A Better Rifle at Halloween
- Thread starter diesal
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It may it may not, America faced significant problems with the various flavours of socialist and anarchists in the early part of the last century, significant state violence was directed at them as well so it’s not beyond the bounds of the possible.
It shows how pivotal Lille is. If that falls, then the whole line could unravel. The flanks of the BEF (especially 1st Army's left) will be causing some grey hairs. However, as @steamboy says, the German position is not without vulnerabilities. Not only is that a long and narrow salient, it's a long and narrow salient with few roads for supply.
Point still more concerned if the USA tries to entre the war in TTL I mean for one when they came in the whole American expeditionary force took a pounding because they didn't learn from the French or British Forces.
Hello,
My question is how are these events in the United States connected with Europe?
Huh
Nah was more thinking about OTL when the USA army entered the war they had to learn all the lessons that the British and French did the hard way. As to how it will affect the War in Euorpe well for one it will hurt supply when the UK and France start ordering from US companies and if they do in TTL.
If I am looking at that map right, BEF 1st Army to ATH and BEF 3rd Army to SOTTEGEM would put the German spearheads of the 1st Army in a world of hurt, right?
Looks that way, doesn’t it? Puts them aside the only two decent east west roads available to the German spearheads.
questions are so the British realise this, do they try to organise an attack, and do they succeed if they do?
It’s only railways, thick lines are dual track thin is single national borders are also marked
Ohhhhh......so glad I asked.
So double track is double lines and single track is "dash-dot-dash".
Got it!
Ohhhhh......so glad I asked.
So double track is double lines and single track is "dash-dot-dash".
Got it!
The base map is taken from a diagrammatic sketch of the Nord Railway in 1914, it is a digital copy held by the National Library of Australia.
As can be seen thick line is Dual Track as is Double line, thin line is single track and the doted line is narrow gauge.
I should have posted this earlier with the other maps
Samson of the RNAS
12th September, Over Dixmude.
Wing Commander Samson was flying again, he had taken his aircraft off from a strip near Ostend, he was aiming to fly across the advancing German forces to find the extent of their advance.
He had flown over Staden two days before, the German cavalry occupying the town had reacted quickly, firing up at his aircraft with both rifles and machine guns. He had swept in low coming from the Northwest, his observer had been trying to take photographs and was wholly surprised when some of the fire hit the aircraft, he dropped the camera over the side, his clumsiness explained by the shooting and his own consequential wound. The aircraft was also damaged, the crew took two days to patch up the bullet holes and repair both the engine and replace the damaged landing gear, the aircrafts fitter had commented to Samson that had the bullet hit either the engine or the landing gear a few inches either side one or the other or both may have failed.
Air reconnaissance had been flown as much as his aircraft could manage and when he wasn’t flying Samson had been leading his armoured cars out on improvised raids harrying the flanks of the advancing cavalry. The armoured trucks with their extemporised mounting had proven to be effective but fragile. Samson felt he did not have enough schrapnel, most of the shells he had being the relatively ineffective common shells. The common shells had been murderously efficient against a poorly sited howitzer which his cars had encountered, with one hit striking the caisson and blowing it up, killing or wounding the entire crew, his men quickly hooking the damaged gun up and towing it back to the British Lines as a prize of war. Samson was fighting a rear-guard action against a persistent artillery officer who wanted to take it away and look at it.
The flight had already yielded valuable intelligence, the German cavalry had advanced ever further than he expected, they appeared to be almost in Dixmude, at this rate they would be on the coast tomorrow. The flying conditions were excellent clear air and little wind, with plenty of fuel in hand Samson elected to fly over Lille, and then scout the forward edge of the German advance.
Their advance had already effectively severed the tenuous links between the elements of the BEF. The RNAS had no aircraft operating with the rest of the BEF they were all on the Belgian coast, but in the small world of British airmen he knew the commander of No 2 Squadron who was operating near Mons. He would have facilities to develop the photographs, Samson’s new unwounded observer had taken and would be able to ensure that they were shared with BEF HQ.
With that decision made Samson flew on, careful to remain high enough to be above all but the luckiest of rifle fire.
Wing Commander Samson was flying again, he had taken his aircraft off from a strip near Ostend, he was aiming to fly across the advancing German forces to find the extent of their advance.
He had flown over Staden two days before, the German cavalry occupying the town had reacted quickly, firing up at his aircraft with both rifles and machine guns. He had swept in low coming from the Northwest, his observer had been trying to take photographs and was wholly surprised when some of the fire hit the aircraft, he dropped the camera over the side, his clumsiness explained by the shooting and his own consequential wound. The aircraft was also damaged, the crew took two days to patch up the bullet holes and repair both the engine and replace the damaged landing gear, the aircrafts fitter had commented to Samson that had the bullet hit either the engine or the landing gear a few inches either side one or the other or both may have failed.
Air reconnaissance had been flown as much as his aircraft could manage and when he wasn’t flying Samson had been leading his armoured cars out on improvised raids harrying the flanks of the advancing cavalry. The armoured trucks with their extemporised mounting had proven to be effective but fragile. Samson felt he did not have enough schrapnel, most of the shells he had being the relatively ineffective common shells. The common shells had been murderously efficient against a poorly sited howitzer which his cars had encountered, with one hit striking the caisson and blowing it up, killing or wounding the entire crew, his men quickly hooking the damaged gun up and towing it back to the British Lines as a prize of war. Samson was fighting a rear-guard action against a persistent artillery officer who wanted to take it away and look at it.
The flight had already yielded valuable intelligence, the German cavalry had advanced ever further than he expected, they appeared to be almost in Dixmude, at this rate they would be on the coast tomorrow. The flying conditions were excellent clear air and little wind, with plenty of fuel in hand Samson elected to fly over Lille, and then scout the forward edge of the German advance.
