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Inspiration is not theft.
The typical excuse of many thieves.
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Dr. Gonzo That's actually a coincidence of sorts. As for what the Canucks are up to..well....wait and see I suppose. The Biggest Canadian contribution to the war will have a very important lasting effect concerning the geography of the world and the power blocs.


El Pip Except when they are the Government.

Griffin.Gen His name will never be known, but he will be remembered. Heroic painting in the Hockey Hall of fame anyone?
 
Kurt

You've never seen ice hockey then?:D

Steve

Does "Slap Shot" count as "seeing ice hockey"?

I prefer rugby. More civilized.


:D:D:D
 
Does "Slap Shot" count as "seeing ice hockey"?

I prefer rugby. More civilized.
I think 'Fire' and 'Inventing the wheel' also count as more civilised that ice hockey!
 
Actually I like Ice Hockey. Its a much more manly game than, say, Handegg or Baseball. :D
 
Trekaddict

Was Handegg a typo or possibly a reference to American 'football' [or handball as I call it as there is relatively little use of the feet involved.;)]

Personally I'm definitely a football/rugby fan and never really seen much ice-hockey but given the level of violence involved I was wondering whether that qualified it as a WOMD?:D

Steve

Actually I like Ice Hockey. Its a much more manly game than, say, Handegg or Baseball. :D
 
Yank Football is referred to as handegg in the circles I move in because of the egg formed ball. :D
 
Aye. Now, with a LOT of luck we might get an update this evening.
 
Terribly sorry for the delay, chaps. I promise I'll give you the update ASAP.
 
Update coming in the next hour, for real this time.
 
Chapter 238

From: Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir John Dill

To: HM King George VI, Minister of Defence/Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, Winston S. Churchill


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


'Your Majesty, Sir, I am now presenting you the official report of the Imperial General Staff about the general state of the war and affairs. As per the orders of the Minister of Defence these will from now on be issued half-yearly and circulated to the appropriate circles.'

Part I: Military Situation Europe (Ground)

Subsection 1: Italy

The Italian front is currently halted as both sides prepare for the next round of campaigns expected to begin by the end of the months. After the recent battles a rearranging of Forces is necessary in that the Allied Armies are able to enact force preservation methods and tactics. This is in particular true for the Belgians since they have the smallest amount of available reserve manpower. To this end the Canadian 11ème Division Blindée du Canada (11th Canadian Armoured Division) and the 22nd Canadian Infantry Divisions are to be deployed fully forward, with the Canadian Expeditionary Force taking the place of XVI (Allied) Corps in the sector. This has been approved by General McNaughton, the Canadian Representative at the Imperial General Staff. Other than that the Eastern Front is quiet except for patrol actions and several small probing attacks by both German and Soviet units that were not followed up on. It is estimated that the enemy faces the same problems as we do.

In the west the French advance through the Alpes has stalled roughly along the pre-war Franco-Italian border after several fierce counter-attacks carried out by a formation identified as the German 20th Mountain Army and three attached Soviet Mountain Rifle Divisions. Both sides are estimated to be similar in strength and further developments will show who has seized the initiative.

Subsection 1a: Problems

The primary problem facing the Front at this time are the continued incursions of Axis airpower into Italian airspace nominally under allied control and the resulting damage and disruption of the remaining Italian road network. This has seriously impeded operations since the start of Market Garden and has only been amplified by ongoing combat. To divert to shipping supplies along to coast is not an option since the northern ports are still too damaged to take the necessary traffic and Axis airpower still interdicts coastal traffic even thought his has been less since the French capture of Corsica and Sardinia earlier this year.

The enemy also has considerable problems. Most recent intelligence suggests that supplying two armies with divergent equipment through the Alps and a lesser extent France is placing a considerable strain. It is estimated that the enemy will in the future run an increased amount of supplies through Northern Yugoslavia or withdraw entirely out of Italy by the end of this year. The most recent Intelligence did not yield anything on this subject.


Part II: Military Situation Far East (Ground)

Subsection 1: Singapore

The Fortress of Singapore is currently in relatively good shape discounting the damage to the airfields. General Slim has reported that given replacement pilots and an additional supply of spare parts the air defence of Singapore will be up to the pre-offensive strength by the end of the month. Japanese airpower has shifted elsewhere. (see Part III Subsection 2)

Subsection 1a: Problems

Lack of pilots is the biggest problem for Singapore, excluding those of the wounded that can be expected to return back to service within a few days/weeks, most of the Squadrons are at no more than 60% strenght.

