Feel the Bearn - A Timeline of France's Only Carrier in WWII and Beyond

[Theoretical_TJ]

Pure, unadulterated chaos. Stalin could not be happier. Halsey's quote about Japanese is going to happen here with German. Yikes.

The true story, if it ever outs, will be as insane as a Knights Templar or Illuminati theory is now. Scarier thing is that it will be true. There will be too many vested interests in revisiting the truth/falsity for at least 60-70 years, especially because it's REALLY clear that the Germans did horrible, horrible things.

 

[Zheng He]

I still think we need a new Turtledove Category - Most Messed Up TL.

 

[Seafort]

June 17, 1945 3:15 PM EST
Washington, DC

Harry Truman regurgitated again into the toilet, then sat back. Chicken, bourbon, and remnants of chocolate cake floated in the urinal before him. He waited for several more seconds and finally the heaving stopped.

"Are you okay, Mr. President?" came a voice from outside the bathroom.

"I'm fine," replied Truman gruffly. He slowly got up and splashed water into his face, then quickly brushed his teeth. Every day a new crisis, he thought. Every call another potential disaster. When will it normalize? Will it ever?

Truman took a deep breath and opened the door. Moments later the President returned to the Oval Office and sat down behind his desk.

"Thank you for waiting, gentleman," he said flatly. "Please continue."

Kenneth Royall was first to speak. "We have reports of no less than eighteen riots that have broken out in our zone of occupation within the last hour and a half," he said. "These incidents have not yet spread to the French, British, or Soviet zones. However they have been notified and are taking contingency steps."

"Casualties?

The new Secretary of War paused, then responded. "Forty three American soldiers KIA, at least a hundred wounded. As stated earlier, General Patton remains in surgery. He's expected to survive."

At least one bit of good news, Truman thought. "What of the Germans?", he asked.

"Unknown, but it is believed to be high," answered General George Marshall. The Chief of Staff of the Army continued. "Mr. President, the situation has stabilized for the moment but we must act quickly."

"These Werwolves are die hard fanatics," the President replied with anger. "We must carry the battle to them. They cannot be allowed to continue to bring it to us. Use whatever force is necessary."

"Mr President, we're not sure that it was the Nazi resistance," interjected Secretary of War Royall. He paused. "We believe it was JCS 1083."

"What?" Truman was taken aback. He scanned the faces of the men gathered before him. Finally, General Marshall spoke.

"Somebody leaked the directive ahead of schedule," said Marshall gravely. "Copies of it have been found plastered upon buildings throughout our zone."

Truman's eyes widened as he felt a new wave of nausea come upon him.


June 17, 1945 4:17 PM EST
London

Bill Donovan unlocked the door to his hotel room. Although repairs were underway at the Claridge Hotel, it would be some time before the OSS could use it again for operations. Over the last few days his unit had set up a temporary headquarters at the equally opulent Dorchester, and during that time the Director had slept maybe six hours. And each day had brought a new incident, if not a catastrophe. He had pushed himself forward on seeming gallons of coffee, but finally after speaking with President Truman several minutes he had decided to allow himself three hours of sleep. The deteriorating situation on the Continent could wait during that time, he thought. It had to.

He flipped off the lights and collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to take his shoes off. Donovan rolled over to face the window, and it was only then that he became aware of the figure sitting silently on a chair in the corner of the suite. A weapon was held casually in the man's hand. Not aiming at him. But not aiming away. A .25 Beretta, the OSS Chief noted with detachment.

The man leaned forward.

"I am sorry to interrupt your rest, Colonel," said Ian Fleming quietly. "But we need to talk."

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

"I am sorry to interrupt your rest, Colonel," said Ian Fleming quietly. "But we need to talk."

Well, well, well. It seems Mr. Fleming might just save the day.

 

[Tonrich]

What did Truman expect? What would he do if he was told some outside government was going to take all the children from his country. That order is the stupidest thing I could imagine outside of the actual holocaust itself! The reaction to this policy is one of ethnic cleansing because you know damn well you'd have to kill 80% of the population in order to accomplish the goal. It would also galvanize the old, women, everybody into resistance status that would be never ending.

