The trouble here is the months longer to build bigger ships, and get 4 Vanguard's for 5 KGV.
AND
you need to find dry docks. How many fit Hood ?
British Rearmament Before World War 2
- Thread starter kelgar04
- Start date
AND
you need to find dry docks. How many fit Hood ?
IIRC 4 in UK Naval bases, 1 or 2 UK private, 2 in Canada, 1 in South Africa, 1 in Singapore
The premise of this thread is earlier British Rearmament beginning in 1935; and therefore this post is skewed in favor of that premise. It was written about five years ago in a different framework and modified to fit here, but I may have overlooked correcting some details. It is unrelated to any previous posts, and therefore not a response to any.
Background:
July 1936-March 1939: The Spanish Civil War. This event was one of the most pivotal of the decade, and the pitiful HMG response reflected willful blindness to strategic realities on the part of the senior leadership of the Conservative Party. The Chief of the Imperial Defence Staff, and some senior naval and military leaders within Great Britain advocated actions well short of war to prevent a Fascist State in Spain, although First Sea Lord Ernle Chatfield was a notable and very influential dissenter.
Nazi Germany threatened directly the British Isles proper; Italy, the Mediterranean/Red Sea lifeline to the Near East and India; and Fascist Portugal could conceivably provide bases in the Azores, Cape Verde Islands and her African colonies within striking distance of sea lanes to South Africa and South America. (This was only a planning consideration – and is a very weak argument.) The addition of Spain to the ranks of Fascism threatened not only to close the Straits of Gibraltar, but add one more potential enemy when British resources are stretched too thin already. The loss of access to Spanish mineral resources would also impact British industry. Politically, failure to support a sovereign, legitimate government against an internal rebellion did not bode well for British efforts to maintain control of its own colonial subjects – especially in India.
Despite the objections from key defence, economic and colonial officials within HMG, and popular sentiments within much of the electorate, PM Stanley Baldwin, Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain, and other public officials opposed supporting the Spanish Republican Government. The Popular Front which won the January 1936 Spanish elections contained ministers from the Communist and Anarchist movements. Both previously supported nationalization of foreign (including British) property and at the time were viewed with greater ideological disdain than Nazis or Fascists by the Conservative Party leadership. Consequently Chamberlain advocated a policy of non-intervention in Spain that was openly flouted by Germany, Italy and the USSR; and which strained relations with France.
Foreign Minister Anthony Eden agreed with Chamberlain on the issue of Spanish Government ideology, but his Ethiopian Crisis experience generated a firm resolve to deny Italy any degree of influence in the Western Mediterranean. Baldwin delegated to Eden partial authority regarding Spain, as he was fully engaged in the escalating abdication crisis of King Edward VIII. On 4 August 1936, an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bomber crash landed in Algeria, one of 12 en-route to Spanish Morocco to aid the Nationalists. To Eden, this is sufficient proof of Italian intervention, and he aimed to thwart Rome’s ambitions, but he did not prevail in resulting Cabinet debates.
The attitude of the interventionist powers is interesting to note. Italy was ideologically committed, and viewed its contribution as a source of great prestige. Mussolini provided aircraft, arms and warships without charge, and 75,000 “volunteers” from Italian military units were paid by Rome. The heavy casualties suffered among these hand-picked, high quality troops was a direct cause of later poor performance by Italian units in the Second World War. The Italian Navy employed submarines that routinely torpedoed without warning Soviet merchant ships bound for Spain. When neutral shipping not bound for Spain were also attacked, the RN engaged in an extensive antisubmarine campaign that resulted in a dress rehearsal for the Battle of the Atlantic: a destroyer, HMS Hunter being mined, and several Italian submarines depth charged. Italy ceased the campaign when an examination of a recovered torpedo which nearly hit HMS Havock conclusively proved Italian involvement. HMS Hotspur and Hyperion also severely depth charged the submarine RItNS Iride, and shook Italian confidence in their tactics. Labeled as a pirate nation, this loss of Italian prestige (a major factor earlier) led to a reduction in active Italian participation in the Spanish Civil War.
Germany’s intervention, although better known than Italy’s commitment of large infantry units, was probably less decisive. On the ground, the Germans tested panzer tanks and tactics, anti-aircraft guns, artillery and small arms; but only to obtain lessons learned from combat experience. In general, aircraft employed by the German Condor Legion was also for combat testing of individual aircraft, and therefore in small numbers: three He 112 fighters; ten Hs 123, four Ju-87A and five Ju-87B Stuka dive-bombers; three He 43 spotters; etc. Other aircraft, such as He 51 and Bf 109B/C fighters were sent in larger numbers to work out multi-squadron tactics and field maintenance practices. Only the dispatch of Ju-52 transports at the very beginning of the civil war can be described as driven solely by Spanish needs, and the Germans eventually exacted full payment in Spanish commodities for all of her aid.
Within two months of the outbreak of the Nationalist revolt, the Republican Government transferred most of its gold reserves abroad. 510 tonnes (U.S. $ 522 million; £108 million) was shipped from Madrid to Moscow; 196 tonnes (U.S. $ 201 million, £41.5 million) to Paris; and 40 tonnes (U.S. $ 41 million, £8.5. million) to Barcelona. About U.S. $ 324 million (£67 million) in Moscow gold was used to pay for Soviet military aid, some of the remainder for other supplies, but the remainder was simply never returned to Spain; and never been accounted for. Despite propaganda or pledges of fraternal aid, the Soviets drove a hard bargain, usually quadrupling the price of arms or supplies; a position of power they held only because the British Policy of Non-Intervention made the Soviets a sole supplier. The Soviets did supply personnel for their equipment, and were every bit as much interested in developing or testing tactics as the Germans on a mass scale. These actions are strong indications the Soviets would have provided considerable aid free of charge for these reasons, and for ideological goals similar to Italy. This would have placed Spain on par with Nationalist China where the Soviets freely provided massive amounts of aid to fulfill a strategic aim of weakening Japan.
Moscow was not the preferred destination for Spanish gold. London was; as the premiere financial and banking center in the 1930s, gold could be most easily transferred to any final recipient in London than anywhere else. Thus in addition to the political and military reasons for British aid to the Spanish Republican Government, there were powerful financial incentives as well. Traditionally, these had been so strong that HMG offered to transfer gold aboard RN warships; which the Spanish would regard as significantly safer than aboard the four vulnerable Soviet cargo ships sailing past Italy to Odessa without any naval escort. It is likely that had the gold gone to London (if the British would have allowed it); some of it would have gone to the USSR for arms and supplies. It is also just as likely that at least the U.S. $ 324 million (£67 million) previously mentioned would have been spent on British arms.
Nor was this the only economic aspect; when the Republican fortunes waned, the USSR obtained title to nearly U.S. $ 500 million (£103.5 million) in mining, manufacturing and other property to pay for aid. These were lost with the Nationalist victory. Much of this was expropriated British property – in effect HMG’s non-intervention policy made permanent the very consequences that generated Chamberlain’s opposition. Had London instead aided a sovereign nation in suppressing a rebellion, it is doubtful any further expropriation would have extended past the property of Fascist supporters, to include the Catholic Church. The remainder of the U.S. $ 500 million would have been issued in bonds. The effect of increased British foreign exchange reserves by some £175 million (U.S. $631 million) needs to be put into perspective. In September 1938 British gold reserves totaled £700 million, in February 1940 about £400 million, and in January 1941 they were completely exhausted – an extra £175 million equals about six more months financing of World War II.
What must change:
First, PM Baldwin resigns as the King’s First Minister before May or June 1936, the most plausible reason to me being his opposition to King Edward VIII’s pro-German attitudes. His designated successor is Chamberlain, leaving the post of Exchequer vacant. The post is offered to Winston Churchill, in the belief that if Churchill were given the responsibility for finding the money for rearmament, his criticism of its pace would be muted. It would also keep the party united until Chamberlain has put his stamp on it, and Churchill becomes expendable. Churchill will tackle the challenge with zeal, and his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer is sufficient to ensure Spanish gold will arrive in London. Churchill is also Eden’s father-in-law, and where he leads Eden will surely follow in Cabinet debates. Despite the distaste for the Republican Government, Churchill secures the Cabinet’s blessing for arms sales. Church also loathes the Government in Madrid, but this is not the first time his ambitions overcome that obstacle.
The Arms Sales Policy:
Estimating what arms would be purchased is best done by starting with the Spanish Navy. After the disasters suffered in the Spanish-American War, the Spanish Fleet abandoned the French and Italian designs it previously embraced, and turned to more expensive, but better British suppliers. In 1908, a consortium of British firms (Vickers, Armstrong-Elswick, John Brown and Coventry Ordinance) took over management of Spanish shipyards, and hundreds of British technicians worked in Spain for three decades. Thereafter all Spanish warships were built to British designs except submarines, which used both American and Dutch technology. When the Spanish Armed Forces attempted their coup in July 1936, the crews of all commissioned warships except a light cruiser and a destroyer mutinied and deposed their officers, and remained loyal to the Republic. This prevented the transfer of troops from Spanish Morocco to the Iberian Peninsula until the Germans and Italians provided transport aircraft. The delay ensured the Republic did not collapse in a matter of weeks, but had a fighting chance at survival. This is why the Nationalist Navy had to “purchase” Italian destroyers and submarines manned by Italian “volunteer” crews in order to contest control of the seas.
The Nationalists quickly seized the nationalized shipyards at Ferrol and Cadiz, and HMG should have responded by withdrawing British technicians still there. This would have made it difficult for the Nationalists to commission two heavy cruisers (Canarias and Baleares) in the final phases of outfitting. British line and petty officers placed on half-pay due to austere RN budgets should be encouraged to apply for “secondment”; a British practice of allowing personnel to serve temporarily in the armed forces of a friendly nation. This would allow the Republican ships to be competently commanded, navigated and committed to battle by trained leaders instead of low-ranking ratings. In addition to the remaining Republican shipyard at Cartagena, repairs to Spanish Republican ships should be made in RN Dockyards such as Gibraltar if necessary. No warships would be sold to Spain by Great Britain due to lack of qualified Spanish crews. The effect would be to moderately tighten a Republican naval blockade that already had most Nationalist supplies being transported through “neutral” Portugal. The cost would be small, no more than 5% of the total spent in Britain.
A much larger share, at least 55-60% would be devoted to supplies for the Spanish Army. Although pre-Civil War, the rifle had been standardized on the German Mauser K98, mortars, and both tanks and trucks were primarily of French World War I pattern; the Vickers .303 heavy machine gun, most artillery including 18-pdr, 4.5-inch and 6-inch howitzers, and other field equipment from binoculars, short-wave sets and medical supplies to entrenching tools were of British pattern. Spanish needs fit uniquely with British requirements as well. The British Army is attempting to simultaneously modernize its own equipment; replace material used by Territorial units; replace older material in storage since the First World War (kept to account for wastage in the early stages of a conflict); and to train a large labor force in munitions work which has been largely dormant for a generation.
This latter requirement had three major components: expanding capacity for traditional armaments firms; establishing “shadow factories” both in Great Britain and the Commonwealth (which are concealed from foreign observation) to augment production; and providing both with machine tools and skilled workers. Lack of foreign gold reserves limited the amount of machine tools that could be imported from Sweden, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia or Switzerland, which meant that much of the training of the labor force was done on existing patterns dating from World War I. Attempts by the mother country to offset wastage by selling obsolete material to her Commonwealth offspring only strained relations and impeded coordination of Imperial Defence. A substantial amount of British equipment manufactured between 1936 and 1939 was not used at all, not even for training, due to its obsolescence; and thus discarded while still in pristine condition. In the case of aircraft, production of planes exceeded the pace of training pilots.
