- Status
David Flin
Gone Fishin'
Yes, but does Britain really need to send an army of 10,000 generals as military attaches to Costa Rica?
Driftless
Donor
You would think most of the leadership got there on the basis of some merit (emphasis on some). In peace time, those merits may be more administrative, social connections (depending on who's army), and "Peter Principle". You can usually find a useful role for administrative types, and you can often find an important sounding sidetrack for the skill challenged but socially connected (military attache to Andorra); but those elevated above the limits of their skill set are the most difficult, as they were put there by superiors. Failure of the over-promoted also implies less than perfect judgement by the people who put them there....
Story 0503
March 4, 1941 0121 near Wilhelmshaven
The bomber shook. The bomber wiggled. Search lights probed the sky and the pilot dodged where he thought they would be next. Any bomber caught in the light would be hammered by the anti-aircraft guns protecting this critical naval anchorage and be attacked by the night fighters the Luftwaffe had deployed.
A mile in front of the bomber, a sudden burst of flames destroyed the pilot’s night vision. A Whitley was hit by an anti-aircraft shell that detonated and perforat a vapor filled fuel tank. If he had looked at the expanding fireball, he would not see any parachutes. A single man, the co-pilot lived through the initial explosion but stayed with the aircraft as it tipped over and smashed into the Jade.
The pilot blinked and jinked while the bombardier focused. He had his mark in sight and the bomber steadied for the final run. And then the bombs exited the bomb bay and the plane lept as her burden had eased and the propellers bit into the air with refreshed vigor as the pilot banked his baby to the north and away from the city that was starting to burn.
A few hours later, the plane was pushed into its revetment at its home field in East Anglia. London was burning and served as a navigation beacon. The Luftwaffe had raided the docks again and it appeared that they had some success. By daybreak, the bomber was in the skilled hands of the mechanics and the crew had completed their debriefing. The squadron’s central hall was full, every man who left the previous evening was on the base. Four men from A is for Apple were in the infirmary and H is for Hotel would be down for a week but everyone was alive at this station. The older men, veterans at age 23 and 24 knew that this incongruity of faith would not last while the younger men who had only raided Germany a few times celebrated their invincibility.
The bomber shook. The bomber wiggled. Search lights probed the sky and the pilot dodged where he thought they would be next. Any bomber caught in the light would be hammered by the anti-aircraft guns protecting this critical naval anchorage and be attacked by the night fighters the Luftwaffe had deployed.
A mile in front of the bomber, a sudden burst of flames destroyed the pilot’s night vision. A Whitley was hit by an anti-aircraft shell that detonated and perforat a vapor filled fuel tank. If he had looked at the expanding fireball, he would not see any parachutes. A single man, the co-pilot lived through the initial explosion but stayed with the aircraft as it tipped over and smashed into the Jade.
The pilot blinked and jinked while the bombardier focused. He had his mark in sight and the bomber steadied for the final run. And then the bombs exited the bomb bay and the plane lept as her burden had eased and the propellers bit into the air with refreshed vigor as the pilot banked his baby to the north and away from the city that was starting to burn.
A few hours later, the plane was pushed into its revetment at its home field in East Anglia. London was burning and served as a navigation beacon. The Luftwaffe had raided the docks again and it appeared that they had some success. By daybreak, the bomber was in the skilled hands of the mechanics and the crew had completed their debriefing. The squadron’s central hall was full, every man who left the previous evening was on the base. Four men from A is for Apple were in the infirmary and H is for Hotel would be down for a week but everyone was alive at this station. The older men, veterans at age 23 and 24 knew that this incongruity of faith would not last while the younger men who had only raided Germany a few times celebrated their invincibility.
There is also the option to shape your officier selection process because ultimately those dullards didn't spawn spontanously in your corps.
Frederick Browning. I hope for the sake of many people that TTL contrives a way of confining him to a position (possibly several feet underground) where he can do less harm.
Barring a major war, the real combat leaders usually wind up as terminal Colonels if they are lucky. They worried more about their men than they did their careers. Lewis Puller only made general in his fourth or fifth war.
Though a bit late, here are a couple of weapons that might have bubbled to the surface during the clean-out of ships at Pearl Harbor. The 3 lbr 47 mm Hotchkiss landing gun ( accepts standard 47 mm ammo). I believe this was also the saluting gun of the USN also just for fun. the 3lbr Hotchkiss 5 barrel revolving cannon.. also taking 47 mm ammunition. I have images, but they are currently too large to upload here.
The Hotchkiss pictured here?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/MHE8.jpg
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon/Ordnance Memo 27 - Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon.pdf
"Friendly" bit of kit. Sure of a warm welcome! The 3.4lb case shot holds 30 x 1.1oz bullets. Gun, 300 round limber and mount total 2,000lb weight for the fully equiped landing version. Elevation +12/-5 degrees. Ammo boxes hold 24 rounds and weigh 105lb.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/MHE8.jpg
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon/Ordnance Memo 27 - Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon.pdf
"Friendly" bit of kit. Sure of a warm welcome! The 3.4lb case shot holds 30 x 1.1oz bullets. Gun, 300 round limber and mount total 2,000lb weight for the fully equiped landing version. Elevation +12/-5 degrees. Ammo boxes hold 24 rounds and weigh 105lb.
Last edited:
Funny how time changes things...when I was a kid, this picture would nave elicited a response like, "junk", nowadays, it's more like, "misunderstood" or "unrealized potential"...sigh...
Put on a pedestal mount in a beach defense emplacement or as part of airfield defenses this would work just fine. If and when something better comes along, OK - but until then and especially someplace like Wake or Midway where the avenues of attack are limited these could be devastating.
I remember what my friends in the Army would say "Any weapon is better than no weapon." I agree that even old weapons would help in the early months of the war. The key is having more firepower against the invading army.
I am enjoying this timeline.
I am enjoying this timeline.
From what I've been able to determine through a couple of internet searches, the 3 pounder was still in limited service during WW2...knowing what I know about the Navy's ratholing, there is bound to be a bunch of ammo hanging around for these guns...
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_3pounder_m1.php
added a link...it really makes me scratch my head that using this caliber gun on a M-3/5 series tank wasn't contemplated...
but back to the subject at hand...Wake with a few of these could get very interesting...
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_3pounder_m1.php
added a link...it really makes me scratch my head that using this caliber gun on a M-3/5 series tank wasn't contemplated...
but back to the subject at hand...Wake with a few of these could get very interesting...
Last edited:
I frequent a number of boards online. On one, (a board dealing with Bataan and Corregidor) could be found accounts of M1916 37mm infantry guns, VB (Vivien Bessier rifle grenades), Mills Grenades, Stokes Mortars, etc etc being used against the Japanese. IOW, old weapons often abound in areas you wouldn't think of. Any weapon the military has used, particularly in numbers, means it is possible to find squirreled away at some time or another. USS Rochester was a decommed armored cruiser rusting away in Subic Bay, chock full of guns of various calibers from around the time of the SPANAM WAR. You've also got old Spanish gunboats being used well into the thirties in the PI, together with whatever stuff is left from them. Many of the older types of guns were simple enough that if you have empty cartridge cases its within the capabilities of local Ordnance folks to reload those for the old guns.
The 3lbr was I belueve using identical ammunition to the French 47mm guns.
Mounting the 3lbr/47 mm in the M-5, M-3, series tanks would have been interesting.. I think turret fit in the M-3s would have been a problem, but not the M-5. Wake with the revolving Hotchkiss guns would have been very interesting.. serious anti boat and an HE capacity..
- Status