After the Last War: Chapter 5

[Bernard Woolley]

This chapter is dedicated to my Dad. Who was highly supportive in whatever I did.

*

D+101

*

0859 hours GMT. JHQ Rheindahlen, FRG.
It was quite amazing to think that the Joint H.Q that had been the peacetime home for so many organisations had been repaired so quickly, General Sir David Horne mused. Was it really 101 days since he had shot a Soviet Spetsnaz commando in this very office? There were no signs in the office that any such event had taken place and it all seemed like a bad dream from a lifetime ago. The ringing of the phone on his desk brought Horne back to the present.

“Your Nine O’clock appointment is here, Sir.”
“Good, send him right in.” Horne replied. “Can you bring us some tea and biscuits in about five minutes?”
“I'll see what I can do, Sir.”

Horne stood up as General Sir Richard Watt entered. The newcomer had, until recently, been the GOC UK Land Forces. Now, he was going to relieve Horne as CINCBAOR and COMNORTHAG. Watt had commander 1 (Br) Corps prior to becoming GOC UKLF, so had relatively recent experience of command in West Germany. Horne would be swapping jobs with him, taking over command of UKLF.

“Good morning, Dick.” Horne said cheerfully; the two men were contemporaries and knew each other. “How are you?”
“Good morning, David. I'm a tired, but not too bad considering. Crab air flight was delayed, as per. How are you, though?”
“Feeling damned tired. It's been a long war.” Horne admitted. “I will be glad of a few days leave before I take over at Wilton.”
“You should find things all ship shape there. Should all be ready for you and Paddy O’Connor to take over.”

That reminded Horne that he was not the only general going home. Lt. General Sir John O’Connor, the commander of 1 (Br) Corps was being sent back to the UK to take command of the UK Field Army. He would be replaced by Lt. General Sir Andrew Doig, who had recently commanded the NATO led Stabilisation Force in Bosnia. Evidently, someone in the MoD felt that the best way to give senior officers a rest was to send them home to command UK based formations.

“Can't say I'm thrilled that the 'Box' have decided to swap two senior commanders at the same time.” Horne observed. “But at least you and Andrew Doig have plenty of time to settle in, not to mention that you will still have Harry Allinson and David Richardson in post. They're both good men.”
“Evidently someone thinks that commanding troops at home is some sort of rest cure!” Watt replied, shaking his head. “I'm sure I don't have to tell you its not! I am glad they have found a command for Andrew Doig, he's been kicking his heels for a while, which is a waste of a man of his abilities. Stephen Marks coming down with pneumonia left a gap at UK Field Army and I would guess that someone at the MoD saw that as an opportunity to move a few of us around.”

Both men paused for a moment as Horne's secretary, who would soon change their loyalty to Watt, entered the office, carrying a tray.

“As requested, Sir, tea and biscuits for you both. Apologies for the lack of choice, seems hard to get hold of decent biscuits these days.”
“Thank you, Caroline. I know you do your best and I appreciate it.”

The two generals took a moment to drink some tea and eat a few biscuits.

“I don't know what Caroline was worried about. A mix of Rich Tea and Digestives is good going for these days. A few chocolate Hobnobs would have been nice, but, I believe there's a war on!” Horne said with a smile, which provoked laughter from Watt.
“Well, you're in luck. There's still a stock of them back in Wilton!”
“Now, that IS good news!”

Finishing up, Horne moved on to the various things that had to be done to complete the change of command. Normally there would be a change of command ceremony, but both generals had agreed to forego it and just get on with it. Both men had also agreed that there would not be any changes in their respective staffs, bar Horne taking his ADC with him and Watt bringing in his ADC.

“I don't think there is anything else to tell you.” Horne said, finishing up. “I have taken the liberty of arranging a full briefing for you at 10. My married quarters were burned to the ground on Day 1, but I believe some suitable accommodation has been arranged for you.”
“It has thank you.” Watt confirmed.

Horne stood up and came around what was, for a few seconds longer, his desk. Watt had also stood up. Horne extended his right hand.

“And with that, Dick, I hand command over to you. Good luck.”
“Thank you, David. It sounds like you have left me a command in good condition. I hope you will be able to say the same for me when you reach the UK.” Watt said, shaking Horne's hand warmly.

