Trekaddict
One problem the Edgehill will face is that of course it that will be entering a major battle zone disguised as a Japanese ship. As such it will hopefully pass unattacked by the Japanese but it would be ironic if it was attacked by empire forces. Given the degree of secrecy that would be involved in the mission I suspect few people in the RN other than those on-board would know about it, let alone the RAF.
To a degree the hostility and mistrust is understandable but it does rather reflect poorly on the crew. For a man who's father openly chose Britain over his homeland. Especially Felix himself, who is also an exile from a less than friendly power. Hard not to think race has as much to do with it as national politics.
Steve
Ehran, your posts states this better than mine ever did.
But still, you could summarize both of them as "It's the 1940s. Duh."
Hell, I consider myself as very open minded, but it still took me a while to get used to having a black English Teacher from South Africa.
ViperhawkZ I like, Except that they are using white instead of yellow for their insignia to set themselves apart from the Soviets whom they see as traitors to the revolution.
My vote goes for Naval Jack V1.
stevep To that end Edgehill is actually flying the White Ensign at all times until they pass the perimeter. They are also avoiding the shipping lanes where ever possible and try to arrive in Australia during the day and from a direction where a single Japanese freighter is highly unlikely.
re hostility: It is part racial (it being the 1940s after all) and part that the Japanese haven't behaved terribly will in the areas they occupied.
Out of universe explanation is that I felt and feel that I was very close to have the British and my characters turn into Star Trek TNG Characters. As awesome as that show was, this AAR is set on Earth in the 1940s in what is a Nation born out of an old-fashioned Colonial Empire and that still has some ways to go until they are the unified nation present by the year 2000, and not a far-future post-scarcity utopia. My characters are born of their time, they have stupid racial prejudices and other assorted faults and foibles that common to their time and their status as normal human beings. That doesn't mean that some don't see the Sino-Japanese as anything but Nips/Japs/the yellow peril.
Felix dislikes Japanese and Germans, Ian hates the Russians and so on and so on. I hope you understand.
Honestly I can see where Felix is coming from, this is a risky enough mission as it is - do you really want another unknown potential problem in there? (This is of course separate from his prejudice on the matter, which I obviously don't agree with.)
Front line service is a very different matter from secret behind the lines adventure, it's a risk the mission doesn't need. If nothing else Felix (and probably Ian) will be wasting time checking the loyalty of a crew member when they should be doing something useful. There's a time and a place for showing our heroes that Japanese people are just as human and as loyal as they are, this mission is not a good time.
I've been looking for this map for months.
My ideas for post-war Yugoslavia come from this. No idea how realistic it is, but I am still torn between a semi-peaceful breakup (think NI during the troubles for level of violence) and a loose Federal Kingdom.