Obsolescent equipment, however, is often simpler than more modern, more capable and more complex weapons. The Spanish Republican Army, having lost much of its peacetime officer and enlisted strength to the Nationalists, required simpler equipment for its enthusiastic but inexperienced recruits. If Great Britain sold its war reserve of equipment as soon as practical after the start of the Spanish Civil War, the Republican Spanish Army receives suitable equipment rapidly; and Great Britain receives the foreign exchange to accelerate its modernization and replenish the war stocks sold. Later contracts cover the sale to Spain of equipment manufactured solely for labor expansion; and as with the Navy, Army secondment is encouraged. For some special requirements, there will be orders that take considerable time for British industry to fill.
Spanish orders greatly accelerate production in British factories. In July 1936, the only producer of tanks in the entire British Commonwealth was Vickers. Nuffield – a shadow company of Morris LTD started up in July 1937 and Vulcan Ltd, a subsidiary of Vickers was started the following December. Vickers in July 1936 had in production the 6-ton Model E light tank (20 on order for China, 32 for Finland) and the Lt Tank Mk III and Lt Tank Mk V (the two types had only detail differences) for which production was ending. British Army orders for Lt Tank Mk VIA were scheduled to begin rolling off the lines in October and Lt Tank Mk VIB Indian Pattern vehicles in December 1936. The prototype Cruiser Tank Mk I was delivered to the British Army in July 1936 and an order for 50 is already placed. The first prototype Infantry Tank Mk I was due for delivery for trials in September 1936. Production of five different tank types at Vickers is very inefficient.
The first Spanish orders, in August 1936 would be for vehicles which could be most rapidly delivered. Orders for 6-ton Model E light tanks will eventually total 153 delivered between November 1936 and December 1938, one version with two .303-inch machine guns (Type A) and another with a single 47mm low-velocity gun (Type B). 75 Lt Tank Mk V are produced between August 1936 and March 1937 when the remaining factory space is converted to Spanish Pattern Lt Tank Mk VIB orders. 315 Spanish Lt Tank Mk VIB are delivered between January 1937 and June 1939. With Vickers’ capacity thus filled, Spanish orders for 80 Infantry Tank Mk I are placed in October 1936 with Vulcan LTD after a cursory examination of the prototype; and delivered in March 1937 through September 1938. British orders for the Infantry Tank Mk I are not received until April 1937 after thorough trials were concluded. Production of the 50 Cruiser Tank Mk I is moved to Nuffield concurrent with receipt of a Spanish order for 115 more for delivery between July 1937 and April 1939. The addition of 738 Spanish tanks built in Great Britain more than doubles historical production, and is a tremendous expansion of the labor force even if the relative simplicity of 543 light tanks is factored in. However, relatively few of the Light Tank Model E Type B or Cruiser Tank Mk I ever engage German or Italian supplied tanks, and little of tank combat is learned.
With most of Spain’s requirements filled by British factories, there is a significant shift of other orders to Commonwealth factories. In addition to vast quantities of canned food required by the Spanish Army, wool from Australia and New Zealand and cotton from India are in high demand for perhaps ten million uniforms. In Australia, production of tracked Bren Carriers will commence in January 1937, not only for the Australian and New Zealand Armies but for British units in India as their intended Bren carriers are diverted to Spain. Production of Bren Carriers in Canada is added in late 1938. The arsenal at Robert’s Heights, South Africa, reactivates mothballed World War I facilities to produce 18-pdr howitzers.
Although larger towed artillery employed mostly British built Scammell or Morris trucks, about 2,600 Canadian Military Pattern 4x4 trucks are delivered in two versions, one by Ford and one by Chevrolet between January/March 1937 and the end of March 1939 when remaining orders are amicably taken over by the Canadian Army. 600 Chevrolet 6x4 trucks (a licensed-built Canadian version of the Scammell Pioneer) are also delivered to Spain between December 1938 and August 1939. Although 80 2-Pdr (40mm) anti-tank guns were built in Canada, the Spanish preferred French 25mm guns, and placed most orders for that type.
The Spanish Air Force, whose personnel are younger on average than other services, and which had been expanded since the monarchy was overthrown in 1931 was the most loyal of the three services to the Republic. British Aviation industry would benefit in similar manner to other British armaments industries, although unlike other industry, the British Air Ministry paid all design costs of an aircraft and for required tooling, and could allocate production to any factory besides the designer’s. The first category of British aircraft sold is a clearing of war reserve aircraft, many of which were used by the RAF, but still in serviceable condition. Not all war stock is released – no heavy bombers, no army cooperation aircraft configured for colonial policing duties, no Fleet Air Arm planes, and no primary trainers needed for RAF expansion. Depending on number of flight hours, these planes went for 20 to 60 per cent of original cost.
The most valuable are 124 Bristol Bulldog fighters, aging biplanes of a type in Spanish service since 1932, and 35 trainer versions which allowed rapid instruction of the dozens of volunteers joining the anti-Fascist cause. 46 Hawker Fury Mk I biplanes supplied are superior to, and more highly esteemed by pilots than the Bulldog – three samples were delivered to Spain in July 1935 for evaluation had been flown by a limited number of Republican pilots. The three Spanish Fury aircraft and the planned factory for co-production are now in Nationalist territory. Nineteen Gloster Gauntlet Mk I and 14 Demon two-seat fighters (for bomber interception duties) are unfamiliar to Spanish pilots in both tactics and design, and will be assigned to RAF pilots on secondment as instructors and to volunteers with some previous flying experience. Finally 159 Hawker Hart bombers and 40 Hart trainers (a rather easy and forgiving plane to fly) provide an instant capability to attack Nationalist troops, aerodromes and transport facilities despite a small bomb load of only 500 lbs and its short range. All of these aircraft are delivered to Spain by the end of October 1936, and a number become casualties of inexperienced pilots. Nevertheless, the availability of nearly 400 aircraft gave Republican pilots tremendous advantages in the initial phases of the civil war.
The second category is aircraft sold as soon as they left active RAF service. These are delivered in penny packets of two to five planes at a time: 60 Hart, 48 Demon and 32 Bulldogs by June 1937. 96 Gauntlet Mk II are delivered between September 1937 and December 1938, and 60 Fury Mk II in January-June 1938. These aircraft kept Spanish squadrons equipped with the first batch of deliveries up to full strength, cost a modest amount, and are tactically useful; but did not offer any great qualitative improvements. This was also generally true of the third category – brand new planes built to British orders to train workers, but sold to Spain at about a 10% profit after delivery to the RAF. 86 Hawker Hind light bombers (delivered June 1937-January 1938) are Harts with more powerful engines. Army cooperation planes such as 110 Audax (September 1936 to September 1937 – 67 from Avro and 43 from Westland) and 80 Hectors (February-December 1937 – Westland built) of the same Hart design family are available straight from the factory. A larger type, Vickers Vincents first delivered in December 1937, totaled 57 when the type went out of production seven months later.
These close support and reconnaissance aircraft are highly valued in Spain where tactics reflected conditions found in the First World War more than in the Second. 145 Fairey Battle light bombers (May 1938 until May of 1939) and 80 Hawker Henley (Built by Gloster – January 1938 to February 1939) reflected the winner and loser of the RAF competition to replace the Hart. The end of the Civil War finally curtailed any further purchases. The Henley proved a death trap in service – prone to engine failure and poor handling characteristics; the only thing to commend it being the high degree of component commonality with the Hawker Hurricane. (The 200 Henleys built for the RAF by Gloster were completed as target tugs.)
It is notable that an additional 50 Gauntlet Mk II aircraft are the only fighters among the designs used for training industry, as opposed to over 550 bomber or attack planes. To a large degree this reflected the dominance that Bomber Command held over Fighter Command in the pre-war RAF. Consequently, orders for planes tailored for the needs of the Spanish Air Force (the fourth category) are for late-model fighters, long-range twin-engine bombers and torpedo planes – types not found among RAF cast-offs or off-the-shelf inventory. These newly manufactured planes are the most profitable, both for British factories and in the Commonwealth.
99 Fury Mk II with more powerful Hispano-Suiza engines, and 100 Hurricanes fitted with the prototype’s Rolls-Royce Merlin C engine are ordered in September 1936. Hawker was readily able to produce the wings and fuselages of Hurricanes, but the June 1936 RAF decision to fit improved Merlin II engines required additional flight trials, and the first Hurricane Mk I was not accepted from Hawker until October 1937. Selling 100 planes with Merlin Cs unloaded a backlog of unpowered airframes at Hawker and brought Merlin production on line earlier. The Spanish Hurricanes are delivered between March and December 1937. Ironically, due to the Hurricane’s higher priority, the smaller, simpler Spanish Fury Mk II with no design challenges took longer to deliver. Despite starting four months earlier, Spanish Fury production ended three months later than its famed successor.
In June of 1937, satisfied with the superiority of the monoplane, 100 additional Hurricane Mk I with the Merlin II are ordered, the RAF agreeing to release every sixth plane produced by Hawker. The Canadian Car and Foundry in Montreal had been designated as a “shadow factory” in 1936, but the decision to produce there is accelerated 19 months over the historical timeline. The first of 100 Canadian-built Hurricane Mk Is takes to the air in June 1938, and the pace of deliveries to the RAF is soon restored. In January 1939, 60 Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Hurricanes are ordered from Canadian Car and Foundry as historical.
The latest Supermarine Spitfire and Bolton Paul Defiant are not released by the Air Ministry for export. As an insurance against the failure of the monoplane fighter, 88 Gloster Gladiator Mk I the successor to the Gauntlet) are ordered in October 1936 and delivered to Spain from April 1937 through January 1938. Upon receipt of this (for the time) large order, Gloster sent design drawings and jigs to Hawker-Australia to establish co-production there to ensure fulfillment of RAF needs. The Air Ministry hoped in vain that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) would take advantage and place orders, this being a major part of the reason for the decision. Unlike Canadian Car and Foundry, Hawker-Australia had been producing aircraft for over 15 years, and represented an underutilized asset.
The first 16 Australian-built Gladiators are delivered to the RAF squadrons in the Middle East; then an order from China for 36 planes is assigned there; then two batches of 12 and 18 respectively for Iraq and Egypt followed; and the final six aircraft to RAF Middle East units by June 1938. To replace Spanish combat losses, another 166 Gladiator Mk II are ordered in November 1937 for delivery from June 1938 onward, but only 98 had been delivered by the end of the war and the last 68 taken over by the RAF. This second order was split between Gloster and Hawker-Australia; upon cancellation, Gloster ended production, but Hawkers-Australia resumed deliveries to RAF-Middle East until its requirements are met.
