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Posted on 08/05/2005 8:33:09 PM PDT by alfa6
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 Hitler Goes South In the September 2002 issue of Airpower Magazine, Joe Mizrahi penned an alternative history of what might have happened in World War II if the Nazi’s had followed a slightly different course of action. What follows here is a highly condensed version of that article. It is July 1940, it took only 6 weeks for the Wermacht to vanquish the combined French and British forces in the Battle for France. The German High Command is examining it’s options. To the west lies a battered and bruised England, still defiant in the face of the NAZI war machine. As badly wounded as England is it’s greatest asset is still intact and poses a serious challenge to the German General Staff planners. The English Channel To the east lies Hitler’s greatest foe the Russians. It takes time however to plan and equip for an invasion of the size that will be needed to conquer the Russians. The General Staff is probably already working on the plans but they know that it cannot be done this year as there is not enough time. From history we know that the Germans tried to beat down the English from the air. While costing the RAF and the English dearly it cost the Luftwaffe even more. Over 2500 aircraft of all types were lost by the Germans along with a goodly portion of the highly trained aircrews. Let us suppose an alternate version of what might have been. After the fall of France the German high command looked at a different option and moved south towards Africa. The British forces in Africa are almost no existent. Total troop strength of all ranks in North Africa and the Middle East number no more than 60,000 of all ranks. There is little artillery and what few tanks are available would be no match for the German Panzers. The RAF fighter squadrons are equipped with Gloster Gladiator biplanes as a first line aircraft  and the few bomber squadrons are outfitted with the Bristol Blenheim Mk. 1s which were massacred during the fighting in France.  Also available to the British air commanders are a small number of Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers. The Whitley is about equal to Martin B-10.  After a month to rest and refit the Germans began the move to North Africa. Leaving several wings of fighters and bombers in France to keep the English occupied the Luftewaffe starts to move to North Africa. First to go are 3 wings of fighters followed by 4 wings of Bombers as well as 2 wings of Stukas. With control of the air virtually assured over the Mediterranean the German High command sends 6 panzer divisions and 10 motorized infantry divisions to North Africa. The Italians also send their best divisions to North Africa as well. While the Italians are no where near the equal of the Germans in training and equipment, their troops will be useful for protecting the lines of communication and for garrison duty. Frankly the English are in a bad way at this point. The RAF is hard pressed to spare any aircraft for Egypt as there are barely enough to protect the home islands. Even if there were spare aircraft to send there are no pilots to man them. While the British Army was able to rescue close to 250,000 of their troops as well as 100,000 of French and other nationalities in the Miracle of Dunkirk they have no equipment. Besides with the Luftwaffe sitting in North Africa how would they get to Egypt and the Middle East in a timely fashion.      |
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on August 06:
1651 Francois Fenelon France, writer (Playing for Time)
1697 Charles VII Holy Roman emperor (1742-45)
1809 Alfred Lord Tennyson poet laureate of England
1811 Judah Philip Benjamin (d.1884), Sec. War and Sec. State CSA
1861 Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt 2nd wife of Theodore Roosevelt
1868 Paul Claudel France, diplomat/poet (L'Otage-1909)
1881 Sir Alexander Fleming co-discovered penicillin (Nobel 1954)
1883 Scott Nearing US sociologist/pacifist/author (The Good Life)
1889 George Kenney, Major General / commander of the U.S. Fifth Air Force (WWII)
1906 Ken Strong NFL, AFL halfback (Staten Island, NY Yanks, NY Giants)
1908 Helen Jacobs US tennis champ (1932-35)
1910 Charles Crichton director (Battle of Sexes)
1911 Lucille Ball Jamestown NY, comedienne/actress (I Love Lucy, Mame)
1916 Michael Burke sports executive (NY Yankees, NY Knicks)
1917 Robert Mitchum Bridgeport Ct, actor (Winds of War, North & South)
1922 Sir Freddie Laker entrepreneur (Laker airlines)
1923 Jack Parnell London England, orch leader (Englebert Humperdick Show)
1923 Jackie Kelk Brooklyn NY, actor (Homer-Aldrich Family)
1923 William B Williams Babylon NY, DJ (WNEW, Sammy & Company)
1927 Andy Warhol pop artist
1927 William David Ford (Rep-D-Mich)
1928 Janice Lee York Romary US, fencer (Olympics-1952-68)
1929 Anneliese Kuppers German FR, equestrian dressage (Oly-silver-1956)
1930 Abbey Lincoln actress/singer (Nothing But a Man)
1934 John Storey Bonington UK, mountain climber (Annapurna I in 1970)
1938 Peter Bonerz Portsmouth NH, actor (Jerry-Bob Newhart Show, 9 to 5)
1940 Louise Sorel LA Calif, actress (BS I Love You, Crimes of Passion)
1943 Michael Anderson Jr London, actor (Clayt-The Monroes)
1944 Swoosie Kurtz actress (Vice Versa, World According to Garp)
1945 Ken Norton heavyweight boxer
1950 Nathan Purdee actor (Nathan-Young & Restless)
1950 Winston E Scott Miami Fla, USN Commander/astronaut
1951 Catherine Hicks Scottsdale Az, actress (Star Trek IV, Child's Play)
1952 Carl C Perkins (Rep-D-Ky)
1952 Wojiech Fortuna Poland, ski jumper (Olympic-gold-1972)
1956 Stephanie Kramer LA Calif, actress (Claudia-We Got it Made, Hunter)
1956 Vinnie Vincent heavy metal rocker (Solo-Ashes to Ashes)
1965 David Robinson NBA center (San Antonio Spurs)
1976 Soleil Moon Frye actress (Punky Brewster)
LOL. I remember my 'early' days. It would take me literally days to put something together and get all the html right. I still make mistakes, I just make them faster. ;-)
The Medal of Honor. Honorably is truly how this man lived and died on the battlefield.
