But does that actually affect British decision making, does that make them so confident Kirkuk is out of danger to ignore it altogether?Add to the picture for better or worse that there are no rail connections from Turkey to Iraq... directly.
But does that actually affect British decision making, does that make them so confident Kirkuk is out of danger to ignore it altogether?Add to the picture for better or worse that there are no rail connections from Turkey to Iraq... directly.
Small typo in there, unless some ASB moved the Straits of Orlando in the Atlantic...The dozen Greek submarines had proved themselves a problem for Italian convoys moving men and supplies across the Atlantic but not without cost as Triton had been sunk by Italian destroyers a few weeks earlier.
Subtle.HMS Furious left port, with 49 new Hurricanes, some crated other fully operational aboard. If all went according to plan, Furious would upload her aircraft in Dakar in February 19th and head back to Britain. This was the third transport mission Furious was doing since November. A fourth operation was already planned for early March.
That can bite O'Connor in the ass. In contrast to many "Operation Compass succeeds" timelines, the British simply did not have the logistics capacity to supply a drive west of El Agheila. At least the 2nd Armoured Division is sent to Libya, so Sirte can buy time for the Commonwealth to dig in at El Agheila and bring forward supplies. Any garrison left at Sirte will be sacrificed, unless during Cunningham's bombardment of Tripoli, the Italians suffer a "Clan Fraser" incident.A column of Centaur tanks of the 2nd Armoured brigade entered the town. According to intelligence reports the Germans were landing in Tripoli, but so far they were nowhere in sight and with Italian resistance still weak O'Connor had decided to take his chances despite by now his tanks running almost on fumes...
Nice butterfly!The Ierax fighter came down trailing smoke, as 2nd lieutenant Spyros Pisanos unstrapped himself and jumped off the cockpit.
that thanks to Skouras, newsreels across US cinemas were showing the HAF heroically fighting off the Italians over the skies of Macedonia...
Appendix German order of battle for invasion of Greece
Let me only note that the TTL Italian Balkans campaign has been much less of an embarrassment than the OTL one. Yes they have been stopped cold in their invasion of Greece and lost the Dodecanese but only after conquering most of Yugoslavia in 7 weeks...Well, 'the good times' for Greece in the war are definitely over
That's inevitable, they've been fighting for the past 3.5 months an Italian air force of about 700 aircraft on average in addition to the Bulgarians and Hungarians who start with over 300 aircraft each. The RAF, out of 9 squadrons in Greece 2 have Hurricanes, 1 has Gladiators, 5 Blenheims and 1 Wellingtons. The French have LN-161s and Martin 167s. There have been some replacements but not many, at least for the Greeks, Yugoslavs and French. Greek industry delivered 15 Ierax and PZL 37s in the first two months of 1941, that's actually up from 1940 where deliveries averaged 6 per month. Some Gladiators and Blenheims have been delivered to the Yugoslavs. And that's it...Small typo in there, unless some ASB moved the Straits of Orlando in the Atlantic...
Lots of losses for the Allied Air Forces, what is the monthly rate of aircraft production in Greece ? Have there been any replacements? What type of aircraft does RAF operate in Greece?
It is fewer. The German army needs to be supplied by the Belgrade-Thessaloniki railroad, or the Bulgarian railroads. But the same railroads TTL need also to keep in supply the Italian and Bulgarian armies also fighting the Greeks. The transportation capacity had to come from somewhere...Is it just me or is this fewer men than the OTL invasion? 12th Army seems to be missing the L Infantry Corps, though the extra Panzer Corps in place of First Panzer Group and 16th Panzer Division might make up for that
Frankly they need it. By the time the battle of Britain ended (for various definitions of ended, the Blitz goes on) RAF had lost 174 aircraft fewer than OTL. It makes sense quite a few of these will be finding their way to the Mediterranean.Subtle.
In OTL HMS Furious did two runs at that time instead of three. Having Dakar closer than Takoradi is pretty useful, not to mention that it is a superior ports with better infrastructure. Since there is no need for Club Runs, HMS Ark Royal can be used periodically for ferrying aircraft to Dakar. If not, Sommerville can stage more raids against Sardinia and itallian shipping in the Tyrrhenian Sea. In a few days HMS Formitable arrives as well, so HMS Glorious can be dedicated in aircraft ferrying and hunting raiders in the Atlantic.
