Against all Odds: The British Empire in World War Two

misterbean Well, writing for AAO is my favourite pasttime and my only hobby since I gave up modelling.


Raaritsgozilla Haven't read those, but I've seen/read lots of other crime stuff.

PrawnStar It isn't! They are taking this stuff serious! RUUUUUUN!

The Picture pretty much says where my Loyalties lie. With a strong Federal Republic, preferably armed with British kit.

You can bet on it.

stevep said:

As a life-long page 3 fan that gave me a grin but I rather suspect you meant building model kits rather than the alternative.

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Kits indeed.

stevep said:

At the risk of national stereo-typing I think even the Germans would struggle to take Top Gear seriously.

Steve

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You haven't seen what they did to Mythbusters and Monthy Python. *shudders*

Whilst weighing the moral question of an implied death of two prominent members of Comtemporary Britain I played some EU3. This happened. It's funny because if you look at a map and the comparative size of these countries...

*hopes for an inherit*

Kurt_Steiner said:

Stop Euing and update!!!!

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I can't do that without resolving that question.

I have decided, and as a result the update is on again, for tomorrow sometime. Right now it's time for some good and non-dubbed Top Gear.

Derek Pullem said:

Maximum respect to Tom Cruise for two-wheeling that Korean "reasonably priced car"!

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I still want to stab him in both eyes with a rusty fork thouhg.


"There is no mountain in all India high enough to adequately show my contempt of him."

Chapter 247​

Excerpt from 'Common Cause: Fifty Years of Unity'



'The last stages of Operation Capital almost fell by the wayside in the halls of power in Whitehall and among the many exiled Governments in London because while the soldiers at the front fought one of the largest Tank Battles of the war their political leaders had other things to do.

The Entente Cordiale preceded the Pact and it had served the Empire and France well for decades, but inflexibility of the system in the face of the modern threats had become apparent when the British and the French had been unable to come to an agreement on how to proceed while the Axis warmachine devoured Poland. Later the exiled Armies had been integrated into the British Command structure even though they still fought under their own flags, and it was clear that even if total Victory was won the victors would again part ways. While no one expected the partition to be as deep and as total as between the Entente Powers of World War One and their enemy of World War Two, the Empire of Japan and no one thought that one would go to war against the others, but the school of thought common amongst exiles and British leaders alike at the time was that the fracturing of the political position of the victorious allies after the war had done as much to lead to this war as Appeasement had done. The Belgians especially had found out that being neutral and hiding behind one's forts was the worst of all possible options. In his memoirs that were published in 1957, King Leopold III freely admitted that it was the fall of Brussels that had made him see the error of his ways and it was him and Polish President Władysław Raczkiewicz (who ran the daily work of the Polish Government in Exile while Sikorsky was with the Army in Italy) who first pushed for a more formalized and long-term defensive agreement that would also ensure the protection of their respective countries after victory over the Axis powers, however that would look like in the end. The Dutch Queen Wilhelmina was won over equally fast for the same reasons. By the time the Irish entered the war as the last of the 'little Alliance' as the group was then called all that was needed was a way of approaching the British without looking like the Exiles were going to the British and the French hat in hand. This was mainly done because Raczkiewicz disliked the French and felt nothing but pure loathing for General de Gaulle who was by that time deputy Minister of National Defence, having somehow managed to absolve himself of the disgrace he had fallen into after encouraging the Communist uprising in Quebec. De Gaulle would even then let some of his later political traits and ideas shine through and even though his influence on the French Government was minimal at best it was enough to instil severe dislike from many in the Exile Community and Whitehall alike.

The initial contacts were thus made by the respective Foreign Ministries and intense negotiations followed, the details of which are included in Chapter Two through four of this book. Surprisingly enough the military side of things was resolved quite fast, the existing situation was formalized even though some insisted that it be renegotiated after the war.

The recent entrance of the Irish complicated the war, because while De Valery and his faction of the Irish Cabinet were very much interested, the rest of Ireland would have a very hard time swallowing Ireland in a permanent Alliance that was by all intents and purposes led by the British Empire no matter what the French might think. To prevent this extreme measures were taken, for example a IRA intelligence gatherer gave up a high position in the Civil Service and tried to bring the information of De Valera's interest to Ireland only to be stopped, shot and buried by MI5, something that happened on the request of the Taoiseach and this was officially denied by the Irish until 1983. By the time MI5 caught up with the spy, De Valera and the other Allied leaders were almost ready to sign the Document. Negotiations dragged on however, mainly hanging up on the territorial changes that were to be inflicted upon Germany especially. For example the Question of the Saar territory and French Special rights west of the Rhine have filled whole shelves in various libraries, but the Charter of the Pact as it was drafted and then formalized prevented member states from making Territorial acquisitions in time of war without the consent of the others. Changes to the Soviet Union were discussed, but even then it was expected that a negotiated peace with the Soviets was the most likely outcome.

