Fleet which is currently making its way back to European waters. Once it arrives, the Regia Marina will have a rather short and eventful existence; it brings with it over 3000 modern carrier aircraft. Similarly, the threat offered by the Germans is not particularly egregious at this time, neither above nor below the waves."
.........................
Shortly after 7:30, the first soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division of the British First Army began disembarking in Cherbourg. The process of administrative landing in a friendly port was rather less arduous and complicated than their planned return to France in the middle of their 1944; tramping down a gangplank to the dockside was preferable to storming off a landing craft into machine gun fire. The landing of personnel was very much the simpler part of the process, with the division fielding 230 assorted guns and over 5200 vehicles that were carried on the LSTs, LSMVs and converted train ferries, with thousands of tons of supplies carried on the more conventional ships. It was upon these little ships with their innocuous acronyms that the whole process, hastily dubbed Operation Deliverance, depended.
“The 1st Division will be followed in the afternoon and evening by the Guards Division and the 127th Army Tank Brigade, with the 35th and Corps troops to follow tomorrow. Quite the show the Air Force has put on, don’t you think, General?”
General Alan Brooke, the erstwhile commander of the Second British Expeditionary Force, looked across at the commander of I Corps, Lieutenant-General Sir Jock Campbell and nodded. Ensconced in a requisitioned building overlooking the harbour, he could see the dozens upon dozens of circling Spitfires and Tempests above, along with the fewer but much faster “jets”.
”If we had this airpower a few weeks ago…”
”We would be in a rather different situation, I’d wager. Fighter Command guaranteed General O’Connor full air supremacy for the first landings and they are not messing about. They must have five hundred fighters up there, not counting those on the counter-air sweeps against the Luftwaffe further inland and the fighter-bombers hitting anything with a swastika this side of the Seine; over six thousand aircraft in all.”
”It gives us time and space, most definitely. Now, I’ve placed the Canadians at Coutances and the 52nd at St-Lo for now, supported by the 1st Armoured and the Poles.”
“The other three corps are landing at Brest, Saint Nazaire and Lorient and the Australians at Saint Malo. It will take several days for the real heavy artillery to get over here, but within a week, we’ll have a screen up around Falaise and Argentan alongside Second Army.”
”Don’t underestimate the Germans. They are in the position they are in for good reason.”
”Far from it, General. We’ve learned to respect the Hun in our time, but under the amount of airpower we can throw at him, it isn’t an even fight. They’ll keep them at arm’s length until we have our tanks and guns over here. Then we can give him a taste of his own medicine.”
”What on earth is that?” Brooke gazed up at a hulking shape that flew above them.
”Skyship. One of those taking the Kiwis down to Rennes, I’d wager. Shore up links with the French to the south and give them something to build upon. Now, on the matter on rearming your forces, we have a shipload of rifles and machine guns coming over tomorrow, then another of guns and mortars the day after that.”
”We’ll need more time than that to re-equip and adjust to them.”
”Naturally, sir. After tomorrow, the plan is for a phased movement to lines of communication security for your forces, to allow for proper adjustment to new equipment and other matters.”
...................................
The Deliverance administrative landings in France were not the only British troop movements beginning on the morning of the 16th, with the others being somewhat overshadowed by their scale and intent. Far above, the first pair of skyship convoys were making a longer journey to the Mediterranean and the shores of North Africa, to reinforce the garrisons of Malta and Egypt. The first carried the 68th Infantry Division, consisting of 24,632 men, 2304 Bren light machine guns, over 1000 Vickers general purpose machine guns, 192 2.5", 96 3.45" and 32 4.5" mortars, 72 17pdr anti-tank guns, 96 25mm and 64 40mm anti-aircraft guns, 96 25pdr gun-howitzers, 24 6" howitzers, 240 12t Universal Carriers and 64 Crusader medium tanks, in addition to units attached from GHQ Reserve; it was hoped that this modestly equipped division would provide for such necessary protection of the island fortress until such time as further forces could be dispatched. Having taken off from RAF Fairford at 0730, they would arrive in Malta at 1420, accounting for a somewhat circuitous dogleg to avoid Sicily; not that any Italian aircraft could reach their flight altitude of over 45,000ft, but nothing was being left to chance. Once their unloading was completed, they would head for Scotland, to load the 77th Infantry Division for a brief flight to Iceland, where they would relieve the two 1940 brigades currently occupying its northern shores.
