Ok, so for a long time I have been bugged by how badly unprepared for combat the USA was in 1941, and the horrible showing of our forces in the initial phases of the war.
WWII started in Europe in sep 1939, so the USA actually had over two years to get sorted out before the shooting (at us) started, an did an absolutely abysmal job of it. I want to explore how to change this, and get the USA into fighting trim ASAP.
Here is an outline of what I want to put forward….
- Previously, I’ll want to have some changes take place, in the form of several short stories, centering around Howard Hughes, but even though these stories have yet to be written, I want to skip over this part to concentrate on what is bugging me right now, and that is the lack of understanding on just how badly unprepared the US armed forces were come Dec 7th, 1941.
- Recently, there was a thread that brought to light just how many misconceptions there were concerning several of the battles the USA fought (and lost --- badly) in the first 6 months of WWII. For instance, some folks knew next to nothing about the disaster in the Philippines’ islands, believing even that dugout Doug really wasn’t to blame. Others know about the disaster in the Hawaiian Islands (Pearl Harbor/Oahu), but just write that off to being a ‘surprise’ attack upon military bases that were seen as so far removed from danger as to be unapproachable.
- It isn’t my intention to cover these battles in this thread, but rather explore what might have been, had things gone along some saner lines, where US military forces are ‘properly’ prepared for combat before the shooting (at us) starts on Dec 7th, 1941. My specific POD for this thread will take place within the month of September, in the year 1939, but it should be understood that several other stories will predate this POD, and so some counterfactual events will have already taken place.
- All of these “The adventures of Howard Hughes” stories will focus on private enterprise and the civilian sectors doing various and sundry things that will end up leaving the USA in a more advantageous position by 1936, with regards to taking some counterfactual non-military capabilities, and then applying them (intelligently for once) right at the last minute, which is to say, September, 1939. This means that there will be no fleet of Essex class aircraft carriers in service in 1936, no huge military buildup years earlier than OTL, but better capabilities and thoughtful preparations are the point of the exercise.
- This thread is just the first crude effort in this endeavor, and will likely have to be scrapped and rewritten (likely more than once) in order to eventually be written in something like a professional manner. As such, I ask that folks think about the content, both as a badly written work, desperately in need of constructive criticism, but also as a piece about the ideas presented, and how to hone them or even flesh them out, to become better reading and thought provoking alternative history fun.
Now some of my questions:
I’m going to want to copy write and publish for profit these stories at a later date, so where can I post them without messing up the right to do so?
I’m going to have questions about how to write, as well as questions about how to tell the story, in addition to some of the ideas presented within the stories, so how should I think about the differences between a discussion thread, and an alternative history timeline?
As an inexperienced, first time writer, are polls a good way to directly ask questions and elicit answers from the readers?
In this thread, I’m going to put forth an ambitious schedule for the USA to start getting it’s poo together, quick, fast, and in a hurry, and as such, I’ll willingly sacrifice some believably to achieve this, but I don’t want to go too far overboard and throw out all believably, so help me out some if that seems to be the case. I’m specifically looking for folks that can post links to OTL, as a counter balance to my ideas. My goal is to focus upon the time frame of Sep 7th, 1939, and continuing till Dec 7th, 1941.
This thread is about testing out a timeline of posited acts of Congress, where the US government takes actions to ready the US and its military forces for modern combat operations, as well as for total mobilization of the industrial and worker bases, for the prosecution of the War to come…
I’m looking at a periodic process, and the only thing I really want to keep to right now is that from the beginning, this effort will be seen as an ongoing process, and will be updated on the 7th day, of every third month, starting as noted above on the 7th of September, 1939, and ending up on 7th December, 1941. This means that, in 1939, we get two items, in 1940, we get full 4 items, and in 1941 we also get 4 items, but the last one will coincide with the outbreak of US entry into WWII, so 9 prewar items/actions, and one war start item/action.
I’ve got some of the first two items nearly ready, but want some feedback from the community members on what they would like to see.
The prelim for the first two items/actions…
In September, the US is going to be sending observers out to many places around the world, where military operations are likely to take place, or have already started, so think in terms of UK/France plus China as the bare minimum. These ‘observers’ will be a mix of civilian and ‘recently discharged’ military personnel. The main focus I personally have in mind is the aircraft aspects of the war, but this should be understood to mean everything from some pilots, and accompanying ground crews, as well as airbase personnel that can give a complete picture of how wartime airbases are organized and run, including their supply and infrastructural requirements, a complete look at survival and dispersal airstrips’ and their integration into the whole, as well as folks able to tour and observe aircraft manufacturing facilities, the supply and logistical operations and requirements for transporting parts and tools to where they are needed (too be understood as, both too the local air bases as well as those around the world, and especially those far away from their home industries) so to be able to report back to the US Congress their findings. Also, and even more importantly, the US need to have folks at the Observer Corps, manning alongside the real crews the Chain Home radar network, the fighter command bunkers and the whole communications network/infrastructure of command and control of modern air forces.
In short, this is an effort to learn what the fighting nations are doing, and get reliable reports straight back to the US every three months, say the briefings are to take place from the 1st day of every third month, and so that the Congress can enact changes on the 7th day of every third month, to much more rapidly prepare the US industry for wartime needs, but also get American military forces up to speed ASAP, and cost be damned.
Another top priority would be to get combat experienced instructors (both US and foreign personnel) back to the US as quickly as possible, and on an ongoing basis, so that the US training and doctrine command (if it even existed back then), can start implementing training that is intensive, and leads to combat readiness, and by this I mean combat effective readiness, as opposed to combat ineffectiveness, as we got in OTL.
Let me know, before I post the first part, what all I have left out and/or overlooked.
Thanks for reading, and hope to provide some interesting and thought provoking alternative history fun.
Naval Aviation Fan