Xen
Banned
Part I: The Beginning
The POD:
Germany seemed invulnerable; every goal it set out to achieve was met with unprecedented success. Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium and France all conquered by Germany, even the mighty British Empire was forced to retreat from the continent in humiliating fashion at Dunkirk. There was no reason to believe Germany would lose the Battle of Britain, even the American ambassador to the United Kingdom believed the British would be forced to sue for peace.
After initially balking at Spain’s offer to join the war when victory seemed assured, Hitler now wished to bring Franco into the war. He had been convinced if Gibraltar fell; the British would be cut off from the Mediterranean and a quick strike across Egypt to close the Suez Canal to the British would force surrender; and allow Germany to focus all of its resources in its attack against the Soviet Union. Hitler met with Franco at Hendaye to discuss Spanish terms in entering the war. Though angered by Franco’s outrageous demands (Food, Military Equipment, Oil, French Basque, and French Morocco), Hitler reluctantly agreed, seeing Gibraltar as a means to end the war.
The Siege of Gibraltar began on December 8, 1940 and lasted until February 4, 1941; those who defended the city captured the hearts and minds across the British Empire and the United States. Gibraltar became a battle cry for British troops, in many ways drawing comparisons to the Alamo, a similarity the American media and public did not miss. Giving what aid it could to Gibraltar during its siege Britain was nearly defenseless against such overwhelming odds.
A small consolation was given when the Royal Marines occupied the Canary Islands, but the British were not willing to let the mouth of the Mediterranean be closed off to them. Shortly after the siege of Gibraltar began, the British invaded Morocco overwhelming the Spanish and few German forces there. When Gibraltar fell, some of the surviving defenders fled across the straight into British occupied Morocco. Hitler’s hopes of sealing off the Mediterranean were dashed, but he would not be denied his conquest of the East, once the Soviet threat was taken care of, he could send his full force against Britain. Francisco Franco on the other hand regretted getting involved, but with thousands of German troops in his country and the British occupying Spanish territory, there was no way he could back out now. World War II had come to Spain.
A secret condition of the Spanish entry into the war was the annexation of Portugal. The Wermacht and Spanish Army launched an invasion into Portugal using the pretext that Antonio Salazar was negotiating with London to allow for the British to use Portugal as a staging ground for the invasion of Spain. The Portuguese Army was no match for Germany and Spain, allowing the Axis Powers to reach Lisbon in just five days. Antonio Salazar was betrayed by his staff, and turned over to the Axis. Salazar tried for crimes against the Portuguese people and sentenced to death by firing squad. The British invaded the Madeira Islands and Azores, setting up a Free Portuguese government at Funchal.
Operation Barbarossa:
Emboldened by his success so far in the war, and against the advice of his military staff, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union in late April 1941. After the dismal performance of the Red Army in the Winter War against Finland, Hitler anticipated a quick victory in the east. After finishing off the Soviet Union, Hitler stated the labor shortage in Germany would be solved as millions of soldiers from the east can be returned to the factories, a quick victory against Russia would scare the United States from entering the war and isolate the British, give Germany access to the Caucasus oil fields, and rich Ukrainian farmlands.
The invasion shook Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin to his very core, for weeks he could barely speak. But by the time the Wermacht arrived at Moscow in August, Stalin knew he could only turn to one man to defend the city, one man that could turn the Germans back, and that man was himself. Taking personal command of Moscow’s defenses Stalin could not or would not see critical errors in his strategy, and no General in his staff had the courage to tell him otherwise. Key positions were left poorly defended, allowing the Germans to break through the lines, and take the Soviet capital. Stalin himself was killed attempting to flee the battle. The Soviet Union had lost its leader, and with him lost heart. The morale fell considerably in the Red Army, more for the loss of the capital than Stalin, it however made little difference, two weeks later, on December 5, Leningrad fell and the Soviet Union hung on the brink of defeat.
Before the Battle of Moscow, Stalin had ordered his senior staff out of the capital to set up headquarters in Kuibyshev. With Stalin dead, leadership of the country fell on the shoulders of the big three Lavrenty Beria, Andrei Zhdanov, and Vyacheslav Molotov. Each man attempted to set himself up as the next iron man of Russia, and the heir to Stalin, as a result they used as much resources to attack each other as they did to fight the Germans. The seeming defeat in Russia did not have the effect Hitler hoped it would have on the British morale, standing alone and defiant, Britain refused to budge from her position, though there was hope, as cries from some members of Parliament called for an end to the war.
