Last Man and Shilling - Semper Fi HPP AustraliAAR

[SSmith]

This is an amazing turn of events! I think you need to pull everything you have in the Mediterranean theatre to defend the British Isles, but I fear the worst!

The British have quite a lot of units in England, which, regardless of their current condition, is a good thing. London will probably be held for some time, possibly long enough for you to get your first units into England. It looks to me as though the British have established a solid line of defence south and west of London, but the Germans look likely to push rapidly up the east coast and circle London from the north.

Setting up a position to try to hold the north of England might work, but I think you really need the British forces as well if you are to succeed in this. It won't help much if they are trapped in the south and destroyed. On the positive side, the Germans don't have all that many units landed yet. Whether they continue to reinforce their invasion will probably depend on the success of the Royal Navy in intercepting their troop ships.

At the moment, I think you still have a chance of salvaging something from this mess. This should be a great game situation to play! Best of luck!

One question I can answer - the Soviet AI in HPP will not automatically DOW Germany if London falls. But it might, at some point, if the Germans don't attack first...

[Saithis]

As soon as Germany conquers London, they won't have any supply problems at all, because they will be able to take all of the UK's stockpiles, while the UK will lose them.

A very fair point - if London falls, the UK may well be finished, especially as that's the only major obstacle between Germany and the North.

Well, in the end the English AI had it right when it made that rocket facility in Singapore ... apparently Singapore is safer than London, with the japanese so far under-performing badly and the Germans pulling a Sealion while their allies can't even keep Sicily in hand :/ It also means that in retrospective you mis-stepped when you pulled out of Europe ...

Anyway I'm also somewhat skeptical about your ability to hold any of the English VP if England can't put it's act together ( and if it allowed a Sealion like that you can't count with it for much ). The issue is that you need to keep England alive even if because of the RN ... I wonder what post-England plans you have ( not that it is already time to scramble out , mind that ... just in case )

It's a crazy game so far. I might have mis-stepped by some standards but I refused from the beginning to adopt a French-focused strategy as I did not feel I would enjoy a game or AAR where Australia simply holds the Maginot Line for a few years and then the Allies counterattack. I'm also not convinced my divisions would have been sufficient to stave off the Germans as the AI already had plenty but was overloading frontline provinces with stacking penalties in places.

I have a lot of detailed plans for what to do if England falls, certainly more than I do if it stays intact! If such an event comes to pass, then I'm certainly not going to give up even though it will be a deathblow to all hope of retaking Europe. If anything, it gives me a clear objective to work for: retaking Britain for the Commonwealth.

If Britain falls you probably can legitimately save-edit Singapore into your control.

If the United Kingdom falls I'll probably write up some modded events regarding the aftermath. I've got a lot of ideas, but nothing is set in stone yet.

This is an amazing turn of events! I think you need to pull everything you have in the Mediterranean theatre to defend the British Isles, but I fear the worst!

The British have quite a lot of units in England, which, regardless of their current condition, is a good thing. London will probably be held for some time, possibly long enough for you to get your first units into England. It looks to me as though the British have established a solid line of defence south and west of London, but the Germans look likely to push rapidly up the east coast and circle London from the north.

Setting up a position to try to hold the north of England might work, but I think you really need the British forces as well if you are to succeed in this. It won't help much if they are trapped in the south and destroyed. On the positive side, the Germans don't have all that many units landed yet. Whether they continue to reinforce their invasion will probably depend on the success of the Royal Navy in intercepting their troop ships.

At the moment, I think you still have a chance of salvaging something from this mess. This should be a great game situation to play! Best of luck!

One question I can answer - the Soviet AI in HPP will not automatically DOW Germany if London falls. But it might, at some point, if the Germans don't attack first...

Part of the problem here is that I only have 4 transport flotillas in the Med, which means it'll take me three trips to move everything I've got in the Med right now, I think. Maybe two if I'm lucky, I'm going to try and pick up another division on the way to England. I certainly need to pull all Mediterranean forces for the British to stand a chance in the UK, but even then it might not be enough, and I may not be in time to save London - in fact I doubt I will be. I have no idea how many German formations are in Dover as I do not yet have an air presence in the UK (something that should be rectified shortly) nor any nearby ships. I can tell you that the closest UK battleship group is hovering around Cyprus and the only one that looks like it's headed for Britain itself is the Home Fleet, which is currently in the Indian Ocean and moving towards Suez. German troop ships are going to have free reign for awhile I suspect, if the AI has allocated enough troops to actually use them. It'll be interesting (and horrifying) to see how they do.