The larger second convoy was bound for Alexandria, carrying the headquarters of XXV Corps, 8th Armoured Division and 23rd Infantry Division and, having taken off from RAF Brize Norton an hour before the Malta Convoy, would arrive in the late afternoon in time for tea. The reinforcement of Egypt, once complete, - and the aerial shipping of the necessary equipment, munitions and fuel would be the truly time consuming element of the process - would permit an invasion of Italian Libya in conjunction with the 1940 forces currently in the Western Desert Force. The proposal for offensive action had naturally been met with Churchill's seal of approval, whilst the forces necessary would also render Egypt and the Suez Canal effectively invulnerable to any Italian threat, mollifying the more conservative faction championed by Field Marshal Brooke. The four divisions of the Army would be joined by a substantial RAF contingent, whose departure from England would ease the overcrowding that had beset the home air forces since the mysterious transition.
Anything further east was of a much reduced priority; Japan had shifted from a present hated foe to a future hated one, whilst the main priority was the defeat of Germany and their southern apprentice.
...................................
Even as the larger part of Bomber Command’s heavies had been on their way to deal a dreadful blow to Berlin, the second partner in the Pact of Steel had not been forgotten. Five days before, the hand that held the dagger had plunged it into the back of its neighbour; now the reckoning had begun, first from the air.
The industrial northern cities of Turin, Milan and Genoa had been allocated two squadrons of Vickers Windsors each. The six engined bombers had first seen service in 1942 in Operation Chastise amid the Battle of the Ruhr, but had been used across Europe as a result of their tremendous range and altitude capabilities, including Spain, Romania and the USSR. The farthest Italian cities, Rome and Naples, were assigned to a further three squadrons of Windsors and the first eight Avro York superheavy bombers in the entire Royal Air Force.
Whilst some damage was inflicted by the raids, particularly over Genoa, where the Ansaldo shipyard had been badly hit, the primary purpose was one of sending a message. Indeed, one plane in each group was allocated a special load of propaganda leaflets, dropped away from the target areas. Each page bore a simple message:
Hai seminato el vento; ora raccoglierai il turbine.
Verremo.
.....................................................
Cap Griz Nez, Pas de Calais
Leutnant Unglücklichesziel stood back with no small sense of satisfaction. His men had finished digging in their 10.5cm howitzer and machine guns; only a shadow of what be coming if the English chose to foolishly fight on now that the French were as good as beaten. The ruins of the old Blackness fort added to the strength of the position, a strength that was not needed when they had the might of the victorious German Army!
There was a rumble of sound from out across the Channel, distant yet very loud, followed by a ripping sound, strangely like a train.
Artillery fire
“Take cover!”
The sound of the shells screaming overhead was overwhelming, but was as nothing compared to the impact. He could only huddle as low as possible in his slit trench and pray for it to be over. When the titanic barrage finally came to an end, the Leutnant crept up to see what had been hit. The village of Audinghen behind them was intact, but the main encampment beyond and the gun positions being dug there were a scene of complete ruin. He raised up his powerful German binoculars and gazed through them.
"Gruss Gott! Those craters must be ten metres across!”
…………………
Trondheimfjord
Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Admiral Hipper sat at anchor, the repair ship Huaskaran lying alongside the former Schlachtschiff. The mid morning was peaceful as it could be in the Norwegian fjord. The quietude of the sunshine was broken by the harsh discordant claxon of an air raid siren.
“FLIEGER ALARM!!”
“What do we know?” asked Kapitän Hoffman.
“There was a garbled signal from Nürnberg that it was under attack by giant torpedoes and dozens of English aircraft forty minutes ago, Herr Kapitan, and now the observation post on Frøya reports hundreds of planes coming over at very high speed and low level.”
Within 15 minutes, the first wave of Royal Navy Hawker Sea Fury fighter-bombers, Fairey Spearfish torpedo bombers, Blackburn Firedrake dive bombers and de Havilland Sea Mosquito strike bombers roared into the fjord, their escorting Supermarine Eagles coursing above them and engaging the Bf-109s out of Værnes. Two dozen of the Sea Furies peeled off and dove in on the flak batteries on the shore, unleashing with their rockets and cannon before dropping their canisters of napalm over their targets, enveloping them in blooming maelstroms of flame. The others focused on the battleships and cruiser, blasting their anti-aircraft defences whilst the attack planes began their run.
