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All, We seem to be fascinated by nuclear these days; hence here is another one: Teller was already convinced that the 'super bomb' - fusion bomb - was possible in 1941. He did partake in the Manhattan Project. What would be the consequences in the event that the Teller-Ulman solution was...

This is really a thought based on the recent discussion on 'better KM'. If it is correct that mining of a sea route or harbor (even with a smaller amount of mines) can close it down for a longer period of time, then the objective of stopping supplies going into UK may end up in a very different...

All, Torch got settled as the 'Western option', meaning: Casablanca, Oran and Algiers. The 'Eastern option' was Oran, Algiers and Tunis. A compromise was achieved: Tunis became Bone. It was perceived that Tunis was much too close to Sicily and the airfields there. If we try to imagine that...

All, The Maginot line somehow had (also) the purpose of channeling a German invasion through Belgium. That would then be met by France and a long slogging match would evolve before France would attack and win the war (according to French war perceptions). In essence: The Maginot line would...

All, We probably have had this before. What is rather confusing is the war goals of the combatants prior to the outbreak and for the 1914 months. There are a few explanations to this of course. The lack of stated war goals could easily be as WWI might have been seen as a continuation of the...

All, This is based on Clive Ponting’s book ‘Thirteen days’. Re-reading it as it is a mighty good book and rather detailed. It has a few conclusions which we can agree or disagree with. However, they are fairly well documented. In essence: The unfinished business of the Balkan wars was the...

The Falklands – again perhaps Having read a few books on this strange affair, there are a few glaring questions and scenarios playing around. If we look at the hard facts, we might see that the Argentine claim could be justified due to geography. The British claim can equally be justified due...

What has always puzzled me is the destructive mind set in terms of the Mongol Khans. Why so destructive? Was there any inherent reason? Admittedly, my knowledge is mostly based on the school as few years back and Conn Iggulden's books. Also admittedly, Of course there is a certain...

It might have been attempted before, but let us look at this little ‘what if’ Germany is successful in Barbarossa. Leningrad falls in August 1941. Moscow goes in October. Germany consolidates and Russian counter offensives do no not make any inroads. There are two directions this can go...

This is inspired by the thread of swapping commands. First things first: could early Pacific Campaign invasions ‘inspire’ Overlord? Or the other way round? Admittedly, USN ran the Pacific campaign invasions and these were rather elaborate affairs. Ramsey had a bit of expertise with...

I think we have had a few discussions on Goering becoming the chancellor after a Hitler demise. Timing is of course a bit crucial in all of this. Let us just recap a little bit: Goering in 1938 was not yet a druggie. Wiki says: "He finished WWI with 22 victories. A thorough post-war...

We have probably been here before and not sure if this one can add any more to it, but... here we go again. One of the more fascinating aspects of 1942 (in my opinion at least) is Case Blue. In many ways it still looks to me as the only real option for Germany. Going for Moscow would...

All, We have probably been here before - a lot of times as well. If we try to look at it a bit different, and in the light of the following facts, is there another twist to it? Facts: 1) Dowding was supposed to be on pension as early as June 1939 2) Dowding resisted the dispatch of...

All, I am still fascinated by Enigma and the BP efforts. It is telling that Enigma came into play in 1920's as a commercial coding machine. A range of things contributed to the BP successes, not least German 'sloppiness' or lack of foresight. As I read it, even with Germany on top of...

All, Knowing that Bletchley Park is not just around the corner for German bombers, let us just assume: 1) Bombing in August 1940 2) A few bombers get lost and somehow bomb Bletchley Park 3) Mansion and the preliminary huts burned down 4) The main people killed Could it have happened...

All, A bit of a hard one to gain any 'real' information on. In essence, we are talking a 'blitz' on Moscow. It is apparent that some sort of strategic bombing was carried out, but the targets (transport, Kremlin etc) were hardly touched. It is also apparent that the air defense was...

All, Facts are that 1) Switzerland exported war material to Germany. 2) The focus areas were AA, optics and other sophisticated things The question is of course: Was Switzerland 'semi-forced' to be integrated into the German war machine? could they have resisted a bit more...

All, If we try to look at the lessons from the Boer War (1899 - 1902), there was a range of things which Britain should/could/did learn. On the purely tactical side: 1) Occupy the hill top is a bad idea 2) The spade (e.g. the trench) is a great idea 3) The value of sustained...

All, I have deliberately put this one in the after 1900 section. The Boer War was just short of 3 months to get into this section anyway, but all the ramifications are in the after 1900 period. Here it goes: The small changes I envisage are: 1) Joubert orders the additional guns...

All, 1991: Gulf War. Somehow, Bush managed to keep Israel out of it - stroke of genius really. But .. what if he had failed? This is focused on two areas, not the fall-out of Israel getting into it in itself: 1) What would Israel bomb? The coalition did a reasonable good job...