The Last War: 365.
Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2023 4:33 pm
D+27
*
0738 hours GMT, 19th May. Canberra, ACT, Australia.
The S-70 helicopter from the army’s G Squadron circled above the Australian capital. The damage from the missile attack of 5th May was still very visible, moreover the work on restoring utilities and other services to the ACT was still ongoing. The number of troops in the territory had been reduced, the provisional companies had been disbanded, for example, and two-thirds of the SES personnel had been demobilized. Those remaining were now taking part in a recovery operation, digging out the bodies that had not been recovered.
The Prime Minister looked down from the Blackhawk as it passed close to Capital Hill. The fires in the ruins of Parliament House had long burned out and no further rescue operations were being carried out. Instead, the site had been sealed off by troops, with State Circle as an outer perimeter. Further in an honour guard from Australia's Federation Guard stood vigil and would do until a decision had been taken about how, or whether the human remains still inside Parliament House would be recovered.
The PM preferred not to think about what had happened to many of his colleagues and the staff who worked in Parliament. However, he had read a report from firefighters who had finally made their way inside the building several days after the last fires had burned out. They had described black and grey ash several centimetres deep, with only the odd fragments of bone to show that there had ever been people inside.
The Prime Minister had requested this flight ahead of two meetings he had. The first was with the Minister of Defence and Chief of the Defence Force. The second, and in his mind, more relevant to why he was in an army helicopter looking down at a wounded city, was with a cabinet sub-committee, which had been set up to decide on the future of Parliament House. Should a building that contained the remains of five thousand people be rebuilt, or left as is as a memorial? If the latter, where should any new parliament building be built?
The second meeting would be largely conducted by video conference. Most of the Federal Government had decamped to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and even Hobart and Perth. The PM and Governor General would remain in Canberra, but until the war was over no more than two Cabinet ministers would be in any one place at a time.
*
“We need a change to the National Service Act, Prime Minister.” The new Minister of Defence said as he met the PM off the helicopter.
The Minister was one of the former Opposition members who had been outside of Parliament on The Day. Like the new leader of his party, he had been a relatively unknown backbencher who just happened to have an interest in defence, which had qualified him for his new job.
“What?” The PM asked surprised, as the two men walked to Old Parliament House.
“You remember that compromise your party accepted from mine to get the act passed? Well, it’s come back to bite us. My late lamented colleagues were idiots when they forced this amendment to the act.”
If he was honest, the PM could not remember what particular part of the act the minister was referring to. He had a lot on his mind and could hardly be expected to remember the minutia of a particular act of parliament.
“I’ll let the Chief explain a bit further when we’re inside.”
*
Acting Admiral Russ Derek, Chief of Defence Staff, crossed to a map that had been pinned to one wall of the Prime Minister’s office. The PM noticed that it was a reproduction of what looked like a map from the 1940s. Derek pointed to a dotted line on the map and started speaking.
“Prime Minister, during the Last War, the Citizen Military Forces were initially restricted to serving in Australian territory, which at the time included New Guinea. Changes in the law in 1943 allowed the CMF to serve anywhere south of the equator in the South West Pacific Area, which is delineated by this dotted line. What’s this got to do with our current situation? Well, the present National Service Act states that no National Serviceman on active duty can be deployed outside a geographic area based on the one for the CMF; although the current area extends to the east to include Fiji and Tonga etc. Only through an act of Parliament can National Servicemen be deployed outside that area, although there is an exception for New Zealand. Oddly, it only applies to army personnel, and even more strangely once someone passes to the active, or standby reserve, they are no longer covered by that clause and can be deployed anywhere in the world.”
The Prime Minister took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He remembered the particular part of the act now and the controversy that had led to it being added.
“The ‘Vietnam Clause’.” He said with a sigh.
“The ‘Vietnam Clause’, Prime Minister.” The Minister of Defence agreed. “I didn’t agree with supporting it at the time, but Kim thought it was the only way the left of the party would go along with it.”
The PM laughed bitterly.
“Yours was not the only party which had factions that would only support National Service with something like that clause.”
*
During the debate surrounding the re-introduction of conscription, as a way of coping with the ‘Second Emergency, a powerful cross-party group, with significant support amongst the electorate, had emerged to oppose it. Their battle-cry had been “Remember Vietnam”. The group argued that not only was conscription morally wrong, but it was also militarily ineffective. Australia already had a well-trained regular and volunteer reserve military, why dilute that with unwilling National Servicemen? Retired military officers, including perennial critic of Australian defence policy, Colonel Frederick ‘Fred’ Great, were trotted out in the media as ‘experts.’ Arguing that what Australia needed to deal with the emergency were professional soldiers. That there were not enough professional soldiers and volunteer reservists was not mentioned. The other main argument used was that once the government introduced National Service it would mean the sons and daughters of ordinary Australians would be sent to fight in new Vietnam-type conflicts, hence their battle cry, or sent to the Gulf to “shed blood for oil”.
To get the bill through the main parties had gotten together and after much horse-trading, an amendment, which soon gained the nickname of the ‘Vietnam Clause’, was added. It would in essence limit National Servicemen in the army to serving in East Timor and in the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, Operation Helpem Fren. It was agreed that it would be too disruptive to apply the same rule to the RAN and RAAF, and besides, they would be taking fewer conscripts than the army.