So they told you it was old age 'eh. Get used to it. ;-)
Some good feedback on the scenario.
I will take on a few points from what I recall in the article.
As far as the Vichy French go I think that they will do pretty much what the Germans tell them to do. After June 1940 they are in no position to do otherwise. The German lack of a fleet in the Med does not pose a threat to the Italians and besides Mussolini will do pretty much what Hitler tells them to anyways.
Much of the problem with the Italian/German logistics in 1942 was the fact that Malta was still in existence. The British were able to sink just enough shipping to impede Rommel's efforts. In the summer and fall of 1940 Malta's airpowr consisted of a few Gloster Gladiators. Hardly a challenge to the Luftwaffe. Also the inabilty of the Axis to take Toburk from the Desert Rats in mid to late 1941 was a major thorn in the logistics side.
I will admit that Franco giving the Germans bases in the Canary Islands and Spanish Morocco could be a stretch. Franco will back a winner though and if the Germans are succesfull in running the British out of Egypt I think the odds go up that Franco plays ball.
If the Luftwaffe is able to establish a credible prescence in North Africa and it would only take a couple of wings to do this then the Royal Navy will not venture in to the Med.
Recall that at Crete the Royal Navy lost 3 cruisers and 6 destroyers sunk along with two battleships and a carrier heavily damaged. The experience of the Repulse and Prince of Wales come to mind as well.
I am afraid I did not do a great deal of justice to the article by Mr. Mizrahi. Nonetheless as in all these alternate historys it is a lot of fun to speculate.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Good morning Gail.
I'm pretty certain what medal this citation came from, but your post doesn't say for certain.
Occasionally she would take out a slip of paper and review the concern written on it. Because she had not been drained by anxiety, she was relaxed and better able to find the solution to her problem. Many times she discovered that a specific worry no longer existed. Writing your worries on paper and putting them in a box may be helpful, but how much better it is to place them in the hands of God. Worry robs us of joy, drains us of energy, stunts our spiritual growth, and dishonors God. Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34). Let's believe the Lord's promises and trust Him to meet our needs. Placing our problems in His hands is far better than putting them in a worry box. —Richard De Haan
Never a burden that He does not bear; Never a sorrow that He does not share— Moment by moment, I'm under His care. —Whittle When we put our cares in God's hands, He puts His peace in our heart.
What Can I Do With My Worry? |
Sorry. The only Normandy 82nd Division Medal of Honor (I think).
40th birthday? I lived through it. Piece of cake.
Good days, and bad days, just like you are used to. More of the latter and fewer of the former, naturally.
Not exactly, I have to have an ultrasound Monday to verify it though
Um, thanks (?)
Neat poem BTW.
I frankly could care less about the number. I'm "supposed to" make a huge deal of it I guess, so I'll just celebrate anniversaries of my 39th.
No need for apologies. I coulda looked it up. You know Algore's invention just might prove useful some day.
The Vichy navy never placed itself at the disposal of the Nazis, and the Germans didn't press the issue. (The Germans couldn't even get the Italian navy to properly coordinate.) They did attack the Americans during Operation Torch, but with a general lack of enthusiasm. In any event, the French fleet was no match for the British. Its performance would have been even worse than that turned in by the Italisans.
At the point in time postulated in this thread, the British had undisputed control of both the Eastern and Western Med. Greece and Crete had not yet fallen, Malta was secure, and Gibratar and Alexandria anchored the western and eastern defences.
In addition, at that point the Germans didn't occupy Southern France. That didn't occur until 1942. While Vichy would likely have had to allow transit, the Germans did not have local freedom of action to the extent that they did in Northern France. The most likely transit route would have been from Northen France, through Germany and the former Austria, Italy and Sicily, where the troops would have been forced to rely on Italian ships for transit to Africa.
Exellent topic for history re-write. The student is in the front row and enjoying and learning the flanking tactics from the "the boys from Dover".
All true but it was paper control. Total strength of the British forces in Egypt and the Middle East was around 60,000 of all ranks. The artillery consisted of only 65 guns of all calibers and the few tanks available to the British were obsolete with the largest gun carried was 37mm.
The Royal Navy had a sizable presence in Alexandria IIRC but with out effective aircover the ships of the Royal Navy are just so many targets for the Luftwaffe.
As mentioned in the article the Royal Air Force in Egypt and the Middle East consisted of at best 2nd ranked and mostly obsolete air craft. Hardly a match for the modern and battle tested Luftwaffe.
Rommel very nearly bested the reinforced British and Commonwealth forces in the Spring and Summer of 1942 with only 3 or 4 understrength divisions and less than two wings of aircraft. Imagine what the result would have been if Rommel would have went to North Africa in the summer of 1940 with 4 panzer divisions, 6 to 8 motorized divisions and 10 wings of aircraft.
I think that the only thing that would hold up the German Army might be logistics but if the Germans are able with the help of the Italians to establish control of the air over the Med then they should be able to keep the forces supplied.
Hey it make for a good discussion, eh!
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Good morning sweets. I'm a student today also.
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I heard about a woman who kept a box in her kitchen that she called her "Worry Box." Every time something troubled her, she would write it down on a piece of paper and put it in the box. She resolved not to think about her problems as long as they were in the box. This enabled the woman to put her troubles completely out of mind. She knew they could be dealt with later.