Fall and Rise: An ISOT

[Simon Darkshade]

At airfields all across East Anglia, as the late afternoon began to creep into evening, the hum of frenetic activity gave way to the first squadrons of four engined Vickers Wellington heavy bombers taking off for the night’s flight to the enemy capital. The 780 Wellingtons would be followed by the larger Handley Page Halifaxes, a mere 726 of them, from their bases in Bedfordshire, Rutland and Northamptonshire, and 1052 of the great Avro Lancasters from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Ten squadrons of de Havilland Mosquito night fighters were to provide the vanguard and flanking escort of the bomber stream, whilst three of the precious skyships would provide airborne radar, command and control from over the North Sea.

This was to be their largest muster for over a year, after the hammer blows of last May and June, as their force had been divided by the necessary exigencies of war. Now, however, the enemy’s defences were far, far less deadly and their night fighter force was as presumed to be a shadow of what their foes had been. Neither Kammhuber’s vaunted line, which had been smashed the year before, nor the network of radar stations in the Netherlands that might have later provided early warning were present.

Forming up into the bomber stream was a delicate dance that would have been far more arduous without the aerial command ships and the careful plotting put together by Bomber Command’s operational planning wizards and their Super Analytical Engines. If everything went to plan, then there would be over 50 bombers a minute hitting Berlin from 2236. Their route was direct - straight over Alkmaar and north of Hannover to Berlin.

Operation Whirlwind had begun.

…………

The first German warnings came from Army and Luftwaffe ground units in the Netherlands, reporting hundreds of English bombers flying at perhaps 8000 metres. These began to be echoed by frantic telephone reports over Western Germany and the aerial armada was picked up by the Freya stations along the border, but to little end. The Luftwaffe’s fighters were at the front, leaving almost all of the Reich’s defences to the guns.

………….

Major Brandt had just landed at Staaken Airfield with his assistant Oberleutnant Froedl for a meeting at the Air Ministry. The lights and charm of the city were a world away from the front.

“Would you believe it? Don’t they know there’s a blackout?” said Froedl.

”You know what Goering said: If ever a bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me Meier.”

”Hmm.”


As they drove along the Brunsbütteler Damm and marvelled at the bustling atmosphere of peace and normality, the street lights suddenly went out. A few seconds later, amid the confused tumult of the crowds, Berlin’s air raid sirens began their unmistakeable drone.

“As from today, we are called Meier.”

…………

Whirlwind struck the centre of Berlin along a a path several miles wide south of the Spree and nominally guided by the grand central boulevard of the Heerstrasse and the Kaiserdamm. Adolf Hitler Platz was hit by two errant 4000lb ‘cookies’, but this was merely the beginning. The bombers came on and with them cane destruction, fire and ruin, the like of which the world had not seen before this night.

Over ten thousand tons of high explosive and incendiaries had been dropped a little more than an hour, blasting through the historic centre of the city and the government quarters. The devastation was imprecise but, even with the huge volume of bombs, no firestorm like that in Hamburg was ignited. Wilhelmstrasse, the Gestapo headquarters on Prinz Albrechtstrasse and the new Reichskanzlei were smashed to shattered ruins, whilst the Reichstag itself was not spared another fire. The Brandenburg Gate yet stood , damaged but still intact amidst the rubble and bomb blasted buildings and the US Embassy in the Blucher Palace adjacent had been mostly spared by the vagaries of fortune. The death toll would not be known for days to some. The missing included Reinhard Heydrich, Martin Bormann and Fritz Todt, whilst Joseph Goebbels suffered a freak groin injury from falling masonry.

Hermann Meier, at his estate at Carinhall, was silent.

[jemhouston]

You shall reap the Whirlwind certainly happpend.

[Simon Darkshade]

Quite. Apart from the international reaction that I’ll try and wangle together tonight, this wraps up this chapter, which I’ll have to put together with sellotape, best brown paper and paraffin oil.

The intent of the raid was to show both their capability and resolve. Both delivered in spades. I’m working on the reaction, but one (somewhat unexpected) will be a bit of a mixed shock from the USA. This is pre-Blitz, so the American view of the war was a bit different…

In any event, it would seem that poor old Goebbels now has no balls at all.

[jemhouston]

Quite. Apart from the international reaction that I’ll try and wangle together tonight, this wraps up this chapter, which I’ll have to put together with sellotape, best brown paper and paraffin oil.