With the clause added the sting had been taken out of the anti-National Service movement and, moreover, it eliminated the spectre of a referendum on the subject. Which would have delayed the process by at least twelve months.
*
“The funny thing is, Prime Minister.” Admiral Derek interjected. “When it comes to National Servicemen, I can send those who have passed to the active or standby reserve to anywhere in the world. But not those who are, for example, serving in any battalion of the Australian Rifles Regiment. It means I can’t deploy most of 2 Division or 3 Division to places where they might be more useful now that the threat from Indonesia has been reduced. On the plus side, they are available for any intervention we may choose to make in Indonesia.”
The PM snorted.
“There’s an irony there. The clause was introduced so calm the fears of young Australians being sent to fight in jungles, yet the clause itself means that’s what they have mainly ended up doing.
“If I understand you rightly, you want the clause gone, gentlemen?”
Both the Minister and the admiral nodded.
“It’s not just a case of deploying formed units, Prime Minister, but having a wider pool of Battle Casualty Replacements. For example, 3 Brigade is in the process of re-deploying to South Korea, but after the fighting in northern Japan, it needed replacements. How many, Admiral?” The Minister of Defence said.
“Around five hundred to fully bring its sub-units back up to strength and give it comfortable buffer against future losses.” Derek replied. “Most of them will come from the Army Reserve, but it would be better to spread the load across the whole army, rather than deplete the reserve.”
“Five hundred!” The PM exclaimed. “Dear God!”
He had been reading the casualty reports, but it was still a shock to hear the figure out loud.
“Around two hundred of those casualties were fatal and most of the wounded will return to service in time.” Derek commented, trying to sound reassuring.
“I’m due to attend a meeting of the Reconstruction Sub-Committee in around…” The PM checked his watch. “An hour, but that will need to be pushed back. I need to speak to the War Cabinet…no, this is a full Cabinet job. I’ll also need to speak to the Governor General, as without Parliament, amending the act will need to be done via Royal Prerogative.” He paused for a second. “But I want to remove the clause within the next forty-eight hours. It isn’t fair that the load is not being spread evenly and I want that to stop ASAP.”
0912 hours GMT. Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, USA.
Lieutenant General Michel Horn, US Army, tapped his pen on the report sitting on his desk as he considered its contents. Horn was dual hatted as the Vice Commander, U.S Element of NORAD and Deputy Commander of US Northern Command. After the Soviet cruise missile attacks on North America, General Garner, CINCSAC, had assigned him the task of improving Ground Based Air Defences against such attacks in the Continental USA, Alaska, and Hawai’i. He was aware that the Canadians were in the process of doing the same thing on their side of the border, so had made sure that the team he had assigned to the job had reached out to their northern neighbours.
The report sitting in front of him had identified that there were a number of Ground Based Air Defence assets currently still in the USA, including the following:
- USAF Air Defense Missile Wings equipped with the MIM-120
- US Marine Corps Light Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalions also equipped with the MIM-120 and Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion equipped with the Avenger and Stinger
- A variety of US Army battalions equipped with Patriot, MIM-120, Centurion, ADATS, Avenger, I-HAWK and THAAD
- A motley collection of gun-based systems hurriedly pulled from storage, including 40mm Bofors guns, M42 ‘Duster’ and VADS.
Horn could immediately eliminate THAAD from the list of GBAD assets, as it was designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, not aircraft, or cruise missiles. It had performed excellently against North Korean ballistic missiles, but that was no comfort to the general.
The next issue, which the report had identified, was that most army and marine air defence battalions still in the USA were due to deploy abroad. Holding them back to defend against something that might never happen again would certainly have an impact on the battlefield.
USAF missile wings would, in the main, be available, at least when it came to defending Alaska and Hawai’i, but would be thinly spread in CONUS.
When it came to the various AAA pulled from storage, the authors of the report did not believe that most of them would be effective against Soviet cruise missiles. Referring to them dismissively as ‘morale weapons.’
So, what was to be done?
The general got to his feet, intending to get a cup of coffee before returning to his task. While he was filling his mug from a coffee pot, he spotted an old aviation magazine sitting on the top of a variety of other publications. The front cover advertised an article on the British RAF’s use of Hawk trainers in a secondary air defence role. His eyes lingered on the magazine for a moment.
“Damnit. Sh*t.” He muttered as, distracted, he overfilled the mug and spilled lukewarm coffee onto his left hand.
Having cleaned up, he picked up the magazine and flicked through it to the article. A quick scan reminded him that not only did the RAF use the Hawk in the so-called ‘Mixed Fighter Force’, alongside interceptors, but also in the point-defence role. Horn remembered that the Canadians had started doing something similar with their CT-155 Hawks. Did the USAF have something that could be used in a similar way? The two-seater variants of the F-15 and F-16 were the obvious answer, but they were already being used by NORAD, alongside their single-seat siblings. That meant he needed to look for something else. Air force and navy training units were a potential answer, but someone would need to check what they had available.
“Some damn air force officer should have thought about this.” He muttered as he sat back down at his desk and picked up the phone.
Horn intended to call the authors of the report and summon them to his office. He had a new job for them.