Horne picked up his briefcase and a few documents, nodded to Watt and left the office. Watt sat down in what was now his chair and contemplated the future. Horne had built quite the reputation leading BAOR and NORTHAG, so he had big shoes to fill.

1005 hours GMT. Trieste, Italy.
The Italian city was in a rather unusual situation in that it was almost right on the front-line. Soviet and other Warsaw Pact forces had done their best to capture it, coming very close to succeeding. They had managed to cut the RA13 to the north-east of Trieste, forcing supplies to be moved via narrower roads in Opicina. From the south the Soviets had managed to advance into Muggia, and only a desperate counter-attack by the Trieste Defence Command had pushed Warsaw Pact force back to, and in places back across, the border. With the failure of the two-pronged attempt to capture the city, the commander of the Italian Army Group and CINSOUTH had agreed that rather that evacuate Trieste, they would try to hold it. To that end reinforcements had been sent to the city, including the Motorized Brigade "Friuli" and a few other units from a number of formations. The TDC was still a little ad hoc, but at least now it was a stronger force. While most of the TDC was made up of Italian Army units, there were a sprinkling of formation from the rest of NATO. [1]

*

Generale di Divisione Alberto Bertorelli was not a native of Trieste, but it still made him weep to see the damage that had been done to the historic city. It was not just historic buildings that had been destroyed, or damaged, but it was ordinary houses, shops and various small businesses that had suffered that upset Bertorelli most. As it represented the suffering of ordinary people. Thankfully, most of the civilian population had been evacuated to the 'mainland'. But, a lot of people would be returning to piles of rubble. The Zona Industriale Est had been set on fire by artillery, and with the fire-brigade overstretched, it had been allowed to burn itself out.

This morning Bertorelli had decided to drop in on a forward platoon of 255th Motorized Infantry Battalion “Veneto”, which had been reformed from locally based reservists. The battalion held a sector in southern Muggia, where it straddled the border. The platoon's position included what had been dubbed the 'Last House in Italy' and the 'First House in Slovenia', which were diagonally opposite each other. A Soviet unit held and had fortified the Slovenian village of Cerej, which lay just on the other side of the border, indeed the 'First House in Slovenia' was in that village.

Bertorelli had parked his AR90 Land Rover a short distance from the platoon command post and, along with the Carabinieri who had come along as his bodyguard, walked the rest of the way. Some steel 'hairpins' had been concreted into the road surface alongside the 'First House in Slovenia', plus a thick cloth curtain had been hung across the road to conceal the platoon's activity from the Soviets.

If the platoon commander was nervous about the presence of a general in his Command Post, he did not show it. The Tenente was a few years older than most officers who held his rank, being a reservist, which may have been one reason he did not show any nerves.

“How have things been, Tenete?” Bertorelli asked.
“The enemy have been quite busy, Signor Generale. Like us they are continuously improving their defences. We patrol 'No Man's Land' at night to survey what we can, and to hopefully stop them from doing the same to us.”
“Good, I like to junior commanders who are aggressive in patrolling.” Bertorelli replied. “Now, I would like to visit one of your forward Observation Posts. The one in the, what is it you call it, the 'First House in Slovenia'?”
“Si, Signor Generale, that is what we have nicknamed it. Are you sure you wish to go forward to the O.P? I mean, we are under an armistice, but I think my company and battalion commanders would not be too...”
“Don't worry about them, Tenete. You are following my orders.”
“Si, Signor Generale, I will remind them of that. I will send my Sergente to guide you forward.”

*

“The curtain will conceal us, Signor Generale, but we still need to move quickly and keep our heads down.” The platoon sergente said. “Once across the road we will be able to enter the trenches and make our way to the O.P. Once we are in the trenches we will be in Slovenia, but don't worry, we won't need our passports.”

Bertorelli chuckled.

“And I don't think that the Guardia di Finanza will be a problem on our return, Sergente.” He said with a broad grin.

After crossing the road, Bertotelli found that the 'First House in Slovenia' had been well fortified and converted into an Observation Post. Several high-powered binoculars and telescopes had been installed on the upper floor. The next nearest houses were unoccupied, the Soviets having pulled back slightly, but there was a Soviet outpost just over seventy meters away. There was still a lot of concealment from trees, although many had been reduced to looking like toothpicks by artillery and mortar fire.

