A Blunted Sickle
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Searching for "West Poland", all I can find is a comment on p.117 about the Germans leaving (or not) West Poland.
In hindsight, that may well have been meant as "west Poland" or "western Poland" (i.e. a geographical, not a political distinction).
In hindsight, that may well have been meant as "west Poland" or "western Poland" (i.e. a geographical, not a political distinction).
My thoughts as well. They probably feel that they can win without extra help. Italy wouldn't be offered anything, except perhaps a 'gentlemens agreement' about spheres of influence in the Balkans.
They're certainly not overjoyed at the prospect of Russian 'help' later on.
Just as an interesting screw up: Have Russia and Italy enter on the Allied side at the same time, and then see how they have to swallow all their rhetoric against each other...
Regards
R
Are you suggesting MAS vs E-Boats fighting in the North Sea ?
The RMs light forces could really make a difference in the North and Waddensea.
Arsenal of Tyranny
The underlying problem is the smaller economy cannot support the larger except at its own expense.
So in 41 OTL the USSR is German’s 5th largest trading partner, after Italy, Romania, Holland & Denmark. With Sweden not far behind and Belgium at about half the size of the Soviet trade.
In crude value terms to replace the Dutch, Italian Romanian, Belgian trade the USSR would have to roughly quadruple the value of its exports. So promising to deliver a couple of billion RM of goods vs the 400m overvalued RM of OTL.
To match the 41 POL imports from Romania the USSR would have to export around 20% of its own production.
Where we are TTL with consumption is a good question. But without Romanian Imports the Germans will have gone a long way to being out of stock already. I suspect probably living day by day from early in 41. No French stocks captured, higher consumption, higher wastage. Worst case is AvGas, where 275mT of 863mT consumed in 40 was captured in 40.
The same story with most other commodities, to make up a comparatively small shortfall in Germany requires a larger proportion of the soviet economy, which is itself underperforming vs plan.
Unless the USSR starts shipping T26's west it will be laying off factory workers becuase the input materials are going west.
The underlying problem is the smaller economy cannot support the larger except at its own expense.
So in 41 OTL the USSR is German’s 5th largest trading partner, after Italy, Romania, Holland & Denmark. With Sweden not far behind and Belgium at about half the size of the Soviet trade.
In crude value terms to replace the Dutch, Italian Romanian, Belgian trade the USSR would have to roughly quadruple the value of its exports. So promising to deliver a couple of billion RM of goods vs the 400m overvalued RM of OTL.
To match the 41 POL imports from Romania the USSR would have to export around 20% of its own production.
Where we are TTL with consumption is a good question. But without Romanian Imports the Germans will have gone a long way to being out of stock already. I suspect probably living day by day from early in 41. No French stocks captured, higher consumption, higher wastage. Worst case is AvGas, where 275mT of 863mT consumed in 40 was captured in 40.
The same story with most other commodities, to make up a comparatively small shortfall in Germany requires a larger proportion of the soviet economy, which is itself underperforming vs plan.
Unless the USSR starts shipping T26's west it will be laying off factory workers becuase the input materials are going west.
I'm not sure I understand. What's the POD here?
Edit to add: I just found this AH recently, so I'm sorry if I'm a little late to the party on this one.
The POD: French HQ decide to shorten their lines in Belgium in order to create a large reserve force.
So they won't go deep in Belgium with their mobile force...
No https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyle_Plan
The RMs light forces could really make a difference in the North and Waddensea.
IIRC RM Ships couldn't operate effectively far away from friendly ports. I think because of something ridiculous like On-board Water Stocks would deplete rapidly because they would use it Cooking Pasta!
IIRC RM Ships couldn't operate effectively far away from friendly ports. I think because of something ridiculous like On-board Water Stocks would deplete rapidly because they would use it Cooking Pasta!
The other issue that I've heard that the Italian ships had (from the Soviets getting RM ships after WWII) is that they had almost *zero* insulation/capability for heating the ship. If you stick RM ships in the North Sea, you end up with almost frozen sailors.
In OTL at that meeting (I found the actual data later and it's edited appropriately in the .pdf version) Gamelin decided to modify the plan to grab as much of Belgium as possible with the Dyle plan, and later the Breda variant which committed the French and British to holding a line as far as the Netherlands. Also in OTL, General Georges (his deputy) pointed out that should the Germans invade further south (and I think but can't prove that he specifically mentioned the Ardennes) the French would be in a world of hurt.
In OTL, Gamelin and Georges really didn't get on - to the extent that they had separate HQs which weren't even connected by telephone. That doesn't change here, but what does change is that Georges is a little more persuasive and Gamelin less certain of his ground after the meeting. In the end, the Dyle-Breda plan is not adopted and they stay with the earlier Eschaut plan, with a little more attention paid to having a mobile reserve. Fortunately for the French, that reserve ends up in exactly the right place at the right time, with the right people in charge. Things go very pear-shaped for the Germans from then on.
The problem if the entente look too desperate Italy might still join on German side.
IIRC RM Ships couldn't operate effectively far away from friendly ports. I think because of something ridiculous like On-board Water Stocks would deplete rapidly because they would use it Cooking Pasta!