A squadron each of Spearfish and Firedrakes had been assigned to each of the three large German ships and although they had all taken losses on their rough and fast flight in from the Home Fleet’s carriers, they now bought their payloads to bear. Half of the Spearfish dropped their two 24.5” torpedoes whilst the others fired their Hellhound rockets and glide bombs. The Firedrakes came hurtling down from on high, sending their 2500lb armour piercing bombs right into the vitals of the German ships. The Sea Mosquitoes added their own bombs and incendiary rockets to the attack, overwhelming the enemy anti-aircraft fire and joining in the destruction.
The ends of Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper and their accompanying destroyers came swiftly and with the cold precision of an execution.
..........................................
Generaloberst Franz Halder had not been looking forward to this conversation. Not only had he had no sleep, with the flow of information over the last 24 hours coming at a tremendous rate, but his audience was guaranteed to be...somewhat temperamental...
"Mein Fuhrer, we have now received sufficient information for some more conclusions as to what has occurred along the front. Firstly, we have the Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights of the last few days, which report a larger landmass in the location of England, along with extremely large numbers of enemy aircraft of unknown types. Secondly, there is the apparent heavy losses sustained yesterday by 5th and 7th Panzer Division from aerial attacks yesterday, including, so it would seem, General Rommel. There is now an enormous aerial operation underway over Western France and several reports of large landings taking place in Brittany and Normandy. The condition of Army Group B can be characterised as advancing, but confused in the face of this English air threat. Army Groups A and C continue their excellent progress against French forces in their sectors."
"Tell me, General Halder, are you an expert of air warfare, unbeknownst to me?"
"No, Mein Fuhrer."
"Then leave the issue of the Luftwaffe to Reichsmarschall Goring, when he arrives."
When he can be found
"Zuh befehl, Mein Fuhrer. What of Berlin?"
"Enemy propaganda and the fog of war. You yourself were telling me that the Tommies have been using some new electronic interference with our radio communications and telephones, just last night! All will be clear when we get through and hear from Minister Goebbels. The English will pay for whatever they have done, pay one hundred, one thousand-fold! They cannot, they will not interfere in our victory, my victory! As you say, our forces continue to advance and will do so until the French capitulate - it can only be a matter of days. We have Paris, Halder - Paris! I have achieved in six weeks what the Kaiser and all the Prussian generals could not do in four years of the Great War! The Allies are beaten, I tell you, they are beaten! "
"Absolutely, Mein Fuhrer. Whilst we are experiencing communication confusion and interruption, might it be prudent to insist upon our forces in Army Group B maintaining direct contact with each other, so as to strengthen our front and prevent French forces from slipping through our lines? You yourself rightly exercised such prudence during our victory in Belgium and Dunkirk. We would of course continue pushing forward to victory, not taking a single step back."
"Of course, Halder, of course. A front as solid as Krupp steel - that is good."
"Excellent, Mein Fuhrer. We shall of course be victorious in France - as you say, it is simply a matter of time until France realises it is beaten. It may also be prudent to consider that we are facing, at the least, a different threat from England than we had previously assessed and calculated, once all of their ludicrous disinformation is stripped away."
"We shall see. We shall see. Now, try to place another call through to the Reichsmarshall. Whatever could be keeping him?"
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
A question:
"they would head for Scotland, to load the 77th Infantry Division for a brief flight to Iceland, where they would relieve the two 1940 brigades currently occupying its northern shores"
Why relieve the 2 1940 Brigades now (or at all)? They are adequately equipped for garrison duty, and there is no realistic threat of the Germans invading now, so no need for an upgraded presence? Why send a "modern" Division to garrison duty where their weapons/equipment will be on no/limited use rather than using them elsewhere?
Why not just leave the 1940 Brigades in place, reequipping them in situ if desired, rather than relieving them and bringing them home?
"they would head for Scotland, to load the 77th Infantry Division for a brief flight to Iceland, where they would relieve the two 1940 brigades currently occupying its northern shores"
Why relieve the 2 1940 Brigades now (or at all)? They are adequately equipped for garrison duty, and there is no realistic threat of the Germans invading now, so no need for an upgraded presence? Why send a "modern" Division to garrison duty where their weapons/equipment will be on no/limited use rather than using them elsewhere?