I think I still have a chance, but it's not a good chance and I'm sort of glad it is. I'd like to fight the odds and watch everything around me burn as Australia, as it will only increase my inevitable badassness when I do achieve victories over the enemies of Democracy!

Could really use the Soviet AI jumping in about now, but I have no idea how they'd fare in a war like this. They've been very very quiet so I have zero idea how prepared for the war they actually are, which has got me worried...

[TheBromgrev]

As far as the Soviets go, I think they have an NAP with Germany still, so the earliest they can do anything is 1941. Then, what they do depends on the strength of the Axis troops along the border. The earliest I've seen the USSR attack Germany is 1942, but the attack typically comes around 1943 if Germany hasn't invaded already.

If Britain falls you probably can legitimately save-edit Singapore into your control.

In our SF version these kinds of things are taken care of if the UK surrenders Malaysia gets Singapore, but Australia gets everything else in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including Hong Kong. Maybe not the most plausible outcome, but I wrote up the event fairly quickly and didn't have new countries to populate those island bases, so they went to Australia for simplicity's sake.

[Cybvep]

The earliest I've seen the USSR attack Germany is 1942

Really? In Influence Wars they DOWed Germany on Oct 1940. However, Germany didn't sign M-R Pact.

[TheBromgrev]

That's why. I typically see the pact get signed, so the NAP delays the war for both sides. Saithis may eventually get the second front she needs, but will likely need to wait until the Spring to see if the Germans take the initiative. If they don't, then she'll probably have to wait another year for the Soviets to build up and attack on their own.

[H.Appleby]

In our SF version these kinds of things are taken care of if the UK surrenders Malaysia gets Singapore, but Australia gets everything else in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including Hong Kong. Maybe not the most plausible outcome, but I wrote up the event fairly quickly and didn't have new countries to populate those island bases, so they went to Australia for simplicity's sake.

I think that Magrathea has Hong Kong, Singapore and some other countries.

[Stuyvesant]

Well, there goes the neighborhood... I hope there will be an epic struggle, akin to the one Churchill originally promised, rather than a pathetic rollover as the Panzers start to trundle and don't stop until they get to Scotland (I mean, even the Romans found nothing worth keeping there - I can't imagine the Germans would see things differently. ). And hopefully your Australian divisions will get there in time, if not to stem the tide, then at least to make the Germans pay dearly for their invasion.

At least the Far East seems to be doing pretty well, but that's all peanuts compared to the fate of Britain.

[H.Appleby]

well, there goes the neighborhood... I hope there will be an epic struggle, akin to the one churchill originally promised, rather than a pathetic rollover as the panzers start to trundle and don't stop until they get to scotland (i mean, even the romans found nothing worth keeping there - i can't imagine the germans would see things differently. ).

they stop oot ov fear of the sweary kilted men wi' broken beer bottles ye mean!!

[Saithis]

As far as the Soviets go, I think they have an NAP with Germany still, so the earliest they can do anything is 1941. Then, what they do depends on the strength of the Axis troops along the border. The earliest I've seen the USSR attack Germany is 1942, but the attack typically comes around 1943 if Germany hasn't invaded already.

In our SF version these kinds of things are taken care of if the UK surrenders Malaysia gets Singapore, but Australia gets everything else in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including Hong Kong. Maybe not the most plausible outcome, but I wrote up the event fairly quickly and didn't have new countries to populate those island bases, so they went to Australia for simplicity's sake.

Really? In Influence Wars they DOWed Germany on Oct 1940. However, Germany didn't sign M-R Pact.

That's why. I typically see the pact get signed, so the NAP delays the war for both sides. Saithis may eventually get the second front she needs, but will likely need to wait until the Spring to see if the Germans take the initiative. If they don't, then she'll probably have to wait another year for the Soviets to build up and attack on their own.

I think that Magrathea has Hong Kong, Singapore and some other countries.