Bertorelli studied the Soviet front-line using one of the pair of binoculars. He could not see a great deal, but had a feeling that at least one pair of eyes was looking back at him. Bertorelli shivered at the thought that he might be in someone's gunsight.

“It think I have seen enough thank you, Sergente.”

1131 hours. Invergordon, Easter Ross, Scotland.
With tugs flanking her, USS Wisconsin sailed into the Cromarty Firth. The US Navy had established a forward repair base at Invergordon, and Wisconsin was to be the first major warship to use it. As his ship entered the firth, Captain Craig Flack wondered when a battleship had last visited Invergordon. He guessed it was probably the Royal Navy's last battleship, HMS Vanguard, some time in the 1950s.

*

Invergordon had been an important naval base for the Royal Navy in both previous world wars. Having been home to part of the Grand Fleet in the First World War. While the base had closed in 1956, a refuelling depot had been retained. The fuel oil itself was stored in the Inchindown oil tanks above the town, which were underground. [2]
The sheltered anchorage and fuelling depot, which could hold an impressive 32 million gallons of fuel had attracted the attention of the US Navy when it had been looking for somewhere in the northern UK to establish a forward repair base. Invergordon also had reasonably good transport links – an airport at nearby Inverness, decent roads and a rail link. The airport could even take large aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy. The railway needed improvement so that it could take more traffic, so Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalions 7 and 23, working with Network Rail engineers, had restored double-track between Clachnaharry and Clunes, as well as reinstalling several loops that had been lifted in the 1960s elsewhere on the line between Inverness and Invergordon. Moreover, RETB signalling between Inverness and Dingwall had been replaced by coloured lights signals, controlled from Inverness. On top of that, the Invergordon Harbour Branch, which officially closed in 1971, had been rebuilt, along with goods yard in the port itself. [3]

In a relatively short time, the US Navy had fulfilled a lot of the wish-list that Scotrail and local transport groups had for the Far North Line. Improvements that had been wanted for some years, but for which there had been no money, had been carried out fairly rapidly. The USN even had to be dissuaded from building the proposed railway line that would parallel the A9 across the Moray Firth between Inverness and Dingwall. British Rail having advised that such a project would take several years.

The Seabees had also carried out a lot of construction works in the port and harbour itself to prepare it to take ships as large as battleships and cruisers. As part of those works, a floating dry-dock was now anchored off Invergordon itself. Finding a floating dry-dock that could take a battleship had not been easy, as the USN had disposed of most of its large ones. However, eight sections of AFDB-3 were still at the Bath Iron Works in Maine, waiting to be sold, having become redundant in 1998. To restore her to the full nine sections, one from AFDB-5, which was in storage at Port Arthur in Texas, had been restored and towed to Scotland, to be added to her sister.

*

First stop for Wisconsin was to anchor by an ammunition barge. She would be de-ammunitioned and have most of her fuel taken off, before entering AFDB-3 to have maintenance done on her hull. During the docking, Flack planned to give his crew shore leave in rotation. As nearby Inverness was hardly a teeming metropolis, he had requested that his men be provided with transport to take them to Aberdeen, and even Edinburgh and Glasgow.

“Stop your engines. The tugs will take you alongside now.” The Pilot, who was standing beside Flack, instructed.
“All, stop, aye.” The helm repeated.

Flack felt his ship slow and the tugs take up the slack. They guided the battleship to the where she was supposed to anchor.

“Thank you, Pilot.” Flack said, once the anchor had dropped. “I'm finished with engines.”
“Finished with engines aye, Sir.”
“Welcome to Invergordon, Captain.” The Pilot said with a smile. “I hope we can make you welcome.”
“Appreciate that, Pilot. Hope we don't cause you too many problems.” Flack replied.

Not long after Wisconsin had anchored, the laborious process of removing her ammunition began. Once the shells had been removed, the barge would be towed away to a more distant anchorage and a second one brought alongside. The bagged charges for the 16inch shells would be loaded in to that barge, which would be anchored at the other end of the Cromarty Firth. The final process before entering the dry-dock would be to pump out most of the ship's fuel oil. That would involve moving the ship to a nearby pier. Once the battleship had finished her docking period the process would be repeated in reverse.