Why not just leave the 1940 Brigades in place, reequipping them in situ if desired, rather than relieving them and bringing them home?
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Michael,
For a number of purposes:
- To reduce the number of divisions in Britain and ‘freeing up’ space. The return of troops from Spain, Italy, Greece, the Middle East, India, Ceylon, Burma, Malaya, Indochina/Cambodia and Australia, to rattle off the major areas, has been a disruption. Whilst the non-transition of US and French troops in Britain, at this time, leaves some space, there is an interest in ‘distributing the load’ as soon as possible
- Give them more room for training in Iceland prior to any further future action in, ahem, ‘an area directly to the east of Scandinavia’
- Guess where the 77th had been deployed from June 1942 until May 1943?
- To use the 146th and 147th as the basis, with non assigned downtime/1940 troops in France, for a further division for LoC security, given the low view of French reliability
- Sending a distinct message to Washington on London’s capabilities and intent for Atlantic security
For a number of purposes:
- To reduce the number of divisions in Britain and ‘freeing up’ space. The return of troops from Spain, Italy, Greece, the Middle East, India, Ceylon, Burma, Malaya, Indochina/Cambodia and Australia, to rattle off the major areas, has been a disruption. Whilst the non-transition of US and French troops in Britain, at this time, leaves some space, there is an interest in ‘distributing the load’ as soon as possible
- Give them more room for training in Iceland prior to any further future action in, ahem, ‘an area directly to the east of Scandinavia’
- Guess where the 77th had been deployed from June 1942 until May 1943?
- To use the 146th and 147th as the basis, with non assigned downtime/1940 troops in France, for a further division for LoC security, given the low view of French reliability
- Sending a distinct message to Washington on London’s capabilities and intent for Atlantic security
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
A little preview of coming stuff:
The return of British forces to Norway, after the raid by the Home Fleet’s aircraft carriers on Trondheim, would not be immediate. There was much shaping of the battlefield yet to be done by both the RAF and RN, with the former shifting multiple wings of Mosquitos to Scottish airfields and the latter preparing its array of escort carriers for future strike operations alongside the fleet. The shipping required for the movement of the equivalent of at least two corps across the northern seas was substantial and very little could currently be spared from the main task of returning the BEF to France. This gave time for a very careful aerial sanitisation of both Norwegian waters and the North Sea routes from Scotland’s ports and for appraisal of the enemy’s dispositions.
The 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions were at Narvik, the 69th Infantry was at Stavanger, the 163rd and 196th advancing in the centre of the country, the 181st was at Trondheim and the 214th in the south. The prospect of substantial further German reinforcement of the invasion forces was not seen as a serious threat, given the more direct need of troops in France. The British response was planned to be quite comprehensive. Both of the home based divisions of the Royal Marines had been assigned to the initial Trondheim landing, whilst Narvik was allocated to the Light Division, the 1st Gurkha Division and a crack field force of dwarven troops (operating under Imperial control for the duration of the war under the terms of the 1190 Pact of Stonebridge) and the liberation of Bergen was to be the task of the Commandos, the Royal Naval Division and the 34th Infantry Division. Given the relative lack of a role for the airborne army assembled for Overlord in the ‘new old’ Battle of France, the entire of the I Airborne Corps had been issued orders for Norway. Finally, the newly arrived Norwegian Division had just ‘transitioned’ in the Scottish Highlands, where they had been undergoing training for the liberation of France alongside other Continental forces; this crack unit was assigned a very special mission in the renewed battle for their homeland.
Prior to any action, the process of airdropping advance units of commandos, SSRF, Norisen and SAS into Norway had begun as of the previous night, with many having fought there over the last four years of their war. Their role was to observe, harass and prepare for the liberation to come, with a particular accent upon prepositioning themselves for forward air control and interdiction of transport.
Whilst Prime Minister Churchill had been very forthright in his push for aggressive action in Norway against the Nazis, Field Marshal Brooke and others held the view that it was at best a peripheral campaign to secure their flanks and strategic access to resources; the main fight lay in the fields of France, not the fjords. The level of priority of shipping and supplies dictated the timetable for Norway’s future, but nonetheless, deliverance and freedom were coming.