0951 hours GMT. West of Çorlu, Thrace, Turkey.
After several delays V Corps’ counterattack was finally underway. Standing outside his command trailer, Major General Holland could hear the distant rumble of tube artillery and the occasional ‘whoosh’ from multiple launch rocket launchers.
*
A three-division attack formed of his division and the Turkish 3rd Mechanized and 61st Infantry Divisions had been launched half an hour ago. The 1st and 3rd Armoured Brigades stood ready to exploit any gap that opened up in the Soviet defences.
Most of the flank protection for the 2nd Unified Corps was made up of Bulgarian and Romanian troops. Most of whom had already recently been in action and were, therefore, tired. The Soviet commander would have preferred to have used fresher troops, but there were none immediately available.
As the strongest of the divisions, the 28th Infantry Division (M) was the first to break through the crust of flank protection. Crushing two mechanised regiments of the Romanian 81st Mechanised Division and routing the division’s armoured regiment.
A Troop, 15th Cavalry Regiment, from the division’s Composite Cavalry Squadron, was able to make it as far as Hayrabolu before it encountered any resistance. A mixed Romanian formation made up of three companies of infantry equipped with MLI-84 IFVs and one of TR-125 tanks held the town, and after an exchange of fire, forced the American cavalrymen to pull back out of range. A pincer movement to the north and south of the town by Task Forces 1-18th Infantry Regiment and 2-18th Infantry Regiment forced the Romanians out of Hayrabolu and sent them reeling to the northwest. However, the two task forces had to go firm just to the west of the town in response to a counterattack by a reinforced Soviet tank regiment.
*
Holland studied the situation map intently. He could see that a gap had opened up in the enemy’s defences around Hayrabolu, but that the advance of the 197th Infantry Brigade was in danger of bogging down.
“Get onto the 197th and tell them I want them to commit their reserves to the attack at Hayrabolu. Let them know that the divisional reserves are going to be committed there too.” Holland ordered. “Also, tell the 177th to get moving, we’ve got a fleeting opportunity here.”
1031 hours GMT. FOL Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
Lieutenant Randall Whitcomb eased his CF-118A Hornet down onto the runway of Yellowknife Airport. A second Hornet touched down just as Whitcomb turned off the runway and started to taxi towards Yellowknife.
Since Captain Gordon Wilson had been posted back to CFB Baden-Soellingen, his left ankle having recovered from injuries sustained on Day Four, Lieutenant Whitcomb had been forced to step up and take more responsibilities. For example, he was now frequently leading flights of Hornets on Combat Air Patrols.
Whitcomb taxied to the hangar that served as the main building for FOL Yellowknife, parked his aircraft and shut the Hornet down. He clambered down from the cockpit and greeted the Warrant Officer who served as crew chief for fighters detached to Yellowknife.
“Good to see you again, Mr Kaufmann. How are things going?”
“It’s going well, Lieutenant.” Warrant Officer Johnathon Kaufmann replied. “Good to see you leading a flight. As to how things are here, no doubt you saw on your way in that we’ve got our very own air defences now.”
Whitcomb nodded.
“I saw the ADATS track. By the look of the awnings on it, I guess it doesn’t move all that often. Looks like we’re also sorted if Soviet tanks come across the Artic Ocean.”
Kaufmann smiled. The M113 mounted ADATS track was a recent arrival. While the FOL had not itself come under attack during the recent bomber raid, several cruise missiles had passed overhead, much to the frustration of military personnel on the ground, who could do nothing about them.
“You know the army, Lieutenant, especially gunners. Once settled in somewhere, they’re not always keen to move. We’ve also got a couple of Starstreak firing posts and infantry from The Loyal Eddies looking after us.” [1]
“Well, I feel much more reassured, Mr Kaufmann!” Whitcomb replied. “Could be worse, though. Last time I was up at Inuvik, all they had for security were some border security agents and a patrol of the Rangers.”
“Ah, things are better now, Lieutenant. I’ve heard there’s a platoon of the re-raised Yukon Regiment up there now.” [2]
“Lucky them!”
As Whitcomb made his way to report and sign his aircraft over, he noticed that everybody he saw was carrying a weapon. Generally, a C7, or C8, but a few had C1 Submachine Guns. As he signed his Hornet over, he remarked on it to the sergeant behind the desk.
“New rule after the Russkies took that American island and raided Nome. Everybody carries a weapon at all times, or at least has one close to hand.” He said, nodding to a rack of rifles at the far end of the room, next to body armour and helmets. “We’ve all got our place in the defence plan. You got a weapon, Lieutenant?”
Whitcomb nodded.
“I’ve got two handguns – a SIG in .357 and a .38 revolver loaded with tracer rounds.”
The sergeant nodded, approvingly and made a note. After Whitcomb’s ‘incident’ with the grizzly bear, the RCAF had authorised the issue of larger calibre handguns to aircrew serving in Canada. A hundred and fifty P229 pistols chambered in .357 SIG had been purchased from the American branch of the company. Moreover, the ban on aircrew carrying pistols they might have privately acquired was also lifted.
“Good. Though, if you’re staying here for more than twenty-four hours, Sir, you and your wingman need to get yourselves to the armoury and draw something a bit bigger. You qualified on the C7 or C8?”