The Spanish Republican Air Force also coveted torpedo bombers. From 1933 through 1935, 25 Vickers Vildebeeste Mk II were built under license by CASA in Spain. Although the factory in Getafe was in the Republican zone, it was moved to Alicante for added safety, and then began production of Polikarpov I-15 biplanes instead. Spain will order 113 improved Vildebeeste IV, delivered beginning in April 1937, but when RAF needs shifted to the Vincent army cooperation version in December, the last 57 are accepted as Vincents by July 1938. Still looking for torpedo bombers, Spain found the most unlikely source. The RCAF had a coastal defence requirement, and Boeing secured a license for Blackburn Shark, the current type used aboard RN aircraft carriers in early 1936 and opened a factory in Vancouver. Blackburn delivered seven Shark Mk III pattern aircraft for assembly in early 1937, but the RCAF later cut the Boeing order to only 17 as its range and open cockpit did not seem suitable for Canada’s long and frigid coastline. The underutilized Boeing factory was ideal, the Spanish placing an order for 60 in October 1937, and 38 are delivered before the war’s end – 45 in total (the last 15 are cancelled). Once competent tactics are developed with the help of seconded British personnel, these planes are successful in forcing German and Italian warships away from Spanish waters.
The RAF also allowed the Spanish to receive Bristol Blenheim Mk I bombers from its production runs, a courtesy also extended to Finland, Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey and Greece. In January 1937, 60 of 318 planes ordered from Rootes (a shadow factory) and 60 of 434 aircraft ordered from Bristol a month earlier are transferred to a Spanish account, and another 60 Blenheim Mk I from Avro in September 1937. The first 120 are replaced by orders at Fairchild Canada, which received an order for 18 planes from the RCAF in February 1937, and the Avro replacement order is transferred seven months later. The Spanish Blenheims are delivered between December 1937 and February 1939; and the Canadian-built RAF replacements between June 1938 and November 1939. The other large bomber order is for Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers. 46 Mk II and 80 Mk III are ordered immediately after the Condor Legion bombing of Guernica in April 1937, and delivered November 1937-April 1939.
Blenheims and Whitleys were intended to be used as “city-busters”, capable of neutralizing from the air the industrial or transportation value of a major city. Ports would be left idle, mines and factories disrupted, and the morale and fighting spirit of a civilian population shattered. In fact this did not happen. Targets are attacked too infrequently; maintenance, weather and navigation difficulties were constant; attrition and losses to flak are greater than expected; training and bombing accuracy were inadequate. Nevertheless, the attacks in the last half of the war forced the Nationalists to divert fighter and anti-aircraft units to defensive duties where they spent a considerable amount of time idle.
All of this may seem tedious to the reader, perhaps the topic could have been dispensed with a couple of sentences that the Republican Government could have won, and Britain could have profited greatly therefrom. The purpose is to demonstrate that in mid-1936, Great Britain still possessed the world’s greatest aircraft industry, with military designs second to (only perhaps) the United States. Great Britain was capable of delivering roughly the same number of aircraft as all other nations combined. This position was lost by the outbreak of war in 1939. The Spanish Civil War was the last, best hope of keeping up. The three modern aircraft manufacturing centers established in Canada and the one in India, influenced as they are by American assembly line and manufacturing practices, on average build planes with one-third the man-hours a British factory required. Having these lessons learned and absorbed in peacetime will give wartime manufacturing of critical aircraft an incredible boost. The effect of this British policy on the balance of power in the Spanish Civil War can be illustrated by the following table:
With British sales of admittedly mostly second-rate aircraft, the Republicans seize unquestioned air superiority, and maintain it throughout the conflict. Neither Italy nor Germany could afford to send additional pilots; they were needed to maintain the healthy combat readiness of their respective air services at home. Slowly the Nationalists will be crushed. On the other hand, British aircrew gaining experience in Spain will expand the auxiliary RAF and FAA aircrews by perhaps 10-12% and 4-5% each.
Two other sources of Spanish Republican aircraft should be noted, as they arose out of attempts to evade Neutrality Laws enacted by the U.S. Congress. Before it received Hurricane orders, Canadian Car and Foundry made an earlier foray into aviation hoping to capture a lucrative Spanish order. Obtaining a license from Grumman Aircraft in New York for the tooling and design staff for a discontinued U.S. Navy scout dive bomber, the design was updated with a slightly more powerful engine and lighter weight with naval gear deleted. The Spanish order for 50 duly arrived in December 1936, but delays with recruiting skilled workers, lack of timely orders for materials, and diversion of attention to the Hurricane delayed the project. Two batches totaling 34 were sent to Spain in April and June 1938. Although greatly liked by pilots and crews, the Grumman G-23 Delfin was clearly vulnerable by that late date and Spain refused to pay for the last 16 planes. They sat around the factory for a couple of months until the Sudeten Crisis exposed the near naked state of the RCAF, and they were reluctantly taken into service. (Historical note: The 34 Grumman G-23 were in fact delivered through false paperwork originating in Turkey.)
The second American aircraft is well-deserving of a page in the annals of iconic designs. The Curtiss Hawk 75A was the ancestor of both the P-36 and P-40 of World War II fame. Curtiss had sold hundreds of its biplane predecessors in Asia and Latin America, and set up an assembly plant in China. Curtiss had high export hopes for its first all-metal monoplane fighter as well, and to evade neutrality laws sought an overseas manufacturing site after the Hawk 75A demonstrator was favorably received in Europe in 1936. The only one that materialized was in Cordoba, Argentina, the decision by the French Popular Front Government to nationalize its aerospace industry scuttling any plans to locate in that country. Curtiss representatives surveyed sites in South Africa, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, but an unhelpful attitude on military exports by British officials led to Curtiss choosing Canton, China. Japanese troops occupied that city before production commenced.
The change in British policy towards arms sales to Spain will change attitudes towards a Curtiss factory as well. The next Curtiss choice would be Hindustan Aircraft in Bangalore, India instead of Canton as its preferred co-production partner. It was close to the Tata Steel Works and an expatriate American work force would be comfortable there. A possible runner up would be near Tengah Airfield on Singapore Island. Bangalore is close to anticipated Asian customers and Curtiss-Wright Cyclone engines would also be manufactured there, which were in demand for civilian airliners in that part of the world. British bureaucratic approval would take about six months (until about February 1937), and the first Spanish order for 90 improved Hawk H models a month later. To speed production, the first 24 are manufactured in the United States, assembled at Bangalore with a first flight in August 1937, and first delivery in Spain in October 1937. The Curtiss Hawk was more expensive than the Hurricane, and as it came late in the war there are no follow-on orders. The final delivery was in November 1938.
The first Hawk 75H assembled was held back as a sales demonstrator (and replaced by a 67th locally manufactured plane) and flown via Burma, Thailand and French Indochina to Canton where it was examined and purchased by COL Claire Chennault (of Flying Tigers fame) on behalf of the Chinese Air Force. This led to an order in October 1937 for 112 Hawk 75M with fixed landing gear and derated engines for simplified maintenance on austere Chinese airfields. Design work had to be done in the United States, so the first Hawk 75M was not completed until May 1938. Only 30 had been delivered when Canton, the last Chinese port was captured by the Japanese in October 1938. Production did not cease – Spanish orders had run dry and there was no other work. Two dozen Hawk 75M piled up at an ad-hoc hanger until trucks could be bought to transport them in crates over the Burma Road in mid-1939.
When an order for 25 similar Hawk 75N was received from Siam in January 1939, production shifted immediately to fill it at the expense of Chinese orders. Other orders are fitted in – a French order in March 1939 for 100 Hawk 75A-2 specified nine planes are built at Bengalore for delivery to Indochina. When Hawk 75M production resumed, the last 32 are eventually taken over by the Royal Indian Air Force in August 1939. In the summer of 1939, when a Dutch order for 35 Hawk 75A-7 sparked protests from Isolationists in the U.S. House of Representatives, the entire order was shifted from Buffalo, New York to Hindustan.
The improvement in the Spanish Republican Army allows a counteroffensive to begin about December 1936 to reunite the Basque Provinces with the rest of Republican Spain. Primarily credit is due to the assignment of MG Henry Wilson (later Field Marshal) to command the unofficial British Military Mission to Spain. Wilson was on half-pay from February 1936 until July 1937 when he was appointed command of 2 Division. He is assisted by COL George Gifford, also on half pay, who in World War II expanded the Royal West African Frontier Force from 11,000 to over 200,000 troops who fought well in East Africa and Japanese in Burma. Wilson also had two key Spanish partners, COL Segismundo Casado and COL Cipriano Mera. Casado was one of the few completely apolitical army officers, and Mera was sympathetic to the Anarchist Party, which the Socialists and Communists in the Government refused to arm. Both were highly competent, and just as important, very lucky officers.
Arriving in Spain in September 1936, Wilson finds about 45,000 volunteers, mostly Anarchists, but some Socialists and conservative Basques. (Note: the Anarchists had become more accepting of order and structure during the chaos of 1931-5, but retained their name and lip-service to the cause.) Wilson obtained first delivery on British equipment and after training by Gifford, Casado and Mera, three brigades (about 12,000) captured the city of Sargossa – held by Nationalists since the uprising in July by Christmas. This reopened the rail lines from Northern Spain to Barcelona. Continuing to expand, Wilson’s forces also defeated the Italian Expeditionary Corps between March and June 1937 when they attempted to conquer Northern Spain. The Condor Legion bombing of Guernica was part of this offensive. Wilson organized a counterattack into Nationalist-controlled Galicia before he returned home.
Later in 1937, the Republicans will do much better in the battles around Madrid and to control Southeastern Spain. Since Republican manpower always exceeded Nationalist, early delivery of proper equipment is enough to turn the tide. Nationalist forces are gradually driven off the Iberian Peninsula by the end of 1938, and Spanish colonies and the Canary Islands are back under Madrid’s control by March 1939.
Conclusion:
Arms sales to Spain brings British production of Army and Air Force equipment much closer to full wartime production as anything else I can imagine. It does so with little additional cost to the British taxpayer. It will also reduce unemployment in key wartime industrial sectors.
The Spanish Civil War was full of ironies. Although from the overthrow of the monarchy in 1931 until mid-1935 the nation was wracked with chaos and civil strife, order was beginning to prevail by late 1935. Extremists on both the right and left had burned themselves out. The relative integrity of the January 1936 elections demonstrated to the Nationalists that if a coup was not staged soon, the Republic would acquire too much popular support and legitimacy. British aid would likely strengthen moderate forces within the Republican Government – the Stalinists in Spain were able to violently liquidate Anarchists, Trotskyites, and Communists not aligned with Moscow (in purges of the type George Orwell barely survived) only as the Spanish Government weakened. Key anti-Communist parties such as the Anarchists control a powerful counterforce in Wilson’s trained army. Just as HMG was officially neutral in the Spanish Civil War, Spain remains officially neutral in any Second World War. But her shipyards would build merchant vessels to British orders, factories and mines supply Britain’s needs, and volunteers are available serve in various non-combat capacities.
As a final note – I have strong doubts the British Cabinet was big enough for both Chamberlain and Churchill for too long. It is quite possible Churchill resigns when Chamberlain’s reaction to Adolf Hitler’s Anschluss with Austria is flaccid. A breech is certain by the Sudeten Crisis. Which one is booted out, and whether the Munich Agreement goes as historically, or Churchill stares Hitler down in a face-to-face meeting is for the reader to decide.
Background:
July 1936-March 1939: The Spanish Civil War. This event was one of the most pivotal of the decade, and the pitiful HMG response reflected willful blindness to strategic realities on the part of the senior leadership of the Conservative Party. The Chief of the Imperial Defence Staff, and some senior naval and military leaders within Great Britain advocated actions well short of war to prevent a Fascist State in Spain, although First Sea Lord Ernle Chatfield was a notable and very influential dissenter.
