Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
- Thread starter fester
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4 brigades is a pretty solid division.
And given that their brigades tended to be large, there is a good depth of reserves for combat losses/replacements.
The Belgian mechanized division will be part of the 21st Army Group and will spend time in multiple corps and armies over the course of the 1944 campaign season.
The Belgians will not be part of the initial landings in NW Europe. They could very conceivably be part of the 2nd and 3rd echelon that fixes German field formations and then exploits a break-out.
Errolwi
Monthly Donor
Have you seen the Allied forces in Italy? You wouldn't use them for the initial assault, but assuming they have a reasonable replacement pool, go at it.
4 Brigades would be a Division plus (standard division 3 brigades plus support troops), probably however short of support units i.e. Engineers, Artillery etc.
Story 2397
183 miles west of the Cape of Good Hope, January 21, 1944
U-178's periscope went down.
Seconds later, two torpedoes were in the water.
The tramp freighter had made this run from Montevideo to Capetown half a dozen times. Each run was nearly the same. Get the engines to a good steam pressure and move independently across the South Atlantic at a steady eight knots. When there was air cover, do not zig-zag, when there was no aircraft nearby, zig-zag every fifteen to twenty minutes based on the roll of the dice that had been placed near the wheel. Until this evening, the most excitement seen in the past year was a diversion to answer a distress call from a ship that had taken damage from a rogue wave.
The look-out spotted the torpedoes. He had no time to do anything useful except yell to brace for impact. One torpedo went twenty yards ahead of the bow. The other slammed into ship's hull a few yards astern of the old triple expansion engine room.
U-178's periscope went down.
Seconds later, two torpedoes were in the water.
The tramp freighter had made this run from Montevideo to Capetown half a dozen times. Each run was nearly the same. Get the engines to a good steam pressure and move independently across the South Atlantic at a steady eight knots. When there was air cover, do not zig-zag, when there was no aircraft nearby, zig-zag every fifteen to twenty minutes based on the roll of the dice that had been placed near the wheel. Until this evening, the most excitement seen in the past year was a diversion to answer a distress call from a ship that had taken damage from a rogue wave.
The look-out spotted the torpedoes. He had no time to do anything useful except yell to brace for impact. One torpedo went twenty yards ahead of the bow. The other slammed into ship's hull a few yards astern of the old triple expansion engine room.
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If the old ship was travelling between Montevideo in Uruguay and Capetown in South Africa shouldn't she have been 183 miles West of the Cape of Good Hope when attacked? But OTOH if she was 183 miles due East of the Cape she would have been in zero danger of sinking, let alone getting torpedoed
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The poor crew of that torpedoed ship. At 8 knots the voyage from Montevideo to Capetown would take about 3 weeks depending on weather and currents. And they get sunk (they likely were sunk) only a day out from Capetown. And that's where a U-boat would patrol in a sparsely travelled part of the ocean. Where the sea lanes begin to converge near a port. And if the old steamer was coal fired the Germans could have spotted her 50 miles away. But getting near to the vicinity of the port of Capetown where were the SAAF patrol planes?
What was the cargo ship carrying from Uruguay to South Africa? If not sunk what would she have carried on the return trip?
What was the cargo ship carrying from Uruguay to South Africa? If not sunk what would she have carried on the return trip?
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Story 2398
Southern Ukraine, January 21, 1944
Dozens of tanks started to advance. The elite Guards battalion had received new tanks just three weeks ago. The white washed tanks slowly moved through the ice and the snow with their massive new cannon slowly moving back and forth. As the heavy guns boomed and flung shells at machine gun posts and trenches, two battalions of infantry, overwhelmingly armed with grenades and submachine guns filled the gaps between the tanks. The Red Army artillery was striking the second line of German defenses where the anti-tank guns usually were set up. A combination of high explosive shells and smoke cells restricted vision to only dozens of yards past the sand bags and netting that hid the heavy, crew served defenses from easy observation.
Hours later, the tank battalion paused their advance. Half a dozen tanks were scattered along an eight kilometer trail. Three had been lost to mines, another two to a determined 88 crew that had a near perfect flanking angle and the last to a breakdown. Two Studebakers stopped at each tank. A few gallons of diesel fuel, half a dozen high explosive shells, and a box of machine gun ammunition was passed to each crew. Two men reloaded the tanks as the other two made quick repairs. Before the trucks moved to the next tank, hot tea was passed to the tankers.
The advance continued twenty minutes later.
Dozens of tanks started to advance. The elite Guards battalion had received new tanks just three weeks ago. The white washed tanks slowly moved through the ice and the snow with their massive new cannon slowly moving back and forth. As the heavy guns boomed and flung shells at machine gun posts and trenches, two battalions of infantry, overwhelmingly armed with grenades and submachine guns filled the gaps between the tanks. The Red Army artillery was striking the second line of German defenses where the anti-tank guns usually were set up. A combination of high explosive shells and smoke cells restricted vision to only dozens of yards past the sand bags and netting that hid the heavy, crew served defenses from easy observation.