Now that Wisconsin was safely anchored, the other ships of her Surface Action Group entered the Cromarty Firth and dropped anchor. They only needed to be refuelled, rearmed and reprovisioned, so dealing with them was easier than the battleship. The primary challenge for the navy and local authority was going to be organising liberty for the sailors and trying to spread the impact of lots of young people looking to have a good time.

1231 hours. Lochgelly, Fife, Scotland.
Robert 'Rab' McKinlay had retired early from the mining industry a good number of years ago, which gave him a lot of spare time to tend his allotment (or 'plot') and do a variety of jobs around the town. He had long been a well known and respected figure, residents being used to seeing him out and about walking his dog. Being retired, he also had a lot of time to devote to being a National Emergency Volunteers Warden. He had also been one of those who had convinced a rather reluctant community council (“isn't it Fife Council's job” the objectors had said) to draw up an emergency plan and make sure it actually worked, and was not just a load of paper.

McKinlay had a couple of jobs to do today. The first, which he was just finishing up, was to check the food and water stored in the buildings that had been designated as Rest Centres. The town's three primary schools, the high school, three church halls, Salvation Army Hall, the Lochgelly Centre and the Town Hall, had been so designated. McKinlay was checking on the stores in the Town Hall before moving on to the Lochgelly Centre. He had left the Centre to last because he had a class of Community Volunteers to teach in just under an hour. Community Volunteers were not formally part of the NEV, but were people who had offered their services if there was some sort of emergency. They were given first aid training, and some basic civil defence instruction. McKinlay was going to introduce the afternoon's group to the joys of the Portable Dose Rate Meter 82, or PDRM82.

*

Lochgelly Town Hall had been built in 1892 as a Drill Hall for the Volunteer Force and latterly the Territorial Force. By 1914 it had been the base for B Company, 7th (Fife) Battalion, The Black Watch. After it had been given up by the army, around 1927, it had become the Town Hall, acting as a community centre, and regularly being used as a Polling Station at elections. The rest of the time it was used for events by community groups and for things like children’s' parties. Although, its use for private events had declined in line with the slow deterioration of the building. Fife Council, who had inherited it from the long defunct town council, had largely neglected the hall, not having the money for more than basic maintenance. For example, the caretaker's flat upstairs had long been vacant. [4]
Despite the less than ideal condition of the Town Hall, its design, plus having a kitchen, made it ideal as somewhere that could act both as emergency accommodation, and as a location for storing food, water, blankets etc. A lot of the food had been donated by the community. The water was a mix of plastic 2-litre bottles, which could be distributed rapidly, and metal 'jerry cans', which would be used if the mains water was cut off.

Having checked that the food was all in order, McKinlay had moved on to the water. The first sign that something was wrong was that the floor where the water was being stored was wet. McKinlay picked up the nearest bottle of water and was surprised by how light it was. There were only a few drops of water left in it. Someone had used something sharp to poke a hole in the base near the base. Most of the rest of the other bottles showed the same sign of sabotage. He next examined the nearest 'jerry can'. From its weight it was full of water, but on opening the cap, McKinlay could smell bleach. McKinley took out his mobile phone, dialled '999' and hit send. What he had found was a clear act of sabotage and needed to be reported to the police. The training class would need to wait.

*

The guilty parties, the pro-Soviet cell based in the town, had managed to gain entry to the Town Hall during the night. The lock on the room where the food was stored had proven too much for them, but they had successfully gained to the water store. Using pen knives, they had pierced every water bottle they could reach and had adulterated the 'jerry cans' with some bottles of household bleach they had brought with them. As locals, they believed that they had managed to use a 'blind spot' in the town's CCTV coverage. That no such 'blind spot' actually existed was not something the local council, or police had made any comment on. While the break-in had not been spotted 'live', it had been recorded and police officers would soon be doing their best to identify the persons recorded.

1345 hours. PAWN, Wood Norton Hall, Worcestershire, England.
The BBC bunker in the grounds of the hall, codenamed 'Protected Area Wood Norton', seemed very distant from main operations of the corporation, reflected Michael Hanson. He was a a personnel officer from the BBC's news division and a former Royal Marine, who had responsibility for maintaining the corporation's War Book and running the National Broadcasting Service. The NBS was the current name for what had, until the early 1990s, been known as the Wartime Broadcasting Service (WTBS). The change had been partially to soften the name (make it more 'cuddly') and partly to reflect changes to the broadcasting environment.