The Yanks Are Coming:
Doubtlessly historians will always debate on whether or not the British would have sued for peace had it not been for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack nearly crippled the American Pacific Fleet, leaving both the USS Arizona and the USS West Virginia on the ocean floor. President Roosevelt went before Congress the next day and requested a declaration of war, not only on the Empire of Japan, but on Nazi Germany and her European allies as well. In his address to Congress, Roosevelt pleaded with the Soviet Union defeated, and if left to fight alone, the United Kingdom could not stand up to the full might of Germany, and the United States would be forced to deal with Germany alone in the future. The President painted a Europe dominated by Hitler as a dark; and terrible place, and the war he was certain would come between the United States and Germany as one that the US could possibly lose.
Congress hotly debated the President’s proposal for two days; Hitler helped Congress come to its decision on December 10 when he declared war on the United States. In a speech broadcast to the people of Germany, Hitler said “The fact that the Japanese Government, which has been negotiating for years with this man Franklin D. Roosevelt, has at last become tired of being mocked by him in such an unworthy way, fills us all, the German people, and all other decent people in the world, with deep satisfaction...Germany, Spain and Italy have been finally compelled, in view of this, and in loyalty to our Pact with Japan, to carry on the struggle against the U.S.A. and England jointly and side by side with Japan for the defense and thus for the maintenance of the liberty and independence of their nations and empires...As a consequence of the further extension of President Roosevelt's policy, which is aimed at unrestricted world domination and dictatorship, the U.S.A. together with England have not hesitated from using any means to dispute the rights of the German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese nations to the basis of their natural existence...Not only because we are the ally of Japan, but also because Germany, Spain and Italy have enough insight and strength to comprehend that, in these historic times, the existence or non-existence of the nations, is being decided perhaps forever.”
After losing both if its previous allies to defeat at the hands of Germany, the British Empire was no longer fighting alone. Now the British Empire had a powerful ally in the form of the United States. In order for both nations to benefit from the flow of war materials, the Royal Navy and US Navy began a joint operation in the Battle for the Atlantic. Since Japan could not match the production levels of the United States or Germany, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill agreed on a Europe First strategy. It wouldn’t be until spring 1942 the United States would make its presence felt.
Japanese in Russia:
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Japan ran wild across the Pacific. With the Soviet Union in disarray the Japanese Army invaded the northern half of Sakhalin Island, as well as the port city of Vladivostok. Japan finally moved inland and conquered the landlocked country of Mongolia, turning it into a puppet state in the war against the British Empire and the United States. In response to Japan’s expansion, the US invaded Kamchatka Peninsula and the Soviet Far East. The remnant of the Soviet government was assured by Washington the occupation would only last the duration of the war. Knowing the need for lend-lease, the Soviet government obliged the US, encouraging citizens in the far-east to cooperate with the American’s.
The Price of Defiance:
Hoping to turn the tide of war using the Russian winter as their ally, the Red Army launched a series of counter attacks against the Germans. Although the counter assaults ultimately failed to budge the Germans from their fortifications it proved to the western allies as well as the Axis Powers, the Soviet Union still had some fight left in it. The following spring; the Wermacht launched a massive assault on the Red Army, attacking the city bearing the name of the fallen Soviet dictator, Stalingrad. The two armies fought for two months, the casualties for the battle were mind blowing, when the city finally fell nearly 100,000 Germans and 200,000 Russians were killed.
Both Britain and the United States explored options to relieve the embattled Soviet troops, even giving limited air support. Neither the United States nor British Empire was in a position to provide much manpower to the Soviet Union. It was the Soviet defeat at Stalingrad that inspired Roosevelt to open another front in Europe as soon as possible and take some pressure of the Soviets. Once the only Army standing between Hitler and the Caucasus was destroyed, the Royal Air Force began a bombing campaign of Soviet oil fields in the region. Outraged by the bombings, Adolph Hitler ordered his staff to come up with plans on the invasion of Iraq.