Hours later, the tank battalion paused their advance. Half a dozen tanks were scattered along an eight kilometer trail. Three had been lost to mines, another two to a determined 88 crew that had a near perfect flanking angle and the last to a breakdown. Two Studebakers stopped at each tank. A few gallons of diesel fuel, half a dozen high explosive shells, and a box of machine gun ammunition was passed to each crew. Two men reloaded the tanks as the other two made quick repairs. Before the trucks moved to the next tank, hot tea was passed to the tankers.
The advance continued twenty minutes later.
Assume the replenishment stop applies only to the surviving tanks
You dont waste fuel and ammo on a track that can't continue today
However, in some ways the fate of the six lost sheep is equally important
The second echelon support crews will be working on the breakdown and may well be able to fix the mined vehicles
Even the tanks lost to the 88mm may be a source of spares
and the same goes for any surviving crewmen
Possession of the field effectively halves the immediate combat losses within a day or two
I don’t know about the crewmen but I read in an Osprey book (Bagration or Kursk) that about 50% of knocked out tanks were recoverable. So figure on 2 or 3 of those tanks being sent back into action.
Story 2399
The French Alps, January 22, 1944
The partisan moved slightly. He squeezed his fists. He wiggled his toes. He tensed his glutes and then released. He wiggled his nose. All of these movements were on top of a wool blanket that he had been lying on since the previous night. His carbine, almost factory fresh from America, was next to him. The radio crackled. The strike was ten minutes out. He could only wait. The rest of the squad as well as the Free French forward air controller could only wait.
The radio crackled again a few minutes later. The forward air controller described the setting below them. There was a flak battery of half a dozen 20 millimeter guns on an outcrop half a mile up the valley. Another battery of slightly heavier anti-aircraft guns were higher in the valley. The controller wanted the escadrille of Thunderbolts to come in from the east, out of the rising sun.
Two minutes later, the first of the two dozen big fighters with a single heavy bomb on the center line entered the valley. The roar had alerted the defenders. Tracers were rising. The bomb released and arced through the sky. Over the next several minutes, more bombs were released. One Thunderbolt trailed smoke coming out of the attack run.
Twelve minutes after the last fighter had left the valley, the squad had finished their mission. Dozens of photographs had been taken. Damaged had been assessed and a brief message had been radioed to an orbiting coordinator. The valley would not need to be visited again for several days until after the German rail repair crew had arrived.
The partisan moved slightly. He squeezed his fists. He wiggled his toes. He tensed his glutes and then released. He wiggled his nose. All of these movements were on top of a wool blanket that he had been lying on since the previous night. His carbine, almost factory fresh from America, was next to him. The radio crackled. The strike was ten minutes out. He could only wait. The rest of the squad as well as the Free French forward air controller could only wait.
The radio crackled again a few minutes later. The forward air controller described the setting below them. There was a flak battery of half a dozen 20 millimeter guns on an outcrop half a mile up the valley. Another battery of slightly heavier anti-aircraft guns were higher in the valley. The controller wanted the escadrille of Thunderbolts to come in from the east, out of the rising sun.
Two minutes later, the first of the two dozen big fighters with a single heavy bomb on the center line entered the valley. The roar had alerted the defenders. Tracers were rising. The bomb released and arced through the sky. Over the next several minutes, more bombs were released. One Thunderbolt trailed smoke coming out of the attack run.
Twelve minutes after the last fighter had left the valley, the squad had finished their mission. Dozens of photographs had been taken. Damaged had been assessed and a brief message had been radioed to an orbiting coordinator. The valley would not need to be visited again for several days until after the German rail repair crew had arrived.
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The Allies are working effectively to reduce the resupply of the German Army in Northern Italy. P-47s flying out of captured airfields in Northern Italy being talked onto railway line targets in the the French Alps by well trained and well supplied French Resistance fighters. Impressive coordination.
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Story 2400
Rangoon, January 23, 1944
The 50th oceangoing vessel to be built at the Irrawaddy Flotilla dockyards had just been launched. The small tramp steamer had a pair of diesel engines that could propel her and her 1200 tons of cargo at a reliable eleven knots. Once she was fitted out, she would take part in a regular trade between Rangoon, Calcutta and Columbo for the next twenty seven years.
The 50th oceangoing vessel to be built at the Irrawaddy Flotilla dockyards had just been launched. The small tramp steamer had a pair of diesel engines that could propel her and her 1200 tons of cargo at a reliable eleven knots. Once she was fitted out, she would take part in a regular trade between Rangoon, Calcutta and Columbo for the next twenty seven years.
Driftless
Donor
In our history, Rangoon was still a battle zone in May of 1945. Here, the fight is long enough over where it's back to business as usual, or better?
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