A History of the Welsh Alaskans: A TLIAW
- Thread starter King_Arthur
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The War Years
Chapter Six – The War Years
The Burrows-Evans government pursued a policy of strict neutrality in the Pacific War, spearheaded by Foreign Minister Dafydd “Diplomacy Dai" Jones, but it was far from being the majority opinion. It was the issue of the war that finally split the Popular Front. In 1934 the two largest parties in the crumbling alliance were the Union Party, which supported joining the war against Japan, the United Christian Party, which was on the brink of collapse as the Methodists were Anti-War, agreeing with the government's policies, and the Orthodox members were Pro-War, wanting revenge against Japan. There were also several minor parties in the coalition – the Alaskan Party supported the government, the Alaskan Alliance were Pro-War, while Plaid, long past their glory days as most of their voters and Assembly Members had bolted to either the Radicals or the United Christians, supported peace.
Edwin Burrows was a man who had incredible influence on the history of not only Alaska, but the entire Pacific region. Born in Port Madryn to a prostitute and an unknown father on July 20th 1886, he had a hard beginning in life. He began working in the gold mines when he was just 16 and, after taking part in the Revolution, ended up leading the local union. A founding member of the Socialist Party in 1914, he was elected to the Porth Madryn Council in 1915. When the Socialists merged with the left fringe of the old Alaskan Party in 1925, he became the national leader and was elected to the Assembly in 1926. Burrows was fond of alcohol and cigarettes and was not a very nice man, as he often shouted at and even hit staff and his own wife. He also had an authoritarian streak.
Despite opposition, the government made it to the 1936 Elections without collapsing or joining the war. The war was currently a stalemate, with the front lines in China and Indochina grinding to a halt. Before the elections, there had been a major shakeup in the Alaskan political landscape.
Both the Popular Front and the United Christians had finally fallen apart in early 1936. The two reorganised coalitions were the Alliance For Peace, consisting of the Radical Party, Native Independents, the Alaskan Party and Plaid Gristgynol, the Methodist portion of the old UCP. Opposing them were the Internationalist Alliance of the Union Party, the Alaskan Alliance and the Party of Faith, which was the Orthodox portion of the UCP. By this point, Plaid Cymraeg had completely collapsed into the Radicals or Plaid Gristgynol.
The Canadians and Brits provided copious amounts of funding for the Internationalists before the election, which was scheduled to occur on April 30th. Polling predicted that they would emerge with a massive majority and if it was not for an event that would occur on the 25th, said majority may have emerged and led Alaskan History down a very different path.
America had led to the escalation of the war by embargoing Japan, and now President Hull wished to enter the war against Japan before they set their sights on the Philippines. Along with General MacArthur, who commanded the Philippines Garrison, he engineered an incident where an old destroyer was “sunk" by a Japanese submarine. Just like the USS Maine Incident that started the Spanish-American War, in which Hull fought, almost forty years prior, a declaration of war was accepted by Congress in a wave of patriotic fervour and outrage.
What played well in Washington didn’t play well in Trelew. The incident was seen as hugely suspicious and blasted in numerous papers. Burrows seized upon it and declared, in a statement viewed as ironic in later years, that the underhand tactics used by the Allies were why Alaska should not join the war. The results showed that the attacks must have resonated.
The Alliance For Peace won a huge majority of 63, with the Radicals winning 49 seats, PG winning 7 seats, AP winning 5 and the Natives winning 2. The Interventionists scraped 17 seats, with Union winning 11, AA winning 5 and PoF only managed tow in a single seat. The result was a resounding victory for isolationism, and Burrows re-appointed his friend Evans as President.
Britain and Canada were not pleased at all, and began plotting against Burrows. They wished for an offensive in the North Pacific that would enable them to take the old Russian Far East, threatening the Japanese hold on Manchuria and Korea, as well as Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which would threaten Japan itself. However, to commence the operation they would need the Aleutian Islands, part of Alaska.
Knowing that Burrows would refuse military access, General Alexander, Commander Allied Forces North Pacific (CAFNP) enacted Operation Arctic on June 2nd-8th. British, Canadian and American Marines and soldiers landed at Unalaska, the sole significant settlement in the archipelago, Dutch Harbor, an excellent natural Harbour unused by the Alaskans, and several of the larger islands.
The reaction in Trelew was outrage. Burrows gave the allies a deadline of 30 days to withdraw from the Aleutians; the ultimatum was ignored by London, Washington and Ottawa, who began preparations for an assault on the Sakhalin Peninsula and the Kuril Islands. The conflict between Alaska and the Allies would have likely remained a war of words were it not for the events of June 18th.
Burrows gave a speech outside Trelew Town Hall, where the Alaskan Assembly met, decrying Allied imperialism. Watching the speech was a young man named Pete Ware. He had been a miner in Matsukov but was laid off during the Depression. He became a disillusioned young man and ended up sleeping on the streets of Trelew. Likely suffering from a mental illness, be believed that killing Burrows would solve all his problems. Ware managed to sneak onto the stage that the Chief Minister was speaking on and shot at him from point blank range. Fortunately for Burrows, the gun jammed and he was tackled by security guards.
