Feel the Bearn - A Timeline of France's Only Carrier in WWII and Beyond
- Thread starter Seafort
- Start date
Yes because the bombing of Paris didn't do that way way before the loss of the Bearn
Also still waiting on the US to crash the economies of every single nation they're holding together, France Britain and the USSR can have fun starving until they sit the fuck down
The injustice of which inevitably kickstarting a highly-successful communist revolution in the US, in tune with the glorious silliness of this timeline.
Soon. Family and work come first, but it's all plotted out. I'm having a blast writing this, and I have a British co-worker who absolutely loves what's happened and where I plan on taking this.
Chapter 5 - Deluge
June 11th, 1945 2:30PM EST
Harry Truman leaned over the desk, the telephone pressed hard against his ear.
"What happened, Winston?", asked the President.
"The Germans," replied Churchill through the receiver. "Just because the Hun has lost does not mean that he thinks he has been defeated. We are getting reports of attacks all over London. This was a well coordinated endeavor that has aimed to seek revenge not only on me, but on the British government. The attack upon me failed tonight, but I fear that others may not have been as fortunate."
Werwolf. The word flashed into Truman's mind. Goebbels had first spoken of them in a speech in 1944, and radio broadcasts had begun from Berlin this year to units. But these were units of fanatics left behind in areas that the Allies had liberated. The idea that the Nazis had somehow forward positioned agents in Britain seemed well past the capabilities of unaccounted elements of the Nazi regime. And to attack now? Why?
Henry Stimpson walked into the Oval Office, an urgent look on his face. Truman saw the expression on the Secretary of War, then looked down.
"Winston, I will call you back at the top of the hour," he said. "Remain safe."
"Undoubtedly," said Churchill with a chortle. "My people have me secured in the bunker. I thought that I was done with such accommodations, but alas that is not to be."
Truman hung up the phone and looked up at Stimson. "What is it?", he asked.
"Mr President," answered Stimson gravely, "There has been a similar attack in Paris. It appears that De Gaulle and at least one other member of the French Parliament have been killed."
The President let out an expletive.
"Get me Donovan!", Truman barked.
"We're trying," replied Stimson. "But we've lost contact with the Claridge. We're receiving reports that it may have been one of the targets in London."
Before Truman could react James Forrestal suddenly hurried into the room.
"Mr. President," he said, "There's been an attack in the Atlantic. On the cruiser that was towing the Bearn. We believe it was a German submarine."
Truman sat back in shock. It was all happening too quickly. Just what exactly was going on? And what was next?
The mood of Londoners was uncertain as word of the attacks began to filter in on the radio. And in face to face conversations. And in person. "I watched the Claridge burn for several minutes before heading back to my flat," wrote Joyce Matthews in her journal. "As I heard of the other attacks I began to be sickened. We had survived the Blitz and the buzz bombs, and now there was this. Would it ever end?"
Excerpt from Twilight Britain: 1945 - 1956, (2007) by David Kynaston
Harry Truman leaned over the desk, the telephone pressed hard against his ear.
"What happened, Winston?", asked the President.
"The Germans," replied Churchill through the receiver. "Just because the Hun has lost does not mean that he thinks he has been defeated. We are getting reports of attacks all over London. This was a well coordinated endeavor that has aimed to seek revenge not only on me, but on the British government. The attack upon me failed tonight, but I fear that others may not have been as fortunate."
Werwolf. The word flashed into Truman's mind. Goebbels had first spoken of them in a speech in 1944, and radio broadcasts had begun from Berlin this year to units. But these were units of fanatics left behind in areas that the Allies had liberated. The idea that the Nazis had somehow forward positioned agents in Britain seemed well past the capabilities of unaccounted elements of the Nazi regime. And to attack now? Why?
Henry Stimpson walked into the Oval Office, an urgent look on his face. Truman saw the expression on the Secretary of War, then looked down.
"Winston, I will call you back at the top of the hour," he said. "Remain safe."