The intent of the raid was to show both their capability and resolve. Both delivered in spades. I’m working on the reaction, but one (somewhat unexpected) will be a bit of a mixed shock from the USA. This is pre-Blitz, so the American view of the war was a bit different…

In any event, it would seem that poor old Goebbels now has no balls at all.

Matches his no brains now.

[Simon Darkshade]

Rather, but the intent was to mirror the lines of the wartime song 'Hitler Has Only Got One Ball'.

[Belushi TD]

Growing up, friends of my parents the next town over moved to the shore for several years. The people who ended up renting the house were a couple from the UK with a pair of sons, one 1.5 years older and the other 1.5 years younger. One of the first things the two kids taught me at the ripe old age of... 12 or so, was that song.

I think they both felt that the education on this side of the pond was lacking because I was unaware of it.

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

In that, they were eminently correct. At the very least, it encourages knowledge of the existence of Himmler, Goering and Goebbels.

[Simon Darkshade]

In addition to the bemusing link to the song, a few other reactions will reverberate from Whirlwind:
- As said, the US reaction will be a mixture of respect for the capabilities demonstrated along with shock at the shift to total war tactics (which would not bat an eyelid in 1943), some warranted concern and worry and a confusion at being ‘left behind’.
- Germany is going from seeming to win the war to this in less than 48 hours, so there will be a huge amount of confused shock and, as the scale of it all sinks in, dread.
- Italy and Mussolini face an even greater reversal of fortune; their smaller visits from British bombers come in the next chapter. Their DoW will go down as one of the great mistakes.
- Japan will have a lot of concerns raised as, if the British have deployed such an aerial force, then maybe their unbelievable naval force claims might also be true…
- Stalin will have a lot of thinking to do

[Belushi TD]

In that, they were eminently correct. At the very least, it encourages knowledge of the existence of Himmler, Goering and Goebbels.

Thanks to my great interest in WWI and WWII at an early age, I was already aware, and was able to explain how each one functioned in the third reich and exactly how unpleasant each one was! They also taught me the parody of Jesus Christ Superstar, which I was equally amused by.

In return I taught them a great deal of dirty limericks and a few Polish jokes, which they knew as Irish jokes. Gotta love how each country has its own idea of who the "stupidest" country is. Come to think of it, states and towns do the exact same thing.

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

Kudos to your young self; more of the exception, as time has gone on.

The nature of mocking neighbours with jokes goes back as long as man, really.

I look forward to trying to write a scene in the next chapter when Hitler gets informed of the cumulative reverses of the 15th of June; something tells me I will need to conjure up a lot of Downfall parodies to do it.

[Belushi TD]

The amusing thing about my interests as a youngster was that they were very broad. And, very shallow, with a very few exceptions, where it was like going from the continental shelf to the Marianas trench.

BTW, enjoying this immensely.

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

You are quite welcome. It does allow me to write about WW2 (always an interest to both the writer and reader) whilst having a bit of fun and 'dry running' some ideas for the DE WW2 timeline and stories one day.

[Simon Darkshade]

The other scene that is being a bit difficult to write, at least in terms of capturing the humour in it, is the Japanese realisation.

Whether it comes through Yamamoto or through others, I want to capture a moment when there is the realisation that yes, the British are telling the truth; that after all the effort at secrecy to build Yamato, the RN have a lazy ten 18” battleships at Singapore and another six 20” ships that will be sent to the Far East; that their window of opportunity has been slammed shut, nailed, soldered, bricked up and covered in cement before they even got a chance to open it; and that not only isn’t London scared of them, but there is almost a righteously furious *appetite for a fight with Tokyo.

(The last comes from the pent up hatred of Japan’s atrocities in the DE Pacific War from 1941-1943 in Malaya, Burma, Thailand, Borneo, Hong Kong, China, New Guinea and more. At this point, both the Australians in New Guinea and British in SE Asia have used gas against the IJA and this will continue to build.)

[Simon Darkshade]

In terms of talking to the Americans in the next part, after the formal meeting between Ambassador Kennedy and Churchill, there will be a more in depth meeting between a British general and the US defence attaché Brigadier-General Raymond E. Lee to lay some information out in the most direct possible fashion.

www.historynet.com/this-american-milita ... few-would/

There will be an attempt to arrange for a direct mission to see FDR and relevant US officials in DC as soon as can be arranged; there is much that they need to discuss. Think of it as the flip side to some of the US envoys/missions in 1940 and 41 such as Harry Hopkins; along with elements of the Tizard Mission. I say elements, as there is less of a driving need to harness US industrial capacity in the absence of a baleful Nazi threat.