Carving the Turkey:
The plans for the invasion of Iraq cut through the Republic of Turkey, in August the German ambassador to Turkey in Ankara gave the Turkish government an ultimatum, allow German troops passage through Anatolia or suffer the consequences. The Turkish government refusing to be bullied responded to Germany “Then it is War!” The Turks had only a few short weeks to organize its defenses, German troops poured across the border from Bulgaria and Greece, Edirne fell without a battle as the Germans raced to Istanbul. The Germans were prepared to fight a battle similar to the one at Stalingrad, but to their surprise only a small skirmish took place outside the city, accompanied with the capture of 10,000 Turkish troops.
As a token of his goodwill, Hitler gave the city to Benito Mussolini, an important symbolic victory for the Italian dictator in his efforts to rebuild the Roman Empire; now the capitals of both the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire were his. In his visit to the city, Mussolini reclaimed the Hagia Sophia for Christianity, making it a Catholic Cathedral, used mostly by the occupying Italian troops. Topkapi Palace became the headquarters for the joint German-Italian command.
The invasion of Anatolia didn’t go nearly as smooth as hoped following the easy victories in Thrace. Turkish troops laid ambushes in the rugged terrain and made the Germans pay for every step they took into the country. The Germans were too powerful for the Turkish Army, forced the defenders further and further back into the country. American, British and Turkish troops fought alongside one another at the Battle of Ankara. Overwhelmed the Turks and her allies surrendered or fled the city continuing the fight in the countryside. Several Turkish government officials took the reigns of the country and signed a peace treaty with Germany, collaborating with the occupying Nazis.
The Oriental War:
German battle plans called for 350,000 troops to drive down the Mesopotamia to Iraq’s capital Baghdad while an additional 200,000 would move down through Syria and into Palestine with the goal of taking control of the Suez Canal. The German invasion caused a great division among the Arabs between those that supported the Germans and those that supported the allies. The war in the Orient was the United States first major involvement in the war, together with their British, Canadians and ANZAC allies the United States. US General Omar Bradley was given full command of all allied troops in the Middle East. The Allies numbered nearly 300,000 in Iraq, and additional 150,000 in the Sinai.
The allies placed major emphasis on preventing the Germans from capturing the Suez Canal or the oil fields in southern Iraq. The objective of the Germans was to capture Baghdad, while the allies were committed to prevent that from happening. Erwin Rommel moved the Afrika Corps east into Egypt hoping to squeeze the British and force the allies out of North Africa. Irbil and Mosul fell to the Axis Powers in late July 1942, and the advance by to Baghdad was slowed by the allied coalition, and stopped at Samarra several miles north of the capital. The war stalemated until December when the Axis lines at Samarra were broken. The defeat at Samarra sealed Germany’s fate in Iraq, 65,000 German troops were captured, and additional 50,000 were killed or wounded in the fighting.
The news was not all cheerful for the allies, Rommel had broken through British defenses in western Egypt and had taken the city of Cairo. It seemed only a matter of time before the Suez Canal was firmly in German hands. With its war time industry in full swing, and its army growing by leaps and bounds, the United States took the lead in defending the Canal. Led by General Fredendall the United States suffered a humiliating defeat attempting to prevent Rommel and his forces from crossing the Nile. Fortunately for the allies a battle hardened Canadian force, fresh from Iraq arrived to aid the Americans and prevent Rommel from advancing to the Suez. Fredendall was replaced with Patton. From the ashes of a major defeat, the allies secured a huge propaganda coup against the Germans. General Patton attacked Rommel’s flank surrounding the German commander. Although his troops fought like lions, Germany’s failure to breakthrough Patton’s defenses to rescue the Desert Fox doomed his army. On January 9, 1943 Rommel surrendered to the allies. His men were starved, outmanned, had little ammunition and were in desperate need of medical care. Rommel was transported to a POW camp in Canada, for Rommel the war was over.
Germans invading Syria and Lebanon were met with hostility from the British, Australian and Free French. Although the Germans advanced to Damascus, troops had to be diverted to help in Iraq. The diversion of troops doomed German efforts in Syria. By spring 1943 the Orient War was all but over.