*

As late as the 1980s the WTBS only had to contend with there being four TV channels in the UK. When the decision was taken by the Cabinet, those channels would stop normal broadcasting and transmit information on frequencies for the WTBS (generally BBC Radio 4 and regional and local radio stations). When it appeared that a nuclear attack was inevitable, TV would cease broadcasting and a single national radio programme would have been broadcast from Wood Norton via Radio 4 and regional and local stations. There had been some changes in the late Eighties, for example, TV would continue to transmit for 'as long as possible'. [5]

By the 1990s both the potential military and the broadcasting environments had changed significantly. Firstly, it was much more likely that there would be an extended conventional World War, should one break out. Shutting down television and going over to a single radio programme would no longer be appropriate. It was also felt inappropriate for the BBC to effectively take over its competitors at that stage of a war emergency. Secondly, the explosion in satellite TV channels meant that the way the viewing public consumed programming had drastically changed; viewership was becoming ever more 'atomised'. There was, however, some cause for optimism. By and large people watched, or listened to the BBC when it came to major national events.

The revamped National Broadcasting Service would, therefore, remain in the background in stand-by mode during any conventional war. It would be ready to go into action at a few hours notice. The BBC would also keep some studios at Wood Norton ready to go in case of damage to its main facilities. That had proven to be wise, as PAWN had briefly taken over news broadcasting when the Soviets had attacked BBC Television Centre. Should there be major damage to the nationwide broadcasting network, or obvious signs of a nuclear attack, the NBS would be activated. In the meantime the BBC and other broadcasters would carry on, though with obviously modified output and some government oversight on what information was put out. Measures to get the NBS ready had been carried out during the Transition to War and continued once war had broken out.

*

With an armistice in place the BBC had decided to review its 'War Book' and the NBS. As the person responsible for them, Michael Hanson had decided to take the task upon himself. He had gone to Wood Norton Hall and set himself up in PAWN to get some peace and quiet. Indulging his inner 'Whovian' he had installed himself in an office once occupied by Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart during the events of 'Spearhead from Space'. It often amused him to think of the highly secret PAWN being used as a set for 'Doctor Who', although those who had worked on the filming had to sign the Official Secrets Act. The grounds of Wood Norton had also been used for the story 'Robot', although permission to film the the bunker entrance had been refused.

One of the things that Hanson had to review were the pre-recorded scripts for the NBS. There was the pre-recorded introductory statement that announced the activation of the NBS, and the script that would be broadcast every two hours for the first twelve hours after a nuclear strike. The latter had been recorded in the 1980s by the then chief continuity announcer for Radio 4, Peter Donaldson. Since Donaldson was still in post, Hanson did not feel that it was worth re-recording that particular announcement and the introductory statement was quite new, the latest version having been recorded in 2003. There were a number of other scripts that would be read live, probably from BBC studios in RGHQ bunkers. Any other announcements would be written in the RGHQ and would depend on the situation at the time. Hanson had read through these later scripts and had made a few changes to them. Once approved, copies of the updated scripts would be distributed to a number of locations.
The other major task that Hanson had to oversee was the continued maintenance of the transmitter sites that would carry the NBS. These had protected blocks below the towers themselves, which had diesel powered generators and basic accommodation for a few engineers. The generators needed to be regularly run and the diesel tanks topped up. The food for the engineers also had to be kept fresh, although the army ration packs provided had very long shelf-lives. Hanson had visited one of the sites and had not blamed the anonymous person who had written in a file regarding engineers refusing to take part: “I can't blame them for deciding there were better ways to go than to sit in a bunker with a group of local radio engineers.” Hanson hoped efforts to persuade enough people to volunteer would be successful. He did not want to force people if it became necessary to activate the National Broadcasting Service. For that matter, he hoped the service itself would not be needed.

1445 hours. Northwest of Cape Wrath, Scotland.
Commander Harris 'Wombat' Baker pulled back on the throttles controlling the thrust of the two big F110 engines that powered his F-14D Tomcat. He silently cursed the fact that he had approached the RAF tanker aircraft slightly too fast and now needed to reduce speed.