"Undoubtedly," said Churchill with a chortle. "My people have me secured in the bunker. I thought that I was done with such accommodations, but alas that is not to be."
Truman hung up the phone and looked up at Stimson. "What is it?", he asked.
"Mr President," answered Stimson gravely, "There has been a similar attack in Paris. It appears that De Gaulle and at least one other member of the French Parliament have been killed."
The President let out an expletive.
"Get me Donovan!", Truman barked.
"We're trying," replied Stimson. "But we've lost contact with the Claridge. We're receiving reports that it may have been one of the targets in London."
Before Truman could react James Forrestal suddenly hurried into the room.
"Mr. President," he said, "There's been an attack in the Atlantic. On the cruiser that was towing the Bearn. We believe it was a German submarine."
Truman sat back in shock. It was all happening too quickly. Just what exactly was going on? And what was next?
The mood of Londoners was uncertain as word of the attacks began to filter in on the radio. And in face to face conversations. And in person. "I watched the Claridge burn for several minutes before heading back to my flat," wrote Joyce Matthews in her journal. "As I heard of the other attacks I began to be sickened. We had survived the Blitz and the buzz bombs, and now there was this. Would it ever end?"
Excerpt from Twilight Britain: 1945 - 1956, (2007) by David Kynaston
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Chapter 5 - Deluge
June 11th, 1945 3:10PM EST
For the first time that evening Winston was alone. After speaking to the United States President once more he had told Anthony Eden and the others to leave him alone for a few minutes. He had wished to collect his thoughts as he sat in his darkened, personal office within the bunker. For a second Churchill gazed around at the concrete walls and wondered, how similar was this to the construct in Berlin?
He pushed the image out of his mind with a grimace and took a sip from a glass of Ararat brandy. He might be alone, but he could still hear the din of the noises that were coming from outside the office door. Reports were coming in now, and soon he would need to address the nation of the tragedy that was unfolding. The British people would need their Prime Minister as much as when the bombs of the Luftwaffe were raining down upon him.
But first, there was one matter that needed to be confirmed. He put down his glass and dialed a number. Churchill knew that it was a secure line. It had to be.
"General Gubbins," he asked.
"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister," came the scratchy voice on the receiver.
"Your report?"
"Imperator is complete. We are merely waiting for the French to make their announcement. As for Rahab, we have intercepted reports from the Americans that it was a triumph."
"And Haman?", asked Churchill.
There was a pause.
"All domestic operations were successfully instituted," replied Gubbins.
"Excellent," said Churchill. He paused, puffing his cigar. He then spoke again into the receiver. "I can hear it in your voice. Your concern. You are right to have it, and I share it as well. But what has been done and what is to be done, must be done for the sake of our nation. These are perilous times for the Empire."
"Sir, you have my complete agreement. May these times pass, never to be seen again."
There was a knock on the door. Churchill ignored it and pushed the receiver closer to his face.
"Have you undertaken the second phase?"
"Yes, Prime Minister. The appropriate contacts have been notified and provided with materials."
"Very good, then," said the Prime Minister. "Please keep me notified."
As Winston put the phone he noticed that he felt flush. Was it lingering adrenaline from the events of the last few hours? Or merely excitement for the next pivot point of history that he now stood astride of?
Whatever it was, he ignored it and drank the rest of his brandy. There was a speech to the nation that needed to be composed.
For the first time that evening Winston was alone. After speaking to the United States President once more he had told Anthony Eden and the others to leave him alone for a few minutes. He had wished to collect his thoughts as he sat in his darkened, personal office within the bunker. For a second Churchill gazed around at the concrete walls and wondered, how similar was this to the construct in Berlin?
He pushed the image out of his mind with a grimace and took a sip from a glass of Ararat brandy. He might be alone, but he could still hear the din of the noises that were coming from outside the office door. Reports were coming in now, and soon he would need to address the nation of the tragedy that was unfolding. The British people would need their Prime Minister as much as when the bombs of the Luftwaffe were raining down upon him.