The POD:
Germany seemed invulnerable; every goal it set out to achieve was met with unprecedented success. Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium and France all conquered by Germany, even the mighty British Empire was forced to retreat from the continent in humiliating fashion at Dunkirk. There was no reason to believe Germany would lose the Battle of Britain, even the American ambassador to the United Kingdom believed the British would be forced to sue for peace.
After initially balking at Spain’s offer to join the war when victory seemed assured, Hitler now wished to bring Franco into the war. He had been convinced if Gibraltar fell; the British would be cut off from the Mediterranean and a quick strike across Egypt to close the Suez Canal to the British would force surrender; and allow Germany to focus all of its resources in its attack against the Soviet Union. Hitler met with Franco at Hendaye to discuss Spanish terms in entering the war. Though angered by Franco’s outrageous demands (Food, Military Equipment, Oil, French Basque, and French Morocco), Hitler reluctantly agreed, seeing Gibraltar as a means to end the war.
The Siege of Gibraltar began on December 8, 1940 and lasted until February 4, 1941; those who defended the city captured the hearts and minds across the British Empire and the United States. Gibraltar became a battle cry for British troops, in many ways drawing comparisons to the Alamo, a similarity the American media and public did not miss. Giving what aid it could to Gibraltar during its siege Britain was nearly defenseless against such overwhelming odds.
A small consolation was given when the Royal Marines occupied the Canary Islands, but the British were not willing to let the mouth of the Mediterranean be closed off to them. Shortly after the siege of Gibraltar began, the British invaded Morocco overwhelming the Spanish and few German forces there. When Gibraltar fell, some of the surviving defenders fled across the straight into British occupied Morocco. Hitler’s hopes of sealing off the Mediterranean were dashed, but he would not be denied his conquest of the East, once the Soviet threat was taken care of, he could send his full force against Britain. Francisco Franco on the other hand regretted getting involved, but with thousands of German troops in his country and the British occupying Spanish territory, there was no way he could back out now. World War II had come to Spain.
A secret condition of the Spanish entry into the war was the annexation of Portugal. The Wermacht and Spanish Army launched an invasion into Portugal using the pretext that Antonio Salazar was negotiating with London to allow for the British to use Portugal as a staging ground for the invasion of Spain. The Portuguese Army was no match for Germany and Spain, allowing the Axis Powers to reach Lisbon in just five days. Antonio Salazar was betrayed by his staff, and turned over to the Axis. Salazar tried for crimes against the Portuguese people and sentenced to death by firing squad. The British invaded the Madeira Islands and Azores, setting up a Free Portuguese government at Funchal.
Operation Barbarossa:
Emboldened by his success so far in the war, and against the advice of his military staff, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union in late April 1941. After the dismal performance of the Red Army in the Winter War against Finland, Hitler anticipated a quick victory in the east. After finishing off the Soviet Union, Hitler stated the labor shortage in Germany would be solved as millions of soldiers from the east can be returned to the factories, a quick victory against Russia would scare the United States from entering the war and isolate the British, give Germany access to the Caucasus oil fields, and rich Ukrainian farmlands.
The invasion shook Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin to his very core, for weeks he could barely speak. But by the time the Wermacht arrived at Moscow in August, Stalin knew he could only turn to one man to defend the city, one man that could turn the Germans back, and that man was himself. Taking personal command of Moscow’s defenses Stalin could not or would not see critical errors in his strategy, and no General in his staff had the courage to tell him otherwise. Key positions were left poorly defended, allowing the Germans to break through the lines, and take the Soviet capital. Stalin himself was killed attempting to flee the battle. The Soviet Union had lost its leader, and with him lost heart. The morale fell considerably in the Red Army, more for the loss of the capital than Stalin, it however made little difference, two weeks later, on December 5, Leningrad fell and the Soviet Union hung on the brink of defeat.
Before the Battle of Moscow, Stalin had ordered his senior staff out of the capital to set up headquarters in Kuibyshev. With Stalin dead, leadership of the country fell on the shoulders of the big three Lavrenty Beria, Andrei Zhdanov, and Vyacheslav Molotov. Each man attempted to set himself up as the next iron man of Russia, and the heir to Stalin, as a result they used as much resources to attack each other as they did to fight the Germans. The seeming defeat in Russia did not have the effect Hitler hoped it would have on the British morale, standing alone and defiant, Britain refused to budge from her position, though there was hope, as cries from some members of Parliament called for an end to the war.