The return of British forces to Norway, after the raid by the Home Fleet’s aircraft carriers on Trondheim, would not be immediate. There was much shaping of the battlefield yet to be done by both the RAF and RN, with the former shifting multiple wings of Mosquitos to Scottish airfields and the latter preparing its array of escort carriers for future strike operations alongside the fleet. The shipping required for the movement of the equivalent of at least two corps across the northern seas was substantial and very little could currently be spared from the main task of returning the BEF to France. This gave time for a very careful aerial sanitisation of both Norwegian waters and the North Sea routes from Scotland’s ports and for appraisal of the enemy’s dispositions.
The 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions were at Narvik, the 69th Infantry was at Stavanger, the 163rd and 196th advancing in the centre of the country, the 181st was at Trondheim and the 214th in the south. The prospect of substantial further German reinforcement of the invasion forces was not seen as a serious threat, given the more direct need of troops in France. The British response was planned to be quite comprehensive. Both of the home based divisions of the Royal Marines had been assigned to the initial Trondheim landing, whilst Narvik was allocated to the Light Division, the 1st Gurkha Division and a crack field force of dwarven troops (operating under Imperial control for the duration of the war under the terms of the 1190 Pact of Stonebridge) and the liberation of Bergen was to be the task of the Commandos, the Royal Naval Division and the 34th Infantry Division. Given the relative lack of a role for the airborne army assembled for Overlord in the ‘new old’ Battle of France, the entire of the I Airborne Corps had been issued orders for Norway. Finally, the newly arrived Norwegian Division had just ‘transitioned’ in the Scottish Highlands, where they had been undergoing training for the liberation of France alongside other Continental forces; this crack unit was assigned a very special mission in the renewed battle for their homeland.
Prior to any action, the process of airdropping advance units of commandos, SSRF, Norisen and SAS into Norway had begun as of the previous night, with many having fought there over the last four years of their war. Their role was to observe, harass and prepare for the liberation to come, with a particular accent upon prepositioning themselves for forward air control and interdiction of transport.
Whilst Prime Minister Churchill had been very forthright in his push for aggressive action in Norway against the Nazis, Field Marshal Brooke and others held the view that it was at best a peripheral campaign to secure their flanks and strategic access to resources; the main fight lay in the fields of France, not the fjords. The level of priority of shipping and supplies dictated the timetable for Norway’s future, but nonetheless, deliverance and freedom were coming.
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1049
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Vice Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, looked down once again at the report on his desk and the pictures beside it. To say it made for stark reading would be a polite understatement.
The presence of a large Royal Navy fleet at Singapore had been confirmed, with the initial British wireless and newspaper reports now backed up by the Japanese defence attaché to Siam, who had been expressly invited to Singapore by this British Admiral Mountbatten. There, he had been given a very gracious reception and a tour of the fleet.
The British had claimed a strength of 10 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, 8 carriers, 9 monitors, 21 cruisers, 50 submarines and a shocking 193 escorts and whilst the precise number of smaller vessels could not be verified, the attaché’s report had mentioned counting at least eighty destroyers, all of a quite unfamiliar design. There had also been a number of other strange ships, described by their erstwhile hosts as ‘amphibious warships’; at least two of them seemed to be former battleships of some sort. Singapore had been literally crawling with British troops, all Royal Marines looking decidedly unfriendly.
Each of the British battleships that had been deliberately shown off bore a familiar name, but were clearly not the vessels detailed in Janes and the Imperial Japanese Navy’s own extensive intelligence reports, each being easily larger than the Hood. Their casual mention of 18” armament - which had seemed so fantastical that short while ago - had been apparently accurate, or close to it, and each ship bristled with a strange array of secondary guns and dozens upon dozens of light anti-aircraft guns.Rather more disconcerting had been the rather off hand reference to the top secret attributes of the Yamato class battleships, with Mountbatten remarking that ‘These old girls aren’t quite as shiny as your Yamato and Musashi, but an extra 20,000 tons can get one a lot of polish as well as that extra 18 incher, I’ll wager!’
The main message that had been politely communicated was that this fleet was but a shadow of the main force now heading back to European waters, ‘temporarily, of course, old chap.’ They had seemed to be quite open of their plans and intentions, talking openly about escorting a Royal Marine Division to French Indochina for a ‘goodwill visit’. The attaché had noted that any attempts to steer the conversation onto aircraft carriers was firmly stonewalled, with them being described as out of port on manoeuvres and exercise; strangely, one of the British admiral’s staff had quipped ‘that would seem to be a bit of a muddle for you; it could be habit forming!’ before being shushed.