I don't think this will be a problem. Italian MAS-units served in the Black Sea and on Lake Ladoga. They would be serving in the southern part of the North Sea, the Waddensea and maybe the IJsselmeer. The distances will be relatively short so I don't see why the Italians can't serve with distinction.
The war in the Netherlands might be boring (boring is good in this case though
) on land along the Waterline but much more interesting on water. The IJsselmeerflottielje managed to keep the Germans from crossing the IJsselmeer by ship. With the situation on the Waterline stalemated this mission becomes only more important. Lot's of opportunities for commando actions and spy infiltrations as well!Meanwhile on the Waddensea there is the possibility of continuous small scale battles between Allied and German ships. The geography of the area (shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands) makes for interesting duels between the small units. The eastern islands (Ameland, Schiermonnikeoog and such) were very lightly defended. Ameland for example had only a border detachment of 60 men 'defending' it. The western islands were heavily defended however. Terschelling had a force of 1177 men and the defense of Texel was even heavier. If the Germans want they can take over the eastern island pretty easily. That is, if they are quick. As soon as the dust settles on the mainland the Dutch can try to reinforce at least Ameland to better protect Terschelling. The Allies can also try to push for Schiermonnikeoog in a effort to harass the Germans near East-Frisia. The closer to the German submarine bases the Allies get, the harder they can make life for the U-boot Flotte. Maybe a target for the Commando's? Either way the brown-water navies will have to supply the islands under their control (the civilian population will have been evacuated by now) and try to disrupt the lines of communications of the enemy.
Unlikely - pasta really doesn't consume much more water than other foodstuffs, certainly minimal compared to the engines, and the Med is relatively warm so it'll have been designed with relatively high drinking water levels in mind.IIRC RM Ships couldn't operate effectively far away from friendly ports. I think because of something ridiculous like On-board Water Stocks would deplete rapidly because they would use it Cooking Pasta!
What seems to be the germ of truth in that is that the Soviets had trouble with the galleys on the war prizes they got from the Italians post-WW2 because pasta is relatively simple to prepare compared with their own rations, and so the Italian galleys were somewhat cramped compared to the Royal Sovereign class battleships they had been loaned and gave them some problems.
Again, likely to be pretty easy to modify - run a few steam lines about the place to some heaters (a lot of the steam lines will be there anyway for secondary purposes). If you put your mind to it, a few weeks in the dockyard.
The Soviets were operating the ships in a far more hostile environment than the North Sea, and that's where insulation and steam line capacity might have been an issue. North Sea, not so much.
The Dutch (with quite a lot of help from the RN - the OTL Coastal Forces have moved over to the Netherlands pretty much wholesale) are generally dominating the rivers and inland waters around the Dutch positions. Hard to see them not doing so really - the RN build capacity for that sort of thing is way higher than the German capacity (come to think of it, the Dutch capacity is probably nearly as great as the German one, at least in peacetime). With really very little else for them to do, and with Coastal Forces providing a useful safety valve for those buccaneering types who would be poorly suited to battleship life, it's hard to see them deployed anywhere else or much smaller than OTL (Norway being the other alternative, but the sea conditions and range from dockyard support means that it'll be destroyers and upwards who go there).The war in the Netherlands might be boring (boring is good in this case though
Meanwhile on the Waddensea there is the possibility of continuous small scale battles between Allied and German ships. The geography of the area (shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands) makes for interesting duels between the small units. The eastern islands (Ameland, Schiermonnikeoog and such) were very lightly defended. Ameland for example had only a border detachment of 60 men 'defending' it. The western islands were heavily defended however. Terschelling had a force of 1177 men and the defense of Texel was even heavier. If the Germans want they can take over the eastern island pretty easily. That is, if they are quick. As soon as the dust settles on the mainland the Dutch can try to reinforce at least Ameland to better protect Terschelling. The Allies can also try to push for Schiermonnikeoog in a effort to harass the Germans near East-Frisia. The closer to the German submarine bases the Allies get, the harder they can make life for the U-boot Flotte. Maybe a target for the Commando's? Either way the brown-water navies will have to supply the islands under their control (the civilian population will have been evacuated by now) and try to disrupt the lines of communications of the enemy.
Been writing a bit for British Rail in the early 1950s this morning. The trainspotters are going to hate me
Standardisation-mania at BR after the TTL 1954 report means they get ONE class of diesel multiple unit, and ONE (related) class of electric multiple unit too. Oh, and no mainline diesels. Yes, that means no Deltics
Standardisation-mania at BR after the TTL 1954 report means they get ONE class of diesel multiple unit, and ONE (related) class of electric multiple unit too. Oh, and no mainline diesels. Yes, that means no Deltics
Standardisation-mania at BR after the TTL 1954 report means they get ONE class of diesel multiple unit, and ONE (related) class of electric multiple unit too. Oh, and no mainline diesels. Yes, that means no Deltics
YOU MONSTER!
I'm not a Trainspotter and I have no idea what you're talking about...
Oh no, a train instead of....another train...
Man, and I thought the nitty-gritty around tanks and planes was too obscure for me to understand
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