Nazi Germany threatened directly the British Isles proper; Italy, the Mediterranean/Red Sea lifeline to the Near East and India; and Fascist Portugal could conceivably provide bases in the Azores, Cape Verde Islands and her African colonies within striking distance of sea lanes to South Africa and South America. (This was only a planning consideration – and is a very weak argument.) The addition of Spain to the ranks of Fascism threatened not only to close the Straits of Gibraltar, but add one more potential enemy when British resources are stretched too thin already. The loss of access to Spanish mineral resources would also impact British industry. Politically, failure to support a sovereign, legitimate government against an internal rebellion did not bode well for British efforts to maintain control of its own colonial subjects – especially in India.
Despite the objections from key defence, economic and colonial officials within HMG, and popular sentiments within much of the electorate, PM Stanley Baldwin, Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain, and other public officials opposed supporting the Spanish Republican Government. The Popular Front which won the January 1936 Spanish elections contained ministers from the Communist and Anarchist movements. Both previously supported nationalization of foreign (including British) property and at the time were viewed with greater ideological disdain than Nazis or Fascists by the Conservative Party leadership. Consequently Chamberlain advocated a policy of non-intervention in Spain that was openly flouted by Germany, Italy and the USSR; and which strained relations with France.
Foreign Minister Anthony Eden agreed with Chamberlain on the issue of Spanish Government ideology, but his Ethiopian Crisis experience generated a firm resolve to deny Italy any degree of influence in the Western Mediterranean. Baldwin delegated to Eden partial authority regarding Spain, as he was fully engaged in the escalating abdication crisis of King Edward VIII. On 4 August 1936, an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bomber crash landed in Algeria, one of 12 en-route to Spanish Morocco to aid the Nationalists. To Eden, this is sufficient proof of Italian intervention, and he aimed to thwart Rome’s ambitions, but he did not prevail in resulting Cabinet debates.
The attitude of the interventionist powers is interesting to note. Italy was ideologically committed, and viewed its contribution as a source of great prestige. Mussolini provided aircraft, arms and warships without charge, and 75,000 “volunteers” from Italian military units were paid by Rome. The heavy casualties suffered among these hand-picked, high quality troops was a direct cause of later poor performance by Italian units in the Second World War. The Italian Navy employed submarines that routinely torpedoed without warning Soviet merchant ships bound for Spain. When neutral shipping not bound for Spain were also attacked, the RN engaged in an extensive antisubmarine campaign that resulted in a dress rehearsal for the Battle of the Atlantic: a destroyer, HMS Hunter being mined, and several Italian submarines depth charged. Italy ceased the campaign when an examination of a recovered torpedo which nearly hit HMS Havock conclusively proved Italian involvement. HMS Hotspur and Hyperion also severely depth charged the submarine RItNS Iride, and shook Italian confidence in their tactics. Labeled as a pirate nation, this loss of Italian prestige (a major factor earlier) led to a reduction in active Italian participation in the Spanish Civil War.
Germany’s intervention, although better known than Italy’s commitment of large infantry units, was probably less decisive. On the ground, the Germans tested panzer tanks and tactics, anti-aircraft guns, artillery and small arms; but only to obtain lessons learned from combat experience. In general, aircraft employed by the German Condor Legion was also for combat testing of individual aircraft, and therefore in small numbers: three He 112 fighters; ten Hs 123, four Ju-87A and five Ju-87B Stuka dive-bombers; three He 43 spotters; etc. Other aircraft, such as He 51 and Bf 109B/C fighters were sent in larger numbers to work out multi-squadron tactics and field maintenance practices. Only the dispatch of Ju-52 transports at the very beginning of the civil war can be described as driven solely by Spanish needs, and the Germans eventually exacted full payment in Spanish commodities for all of her aid.
Within two months of the outbreak of the Nationalist revolt, the Republican Government transferred most of its gold reserves abroad. 510 tonnes (U.S. $ 522 million; £108 million) was shipped from Madrid to Moscow; 196 tonnes (U.S. $ 201 million, £41.5 million) to Paris; and 40 tonnes (U.S. $ 41 million, £8.5. million) to Barcelona. About U.S. $ 324 million (£67 million) in Moscow gold was used to pay for Soviet military aid, some of the remainder for other supplies, but the remainder was simply never returned to Spain; and never been accounted for. Despite propaganda or pledges of fraternal aid, the Soviets drove a hard bargain, usually quadrupling the price of arms or supplies; a position of power they held only because the British Policy of Non-Intervention made the Soviets a sole supplier. The Soviets did supply personnel for their equipment, and were every bit as much interested in developing or testing tactics as the Germans on a mass scale. These actions are strong indications the Soviets would have provided considerable aid free of charge for these reasons, and for ideological goals similar to Italy. This would have placed Spain on par with Nationalist China where the Soviets freely provided massive amounts of aid to fulfill a strategic aim of weakening Japan.
Moscow was not the preferred destination for Spanish gold. London was; as the premiere financial and banking center in the 1930s, gold could be most easily transferred to any final recipient in London than anywhere else. Thus in addition to the political and military reasons for British aid to the Spanish Republican Government, there were powerful financial incentives as well. Traditionally, these had been so strong that HMG offered to transfer gold aboard RN warships; which the Spanish would regard as significantly safer than aboard the four vulnerable Soviet cargo ships sailing past Italy to Odessa without any naval escort. It is likely that had the gold gone to London (if the British would have allowed it); some of it would have gone to the USSR for arms and supplies. It is also just as likely that at least the U.S. $ 324 million (£67 million) previously mentioned would have been spent on British arms.
Nor was this the only economic aspect; when the Republican fortunes waned, the USSR obtained title to nearly U.S. $ 500 million (£103.5 million) in mining, manufacturing and other property to pay for aid. These were lost with the Nationalist victory. Much of this was expropriated British property – in effect HMG’s non-intervention policy made permanent the very consequences that generated Chamberlain’s opposition. Had London instead aided a sovereign nation in suppressing a rebellion, it is doubtful any further expropriation would have extended past the property of Fascist supporters, to include the Catholic Church. The remainder of the U.S. $ 500 million would have been issued in bonds. The effect of increased British foreign exchange reserves by some £175 million (U.S. $631 million) needs to be put into perspective. In September 1938 British gold reserves totaled £700 million, in February 1940 about £400 million, and in January 1941 they were completely exhausted – an extra £175 million equals about six more months financing of World War II.
What must change:
First, PM Baldwin resigns as the King’s First Minister before May or June 1936, the most plausible reason to me being his opposition to King Edward VIII’s pro-German attitudes. His designated successor is Chamberlain, leaving the post of Exchequer vacant. The post is offered to Winston Churchill, in the belief that if Churchill were given the responsibility for finding the money for rearmament, his criticism of its pace would be muted. It would also keep the party united until Chamberlain has put his stamp on it, and Churchill becomes expendable. Churchill will tackle the challenge with zeal, and his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer is sufficient to ensure Spanish gold will arrive in London. Churchill is also Eden’s father-in-law, and where he leads Eden will surely follow in Cabinet debates. Despite the distaste for the Republican Government, Churchill secures the Cabinet’s blessing for arms sales. Church also loathes the Government in Madrid, but this is not the first time his ambitions overcome that obstacle.
The Arms Sales Policy:
Estimating what arms would be purchased is best done by starting with the Spanish Navy. After the disasters suffered in the Spanish-American War, the Spanish Fleet abandoned the French and Italian designs it previously embraced, and turned to more expensive, but better British suppliers. In 1908, a consortium of British firms (Vickers, Armstrong-Elswick, John Brown and Coventry Ordinance) took over management of Spanish shipyards, and hundreds of British technicians worked in Spain for three decades. Thereafter all Spanish warships were built to British designs except submarines, which used both American and Dutch technology. When the Spanish Armed Forces attempted their coup in July 1936, the crews of all commissioned warships except a light cruiser and a destroyer mutinied and deposed their officers, and remained loyal to the Republic. This prevented the transfer of troops from Spanish Morocco to the Iberian Peninsula until the Germans and Italians provided transport aircraft. The delay ensured the Republic did not collapse in a matter of weeks, but had a fighting chance at survival. This is why the Nationalist Navy had to “purchase” Italian destroyers and submarines manned by Italian “volunteer” crews in order to contest control of the seas.
The Nationalists quickly seized the nationalized shipyards at Ferrol and Cadiz, and HMG should have responded by withdrawing British technicians still there. This would have made it difficult for the Nationalists to commission two heavy cruisers (Canarias and Baleares) in the final phases of outfitting. British line and petty officers placed on half-pay due to austere RN budgets should be encouraged to apply for “secondment”; a British practice of allowing personnel to serve temporarily in the armed forces of a friendly nation. This would allow the Republican ships to be competently commanded, navigated and committed to battle by trained leaders instead of low-ranking ratings. In addition to the remaining Republican shipyard at Cartagena, repairs to Spanish Republican ships should be made in RN Dockyards such as Gibraltar if necessary. No warships would be sold to Spain by Great Britain due to lack of qualified Spanish crews. The effect would be to moderately tighten a Republican naval blockade that already had most Nationalist supplies being transported through “neutral” Portugal. The cost would be small, no more than 5% of the total spent in Britain.
A much larger share, at least 55-60% would be devoted to supplies for the Spanish Army. Although pre-Civil War, the rifle had been standardized on the German Mauser K98, mortars, and both tanks and trucks were primarily of French World War I pattern; the Vickers .303 heavy machine gun, most artillery including 18-pdr, 4.5-inch and 6-inch howitzers, and other field equipment from binoculars, short-wave sets and medical supplies to entrenching tools were of British pattern. Spanish needs fit uniquely with British requirements as well. The British Army is attempting to simultaneously modernize its own equipment; replace material used by Territorial units; replace older material in storage since the First World War (kept to account for wastage in the early stages of a conflict); and to train a large labor force in munitions work which has been largely dormant for a generation.
This latter requirement had three major components: expanding capacity for traditional armaments firms; establishing “shadow factories” both in Great Britain and the Commonwealth (which are concealed from foreign observation) to augment production; and providing both with machine tools and skilled workers. Lack of foreign gold reserves limited the amount of machine tools that could be imported from Sweden, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia or Switzerland, which meant that much of the training of the labor force was done on existing patterns dating from World War I. Attempts by the mother country to offset wastage by selling obsolete material to her Commonwealth offspring only strained relations and impeded coordination of Imperial Defence. A substantial amount of British equipment manufactured between 1936 and 1939 was not used at all, not even for training, due to its obsolescence; and thus discarded while still in pristine condition. In the case of aircraft, production of planes exceeded the pace of training pilots.
Obsolescent equipment, however, is often simpler than more modern, more capable and more complex weapons. The Spanish Republican Army, having lost much of its peacetime officer and enlisted strength to the Nationalists, required simpler equipment for its enthusiastic but inexperienced recruits. If Great Britain sold its war reserve of equipment as soon as practical after the start of the Spanish Civil War, the Republican Spanish Army receives suitable equipment rapidly; and Great Britain receives the foreign exchange to accelerate its modernization and replenish the war stocks sold. Later contracts cover the sale to Spain of equipment manufactured solely for labor expansion; and as with the Navy, Army secondment is encouraged. For some special requirements, there will be orders that take considerable time for British industry to fill.
