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I would have prefered a military coup by the King, but I guess this'll have to do. ;)

M O R E ! :)
 
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Getting rid of the National Labour members eh? Looks like a very agrressive setup.
 
Just you wait to see how the Monarchy handles the military! Muw-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!! :D
 
Surely they won't start a fight with the military at this stage?
 
Hardly! No.... the British Army is going to luck just a wee bit different than in Real Life. :cool:
 
CHAPTER TWO


Having witnessed the horrors of the Great War and its aftermath, the majority of people in the West were committed to peace. Within that majority, there was a spectrum of groups that had ideas on how to maintain that peace. A strong majority felt that war should and could actually be avoided by concession, negotiation and compromise, the theory that wars were caused by nations having grievances and if those grievances were removed, the belligerent nations would be less aggressive. Their was a significant minority, however, that felt that peace could be maintained by having a military that was strong enough that any aggressor would need to carefully consider the costs of becoming overly belligerent. Great Britain’s Prince Albert, Duke of York, future King George VI, was a vocal believer of this minority.
Knowing that any future way could not be fought in the same way as the Great War, Prince Albert pushed hard for any innovation that would make the British Army more lethal to it’s opponents.


Excerpt from “The Roads to War”
by F.E.H. von Longaernon​

In March of 1936, once the industrialization program had started, Prince Albert threw himself into a broad comprehensive investigation of the military capability and lethality of the Empire. Having just come from a posting as an aide to General Sir A. Mongtomery-Massingbeard of the Imperial Staff, I knew what His Highness was going to find and what he found was not very promising.

The spring of ’36 had found the British Army at the low point of its existence. Garrison units held down major outposts of the Empire (Gibraltar, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Ceylon) and with the Home Guard units that were encamped along the south and east coasts of Britain were more numerous than the British Army’s regular divisions. Of His Majesty’s active divisions, the majority were scattered throughout India, with two divisions stationed in Jerusalem to cover the entire Middle East as well as Egypt, and three divisions in Great Britain split between three commands, Northern, Southern and Aldershot.

The Royal Air Force was a mere ghost of what it was when still known as the Royal Air Corps. Only a handful of squadrons were operational and these were scattered throughout the Empire. RAF Command had five Tactical Bomber squadrons each equipped with the Handley Page HP.52 Hampden. There was one squadron stationed in Hong Kong, one in New Delhi, and Jerusalem with the remaining. The others were stationed in the south of England. Outside High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire was RAF High Wycombe home of the RAF’s Bomber Command and the three squadrons of Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley. Flying two squadrons of the newly introduced Hawker Hurricane from various air bases around Great Britain was the RAF’s Fighter Command, headquartered at RAF Bentley Priory near Stanmore.

The Royal Navy alone showed any of the strength left to the Empire, and itself was showing signs of following the trail blazed by the Army and RAF. While the Navy had commands circling the globe showing the Union Jack for all to see, many of the vessels, some veterans of the era of the Battle of Jutland, were clearly obsolete even to a soldier such as myself. To His Highness, a sailor of the old school and a veteran himself of Jutland, this was even more painfully obvious.

Assisting His Highness in my capacity as ADC for Military Affairs and looking at the capabilities of this different Army formations, we quickly wrote off the Home Guard as well as the Garrison divisions, His Highness and myself knowing with cold logic that their sole purpose in the event of war was to be sacrificed to the enemy in order to provide sufficient time for the regular army to come up to gather satisfactory forces to go on the offensive. The remaining divisions were considered by many to be the pride of the British Empire, and on paper they certainly appeared to be that way. Reality spoke differently. The three divisions in the British Isles, one division to each Command, were hardly any better than a Garrison division, my own Regiment, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry included. The RAF was flying machines that were far from state of the art and the Prince questioned the aircrew’s survivability in an air battle against some of the newer aircraft being produced by other nations. As for the Royal Navy, His Highness acknowledged that while any battle would show Britain to be the victor, he was quick to point out, with much evident pain, that there the losses would only allow one such battle.

With all of these issues facing the Empire’s military, His Highness clearly felt that they were problems that were easily overcome. What Prince Albert felt was the greatest threat to the British military was the leadership the military found itself. The RAF, being the youngest of the three Services had the least problems as the majority of the command staff were aware of the need of innovation to keep the Service from slipping into obsolescence. The Royal Navy, considered the senior Service was slightly worse off than the RAF, but was filled with senior admirals who had been in the service of the Crown since before the turn of the century, these admirals were ultra-traditionalist, continuing to plan on future naval battles based upon the naval actions of the Great War. It was the top generals of the British Army that concerned His Highness the most as they seemed determined to fight any future war in the same manner as they fought between 1914 and 1918. “This, Malcolm,” the Prince declared quite coldly, “is the utmost incompetence.”