Three conclusions were obvious. Firstly, the existing Japanese battlefleet was clearly outmatched somehow by this Britain. Secondly, they were clearly hiding something, and it wasn’t just their carriers. Thirdly, the prospect of expansion to the south had been turned on its head.
The presence of a large Royal Navy fleet at Singapore had been confirmed, with the initial British wireless and newspaper reports now backed up by the Japanese defence attaché to Siam, who had been expressly invited to Singapore by this British Admiral Mountbatten. There, he had been given a very gracious reception and a tour of the fleet.
The British had claimed a strength of 10 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, 8 carriers, 9 monitors, 21 cruisers, 50 submarines and a shocking 193 escorts and whilst the precise number of smaller vessels could not be verified, the attaché’s report had mentioned counting at least eighty destroyers, all of a quite unfamiliar design. There had also been a number of other strange ships, described by their erstwhile hosts as ‘amphibious warships’; at least two of them seemed to be former battleships of some sort. Singapore had been literally crawling with British troops, all Royal Marines looking decidedly unfriendly.
Each of the British battleships that had been deliberately shown off bore a familiar name, but were clearly not the vessels detailed in Janes and the Imperial Japanese Navy’s own extensive intelligence reports, each being easily larger than the Hood. Their casual mention of 18” armament - which had seemed so fantastical that short while ago - had been apparently accurate, or close to it, and each ship bristled with a strange array of secondary guns and dozens upon dozens of light anti-aircraft guns.Rather more disconcerting had been the rather off hand reference to the top secret attributes of the Yamato class battleships, with Mountbatten remarking that ‘These old girls aren’t quite as shiny as your Yamato and Musashi, but an extra 20,000 tons can get one a lot of polish as well as that extra 18 incher, I’ll wager!’
The main message that had been politely communicated was that this fleet was but a shadow of the main force now heading back to European waters, ‘temporarily, of course, old chap.’ They had seemed to be quite open of their plans and intentions, talking openly about escorting a Royal Marine Division to French Indochina for a ‘goodwill visit’. The attaché had noted that any attempts to steer the conversation onto aircraft carriers was firmly stonewalled, with them being described as out of port on manoeuvres and exercise; strangely, one of the British admiral’s staff had quipped ‘that would seem to be a bit of a muddle for you; it could be habit forming!’ before being shushed.
Three conclusions were obvious. Firstly, the existing Japanese battlefleet was clearly outmatched somehow by this Britain. Secondly, they were clearly hiding something, and it wasn’t just their carriers. Thirdly, the prospect of expansion to the south had been turned on its head.
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jemhouston
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Secure the water supplies, and grin like a wolf.
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Simon Darkshade
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- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
They have four reinforced divisions of Royal Marines - there is no question of sitting back and waiting in Singapore, or even Malaya. Reinforcing the Far East will happen, but in months, not weeks. Japan don’t have a real offensive card to play.
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Belushi TD
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Well, they could always go after the "Northern Resource Area" instead.
Belushi TD
Belushi TD
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
That would require the Soviets being at war on another front; there isn’t going to be a Soviet-German war, as Nazi Germany has only a relatively short and interesting life ahead.
Japan will be facing a very unfriendly and non-accomodating British Empire that has very strong military forces and, in addition to their technological edge, has Tube Alloys.
This is missing one of its large components in the form of the Chalk River nuclear facility, but in Britain, has the ICI gaseous diffusion plant at Capenhurst newly operational; the Windscale Works were due to complete in May 1944; and the Darkmoor Works in the Scottish Highlands in December 1944. Slightly different from @, the DE British Commonwealth nuclear program was partly folded into the Manhattan Project after September 1943 and partly continued in parallel, so that there was a much clearer and formal agreement on cooperation and the first real British atomic bomb came in April 1946. In the ISOT case, the transplanted DE Britain will get a bomb in ~2.5 years after the turn of ‘downtime’ 1941.
In any event, I don’t see the story as having scope or the legs for an extended ‘postwar’ epilogue, being a bit of fun to try some ideas out in a slightly different setting.
Japan will be facing a very unfriendly and non-accomodating British Empire that has very strong military forces and, in addition to their technological edge, has Tube Alloys.