“You've got this, Boss.” Lieutenant Cameron 'Cammy' Mankell, Baker's RIO, said encouragingly from the rear cockpit.
“She's a big mother.” Baker replied, as he lined up again.

Baker and his wingman were practising refuelling from a brand new RAF Voyager KC.2 tanker. Two such aircraft, including the prototype, had been delivered and the RAF were clearing as many aircraft to use them as it could. As part of the practise refuelling, the two Tomcats and the Voyager were radio silent. Baker lined up for a second approach, this time he was successful, the probe of the F-14D catching the basket.

*

While USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was undergoing repairs at Southampton, CVW-8 had been dispersed amongst a number of RAF stations. It had been decided to stick to main operating bases, so no RAF Stornoway for VF-41 “Black Aces” and VF-84 “Jolly Rogers”! Instead, space had been found for both Tomcat squadrons at RAF Leuchars. The two Hornet squadrons had been accommodated at RAF Wittering, the two Intruder and the single Prowler squadron at RAF Lossiemouth, while the E-2C squadron was at RAF Mildenhall and the S-2B squadron at RAF St. Mawgan. HS-3 “Tridents” and the other helicopters from the CVBG of the 'Big E', were now shore-based at RNAS Culdrose (HMS Sea Hawk). While based in the UK, the air wing would be made available to CINCUKAIR. Although, at the moment, that mainly involved training sorties. However, the Vikings of VS-24 “Scouts” were flying patrols over the Irish Sea and the Western Approaches, while the Hawkeyes of VAW-124 “Bear Aces” were supplementing RAF Sentry AEW.1s.

With Enterprise under repair, her escorts were also taking the chance to replenish and carry out what repairs were necessary. Some of the ships were in southern Norwegian ports, while the rest were in British ones. While the 'Big E' was undergoing repair in the UK, USS George Washington (CVN-73) and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) had sailed back to the United States for repair, leaving USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on station in the Norwegian fjords. The remaining carriers and their CVBGs would rotate off station once at least two of the others returned.

*

The aerial refuelling complete, the two Tomcats headed south-east, crossing the Scottish coast and following the Great Glen as far south as Glencoe before turning towards Stirling and the Central Belt. Baker's Tomcat was equipped with a TARPS pod and he had been tasked with carrying out a reconnaissance training sortie.

“Scottish Military, this is Jolly One-One; two US Navy Tomcat aircraft. Permission to proceed into controlled airspace, as per flight plan, over.”
“Jolly One-One, Scottish Military, permission granted. Please be aware of traffic using Edinburgh Airport. They will be to your south and south-east as you pass over the Forth Bridges. You may freely manoeuvrer to the north of your track, but not to the south. Over.” The controller for Scottish Traffic Control Centre (Military) at RAF Prestwick replied.
“Acknowledged that we will not leave our track to the south, Scottish Military.” Baker replied.

The Tomcat's RWR started to bleep and show a visual warning, indicating that a search radar was illuminating it. Baker and his wingman descended below the radar's horizon and the beeping stopped. The River Forth appeared ahead of the pair of F-14s and both aircraft adjusted their course so as to follow its northern. The bleeping started again, warning that several radars were now scanning Baker's Tomcat. Normally the aircraft would have activated its jammers and released chaff, but Baker did not think that the civilian Air Traffic Controllers at Edinburgh Airport would appreciate that. Instead he held to his course and activated the TARPS pod.

*

Two hours later Baker and Mankell were back at RAF Leuchars drinking coffee while several Photo Interpreters studied the developed pictures they had taken.

“Nice work, Commander.” The senior P.I, an RAF Squadron Leader said. “You got excellent shots of the armaments depot at Crombie, and the naval base and dockyard at Rosyth. I can see RFA Fort Victoria alongside at Crombie, taking on ammunition. I can also clearly see several escorts at Rosyth, but the most interesting thing is that HMS Ark Royal is in one of the dry-docks.”
“Happy to oblige, Squadron Leader.” Baker replied.

The Squadron Leader smiled and picked up two more photos.

“You even managed to snap some nice pics of the navy's Sea Wolf battery and the Longbow missile barge. Got an awful feeling that if it had been real that they might have gotten you!”

1501 hours. Government Buildings, Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
The Council Chamber felt hot, the Taoiseach thought as he reached for a water jug to refill the glass beside him. He silently cursed as he spilled some.