Felling duty bound as an Army officer to defend the General Staff, I replied, “Your Highness must understand that until your brother, the King, ascended to the throne, there were not sufficient funds to conduct field exercises nor conduct much research and study of new tactics.”

Turning eyes that blazed hot upon my person and using an icy voice that in the future would become well known, His Highness replied, “My dear Malcolm, do not play the fool, it does not fit you well and is a disgrace to your uniform. It does not take a shilling for an officer to sit down and devise a better way than the human wave to assault a machine gun nest! Nor does it take that many pounds sterling to conduct small-scale exercises using mock-ups of equipment! Good God, man! The Germans have been doing that kind of thing for the last several years. It is the lack of initiative by the Imperial General Staff that will kill more Britons than any enemy, and it is that lack of initiative that I intend to root out of the British Army!”

Knowing that His Highness was correct, and shamed in attempting to excuse that which was wrong with the Army, in a blatant attempt to change the subject I asked, “So what do you propose to do, Your Highness, if I may be as so bold as to ask?”

“I have a few ideas, Malcolm,” the Prince replied with the heat leaving his gaze, his voice warming slightly and a sly grin coming across his face, “and I will tell you this, the old stuffed war horses on the Imperial Staff are not going to like it, and that suits me fine.”

At the time I was not quite sure what His Highness had in mind or how he planned to achieve it, but as history has shown, he achieve it and it served the Empire well. And the old stuffed war horses of the Imperial Staff, well, the Prince was quite correct in his estimate of their reaction.


From the memoirs of General The Right Honourable Malcolm R. Drake, 4th Earl of Guernsey, KCB, MC, DSO​

Being a young officer in the King’s army, one cannot but help being aware of the sheer weight of tradition that exists in the army. There is comfort in that tradition, comfort in knowing that at one time or another what ever situation one might find oneself in, a brother officer at one point in history had faced a similar situation and had if not survived, had succeed for the glory of the Empire. The basis of those traditions is the Regiment. Almost every Regiment has a glorious history of service to the Crown and Empire, for instance, the Coldstream Guards, being raised in 1650 at the time of the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, the Duke of York’s Own Infantry, raised in 1685;the Green Howards raised in 1688; and the Grenadier Guards raised in 1656. These Regiments have histories that stretch back further than some countries have been in existence and see more wars than most. While an officer may serve the King, he belongs to the Regiment and the Regiment belongs to the officer. This sense of espirit de’corps creates units able to maintain the fight long last what would be normally considered possible. Such traditions are what helped build and helped maintain the British Empire to this very day.

Prince Albert, Duke of York
In a speech to Parliament presenting the Crown’s restructuring of the British Army, 1936​


Rapidly follow the Crown’s industrialization program came the reorganization of the military. Again proving to be the driving force behind the Monarchy’s resurgence, Prince Albert, with the full blessing and authority of his brother the King, approached the situation with brutal efficiency.
Working with the Senior Service first, His Highness ordered the Admiralty to send to the breaking yards almost all of the destroyers left in the fleet that were in service when he was still in the fleet during the Great War. The orders for the several flotillas of destroyers being currently built were cancelled and until newer classes could be designed to keep up with the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers and battleships. The Prince, the First Sea Lord and the Lords of the Admiralty then reviewed the command lists of the Fleet and any officer that had failed to make an effort to improve the condition of the fleet was retired. Luckily for the British Empire, the Royal Navy was not home to many officers of this type and younger and more aggressive officers eager to maintain the Royal Navy as the world’s most deadly navy replaced those that were forced into retirement.
A sailor first and an airman second, Prince Albert next moved to the Royal Air Force. While of the three Services the youngest and therefore, theoretically, the least bound by tradition and inefficiency, the RAF came away from the Monarchy’s restructuring far from unscathed. Finding the RAF’s development command was far from proactive and forward looking enough to ensure that, if it came to war, the pilots and airmen of the British Empire would be flying the best aircraft in the skies, the Prince had the senior officers of the command reassigned and replaced with younger officers. The new staff of the development command was then tasked by Prince Albert to research and develop better aircraft of all types, fighters and interceptors, tactical, strategic, naval and close air support bombers, and even aerial transports. Within a week of the reorganization, Supermarine was working in tandem with the RAF on a fighter aircraft based upon their Schneider Trophy winning seaplane.
His Highness then looked to the British Army, what he would claim in later years to be his most daunting task of the entire military restructuring process. The first step that the Prince took, one of many controversial moves, was the disbanding of the Home Guard Divisions, claiming that they were a drain on both manpower as well as resources that would be better served being used directly for the British Army. His Highness then began a restructuring of the Army’s formation system. Citing the need of more espirit de’corps the Prince did away with the old divisional numbering system and replaced it by elevating the regiment as the highest formation in the British Army, and the Commands comprising regular Army units were transformed to named armies, with regiments enlarged to division size by adding battalions, but maintaining the same structure. Thus, the Aldershot Command comprising of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions became the Imperial Grenadier Army comprising of the Grenadier Guards and the Duke of York’s Grenadiers, the Northern Command comprising of the 3rd Infantry Division became the Royal Highland Army consisting of the Black Watch, the Southern Command with the 4th Division became the British Home Army with the Royal Fusiliers, the Middle East Command with the 7th and 8th Infantry Divisions became the British Army of North Africa made up of the Welsh Guards and the Irish Guards. The many different divisions in the British Army of India were transformed the same way.

