Keynes' Cruisers

[fester]

June 1, 1940 HMS Basilisk, De Panne Belgium

The B-class destroyer was overloaded with men. Two companies of infantry had been loaded onto her decks along the the single fishing pier only forty minutes ago. The men were ragged, bloodied, tired and angry. They were angry at being outflanked. They were angry at being failed by their allies. They were angry that they were being evacuated. They were angry that they would soon need to fight for their homes.

The two single pom-poms had been firing intermittently throughout the morning. Half a dozen Bren guns had been haphazardly mounted to provide some close in cover against the roaming bands of Luftwaffe bombers. Air battles raged as Fighter Command Hurricanes and Spitfires and a few French fighters attempted to contest the space above the loading areas.


As the destroyer broke through the waters of the Channel at a steady twenty six knots, the look-outs shouted in alarm that a squadron of dive bombers were seen lining up the destroyer. The guns began to boom and steam poured into the turbines. Infantrymen held on tightly as the destroyer heeled over with maximum rudder and smoke poured from both her stacks and smoke pots.


Before the first Stuka tipped over, it caught fire. A squadron of Fleet Air Arm Martlets had arrived over the evacuation area. Six swooped in against the dive bombers, splashing two and driving the other nine away while the other four fighters stayed high. Almost a dozen bombs hit the sea, three splashing water onto the crowded decks of the destroyer. A few men were flayed by flying steel but Basilisk continued along at thirty one knots to unload the men at Dover before lunch time.


As she returned to the beaches to guard against S-boats and U-boats, another flight of Martlets circled over the French Foudroyant. Three large circles of wreckage surrounded the large destroyer as she maneuvered to get into queue for another load of soldiers to be evacuated.

 

[sloreck]

Many more troops and much more equipment is getting out of the pocket than OTL. The Heer and the Luftwaffe are paying a much higher price...and looks like this will continue.

 

[Some Bloke]

More French units being evacuated, with equipment. The French Navy has also been evacuated. No Mers el Kebir? No formal surrender?

 

[Mr Carrot]

I'm surprised they still have this many stukas left! The rate they must be burning through airframes is going to hamper the attacks on Home Chain, channel shipping and SE airfields going forwards.

 

[fester]

I'm surprised they still have this many stukas left! The rate they must be burning through airframes is going to hamper the attacks on Home Chain, channel shipping and SE airfields going forwards.

Stuka pilots are not quite spinal tap drummers but getting close

 

[stubear1012]

I read a book about the evacuation in Dunkirk and in the book the British anti aircraft guns were spiked early in the evacuation due to a miscommunication. From what I can tell, this did not happen in this timeline. Therefore some German planes were probably shot down in the timeline that were not in the original. Therefore fewer German planes and pilots for the next campaign.

I am enjoying this timeline.

Regards

Stubear1012

 

[itor66]

Nice, I always look for an update and I wasn't disappointed. Nicely written.

 

[fester]

I read a book about the evacuation in Dunkirk and in the book the British anti aircraft guns were spiked early in the evacuation due to a miscommunication. From what I can tell, this did not happen in this timeline. Therefore some German planes were probably shot down in the timeline that were not in the original. Therefore fewer German planes and pilots for the next campaign.

I am enjoying this timeline.

Regards

Stubear1012

The BEF had several days of mimimal pressure to start their evacuation as the Panzers had to stop to deal with the failed Abbeville counterattack (please note that the Allies still control both sides of the Abbeville crossings) so dumb decisions are not be made as quickly

 

[fester]

June 1, 1940 Bodo Norway

The fighters landed again. Another raid of bombers covered tightly by fighters. Today thirty Hurricanes formed a big wing and made two passes, shooting down five bombers and an escort. Twenty eight planes landed. The maintenance crews hurried to get the fighters under covered and repaired again. The airfield was only yards from the port and both were busy although far emptier than normal as the infantry had been pushed forward to support a counter-attack. A single battalion was in barracks recovering and recuperating from its time on the line.