Bottomline, the Allied air forces in the Balkans and Cyrenaica can be strengthened faster compared to OTL.
Possibly. O'Connor himself believed he could push a force at least up to Sirte... and TTL you'll note 2nd Armoured brigade has brand new Centaurs, not the mostly shot up cruiser tanks it had in OTL. Remember the 100 Centaurs of the initial Greek order from Vickers you kept asking about? Well they've just shown up. At the same time the Germans are not there yet, to use the excellent Crusader project 5 PanzerRegiment tanks are shipped between 25 February and 15 March and till the 4 March convoy arrives in Tripoli it has all of 6 tanks... You also have Arriete of course but it is also still arriving to Tripoli.That can bite O'Connor in the ass. In contrast to many "Operation Compass succeeds" timelines, the British simply did not have the logistics capacity to supply a drive west of El Agheila. At least the 2nd Armoured Division is sent to Libya, so Sirte can buy time for the Commonwealth to dig in at El Agheila and bring forward supplies. Any garrison left at Sirte will be sacrificed, unless during Cunningham's bombardment of Tripoli, the Italians suffer a "Clan Fraser" incident.
Plagis was born in Rhodesia in 1919. Of course his family may well have come back to Greece TTL. Or for that matter when he volunteers for service he may well find him with the HAF. I'm undecided. Same with a certain Panos Doukakis. Now the Doundoulakis bros and Nick Christofilou are likely making an appearance sooner or later. And have I mentioned the "Greek Trilogy" of Elia Kazan? No I have not.Nice butterfly!
What about John Plagis ? He was born in Rhodesia before the POD. However, I can see a way to have him in HAF. Plagis' father hailed from the village of Kontias in Lemnos Island. However, in OTL there were a lot of refugees from Asia Minor that were settled in Kontias - and other places in the island. Without these settlers there will be abundance of land, so Plagis' family may return to Lemnos.
Also having the fellow who runs 20th Century Fox in tow helps...Well, that is the benefit of having a Prime Minister that has valuable experience in propaganda.
I'll only say that six Italian divisions have been moved to the Albanian front...In order to have these 10 german divisions at the frontline and supply them, how many italian and bulgarian units had to withdraw ?
That's an interesting question not least because unlike OTL Pangalos has a sizeable army in the Macedonian front. In OTL there were 6 understrength Greek divisions in addition to the 2 Anzac divisions. TTL you have 27 allied divisions in Macedonia (12 Greek, 2 British, 2 French, 3 Polish and 8 Yugoslav) to hold a front of about 180 km, plus a 80km fortified sector to the east of that with a substantial portion of this front being mountainous. Not everyone is needed in the front, Pangalos in all like-hood is holding a substantial operational/strategic reserve... besides being pragmatic enough to be already preparing his fallback position on the Olympus as mentioned in part 67.Where are the French and Poles positioned ?
Overall? Between Albania and Macedonia the Italians have 31 divisions committed including, 2 armoured, 3 Celere and 4 Alpini ones which by all accounts were as good as any at the time. Add to this 17 Bulgarian divisions (15 infantry and 2 cavalry) in Macedonia and Thrace.How many Italians are committed to this Balkan invasion? OTL they had more than half a million in Albania alone I would expect that they have way more now that they have a bigger front.
And the Yugoslavs. What remains of the Yugoslav army at this point is the units that went on fighting and have had by now nearly 3 months to catch their breath. They are cohesive, veteran units at this point not unlike their forefathers in 1916-18. The unmotivated, the disloyal, the incompetent and the unlucky were shed away one way or the other during the Italian invasion and the retreat to Greece.The Germans ITTL don't have to worry about the Turks attacking them on the flanks and the Bulgarians are already committed into the war so they have way better support on the infantry front and they can focus on the weak points of the defense lines. On the other hand you have extra French and Polish forces on the front as well as a lot more anti-tank weapons.
That can bite O'Connor in the ass. In contrast to many "Operation Compass succeeds" timelines, the British simply did not have the logistics capacity to supply a drive west of El Agheila.
