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  1. Operation Unthinkable goes ahead - how much longer does the war last?

    Russian generals were used to command huge army groups at this stage. That was not something US/UK generals had any experience in. ... and the idea of arming German POWs? they just managed to survive WWII so now they are eager to sign up for Barbarossa V2? Maybe not. And if 200,00 (maybe also...

  2. WI: Vichy Without Petain

    Is Darlan the 'joker' in the pack? a lot of French top military commanders (or so i have heard) identified more with their German colleagues than with Britain and surely not with that colonel. Could Vichy have been even more aligned with Germany that OTL? Did Germany take into account any...

  3. WI: Vichy Without Petain

    Was 'Free French' even a factor in June/July 1940? De Gaule was a non-entity as far as i know it until we get a bit further (and nobody really liked hm, surely not Stalin who regarded him as a 'b..sh..ter' of note. I believe France is still trying to come to terms with the amount of people...

  4. Death of Stalin in Fall 1945

    Allow me to be 'educated' in this: Was there not talking about a big loan from the US that Truman torpedoed? as I recall something I must have read somewhere, Beria was involved in securing this which would have made him a big hero. The utter destruction of Western part of USSR would have...

  5. Looking for South Africa-centric Timelines/ISOTs

    I started on a scenario some time ago, but never really got into it in a more serious way. Feel free to use. Scenario 1: We need to look a bit at the characters in this and the more complex of them all is PW Botha. It is not true that he didn’t like black people. He didn’t like people to begin...

  6. What if Lenin lived longer

    How would US/UK react to Lenin living a bit longer ?

  7. Barbarossa without the Great Purge

    Maybe the pre-purge generals would have been too steeped in 'old' doctrines? The new breed of communist generals might just have had a better handle on the new way of doing a war. if we look at the absolute heroes of USSR generals, the best part were not of military upbringing. Most born to...

  8. Operation Unthinkable in Mid-April 1945 - Germany/US/UK coming together

    Interesting comments. It is all about timing. 1945: a new war going in, this time against a former ally - USSR - would not be very popular. UK was not in a good shape. rations and universal misery really. US did have plenty of resources 1948: Berlin blockade: Maybe one of the instances...

  9. Operation Unthinkable in Mid-April 1945 - Germany/US/UK coming together

    Not convinced with an earlier time line. 1944 still saw US/UK being 'good friends' with USSR (Stalin). April 1945 was different. USSR had installed its puppet government in Poland (the 'reason' for going to war) and shown its hand in settling Eastern Europe. Tension was indeed building. Could...

  10. Operation Unthinkable in Mid-April 1945 - Germany/US/UK coming together

    LOL - no, i don't 'hate' Churchill. He was probably one of the most ruthless leaders but rather realistic. It was not his idea with 'unconditional surrender' and there were rumblings (Bennet's book on Canaris) that Churchill could be moved on that account. No, Hitler would have to go...

  11. Operation Unthinkable in Mid-April 1945 - Germany/US/UK coming together

    All, Please don’t condemn this one to the ABS section – although it might be slightly ‘left field’. Hitler and his close entourage in the last days hoped for a fall-out between US/UK and USSR, saving nazi-Germany. In the light of reality, it was far-fetched and not aligned with much military...

  12. Peace in our time - 1941 or 1943?

    1940 was not 1944 or 1945 What the book also claims is that the realisation that it was going to be a long and very costly war was starting to sink in. Maybe the governing elite feared for the british empire. ... and 'victory' was not guaranteed in1940 or '41. crazy schemes? compare to a...

  13. Peace in our time - 1941 or 1943?

    Churchill was (apparently) also looking at the cost of a prolonged war if the US did not enter. The cost might have been too high to the British empire. These were (again apparently) considerations in 1941/42. Therefore not linked to any 'panic' after the fall of France. Even with US in the...

  14. Peace in our time - 1941 or 1943?

    That is the 'sticky' point. Could US/UK accept a Hitler still in power? highly unlikely, but perhaps not total BS? If we overlook the rather pedestrian coups against Hitler and US/UK look at Germany not equal to Hitler, and Hitler not = Germany, there could have been rom for something...

  15. Peace in our time - 1941 or 1943?

    All of it noted. That is also why it is a fascinating read. The book has some intriguing insights into the movements of the key players. It also claims that Hitler was fully aware and might have initiated such peace feelers. Same with Churchill. On the UK side, the incentive could be...

  16. Peace in our time - 1941 or 1943?

    All, I am busy reading ‘Hitler’s spy chief’ by Richard Bassett. I think there is plenty of evidence that Canaris tried his level best in establishing peace feelers towards the UK. As he was an ardent anti-communist probably also helped. It has some interesting aspects: Did ‘C’ (Menzies) meet...

  17. Battle of Britain - Big Wing - opinions

    Park was not against big wings. He pointed out (often) that the time to set it up was too long for 11 group. If the targets were somewhere else, big wings could work. BUT - as park pointed out - it would be better to hit the bombers BEFORE they dropped the bombs, rather than later (where it...

  18. No F-104 Starfighter for Europe! Alternate designs instead.

    classifying F1-5 as a 'figther' was a bit of a stretch. It was massive, internal bomb bay, etc. not what you expect of a 'fighter' F104 was pressed into servicing a lot of roles. one of the top ones was (later in the day) to fly fast and low and deliver a nuclear bomb. That it did well in...

  19. No F-104 Starfighter for Europe! Alternate designs instead.

    I have heard the story that the German F104 pilots were very 'aggressive'. They (apparently) wanted to prove that they were great and should never have been defeated in WWII (which was after all recent).

  20. What's the latest possible POD for Denmark-Norway to be the dominant power in Scandinavia?

    I think the last sentence of Arctic is the key: "Any inter-Scandinavian Conflict would be dependant upon Great Powers not having an interest in area." The Baltic was important, but Denmark was not a player anymore; hence it depended on the Powers.
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