Of course they can be and were regularly, by both sides IOTL.Just a though, can laid mines be made safe, and moved elsewhere?
Of course they can be and were regularly, by both sides IOTL.Just a though, can laid mines be made safe, and moved elsewhere?
So really what the Italians have done is delay the British by providing them with valuable military hardware?Of course they can be and were regularly, by both sides IOTL.
Only if the British are on the defensive again laterSo really what the Italians have done is delay the British by providing them with valuable military hardware?
I was thinking they might be of some use in the Pacific.Only if the British are on the defensive again later
Might be a bit of a distance to transport them, to use them in the Pacific. The Italians were not great munitions designers. Their mines were not known to be particularly powerful, unlike the Germans with their Teller mines...I was thinking they might be of some use in the Pacific.
Fair.While enemy mines can be repurposed it's always preferable to use your own production which a.) your troops know how to use, b.) haven't been disturbed and possibly damaged in the act of being removed c.) have gone through your QC process. Anyway the real constraint on availability of anything in the Far East is shipping capacity not production capacity for which the British have enough munition production capacity at home, in the colonies and in the US to provide all they can ship.
Yeah, that's a good idea.The most likely use for these mines is either disposal or possibly be storage and then passed on to various partisan groups, probably in the Balkans, via the SOE.
Hey, free stuff is free stuff.Might be a bit of a distance to transport them, to use them in the Pacific. The Italians were not great munitions designers. Their mines were not known to be particularly powerful, unlike the Germans with their Teller mines...
The concern with arming local militia is what they could do with their weapons once the Japanese have been sent packing.To be fair the Italian weapons will still be useful against the Japanese to at least equip local volunteer formation.
Which make a Non-Empire calibre-round an attractive choiceThe concern with arming local militia is what they could do with their weapons once the Japanese have been sent packing.
To be entirely fair, a fair chunk of the problems armed locals created OTL was partially down to being totally disillusioned with the power of their colonial overlords. If the empire could not hold off an invader, why not try to rebel? More successful British units fighting alongside some form of Malay volunteer force would be more likely to strengthen the bond between colonial overlord and colony, such that a more or less amicable and legal withdrawal is the expected endpoint.The concern with arming local militia is what they could do with their weapons once the Japanese have been sent packing.
Nit pick but offered as an assist. Troops are usually numbered and Squadrons lettered, so in current terms 1 to 4 troop make up A Sqn and so on. At present 1 RTR uses Ajax and Badger for A and B Sqns rather than Alpha and Bravo just to be different. I can't guarantee WW2 usage but what I have described is current in RAC, RAAC and RNZAC usage. Great story regardless. Vehicle names are usually organized on a Sqn basis all of A Sqn starting with an A as you have it.4 November 1941. Libya. Operation Crusader, Day 3.
Lieutenant Peter Smith watched the sun rise with the same feeling of awe as the first time he’d watched it in the desert. The ethereal beauty of the cold clarity of the starlight as it was warmed and suffused by the palest peach, the delicate rose, the richer gold of the rising sun never failed to move him. Smith’s father was a Vicar in a country church in Suffolk, and as many times as he’d tried in letters to describe the experience to his father, he could never yet fully express the experience.
Smith’s contemplation was interrupted by Private Wilson passing him a cup of tea. Wilson was the loader in Adsum, which along with Aggressive, and Arethusa made up the three Valiant I tanks in Ajax Troop, A Squadron, 1st Bn RTR. The troop had been involved in pretty much every fight so far in the war in North Africa. 7th Armoured Brigade had come a long way, and as another day dawned, it was time to add some more miles.
Corporal John Twist, Adsum’s gunner, had finished his tea, and was rolling up the blankets that had kept them warm during the night, before removing the camouflage netting over the tank with Wilson’s help. Private Bill Jones, Adsum’s driver, finished off checking the fuel and oil levels. Lieutenant Smith drank down the hot, sweet liquid, and headed off to meet Major John Wilkins, the Squadron CO and the other troop leaders. Although fully briefed on the day’s activities the night before, there was always an update in the morning to cover anything that had changed. Wilkins ran through the main headlines and confirmed that there were no changes to the plan.
When Smith returned to his Troop, he went over everything with the two Sergeants commanding Aggressive and Arethusa. After shaking hands, the three men returned to their tanks and prepared to start engines and move off. Somewhere out ahead, the 4th Armoured Brigade and 6th Infantry Division would be engaging the enemy. 7th Armoured Brigade and 50th Infantry Division were following close on their heels.
The big diesel engine that powered Adsum fired up, drowning out almost every other sound. The sun was above the horizon now, its wintery light casting long shadows. Smith gave Jones the brief order to move off. The two other tanks in the troop followed on, as Smith stood in the commander’s hatch. As far as he could see the desert seemed to seethe with movement. Tanks, tractors pulling guns and lorries, lots and lots of lorries, moved like a wave towards the enemy. Wilson started to whistle, and soon the rest of the crew were singing ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’. They’d tried to fit the name of Tripoli in place of Tipperary, but it never quite worked. As Smith scanned the sky and land around him, all the men in all the vehicles knew exactly what their objective was.
Worth waiting for so no worries.Sorry for the delay again, but was a bit stuck. Hopefully unjammed now.
Allan.