 

[22000 Kevin]

We have less than than a month before U-530 arrives at Argentina from whatever secret mission the Kriegsmarine gave it before Germany officially surrendered and whatever chaos this will cause that will only get worse when U-577 arrives.

 

[Seafort]

June 17, 1945 4:18 PM EST
London

Colonel Bill Donovan stared at the man in the chair for several seconds, then rolled towards the nightstand to his right.

"Easy there, Colonel," said the man across from him.

The OSS Chief paused. I know that voice, he thought. "Fleming?"

"You can turn on the light," the man said. "But slowly."

Never leaving his eyes from the man sitting by his bed, Donovan carefully reached up and turned on the nightstand night. Of course, he could have quickly opened the drawer and reached for the pistol inside. But undoubtedly, it was no longer there.

The room now illuminated, his suspicion was confirmed. His former colleague and now Sunday Times reporter was watching him languidly. Although clean-shaven, Ian's face was haggard.

"Commander Fleming," said Donovan. He paused and studied him for a moment. "What is the meaning of this?"

His counterpart did not respond for several seconds. When he finally spoke, it was with a resigned tone. "You once said to Lovell that you needed every subtle device and every underhanded trick to be employed against the Germans and Japanese," answered Fleming. "What if I told you that these same techniques had been utilized against the United States?"


June 17, 1945 4:19 PM EST
London

"The American Zone of Occupation is in chaos," said Major-General Collin Gubbins. "Over two dozen riots have taken place within the last two hours. Patton is off the board and the Americans are scrambling for leadership."

"Indeed," replied Churchill. The Prime Minister studied the documents before him on his bunker office's desk. "You may have done your job too well."

He continued to read, then added grimly, "I have received reports from Hamburg and Bremen of similar uprisings."

Gubbins lifted an eyebrow, but displayed no outward reaction. However in his mind he screamed, What did you expect would happen?

"That was always a risk, Prime Minister," said the OSE head finally answered. "The early dissemination of JCS 1083 could easily spread resistance outside of the American Zone. But we are doing our best to contain the --"

"It's not enough to do one's best!" thundered Churchill. "One must succeed in doing what is necessary!"

He stood up and began pacing. "If Montgomery is to be appointed the head of SHAEF it must be as the leader of a post-war occupancy. Not as the man responsible for putting down a nationwide insurgency!"

The Major-General said nothing. Churchill filled a glass with Ararat brandy and rapidly drank it while Gubbins silently observed him. Churchill was trembling. And although the light was low in the bunker, he could see that the Prime Minister's skin tone was grey. And more shockingly, he was losing weight in rapid fashion. The Prime Minister is deteriorating before my eyes, he noted.

Churchill put the glass down. "Never mind," he said. And then with a chuckle he added, "It will certainly not come to it. What is now called for is the art of statescraft. I will need to speak with Ernest immediately."

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

And the cat is now out of the bag. Assuming Truman doesn’t stroke out from the 11/10 stress the shock will give, the UK will have HELL to pay for not only the embarrassment but the actual murder of US generals.

I can’t even imagine where this goes next.

 

[Seafort]

June 17, 1945 4:21 PM EST
London

Bill Donovan studied the British agent before him. Fleming had worked closely with him at various intervals over the last four years, but the man who sat across from his bed bore little resemblance to the SOE officer he had known. Fleming appeared to have aged a decade since he had last seen him, the man's face drawn and the stress of something unimaginable etched over him.

"Go on," said the OSS Chief.

"The American government has been played," said Fleming. "Indeed, much of the world has been played."

"Been played - don't speak in vagaries to me, Fleming," replied Donovan. "You know me as a friend and colleague, yet you come here with a gun! Either tell me what you wish to get off your chest or get the hell out of here. I'm tired and I need some shuteye before I head back in."

"It was Prime Minister Churchill who had the Bearn attacked. We struck first, the French were only retaliating. Everything that happened since, Operation Recompense, France's agreement with the Soviets, it all has been predicated on this core falsehood."

Donovan was incredulous. "That is what you have come here with a gun to tell me? Russian intelligence intercepted those communications! We know exactly how much your government has screwed the pooch for us. Churchill is fortunate that we are still maintaining an alliance with him."