Their advance had already effectively severed the tenuous links between the elements of the BEF. The RNAS had no aircraft operating with the rest of the BEF they were all on the Belgian coast, but in the small world of British airmen he knew the commander of No 2 Squadron who was operating near Mons. He would have facilities to develop the photographs, Samson’s new unwounded observer had taken and would be able to ensure that they were shared with BEF HQ.
With that decision made Samson flew on, careful to remain high enough to be above all but the luckiest of rifle fire.
The RMLI land in Belgium
12th September 1914, Nieuwport.
The bootnecks were marching through Nieuwport, they had landed that morning, four battalions of light infantry. Drawn from the UK establishment of the Royal Marine Light Infantry, they had been tasked for this undertaking pre-war, planning for the role had been ad-hoc and somewhat haphazard but in the end, they had assembled the necessary force.
Admiral Scott’s 6” gun project was ongoing, still in the planning stages and so not yet able to provide any support. His earlier work in South Africa had included mounting 4.7” guns on field carriages, these had performed well during the Boer war. A number of 4.7” guns had been stored on return from South Africa, some had been provided to Territorial units of the Royal Garrison Artillery.
The guns in storage and the guns and men allocated to the Territorial Divisions which had not yet been deployed to France or Belgium were sent to Hastings where the Brigade was gathered, there a composite artillery regiment was formed with a mixture of men drawn from the Territorial Force Royal Garrison Artillery and Royal Marine Artillery. 12 pounder guns from that same conflict had also been stored, primarily intended for coastal defence, they were also deployed making up a second regiment of artillery with a total of 12 guns organised in 3 batteries of 4 guns.
In total the force amounted to 4 battalions of Royal Marines and with 2 regiments of Artillery the Brigade was relatively powerful. The Royal Marines also had 4 maxim guns per battalion, double the standard allocation for the Army.
A pair of 4 car troops of RNAS armoured cars were allocated to the brigade, these were some of the Rolls Royce cars hurriedly armoured in response to the success of Wing Commander Samson. These cars had been modified from chassis up with the engineers and fitters of the Rolls Royce works at Derby working overtime and more to get them completed. The armour plate used was bolted to the frame. A rudimentary turret was provided with space for two men, a gunner equipped with a Vickers Machine gun and a commander. The armoured cars were slow, uncomfortable, and only marginally reliable, but they were powerfully armed and armoured against rifle or machine gun fire. Their main role was to provide a reconnaissance capability which the Marines otherwise lacked. In addition, several Motorcycle were attached to the brigade, intended to provide reconnaissance and communications as needed.
The Brigade was tasked with defending the port and the current estimate was that they had 24 hours to establish a firm defence before the German cavalry arrived. The land was flat and criss crossed with drainage ditches and canals, the sturdily built farmhouses which dotted the landscape would make useful strong points. Whilst the infantry were digging in or preparing their defensive positions and the gunners positioned their pieces, the RNAS armoured cars accompanied by a dispatch riders set off to determine the leading edge of the German Advance.
The bootnecks were marching through Nieuwport, they had landed that morning, four battalions of light infantry. Drawn from the UK establishment of the Royal Marine Light Infantry, they had been tasked for this undertaking pre-war, planning for the role had been ad-hoc and somewhat haphazard but in the end, they had assembled the necessary force.
Admiral Scott’s 6” gun project was ongoing, still in the planning stages and so not yet able to provide any support. His earlier work in South Africa had included mounting 4.7” guns on field carriages, these had performed well during the Boer war. A number of 4.7” guns had been stored on return from South Africa, some had been provided to Territorial units of the Royal Garrison Artillery.
The guns in storage and the guns and men allocated to the Territorial Divisions which had not yet been deployed to France or Belgium were sent to Hastings where the Brigade was gathered, there a composite artillery regiment was formed with a mixture of men drawn from the Territorial Force Royal Garrison Artillery and Royal Marine Artillery. 12 pounder guns from that same conflict had also been stored, primarily intended for coastal defence, they were also deployed making up a second regiment of artillery with a total of 12 guns organised in 3 batteries of 4 guns.
In total the force amounted to 4 battalions of Royal Marines and with 2 regiments of Artillery the Brigade was relatively powerful. The Royal Marines also had 4 maxim guns per battalion, double the standard allocation for the Army.
A pair of 4 car troops of RNAS armoured cars were allocated to the brigade, these were some of the Rolls Royce cars hurriedly armoured in response to the success of Wing Commander Samson. These cars had been modified from chassis up with the engineers and fitters of the Rolls Royce works at Derby working overtime and more to get them completed. The armour plate used was bolted to the frame. A rudimentary turret was provided with space for two men, a gunner equipped with a Vickers Machine gun and a commander. The armoured cars were slow, uncomfortable, and only marginally reliable, but they were powerfully armed and armoured against rifle or machine gun fire. Their main role was to provide a reconnaissance capability which the Marines otherwise lacked. In addition, several Motorcycle were attached to the brigade, intended to provide reconnaissance and communications as needed.
The Brigade was tasked with defending the port and the current estimate was that they had 24 hours to establish a firm defence before the German cavalry arrived. The land was flat and criss crossed with drainage ditches and canals, the sturdily built farmhouses which dotted the landscape would make useful strong points. Whilst the infantry were digging in or preparing their defensive positions and the gunners positioned their pieces, the RNAS armoured cars accompanied by a dispatch riders set off to determine the leading edge of the German Advance.
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How does that compare to OTL because it looks like the Germans are getting to to Nieuwport quickly
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