Recent content by Nick P

If Hawaii were British then it would still be a prime target for Japan to attack in 1941. Taking out the Royal Navy could prevent evacuation or reinforcement of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Dutch East Indies. It also clears the path for IJN operations across the Pacific too. There would...

Why not use the islands as a remote training area for the Foreign Legion with associated live fire ranges? Ideal for practising those long distance survival hikes over rough terrain with a bit of actual shooting without running into too many locals. Then in 1982 there can be a troop on exercise...

The best course of action is to have a small but strong Allied Force in Portugal threatening the German army in Spain. That means less German soldiers to defend Italy, Normandy or the south of France once those invasions take place. Could even have an earlier version of Patton's First United...

You don't need a subscription for this one: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/lightning-vs-spitfire-why-the-iconic-mach-2-interceptor-struggled-to-win-mock-dogfights-against-the-legendary-wwii-plane-during-the-trial-flights-conducted-by-the-raf-between-the-two-types/

Take away Britain's ability to rebuild post-WW2 and you set the pace for disaster. Increased repayments on wartime loans - decide to repay it all within 20 years Because We Can. But we really can't. Increased military spending that includes the atom bomb "We’ve got to have this thing over...

Unable to find any details on that but Brazil did burn bricks of dried coffee in their railway locomotives c1932. Around this time the Brazilian govt was combating a drop in global coffee prices by buying up stocks of unsold coffee beans and destroying them. The intended effect was to stimulate...

A good start would be to use clean containers when parachuting fresh drinking water to the besieged troops instead of used petrol cans.

Brazil gained independence from Portugal in 1822, and their main language is Portuguese. If Spain attacks Portugal would Brazil send their Expeditionary Force to Lisbon? Would this force be raised faster than OTL due to the historical situation? Would they be trained better (couldn't have been...

I would say that selling off all the land piecemeal was a poor idea. Keeping route formations intact and actually looking ahead to the possibility of population growth would serve a lot of places today quite well. Passing them on to councils for bridleways and cycle routes would be nice - at the...

LEGO goes bankrupt. The brand name would be a highly prized asset for any replacement, as would the designs and moulds. The skills and knowledge of the designers would also be in demand. Honestly I think they would have been bought up lock, stock and barrel by an asset manager firm. Blackrock...

It's all very well increasing the numbers of Spitfires produced but you'll only end up with airfields full of airframes. You need to work out how to get more pilots for the RAF by 1940 and have them ready for combat. When Castle Bromwich was getting started there was some talk by the older...

The most likely alternative user for the B-58 was the Soviet Union. As an aircraft that was complicated, expensive to operate and had a high number of crashes it could have done significant harm to their offensive capability... ;)

If you replace American Football with Soccer (aka Real Football ;) ) then you still have an exciting sport to follow, and one in which the US gets to compete on a worldwide basis. The possibility of earning higher wages for playing your favourite sport then leads to an imbalance in which it's...

Looking briefly at the possibility of land actions along the Kent and Sussex coastline... Royal Marines at Chatham Royal Engineers at Chatham Royal Navy barracks at Chatham Royal Marines at Deal Dover Barracks Dover Castle Dover Redoubt Folkestone Napier Barracks Royal Military Canal at Hythe...

But those generals might see their own actions in replacing the President or Govt as 'defending the country against all enemies, foreign and domestic'. Treason doth never prosper; what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason. John Harington