The Yanks Are Coming:
Doubtlessly historians will always debate on whether or not the British would have sued for peace had it not been for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack nearly crippled the American Pacific Fleet, leaving both the USS Arizona and the USS West Virginia on the ocean floor. President Roosevelt went before Congress the next day and requested a declaration of war, not only on the Empire of Japan, but on Nazi Germany and her European allies as well. In his address to Congress, Roosevelt pleaded with the Soviet Union defeated, and if left to fight alone, the United Kingdom could not stand up to the full might of Germany, and the United States would be forced to deal with Germany alone in the future. The President painted a Europe dominated by Hitler as a dark; and terrible place, and the war he was certain would come between the United States and Germany as one that the US could possibly lose.
Congress hotly debated the President’s proposal for two days; Hitler helped Congress come to its decision on December 10 when he declared war on the United States. In a speech broadcast to the people of Germany, Hitler said “The fact that the Japanese Government, which has been negotiating for years with this man Franklin D. Roosevelt, has at last become tired of being mocked by him in such an unworthy way, fills us all, the German people, and all other decent people in the world, with deep satisfaction...Germany, Spain and Italy have been finally compelled, in view of this, and in loyalty to our Pact with Japan, to carry on the struggle against the U.S.A. and England jointly and side by side with Japan for the defense and thus for the maintenance of the liberty and independence of their nations and empires...As a consequence of the further extension of President Roosevelt's policy, which is aimed at unrestricted world domination and dictatorship, the U.S.A. together with England have not hesitated from using any means to dispute the rights of the German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese nations to the basis of their natural existence...Not only because we are the ally of Japan, but also because Germany, Spain and Italy have enough insight and strength to comprehend that, in these historic times, the existence or non-existence of the nations, is being decided perhaps forever.”
After losing both if its previous allies to defeat at the hands of Germany, the British Empire was no longer fighting alone. Now the British Empire had a powerful ally in the form of the United States. In order for both nations to benefit from the flow of war materials, the Royal Navy and US Navy began a joint operation in the Battle for the Atlantic. Since Japan could not match the production levels of the United States or Germany, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill agreed on a Europe First strategy. It wouldn’t be until spring 1942 the United States would make its presence felt.
Japanese in Russia:
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Japan ran wild across the Pacific. With the Soviet Union in disarray the Japanese Army invaded the northern half of Sakhalin Island, as well as the port city of Vladivostok. Japan finally moved inland and conquered the landlocked country of Mongolia, turning it into a puppet state in the war against the British Empire and the United States. In response to Japan’s expansion, the US invaded Kamchatka Peninsula and the Soviet Far East. The remnant of the Soviet government was assured by Washington the occupation would only last the duration of the war. Knowing the need for lend-lease, the Soviet government obliged the US, encouraging citizens in the far-east to cooperate with the American’s.
The Price of Defiance:
Hoping to turn the tide of war using the Russian winter as their ally, the Red Army launched a series of counter attacks against the Germans. Although the counter assaults ultimately failed to budge the Germans from their fortifications it proved to the western allies as well as the Axis Powers, the Soviet Union still had some fight left in it. The following spring; the Wermacht launched a massive assault on the Red Army, attacking the city bearing the name of the fallen Soviet dictator, Stalingrad. The two armies fought for two months, the casualties for the battle were mind blowing, when the city finally fell nearly 100,000 Germans and 200,000 Russians were killed.
Both Britain and the United States explored options to relieve the embattled Soviet troops, even giving limited air support. Neither the United States nor British Empire was in a position to provide much manpower to the Soviet Union. It was the Soviet defeat at Stalingrad that inspired Roosevelt to open another front in Europe as soon as possible and take some pressure of the Soviets. Once the only Army standing between Hitler and the Caucasus was destroyed, the Royal Air Force began a bombing campaign of Soviet oil fields in the region. Outraged by the bombings, Adolph Hitler ordered his staff to come up with plans on the invasion of Iraq.