“I’m qualified on both.”
Whitcomb’s wingman, another lieutenant came into the room and signed his aircraft over.
“You need to come out and see this, Randy.” He said. “A couple of Hawker Hunters have just landed!”
“You’re having me on!”
“No, I’m on the level. Think they belong to that company down in Quebec City that owns a bunch of ex-Swiss Hunters.”
“Well, this I have to see!”
1148 hours GMT. Tyysteri, southern Finland.
Luutnantti Ilari ‘Timo’ Mäkinen had started the war as an alikersantti (corporal) commanding a single T-72FM2. Now he was a junior officer in command of a platoon of three tanks, such was the impact of nearly a month of combat. His platoon now sat at the very left flank of 2 Armoured Brigade. On his left flank was the right-hand unit of the Hämeenmaan Jäger Brigade, to his right was the remainder of the battalion and brigade.
*
The Mustijoki River, which formed one of the obstacles of the Outer Helsinki Defence Line, was not very wide in that particular sector. Certainly not enough to prevent Soviet tanks and other armoured vehicles from wading across. Therefore, the Finns had mined the riverbed where such crossings were possible. They had also positioned concrete ‘dragon’s teeth’ and barbed wire on both sides of the river. The bridge that crossed the river, linking two parts of the village of Tyysteri had not yet been blown, but was prepared for demolition. At the moment the Finnish defenders needed the bridge to supply a detachment from a Jäger battalion, which was on the far bank.
*
Mäkinen’s platoon had been positioned to cover the bridge, so the first sign that they would probably get of an enemy attack would be Jägers making a rapid retreat. Mäkinen was confident that his tanks would be able to stop at least the initial Soviet attack. But that was probably all it needed to do, as it would allow the brigade to deploy its reserve.
With the T-72FM2 the Finnish Army had managed that rare thing, making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Well, maybe not exactly a silk purse, as the tank still had a lot of the T-72’s weaknesses, but definitely a good leather purse. Mäkinen was fond of his tank and would not admit to being envious of the Swedish tankers in their Leopard 2s and definitely not his fellow Finns in the armoured Jäger, who had CV9030FIN IFVs.
Rumours were flying around the battalion that now that Soviet artillery could reach the eastern suburbs of Helsinki, with the occasional rocket-boosted shells landing as far west as the neighbourhoods of Patola and Pakila, there might be a limited counter-offensive to retake the Porvoo Defence Position. Which acted as an extension of the Outer Helsinki Defence Line. Doing so would put Helsinki out of range of anything other than short-range ballistic missiles. The truth was that, yes, the commander of the Finnish Army Group South certainly wanted to retake the PDP, but he did not feel that his army group was quite ready. Once the Swedish Pansar Brigade 26 was fully operational, maybe that would be the time, but not yet.
Having spent the war retreating and seeing fellow soldiers being killed and maimed almost daily, Mäkinen and his platoon would certainly be enthusiastic about a counterattack. However, such a decision would be made at a might higher level than army group, never mind platoon.
*
Around forty kilometres to the southwest at Helsinki Central Station, people were still going about their business. The fact that their city was under regular aerial bombardment and that the rumble of artillery could be heard to the east did not seem to put them off getting on with life. When air raid sirens sounded, they would stop what they were doing and troops down into shelters. It was said that Helsinki Central was a good place to be during an air raid, as its attached metro station was twenty-seven meters below ground level. Like all of Helsinki’s underground metro stations, it had been built to serve as a blast and fallout shelter.
The lunchtime rush at Helsinki Central Station was coming to an end and most people who had come to the station to use its eateries, or those around it had returned to work. It would be several hours before the evening rush started. It was lucky, then, that when, without warning, the Soviet projectile came crashing through the roof of the train shed, the station was relatively quiet. The projectile struck the floor of the station, penetrated the ground slightly before its 88.2 kg bursting charge exploded. The explosion shattered all the glass in the roof and brought much of it down, while much of the rest of the station was also badly damaged.
Below ground the metro station was rocked; advertising hoardings, signs and some light fittings fell from their mounts. However, the structure of the station held, protecting people who happened to be in it.
Just over a minute later a similar Soviet projectile slammed into Senate Square. The resulting explosion caused significant damage to the Government Palace and Helsinki Cathedral. Perhaps, ironically, the explosion also obliterated the statue of Tsar Alexander II.
Air raid sirens now belatedly began to sound, although by now most people who were out on the streets of central Helsinki had already sought shelter. Therefore, the only witnesses to what happened next were some members of the Guard Jaeger Regiment, who were protecting the Presidential Palace. They had been reinforced by some Local Defence Force troops, including a pair of Comet Mk.1 B tanks. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and when the dust cleared, one of the Comets was on its side in a large hole that had opened up in the surface of the street.
No further projectiles fell on Helsinki, at least not for the rest of the day. It would take some time for the Finns to work out what had been fired at them.
***
[1] The Loyal Eddies was a nickname for The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry).
[2] The Yukon Regiment existed as a Primary Reserve formation between 1962 and 1968, when it was reduced to nil strength and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle. In TLW it was transferred back to the Primary Reserve during the Transition to War.
*
0738 hours GMT, 19th May. Canberra, ACT, Australia.