Spanish orders greatly accelerate production in British factories. In July 1936, the only producer of tanks in the entire British Commonwealth was Vickers. Nuffield – a shadow company of Morris LTD started up in July 1937 and Vulcan Ltd, a subsidiary of Vickers was started the following December. Vickers in July 1936 had in production the 6-ton Model E light tank (20 on order for China, 32 for Finland) and the Lt Tank Mk III and Lt Tank Mk V (the two types had only detail differences) for which production was ending. British Army orders for Lt Tank Mk VIA were scheduled to begin rolling off the lines in October and Lt Tank Mk VIB Indian Pattern vehicles in December 1936. The prototype Cruiser Tank Mk I was delivered to the British Army in July 1936 and an order for 50 is already placed. The first prototype Infantry Tank Mk I was due for delivery for trials in September 1936. Production of five different tank types at Vickers is very inefficient.
The first Spanish orders, in August 1936 would be for vehicles which could be most rapidly delivered. Orders for 6-ton Model E light tanks will eventually total 153 delivered between November 1936 and December 1938, one version with two .303-inch machine guns (Type A) and another with a single 47mm low-velocity gun (Type B). 75 Lt Tank Mk V are produced between August 1936 and March 1937 when the remaining factory space is converted to Spanish Pattern Lt Tank Mk VIB orders. 315 Spanish Lt Tank Mk VIB are delivered between January 1937 and June 1939. With Vickers’ capacity thus filled, Spanish orders for 80 Infantry Tank Mk I are placed in October 1936 with Vulcan LTD after a cursory examination of the prototype; and delivered in March 1937 through September 1938. British orders for the Infantry Tank Mk I are not received until April 1937 after thorough trials were concluded. Production of the 50 Cruiser Tank Mk I is moved to Nuffield concurrent with receipt of a Spanish order for 115 more for delivery between July 1937 and April 1939. The addition of 738 Spanish tanks built in Great Britain more than doubles historical production, and is a tremendous expansion of the labor force even if the relative simplicity of 543 light tanks is factored in. However, relatively few of the Light Tank Model E Type B or Cruiser Tank Mk I ever engage German or Italian supplied tanks, and little of tank combat is learned.
With most of Spain’s requirements filled by British factories, there is a significant shift of other orders to Commonwealth factories. In addition to vast quantities of canned food required by the Spanish Army, wool from Australia and New Zealand and cotton from India are in high demand for perhaps ten million uniforms. In Australia, production of tracked Bren Carriers will commence in January 1937, not only for the Australian and New Zealand Armies but for British units in India as their intended Bren carriers are diverted to Spain. Production of Bren Carriers in Canada is added in late 1938. The arsenal at Robert’s Heights, South Africa, reactivates mothballed World War I facilities to produce 18-pdr howitzers.
Although larger towed artillery employed mostly British built Scammell or Morris trucks, about 2,600 Canadian Military Pattern 4x4 trucks are delivered in two versions, one by Ford and one by Chevrolet between January/March 1937 and the end of March 1939 when remaining orders are amicably taken over by the Canadian Army. 600 Chevrolet 6x4 trucks (a licensed-built Canadian version of the Scammell Pioneer) are also delivered to Spain between December 1938 and August 1939. Although 80 2-Pdr (40mm) anti-tank guns were built in Canada, the Spanish preferred French 25mm guns, and placed most orders for that type.
The Spanish Air Force, whose personnel are younger on average than other services, and which had been expanded since the monarchy was overthrown in 1931 was the most loyal of the three services to the Republic. British Aviation industry would benefit in similar manner to other British armaments industries, although unlike other industry, the British Air Ministry paid all design costs of an aircraft and for required tooling, and could allocate production to any factory besides the designer’s. The first category of British aircraft sold is a clearing of war reserve aircraft, many of which were used by the RAF, but still in serviceable condition. Not all war stock is released – no heavy bombers, no army cooperation aircraft configured for colonial policing duties, no Fleet Air Arm planes, and no primary trainers needed for RAF expansion. Depending on number of flight hours, these planes went for 20 to 60 per cent of original cost.
The most valuable are 124 Bristol Bulldog fighters, aging biplanes of a type in Spanish service since 1932, and 35 trainer versions which allowed rapid instruction of the dozens of volunteers joining the anti-Fascist cause. 46 Hawker Fury Mk I biplanes supplied are superior to, and more highly esteemed by pilots than the Bulldog – three samples were delivered to Spain in July 1935 for evaluation had been flown by a limited number of Republican pilots. The three Spanish Fury aircraft and the planned factory for co-production are now in Nationalist territory. Nineteen Gloster Gauntlet Mk I and 14 Demon two-seat fighters (for bomber interception duties) are unfamiliar to Spanish pilots in both tactics and design, and will be assigned to RAF pilots on secondment as instructors and to volunteers with some previous flying experience. Finally 159 Hawker Hart bombers and 40 Hart trainers (a rather easy and forgiving plane to fly) provide an instant capability to attack Nationalist troops, aerodromes and transport facilities despite a small bomb load of only 500 lbs and its short range. All of these aircraft are delivered to Spain by the end of October 1936, and a number become casualties of inexperienced pilots. Nevertheless, the availability of nearly 400 aircraft gave Republican pilots tremendous advantages in the initial phases of the civil war.
The second category is aircraft sold as soon as they left active RAF service. These are delivered in penny packets of two to five planes at a time: 60 Hart, 48 Demon and 32 Bulldogs by June 1937. 96 Gauntlet Mk II are delivered between September 1937 and December 1938, and 60 Fury Mk II in January-June 1938. These aircraft kept Spanish squadrons equipped with the first batch of deliveries up to full strength, cost a modest amount, and are tactically useful; but did not offer any great qualitative improvements. This was also generally true of the third category – brand new planes built to British orders to train workers, but sold to Spain at about a 10% profit after delivery to the RAF. 86 Hawker Hind light bombers (delivered June 1937-January 1938) are Harts with more powerful engines. Army cooperation planes such as 110 Audax (September 1936 to September 1937 – 67 from Avro and 43 from Westland) and 80 Hectors (February-December 1937 – Westland built) of the same Hart design family are available straight from the factory. A larger type, Vickers Vincents first delivered in December 1937, totaled 57 when the type went out of production seven months later.
These close support and reconnaissance aircraft are highly valued in Spain where tactics reflected conditions found in the First World War more than in the Second. 145 Fairey Battle light bombers (May 1938 until May of 1939) and 80 Hawker Henley (Built by Gloster – January 1938 to February 1939) reflected the winner and loser of the RAF competition to replace the Hart. The end of the Civil War finally curtailed any further purchases. The Henley proved a death trap in service – prone to engine failure and poor handling characteristics; the only thing to commend it being the high degree of component commonality with the Hawker Hurricane. (The 200 Henleys built for the RAF by Gloster were completed as target tugs.)
It is notable that an additional 50 Gauntlet Mk II aircraft are the only fighters among the designs used for training industry, as opposed to over 550 bomber or attack planes. To a large degree this reflected the dominance that Bomber Command held over Fighter Command in the pre-war RAF. Consequently, orders for planes tailored for the needs of the Spanish Air Force (the fourth category) are for late-model fighters, long-range twin-engine bombers and torpedo planes – types not found among RAF cast-offs or off-the-shelf inventory. These newly manufactured planes are the most profitable, both for British factories and in the Commonwealth.
99 Fury Mk II with more powerful Hispano-Suiza engines, and 100 Hurricanes fitted with the prototype’s Rolls-Royce Merlin C engine are ordered in September 1936. Hawker was readily able to produce the wings and fuselages of Hurricanes, but the June 1936 RAF decision to fit improved Merlin II engines required additional flight trials, and the first Hurricane Mk I was not accepted from Hawker until October 1937. Selling 100 planes with Merlin Cs unloaded a backlog of unpowered airframes at Hawker and brought Merlin production on line earlier. The Spanish Hurricanes are delivered between March and December 1937. Ironically, due to the Hurricane’s higher priority, the smaller, simpler Spanish Fury Mk II with no design challenges took longer to deliver. Despite starting four months earlier, Spanish Fury production ended three months later than its famed successor.
In June of 1937, satisfied with the superiority of the monoplane, 100 additional Hurricane Mk I with the Merlin II are ordered, the RAF agreeing to release every sixth plane produced by Hawker. The Canadian Car and Foundry in Montreal had been designated as a “shadow factory” in 1936, but the decision to produce there is accelerated 19 months over the historical timeline. The first of 100 Canadian-built Hurricane Mk Is takes to the air in June 1938, and the pace of deliveries to the RAF is soon restored. In January 1939, 60 Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Hurricanes are ordered from Canadian Car and Foundry as historical.
The latest Supermarine Spitfire and Bolton Paul Defiant are not released by the Air Ministry for export. As an insurance against the failure of the monoplane fighter, 88 Gloster Gladiator Mk I the successor to the Gauntlet) are ordered in October 1936 and delivered to Spain from April 1937 through January 1938. Upon receipt of this (for the time) large order, Gloster sent design drawings and jigs to Hawker-Australia to establish co-production there to ensure fulfillment of RAF needs. The Air Ministry hoped in vain that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) would take advantage and place orders, this being a major part of the reason for the decision. Unlike Canadian Car and Foundry, Hawker-Australia had been producing aircraft for over 15 years, and represented an underutilized asset.
The first 16 Australian-built Gladiators are delivered to the RAF squadrons in the Middle East; then an order from China for 36 planes is assigned there; then two batches of 12 and 18 respectively for Iraq and Egypt followed; and the final six aircraft to RAF Middle East units by June 1938. To replace Spanish combat losses, another 166 Gladiator Mk II are ordered in November 1937 for delivery from June 1938 onward, but only 98 had been delivered by the end of the war and the last 68 taken over by the RAF. This second order was split between Gloster and Hawker-Australia; upon cancellation, Gloster ended production, but Hawkers-Australia resumed deliveries to RAF-Middle East until its requirements are met.
The Spanish Republican Air Force also coveted torpedo bombers. From 1933 through 1935, 25 Vickers Vildebeeste Mk II were built under license by CASA in Spain. Although the factory in Getafe was in the Republican zone, it was moved to Alicante for added safety, and then began production of Polikarpov I-15 biplanes instead. Spain will order 113 improved Vildebeeste IV, delivered beginning in April 1937, but when RAF needs shifted to the Vincent army cooperation version in December, the last 57 are accepted as Vincents by July 1938. Still looking for torpedo bombers, Spain found the most unlikely source. The RCAF had a coastal defence requirement, and Boeing secured a license for Blackburn Shark, the current type used aboard RN aircraft carriers in early 1936 and opened a factory in Vancouver. Blackburn delivered seven Shark Mk III pattern aircraft for assembly in early 1937, but the RCAF later cut the Boeing order to only 17 as its range and open cockpit did not seem suitable for Canada’s long and frigid coastline. The underutilized Boeing factory was ideal, the Spanish placing an order for 60 in October 1937, and 38 are delivered before the war’s end – 45 in total (the last 15 are cancelled). Once competent tactics are developed with the help of seconded British personnel, these planes are successful in forcing German and Italian warships away from Spanish waters.
The RAF also allowed the Spanish to receive Bristol Blenheim Mk I bombers from its production runs, a courtesy also extended to Finland, Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey and Greece. In January 1937, 60 of 318 planes ordered from Rootes (a shadow factory) and 60 of 434 aircraft ordered from Bristol a month earlier are transferred to a Spanish account, and another 60 Blenheim Mk I from Avro in September 1937. The first 120 are replaced by orders at Fairchild Canada, which received an order for 18 planes from the RCAF in February 1937, and the Avro replacement order is transferred seven months later. The Spanish Blenheims are delivered between December 1937 and February 1939; and the Canadian-built RAF replacements between June 1938 and November 1939. The other large bomber order is for Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers. 46 Mk II and 80 Mk III are ordered immediately after the Condor Legion bombing of Guernica in April 1937, and delivered November 1937-April 1939.
