Sir John Valentine Carden Survives. Part 2.

The Luftwaffe really fucked up
A combination of not realising they should look there (it's a long way away plus some radio traffic trickery to show the what they wanted to believe), only moving at night with daytime camouflaged halts to avoid dust giveaways, and RAF patrols tasked with keeping prying eyes away.
I think that not realising they should look there is reason number 1, and given the size of the desert, probably understandable.
 
A combination of not realising they should look there (it's a long way away plus some radio traffic trickery to show the what they wanted to believe), only moving at night with daytime camouflaged halts to avoid dust giveaways, and RAF patrols tasked with keeping prying eyes away.
I think that not realising they should look there is reason number 1, and given the size of the desert, probably understandable.

To add to this I have to wonder as well how able they were to keep their aircraft flying as much as they did in TTL since none of the Luftwaffe has any experience in operating or maintaining their aircraft in North African conditions. This would be corrected with training and help from the Italians if they accepted it. But they are going to have a lot of technical casualties amongst their aircraft while they adapt to the conditions and suffer a rate of part attrition which would be painful for anyone.
 
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14 June 1941. San Francisco, USA.
14 June 1941. San Francisco, USA.

The stevedores noted that the ships they’d just loaded were raising steam. Another day’s work was coming to an end and their efforts would be sailing with the tide to some far off place. The men, as they left the waterfront, didn’t really care where the ships were going to, just that they had been paid.

On board the ships were sixty-nine brand new M3 Light Tanks destined for the Middle East. The rest of the cargo included a large number of trucks, some of which had been shipped down from Canada, but most had come from the USA with all sorts of spares and tools. The stevedores noted that most of the Canadian boxes had been locked pretty well, obviously someone was concerned about pilfering, the American packing was less rigorous.

If any of the stevedores were interested, and there was usually a few who kept count of things, these weren’t the first ships carrying military supplies since the Lend Lease Act had been passed. Ships started sailing in April to the Middle East from the West Coast of the United States, taking the long route over the Pacific. April had been the first month that the Americans thought it had been safe to send ships through the Red Sea. Nine had sailed that month, and with a stop at Sydney, Australia, to deliver some goods there, the first ships would be arriving at the Suez Canal within days.

Those sailing on the tide tonight would make sixteen just this month, and it wasn’t just tanks and trucks they were carrying. Fighter and bomber aircraft in crates, anti-aircraft guns, and a large amount of machinery, tools, plant for roadwork, engineering and signal equipment, as well as general stores were on the ships pulling away from their berths.
 
Ethier those M3s are getting sold to Free French or Greek Forces or they are heading out East from Africa because given the performance of British Tanks in TTL I can see them being downright disdainful of them given how much more reliable and better British Tanks are in TTL.
 
Ethier those M3s are getting sold to Free French or Greek Forces or they are heading out East from Africa because given the performance of British Tanks in TTL I can see them being downright disdainful of them given how much more reliable and better British Tanks are in TTL.
Given the recent haul of German equipment, I'd say send them to Malaya.
 
Given the recent haul of German equipment, I'd say send them to Malaya.
They may keep one for test but other than showing its American engineering cred more than likely to demonstrate that its armour and gun is obsolete when compared to what Germany and Britain is churning out.
 
Most likely they will replace the worn out armoured cars from one of the earlier updates, while they are not cutting edge they are mobile, reliable and fast.
 
Most likely they will replace the worn out armoured cars from one of the earlier updates, while they are not cutting edge they are mobile, reliable and fast.
Tracked vehicles have undeniably higher maintenance requirements than wheeled ones, and supply lines have yet to be set up as far as I'm aware. And that's besides the fact that Britain has their own vehicles that could do the same thing.
 
Whilst this may be a little too Beutewaffen for the British, you might find some use for the Captured German Tanks as ready made Pillboxes/Bunkers. Use a Tank Transporter to drag it into position, bury it in place with Earthworks.

These would be 'proper' defensive works rather than field fortifications, in my envisioning.
 
Whilst this may be a little too Beutewaffen for the British, you might find some use for the Captured German Tanks as ready made Pillboxes/Bunkers. Use a Tank Transporter to drag it into position, bury it in place with Earthworks.

These would be 'proper' defensive works rather than field fortifications, in my envisioning.
You'd need some alternate power supply for the radio (do these have powered turret traverse?).
 
It seems that the second convoy carries the same number of tanks as the first one. In total, 315 Stuarts are expected until late October.

It should be mentioned that the British owe the Dutch 49 tanks to be delivered to the KNIL. The Dutch at this time were desperate for tanks and in OTL they ordered Marmon-Herrington tanketters since there were no other tanks avaliable.

The other government that was frustrated over the lack of tanks was the australian one. The lack of tanks was delaying the the formation of their 1st Armoured Brigade.
 
Wouldn't the lack of tanks be less than it was OTL given the fact that fewer tanks are needed to go to British units given that many of the disastrous reversals in North Africa haven't happened so some armour could have been freed up for the Australians or the Dutch?
 

Garrison

Donor
Pretty sure this has already been discussed but I'm still playing catch up with this TL, is the spec of the M3 significantly different from OTL?
 
Pretty sure this has already been discussed but I'm still playing catch up with this TL, is the spec of the M3 significantly different from OTL?

That's what I was thinking...then again, which M-3 are we talking about? Medium or Light? (Grant/Lee or Stuart)
 
OTL M3 Stuarts were pretty good in Pacific theatre. They seem to have been well liked in North Africa, where reliability and layout were better than crusaders, but the short range was an issue for a scout vehicle in the desert.
ITTL, the Valiants are relatively reliable and much better armoured and have decent range so the M3 is less useful. It will be a reasonable match for the M13/40 if they can unload at Banghazi in time. Best use might be as an exploitation force after the real tanks have done the hard work against dug in troops. Even there, the short range could be a problem.
Digging in beutepanzer could be a good idea if you needed a defensive line. The only place I can see them being used for that is facing the Mareth line, and that would probably be more a political statement than a military one. Still a good idea if it frees up mobile tanks for use elsewhere. Personally I'd be looking at cutting up a few and creating a few CS assault Valiants with applique armour for taking on the last few defended positions before Tripoli. Speed and range wouldn't matter so much in that role and they'd be near immune to anything short of a 149mm HE round unless the Italians have any 90mm AA guns (which should really be defending Tripoli docks).
Alternatively, ship them somwhere with steel mills, as buying US steel is expensive and dodging Atlantic UBoats is risky.
 
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