The Prince then stepped into the matter of development, and mandated that the British Army would be made up of three main types of troops, Infantry, Armoured, and Marine. Citing the stalemate of the Great War and the fact that such a stalemate could have been avoided or crushed with the proper use of Armoured formations to blast through or overrun the trenches and the use of Marine units to conduct proper amphibious assaults to break into the German rear, His Highness gained the support of many of the younger officers and enlisted men in the army. The Prince also was able to argue that the Marine regiments, if necessary, would play a valuable role in any actions needed to preserve the Empire’s Far East holdings, an argument that gained his program even more support.

While the restructuring program had many supporters both within and without the Army, it had just as many detractors. Many senior officers of the Army decried the implementation of the Prince’s “super regiments” as folly, stating that such formations would prove to be disastrous to in real combat, the development of Marine regiments as a waste of resources as the duties required of these marine units would be of small scale use, if used at all, and the enhancement of Armoured units as a waste of the Crown’s money on a unproven technology. Many persons outside the Army saw the Prince’s program as overtly belligerent and foolhardy in a time when peace was what was most desirable to the Empire and the world at large. The Crown responded in a manner that was both shocking and to the point. King Edward ordered that all the officers arguing against the program be thanked and then allowed to retire forthwith. To Prince Albert’s civilian critics, the King, in a moment that showed none of his usual wit and charm, issued a written statement that read, “When one wants peace, one must prepare for war. It is the Crown’s responsibility to the citizens of the Empire to do everything possible to ensure that if war comes to the Empire, it is the enemies of the Empire that flee the field of battle broken and unable to wage war and not Britain!” Shocked by the grim harshness of the King’s statement and action, support for any opposition to the program faded and a very satisfied Crown watched as the Empire’s armed forces began to modernize.
 
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excellent. brilliant. :cool:



subscribes
 
Very well written Draco, and it is cool to see the Royals return to their rightful and proper power. Now the British Empire will once again become the world power it used to be, and now you should do better giving the Huns a proper fight :D
 
coz1 jumps up and down with glee and tries to order a pint of ale from the no longer existant bAAR to give to Draco Rexus for finally starting an AAR...

DR - man, oh man...I go on vacation and come back to find that you have begun work on this AAR that so far is going along swimmingly! The presentation shows great promise and the inhabitants are proving to be quite interesting! Any chance for Ms. Simpson showing up?

I'll definitly be reading and I hope others will as well. You've certainly earned your bona-fides over time and all those that you read should most certainly stop by here and check out your work. They will not be disappointed! Keep it up!!
 
Thank you, gents, one and all! Your kind words are a source of encouragement.

With that said, sit down, grab a pint or three of your favorite brew, and get comfortable, here comes another big post! :)
 
CHAPTER THREE​


Let the Game Begin​


As in all things, while his younger brother was busy revitalizing Britain’s industry and military, His Majesty, King Edward VIII, was not in a vacuum. Determined to do as much as possible diplomatically to prevent war, His Majesty directed Foreign Secretary Eden and the Foreign office to create as many ties with as many European nations in an attempt to hold off any war by virtue of there being a clear majority of powers on one side against any belligerent nation. Shortly after the death of his father, George V, His Majesty was able to sign into effect a series of non-aggression pacts with the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, thereby reviving centuries old ties between Scandinavia and the British Isles.

The unwritten understanding, of course, was to do what was possible to fence in a resurgent Germany while at the same time creating a bulwark against the Communist threat of the Soviet Union. Eager to capitalize upon these agreements, Secretary Eden doubled the Foreign Office’s efforts to bring Scandinavia closer to the British Empire’s camp, sending out several teams of diplomats and arranging for discussions between members of the Imperial General Staff and the military staffs of the Scandinavia countries.