Some points and notes for this and subsequent developments:
- The matter of Ireland will be a confusing one for the Americans
- Cancelling the majority of the aircraft and equipment orders made in the USA (by a different country) would be an inelegant solution, as it would cause some inevitable economic upset; on the other hand, there is no need for 95% of what is on the books
- No Lend Lease, Destroyers for Bases (from @) or Arms for Bases (the DE equivalent from their 1940) or the like will be on the agenda
- By the same token, DE Britain isn’t a super state, is missing its big force multipliers in the form of DE Canada, the Dominions and India, is missing its more developed Empire and everything in space. They will be seeking to increase food and raw material imports, as well as particular manufactured goods, such as machine tools
- DE Britain has plenty to trade/plenty of cards to play
- Coordination of strategy regarding Japan will be a matter of mutual interest, with the US not just told about Pearl Harbor (and shown the detailed reports on it), but given JN-25, JN-40, JN-152 and JN-167, as well as information on the US torpedo issues of the early Pacific War
- Whilst the US Army being outnumbered is not a new paradigm here, given its small interwar size, the USN being qualitatively and quantitatively knocked off its equal top perch will be a disturbing experience, as will the effective economic parity of Britain
- With differing histories, there won’t be the same crossover in particular treaties. There may be scope for “You’re in violation of the Washington Treaty!” “What treaty is that?”
- Tube Alloys, whilst it has lost its facilities in Canada, still has those in Britain, plus all the knowledge, personnel and theory of 1939-1943

[Kunkmiester]

What happens if they switch back as soon as the armistice is signed?

"Hey guys, you wouldn't believe what was going on here."

"Dude, you only saw Britain..."

[Simon Darkshade]

I haven’t given any thought to that eventuality, as I don’t plan on writing anything like it. Such an event, whilst not quite being the cop out that is The Final Countdown, is along similar lines.

[Kunkmiester]

True. My Nexus world twisted it some. While the wormhole accident can't be reversed, the sections of other earths brought through eventually allow them to be traced back and Stargate style transit allowed between the "prime" world and the others.

[Simon Darkshade]

I honestly don’t intend for this storyline to be a permanent connection, but a parallel universe of a parallel universe, if you like.

The ordinary connections between Earth and Dark Earth are both indirect influences (dreams, myths, legends and ‘modern myths’, whereby talking cats on DE somehow spawn Lolcats on Earth) and the much rarer direct (doors between dimensions and worlds, such as those from various mythologies).

[Simon Darkshade]

Does anyone have any figures as to the yearly breakdown of British and American casualties in WW2? I’m trying to assemble what the comparative butcher’s bill might be.

[Michael]

In terms of talking to the Americans in the next part, after the formal meeting between Ambassador Kennedy and Churchill, there will be a more in depth meeting between a British general and the US defence attaché Brigadier-General Raymond E. Lee to lay some information out in the most direct possible fashion.

Some points and notes for this and subsequent developments:

- Cancelling the majority of the aircraft and equipment orders made in the USA (by a different country) would be an inelegant solution, as it would cause some inevitable economic upset; on the other hand, there is no need for 95% of what is on the books

The deliveries could be transferred to the French (who badly need them) - The British could offer them to the French in a sweetheart deal (we'll pay 50% if you agree to us transferring the contracts to you and stumping up the other 50%" - why the generousity? Well:

Ta ) The French need the equipment, and this boosts French confidence

(b ) This is the Empire "Helping their ally", gaining diplomatic brownie points with both the French (new equipment at 50% discount) and the US (no contracts cancelled, US still getting paid

(c ) (and this is the macheavellian bit) with the French getting the US equipment, it helps fend off requests for them to receive British kit - its much better Prestige wise for the British to be the only ones who operate it(plus it means less opportunity for French/US industrial espionage to get hold of it and make copies). If UK is the only one operating the kit, then they are definately "senior partner" in the alliance

(d ) UK manufacturing may have come over, but all the Empire manufacturing has gone, limiting the scope for new build/repair till new logistics lines can be set up, so the British will want to keep a close hold of what they have till then.