Looking for a British General.

I'm thinking of a TL where the Brit powers that be look at their war situation and decide when appointing the new GOC Malaya in April 1941 that prewar plans to large forces may not come together, so they appoint a man who will make the best of his situation. The criteria are; he must be available in April 1941, a go-getter personality, proven effectiveness at making do in shitty situations such as France, Norway, Greece. His brief will be to whip the Far East into shape with the resources at his disposal, and not complain about his weaknesses etc. Perhaps a somewhat junior officer can suffice since Percival was appointed over the heads of other generals, he had never commanded even a corps.

Does such a general exist?
 

MrP

Banned
...Pour Le Coeur Allied Supreme Commander Bradford, anyone? ;)

:D

I have no firm plans for him . . . but a man who made Brigadier-General at 25 IOTL is certainly going to do something! :cool:

Something other than make me look even lazier than I am, that is. ;)
 
I'm personally fond of Adrian Carton de Wiart as he was kinda full of awesome, thought I don't know much about his actual leadership abilities.
Slim would be probably too junior in April 1941, but you could probably alter his inter-war carrier a bit...
 
Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC,KBE,CB,CMG,DSOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Service_Order

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Now that's what a General should look like!:cool:
 

perfectgeneral

Donor
Monthly Donor
he was transferred to a special prison for senior officers at Castello di Vincigliata. There were a number of senior officer prisoners here because of the large "bag" made by Rommel in North Africa early in 1941. De Wiart made friends, especially with General Sir Richard O'Connor, Thomas Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly and Lieutenant-General Philip Neame VC. The four were committed to escaping. He made five attempts including seven months tunneling.
You could have them and Air Marshall Owen Boyd escape from the Italians in, say, mid 1941?
 
If I make one up how do I give him a career without changing some OTL and thus other wider history? A good career path would be; Mobile Force in Egypt in 1936, Norway 1940, Greece 1941, Malaya 1941. This would give him experiecne of dealing with inadequate forces at the end of long supply lines, and show him the value of getting the most from training and things like delaying tactics.
 
Why not promote Monty? His slogging style would be perfect for the jungle, & it would keep him the hell away from North Africa & Europe.:p:cool:
 
Monty is a good trainer of men, and rude enough to get his own way. But in Africa he didn't move until he was ready and had plenty of everything, how will he go in Malaya where very little materiel is forthcoming?
 

Markus

Banned
Perhaps a somewhat junior officer can suffice since Percival was appointed over the heads of other generals, he had never commanded even a corps.

Percival´s problem was he came too late to the show: April 41. In order to have an impact an alternate CG needs to be on the scene much sooner.


Monty is a good trainer of men, and rude enough to get his own way. But in Africa he didn't move until he was ready and had plenty of everything, how will he go in Malaya where very little materiel is forthcoming?

And training is what the forces in Malaya need most. If they can fight a good delaying action they will bleed the IJA white in the process, which is good enough.
 
Yes, a campaign of delaying and attrition is all that is needed to really throw a spanner in the Japanese works. If they can't grab Singapore in one swoop like OTL then they have to pause for logistical reasons, and that opens up a can of worms. It's for that reason alone that I think a real go-getter of a CG from April '41 would be enough to tip the balance. However I think April may be too early for the ideal CG, because I think such a man would be best schooled in Norway, Ethiopia, Greece and/or other shoestring campaigns, but these are too late for convenience.

My vague concept is for our hypothetical general to spend 6 months whipping his forces into shape, and modifying his plans based on what he has. So Op Matador could be launched in brigade strength on time, unlike the delay and change from division to battalion strength made at the last minute IOTL. And he doesn't ask for Force Z to put it head into the lions mouth on the first day of the war.

The next event in my vague concept is in mid Feb. The intial Japanese campaign stalls a considerable distance from Singapore for logistical reasons. Force Z/ABDA naval forces intercept and destroy/scatter the Japanese invasion convoy headed for Sumatra. So in mid Feb southern Malaya and Sumatra are in Allied hands and will remain so for some weeks. I think this is the key to my concept.

The third event in my vague concept is the arrival of Sommerville in early April. I've yet to work out what's possible for Sommerville. However I'm thinking he won't have to shadow box with Nagumo as he did IOTL because Nagumo will be satisfied with sinking Force Z/ABDA ships that thwarted the invasion of Sumatra, and plastering the British in Malaya.

My main problem is that my TL will be dry and without detail compared to others that people put up.
 
You'd have to check the timing in more detail, but I understand Phillips got word the Japanese were coming in time to meet them as they landed & blow the living crap out the transports,:eek: before the air units that buggered him OTL arrived.:cool: Now, I've also read he got diverted by a faulty report of a Japanese landing,:mad: which might've delayed him a crucial amount. Between the 2, tho, IMO you've got room to screw Yamashita rather thoroughly:D & buy Percival & Brooke-Popham a little time, anyway... Don't forget, the Japanese PacWar timetable was so finely tuned, any interference had enormous knock-on effects downstream.:eek:
 
The problem is none of the brits are going to have any flair for jungle warfare. Jungle is very different to desert and i feel Monty would have viewed it as a defensive anchor rather than as a place to actually fight. what you need is an Aussie., i would suggest Leslie Morshead (Rats of Tobruk anyone?).

However anyone with more balls than Percival would do
 
6 months training out in the jungle, and more importantly the farms and plantation, that made up Malaya would soon sort out any lack of flair in the jungle.

Phillips was on a suicide mission, if he only knew it. He sailed into an area that was populated with 2 subs, a force of 6 cruisers plus their destroyers and the 80-90 planes. I'm sure that this combination was strong enough to ensure Force Z's destruction no matter what.
 
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