The attempt on his life made Burrows paranoid, so shortly after he began the Midnight Raids. The Trelew Police Force, which was very loyal to the government, arrested many anti-government campaigners and politicians. It also raided the headquarters of the Union Party and arrested former Chief Minister George Farr.
Britain decided that it was time to act. Sir Herbert Samuel, the Foreign Secretary, released a statement attacking the ‘erosion of democracy’ and a naval squadron, led by Captain John Campbell aboard the Heavy Cruiser HMS Glamorgan, was dispatched to Trelew.
On August 21st, the squadron arrived. Captain Campbell demanded that all political prisoners be released, Chief Minister Burrows steps down and that new election should be conducted under the supervision of Britain and Canada. All three demands were refused, so on August 23rd, the guns of Glamorgan and the Light Cruiser Sheffield bombarded key locations such as the Town Hall, the Police Station and the railway station. Then, the company of Royal Marines that accompanied the ships landed and fought the brief Battle of Trelew with the Police, which ended in the Police conducting a valiant but futile last stand in the ruins of the railway station, as the Cabinet ran away, abandoning their loyal defenders to their fates.
Campbell and the AMs who didn’t flee decided that the Flight of the Radicals counted as a resignation so they appointed George Read of Union as Chief Minister and the moderate Radical Owen Smith as President. Burrows and Evans still claimed to be the true government in Matsukov.
In October the squadron left and was replaced by a Canadian garrison under Brigadier William J. Irwin. Irwin was a hard man forged in the brutal jungles of the Indochinese Front who had no time for politicians. He kept Trelew under martial law, with Read and Smith unable to step a toe out of line lest they lose their jobs.
In Matsukov, Burrows established the Red Guards, a militia that raided south, in the occupation zone. They managed to successfully avoid conflict with the garrison until the afternoon of June 2nd 1937. Deciding to eliminate the militia once and for all, Irwin lured them to James, where the 4th Royal Winnipeg Rifles and 2nd Cape Breton Highlanders were waiting. The battle was bloody and fierce with the Guards holding for several hours, before the Canadians pushed through their lines and killed them to the last man. A famous photo of a Guard waving the Y Wladfa flag as he made his last stand was taken by an industrious journalist.
The photo made it back to Trelew and inspired a wave of patriotism, led by members of the Welsh community. On the night of June 5th, the Town Hall was scaled with the Alaskan and Canadian flags being pulled down and replaced with the white dragon of Y Wladfa, which has become the symbol of Alaskan nationalism overnight, and a plain red banner, to show support for the Matsukov government.
This led to the June Riots, the first of many to occur in Trelew over the next few decades. They started when soldiers pulled down the flags leading to previously peaceful demonstrations turning violent. CAFNP viewed the events with concern which only increased when the rioters began waving the Rising Sun flag. The Allies decided to teach the Alaskans not to mess with the British Empire.
The battleship HMS Indomitable, the namesake of her class, was the most advanced warship in the world. Sailing from Portsmouth to Pearl Harbour, she was suddenly redirected to Trelew. On the way she was joined by a battalion of hardened Royal Marines, fresh from the Philippine highlands.
The riots were still going on when the grey silhouette of the ship became visible on the horizon. Without warning, her eighteen inch guns opened fire on Trelew.
It was a disaster. The booms were ear-splitting and the shelling destroyed the poorly-defended town. It was not long before it looked like Shanghai, Singapore, Manila or any number of cities utterly destroyed during the war. Historic buildings dating back to when the Welsh first came to the area were decimated. 1234 people died out of a population of 20,000. 13,000 were made homeless.
After the bombardment, the Marines landed and quickly instituted martial law. Suspected nationalist leaders were arrested and sent to the isolated Kodiak Island, where the Canadian authorities had set up a prison camp. Many newspapers were closed and their printing presses were smashed up.
After successfully imposing martial law on Porth Madryn too, the Marines and Canadians marched north to Matsukov where they crushed the remaining Red Guards and occupied the Government House. Most of the Radicals surrendered, including Evans. However, Burrows tried to flee only to be found dead in the snow three days later.
With the imposition of military rule and the death of Edwin Burrows, Alaska's war came to an end. The larger war ended soon after as the UK and US conducted a joint atomic bombing of Sapporo and Nagoya on December 4th and 7th 1937 to avoid a costly invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. This led to the Fourteen Days, a time of great instability in Tokyo as competing factions opposed and supported a surrender. It ended with the Emperor asserting control and unconditionally surrendering to the Allied Powers on December 23rd. It was made official when the Emperor signed the Articles of Surrender on HMS Indomitable in Tokyo Bay. After just under seven long years of fighting, the Pacific War was over.
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Sorry for the long wait again but this update was a real pain to write. They just keep getting longer!
There isn't an Axis here as the war is just against Japan. The Burrows government post-occupation is considered a Japanese ally, though they were not formally aligned.
After the World War, I haven't really touched upon Europe so it's up to your imagination.