Ramp-Rat
Monthly Donor
The very vexed question of Operation Matador.
Operation Matador, was a very good military plan, and would have had it been enacted with suitable troops, have probably been successful. Forcing the Japanese army onto the back foot, and requiring them to take up a defensive posture, something that they were not prepared for. However politically it was a disaster waiting to happen, and would have been a propaganda win for the Japanese, who could have then portrayed themselves as the victims. And thus muddied the waters in regards to who was responsible for the outbreak of the war. The Americans on whom the British were relying for much of the support they required to prosecute the war, especially in the European theatre. Would have had a lot of their suspicions roused about what the British war aims were, and there were plenty who would think that this was another British attempt to expand the British Empire, with them picking up the bill. And everyones favourite big mouth American General, his imperial highness the MacArthur, would have been screaming that the British rather than providing him aid, were instead using American resources to further their aims and expand the Empire. It should be noted that if the British don’t conduct Operation Matador, but as I suspect they will still succeed in preventing the Japanese from capturing Malaya and Singapore. His Gloriousness will claim that it was he who provided them with the plan to defeat the Japanese, and had the American government ( FDR ) provided him with the resources he gave to the British, he would have defeated them himself. It’s a good job that the Governor is a very switched on man, and there is a fairly extensive American Press Corps in Singapore, with good communications to the United States. As he will have his own tail to tell, and they will have seen but not been able to report up until the outbreak of the war, the preparations that the British had made, and how little that MacArthur had been involved in them.
RR.
Operation Matador, was a very good military plan, and would have had it been enacted with suitable troops, have probably been successful. Forcing the Japanese army onto the back foot, and requiring them to take up a defensive posture, something that they were not prepared for. However politically it was a disaster waiting to happen, and would have been a propaganda win for the Japanese, who could have then portrayed themselves as the victims. And thus muddied the waters in regards to who was responsible for the outbreak of the war. The Americans on whom the British were relying for much of the support they required to prosecute the war, especially in the European theatre. Would have had a lot of their suspicions roused about what the British war aims were, and there were plenty who would think that this was another British attempt to expand the British Empire, with them picking up the bill. And everyones favourite big mouth American General, his imperial highness the MacArthur, would have been screaming that the British rather than providing him aid, were instead using American resources to further their aims and expand the Empire. It should be noted that if the British don’t conduct Operation Matador, but as I suspect they will still succeed in preventing the Japanese from capturing Malaya and Singapore. His Gloriousness will claim that it was he who provided them with the plan to defeat the Japanese, and had the American government ( FDR ) provided him with the resources he gave to the British, he would have defeated them himself. It’s a good job that the Governor is a very switched on man, and there is a fairly extensive American Press Corps in Singapore, with good communications to the United States. As he will have his own tail to tell, and they will have seen but not been able to report up until the outbreak of the war, the preparations that the British had made, and how little that MacArthur had been involved in them.
RR.