The S-70 helicopter from the army’s G Squadron circled above the Australian capital. The damage from the missile attack of 5th May was still very visible, moreover the work on restoring utilities and other services to the ACT was still ongoing. The number of troops in the territory had been reduced, the provisional companies had been disbanded, for example, and two-thirds of the SES personnel had been demobilized. Those remaining were now taking part in a recovery operation, digging out the bodies that had not been recovered.
The Prime Minister looked down from the Blackhawk as it passed close to Capital Hill. The fires in the ruins of Parliament House had long burned out and no further rescue operations were being carried out. Instead, the site had been sealed off by troops, with State Circle as an outer perimeter. Further in an honour guard from Australia's Federation Guard stood vigil and would do until a decision had been taken about how, or whether the human remains still inside Parliament House would be recovered.
The PM preferred not to think about what had happened to many of his colleagues and the staff who worked in Parliament. However, he had read a report from firefighters who had finally made their way inside the building several days after the last fires had burned out. They had described black and grey ash several centimetres deep, with only the odd fragments of bone to show that there had ever been people inside.
The Prime Minister had requested this flight ahead of two meetings he had. The first was with the Minister of Defence and Chief of the Defence Force. The second, and in his mind, more relevant to why he was in an army helicopter looking down at a wounded city, was with a cabinet sub-committee, which had been set up to decide on the future of Parliament House. Should a building that contained the remains of five thousand people be rebuilt, or left as is as a memorial? If the latter, where should any new parliament building be built?
The second meeting would be largely conducted by video conference. Most of the Federal Government had decamped to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and even Hobart and Perth. The PM and Governor General would remain in Canberra, but until the war was over no more than two Cabinet ministers would be in any one place at a time.
*
“We need a change to the National Service Act, Prime Minister.” The new Minister of Defence said as he met the PM off the helicopter.
The Minister was one of the former Opposition members who had been outside of Parliament on The Day. Like the new leader of his party, he had been a relatively unknown backbencher who just happened to have an interest in defence, which had qualified him for his new job.
“What?” The PM asked surprised, as the two men walked to Old Parliament House.
“You remember that compromise your party accepted from mine to get the act passed? Well, it’s come back to bite us. My late lamented colleagues were idiots when they forced this amendment to the act.”
If he was honest, the PM could not remember what particular part of the act the minister was referring to. He had a lot on his mind and could hardly be expected to remember the minutia of a particular act of parliament.
“I’ll let the Chief explain a bit further when we’re inside.”
*
Acting Admiral Russ Derek, Chief of Defence Staff, crossed to a map that had been pinned to one wall of the Prime Minister’s office. The PM noticed that it was a reproduction of what looked like a map from the 1940s. Derek pointed to a dotted line on the map and started speaking.
“Prime Minister, during the Last War, the Citizen Military Forces were initially restricted to serving in Australian territory, which at the time included New Guinea. Changes in the law in 1943 allowed the CMF to serve anywhere south of the equator in the South West Pacific Area, which is delineated by this dotted line. What’s this got to do with our current situation? Well, the present National Service Act states that no National Serviceman on active duty can be deployed outside a geographic area based on the one for the CMF; although the current area extends to the east to include Fiji and Tonga etc. Only through an act of Parliament can National Servicemen be deployed outside that area, although there is an exception for New Zealand. Oddly, it only applies to army personnel, and even more strangely once someone passes to the active, or standby reserve, they are no longer covered by that clause and can be deployed anywhere in the world.”
The Prime Minister took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He remembered the particular part of the act now and the controversy that had led to it being added.
“The ‘Vietnam Clause’.” He said with a sigh.
“The ‘Vietnam Clause’, Prime Minister.” The Minister of Defence agreed. “I didn’t agree with supporting it at the time, but Kim thought it was the only way the left of the party would go along with it.”
The PM laughed bitterly.
“Yours was not the only party which had factions that would only support National Service with something like that clause.”
*
During the debate surrounding the re-introduction of conscription, as a way of coping with the ‘Second Emergency, a powerful cross-party group, with significant support amongst the electorate, had emerged to oppose it. Their battle-cry had been “Remember Vietnam”. The group argued that not only was conscription morally wrong, but it was also militarily ineffective. Australia already had a well-trained regular and volunteer reserve military, why dilute that with unwilling National Servicemen? Retired military officers, including perennial critic of Australian defence policy, Colonel Frederick ‘Fred’ Great, were trotted out in the media as ‘experts.’ Arguing that what Australia needed to deal with the emergency were professional soldiers. That there were not enough professional soldiers and volunteer reservists was not mentioned. The other main argument used was that once the government introduced National Service it would mean the sons and daughters of ordinary Australians would be sent to fight in new Vietnam-type conflicts, hence their battle cry, or sent to the Gulf to “shed blood for oil”.
To get the bill through the main parties had gotten together and after much horse-trading, an amendment, which soon gained the nickname of the ‘Vietnam Clause’, was added. It would in essence limit National Servicemen in the army to serving in East Timor and in the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, Operation Helpem Fren. It was agreed that it would be too disruptive to apply the same rule to the RAN and RAAF, and besides, they would be taking fewer conscripts than the army.