When the Allied Leaders met for the final Conference and the singing ceremony at Ditchley House in Oxfordshire the security issues had been resolved, a mixture of Military Police from all the Allied powers provided Security and MI5 had managed to plug the leak that had at the last minute threatened Irish participation. The French had for the moment been placated by 'negotiations on the Saar territory once it has been gained', meaning that No.10 and the Palace were stalling for time on the matter and hoped that by the time it became necessary to open the discussion again the British position was even stronger than it was already and that one then could force the French to one's own point of view.

With the political issues removed or at least delayed until the deed was done the thing that remained was the formulation of the Charter.


The most important issue for most if not all of those present was military cooperation to bring about the defeat of the Axis powers and the liberation of Europe, but since the Pact was meant to be a permanent institution the formulation of Article One that was eventually agreed upon was:

Article One:

'The Allied Pact is based upon the principles of Common Defence and Common Responsibility. The Signatory Powers will come to the aid of each other in case of General War and to those unable to defend themselves if Global Peace and Justice are threatened.'

The Poles had insisted on this formulation to prevent being dragged into any Colonial conflicts that all of the founding members but themselves might eventually have. The negotiations that preceded Article One perfectly illustrate the troubles and difficulties that are inherit in any form of International Agreement. In the end however all that remained was to formulate the preamble, work it into the Official Document that would be signed by the assembled leaders. Various proposals were proposed, including one written by General Smuts which was not accepted because it smacked too much of the the one from the Charter of the First League of Nations[1], not that this was known at the time.

What was eventually agreed upon was co-authored by two junior diplomats from Ireland and Australia.


'The Signatory Powers hereby reaffirm their belief in the statutes of International Law and in the Conventions and treaties that govern the conduct of War and hereby state that the maintenance of International Law and Justice is their first and foremost purpose.

All Allied Nations hereby solemnly promise each other that if one of the other Signatory Powers requests the aid and support of the others for his own Defence against outside aggression then the Allied Pact shall support it's members in all endeavours.'


The lack of pomp and circumstance that surrounded the founding of the pact was cause for much consternation, and after the war the founding day was always celebrated with great ceremony and parades, at least until 1992 when the Prince of Wales died a tragic death when the plane carrying him to the official ceremony crashed without survivors.[2]'







While the leaders signed the Pact the Front slowly inched eastwards. The 8th Army was slowly advancing into Austria in an effort to gain better defensive position while a general Offensive was prepared that was meant to drive onto Vienna. Only minimal resistance was offered by the enemy who was still trying to re-establish a new strategy now that Italy had been all but lost. In Italy itself meanwhile the Battle for the Alpine approaches began in earnest on 17th July, but preceding that were massive air battles. The OKW was well aware that the only way to support the Units that remained in Northern Italy was by air, the few Alpine Crossing allowed only a trickle of reinforcements and supplies through, mostly reserve Mountain Units and elements of two Soviet Cavalry Divisions had crossed by the time the Allies attacked.

German and Soviet Bombers by their hundreds began to attack the Allied supply line that ran in the stretch of land while almost immediately large numbers of Allied Fighters rose to contest this. This time the Allies weren't as surprised as the last time the Axis had used the so-called Bomber Surge thanks to entrance of the British GL Mk.IV Mobile Centimetric RDF set into mass service with both the British Army and various Allied Air Forces that allowed the Allies to move up RDF coverage almost as fast as the front would go. The Battle also saw the large-scale service of the Soviet TU-2 and the Dornier Do-217. The Tu-2 was meant to supplement the Pe-2 which could never be produced in sufficient numbers while the Do-217 was replacing the He-111 in German Service while the Luftwaffe waited for the Ju-88P Attack Bomber and the future Ju-188 that was to replace the entire series. Both found themselves at a disadvantage when compared to single-engined fighters but they still wreaked havoc in spite of stiff resistance by the Allies.


On the ground the battle began when four Allied Mountain Divisions moved north with the strategic target of the Brenner pass. Their start off line was to the north of Venice and along the Austro-Italian border so they would either force the enemy forces to retreat northwards or squeeze them against the Anglo-French Forces that held the eastern end of the Original breakthrough. However the Axis forces were prepared and relatively well supplied...

[Notes: And thus TTLs NATO equivalent is born. Inspired by the real North Atlantic Treaty of course.]


[1] The original League was dissolved, but as this hints after the war a new one will be started, this time in Stockholm in an effort to disassociate the new one from the old one. Thanks for the suggestion of Sweden, Griffin.

[2] Not the same man as in OTL.