Home Front, October 1941
The relatively quite home front was anything but quiet in October. This month the British people were reminded that one must always respect their foe, and that overconfidence is the greatest enemy.
The month started off typically. The talk of Britain was of the near completion of the HMS Duke of York, the nations newest King George V-class battleship, and the HMS Indomitable, the newest Illustrious-class carrier. However a much more important and pressing matter at the beggining of the month was that of the so called "battle of the Atlantic". This battle was being fought between the British merchant marine and the German u-boat wolf-packs. The United Kingdom was losing the battle.
The HMS Duke of York
The HMS Indomitable
While these warships were important as morale builders for the populace, their actual strategic use was limited. The Kriegsmarine and the Regia Marina had little left in terms of a high-seas fleet. An extra BB and CV would do little to sink what was critical at this stage in the war, u-boats.
The face of the enemy: A German u-boat.
There were only 86 sets of transports for the entirety of his majesty's empire.
While 350 sets of transports are waiting in the wings, they were being sunk almost immediately upon their deployment.
Armaments Minister Kingsley Wood remarked to a colleague "If the Germans sink another damn u-boat Churchill will hang me off Buckingham Palace by my bollocks!"
Fortunately for Kingsley Wood a more important matter would occur later in the month and draw Churchill's ire away from the battle of the Atlantic.
In the typical calm before the storm there was nothing to report in the intelligence sector. Head of Intelligence Menzies had been working diligently with Minister of Security Morrison. Their combined forces provided the North Sea with a steady supply of warm axis corpses throughout October. There was a growing suspicion that the axis spy-network was falling on hard times...
Diplomatically October was also very quiet. The only exception being a diplomatic insult that had Foreign Minister Eden and Winston Churchill in a rage. Anthony Eden had sought to bury the hatchet with Ireland. He extended an invitation to the Allied powers to the small island nation. The Irish diplomat literally spat in Eden's face. Eden, a true gentlemen, did not retaliate much to the dismay of Churchill. The Prime Minister stated privately to Eden that once the war is over he will be forced to take up boxing in order to keep his job.
Unfortunately such seemingly light-hearted news was quickly overshadowed.
On the morning of October the 27th the hum of aircraft were heard of the Shetland islands. This was a fairly normal occurrence, British training crews flew over these islands semi-regularly, the civilians there did not panic, at least not until they saw German paratroopers littering the skies. Radio traffic from the Shetland islands exploded and then abruptly ended. On the mind of the entire nation was only one word "invasion".
Immediately all seaworthy combat vessels were ordered to sweep the entirety of the British coastline. Wild theories were being thrown around as to what the supposed German "invasion" plan was. The prevailing belief was that the Shetlands invasion was merely a diversion to draw the Royal Navy from the coast and into the North Sea. If this happened the Germans would have a window of invasion and could potentially end the war. The Shetlands had to be abandoned, for the sake of Britain.
3 days passed and no invasion came. Since the first theory about the German plan was deemed inaccurate a new one was quickly adopted. Now the Germans were supposedly using the Shetlands as either a base for an invasion of Scotland, or as a base for u-boats so that they can further strangle the British isles.
A quick patrol over the Shetlands disproved this theory.
The port was empty. Another theory was quickly fabricated that was similar to the first one. Only instead there would be another diversion of an invasion of Northern Ireland, and after the fleet was sent there the real German invasion would set sail from Norway(where some particularly insipid generals believed almost half the wehrmacht was hiding) and land in Inverness. This theory was also a load of bollocks.
The simple truth was that the invasion was an isolated incident. However this does not mean that another invasion will not be attempted. Britain let its guard down and now the poor people of the Shetlands are paying the price. The nation must stand vigilant at all times. Britain believed herself to be bullet proof. This was a critical error. The Germans were capable and dangerous. The British had fooled themselves that, after the battle of Britain, the Germans would roll over and die. If anything it made them fight harder. This would be a long war.
And so it is that October comes to a close as the nation bows its head in memoriam to those from the Shetlands who would not live to see retribution. R.I.P.
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Sorry for posting the update a day later. Busier then I thought I'd be. I wanted to post this earlier in the day but my screenshots were all disorganized. I had to organize a bunch and im not even 1/4th done ugh! Well thanks a lot for reading and commenting everybody please enjoy!
The november update will be posted either tuesday night or thursday night.
Again, I really appreciate everyone who follows, thanks guys!