Carving the Turkey:
The plans for the invasion of Iraq cut through the Republic of Turkey, in August the German ambassador to Turkey in Ankara gave the Turkish government an ultimatum, allow German troops passage through Anatolia or suffer the consequences. The Turkish government refusing to be bullied responded to Germany “Then it is War!” The Turks had only a few short weeks to organize its defenses, German troops poured across the border from Bulgaria and Greece, Edirne fell without a battle as the Germans raced to Istanbul. The Germans were prepared to fight a battle similar to the one at Stalingrad, but to their surprise only a small skirmish took place outside the city, accompanied with the capture of 10,000 Turkish troops.
As a token of his goodwill, Hitler gave the city to Benito Mussolini, an important symbolic victory for the Italian dictator in his efforts to rebuild the Roman Empire; now the capitals of both the Western Empire and the Eastern Empire were his. In his visit to the city, Mussolini reclaimed the Hagia Sophia for Christianity, making it a Catholic Cathedral, used mostly by the occupying Italian troops. Topkapi Palace became the headquarters for the joint German-Italian command.
The invasion of Anatolia didn’t go nearly as smooth as hoped following the easy victories in Thrace. Turkish troops laid ambushes in the rugged terrain and made the Germans pay for every step they took into the country. The Germans were too powerful for the Turkish Army, forced the defenders further and further back into the country. American, British and Turkish troops fought alongside one another at the Battle of Ankara. Overwhelmed the Turks and her allies surrendered or fled the city continuing the fight in the countryside. Several Turkish government officials took the reigns of the country and signed a peace treaty with Germany, collaborating with the occupying Nazis.
The Oriental War:
German battle plans called for 350,000 troops to drive down the Mesopotamia to Iraq’s capital Baghdad while an additional 200,000 would move down through Syria and into Palestine with the goal of taking control of the Suez Canal. The German invasion caused a great division among the Arabs between those that supported the Germans and those that supported the allies. The war in the Orient was the United States first major involvement in the war, together with their British, Canadians and ANZAC allies the United States. US General Omar Bradley was given full command of all allied troops in the Middle East. The Allies numbered nearly 300,000 in Iraq, and additional 150,000 in the Sinai.
The allies placed major emphasis on preventing the Germans from capturing the Suez Canal or the oil fields in southern Iraq. The objective of the Germans was to capture Baghdad, while the allies were committed to prevent that from happening. Erwin Rommel moved the Afrika Corps east into Egypt hoping to squeeze the British and force the allies out of North Africa. Irbil and Mosul fell to the Axis Powers in late July 1942, and the advance by to Baghdad was slowed by the allied coalition, and stopped at Samarra several miles north of the capital. The war stalemated until December when the Axis lines at Samarra were broken. The defeat at Samarra sealed Germany’s fate in Iraq, 65,000 German troops were captured, and additional 50,000 were killed or wounded in the fighting.
The news was not all cheerful for the allies, Rommel had broken through British defenses in western Egypt and had taken the city of Cairo. It seemed only a matter of time before the Suez Canal was firmly in German hands. With its war time industry in full swing, and its army growing by leaps and bounds, the United States took the lead in defending the Canal. Led by General Fredendall the United States suffered a humiliating defeat attempting to prevent Rommel and his forces from crossing the Nile. Fortunately for the allies a battle hardened Canadian force, fresh from Iraq arrived to aid the Americans and prevent Rommel from advancing to the Suez. Fredendall was replaced with Patton. From the ashes of a major defeat, the allies secured a huge propaganda coup against the Germans. General Patton attacked Rommel’s flank surrounding the German commander. Although his troops fought like lions, Germany’s failure to breakthrough Patton’s defenses to rescue the Desert Fox doomed his army. On January 9, 1943 Rommel surrendered to the allies. His men were starved, outmanned, had little ammunition and were in desperate need of medical care. Rommel was transported to a POW camp in Canada, for Rommel the war was over.
Germans invading Syria and Lebanon were met with hostility from the British, Australian and Free French. Although the Germans advanced to Damascus, troops had to be diverted to help in Iraq. The diversion of troops doomed German efforts in Syria. By spring 1943 the Orient War was all but over.