It's unlikely that my victory or defeat will rely on the Soviets declaring war, unfortunately, as all it will really accomplish is pulling away some of the Luftwaffe which, while useful, won't make as big a difference as pounding the Kriegsmarine if I get a chance. We'll see, though. Re: the post-war splitup, I am planning on modding my own result as I would like to drive this story into something unique, although this is already pretty unique - Australia trying to save Britain against Sealion isn't something I've ever seen!

Well, there goes the neighborhood... I hope there will be an epic struggle, akin to the one Churchill originally promised, rather than a pathetic rollover as the Panzers start to trundle and don't stop until they get to Scotland (I mean, even the Romans found nothing worth keeping there - I can't imagine the Germans would see things differently. ). And hopefully your Australian divisions will get there in time, if not to stem the tide, then at least to make the Germans pay dearly for their invasion.

At least the Far East seems to be doing pretty well, but that's all peanuts compared to the fate of Britain.

they stop oot ov fear of the sweary kilted men wi' broken beer bottles ye mean!!

I hope so too, but I'm definitely not optimistic about a victory. I'm certainly not expecting the Scots to help me out here. At least if the Far East stays secure, I have a base to work from when Britain inevitably falls. My bigger worry (and what I'm deciding now to myself) is what happens to the UK colonies if/when Britain falls. I'm going to have a whole storyline about this, methinks. The global landscape is definitely going to change dramatically.

I'm loosely planning an update for tomorrow but it may be delayed until Monday if I'm feeling lazy.

[Krogzar]

a seelowe was unexpected, but it does makes things very interesting, can't wait for the next installment!

[SSmith]

Given the unfortunate British decision to deploy the RN away from home waters, I'm thinking that maybe the HMAS Vanguard task force should try to stop Germany from reinforcing its invasion? Of course that could also expose Australia's transports to great danger in the Med...

Also, I am not certain that Britain will necessarily fall if the home islands are captured. Depending on national unity and which VPs are held the UK could continue the war from the colonies. Although I have adjusted the British VPs a bit in my game (so the situation isn't exactly comparable), I have seen the UK hang on by a thread after losing everything south of Scapa Flow AND Suez!

[eqqman]

Also, I am not certain that Britain will necessarily fall if the home islands are captured. Depending on national unity and which VPs are held the UK could continue the war from the colonies. Although I have adjusted the British VPs a bit in my game (so the situation isn't exactly comparable), I have seen the UK hang on by a thread after losing everything south of Scapa Flow AND Suez!

This is HPP though, so Britain doesn't actually control directly as much of their colonies as they do in the base game.

[SSmith]

I am referring to the final SF version of HPP (aside from a few minor VP adjustments), but a lot of things do depend on in-game variables.

[Lamahorse]

Oh no!

It's time for the Aussies to defend their original homeland! Without Britain, Australia will be very sorely dependent on American support to crush fascism.

[TheBromgrev]

Also, I am not certain that Britain will necessarily fall if the home islands are captured. Depending on national unity and which VPs are held the UK could continue the war from the colonies. Although I have adjusted the British VPs a bit in my game (so the situation isn't exactly comparable), I have seen the UK hang on by a thread after losing everything south of Scapa Flow AND Suez!

This is HPP though, so Britain doesn't actually control directly as much of their colonies as they do in the base game.

FWIW, in my SF Germany AAR I had to take Malta, Gibraltar, and UK-held Benghazi on top of the home islands to get the UK to surrender. Granted the version I used for my AAR was older than this one, the UK's national unity should be high enough for it to continue the fight from abroad if it needed to.

[SirCliveWolfe]

What the duce!?

I tell you I leave my back turned for two seconds and suddenly the Belgians are manning a last ditched defense of London!?

Time for King Arthur and Kitchener to rise from their slumbers and come back to save the British Empire!... Unless the ANZAC do it first

Great AAR btw... just read the entire thing, so now I need an update

[Saithis]

a seelowe was unexpected, but it does makes things very interesting, can't wait for the next installment!

Glad to keep it interesting for people, we'll see how they feel once Seelowe is done...

Given the unfortunate British decision to deploy the RN away from home waters, I'm thinking that maybe the HMAS Vanguard task force should try to stop Germany from reinforcing its invasion? Of course that could also expose Australia's transports to great danger in the Med...

Also, I am not certain that Britain will necessarily fall if the home islands are captured. Depending on national unity and which VPs are held the UK could continue the war from the colonies. Although I have adjusted the British VPs a bit in my game (so the situation isn't exactly comparable), I have seen the UK hang on by a thread after losing everything south of Scapa Flow AND Suez!