 

[fester]

June 4, 1940 Northumberland

The forty Royal Engineers sweated in the late spring sun. The last of the concrete was being poured into the bunker’s wall mold. Steel rods stuck upwards as they had nothing to reinforce yet. Another work party three hundred yards away was also working on their own bunker. No weapons were available yet to fill the bunkers but they would be a stop line. The young privates and the nervous lieutenants were disappointed that they had been kept at home instead of being sent to France but the few veterans had seen enough, had heard enough, and had known enough to know that the Boche beat the BEF soundly and another engineering company’s worth of bad infantry would do nothing to have changed the result. Now they were preparing for an invasion to be defeated with weapons scattered over the country or not yet made.

 

[fester]

June 4, 1940 Bodo

The largest air raid in the past month departed. Fifty twin engine bombers and thirty fighters appeared from the south. A gigantic furball erupted over the waters to the south of the port. Six Hurricanes and seven German escorts were shot down. Anti-aircraft guns claimed three bombers and Norwegian Gladiators claimed two more. But that was a cost the Germans were willing to pay. Seven fighters were burning on the ground. Two ships in the harbor had tipped over, their decks awash with cold water. An anti-aircraft battery was destroyed as a string of light bombs landed within yards of the sandbagged position.

The pace of attacks had been picking up over the past three days. Something big was in the air, something big was bound to happen as the German corps to the east of the city had pulled back behind an aggressive screen that kept Allied scout units occupied.

 

[fester]

June 5, 1940
The second BEF was forming. It was anchored on the sea and the Somme. First Armoured Division had been pulled back from the counter-attack at Abbeville. Another battalion of cruiser tanks and a brigade of infantry had been ferried forward to make good its losses. Another day or two of repairs and the division would be ready for both offensive and defensive maneuvers. Two divisions of lines of communication troops scattered throughout Northern France had been hurriedly reformed into infantry divisions. They were mostly Territorials but a few regulars and newly made veterans had been able to join companies and battalions to stiffen the morale of the part-timers as well as impart the wisdom of what worked and what did not. Tanks had to be supported by infantry and infantry had to be supported by tanks. One with out the other was asking for more trouble than feeling up the parson's daughter.

On their right stood a pair of new Polish divisions forming a corps with the 1st Polish Grenadiers across the Somme in Abbeville. They had time to dig in and their defenses were formidable. Most of the residents of the city had been evacuated with a single piece of baggage allowed. The lucky ones had been able to make it to Paris and points south. Others had to flee west as fast as their tired feet could take them. This would be the zone rouge for the final defense of France. Behind the Poles and the 2nd BEF was a steady stream of supply trains. Five divisions had started to return from England and the evacuation. Three hundred and fifty tanks had been landed and another two hundred were being moved to the ports. 1 DLM and 1 DCR joined with the rebuilding 4 DCR to form an armored corps in the rear even as they covered Paris. The other divisions were leg infantry. One had been broken up to supply veterans to Series B divisions while the rest kept on digging in and attacking the narrow bridgeheads the Germans had been able to seize over the Somme. More men were coming, some from England, some from the South, some from the Army of the Alps, and some from across the sea.

France still would fight.

 

[Paulo the Limey]

France still would fight

YES! Well, for a while longer at least.

You have a lovely turn of phrase that helps leaven the sombre tone of the main narrative.

 

[r1ncewind]

wait, are they sending troops Back to france? I thought they were evacuating?

 

[fester]

wait, are they sending troops Back to france? I thought they were evacuating?

Right now the pathways are the following:

Formed French units go from the Channel Ports to SE England. Get a good meal and a good sleep. Get on the train and head to SW English ports and head back to France as units.
Remnents and individuals are evacuated, reorgnized/connected with their units. As soon as possible they are sent back to France as either the cadre of new units, amalgmated units to get new equipment from the depots or individual replacements

Heavy French equipment is getting pulled out of Northern France and being sent to NW France to resupply and re-equip the units that had gotten battered in the first part of the campaign.

British units that are coming back with their heavy equipment is getting re-organized and getting ready to reinforce the 2nd BEF (Think an evacuated Division might be able to reform as a reinforced Brigade etc)

British individuals and un-equipped units are being held back to re-equip.

Belgian units --- don't know what to do with them yet.

 

[r1ncewind]

okay, so they still think the they have a chance then? Hope the UK dont end up loosing even more men and material in france then OTL..