Blenheims and Whitleys were intended to be used as “city-busters”, capable of neutralizing from the air the industrial or transportation value of a major city. Ports would be left idle, mines and factories disrupted, and the morale and fighting spirit of a civilian population shattered. In fact this did not happen. Targets are attacked too infrequently; maintenance, weather and navigation difficulties were constant; attrition and losses to flak are greater than expected; training and bombing accuracy were inadequate. Nevertheless, the attacks in the last half of the war forced the Nationalists to divert fighter and anti-aircraft units to defensive duties where they spent a considerable amount of time idle.
All of this may seem tedious to the reader, perhaps the topic could have been dispensed with a couple of sentences that the Republican Government could have won, and Britain could have profited greatly therefrom. The purpose is to demonstrate that in mid-1936, Great Britain still possessed the world’s greatest aircraft industry, with military designs second to (only perhaps) the United States. Great Britain was capable of delivering roughly the same number of aircraft as all other nations combined. This position was lost by the outbreak of war in 1939. The Spanish Civil War was the last, best hope of keeping up. The three modern aircraft manufacturing centers established in Canada and the one in India, influenced as they are by American assembly line and manufacturing practices, on average build planes with one-third the man-hours a British factory required. Having these lessons learned and absorbed in peacetime will give wartime manufacturing of critical aircraft an incredible boost. The effect of this British policy on the balance of power in the Spanish Civil War can be illustrated by the following table:
With British sales of admittedly mostly second-rate aircraft, the Republicans seize unquestioned air superiority, and maintain it throughout the conflict. Neither Italy nor Germany could afford to send additional pilots; they were needed to maintain the healthy combat readiness of their respective air services at home. Slowly the Nationalists will be crushed. On the other hand, British aircrew gaining experience in Spain will expand the auxiliary RAF and FAA aircrews by perhaps 10-12% and 4-5% each.
Two other sources of Spanish Republican aircraft should be noted, as they arose out of attempts to evade Neutrality Laws enacted by the U.S. Congress. Before it received Hurricane orders, Canadian Car and Foundry made an earlier foray into aviation hoping to capture a lucrative Spanish order. Obtaining a license from Grumman Aircraft in New York for the tooling and design staff for a discontinued U.S. Navy scout dive bomber, the design was updated with a slightly more powerful engine and lighter weight with naval gear deleted. The Spanish order for 50 duly arrived in December 1936, but delays with recruiting skilled workers, lack of timely orders for materials, and diversion of attention to the Hurricane delayed the project. Two batches totaling 34 were sent to Spain in April and June 1938. Although greatly liked by pilots and crews, the Grumman G-23 Delfin was clearly vulnerable by that late date and Spain refused to pay for the last 16 planes. They sat around the factory for a couple of months until the Sudeten Crisis exposed the near naked state of the RCAF, and they were reluctantly taken into service. (Historical note: The 34 Grumman G-23 were in fact delivered through false paperwork originating in Turkey.)
The second American aircraft is well-deserving of a page in the annals of iconic designs. The Curtiss Hawk 75A was the ancestor of both the P-36 and P-40 of World War II fame. Curtiss had sold hundreds of its biplane predecessors in Asia and Latin America, and set up an assembly plant in China. Curtiss had high export hopes for its first all-metal monoplane fighter as well, and to evade neutrality laws sought an overseas manufacturing site after the Hawk 75A demonstrator was favorably received in Europe in 1936. The only one that materialized was in Cordoba, Argentina, the decision by the French Popular Front Government to nationalize its aerospace industry scuttling any plans to locate in that country. Curtiss representatives surveyed sites in South Africa, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, but an unhelpful attitude on military exports by British officials led to Curtiss choosing Canton, China. Japanese troops occupied that city before production commenced.
The change in British policy towards arms sales to Spain will change attitudes towards a Curtiss factory as well. The next Curtiss choice would be Hindustan Aircraft in Bangalore, India instead of Canton as its preferred co-production partner. It was close to the Tata Steel Works and an expatriate American work force would be comfortable there. A possible runner up would be near Tengah Airfield on Singapore Island. Bangalore is close to anticipated Asian customers and Curtiss-Wright Cyclone engines would also be manufactured there, which were in demand for civilian airliners in that part of the world. British bureaucratic approval would take about six months (until about February 1937), and the first Spanish order for 90 improved Hawk H models a month later. To speed production, the first 24 are manufactured in the United States, assembled at Bangalore with a first flight in August 1937, and first delivery in Spain in October 1937. The Curtiss Hawk was more expensive than the Hurricane, and as it came late in the war there are no follow-on orders. The final delivery was in November 1938.
The first Hawk 75H assembled was held back as a sales demonstrator (and replaced by a 67th locally manufactured plane) and flown via Burma, Thailand and French Indochina to Canton where it was examined and purchased by COL Claire Chennault (of Flying Tigers fame) on behalf of the Chinese Air Force. This led to an order in October 1937 for 112 Hawk 75M with fixed landing gear and derated engines for simplified maintenance on austere Chinese airfields. Design work had to be done in the United States, so the first Hawk 75M was not completed until May 1938. Only 30 had been delivered when Canton, the last Chinese port was captured by the Japanese in October 1938. Production did not cease – Spanish orders had run dry and there was no other work. Two dozen Hawk 75M piled up at an ad-hoc hanger until trucks could be bought to transport them in crates over the Burma Road in mid-1939.
When an order for 25 similar Hawk 75N was received from Siam in January 1939, production shifted immediately to fill it at the expense of Chinese orders. Other orders are fitted in – a French order in March 1939 for 100 Hawk 75A-2 specified nine planes are built at Bengalore for delivery to Indochina. When Hawk 75M production resumed, the last 32 are eventually taken over by the Royal Indian Air Force in August 1939. In the summer of 1939, when a Dutch order for 35 Hawk 75A-7 sparked protests from Isolationists in the U.S. House of Representatives, the entire order was shifted from Buffalo, New York to Hindustan.
The improvement in the Spanish Republican Army allows a counteroffensive to begin about December 1936 to reunite the Basque Provinces with the rest of Republican Spain. Primarily credit is due to the assignment of MG Henry Wilson (later Field Marshal) to command the unofficial British Military Mission to Spain. Wilson was on half-pay from February 1936 until July 1937 when he was appointed command of 2 Division. He is assisted by COL George Gifford, also on half pay, who in World War II expanded the Royal West African Frontier Force from 11,000 to over 200,000 troops who fought well in East Africa and Japanese in Burma. Wilson also had two key Spanish partners, COL Segismundo Casado and COL Cipriano Mera. Casado was one of the few completely apolitical army officers, and Mera was sympathetic to the Anarchist Party, which the Socialists and Communists in the Government refused to arm. Both were highly competent, and just as important, very lucky officers.
Arriving in Spain in September 1936, Wilson finds about 45,000 volunteers, mostly Anarchists, but some Socialists and conservative Basques. (Note: the Anarchists had become more accepting of order and structure during the chaos of 1931-5, but retained their name and lip-service to the cause.) Wilson obtained first delivery on British equipment and after training by Gifford, Casado and Mera, three brigades (about 12,000) captured the city of Sargossa – held by Nationalists since the uprising in July by Christmas. This reopened the rail lines from Northern Spain to Barcelona. Continuing to expand, Wilson’s forces also defeated the Italian Expeditionary Corps between March and June 1937 when they attempted to conquer Northern Spain. The Condor Legion bombing of Guernica was part of this offensive. Wilson organized a counterattack into Nationalist-controlled Galicia before he returned home.
Later in 1937, the Republicans will do much better in the battles around Madrid and to control Southeastern Spain. Since Republican manpower always exceeded Nationalist, early delivery of proper equipment is enough to turn the tide. Nationalist forces are gradually driven off the Iberian Peninsula by the end of 1938, and Spanish colonies and the Canary Islands are back under Madrid’s control by March 1939.
Conclusion:
Arms sales to Spain brings British production of Army and Air Force equipment much closer to full wartime production as anything else I can imagine. It does so with little additional cost to the British taxpayer. It will also reduce unemployment in key wartime industrial sectors.
The Spanish Civil War was full of ironies. Although from the overthrow of the monarchy in 1931 until mid-1935 the nation was wracked with chaos and civil strife, order was beginning to prevail by late 1935. Extremists on both the right and left had burned themselves out. The relative integrity of the January 1936 elections demonstrated to the Nationalists that if a coup was not staged soon, the Republic would acquire too much popular support and legitimacy. British aid would likely strengthen moderate forces within the Republican Government – the Stalinists in Spain were able to violently liquidate Anarchists, Trotskyites, and Communists not aligned with Moscow (in purges of the type George Orwell barely survived) only as the Spanish Government weakened. Key anti-Communist parties such as the Anarchists control a powerful counterforce in Wilson’s trained army. Just as HMG was officially neutral in the Spanish Civil War, Spain remains officially neutral in any Second World War. But her shipyards would build merchant vessels to British orders, factories and mines supply Britain’s needs, and volunteers are available serve in various non-combat capacities.
As a final note – I have strong doubts the British Cabinet was big enough for both Chamberlain and Churchill for too long. It is quite possible Churchill resigns when Chamberlain’s reaction to Adolf Hitler’s Anschluss with Austria is flaccid. A breech is certain by the Sudeten Crisis. Which one is booted out, and whether the Munich Agreement goes as historically, or Churchill stares Hitler down in a face-to-face meeting is for the reader to decide.
There was 4 spare turrets from the Curious class (before they were rebuilt as carriers) and those were iirc used on monitors
Are you sure?
I know there was the floating dry dock at Malta.
Garden island is 1945
The Hood was in the King George V dock, the only dock that could take her 872' even then they had to take about 6* off the dock. The tonnage then was 42,000 tons - sometime later they added further protection and increased her tonnage to 44,000 tons. She stood there like a Queen and certainly we were very proud to have been chosen to serve in such a magnificent ship. Our duties consisted of mainly sentry and painting until we were prepared to sail on May 13th.
Forgive the mess of quotes here as well as probably my own ignorance showing through but I wanted to add some stuff and ask some questions
Though I have to wonder what Moscow's reaction would be to being told they won't be receiving the gold if HMG ends up holding it? Stalin is a very spiteful man afterall.
Also enforcement of the Blockade also means they have to run more escort duties which will be a greater boost for when the RN has to run convoys as you said but also for the merchant crews since it gets them used to operating in a convoy system and allows the secondment RN officers to iron out the kinks before WW2.
Though in terms of British skill I wonder if the after-action meeting by the end of this would highlight the need for electricians I know Radar isn't in major deployment at this point or present on ships radio's, motors, fire control and generators do exist could the need for enough experts to install these be highlighted leading to a crash electrical courses?
Would be a good way as well with the Spanish yards in Republican control especially with the technicians and yard-dogs getting more practice on turning out ships especially if they are light warships like destroyers or light cruisers it will help when WW2 comes around with the withdrawn technicians. Though the secondment may be more difficult not sure how many RN officers will speak Spanish though English is the international language of the sea I'm not sure how true this rings in the 30s adding to this as well would it be possible to either set up a 'Spanish Britannia' in Cadiz or to give crash courses to Tarpauline or deck plate officers? It could be a major help when the secondments have to return to Britain and the Commonwealth in giving them a solid core still.