This is HPP though, so Britain doesn't actually control directly as much of their colonies as they do in the base game.

I am referring to the final SF version of HPP (aside from a few minor VP adjustments), but a lot of things do depend on in-game variables.

FWIW, in my SF Germany AAR I had to take Malta, Gibraltar, and UK-held Benghazi on top of the home islands to get the UK to surrender. Granted the version I used for my AAR was older than this one, the UK's national unity should be high enough for it to continue the fight from abroad if it needed to.

Vanguard could probably disrupt and even stop the German landings from increasing, but it will come at the cost of exposing my already vulnerable transports to Italy's roaming flotillas. She's fond of sending out cruiser groups that are more than enough to sink lightly defended Aussie Transports and I'm not keen on losing my men to a surprise Italian battleship.

Whether or not Britain surrenders probably depends on how successful its ASW and anti-bombing defences have been, which so far doesn't seem to be much. I have no idea how her national unity is doing but I'm relatively skeptical about her chances of holding out for long. I guess we'll see.

Oh no!

It's time for the Aussies to defend their original homeland! Without Britain, Australia will be very sorely dependent on American support to crush fascism.

Americans, bah, who needs them! We can defeat them with Australian steel and guts and oh okay maybe we will need some help but...AUSTRALIA!

What the duce!?

I tell you I leave my back turned for two seconds and suddenly the Belgians are manning a last ditched defense of London!?

Time for King Arthur and Kitchener to rise from their slumbers and come back to save the British Empire!... Unless the ANZAC do it first

Great AAR btw... just read the entire thing, so now I need an update

Surprising, isn't it? There's a ton of ragtag reformed divisions from across Europe trying to hold London and it's only going to get worse once ANZAC arrives. All we need is reinforcements from Canada, India and South Africa and then we've got ourselves a proper party going on! Glad you enjoyed the AAR, here's your update.

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I didn't actually have a lot of time to throw this together, but I whipped it up nonetheless. I have a big exam on the 4th so don't expect much in the way of updating before I sit that exam, sorry guys.

Chapter 3.1 - The Scramble

As 1940 rolled to a close, the Australian Economy was in a full state of emergency. Although the continent sported an excess of metals such as iron and bauxite and a healthy supply of coal, importing was required to successfully power the factories of the east coast. Worse still, the economy was beginning to suffer shortages of crucial rare metals and materials such as tungsten, sulfides, phosphates and flux materials for steel production. Nonetheless, the factories were still working at full steam and the Allies were spared the greatest shortage that plagued the Axis: rubber. It was key that the Royal Navy continued to protect Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies; together these two countries produced nearly all of the world's commercial rubber and the lack of supply would begin to wear away at Germany and Japan.

Australia had no shortage of manpower, with over 200,000 volunteers already signed up for duty and the potential to institute a draft if an emergency situation came to pass. There was also an excess of well-trained officers, who worked hard to keep the Australian Military moving as a well-oiled machine. Australia was also successful in procuring vast quantities of oil with which to build up a large stockpile of fuel. There was no immediate concern about Australia's ability to fuel and supply ships, aircraft and vehicles near or abroad despite attacks on the country's supply lines by Axis submarines.

Around 77% of Australian industry was now focused on the production of new ships and aircraft as well as organizing, training and equipping new brigades of men for the front lines. Although production rates were at an all-time high, so too were Australia's demands and it seemed that she would only be able to put another 20,000 men under arms in the first half of this year - far too few. Much of the military budget was taken up by the production of HMAS Commencement and her planned escort HMAS Brisbane, which received priority on all materials and parts coming into the country. The Army would not see any considerable expansion in the near future, despite the intense demand for frontline troops as Commencement was considered more important than men on the ground.

Admiral Cunningham guides the Home Fleet back to Britain, hoping to put an end to the Kreigsmarine's rampage.

East of Somalia in the Indian Ocean, the Home Fleet desperately raced for Suez and passage home. Having underestimated the Kriegsmarine, a witch hunt was now underway to figure out who was responsible for moving most of the Home Fleet to East Asia. The gross negligence had been rewarded with German landings and it was likely that multiple officers would be charged with treason for the act. Britain was facing her darkest hour and she needed a traitor to blame. Time, however, was limited - some wondered if there would even be time for a trial now that the Germans were on Britain itself.