 

[fester]

okay, so they still think they have a chance then? Hope they dont end up loosing even more men in france then OTL..

This is just a tweak on OTL. TTL 2nd BEF is weaker as 51 highland division caught in Dunkirk

 

[fester]

June 5, 1940 1845 Dunkirk

Artillery roared. Shells fired blindly splashed into the harbor. The German field artillery was fairly light although a few medium batteries of 150mm guns had joined the symphony of destruction, reaching death behind the thinly held lines of French fusiliers. Allied artillery and more often naval gunfire roared back. A single French cruiser had emptied the magazines of her main battery against an overly aggressive Panzer battalion just before sunset.

TSS Scotia nosed in against the mole. She had made five runs so far.. Seven hundred and fifty French soldiers broke cover near the waterfront and they ran to the ship’s gangways. Military policemen and officers with whistles directed the men up the planks. Twenty one minutes later, all of the men were aboard. This tranche was different than the last five tranches as heavy weapons were brought aboard. Half a dozen anti-tank guns with four dozen crates of ammunition were manhandled aboard. A trio of antiaircraft guns followed along with two dozen machine guns with ammunition. The perimeter was pulling back and great supply dumps would be overrun before they could be drawn upon. The evacuation ships had already taken off 390,000 men, and now there was more space for some critical equipment.


June 6, 1940 0800 Near Liege Belgium

The siege guns stopped burping their one ton expulsions. The machine guns did not hunt for men who peeked over a sandbag. The reserve Luftwaffe units did not strafe or bomb any cluster of men who dared to move. A bugle blew a sad plaintiff note. And then it blew another note. Whistles sounded as the Belgian defenders rose from their trenches, their hardpoints, their hedgehogs and brick built barriers that had stopped the attackers for almost an month, more time than they were ever expected to hold. The men had their rifles on their shoulder as they walked to central depots. Within minutes, their rifles were neatly stacked like summer wheat and the men congregated in the by the neighborhood squares. Two hours later, they marched out and surrendered the city to the invaders who had offered good terms. The men would be processed in local camps and then shipped east to work German fields.

Outside of town, Eban Emael and Battice lowered their flags and opened their gates. Eban Emael had three working artillery pieces left and two days worth of shells for those guns. Battice was slightly richer in her supplies. Around both were the bloody remnants of a dozen assaults and hundreds of trucks and an untold number of men who paid the blood price for transit. They had squeezed the German advance through Central Belgium like they were designed to do. They did their job but their Allies failed.

To the north, Antwerp held out.

To the west, the evacuation at Ostend and Dunkirk had removed over 100,000 men to England. The King had stayed with the field army and he looked at the quartermaster report and knew he had to do his duty. Ostend would surrender at 1600 and all Belgian formations except for those in Antwerp were ordered to lay down their arms at that time as well.

 

[fester]

June 7, 1940 east of Bodo

Everything was too quiet. The Guards Brigade had patrolled aggressively into no-mans land for the past three days. Two prisoners were taken last night. They said almost nothing beyond the minimal required in the Geneva Convention besides asking for a real cigarette. German patrols had been light as well. A sharp fire fight at a listening post had erupted into a company size brawl that bled into morning but the constant raids, probes, feints and the occassional deliberate attacks had ceased three days ago.

Everything was too quiet.

 

[fester]

June 8, 1940 Baltimore Maryland

The aircraft carrier Bearn was guided past Fort McHenry by four harbor tugs. She had arrived two days ago to collect another batch of aircraft for the front. Twenty four Hawks and twelve Vindicators were in her hanger deck. Seven Martin bombers and another eleven fighters were on her flight deck. These aircraft would not be ready for the Army de Aire for another two months but they were needed to keep the pipeline full and replace the losses suffered so far.

In the outer approaches, eleven British merchant men assembled. They would be met once they cleared the outer cape by an armed merchant cruiser and the old light cruiser Emerald. From there, they were bound for Marseilles to deposit the equipment the Polish Army in Exile ordered for their new armored division. This was just the first tranche, enough to fill its table of organization and equipment to the brim and then some, but not enough to keep a division at full strength after marching and combat. The cadre for the division had relocated to the South of France as it waited for its equipment to join the battle that had yet to be fought in the north.