Subsection 2: Java

The Battle for Java has degenerated into a stalemate. With the arrival of the 42nd Australian Division and the 1st Royal Marines Division there are now enough allied forces present to keep the Japanese at bay, even though with the current rate of growth any offensive action on either side is impossible at least until after the next monsoon, most likely not before 1943.

Subsection 2a: Problems

The biggest problem is supplying the forward troops with food. While technically the supply is not a problem in the way of moving it forward thanks to the two roads the Dutch have built north and south of the mountain range, it is hard to bring food forward in an edible state. For the moment Corned Beef and fruit is the only thing that reaches the forward posts and is still fit for human consumption. Several Universities in India elsewhere in the Empire and the Commonwealth have been tasked with developing a solution.

Subsection 3: Burma/India

As of yesterday Air Vice Marshal Tedder considers the state of affairs in the air over the front in Burma as Allied Air Superio[...]
On the ground the Japanese have been quiet for sever[...]


This copy of the report was damaged in the fire that destroyed the IWM satellite archive building near York in 1965, the MoD Copy is still locked away under the Offical Secrets Act. John Keegan, 'The Palace and the War', 1979



The reel CinC Europe, CinC Canadian Expeditionary Force and CinCAirEurope were watching in a room was uncomfortable for them. War was grim, but what they saw there was probably the solution to some of their biggest problems. Lieutenant General Crear had only come by to discuss the role of the CEF in the upcoming operations in Italy, and he had been invited to view the reel.

“Once more, Corporal.”

The Corporal on the projector obliged and soon they saw it again. In the beginning the camera was only showing a group of straw Infantry men grouped around a cardboard and wood tank in the distance. The Camera then turned and showed two ground-attack Hurribombers coming in low. They raced over the target, each released two bombs. Normally one would expect them to throw up a huge fountain of dirt and dust, but instead they created a wall of smoke and fire that lasted far longer than anything the Officers had seen before.

Alexander ordered the light to be turned back on and then said to his fellow Generals:

“It's been an accidental discovery, really, the University of Bombay of all things was researching into thickening agents for petrol for some reason since before the war. They damn near burnt down the Department of Chemistry testing just how flammable it was. This stuff turns to stick to the surfaces its on and burns far longer than normal petrol, hotter too. They tried to test it, but their best instruments melted at 750 °C, so it's likely to be even higher. It also is very hard to extinguish with water, so it's said to be all-weather capable. The footage was shot a couple of weeks ago in North Africa, and the No.110 (RIAF) Squadron has since then moved to Italy. The MoD calls it jellied petrol, but I hear the Squadron has already shortened it to Jellypet.[1]”

“Jesus Christ Marshal...” Crear spoke. “Are we really thinking of using that on the front? It wouldn't be very sporting to use that on PBI in the open.”

“General, in war, when the chances are even that means someone has buggered up, and I for one will not be that person.”

Crear smiled and said: “I merely wanted to know your views on the subject without being seen as untoward. Still, one has to wonder what the world is coming to.”

CinCAirEurope, Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham spoke next.

“It will play merry hell with entrenched or bunkered forces though. Tanks too I believe.”

This showed the heritage CinCAirEurope had. Since the earliest days of the Desert Air Force Coningham had been primiarily concerned with supporting the army both with keeping the skies above it friendly and with attacking the enemy on the ground.

“A fire like that lasting for what? Five minutes? A fire like that would suck the air out of every enclosed space....”

Alexander shuddered and went on: “I only hope to god that Bomber Command never gets it's hands on this.”

“Allright then. Air Vice Marshal, you have the green light for field tests, and please do give me the results as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Sir. As it happens I have a two-plane raid sitting on the runway with one of my recce-kites ready to do the follow up. I think that barracks complex north of Venice. It's all made of wood and should burn nicely.”

The AVM was amazed how much he sounded like 'Butcher' Harris, the former GOC of RAF Bomber Command. There was a war on and all, but some things were just too much.


Half an hour later the two modified Hurricanes, two of only sixteen in Europe (discounting spares) were racing north after circling out over the sea to prevent crossing the front and giving their direction away. The pilots were veterans of flying low on the Burmese front, and to them the relatively flat terrain was easy.

That they stayed so low allowed them to slip past the air patrols undetected and they thus found their target not on alert. The barracks complex was far too large to be really set on fire with only two planes and the four Jellipet canisters between them. The six rows of barracks where the best part of a German Regiment was billeted was defended by two quad 2cm Flak 38 but they were not firing.

