18th April 1939, London.
There is a meeting between the management of Vickers and the Government to look at establishing new sources of military supplies in Canada. Vickers has been investigating these for some time, as Canada had been interested in obtaining tanks, which the commitments in Britain had left in short supply. Vickers had been originally negotiating on a deal to build one or more of the current models in Canada, but with the ongoing developments this was felt to be too minimal a solution.
The Canadian government was unwilling to commit to building what they saw as war industries, or spend money on developing them, but were prepared to facilitate new armament works as long as Vickers paid for them. For their part, Vickers was happy to do this as long as they were recompensed by the Government.
Canada was seen as the best source of equipment in the Empire and Dominions; it had a modern technical base, ample resources and was close to the USA where parts and machinery could be purchased. It was decided to fund two new sites; the first would be in partnership with the Montreal Locomotive Works to build tanks and component parts. Secondly they wanted to build a new factory complex to build tanks, guns and other specialised vehicles close to Toronto, conveniently close to the steel mills at Hamilton.
While officially the Canadian government were not part of the arrangement, they would make every effort to help these deals along. Vickers had looked at a number of locations, and all they needed was official permission - which was swiftly granted - to break ground. They needed to buy in tools and train the workforce as well as just build the factory, but expected the first output from the new works in the summer of 1940.
It was expected to get vehicles from Montreal sooner than this, the main detail to be resolved was which tank to build. The Canadian government had indicated it would be interested in purchasing the A10 Sabre, and the A12 Matilda II was the other possibility. There had been discussions as to whether the tank would be completely welded, as at Vickers, or use cast sections. The Canadian plants were familiar with casting, and there was a shortage of armour plate in the country, so one option was to build the A10 with cast hull sections and turret. Vickers had investigated this when they first designed the tank, before deciding welding was the better way to go, so the drawings wouldn't have to be done from scratch, just updated and possibly modified for Canadian methods.. The Matilda II of course already cast, but there were concerns as to the time it needed to produce them, given Vulcan's problems.
In addition to tanks, Vickers also wanted to build guns and engines. The new Toronto plant would build all three - land was plentiful, and there was no risk of enemy attack, so the plant would be laid out for maximum efficiency. Being a port on the Great Lakes, there would be no huge problem shipping raw materials and finished weapons out. They were looking at a plant to build the Kiwi engine, 1,000 units a year, and also factory space to build guns, starting with the 2pdr and HV3pdr guns. One possibility was an American diesel engine, built under license in Canada by the subsidiary of a large US manufacturer, but this needed further investigation.
Vickers were also looking at the possibility or sourcing some components from the USA. While convenient, there were serious issues as to the availability of US dollars, and they didn't expect to get permission short of a War. Another possibility worth looking into was a collaboration with a company like General Motors in Canada, for building engines and vehicles.
27th April 1939
In order to meet the forthcoming needs of the armed forces, in particular the Army, a limited form of conscription was authorised in Britain. Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Secretary of State for War, persuaded the Cabinet to introduce a limited form of conscription. Only single men in the age group 20-22 years old were liable, and in order to distinguish them from the Regular and territorial amy they would be called 'militiamen'. The intention was for the first intake to undergo six months of basic training before being discharged into the active reserve. They would then be recalled for short training periods and attend an annual camp. Parliament would pass the enabling Military Training act on the 26th May.
28th April 1939
Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag, denouncing both the 10-year non-aggression pact with Poland and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935. He calls the Anglo0Polish Agreement an alliance directed exclusively against Germany, and again demands the return of Danzig to Germany. The Royal Navy starts preparations for increasing the size of its anti-submarine force, now that they are no longer confined by the Agreement. Although there are still hopes that War can be averted, to most in office this is looking less and less likely, and war planning proceeds as far as economic and financial resources allow.
3rd May 1939, War Office, London
General Martel had been involved with mine-clearing devices and techniques in WW1, so was the obvious person to consult about modernising the techniques for modern use. The methods of the time had basically been a tank-mounted mine roller, and this was seen as the obvious starting point, as they had proven to be fairly successful.
Interest had waned after the Great War, as it had been considered that any minefields encountered would be too large for easy clearance under fire. However exercises and tests had shown that there was a use for tactical minefields, and being able to clear these would speed things up - and reduce losses - considerably. Martel, while feeling his earlier considerations had been valued, accepted that things were changing, and that a group should be set up to test and refine the old methods with a modern tank. It would also test current proposed British mines - while some experimental and test mines had been used over the years, there was no good modern mine in mass production. The Army wanted a anti-infantry and anti-tank mine, if only one was possible then the anti-tank version. Given that they were expecting to be defending initial German attacks, mines seemed very useful, and enterprising infantry units had been fairly successful with dummy ones against the RTC exercises. And intelligence showed the Germans themselves were keen on the use of mines, so ways of neutralising them would be helpful when they themselves attacked.
He wouldn't be taking part in the evaluations himself - he had recently over the 50th (Northumbrian) Division, and would be busy preparing them, and also the second line 'daughter' unit the 23rd (Northumbrian) division. He particularly wanted to ensure they knew how to work with and against tanks. While spare tanks were very thin on the ground, he was sure some of his old contacts could arrange for something suitable to occur. He did suggest to his visitors that once they had got to the stage of needing some infantry to help them test things out, he'd be happy to have his Division supply some men.
And its pure genius.
