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As it says can you make the Vickers VC10 a commercial success at least to the level of the Douglas DC-8.

It's 1933 and the governments of Australia and New Zealand are getting twitchy about the ambitions of the Empire of Japan. You are tasked with making recommendations for how their militaries can prepare for a potential war. It is of course assumed that the Mother Country will be fighting...

Black men being accused of raping white girls was often the excuse for lynchings, but what if the reverse happened? Exactly how bad would the reaction get?

I was thinking earlier after reading the no lend lease thread. Without US support (I'm assuming Roosevelt couldn't get the bases for ships deal past Congress so there's no prospect of any assistance once the money runs out) Britain's prospects in the war are dire and they know it. Germany is...

The challenge is as it says you have to rearm the British Infantry for WWII. The trigger for this is Hitler coming to power in German, the Sino Japanese conflicts from the early 1930's and the rising military strength of the Soviet Union. While it is believed that war can be avoided the...

Let's suppose that the Diamond Frame chain driven Safety Bicycle was invented not in the 1880's but rather in the 1850's. The Safety Bicycle had a large impact on the late Victorian society, not least in significantly expanding the gene pool of small villages as young men, and less frequently...

March 1945 the war in Europe is raging but it's obvious to all the Allies have won, however Denmark and Norway are still under the German Jackboot. Enter Sweden whose walked a very fine line for the last six years to maintain its neutrality. In an unexpected move Swedish forces move to...

Up until the rise of the Japanese Motorcycle companies in the 60's British companies were dominating the market. Your challenge is to find a way to maintain that dominance. For example could developing light motorcycles such as the Honda Cub help?

So, what if the outbreak of war in Europe was delayed until May 1940? Maybe the Czech military realised the Germans were about to take the rest of the country when their President was summoned to Berlin and knowing resistance was futile at that time destroyed as much of their equipment as...

While doing a summer course at the local university a couple of years ago the discussion got a little bizarre. Basically we were talking about primary sources and somehow it was jokingly suggested what a find Henry's diary would be, especially if it was found he liked wearing his wives dresses...

So if there's no Russo Japanese War to demonstrate the fallacy of having mixed large calibre batteries is there another generation of Pre Dreadnoughts and Armoured Cruisers built by the Royal Navy, and if so what form would they possibly take? For example I could imagine a follow up to the Lord...

So what if as part of the Beeching Cuts of British Rail in the 1960's the axed railway lines were, with the exception of those that became heritage lines, all converted into cycle tracks?

Let's suppose for a moment the reigning monarch of a constitutional kingdom is caught on live TV committing a serious crime, how do you go about bringing them to trial? Can you bring them to trial?

It's 1902 and the Boer War has finally ended. This has been a huge embarrassment to the British Army, who got shot to pieces by a militia of Dutch farmers, and who's organisation and generalship was at times shown to be at best amateurish and at worst disasterous. You have been appointed to a...

Can a way be found for Britain to maintain 1953 Standards of Personal morality, patriotism, stoicism and religious adherence (at least going through the motions) and yet still be a modern liberal democracy not too far out of step with the rest of the developed world?

So what sort of state could the British Armed Forces be in now if British Governments had not slashed defence spending after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union but instead maintained Cold War levels of expenditure to this day. In 1984 this was 5.5% of GDP. Current defence...

Let's suppose the result is reversed and Hood sinks Bismarck with one shot. How does the world react, and what becomes of the rest of the Kriegsmarine's surface fleet?

The Blackburn Roc is perhaps the most useless fighter ever foisted onto the Royal Navy. They knew it was worthless before it ever entered service but it was continued with to keep Boulton and Paul busy. Now at the same time as the Roc was being built Gloster were building the Hawker Henley, a...

Let's suppose that in the run up to WWII France placed orders for the MAS 40 in Britain, either with BSA or Vickers. Deliveries are required to begin by June 1940. Now obviously come June 40 these rifles are not going to be handed over, also Britain has a slight problem with the Army having...

Let's suppose for a moment that instead of ordering what became the Fairey Fulmar as its Skua replacement the FAA instead opts for a navalised Hawker Henley. Obviously it will need catapult points, a tail hook and folding wings which will affect its performance but I would still expect it to be...