Excerpt from, The Inter-War History of the House of Windsor
By D.A. Radcliffe, Prof. Of History, Oxford University, 1968

panzer_38t_s_under_trees.jpg
German armoured units moving into the Rhineland.

On March 7, 1936, the world awoke to the startling news that Hitler had ordered the German Wehrmacht into the Rhineland in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. In London, due to the hard work of the Foreign Office’s Robert G. Vansittart and officers of SIS’s Section VII and Section N, the King and the Privy Council were well aware of the German move, and the morning of the seventh found the His Majesty, HRH Prince Albert, their respective aides, and the Privy Council meeting at Windsor Castle to determine the British Empire’s reaction and response.

Royal20apartments20at20Windsor20cas.jpg
Windsor Castle's Royal Apartments​
“M’lords,” the King began once everyone returned to their seats following his arrival, “we all have had several hours to think this through and would like the Privy Council’s thoughts. I’ll start with you, Winston.”

“Your Majesty,” Churchill answered after a polite bow of his head, “yourself and His Highness the Prince as well as all the members of the Council know, Germany’s march back into the Rhineland is a major violation of Versailles. I firmly believe that if we allow Hitler to carry this action out with impunity, it will only make him greedy to cast his eyes about the rest of Europe for something else to covet. I say we respond in the strongest way by countering his march by sending in British troops.”

“Your Majesty, I must most vehemently disagree,” Chamberlain cried out almost before Churchill finished speaking. “Such an action would most likely lead to war. Rather than acting hastily with force, which the Crown cannot currently afford due to the funds being diverted from the Exchequer for His Highness’ industrialization program and the War Ministries modernization of the Services, allow the Foreign Office to open a dialogue with Herr Hitler to negotiate an equitable solution to this situation.
“This would allow the Crown,”
he continued smugly with a sly glance toward Prince Albert and the Prime Minister, “to avoid a war, for which any sane person would wish, but would increase the Empire’s prestige in the world for playing the role of peace keeper rather than belligerent aggressor.”

In the moment that followed Chamberlain’s advice, a cold tension instantly sprang upon the room, causing several of the Council’s members to shift uncomfortably. Raising his hand to silence his brother’s angry retort before it could be aired, the King spoke in cold politeness using the royal plural. “We thank you for your advice, Chancellor Chamberlain, but would remind you that insulting our royal brother’s programs which we fully support, is most rude and amuses us none.” Turning to look at War Secretary Cooper, King Edward continued more warmly. “Duff, what say Philip, Bolton and yourself about Britain’s response?”

With a heavy sigh and a bleak look in his eye, Cooper replied, “I spoke with Sir Archibald earlier this morning, Your Majesty, and from the Imperial General Staff’s view, there is no way the British Army can do anything quick enough to be of any deterrent. We only have the Grenadier Guards, the Duke of York’s Grenadiers, the Black Watch and the Royal Fusiliers here it the British Isles and they are not of sufficient strength to counter what the Germans have marching into the Rhineland. Of the rest of the British Army, by the time they arrived, it would be all over except for the burial details clean up. As for what the Royal Navy and RAF could do, I’m not sure.”

Lord Swinton, spoke in response to the King’s glance and raised eyebrow. “Your Majesty, the RAF can have Bomber Command begin air attacks at your word, however, it is doubtful that the three squadrons of A.W.38 Whitley’s would have prove to be anything more than a hindrance the Wehrmacht and possibly target practice for the Luftwaffe.”

“The Royal Navy, Your Majesty knows,” said First Lord of the Admiralty Eyres-Monsell, “is ready to sortie out from Scapa Flow, Portsmouth and Plymouth and be in the North Sea and the Channel within three hours of your command. First Sea Lord Chatfield does want it cautioned that while the Fleet can be at sea and ready for action quickly, there is very little it can do unless full-scale war is required.”

Turning to Anthony Eden, the King asked somberly, “Anthony, what does the Foreign Office recommend?”

“I have been in contact with my counterparts in Paris, Brussels, The Hague, and Luxembourg, Your Majesty,” Eden replied in a weary tone that belied his dapper appearance. “While I will not bore yourself nor the rest of the council with the chaotic details of each of those countries initial reports, I will state that while all of them are outraged to a certain degree, none of them are even remotely considering an armed response.”

“A very intelligent response, I must say,” Chamberlain said softly, yet not softly enough to not be overheard by the others in attendance. Pointedly ignoring the Chancellor of the Exchequer who was only beginning to realize the danger he was courting, the King gestured for Eden to continue. “That being said, Your Majesty, Paris is already making motions to complain to the League of Nations, and Brussels is following suit closely. That may be the only option Britain has as well.”

