As promised, here's a sorta spin-off to the main thread of 'Protect and Survive' action (which will continue concurrently) - a lot of you wanted to find out about the States , so I decided I'd try and make it a little more engaging than a list of numbers.
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Operation Prospero [1]
Gentle breath of yours my sails/ Must fill or else my project fails.
It had been almost a month since contact was lost completely with the United States of America. CHANTICLEER waited patiently, hoping that eventually a radio signal would arc its way across the oceans and enlighten the remaining European members of NATO.
No such message came.
After much deliberation, it was decided that contact must be made with the Americans. With communications seemingly ineffectual, it became clear that any contact with our erstwhile allies would have to be face - to - face. This presented a tremendous logistical problem. Whereas not long ago, one could hop across the Atlantic faster than sound itself, the same vast expanse of ocean now seemed as impassible to us as it did to Boudicca.
The more obvious choice seemed to be to use our navy to make contact - the further this plan was developed, though, the more impractical it seemed. Our submarines had actually surveyed certain areas of the Eastern seaboard - one submarine came within a few hundred yards of Long Island Sound. It became clear, however, that most settlements along the densely populated coastline had been utterly destroyed - even on unpopulated stretches of coastline, the levels of fallout were presumed to be 'black' - this meant that a) it was perishingly unlikely that we would find any survivors in these areas, and b) the risk to our own servicemen was simply too great. The fact was that there was very little effective NBC kit aboard any vessels near the US. Whitelaw had decided that there simply wasn't time to recall and equip these vessels - this limited their usefulness to merely scoping out the beaches.
A plan to launch aircraft from our carrier Hermes was also mooted but summarily discarded - reports of ships disappearing on the high seas suggested that the enemy still had submarines roaming the area - without the fuel or manpower available to send a full task force around the carrier, it would have been foolish to risk it.
This left us with our bomber force. Naturally, these aircraft and their crews had suffered huge losses during the exchange. Some returned though. After days of intense planning, the 'American Plan', as it was then termed, began to solidify. We would send one of our Victors, filled with as many specialists as the RAF deemed possible, and land it in the United States. In order to do this, however, the aeroplane would have to refuel midway. Reports from the Clemenceau suggested that the Azores were unviable, and so it became clear that it would have to be Iceland. We presumed (correctly) that the largest airfields in Reykjavik and Keflavik would have been unusable. Dusting off a tourist map of the country that a secretary had fortuitously taken with her, we determined that the civilian aerodrome at Akureyi was the most viable option to land and refuel such a large craft. If there were any Icelandics around, it was assumed that they would accommodate us. If not, the pilots were under orders to inform them that Her Majesty's Government was still nuclear-armed.
After this, the 'plane was to make its way to Griffiss AFB in the state of New York - this pushed the limits of the Victor's range. Here, searches were to be made for any survivors, whether government or civilian - it was vital that we knew what was going on over there. Whitelaw especially made clear to us the importance of success - as well as the boost to morale that any survivors brought these days, the boost to Britain's prestige that could be gained from 'rescuing' the Americans would be enormous. Nevertheless, some maintain that the Prime Minister was pessimistic about the mission's chances - indeed, the name he chose to give the operation will certainly mean something to any scholars out there. I talked to...
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It wasn't easy to sleep in the back of a Bedford lorry at the best of times. Straight backed wooden pews backed up against sopping canvas. Still, the Pilot tried.
It wasn't easy to sleep in the back of a Bedford lorry when it was packed - a Commando, a Scientist, a Doctor, as well as the whole flight crew. Still, the Pilot tried.
It wasn't easy to sleep in the back of a Bedford lorry travelling at speed over broken roads - barely a minute went by without the driver lurching around some unseen obstacle or throwing the truck through a pothole. Still, the Pilot tried.
It wasn't easy trying to sleep in the back of a Bedford lorry when one was worried - from what he had been told, this mission would be the riskiest he had yet undertaken. Still, the Pilot tried.
It wasn't easy to close one's eyes after that sortie. Men women children women children children children in Leningrad. The Pilot fights to stay awake.