Sir John Valentine Carden survives.

[kelgar04]

That's a point - where is the wretched man in this timeline

In charge of the Falkland islands penguin corp?

 

[MattII]

Hm, I wonder if Gariboldi's plan to concentrate at Buerat is as strong as he thinks. The British were pretty good at finding flanks (as they did here)...

 

[RyderWest]

So the Germans nearly lost 280 tanks?

Thats going to hurt....

 

[JamesHunter]

So the Germans nearly lost 280 tanks?

Thats going to hurt....

I think old Rommel is going to face a Hitler rant for this.

 

[Cymraeg]

Hm, I wonder if Gariboldi's plan to concentrate at Buerat is as strong as he thinks. The British were pretty good at finding flanks (as they did here)...

Rommel tried to make a stand at Buerat, only to turn and run again when Montgomery outflanked him. The only place where there's no open flank to the South is El Alamein.
Gariboldi's in charge now it seems, with a largely Italian army with a small amount of German manpower. If only half their remaining tanks are PzIIIs and PzIVs, that means that the rest are PzIs and PzIIs, which will get slaughtered by the British.

 

[MattII]

Rommel tried to make a stand at Buerat, only to turn and run again when Montgomery outflanked him. The only place where there's no open flank to the South is El Alamein.

That and Halfaya Pass.

Gariboldi's in charge now it seems, with a largely Italian army with a small amount of German manpower. If only half their remaining tanks are PzIIIs and PzIVs, that means that the rest are PzIs and PzIIs, which will get slaughtered by the British.

I wonder how much artillery the Axis forces have left. I can't imagine it's that much...

 

[Cymraeg]

So the Germans nearly lost 280 tanks?

Thats going to hurt....

Leaving them behind was the killer. A lot of tanks were abandoned but could be repaired in North Africa. That was why it was vital to keep control of the battlefield afterwards - to send the tank recovery crews in. Even if a tank couldn't be repaired it could still be used for parts.

 

[MattII]

Leaving them behind was the killer. A lot of tanks were abandoned but could be repaired in North Africa. That was why it was vital to keep control of the battlefield afterwards - to send the tank recovery crews in. Even if a tank couldn't be repaired it could still be used for parts.

Speaking of, I wonder if those tanks could be shipped east to Malaya...

 

[allanpcameron]

Well, Rommel's reputation is already in the toilet as the Italians are asking for a replacement who's more grounded in reality. If Paulus is sent though, who will command 6th Army in Case Blue after Von Reichenau drops dead?
It's looking as if North Africa will be done and dusted in 1941 instead of 1943. The French will be muttering a bit in French North Africa and I can imagine that O'Connor's star is rising nicely. That means stability in command, lots of lessons being learnt, no %^&ing Jock Columns and anything that Dorman-Smith says being ignored.
That's a point - where is the wretched man in this timeline?

Not entirely sure, the Generals website says this:

1939-XX-XX	–	1940-XX-XX	Commandant of Staff College Haifa [Palestine]
1940-09-19	–		Special employment
1942-XX-XX			Deputy Chief of Staff, Middle East Command

What that 'Special Employment' is in his case, according to Wiki was that Wavell used him to do various reports.
According to Wiki:

In April 1941, he was temporarily appointed Brigadier General Staff (BGS) and watched from a distance while Erwin Rommel won back all the territory that O'Connor had gained and the Allied forces were pushed out of the Balkans and Greece. He conveyed several messages to Major-General Bernard Freyberg who was preparing the defence of Crete. His temporary appointment ended at the end of May and he again returned to the Staff College, Haifa.[58 Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions:]

So I reckon he's probably on the BGS, but since it doesn't have much to do with tanks, I'll leave him there.
Allan

 

[allanpcameron]

How extensively will you be covering Barbarossa, allan?

Going to be avoiding it like the plague.
Other than Lend Lease tanks that is.
Allan

 

[RyderWest]

Barbarossa will be a big cluster anyhow, but it would be interesting how the 'earlier' improved German tanks do against the Soviets.

 

[Peg Leg Pom]

Going to be avoiding it like the plague.
Other than Lend Lease tanks that is.
Allan

Very wise.

 

[MattII]

Barbarossa will be a big cluster anyhow, but it would be interesting how the 'earlier' improved German tanks do against the Soviets.

Balanced out by the fact that Britain will likely be shipping them Valiants instead of the dross they did OTL. Heck, the Valiant might be good enough that the Soviets actually pay attention to the design and learn from it.

 

[kelgar04]

Other than Lend Lease tanks that is.

Shame we can't charge the USSR for them, make war pay for itself.

 

[Orry]

Shame we can't charge the USSR for them, make war pay for itself.

Like the Soviets charged the Republican government in the Spanish civil war.......

OK Stalin we will look after your Gold stockpile for you....

 

[vl100butch]

Going to be avoiding it like the plague.
Other than Lend Lease tanks that is.
Allan

Marshal Loza had a lot of good things to say about the Sherman and his comments on how they used Grants were interesting as well.

 

[MattII]

I wonder what effects this will have on the later war. After all, Britain hasn't suffered a string of embarrassing losses, but rather, have shown themselves to be at least reasonably competent, but occasionally let down by circumstances beyond their control.

 

[Cymraeg]

Barbarossa will be a big cluster anyhow, but it would be interesting how the 'earlier' improved German tanks do against the Soviets.

I wonder where Rommel's next posting will be. ITTL he won't be the Desert Fox, but rather first the Desert Whiner and then possibly a partisan-hunting war criminal on the Eastern Front.

 

[Peg Leg Pom]

I wonder where Rommel's next posting will be. ITTL he won't be the Desert Fox, but rather first the Desert Whiner and then possibly a partisan-hunting war criminal on the Eastern Front.

VD control officer in Hamburg?

 

[RyderWest]

Balanced out by the fact that Britain will likely be shipping them Valiants instead of the dross they did OTL. Heck, the Valiant might be good enough that the Soviets actually pay attention to the design and learn from it.

The Valiants would at least be better than the T-26's and the BT-7's, that's for sure. Not sure about the specific details, but those latter two tanks were... not good.