But first, there was one matter that needed to be confirmed. He put down his glass and dialed a number. Churchill knew that it was a secure line. It had to be.
"General Gubbins," he asked.
"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister," came the scratchy voice on the receiver.
"Your report?"
"Imperator is complete. We are merely waiting for the French to make their announcement. As for Rahab, we have intercepted reports from the Americans that it was a triumph."
"And Haman?", asked Churchill.
There was a pause.
"All domestic operations were successfully instituted," replied Gubbins.
"Excellent," said Churchill. He paused, puffing his cigar. He then spoke again into the receiver. "I can hear it in your voice. Your concern. You are right to have it, and I share it as well. But what has been done and what is to be done, must be done for the sake of our nation. These are perilous times for the Empire."
"Sir, you have my complete agreement. May these times pass, never to be seen again."
There was a knock on the door. Churchill ignored it and pushed the receiver closer to his face.
"Have you undertaken the second phase?"
"Yes, Prime Minister. The appropriate contacts have been notified and provided with materials."
"Very good, then," said the Prime Minister. "Please keep me notified."
As Winston put the phone he noticed that he felt flush. Was it lingering adrenaline from the events of the last few hours? Or merely excitement for the next pivot point of history that he now stood astride of?
Whatever it was, he ignored it and drank the rest of his brandy. There was a speech to the nation that needed to be composed.
Chapter 5 - Deluge
June 11th, 1945 4:00PM EST
Prime Minister Winston Churchill leaned forward, his mouth inches away from the BBC microphone that sat before him.
"When I spoke in the House of Commons two days ago I spoke of the tremendous tasks that were before us, and of the common effort that would unite our nation in the weeks and months ahead. Our undertaking was and remains formidable, as we face the elements of the Empire of Japan that refuse against reason to surrender. Sadly tonight we have learned that there were other elements that have refused to surrender, despite their nation's pledge to do so.
Our enemy had showed us no favour during the course of the war, and we them. Yet it can be said that we have not meted out upon the German people the punishment that could be considered deserved for the crimes of their leaders. And that is just and in accordance with the rules of civilization and with war. Yet tonight, despite our mercy and compunction we have been met with open hostility. Tonight the German has attacked us once more on our home soil. Indiscriminate bombing was not enough. The use of terror weapons was not enough. No, instead tonight their wicked will has been worked in the attempted destruction of our government.
Tonight, less than three hours ago agents of the defeated Nazi regime attempted to assassinate me while I was en route home. And while the timely arrival of our brave police prevented them from fulfilling this wicked scheme, others were not so fortunate. At least one MP was shot tonight, left to die on the streets like a common criminal. The Claridge Hotel has been set afire by this madmen in another attack. And finally, I must sadly inform you that Prime Minister Clement Attlee was killed tonight in yet another bestial attack."
June 11th, 1945 4:05PM EST
Ellen Wilkerson sat back in her chair and coughed. Her asthma, which she had struggled with through most of her life was now back. A recent trip to San Francisco to begin the creation of the United States had left her tired and then ill, but she had pushed through her sickness as the July election had drawn near. The Jarrow MP and Chairman of the Labour Party had tears in her eyes and she listened to the radio. Attlee was dead, and who knew how many others.
There was suddenly a loud banging on her door.
On the radio, Churchill continued his address to the nation.
"Yet with even more sorrow, I have a far greater tragedy to communicate to all of you."
June 11th, 1945 4:05PM EST
The MP for Hackney South and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Herbert Morrison listened to the radio, each sentence a new blow. News of the attacks had begun to reach him in the minutes before the Prime Minister's address. He knew that Willie Gallacher had been shot outside of the Oxford Street Corner House, but beyond that he had no word on his condition. And then came Churchill's speech, which was still ongoing. Attlee was dead. Morrison had written Labour's manifesto for the 1945 election, Let us Face the Future. But now, with weeks to go before the election and Nazi guerrillas running amok they appeared to be back to square one. Morrison sat alone in his office, but had he been with reporters or with fellow MPs he would have equally been at a loss for words.