British forces cross the border into Iraq and begin to take back the desert.

In the Middle East, British and Egyptian forces were pushing back the Royal Iraqi Army and closing in on Baghdad, aiming to put an end to the rebellious middle eastern state. Germany pledged support to the Iraqis but no real help was forthcoming from either the Germans or their Italian allies. Both were heavily preoccupied fighting the British and Balkan Alliance, which were refusing to go down without a fight.

The Bulk of the British Fleet patrols the Dutch East Indies, searching for Japanese opponents.

Far to the east, the Japanese face stern opposition from a huge concentration of British ships. Commanded by Grand Admiral Bruce Austin Fraser, the Royal Navy has at least had great success here, keeping the Japanese confined to relatively safe northern waters and protecting the shores of the Philippines and Dutch East Indies from invasion by the Empire of the Rising Sun. The Japanese had been pressed into a war they clearly could not win and it seemed like only a matter of time before the combined British and American forces pushed on to the Japanese islands themselves.

Although Australia's intelligentsia were limited in number by her population, the dominion still boasted impressive research rates. Most of her financial budgets were funneled into areas of research and development, prototyping new weapons, advancing ANZAC ships and weapon designs and studying combat results in order to better learn new doctrines and approaches to warfare. Conflicts against the Italians and Germans had been extremely informative and new models of aircraft and infantry weaponry were under development while the Navy continued to refine the art of Carrier warfare.

A great deal of Army research was currently allocated to the enhancement and diversification of Infantry Equipment, and this was an area that the Army intended to expand as soon as possible. The repeated battles in Europe had taught them many lessons about what was and wasn't effective in today's warfare and it was clear that adaptation was required to effectively challenge the Axis on the ground. Australia would not settle for her soldiers being second best, and military scientists worked day and night to develop what they hoped would be the next big breakthrough in military technology.

Development of heavy weapons and motor vehicles was considerably weaker. Australia had no native designs of tank and her equipment was in many ways outdated. The only serious area of investment had been in the production of high quality, native models of heavy artillery, which had given Aussie infantry a considerable edge over most of their opponents.

Regardless of the equipment they were geared with, Australian troops were indisputably some of the finest in the world. Not only were they well-trained and eager fighters, but their military doctrine emphasized flexibility, mobility and high levels of autonomy in small units. This was historically something that the British Army had not abided, but the Australian model was proven effective and Australian forces were extremely adaptive in even the most difficult circumstances. This had brought them many a victory where more rigid units would have faltered and the Australians would only continue to train their men as well as humans could be trained.

Australian operational doctrine was a strange blend of traditional German mobility doctrines and British battle plans, which combined with their operational flexibility gave them a serious edge against more traditional opponents without sacrificing the well-disciplined firepower and support capability of British artillery barrages.

If anything had made clear the lack of Australia's faith in the Empire's fleets, it was the expansion of the Australian military over the past few years. The construction of the HMAS Vanguard had spelled a new era for the Royal Australian Navy. Australia was working hard to develop and improve the coordination and combat capability of her navy and, while she did not match any of the Great Naval Powers, she had successfully given the Italians a licking in the Med and Japan did not look to be a serious threat either. It would be enough, at least for now.

The conversion of HMAS Vanguard from a battleship into a carrier had come with extensive costs and difficulties - it was not easy to turn a partially complete ship into a completely new type of ship and although the HMAS Commencement was based on the same external design, her internals had been completely reworked. Vanguard was a mess and extremely inefficient, not to mention heavy. Meanwhile, Commencement had been purpose-built and planned out from the beginning as a Carrier. Commencement would often be referred to as a member of the Vanguard Mk II class, despite its official labelling as just a Vanguard-class Carrier. The Navy was not satisfied with Commencement alone, however, and they continued to research new prototypes and draw up potential blueprints for future Carrier models.

Australian escorts were some of the more outdated of naval powers and had not been a priority for the Naval Research Department. Relying heavily on British support and models, Australia lacked any native submarine designs and her destroyer and cruiser designs were outdated at best. With the high demands of the Carrier Project and increased strain on the Army, it seemed that escort vessels would continue to be an underfunded development zone for the RAN.

HMAS Vanguard's fleet approaches the Straits of Gibraltar, wary of ambush by Italian forces.