Fleming smiled thinly. "I am not surprised that you already know this. And you're right, we have been colleagues. Friends."

He lowered the Beretta. Donovan eyed him, gauging whether to stay still or jump forward and seize the weapon.

"Our work should have earned the requisite trust, Bill," said Fleming. "But now, with matters so grave it is paramount that I make the right choice. Trust matters. And so do the requisite actions from what I am about to tell you."

He was quiet for a moment, then shook his head and continued.

"Attlee. The attempt on De Gaulle. The Claridge. The submarine attack on the Bearn. Morgenthau. And probably the SHAEF headquarters....all of it originated from the SOE. All of it under the orders of Prime Minister Churchill."

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

"Attlee. The attempt on De Gaulle. The Claridge. The submarine attack on the Bearn. Morgenthau. And probably the SHAEF headquarters....all of it originated from the SOE. All of it under the orders of Prime Minister Churchill."

Breaking out lots of popcorn for the fallout.

 

[Zheng He]

Glad this is back.

 

[Pangur]

Oh crap, the smelly brown stuff is going to start flying

 

[Seafort]

Oh crap, the smelly brown stuff is going to start flying

That's an understatement.

 

[Unknown]

I'm surprised Stalin and his minions don't know this already and haven't released it--they'd have a good laugh over this...

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

I'm surprised Stalin and his minions don't know this already and haven't released it--they'd have a good laugh over this...

Mostly because someone might then start testing the brandy, in which case an even lower circle of hell is discovered, especially an with an unstable, sadistic Churchill and a calculating, furious Truman who could very easily transfer their wrath to the Soviets.

 

[Seafort]

I'm surprised Stalin and his minions don't know this already and haven't released it--they'd have a good laugh over this...

One thing to keep in mind...as much as Stalin is seeking to take advantage of the situations that are presenting themselves, he is struggling to keep apace of it. That's with no American knowledge of Project Deluge. Imagine if they knew....

 

[weasel_airlift]

One thing to keep in mind...as much as Stalin is seeking to take advantage of the situations that are presenting themselves, he is struggling to keep apace of it. That's with no American knowledge of Project Deluge. Imagine if they knew....

Right, this has the potential to go...nuclear...quite literally if Stalin isn't careful.

 

[Seafort]

Right, this has the potential to go...nuclear...quite literally if Stalin isn't careful.

Well, Churchill was having a vision earlier in the timeline of something...unthinkable.

 

[Seafort]

June 17, 1945 4:22 PM EST
Tokyo

Naotake Sato stood outside the Prime Minister's office in the Sōri Daijin Kantei and noticed a pressure in his chest. It ebbed and flowed, then slowly built...and then released. He breathed a slight sigh of relief. Such episodes had been occurring with some frequency as the fortunes of war continued to change. The building, indeed the city outside itself was strangely quiet. He supposed that at any moment could come the sound of air raid sirens that would shatter the seeming tranquility, but it had been over three weeks since the Americans had last attacked the city. Indeed, it had been ten days since any part of Japan had experienced an air raid. He hoped that this would hold true for at least one more day, or at least until he finished the task ahead.

It was dawn outside, and the sunlight filtering into the building gradually bore evidence to the deep creases on his face. Sato had granted himself time to shave after finishing the arduous trek from Moscow, but sleep would have to come at some undetermined interim later.

Moments later he was ushered in to see the gathered members of the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War.

June 17, 1945 4:26 PM EST
London

Bill Donovan sat alone in his room. Fleming had departed seconds earlier, and the head of the OSS had to resist mightily the urge to run after him and if not shoot him in the hallway, at least tackle him to ground and take him in for questioning. But he hesitated. Were Ian's words those of a madman, he wondered. Or the beginnings of a nightmare that would start the world war anew?

If, he thought. The ramifications of his former colleague's words were shattering. But what to do? Fleming said he had irrefutable proof. Proof that would be incontrovertible. All he had was one request. It was an easy enough ask, but one that would take time.

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

Hmm, that's the timing of OTL Iwo Jima. And I really want to see Truman's reaction when he learns this, especially that it's irrefutable. Fury at the Brits and even more fury at Stalin and Co.