The door to his office shattered.
He was tackled by three British policemen who raced in and shoved him down into the ornate carpeting, his hands pinned behind his back
June 11th, 1945 4:06PM EST
Churchill paused, then continued.
"We have learned that elements within our own government have conspired with these German dogs in the attacks upon our nation. Specifically, radicals within the Labour movement have formed common cause with these Nazi werwolves and have attempted to remove the leadership of both parties. Law enforcement has found evidence detailing a wicked conspiracy between these traitors and the horde of bandits that even now roam our city streets. Yes, days earlier I had warned that the policies of Labour's extremists would eventually lead to a form of Gestapo within the British Empire. Yet never in the dreams of anyone did such a notion of an alliance between Britons and members of the actual Gestapo exist, but it is with profound grief that I must report that it is so. The first attack was the MP of West Fife Willie Gallacher, and yet we now know he was no innocent victim. Papers found upon him prove his links with both German and Soviet agents, and it appears that this attack was merely an attempt to silence loose lips as they embarked upon their fiendish work."
June 11th, 1945 4:08PM EST
Bill Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services surveyed the ruined headquarters before him. Although power had been intermittently restored to the Claridge Hotel, for all intents and purposes the OSS's command center had been wrecked. Water from firefighting efforts had seeped into the suite and the air was thick with smoke. Communications had yet to have been restored with Washington. Personnel worked feverishly to shred documents and box others. The intelligence service would no longer be able to use this facility for operations anymore, and needed to relocate posthaste.
An out of breath lieutenant rushed up to him and planted a radio on a nearby table. "Sir!", he said, coughing with the smoke. "You need to hear this."
Donovan nodded, and the aide turned on the device. It was Churchill, and he was in the midst of an address.
"-and even now the arrests of the perpetrators are being made. While the true breadth of this conspiracy has yet to be fully unearthed in these early hours, I am hereby calling on Ernest Bevin to join me in a new Wartime Government. Together, we can stamp out the agents of fascist and communistic totalitarianism that work to undermine the worth of the individual and impose the tyranny of the few. Together, we can overcome this assault on the very fabric of the British Empire. And together, I must ask most of all for vigilance, for devotion to duty, for a zeal for everything that we hold dear that must be elevated to its highest intensity. For only together, can we withstand what is to come. In that I have faith, that the British people will never turn from their duty and will rise to meet this greatest of challenges."
The radio went silent.
The Lieutenant stared at it for a moment, then looked up at his commander. "General," he asked. "Sir, what is going on?"
Donovan was stunned, and had no answer.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill leaned forward, his mouth inches away from the BBC microphone that sat before him.
"When I spoke in the House of Commons two days ago I spoke of the tremendous tasks that were before us, and of the common effort that would unite our nation in the weeks and months ahead. Our undertaking was and remains formidable, as we face the elements of the Empire of Japan that refuse against reason to surrender. Sadly tonight we have learned that there were other elements that have refused to surrender, despite their nation's pledge to do so.
Our enemy had showed us no favour during the course of the war, and we them. Yet it can be said that we have not meted out upon the German people the punishment that could be considered deserved for the crimes of their leaders. And that is just and in accordance with the rules of civilization and with war. Yet tonight, despite our mercy and compunction we have been met with open hostility. Tonight the German has attacked us once more on our home soil. Indiscriminate bombing was not enough. The use of terror weapons was not enough. No, instead tonight their wicked will has been worked in the attempted destruction of our government.
Tonight, less than three hours ago agents of the defeated Nazi regime attempted to assassinate me while I was en route home. And while the timely arrival of our brave police prevented them from fulfilling this wicked scheme, others were not so fortunate. At least one MP was shot tonight, left to die on the streets like a common criminal. The Claridge Hotel has been set afire by this madmen in another attack. And finally, I must sadly inform you that Prime Minister Clement Attlee was killed tonight in yet another bestial attack."