Although the Army had desired the distribution of new weapons to ANZAC forces before signing off to any deployments against the Germans, it seemed Australia had no choice in this matter. If the reinforcing units from Libya did not deploy in Britain posthaste, it was virtually guaranteed that the Home Country would fall to the Krauts and the Empire would be all but doomed. Although he was skeptical about their chances of beating the Germans like this, Field Marshal Sir Cyril Bingham-White knew that the only way to defeat the Germans and drive them back to the beaches of Dover would be to amass every available man in Britain. As Vanguard and her charges steamed towards Bristol, Bingham-White began to draw up plans for a withdrawal from occupied Italy.

German Panzers under Italian Command were trapped around the traditional borders of Bosnia.

At last good news came from the front lines: the Balkan Alliance had trapped the German spearhead northwest of Sarajevo and fresh units from Albania were arriving to close the gap and prevent their escape. Three full Panzer divisions, over 250 tanks in all, were in danger of being captured and destroyed by the stubborn Balkan forces. If successful, this would be a bitter blow to an already slow conquest of Yugoslavia and an even worse strike to Italo-German relations. Hitler blamed Mussolini for the Italian commanders overextending his Panzers, and ordered the German forces to attempt a breakthrough and save his Panzers no matter the cost. Mussolini too knew that losing those tanks would forever set Italy's reputation in stone and he ordered every available man to launch a full assault on the Yugoslavian lines.

Burmese and Indian troops face down a huge Japanese Army as it crosses the mountains into Burma.

In East Asia, progress remained slow on both ends. The Japanese were showing high levels of activity and had launched another assault over the border while many other divisions were ordered to fall back into the Chinese Interior. This would open up her supply lines better and it seemed like only a matter of time before the Japanese breached Indian defences in Burma.

Japanese bombers pound the advancing New Zealand Cavalrymen as they try to seize the important port town from Thai resistance forces.

ANZAC forces continue to press the Thai troops at Nokhan, but no breakthrough is made by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, who take heavy casualties both from guerilla attacks and aerial bombings by the Japanese. Without any air support by the RAAF, Australia's forces are likely to be exposed until they can capture airfields further into Thailand. The ground campaign is already becoming a grueling, bloody affair and it has only just begun...

December 1st-December 11th
Royal Australian Army:
469 soldiers killed in action
Royal Australian Navy:
2 merchant ships sunk
1 escort frigate sunk
Royal Thai Army:
321 soldiers killed in action

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This update only covered the Army and Navy tech, while the next one will cover Industry and Air Force tech and probably Australia's political/espionage climate so far. I don't know when it will be, though, so apologies on that one. Hope you enjoyed.

Oh, and just as the last reminder for this quarter, there's only four more days to vote for your favourite AARs in the AARland Choice AwAARds, so if anyone was looking to vote and hadn't gotten around to it, please do so soon!

[RGB]

Yuck. South East Asia looks like an ugly slog. Withdrawing from Italy is also not fun.

Research looks on track, though.

[Stuyvesant]

The land war against the Japanese and their stooges goes so-so, and the German invasion of Britain continues to be a mortal danger. Lots of loose ends, not so much in the resolution department in this update, then.

At least your tech and manpower situation is good, and you are working on getting your next carrier online, so Australia's future, seen in isolation from larger world events, looks bright.

I still hope for an epic resistance in Britain, but I don't rate the chances. Guess I'll have to wait for at least one more update (if not more) to find out what happens in the British Isles - Blitz or bogging down?

And apparently the next update will be some time off. Drat! Oh well, exams do warrant some attention, even if it's at the expense of this AAR. Good luck with the exam and hope to see this updated shortly thereafter!

[loki100]

interesting stuff, especially in terms of the development of the new carriers and the problems of using an adapted battleship

Having underestimated the Kriegsmarine, a witch hunt was now underway to figure out who was responsible for moving most of the Home Fleet to East Asia. The gross negligence had been rewarded with German landings and it was likely that multiple officers would be charged with treason for the act. Britain was facing her darkest hour and she needed a traitor to blame. Time, however, was limited - some wondered if there would even be time for a trial now that the Germans were on Britain itself

... always worth remembering the Royal Navy had a historic taste for this sort of witch-hunt of shooting the odd admiral to encourage the others