With the clause added the sting had been taken out of the anti-National Service movement and, moreover, it eliminated the spectre of a referendum on the subject. Which would have delayed the process by at least twelve months.
*
“The funny thing is, Prime Minister.” Admiral Derek interjected. “When it comes to National Servicemen, I can send those who have passed to the active or standby reserve to anywhere in the world. But not those who are, for example, serving in any battalion of the Australian Rifles Regiment. It means I can’t deploy most of 2 Division or 3 Division to places where they might be more useful now that the threat from Indonesia has been reduced. On the plus side, they are available for any intervention we may choose to make in Indonesia.”
The PM snorted.
“There’s an irony there. The clause was introduced so calm the fears of young Australians being sent to fight in jungles, yet the clause itself means that’s what they have mainly ended up doing.
“If I understand you rightly, you want the clause gone, gentlemen?”
Both the Minister and the admiral nodded.
“It’s not just a case of deploying formed units, Prime Minister, but having a wider pool of Battle Casualty Replacements. For example, 3 Brigade is in the process of re-deploying to South Korea, but after the fighting in northern Japan, it needed replacements. How many, Admiral?” The Minister of Defence said.
“Around five hundred to fully bring its sub-units back up to strength and give it comfortable buffer against future losses.” Derek replied. “Most of them will come from the Army Reserve, but it would be better to spread the load across the whole army, rather than deplete the reserve.”
“Five hundred!” The PM exclaimed. “Dear God!”
He had been reading the casualty reports, but it was still a shock to hear the figure out loud.
“Around two hundred of those casualties were fatal and most of the wounded will return to service in time.” Derek commented, trying to sound reassuring.
“I’m due to attend a meeting of the Reconstruction Sub-Committee in around…” The PM checked his watch. “An hour, but that will need to be pushed back. I need to speak to the War Cabinet…no, this is a full Cabinet job. I’ll also need to speak to the Governor General, as without Parliament, amending the act will need to be done via Royal Prerogative.” He paused for a second. “But I want to remove the clause within the next forty-eight hours. It isn’t fair that the load is not being spread evenly and I want that to stop ASAP.”
0912 hours GMT. Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, USA.
Lieutenant General Michel Horn, US Army, tapped his pen on the report sitting on his desk as he considered its contents. Horn was dual hatted as the Vice Commander, U.S Element of NORAD and Deputy Commander of US Northern Command. After the Soviet cruise missile attacks on North America, General Garner, CINCSAC, had assigned him the task of improving Ground Based Air Defences against such attacks in the Continental USA, Alaska, and Hawai’i. He was aware that the Canadians were in the process of doing the same thing on their side of the border, so had made sure that the team he had assigned to the job had reached out to their northern neighbours.
The report sitting in front of him had identified that there were a number of Ground Based Air Defence assets currently still in the USA, including the following:
- USAF Air Defense Missile Wings equipped with the MIM-120
- US Marine Corps Light Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalions also equipped with the MIM-120 and Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion equipped with the Avenger and Stinger
- A variety of US Army battalions equipped with Patriot, MIM-120, Centurion, ADATS, Avenger, I-HAWK and THAAD
- A motley collection of gun-based systems hurriedly pulled from storage, including 40mm Bofors guns, M42 ‘Duster’ and VADS.
Horn could immediately eliminate THAAD from the list of GBAD assets, as it was designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, not aircraft, or cruise missiles. It had performed excellently against North Korean ballistic missiles, but that was no comfort to the general.
The next issue, which the report had identified, was that most army and marine air defence battalions still in the USA were due to deploy abroad. Holding them back to defend against something that might never happen again would certainly have an impact on the battlefield.
USAF missile wings would, in the main, be available, at least when it came to defending Alaska and Hawai’i, but would be thinly spread in CONUS.
When it came to the various AAA pulled from storage, the authors of the report did not believe that most of them would be effective against Soviet cruise missiles. Referring to them dismissively as ‘morale weapons.’
So, what was to be done?
The general got to his feet, intending to get a cup of coffee before returning to his task. While he was filling his mug from a coffee pot, he spotted an old aviation magazine sitting on the top of a variety of other publications. The front cover advertised an article on the British RAF’s use of Hawk trainers in a secondary air defence role. His eyes lingered on the magazine for a moment.
“Damnit. Sh*t.” He muttered as, distracted, he overfilled the mug and spilled lukewarm coffee onto his left hand.
Having cleaned up, he picked up the magazine and flicked through it to the article. A quick scan reminded him that not only did the RAF use the Hawk in the so-called ‘Mixed Fighter Force’, alongside interceptors, but also in the point-defence role. Horn remembered that the Canadians had started doing something similar with their CT-155 Hawks. Did the USAF have something that could be used in a similar way? The two-seater variants of the F-15 and F-16 were the obvious answer, but they were already being used by NORAD, alongside their single-seat siblings. That meant he needed to look for something else. Air force and navy training units were a potential answer, but someone would need to check what they had available.
“Some damn air force officer should have thought about this.” He muttered as he sat back down at his desk and picked up the phone.
Horn intended to call the authors of the report and summon them to his office. He had a new job for them.
0951 hours GMT. West of Çorlu, Thrace, Turkey.
