Hi Everyone, Canadian player here, first attempt at an AAR, hope you enjoy.
CANADIAN AAR
"History Teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other options"-Abba Eban
It would be a long time before exhaustion, too long. In 1936 we did not yet know who would become exhausted first. We understood roughly where Canada and the rest of the Empire stood in the world, but across the pond, the enigmatic actions of Italy and Germany belied a possibly more sinister agenda.
Italy was mired in a war with the resolute Ethiopians, who were accounting themselves quite well so far in the war. But the Ethiopians cannot holdout for long, afterall, many of their soldiers have just knives and spears. Progress will no doubt pick up for the Italians as they roll across the rocky, ancient land of Ethiopia. Will Italy be content with access to the Indian ocean or do they dream of maps of the Roman Empire.
Germany is more troubling. I personally did not fight in the Great War, but their prowess on the battlefield is well-known, no one underestimates them. Their build-up has begun in earnest. Great black industrial factories churn out steel at a hellish rate. I have seen these factories myself, the air around them covers the sky in blackness, while the air you breath carries the heavy chalkiness of steel production. Even the rivers themselves, polluted from the runoff of the steel, have an unnatural darkness that draws the eye, capturing it. What kind of a country does this to their natural resources, clearly a country that is not yet exhausted.
On January 1st, 1936 with the sky a muted cream-white, the remnants of the last snow-storm, the hollow sounds of tires are present in the air as they roll over the bricked pavement leading up to the military headquarters. Out of these vehicles the countries top political, scientific, military, and industrial leaders emerged. They gathered at our headquarters to form a plan, a coherent strategy to protect Canada from the evils emerging from the German smoke stacks. I was young, but an emerging mind in the Canadian forces, and it was a great honor to be invited to provide input in this plan that would set the table for the direction that Canada would take leading up to the war, the decisions made here would have a direct effect on the formation of the armed forces.
What should Canada do? There were four schools of thought, each vying for the right to form the centerpiece of a defensive plan. The army naturally wanted a full scale build-up of the ground forces. "Only then could we have the troops necessary to throw any invaders back into the water," they declared. Maybe a total commitment to the army was not merrited but it certainly needed to be strengthened. The army only had one division, and a weak one at that commanded by General Crerar. Little did I know that by the next month he would be made commander of the 1st Army Group. His skill in managing supplies would be greatly needed in the buildup.
Then the RCAF stepped in and decried how there would be no need for ground troops if they had a large enough air fleet that could destroy any ships coming near shore. Then the RCN representatives stepped in and declared that the next war would be a global one, only a strong navy could have the necessary reach to land troops on the far shores of the Empire. The fourth school of thought was one supported by myself, how about a general buildup of the forces? "
Each branch supports, reinforces, and strengthens the other," I said. Grudgingly, this view was accepted if only because everyone got at least a little slice of the pie, each could be happy with the new ship, division, or squadron.
I was not privy to the highly secret research of the scientific meetings, and that is a shame, I certainly would have liked to be able to plan and know what kind of weapons I would be fighting with, but as we were not yet fighting, or appear to be near fighting, this was for the moment... tolerable.
(stay tuned to find out which Canadian Soldier is narrating)