King Edward turned next to his Lord Chancellor and Lord of the Privy Seal. “Douglas, Edward? Your thoughts”

“Your Majesty,” Lord Hailsham sighed, “it is very apparent that there is not much we can do.”

“I feel that this is being made a bigger issue that it need to be Your Majesty,” Lord Halifax answered. “The re-occupation is, of course, a violation of the Treaty, however, all of us in this room have more than once complained about the harshness of it. I say we issue a mild protest at the way Herr Hitler went about his business and do nothing more.”

Looking to his right at his younger brother, the King asked, “Well, Albert, do you have any ideas?”

Shooting a dangerous glare at Chamberlain that caused it’s recipient a sudden chilled shudder, Prince Albert laced his fingers before him and exhaled slowly. “Your Majesty, brother, you and I both feel that the League of Nations is not worth the buildings that it occupies, so complaining to the League is going to stop Hitler from going into the Rhineland as much as it stopped Mussolini from going after Ethiopia and Haile Selassie, so complainig to the League is a waste of the Foreign Office’s time. Going in militarily with in sufficent forces would be a waste of men and material as we truly do not have the forces to do the thing properly. I agree with Winston that to do nothing is the most dangerous thing of any of the options presented.”

"Thank you for the summation, little brother,” the King interruppted in kind sarcasm, “but what is your suggestion?”

With a glint in his eye and a wolfish grin appearing on his face, Prince Albert replied, “I suggest we do the one thing Herr Hitler and the rest of the world would not expect the British Empire to do. We react in no public way, other than to began increase the pace of our moderization and publically began increasing the size of the three Services. And before you ask where the funds will come from, Chancellor Chamberlain, the funds will come from the savings awarded for the disbanding of the Home Guard and the increase in funds on our trade deals with the Dominions.”

Leaning back and rubbing his chin with one hand and holding up his other to silence a sputtering Chamberlain, King Edward looked thoughtful for several seconds. Looking silently from face to face of his Privy Council, the King read agreement with his brother’s plan from the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, War and Air Ministries, the First Lord of the Admiralty, outraged disagreement from his Chancellor of the Exchequer and disagreement from his Lord of the Privy Seal and a blank noncommittal look from the Lord Chancellor. Sitting forward again briskly, he made his decision. “Albert, I like your idea, but I am going to modify it a tad. Anthony, have the Foreign Office issue a statement to the press that the Crown has no opinion on the matter. Philip, Duff, I want the Air and War Ministries to announce plans to expand the RAF and Army. Bolton, have First Sea Lord Chatfield announce the awarding of those contracts for the destroyers have been rewarded forthwith. Let us see how Herr Hitler and the rest of the world responds to that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a breakfast gathering to attend. Good morning, gentlemen.”
 
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Excellent, Draco Rexus!

That was a great way of handling the tension caused in the council from the rhineland event. I like the way the king and prince handled that. This certainly already in itself is a strong deviation from history. Put that wimp Chamberlain in his place!
 
Draco Rexus said:
..Prince Albert replied, “I suggest we do the one thing Herr Hitler and the rest of the world would not expect the British Empire to do..

awesome ! ! ! :cool:
 
cthulhu said:
You mean Saxe-Coburg-Gotha... ;)
Actually, Victoria's line was Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, historically, up until World War I when (I think it was Edward... maybe George) they changed it to something made up to sound less German -- Windsor.

Renss
 
Draco,

Great story you have going here! I always thought the British Royals should have more power than they had... the Parliament was always so weasely...

Rensslaer
 
Thanks, Renss, Lews, Ghostwriter!

As for the question of when the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became the House of Windsor, the answer is the name change took place very shortly after the outbreak of hostilities in the Great War. The Royals reacted to the tide of anti-German sentiments flowing through Britain in the Fall of 1914 and George V had the family name changed. :)


With the recent land fall and devestation of Hurricane Katrina, and the fact that I'm a claims adjuster for a very large insurance company, I might be a tad bit busy the next several MONTHS unless I get lucky and get tapped to stay back and hold down the fort. Sooo, if you see me posting in the next couple of days, you'll know that I'm still on-line and still working on this AAR. If you don't see me posting, you'll know that I'm down in the swamps of New Orleans and Mississippi trying to help people get their lives back together.
 
Well! A Draco Rexus AAR! Glad to read and a fine piece of work it is! And much though I enjoy it, I can quite understand the pressures of reality that might force you to temporarily abandon it. Whatever the outcome, good luck and godspeed! DW