After several delays V Corps’ counterattack was finally underway. Standing outside his command trailer, Major General Holland could hear the distant rumble of tube artillery and the occasional ‘whoosh’ from multiple launch rocket launchers.
*
A three-division attack formed of his division and the Turkish 3rd Mechanized and 61st Infantry Divisions had been launched half an hour ago. The 1st and 3rd Armoured Brigades stood ready to exploit any gap that opened up in the Soviet defences.
Most of the flank protection for the 2nd Unified Corps was made up of Bulgarian and Romanian troops. Most of whom had already recently been in action and were, therefore, tired. The Soviet commander would have preferred to have used fresher troops, but there were none immediately available.
As the strongest of the divisions, the 28th Infantry Division (M) was the first to break through the crust of flank protection. Crushing two mechanised regiments of the Romanian 81st Mechanised Division and routing the division’s armoured regiment.
A Troop, 15th Cavalry Regiment, from the division’s Composite Cavalry Squadron, was able to make it as far as Hayrabolu before it encountered any resistance. A mixed Romanian formation made up of three companies of infantry equipped with MLI-84 IFVs and one of TR-125 tanks held the town, and after an exchange of fire, forced the American cavalrymen to pull back out of range. A pincer movement to the north and south of the town by Task Forces 1-18th Infantry Regiment and 2-18th Infantry Regiment forced the Romanians out of Hayrabolu and sent them reeling to the northwest. However, the two task forces had to go firm just to the west of the town in response to a counterattack by a reinforced Soviet tank regiment.
*
Holland studied the situation map intently. He could see that a gap had opened up in the enemy’s defences around Hayrabolu, but that the advance of the 197th Infantry Brigade was in danger of bogging down.
“Get onto the 197th and tell them I want them to commit their reserves to the attack at Hayrabolu. Let them know that the divisional reserves are going to be committed there too.” Holland ordered. “Also, tell the 177th to get moving, we’ve got a fleeting opportunity here.”
1031 hours GMT. FOL Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
Lieutenant Randall Whitcomb eased his CF-118A Hornet down onto the runway of Yellowknife Airport. A second Hornet touched down just as Whitcomb turned off the runway and started to taxi towards Yellowknife.
Since Captain Gordon Wilson had been posted back to CFB Baden-Soellingen, his left ankle having recovered from injuries sustained on Day Four, Lieutenant Whitcomb had been forced to step up and take more responsibilities. For example, he was now frequently leading flights of Hornets on Combat Air Patrols.
Whitcomb taxied to the hangar that served as the main building for FOL Yellowknife, parked his aircraft and shut the Hornet down. He clambered down from the cockpit and greeted the Warrant Officer who served as crew chief for fighters detached to Yellowknife.
“Good to see you again, Mr Kaufmann. How are things going?”
“It’s going well, Lieutenant.” Warrant Officer Johnathon Kaufmann replied. “Good to see you leading a flight. As to how things are here, no doubt you saw on your way in that we’ve got our very own air defences now.”
Whitcomb nodded.
“I saw the ADATS track. By the look of the awnings on it, I guess it doesn’t move all that often. Looks like we’re also sorted if Soviet tanks come across the Artic Ocean.”
Kaufmann smiled. The M113 mounted ADATS track was a recent arrival. While the FOL had not itself come under attack during the recent bomber raid, several cruise missiles had passed overhead, much to the frustration of military personnel on the ground, who could do nothing about them.
“You know the army, Lieutenant, especially gunners. Once settled in somewhere, they’re not always keen to move. We’ve also got a couple of Starstreak firing posts and infantry from The Loyal Eddies looking after us.” [1]
“Well, I feel much more reassured, Mr Kaufmann!” Whitcomb replied. “Could be worse, though. Last time I was up at Inuvik, all they had for security were some border security agents and a patrol of the Rangers.”
“Ah, things are better now, Lieutenant. I’ve heard there’s a platoon of the re-raised Yukon Regiment up there now.” [2]
“Lucky them!”
As Whitcomb made his way to report and sign his aircraft over, he noticed that everybody he saw was carrying a weapon. Generally, a C7, or C8, but a few had C1 Submachine Guns. As he signed his Hornet over, he remarked on it to the sergeant behind the desk.
“New rule after the Russkies took that American island and raided Nome. Everybody carries a weapon at all times, or at least has one close to hand.” He said, nodding to a rack of rifles at the far end of the room, next to body armour and helmets. “We’ve all got our place in the defence plan. You got a weapon, Lieutenant?”
Whitcomb nodded.
“I’ve got two handguns – a SIG in .357 and a .38 revolver loaded with tracer rounds.”
The sergeant nodded, approvingly and made a note. After Whitcomb’s ‘incident’ with the grizzly bear, the RCAF had authorised the issue of larger calibre handguns to aircrew serving in Canada. A hundred and fifty P229 pistols chambered in .357 SIG had been purchased from the American branch of the company. Moreover, the ban on aircrew carrying pistols they might have privately acquired was also lifted.
“Good. Though, if you’re staying here for more than twenty-four hours, Sir, you and your wingman need to get yourselves to the armoury and draw something a bit bigger. You qualified on the C7 or C8?”
“I’m qualified on both.”
Whitcomb’s wingman, another lieutenant came into the room and signed his aircraft over.