No one had expected two Indian Hurricanes to appear, and when they dropped their load in the centre of the enclosure they had very different problems. Four times 250 pounds worth of the new weapon set the centre of the area ablaze and the furious hot fire instantly began to consume buildings and men. The planes were long since gone when the survivors started trying squelch the fire, only to discover that the fire seemed to be resistant to water and it did indeed stick to every surface. The worst thing however were the burns, and thankfully most of those that were hit directly were already dead at this point. When the recce-Mosquito flew overhead half an hour later, most the fire was still burning, fuelled by the buildings. Over the next few days the new weapon would be tested against all kinds of targets from Infantry to munitions dumps. The Axies were at that time unaware that the British were testing out a new weapon, while the British and Canadians were letting go of the rest of their scruples. They knew what crimes were happening behind the enemy lines, and it filtered through the Allied forces that this was a war to the knife.

napalm_0011.jpg

The Jellypet wasn't the only new weapon that was being worked on. 'Torchwood 5' as the facility was now know as had managed to bring the reactor pile online almost a month ahead of the plan, and now surveyors were crawling all over Africa to find the resources to fuel it. By now the infrastructure was growing rapidly, even the Canadians were now properly housed. Prime Ministers Churchill and King were well aware that the other Allies would be less than pleased if they found out about this Anglo-Canadian effort but secrecy was essential, because if it failed the fallout from the expense would at least be as damaging as success would be and there was no way to tell how many Soviet and American spies had been missed in the great post-Cambridge Five cleanout. The defection of Admiral Canaris had already yielded the fact that the Germans had only very few agents in Britain that were unknown to MI5, and those had proven to be easily turned when they had been confronted with everything from their real names to the names and particulars of their families back in Germany. Torchwood's Australian Branch, in spite of mostly being concerned with mining Uranium also grew when when it became clear that the deposits there were probably the largest in the world[3] and it was now time to find something to tell the Australian Government. It would be years before anyone could think about actually building a bomb, but the genii was working it's way out of the bottle, and before this war was over Nuclear Fire would rain onto Europe and the Nuclear Bomb would hang over the Human Race from then on. In these days the development that spawned Blue Danube and all her descendants began and from then on Torchwood would forever be associated with it.

However.....

On a small airfield in Northern Italy a Dakota filled to the brim with men and weapons took off to conduct one of the SOE's most famous mission of the early war.

However.....

In Darwin HMS Hood sortied for a meeting with destiny.


However.....

In Britain the first prototypes of a bouncing Bomb were test-dropped from a Lancaster.


However.....

No. 617 Squadron was moved to RAF Scampton and began low-level flight training.




[Notes: You may have noticed that the French Army is alone on the Western Front. They demanded a direct advance into France and this opportunity was given to them to get them out of the hair of the IGS. The second scene was originally meant to be set in Burma, but I realized that its in the Monsoon Season right now (correction welcome if I am wrong), so it's Italy instead. Yes, Canada will end up as Nuclear Power in her own right, with Independentn deterrent and all that jazz. Yes there will be multiple use of Nukes in Europe before the war is over. ]


[1] Goes into the dictionary.

[2]For obvious reasons the deposits in the old US are unknown or at least 'unreliably described', the ones in East Germany are not yet discovered and inaccessible anyway and those in Africa aren't known yet either.
 
On a small airfield in Northern Italy a Dakota filled to the brim with men and weapons took off to conduct one of the SOE's most famous mission of the early war.

To kidnapp Adolf?

In Darwin HMS Hood sortied for a meeting with destiny.

The bottom of the sea? :D

In Britain the first prototypes of a bouncing Bomb were test-dropped from a Lancaster.

That's it! You're sending a Dakota filled with SAS to capture Adolf to test the bouncing bomb on his empty head! :D
 
Guys

Can't see it being an attempt to kidnap Hitler. Possibly an assassination but could already have seen Churchill decide, as he did historically, not to help the Germans war machine out by getting rid of him. Could be some raid related to info given by Canaris, or possibly something coming from that to try and make the Germans think he didn't pass info about Enigma.

The bits about the bouncing bomb and 617 squadron starting training suggests some equivalent to the Dambusters Raid.

With Hood, depending on the situation in the Far East, but could be nasty.:eek: Plenty of fairly decent Japanese subs [presuming like historical] with training for attacking warships along with the Japanese carrier force.

Anyway napalm is potentially useful but not sure if they would conduct initial operations at such low scale. Gives too many chances for the Axis to get experience of the weapon. Even if they don't work out how to use it themselves they could gain experience in how to defend against it or minimise damage. I would have been tempted to wait until plenty available, with training/test runs in friendly territory to gain experience, then hit somewhere very hard, say in support of the next ground offensive. Could really shatter some key units and possibly also disrupt supplies and command structure.

Steve

PS One small problem with the notes. You have note 2 about the hunt for uranium but refer to it as note 3 in the text.
 
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