Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2

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A degree of use was common, captured trucks were vital in many theaters to keep the speed of advance up , line of communication troops using captured heavy equipment to make up for shortages was usual. If you were anywhere replacement kit was slow to arrive, enemy kit was repurposed temporarily, North Africa both sides used captured tanks/guns against their original owners. Things like AA guns, which were always in short supply, tended to be used until the ammo was unavailable.
 

formion

Banned
Anywhere a given unit is unlikely to actually need to fight the Axis - so I am thinking of the Greek Garrison in Crete and any similar non-commonwealth unit that is needed to keep a place occupied but really needing to do any proper fighting

I would add also the garrisons in Iraq, Palestine, Transjordan and Persian Corridor - the 6th Indian Division stayed in Basra until 1944. Also the second rate colonial troops that are left behind in Syria, Lebanon, French North Africa while the regulars form the divisions described by fester. Even the security troops in India don't need modern equipment with no Bengal famine and unrest. So, lots of garrisons that can face only angry locals, are eligible to receive Carcano rifles, Brixia mortars, even the odd M13/40.

However, the most eligible recipients of italian equipment are the Italians themselves: soon the Italian Co-belligerent Army will be formed, mainly for internal security and logistical support. In OTL they were more than 200k men. Depending on the success of TTL landings, they can be even more than that. So, in total, there are so many places to dump captured equipment.
 
Australian 6th Divisional Cavalry Regt and 9th Divisional Cavalry Regt used both the Italian M11/39 & M13/40 in Libya until they ran out of diesel fuel large white kangaroos on their sides. Both units also used French R35 Renault Light Tanks in Syria until the 6th returned to Australia and the 9th deployed to El Alamein. There are photographs of Matildas with German Afrika Korps markings.
 
Australian 6th Divisional Cavalry Regt and 9th Divisional Cavalry Regt used both the Italian M11/39 & M13/40 in Libya until they ran out of diesel fuel large white kangaroos on their sides. Both units also used French R35 Renault Light Tanks in Syria until the 6th returned to Australia and the 9th deployed to El Alamein. There are photographs of Matildas with German Afrika Korps markings.

Yes a given Matilda II could change hands several times
 
Story 1942 A

Palawan, Dawn March 12, 1943



Kingfishers and sea gulls circled lazily over the harbor. Off shore a pair of submarines waited. They hoped to stay down for the entire day with only their periscope and radio masts breaking the waves but they would be ready.

Twelve miles north of an airfield, Captain Ibling waited patiently. A hot cup of tea was in his hand even as his carbine rested on his knee. Other men from the guerilla band were watching the clearing. They had been told to expect air strikes today and this field was a natural point for a pilot in a damaged aircraft to attempt a soft crash landing. He enjoyed the sound of the birds singing as the light crept over the horizon.

One hundred and thirty seven miles away, USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown turned into the wind. Ten Wildcats from each carrier were the first up. They would sweep the skies of opposition. Two squadrons of dive bombers and another squadron of Avengers followed the first fighter sweep. Each carrier completed its launching evolution with another six Wildcats as close escort.

The escorting fighters climbed for altitude. By the time that they caught up with the slower bombers, they had passed over USS Denver and USS Santa Fe. The two big light cruisers were heading to Palawan at twenty six knots. A trio of destroyers escorted them. They would be in bombardment range by the time the first strike landed. As the forward fighter sweep bounced the morning patrol of six Japanese Army Oscar fighters, USS Constellation turned into the wind. A squadron of dive bombers and elements of fighters and torpedo bombers raced down the deck for the second strike.

USS Essex sent up an identical strike once the morning strike turned around. By the time her aircraft had landed, USS Enterprise had another, smaller, strike package in the air again. A metronome could not be set to the spot cycle of the four American carriers as a squall disrupted launches in the early afternoon. Four hundred sorties were sent to hit Palawan, three hundred and eighty seven landings were recorded.


Captain Ibling had a long, and restful day. Guerrilla bands watched and reported on the movement of Japanese reserves that had headed to the beach nearest to the cruiser bombardment. It was the worst beach to land on.
 
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If anyone is so inclined to vote in the Turtledoves for first half of the 20th Century, there are some great stories including this one and Zheng He's Alternative Indian Ocean Raid which partially inspired this story.