“You need to come out and see this, Randy.” He said. “A couple of Hawker Hunters have just landed!”
“You’re having me on!”
“No, I’m on the level. Think they belong to that company down in Quebec City that owns a bunch of ex-Swiss Hunters.”
“Well, this I have to see!”
1148 hours GMT. Tyysteri, southern Finland.
Luutnantti Ilari ‘Timo’ Mäkinen had started the war as an alikersantti (corporal) commanding a single T-72FM2. Now he was a junior officer in command of a platoon of three tanks, such was the impact of nearly a month of combat. His platoon now sat at the very left flank of 2 Armoured Brigade. On his left flank was the right-hand unit of the Hämeenmaan Jäger Brigade, to his right was the remainder of the battalion and brigade.
*
The Mustijoki River, which formed one of the obstacles of the Outer Helsinki Defence Line, was not very wide in that particular sector. Certainly not enough to prevent Soviet tanks and other armoured vehicles from wading across. Therefore, the Finns had mined the riverbed where such crossings were possible. They had also positioned concrete ‘dragon’s teeth’ and barbed wire on both sides of the river. The bridge that crossed the river, linking two parts of the village of Tyysteri had not yet been blown, but was prepared for demolition. At the moment the Finnish defenders needed the bridge to supply a detachment from a Jäger battalion, which was on the far bank.
*
Mäkinen’s platoon had been positioned to cover the bridge, so the first sign that they would probably get of an enemy attack would be Jägers making a rapid retreat. Mäkinen was confident that his tanks would be able to stop at least the initial Soviet attack. But that was probably all it needed to do, as it would allow the brigade to deploy its reserve.
With the T-72FM2 the Finnish Army had managed that rare thing, making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Well, maybe not exactly a silk purse, as the tank still had a lot of the T-72’s weaknesses, but definitely a good leather purse. Mäkinen was fond of his tank and would not admit to being envious of the Swedish tankers in their Leopard 2s and definitely not his fellow Finns in the armoured Jäger, who had CV9030FIN IFVs.
Rumours were flying around the battalion that now that Soviet artillery could reach the eastern suburbs of Helsinki, with the occasional rocket-boosted shells landing as far west as the neighbourhoods of Patola and Pakila, there might be a limited counter-offensive to retake the Porvoo Defence Position. Which acted as an extension of the Outer Helsinki Defence Line. Doing so would put Helsinki out of range of anything other than short-range ballistic missiles. The truth was that, yes, the commander of the Finnish Army Group South certainly wanted to retake the PDP, but he did not feel that his army group was quite ready. Once the Swedish Pansar Brigade 26 was fully operational, maybe that would be the time, but not yet.
Having spent the war retreating and seeing fellow soldiers being killed and maimed almost daily, Mäkinen and his platoon would certainly be enthusiastic about a counterattack. However, such a decision would be made at a might higher level than army group, never mind platoon.
*
Around forty kilometres to the southwest at Helsinki Central Station, people were still going about their business. The fact that their city was under regular aerial bombardment and that the rumble of artillery could be heard to the east did not seem to put them off getting on with life. When air raid sirens sounded, they would stop what they were doing and troops down into shelters. It was said that Helsinki Central was a good place to be during an air raid, as its attached metro station was twenty-seven meters below ground level. Like all of Helsinki’s underground metro stations, it had been built to serve as a blast and fallout shelter.
The lunchtime rush at Helsinki Central Station was coming to an end and most people who had come to the station to use its eateries, or those around it had returned to work. It would be several hours before the evening rush started. It was lucky, then, that when, without warning, the Soviet projectile came crashing through the roof of the train shed, the station was relatively quiet. The projectile struck the floor of the station, penetrated the ground slightly before its 88.2 kg bursting charge exploded. The explosion shattered all the glass in the roof and brought much of it down, while much of the rest of the station was also badly damaged.
Below ground the metro station was rocked; advertising hoardings, signs and some light fittings fell from their mounts. However, the structure of the station held, protecting people who happened to be in it.
Just over a minute later a similar Soviet projectile slammed into Senate Square. The resulting explosion caused significant damage to the Government Palace and Helsinki Cathedral. Perhaps, ironically, the explosion also obliterated the statue of Tsar Alexander II.
Air raid sirens now belatedly began to sound, although by now most people who were out on the streets of central Helsinki had already sought shelter. Therefore, the only witnesses to what happened next were some members of the Guard Jaeger Regiment, who were protecting the Presidential Palace. They had been reinforced by some Local Defence Force troops, including a pair of Comet Mk.1 B tanks. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and when the dust cleared, one of the Comets was on its side in a large hole that had opened up in the surface of the street.
No further projectiles fell on Helsinki, at least not for the rest of the day. It would take some time for the Finns to work out what had been fired at them.
***
[1] The Loyal Eddies was a nickname for The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry).
[2] The Yukon Regiment existed as a Primary Reserve formation between 1962 and 1968, when it was reduced to nil strength and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle. In TLW it was transferred back to the Primary Reserve during the Transition to War.
Looks like Ivan dusted off a railway gun...awesome 
Has to be a railway gun, Leningrad is a bit too far away from Helsinki.
? I am getting WH 40k flashbacks…