If the Italians have lost two good sized chunks of their North African Army and are in a definite bind, and Il Duce is committed to Greece, does he really press hard for the Germans to help in Africa? Or Greece? or Yes....
Yes he will, but it might already be too late as far as Africa is concerned...
Can the US (Rock Island Arsenal?) produce enough M-2, M-3 Light Tanks in time to be useful additions for both the French and British North African forces?
The fighting in North Africa will be almost farcically primitive by later war standards - FT17s for the French, A10s for the British, M11s for the Italians.
I would expect that the French, with their long experience with
motorized Saharan desert travel, would have some analog to the LRDG
I do think there are (at this point in the TL) a gang a cheerful French LRDG-equivalents zooming around west of Tripoli in trucks and Panhards, gathering intel, smashing things and enjoying themselves hugely.
I could recognize most US made aircraft here but I was a bit mystified by the "H.75"; I did guess it might be what it turned out to be--the P-36 Hawk, known to Commonwealth operators as "Mohawk."
Yes - sometimes known as the 'Hawk 75', apparently sometimes called the 'Type 75' in French service.
This led me to wonder how fast France Fighting On might get P-40 "Warhawks" and what they would call them. OTL this model was already on order when the Battle of France erupted, and so there should be at least 100 "H.81" on the way to French forces in North Africa.
As fast as Curtiss can ship them. The H.81 will equip many French units including a certain famous
Group de Chasse.
Algeria can upgrade its domestic industry, which was probably skimpy compared to metropolitan France but I guess pretty good by colonial standards, with priority Allied infusions of equipment and bootstrapping general industry under that war priority.
Algeria's main value will be as a base, a recruiting area, and a source of raw materials; but upgrading its industry & infrastructure will be a priority, and ITTL US help will start to flow in 1941. OTL the decrepitude of the North African railways was a constraint on the Allies after TORCH; but here the Americans will start fixing that pretty much as soon as Lend-Lease passes.
I have every confidence of course the Allies win on all fronts, probably with the USSR being an Ally, almost certainly with heavy US involvement though not 100 percent certain
I am 100% certain. The US could not stay out in the long run, or even the medium.
I rate Barbarossa as practically certain to happen
That's the Real War as far as Berlin is concerned. 1941 is by far the
best time to try it (though, of course, still not a
good time).
Japan attacking any western allies makes US entry into war at the very least against Japan almost certain anyway
If anything, France fighting on means a
more certain collision of Western and Japanese interests.
Some might suppose the Allies (perhaps better called "Entente" at this point?)
I'm calling them either Allies or occasionally the 'Union'. The Franco-British Union proposal has been accepted - in practice what it means is a closer alliance and a redoubled commitment. All other considerations have been put on hold for the duration of the war.
I judge that even handing the Red Army some extra idiot balls plus multiplying the Axis assault a bit more, with Rommel et al, can only result in the Germans pushing a bit farther
Yes, and we'll see what Rommel gets up to.
We might see Greece be a theater that quite offsets any savings to the Axis forces coming from preempting losses in North Africa, and of course Italy is vulnerable to invasion that much earlier too
Yes and yes.
Any chance that with France Fighting On, a decision was made to hold in Narvik, retaining a bit of Free Norway for the crown prince to lead Norwegian regular forces in, and to limit later German ability to impede White Sea convoys to the Soviets? I suppose not, the priority to consolidate what force France had would probably lead to writing it off much as OTL or even more abruptly if possible, which is a shame
Probably correct, I've assumed this.
In practice it looks like Jerry is pretty much doing as OTL
Yes, they are thinking about the Real War. The Med is an even less attractive theatre to them than OTL. As far as Berlin is concerned, Italy gets all the benefits of successes there - the Med offers Germany nothing except suntans. The Axis powers after all believe in s
acro egoismo.
French Africa might more conceivably become a sustainable thing postwar
Quite possibly: the butterflies will be major. No TORCH, no Tunisia campaign, no Vichy laws, no Setif incident...
nor do I think France can be liberated a lot earlier than OTL
I agree, although the logistics will be much easier for the Allies, France can't be liberated until the full development of Allied combat power, which is a long way off.
the one thing the Japanese cannot try to do with their bayonets is sit on them
No soft landings indeed.
If Tunis is available as a base for Entente air operations, then Malta should be much easier to restock with RAF planes, correct? That may obviate the need for much of the "club runs" by the RN
Yes, much easier. A minor tragedy butterflied will be Malta's ordeal. Also, lower attrition of the RAF and RN , especially in 1941, will have butterflies.
If Tunis, or Sfax are available as a base for Entente air ops, then doesn't that also mean that the re-stocking supply line for warplanes to Egypt is shortened considerably?
Not sure, the way things are going, that there will be much need to send warplanes to Egypt.
Italian convoys to Tripoli or Sirte have to be higher risk
Yes. Because Mussolini has been naughty, he'll be getting a lump of coal soon.