“Sorry, General Sreenan, you were saying.” He said to the the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, before taking a drink of water.
“The Swedes have let us know that they will be withdrawing their armoured battalion from our brigade in Austria, Taoiseach. They feel they need it back home and that it is getting increasingly difficult to support a relatively small unit so far away from Sweden. I believe it will be used to reinforce the Lapland Army Group. It will leave our brigade without any tank support, unless another of our allies can provide a replacement.”
“What's your recommendation, Willie, General?” The Taoiseach asked both the Minister for Defence and the Chief of Staff, looking from one to another.
“The General and I have discussed this, Bertie.” The Minister for Defence replied. “It's getting pretty hard for us to support a brigade group all the way down in Austria. We both recommend that it be redeployed to somewhere closer to home. Ideally northern Germany.”
“It would also give us the chance to rotate some of the units.” General Sreenan added. “Some of the units were half-way through a Bosnia deployment at the start of the war. They've not had a rest for a good long while.”

The Taoiseach exhaled before responding.

“We do already have a small detachment with the Northern Army Group, don't we?”
“Yes, Bertie. We recently brought it up to a full battalion group by deploying the rest of the 27th Infantry Battalion.”
“Do you want to send our brigade to join them?”

The Minister for Defence and Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces looked at each other before the latter responded.

“The battalion group is under British command at the moment, Taoiseach...” General Sreenan began to say.
“We can't attach more troops to the Brits!” The Minister for Foreign Affairs suddenly exploded. “The public just wouldn't wear it!”

The Taoiseach turned to look at the minister responsible for the outburst.

“Dermot, please don't interrupt the General before he is finished.” He said calmly. “General?”
“Thank you, Taoiseach. The battalion group is currently part of 10th (Irish) Infantry Brigade. That brigade is named after the Great War 10th (Irish) Division and has its insignia. The other units we have in that region are the 1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron and a detachment of the Ranger Wing. I certainly don't recommend attaching our brigade to the British Army, but I do propose to reinforce the battalion group, as we need to allow our men to rotate in and out of the front-line. I'd like to add at least a reinforce infantry company and some engineers to our battalion group.”
“I think we can all agree to that, General.” The Taoiseach replied.

There were no objections from the other cabinet members present.

“But that leaves where to re-deploy the brigade.”
“If we are planning to send them to Germany, I would like to recommend attaching them to the Canadian Corps. We speak the same language and use some of the same equipment. It would also be a shorter supply line.” The Minister for Defence proposed. “We are already working with the Canadians in some areas, and I think attaching ourselves to them would be politically acceptable. The other choice would be the French, or maybe the Americans.”
“I'd prefer the Canadians personally.” General Sreenan opined. “There's a language issue with the French and, well, the Americans...I just don't think our army would fit with in with them.”

The Taoiseach nodded in agreement.

“Our work with the Canadians does seem to be going well. Thanks to them, we have managed to procure some additional armoured vehicles. Unless anyone has any objections, I suggest we ask John Brunton to broach the idea to the rest of the North Atlantic Council.”

The current Taoiseach's predecessor, John Brunton, had been appointed as Ireland's Permanent Representative to the NAC, even though he was from the opposition party. Brunton had been the EU Ambassador to the United States at the time of the appointment, so was well known both in the rest of Europe as well as in the USA.

“Now, in case our allies ask us to do more, is there any possibility that we can deploy more troops than we are already planning?” The Taoiseach asked. “They may point to the fact that other than the one brigade we have deployed, the Irish Army has five other regular and reserve brigades.”

There was a second or two of silence, which was broken by General Sreenan.

“I would point out to our allies that in order to deploy one Brigade to Austria we needed to take almost all of the armoured vehicles and artillery from the rest of the army to bring it up to strength. Not to mention attaching sub-units from its sister reserve brigade. We do at least have around thirty Light Guns now, the additional guns were obtained from the Americans and Brits, but since they are expanding their armies, we won't be getting any more for a long while. Most of our army is currently light infantry, whatever their official designation. We just can't support more troops logistically than we are planning to send abroad.”
“That would seem to be a pretty good summary, General.” The Taoiseach replied. “I also believe that we have pretty much reached the limit of our manpower?”