This is missing one of its large components in the form of the Chalk River nuclear facility, but in Britain, has the ICI gaseous diffusion plant at Capenhurst newly operational; the Windscale Works were due to complete in May 1944; and the Darkmoor Works in the Scottish Highlands in December 1944. Slightly different from @, the DE British Commonwealth nuclear program was partly folded into the Manhattan Project after September 1943 and partly continued in parallel, so that there was a much clearer and formal agreement on cooperation and the first real British atomic bomb came in April 1946. In the ISOT case, the transplanted DE Britain will get a bomb in ~2.5 years after the turn of ‘downtime’ 1941.
In any event, I don’t see the story as having scope or the legs for an extended ‘postwar’ epilogue, being a bit of fun to try some ideas out in a slightly different setting.
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Bernard Woolley
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Very glad its Darkmoor and not Northmoor! I've heard that place had some rather dodgy storage practises. Also means no black flowers. 
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Rather! 
Darkmoor is a very secure place with punctilious practices for storage and operation alike, producing a significant part of DE Britain’s plutonium from 1945 onwards; the rest comes from Windscale, plants in Canada and Newfoundland, Arisaig, Dounreay and several other facilities.
No black flowers nor any prospect of them; as of 1972, the worry is global cooling.
Darkmoor is a very secure place with punctilious practices for storage and operation alike, producing a significant part of DE Britain’s plutonium from 1945 onwards; the rest comes from Windscale, plants in Canada and Newfoundland, Arisaig, Dounreay and several other facilities.No black flowers nor any prospect of them; as of 1972, the worry is global cooling.
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
Iosef Dzugashvili, better known to the world as Stalin, did not like surprises. Not when they happened to him, that is. The events of the last three days, then, had come as a continual litany of surprises.
First the Fall of Paris, with all that entailed for the seemingly inevitable collapse of French and British resistance against Nazi Germany. That had barely had time to register before the accounts of something very strange occurring in regards to England, culminating in what had seemed as the frankly insane bravado of a gaggle of delusional imperialists on their last legs - the first radio broadcast, calling for Italian and German surrender. The report of Foch showing up in Bordeaux had seemed equally fantastic, even if it did come from quite highly positioned sources, but now…now he was not so sure.
Then had come the bombing raids of yesterday on Berlin and Italy. In both cases, the reports of Soviet diplomats and friendly neutrals had indicated that the scale had been quite unparalleled. The English claims of thousands of bombers - thousands, where even the idea of a thousand bombers would have seemed absurd! - would make sense with the scale of destruction. If that was true, then something very strange was happening…
Beria’s report had said that the Cripps and indeed the whole English embassy was very much in the dark as to the change in mood, capability and strategy from home, prior to the arrival of an urgent diplomatic courier via Sweden, after which there had been no further news. The only sign that something was afoot was Cripps requesting a formal meeting with Molotov tomorrow morning. There was also the quite baffling request for a personal representative of Prime Minister Churchill to fly directly to Moscow. Stalin was a man who did not like to be baffled.
First the Fall of Paris, with all that entailed for the seemingly inevitable collapse of French and British resistance against Nazi Germany. That had barely had time to register before the accounts of something very strange occurring in regards to England, culminating in what had seemed as the frankly insane bravado of a gaggle of delusional imperialists on their last legs - the first radio broadcast, calling for Italian and German surrender. The report of Foch showing up in Bordeaux had seemed equally fantastic, even if it did come from quite highly positioned sources, but now…now he was not so sure.
Then had come the bombing raids of yesterday on Berlin and Italy. In both cases, the reports of Soviet diplomats and friendly neutrals had indicated that the scale had been quite unparalleled. The English claims of thousands of bombers - thousands, where even the idea of a thousand bombers would have seemed absurd! - would make sense with the scale of destruction. If that was true, then something very strange was happening…
Beria’s report had said that the Cripps and indeed the whole English embassy was very much in the dark as to the change in mood, capability and strategy from home, prior to the arrival of an urgent diplomatic courier via Sweden, after which there had been no further news. The only sign that something was afoot was Cripps requesting a formal meeting with Molotov tomorrow morning. There was also the quite baffling request for a personal representative of Prime Minister Churchill to fly directly to Moscow. Stalin was a man who did not like to be baffled.
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jemhouston
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Re: Fall and Rise: An ISOT
I don't supposed Stalin will blow a fatal gasket?