The link is HERE
 
Finally, finished infobox on the Battle of Makassar, the largest naval battle of WW2 ITTL, and probably the most deadliest naval battle of the war:

piH2UBE.png

Superb!
 

Driftless

Donor
Captain Ibling had a long, and restful day. Guerrilla bands watched and reported on the movement of Japanese reserves that had headed to the beach nearest to the cruiser bombardment. It was the worst beach to land on.

Is this a "Look at the shiny object over here" misdirection?
 
Story 1942

March 12, 1943, Northern Borneo



HMS Ark Royal turned out of the wind. The last fighter had landed. Air operations were over for the night. Her escorts clung tight to her. The other three carriers of the Far East Fleet were also completing their flight operations. Soon the last flag was down minutes before the sun set beneath the western horizon.

Two hundred sorties struck Brunei today. The airfield was wrecked, the harbor ruined, and the oil tanks a smoking pyre that would have been suitable for a Viking funeral. Soon destroyer escorts would stop listening and pinging. Speed would be protection as the carriers could now leave the operational box. Once a destroyer thought they had a contact. Depth charges were flung with wild abandon to no avail. Post war records would verify that there was nothing to fear within eighty miles of the attack.

The fleet soon high-stepped back to Singapore.
 

Driftless

Donor
By the description of the actions on Palawan and Borneo, along with other entries; the South China Sea has slipped from any semblance of Japanese control. They can make trouble, to be sure, but not control
 
Story 1943
London, March 13, 1943


The clerk checked the memo one last time. All was in order. The Naval Estimates had been re-adjusted in light of the ongoing demands of the war and material allocation. The major changes were three light carriers, HMS Perseus, Majestic and Terrible, would be cancelled. Some of their long lead time items had already been ordered but no steel had been cut and no slips had been emptied. The work gangs that were supposed to build HMS Perseus would be allocated to ship repair. The resources that would have been used by Majestic now were to be used to build landing ships. HMS Terrible’s workers and steel would accelerate construction of the four 41,000 ton carriers already under construction. Six improved twenty six thousand ton carriers of the Centaur class were still anticipated to be ordered in the fall. Design work would continue for those ships although their projected availability for late 1945 or mid-1946 would probably be after the war had been won. This would be a debate for the July meeting.

He stamped the distribution and file copies. Copies went into the out-basket and the file basket. A WREN would know what to do with those. Now it was time to take notes on the expedient committee for extemporaneous harbors. Those meetings always ran long so he made a brief stop at the water closet before entering the conference room.
 
Story 1944

March 13, 1943 Bataan



USS Gay Viking left lightly loaded. Eighteen men, including eleven invalids had boarded just after dinner. The blockade runner waited for low tide before departing. Her skipper, his skin bright red from the tropical sun, waved at the gunners holding open Manila Bay. This was his ninth trip into to the besieged. The run in was easier this time than it had been before. No aircraft had been spotted over the Spratleys and Japanese coastal patrols were thinning out. A gunboat had claimed USS Typhon three weeks ago but there was nothing to evade. It seemed that the Japanese were just as short of fuel as the army on Bataan was short of food.

Ashore, the army’s quartermaster general sighed. The steady trickle of external supplies was holding off crisis and starvation. As long as they did not have to fight, the army would survive. Eight weeks of food was in the larders of the army. Tomorrow morning, another blockade runner was due to arrive. It would replace everything that his men ate today with her fresh cargo.

Now if he could only get fresh food again. The gardens that the combat support units (mainly engineers and artillery) helped somewhat. The rice paddies that the combat service support units had begun to cultivate would soon stretch out his supplies. There was almost no fresh meat on the peninsula; most of the farm animals had been butchered long ago. The pigs had managed to escape and enterprising infantrymen would eat quasi-wild hog now. Small skiffs and fishing boats brought in bay fish on an almost nightly basis. He knew of that success, he was one of the better fishermen on Lorcha Pier but those gains went straight to either the fisherman’s company or the black market.

They would continue, that was his only choice. Now he had to figure out how to insure that the 59,500 men could continue.
 

Driftless

Donor
The great question is what will happen with the last of the two pre-war I-class carriers ....

Scrap yard? Training ships? Or sold off to another Allied or even neutral country? Would the French be interested in them as a placeholder till their own yards are back in their hands? I could see some of the South American nations being interested in a muscle display - if it comes at a bargain price.
 
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