June 11th, 1945 4:05PM EST
Ellen Wilkerson sat back in her chair and coughed. Her asthma, which she had struggled with through most of her life was now back. A recent trip to San Francisco to begin the creation of the United States had left her tired and then ill, but she had pushed through her sickness as the July election had drawn near. The Jarrow MP and Chairman of the Labour Party had tears in her eyes and she listened to the radio. Attlee was dead, and who knew how many others.
There was suddenly a loud banging on her door.
On the radio, Churchill continued his address to the nation.
"Yet with even more sorrow, I have a far greater tragedy to communicate to all of you."
June 11th, 1945 4:05PM EST
The MP for Hackney South and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Herbert Morrison listened to the radio, each sentence a new blow. News of the attacks had begun to reach him in the minutes before the Prime Minister's address. He knew that Willie Gallacher had been shot outside of the Oxford Street Corner House, but beyond that he had no word on his condition. And then came Churchill's speech, which was still ongoing. Attlee was dead. Morrison had written Labour's manifesto for the 1945 election, Let us Face the Future. But now, with weeks to go before the election and Nazi guerrillas running amok they appeared to be back to square one. Morrison sat alone in his office, but had he been with reporters or with fellow MPs he would have equally been at a loss for words.
The door to his office shattered.
He was tackled by three British policemen who raced in and shoved him down into the ornate carpeting, his hands pinned behind his back
June 11th, 1945 4:06PM EST
Churchill paused, then continued.
"We have learned that elements within our own government have conspired with these German dogs in the attacks upon our nation. Specifically, radicals within the Labour movement have formed common cause with these Nazi werwolves and have attempted to remove the leadership of both parties. Law enforcement has found evidence detailing a wicked conspiracy between these traitors and the horde of bandits that even now roam our city streets. Yes, days earlier I had warned that the policies of Labour's extremists would eventually lead to a form of Gestapo within the British Empire. Yet never in the dreams of anyone did such a notion of an alliance between Britons and members of the actual Gestapo exist, but it is with profound grief that I must report that it is so. The first attack was the MP of West Fife Willie Gallacher, and yet we now know he was no innocent victim. Papers found upon him prove his links with both German and Soviet agents, and it appears that this attack was merely an attempt to silence loose lips as they embarked upon their fiendish work."
June 11th, 1945 4:08PM EST
Bill Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services surveyed the ruined headquarters before him. Although power had been intermittently restored to the Claridge Hotel, for all intents and purposes the OSS's command center had been wrecked. Water from firefighting efforts had seeped into the suite and the air was thick with smoke. Communications had yet to have been restored with Washington. Personnel worked feverishly to shred documents and box others. The intelligence service would no longer be able to use this facility for operations anymore, and needed to relocate posthaste.
An out of breath lieutenant rushed up to him and planted a radio on a nearby table. "Sir!", he said, coughing with the smoke. "You need to hear this."
Donovan nodded, and the aide turned on the device. It was Churchill, and he was in the midst of an address.
"-and even now the arrests of the perpetrators are being made. While the true breadth of this conspiracy has yet to be fully unearthed in these early hours, I am hereby calling on Ernest Bevin to join me in a new Wartime Government. Together, we can stamp out the agents of fascist and communistic totalitarianism that work to undermine the worth of the individual and impose the tyranny of the few. Together, we can overcome this assault on the very fabric of the British Empire. And together, I must ask most of all for vigilance, for devotion to duty, for a zeal for everything that we hold dear that must be elevated to its highest intensity. For only together, can we withstand what is to come. In that I have faith, that the British people will never turn from their duty and will rise to meet this greatest of challenges."
The radio went silent.
The Lieutenant stared at it for a moment, then looked up at his commander. "General," he asked. "Sir, what is going on?"
Donovan was stunned, and had no answer.
Ah so the UK lets civil rights be trampled on and the politicians of the leading opposition to the ruling party be arrested without doing jack and shit
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