From the little I could gather on Sirte at the time, there was nothing much of note besides the old Turkish fort (I didn't get if the Italians upgraded or improved it), and before the oil discovery, the references are of the waters around Sirte not quite friendly to traffic (I couldn't find yet something about any port installation during the Italian time or during the north african campaign, so I guess fishing port style). So my question is, is there any potential for the Royal Engineers to make up some rough port facilities to facilitate shipping in supply, even if that's only using light coastal shipping from advanced ports at Tobruk and Benghazi? Or perhaps airstrips for airborne supplies? Overall, what are O'Connor's plans to supply a forward position at Sirte, if that's not asking too much hint/spoil of what's ahead?Possibly. O'Connor himself believed he could push a force at least up to Sirte... and TTL you'll note 2nd Armoured brigade has brand new Centaurs, not the mostly shot up cruiser tanks it had in OTL.
O'Connor wants to go to Tripoli, I doubt he can before the German and Italian reinforcements show up...From the little I could gather on Sirte at the time, there was nothing much of note besides the old Turkish fort (I didn't get if the Italians upgraded or improved it), and before the oil discovery, the references are of the waters around Sirte not quite friendly to traffic (I couldn't find yet something about any port installation during the Italian time or during the north african campaign, so I guess fishing port style). So my question is, is there any potential for the Royal Engineers to make up some rough port facilities to facilitate shipping in supply, even if that's only using light coastal shipping from advanced ports at Tobruk and Benghazi? Or perhaps airstrips for airborne supplies? Overall, what are O'Connor's plans to supply a forward position at Sirte, if that's not asking too much hint/spoil of what's ahead?
EDIT: I imagine if O'Connor manages to improve his supply lines, airborne or seaborne, to Sirte well enough by the time Rommel kicks in, that might decide if Sirte is going Tobruk style or Bir Hakeim style.
Stalin probably won't attack first. His armies are not at anything resembling acceptable readiness given multiple incidents reported of armored units having a lack of ammunition, or even guns, and that is only the tip of the iceberg of the issues they need to tackle.Very interesting and well developed story Lascaris!!!
It seems now that the Balkans will be an important battlefield (more than OTL). Even though the german invasion starts earlier, it seems it reasonable to believe that this campaign will last longer, thus delaying the german attack to the Soviet Union. So what will Hitler decide? Will he focus on Greece till it us fully conquered (including Crete), even if he is forced to delay Operation Barbarossa, or he will choose to after some time to relay on his allies for Greece and focus on the Soviets?
Also what is going to be USSR responce? The possibility of backstabbing Hitler and launch a surprise attack is an option?
What OTL aircraft is the Greek Ierax fighter based on, if any?The Ierax fighter came down trailing smoke,
To quote myself back in part 45:What OTL aircraft is the Greek Ierax fighter based on, if any?
Post that the Greeks already building PZL P.24 bought the design and adapted it for the Merlin III they are making under license, post the fall of Poland they also recruited Pulawski himself, along with Dabrowski. In effect view it as an OTL PZL 55 with Merlin. The name Ierax, is a direct translation of the Polish Jashtrab, both mean Hawk.The prototype PZL P.53 took to the air for the first time powered by a 860hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engine. An inline engined variant of the P.50 fighter of Zygmunt Pulawski that had first flown back in August, the aircraft was the result of Pulawski's insistence on using inline engines despite the air force's preference for radials. Even though P.53 would reach 537 km/h to P.50s 500 km/h the P.50 had already been selected for production with an order for 300 aircraft, but Pulawski had enough pull to be allowed to continue developing P.53 in parallel, after all both the Greeks who were producing the earlier P.24 under licence and the Yugoslavs who were discussing the purchase of 20 PZL.37 bombers and a licence for more had already shown interest. At least P.50 had come at an opportunate moment.
Thanks, I didn't recall reading that.To quote myself back in part 45:
Post that the Greeks already building PZL P.24 bought the design and adapted it for the Merlin III they are making under license, post the fall of Poland they also recruited Pulawski himself, along with Dabrowski. In effect view it as an OTL PZL 55 with Merlin. The name Ierax, is a direct translation of the Polish Jashtrab, both mean Hawk.