General Sreenan nodded before replying.

“To bring units we have deployed abroad up to strength we have had to take personnel, and in some cases, entire sub-units from units that are remaining at home. The units that remain at home can still function, but we can't strip them further, and besides, we need troops at home so that we can carry out rotations of those we have deployed.”
“Our allies can refill their numbers via conscription. Even the Americans, Brits and Canadians are using conscription now. They're using it both to replace losses and expand their forces.” The Minister for Defence commented. “Other than ourselves, the only NATO nations lacking conscription are Luxembourg and Iceland.”

There was a very 'loud' silence after the Minister for Defence stopped speaking.

“Now, before anyone gets excited and says something they regret.” The Taoiseach said filling the silence. “There is absolutely no way that we are going to introduce conscription to this country. Even in wartime it is just not acceptable to the Irish people. Hell, the Brits have not extended it to the North, even though they theoretically could. We will have to find another way to encourage people to join the Defence Forces.”

The Minister for Defence thought that was easier said than done, but kept his mouth shut.

***

[1] Order of Battle:

Trieste Defence Command
- Command and Services Platoon
- Platoon, B Co, 5/2 Air Defense Regt (US): Avenger
- Luftlandefernmeldekompanie 9 (LLFmKp 9) (FRG)
- 249 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals (UK)
-- A Troop, 244 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals (UK)
- 84 Intelligence & Security Section (UK)
- Compagnie D ‘Compagnie Allied Command Europe Mobile Force’ (LUX)
Armoured Group
- Provisional Tank Squadron: M60A1
- BRC II (SPN ): FV101 Scorpion
Artillery Group
- 40 Battery, 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment: OTO Model 56
- 8th Heavy Field Artillery Group "Marmore": M114
- 14th Field Artillery Group "Murge": M114
- 1 Battery, 1 Mountain Artillery Group (SPN): L118
- F Battery, 2 RCHA (CAN): LG1 Mk.II
- 2./Batterie, Raketenartilleriebattaillon 122 (FRG): HIMARS
Engineer Unit
- 3./Kompanie ABC – Abwehrbattalion 7 (FRG)
- A Co, 16 Engineer Battalion (US)
Military Police Unit (multinational)
- MPs from various NATO nations
- Carabinieri
- Polizia di Stato
- Guardia di Finanza
Combat Service and Support Battalion (multinational)
Trieste Infantry Brigade
- 1st Infantry Battalion (Infantry Regiment 13 / RI13) (PORT)
- VIII/3 Motorized Infantry Bandera of the Legion "Colón": BMR-M1 (SPN)
- 3 Bandera ‘Ortiz de Zarate’ BRIPAC (SPN)
- 43rd Motorized Infantry Battalion "Forlì"
- 255th Motorized Infantry Battalion “Veneto” (formed from local reservists)

Motorized Brigade "Friuli" (-)
- Command and Signal Unit "Friuli",
- 19th Tank Battalion "M.O. Tumiati": Centauro
- 35th Motorized (Reserve) Infantry Battalion "Pistoia": Freccia
- 78th Motorized Infantry Battalion "Lupi di Toscana": Freccia
- 87th Motorized Infantry Battalion "Senio": Freccia
- 35th Field Artillery Group "Riolo": M114
- Logistic Battalion "Friuli"
- Anti-tank Company "Friuli": Spike NLOS
- Engineer Company "Friuli"

[2] See this link and here for more information on the tanks.

[3] RETB = Radio Electronic Token Block. See link for details.

[4] In this age of information being at one's fingertips, it is surprisingly hard to get information on the history of Lochgelly Town Hall. However, there is some information here. Sadly, the building has continued to deteriorate over the last 20 years, and has recently been under threat of demolition. However, pressure from residents appears to have saved it for the moment.

[5] Information on the WTBS/NBS can be found in these two videos here and here. Further information can be found here. The 1975 edition of the BBC War Book has been released and can be found at this link.

[Bernard Woolley]

Accompanying Pictures

[Eaglenine2]

Good update. Getting ready for round two?

[Lordroel]

Good update and a nice remembrance to your father.

I always assume the Americans love the Irish, sometimes pretending to be more Irish than Irish themselves.

[jemhouston]

Telling the Seabees something will take years, they'll take it as a dare.