Though in terms of the Army secondment that should be an interesting experience and lead to many fresh ideas being injected though it will be more interesting to see what effect it has on the various 'guilds' in the army and if they are willing to adapt to the changes.
Hmm with armour rolling off the line and into Spanish hands with RTR officers as their trainers I have to say I imagine the reactions when the RTR officers turn up red-faced to give a stinging after-action report.
Hmm makes me wonder if the Rail manufacturers will be persuaded to set up tank lines to try and meet demand?
Also if people actually listening to the limited encounters then it may get some people considering engaging other tanks at the very least. It also may put a reconsideration of converting cavalry regiments over to armour and maybe more mechanized regiments would be better though I'm just summarizing here.
Hmm with the smaller models to help fund the lines in the UK and Commonwealth would it be possible to offer them at a cost to farmers or construction companies? It would give a major boost to many of them since a lot in many places at the time still use horses and carts for farmers and for construction firms a haulier is always useful and when it comes to WW2 having those trucks still in the UK and Commonwealth available would be a boost for internal logistics.
Not sure how relevant this is though but what about railways in Spain? Having the British companies help modernise them and build them up could pay dividends in terms of logistics especially in port where they can run light railways. On top of this more income could help the companies to expand since if there are factories in Britain, the empire and the commonwealth going up then expanding the railways makes sense for heavy good haulage.
Maybe and earlier adoption of finger four and wingmen by the RAF amongst other things.
This also leads to another second stream of income as well since seeling off the old airframes means they get a boost though I have to wonder if it would be rational to send the machine tools along with the craft? It means that local production can go up quickly as well as giving the ability to set up a repair base since they will have the patterns and tools for the planes.
Also in terms of working them up to build their skills would it would probably be a good idea to sell them to allies in rear areas as well not related to Spain? Like as you say later on to China since the Nationalists there would love any gear.
Does this also mean they could work out earlier as well they need to arm their planes with cannon's as well? I mean having run them in combat and seeing the issues with the armaments of the Mk1 could lead to a faster change.
Torpedo bombers would be a menace to what was left of the Nationalist Fleet and merchant marine as you said would also lead to the Italians and Germans taking their threat more seriously. Hmm, could this also lead to the RAF and by extension the RN considering LRMP aircraft as well to cover their convoys? Bit of a stretch from Torpedo bombers but they could see the need to provide some form of the top cover they could provide to convoys during dangerous stretches.
Hmm actually seeing how hard it is may also cause the RAF to do serious evaluations on Bomber Command and the whole view of the Trenchard doctrine?
Also, more lines going up in Canada and India as well as the lessons learned from the Canadian factories would be a major wake up call as you said.
This raises the question though Franco will more than likely flee where will he go? Germany or Italy? Also what trouble can he kick up when the ballon goes up for WW2?
Also, you said a lot of neutral support from them, though I have to wonder if a lot of soliders who fought with the British Officers from all branches would resign and travel to the UK to fight?
So essentially you will be thrown Baldwin to the out which should lead to some interesting butterflies I have to wonder how this will affect the policy-making of HMG as a whole. Also, I have to agree with you about Churchill going into the exchequer as well would essentially be him putting his money where his mouth is so to speak as well as working with the Republicans I could see him doing that as well. The gold also going to London instead of the USSR also means that half the stuff Stalin and his gang got up to with it and the demands they made as well means that a major lever has just been yanked out of their hand if the majority does go from the Spanish to London.
Though I have to wonder what Moscow's reaction would be to being told they won't be receiving the gold if HMG ends up holding it? Stalin is a very spiteful man afterall.
So as to withdraw the technicians there are chances that the yards could be sabotaged to a degree not so much that they can't be repaired but delayed enough so that it would mean the Nationalists have to pull people ethier who are half-trained which you don't want to trust me the amount of the damage they can do is not worth the effort of bring them in or 'ask' their allies in Italy for help which brings in their own yard workers though it means the ships could be brought in eventually they still have to do the setup and do a load of other work on the hulls if they want to build them. Also, there will be delays due to the ships being built to British Practices and the Italians will have their own methods at the time.
Also enforcement of the Blockade also means they have to run more escort duties which will be a greater boost for when the RN has to run convoys as you said but also for the merchant crews since it gets them used to operating in a convoy system and allows the secondment RN officers to iron out the kinks before WW2.
Though in terms of British skill I wonder if the after-action meeting by the end of this would highlight the need for electricians I know Radar isn't in major deployment at this point or present on ships radio's, motors, fire control and generators do exist could the need for enough experts to install these be highlighted leading to a crash electrical courses?
Would be a good way as well with the Spanish yards in Republican control especially with the technicians and yard-dogs getting more practice on turning out ships especially if they are light warships like destroyers or light cruisers it will help when WW2 comes around with the withdrawn technicians. Though the secondment may be more difficult not sure how many RN officers will speak Spanish though English is the international language of the sea I'm not sure how true this rings in the 30s adding to this as well would it be possible to either set up a 'Spanish Britannia' in Cadiz or to give crash courses to Tarpauline or deck plate officers? It could be a major help when the secondments have to return to Britain and the Commonwealth in giving them a solid core still.
So essentially Britain has a stupid amount of WW1 equipment that didn't get used essentially sat inside various firms rotting and has a lot of old pattern machine tools. That fits with both what I know and what others have said, heck the irony is in the reserves is there are probably a lot of Spanish pistols as well sat in British stores from WW1 since they had a cottage industry turning them out in bulk it was a massive boom industry.
So essentially for the first bit is what you're proposing is selling the excess British equipment with eventually the old machinery from WW1 getting sold as well with newer machine tools being brought from places like Sweden, Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and the USA to modernize the British lines, as well as possible newer machinery, being built in the UK? That would probably help deal with unemployment in the UK as well as lead to a steady modernization of British factories and lines as well as development in Commonwealth countries to meet demand.
Though in terms of the Army secondment that should be an interesting experience and lead to many fresh ideas being injected though it will be more interesting to see what effect it has on the various 'guilds' in the army and if they are willing to adapt to the changes.
Hmm with armour rolling off the line and into Spanish hands with RTR officers as their trainers I have to say I imagine the reactions when the RTR officers turn up red-faced to give a stinging after-action report.
This will be a major difference as well as giving the secondment officers and NCO's to see the tanks in action will be a major boost and change the flow of British tank doctrine and operational procedures and maybe even design if they can. Though this would probably depend on who it gets to and how willing people are to get out and push it along since they will have actual combat operations with armour under their belt. Though they may not have actually engaged German or Italian armour in terms of working out how to get them going, maintaining them in the field and running them it will be a boost.
Hmm makes me wonder if the Rail manufacturers will be persuaded to set up tank lines to try and meet demand?
Also if people actually listening to the limited encounters then it may get some people considering engaging other tanks at the very least. It also may put a reconsideration of converting cavalry regiments over to armour and maybe more mechanized regiments would be better though I'm just summarizing here.
Adding to the Bren carriers you will also probably get demands for other things as well like mess kits, canteens as well as possible things like maybe something like an early version of the Landrovers to fill a role of the Jeep through this is a big if.
Hmm if needed until the carriers arrive they could armour those trucks to give them some protection but not sure if that would be a good move on their part and would need to bring the steel in from else where or use scrap.
Hmm with the smaller models to help fund the lines in the UK and Commonwealth would it be possible to offer them at a cost to farmers or construction companies? It would give a major boost to many of them since a lot in many places at the time still use horses and carts for farmers and for construction firms a haulier is always useful and when it comes to WW2 having those trucks still in the UK and Commonwealth available would be a boost for internal logistics.
Not sure how relevant this is though but what about railways in Spain? Having the British companies help modernise them and build them up could pay dividends in terms of logistics especially in port where they can run light railways. On top of this more income could help the companies to expand since if there are factories in Britain, the empire and the commonwealth going up then expanding the railways makes sense for heavy good haulage.
Would be a major boost to give the RAF officers on secondment and also probably lead to a great many useful reports and information making its way back to both the AM and the RAF. Even with the high rate of loss, it means that the republicans as said would hold air superiority and means that the RAF officers get to observe what works and what doesn't.
Maybe and earlier adoption of finger four and wingmen by the RAF amongst other things.
This also leads to another second stream of income as well since seeling off the old airframes means they get a boost though I have to wonder if it would be rational to send the machine tools along with the craft? It means that local production can go up quickly as well as giving the ability to set up a repair base since they will have the patterns and tools for the planes.
Damn that's a lot of airframes for ground attack, the battles would be good in this situation since they aren't all that great it would also make a good proving ground for RAF to develop the idea that hey CAS actually works though if it will dispel the ideals of 'Boom' Trenchard is up for debate since he is still a big mover and shaker in Westminster and the RAF politics. Still, that's a big if though since it depends on people listening.
Also in terms of working them up to build their skills would it would probably be a good idea to sell them to allies in rear areas as well not related to Spain? Like as you say later on to China since the Nationalists there would love any gear.
With the Hurricanes that get delivered gives them a test bed earlier which is good which means they will probably give them a good idea after the fact on things like sealing tanks and armouring them up to a degree. Also fitting them with the Merlins means that the problems and improvements can be worked out earlier on in rough conditions as well as give pilots a great deal of experience with them which will help when it come to France and the Battle of Britain should it happen in this timeline.
Does this also mean they could work out earlier as well they need to arm their planes with cannon's as well? I mean having run them in combat and seeing the issues with the armaments of the Mk1 could lead to a faster change.
With the Gladiator I know that Australia at the time would struggle but wouldn't it be worth going with the Hurricane instead? I mean by this point the Spanish must be running into Nationalist also German and Italian Monoplnes even in small numbers they are probably taking chunks out of them? Would they really go for that or instead would they do a split with building hurricanes for the RAAF, RAF and RNZAF and setting up a Gladiators to sell to places like China and Spain?
Torpedo bombers would be a menace to what was left of the Nationalist Fleet and merchant marine as you said would also lead to the Italians and Germans taking their threat more seriously. Hmm, could this also lead to the RAF and by extension the RN considering LRMP aircraft as well to cover their convoys? Bit of a stretch from Torpedo bombers but they could see the need to provide some form of the top cover they could provide to convoys during dangerous stretches.
It could lead to bomber command officers seconded getting the skill they need as well as maybe some of them opening up to the idea of night raids as well as maybe a few savvy ones possibly using their bombers as improvised transport.
Hmm actually seeing how hard it is may also cause the RAF to do serious evaluations on Bomber Command and the whole view of the Trenchard doctrine?
Also, more lines going up in Canada and India as well as the lessons learned from the Canadian factories would be a major wake up call as you said.
More experienced aircrews are good though I hope some ground crew and maintenance establishments are thrown in? Since getting that down to a T is a major help an aircraft is only as good as its establishment.
Having a second string of airframes built in India would be major boost for India as well as for the War in the east especially if the Fall of France happens and the battle of Britain happens means they have a ready source of Airframes available. Which gives the Chinese more air power and also allows the Dutch access to a decent airframe. On top of these greater economic opportunities in India means more investment and a greater skilled workforce even if expats will be a boost overall.
Hmm the Republic doing better and with a great deal of help from the British will probably draw the Republic more into the British Camp in terms of influence and also open up Spanish Markets. Though given the better performance by as well it means that many nationalists will probably be forced to flee when the Germans and the Italians are driven off this also means as well that they lose a lot of experienced manpower in particular the Germans who lose a good chunk of their 'Condors' heck the secondment officers at the point you described are all veterans of the fighting, in particular, the Army and the RAF officers and NCOs.
This raises the question though Franco will more than likely flee where will he go? Germany or Italy? Also what trouble can he kick up when the ballon goes up for WW2?
With the end of the Civil war, I have to wonder what would happen to the Stalinists? I imagine they would be purged themselves since the USSR didn't provide as much as Britain did in this scenario even if it is only stuff they wanted to get rid of. Also, there is the reaction of the USSR if the Republicans give them the cold shoulder after this I imagine they will not be best pleased but not a lot they can do about it I imagine.
Also, you said a lot of neutral support from them, though I have to wonder if a lot of soliders who fought with the British Officers from all branches would resign and travel to the UK to fight?
For a lot of this the Cabinet papers are online and there is no reason to suppose that the general conclusions reached OTL will be different TTL assuming the world situation generally similar and technology proceeds at the same pace. So I would assume that the POD is the threat level from Germany is determined earlier, and decisions to deploy to the continent earlier but not that types of equipment are available earlier - unless they were otherwise delayed for financial reasons or the technological solution is a result of production experience. So for example the Covenanter is a neat idea that obviously does not work in prototype, but is produced because of the need for something at the time. The Bren is selected in 1935 but waits for production orders at scale. The delays in aircraft production in 38 are encountered but in say 36/7 and addressed as OTL.
The sequence is to create the plant in general ( floorspace, ammo filling powder production) , decide on what is to be produced and then make it. So an earlier rearmament tends to push this say 1-2 years earlier. This is probably doable given the doubts about the desirability of sending a BEF to fight in France.
The final pre war pre conscription position was for 2 Mobile regular divisions out of the existing 1 Mobile div ( basically this is a move from the 1939 amd div structure to a binary armoured division with 1 bde tanks one bde inf plus supports like the later war Guards Amd) 4 Regular divisions on a European war scale - which would include attached Amd Bde for example. 2 Colonial Divisions ( not equipped for offensive warfare on a european scale basically in the middle east). 5 TA anti aircraft divisions, 9 Inf divs, 3 Mobile divs ( which might be either the earlier or later version and probably would be fielded as a mix of Inf divs and smaller Mobile divs.) and smaler formations able to form another division.
Small aside the British Army had a structure of two division types. The Infantry division which is all motorized and has an attached Amd Bde available, the Mobile division is an exploitation force intended to pursue a beaten enemy.
So that would give a force of 16 Divisions all motorised and 2 armoured divs deployable within say 6 months and with about half prior to that with two formed divisions in the Middle east and the Indian army etc and this is without conscription which would increase force available about a year after introduction.
In terms of equipment again per plan by 38 there would be the 370 odd 3,7'' AA not the 44 actual, 25lb equipping the field regiments, 2lb the AT units and an armoured force with probably A9 at scale and hundreds of Matilda.
For the RAF the key item is Schemes A and F. A is the earlier and calls for 111 front line RAF squadrons and 16 FAA squadrons ( the latter dependent on the number of ships embarking aircraft) F is the Production scheme from 36-39, OTL this was only delivered on 4,500 aircraft of which 3,000 were of known obsolescent legacy types assuming the POD increases factory space earlier and the scheme delivers this gives completed around 8000 front line aircraft initially Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Fairey Battle, Bristol Blenheim, Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley, Handley-Page Hampden and Vickers Wellesley and Wellington,
later introducing Beaufort Skua and Lysander into the mix.
In fact Scheme F is cancelled after 2 years and replaced by Scheme L of 1938 which is for 6,000 a/c per annum for two years. In fact once the labour shortage is addressed the industry consistently overproduces on airframes vs plan.
By comparison Germany ( and Japan) cannot do much to expand their rate of increase so by 1939 Germany is going have the prospect of going to war with 18 BEF divisions not the 9 of OTL 1940 and it must be emphasised these are all motorised with tanks attached or binary armoured divs which contracts the length of Front the French have to occupy and based on OTL plans the German attack runs into a mass of allied armour and if it gets stopped bombed the shit and back by a superior air force.
The RAF is likely around 8000 aircraft worldwide with a front line strength of probably 4000 or nearly double the LW, plus the French who equal the LW.
The sequence is to create the plant in general ( floorspace, ammo filling powder production) , decide on what is to be produced and then make it. So an earlier rearmament tends to push this say 1-2 years earlier. This is probably doable given the doubts about the desirability of sending a BEF to fight in France.
The final pre war pre conscription position was for 2 Mobile regular divisions out of the existing 1 Mobile div ( basically this is a move from the 1939 amd div structure to a binary armoured division with 1 bde tanks one bde inf plus supports like the later war Guards Amd) 4 Regular divisions on a European war scale - which would include attached Amd Bde for example. 2 Colonial Divisions ( not equipped for offensive warfare on a european scale basically in the middle east). 5 TA anti aircraft divisions, 9 Inf divs, 3 Mobile divs ( which might be either the earlier or later version and probably would be fielded as a mix of Inf divs and smaller Mobile divs.) and smaler formations able to form another division.
Small aside the British Army had a structure of two division types. The Infantry division which is all motorized and has an attached Amd Bde available, the Mobile division is an exploitation force intended to pursue a beaten enemy.
So that would give a force of 16 Divisions all motorised and 2 armoured divs deployable within say 6 months and with about half prior to that with two formed divisions in the Middle east and the Indian army etc and this is without conscription which would increase force available about a year after introduction.
In terms of equipment again per plan by 38 there would be the 370 odd 3,7'' AA not the 44 actual, 25lb equipping the field regiments, 2lb the AT units and an armoured force with probably A9 at scale and hundreds of Matilda.
For the RAF the key item is Schemes A and F. A is the earlier and calls for 111 front line RAF squadrons and 16 FAA squadrons ( the latter dependent on the number of ships embarking aircraft) F is the Production scheme from 36-39, OTL this was only delivered on 4,500 aircraft of which 3,000 were of known obsolescent legacy types assuming the POD increases factory space earlier and the scheme delivers this gives completed around 8000 front line aircraft initially Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Fairey Battle, Bristol Blenheim, Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley, Handley-Page Hampden and Vickers Wellesley and Wellington,
later introducing Beaufort Skua and Lysander into the mix.
In fact Scheme F is cancelled after 2 years and replaced by Scheme L of 1938 which is for 6,000 a/c per annum for two years. In fact once the labour shortage is addressed the industry consistently overproduces on airframes vs plan.
By comparison Germany ( and Japan) cannot do much to expand their rate of increase so by 1939 Germany is going have the prospect of going to war with 18 BEF divisions not the 9 of OTL 1940 and it must be emphasised these are all motorised with tanks attached or binary armoured divs which contracts the length of Front the French have to occupy and based on OTL plans the German attack runs into a mass of allied armour and if it gets stopped bombed the shit and back by a superior air force.
The RAF is likely around 8000 aircraft worldwide with a front line strength of probably 4000 or nearly double the LW, plus the French who equal the LW.
My purpose in writing this was three-fold. First to support the original thesis presented. Second, to present some outside the box thinking on Britain rearming based upon fundamental policy changes rather than internal resources alone. Third, to generate additional free analytical exchanges of ideas.
In its original form, this was written with an earlier starting point, the end of the Ten-Year-Rule after the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in 1932. That gives HMG additional time to work through the policy kinks, but I respect the 1935 date on its own merits.
One comment on the establishment of the Curtiss factory in the Far East, whether in India or Singapore. The aircraft sold are purchased in Sterling rather than US Dollars.
Speaking of the Americans why didn't the Spanish Republican government approach the U.S. for both as a secure location to send their gold reserves and for purchasing the armaments they needed? Would not FDR had been more sympathetic to the Republican side then the OTL British government? I realize this inquiry doesn't fit the OP topic of improving pre-war British rearmament. But as someone who is not very familiar with the history of the Spanish Civil War I'm puzzled as to why the Republicans would have sent their gold to the USSR instead of the U.S. in OTL.
That's not true. There were no communist or anarchist ministers in the spanish goverment before the attempted coup. The cabinet members were from Izquierda Republicana (Republican Left) Left-Center party mostly supported by liberal proffesionals and low rank public employees. After februry elections only the PSOE (spanish labour if you wish a reference) was invited to enter the cabiner, even to hold the "presidente del consejo" (Prime Minister) but his moderate leader was not supported by the left wing of the party and refused.
Only with the coup and the fall of the cabinet the communists and anarchists enter the cabinet.
No way:
1st The rebels will challenge in court every move. They did that in France with gold that was there from 1931.
2nd America is a democracy but they prefer bussiness with corrupts and dictators, shipments of oil, avgas payed by the republic before the coup and on route were delivered to the rebels by order of the Texaco CEO
3rd FDR is protestant, needs some appeal to the catholic voter, Spain is just it.
As most scholars hadshown, the only country willing to sell to the republic was the URSS, we can discuss if the price was fair or overcharged, but no one else, even USA was willing to sell
USSR was sending support to the Spanish (at full commercial rates). If Spain wanted to continue getting the support they needed to ship gold to USSR.
USA banned the export of arms to Spain as part of their neutrality rules.
Is that a good idea, after Churchill's first effort and depression affects of his budgets and restarting gold standard??
as Chancellor
It was not only the return to the gold standard that both contemporary and future economists criticised in Churchill's time at the Treasury. Greater emphasis was placed on his overall approach to budget measures because he was seen to be aiding the more prosperous banking and salaried classes, with whom the Conservative Party is expressly aligned, at the expense of manufacturers and exporters who were under pressure from buoyant import competition in what had been their traditional export markets.Not the Rolls Royce way = see also 'evaporative cooling' and there's a whole thread somehwre here about the Ramp Head fiasco (== an attempt by greasy oiik with a Patent to derail Merlin by imposing his own unproven cylinder head design which cost around 18mths ...) not to mention Rolls turbocharger / supercharger early (non)adoption
However none of this beats the AM squandering of 2200 Merlins on a 200mph 'fast bomber' (3 man crew Fairey Battle ) at a time when fighters (in production) were already doing 250mph and better. Needless to say, this POS which was hacked from the skies during the BoF. The last of which went more or less straight from the factory to the scrap yard (actually, the training squadrons) ... if anything helped loose the BoF for the RAF it was 2,000+ Fairey Battle's instead of 2,000+ Hurricanes ...
marathag
Banned
At any time after 1938, they could have ditched the SU for the US Bendix Pressure carburetor, that didn't have as much trouble with negative G maneuvers, they didn't use floats for fuel delivery/metering, or with icing up.
well, that sort of assumes the RAF decide to do some mock dog-fights instead of their 'victory V' set piece formation flights .. and that some-one takes the problem seriously - and that the Americans are willing to Licence / sell the Bendix .. but YES, it's possible (I bet this has already been covered in the 'Peerless AM' thread - must go back and see what's new ...)
In the Peerless Air Ministry story I looked at the effects of Dr Morris and his blocking of fuel injection development in OTL and decided that though getting rid of him would have real advantages for the RAF it was just a little to close to am overt Britwank as the POD to get fuel injection into use in Britain pre-war would have to be IMVHO a vey contrived affair.