A unified political movement, could supplement an army, based on guerrilla modalities. What political leader could do so, is another question?
War makes for Strange Bedfellows – A Second World War timeline
- Thread starter BurkeanLibCon
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Good luck at University! I know how stressful my first semester was a few years ago now. But I'm sure you'll do great.
Chapter 27 – Stalemate in the Sky
Chapter 27 – Stalemate in the Sky
Battle of Britain (Part 3)
August – September 1940
Battle of Britain (Part 3)
August – September 1940
By August 1940, the war had come to a stalemate. Ground combat on the Western Front after the fall of France and the Northern Front had been quiet as well, with little more than skirmishes occurring on the frontlines after the first Battle of Björkliden [1].
In the skies over Britain, the Luftwaffe was still failing to obtain aerial supremacy over Britain. This was annoying Göring and other members of the German high command. Their plan was predicated on the fact that Britain would surrender if the RAF were to lose control of Britain’s skies. That wasn’t happening. Adlertag had failed to knock put the RAF on the ground and knock out the radar stations. In addition, Germany’s plans to invade Norway in September were progressing, and the Luftwaffe would have to redirect units there soon in preparation. Clearly, a new approach was needed.
Several factors were in consideration. The main one being the upcoming invasion of Norway, scheduled for the 21st of September at the latest. Göring was aware that many German bombers, almost entirely from Luftflotte 2, based in the Low Countries would have to be redirected for further attacks on southern Norway and the Baltic approaches, joining Luftflotte 5 based in Sweden. The main issues here would be that Luftflotte 2 was the main force operating against the RAF’s No. 11 Group over southern England. A lessening of the campaign here would be akin to an admission of defeat.
Secondly, there was the fact that the RAF had not been destroyed as planned. The main result of this was the wounding of Göring’s pride, furthering his refusal to cooperate with other service branches in the campaign against the United Kingdom, particularly the Kriegsmarine, to the great annoyance of Admiral Raeder [2]. The Germans were forced to choose between two priorities, Britain or Norway.
At a meeting with the other service chiefs on the 18th of August, in which the commanders of Luftflottes 2, 3 and 5 (Albert Kesselring, Hugo Sperrle and Hans-Jürgen Stumpff respectively) as well as General von Falkenhorst (commander of German army units in Sweden) were invited, it was decided to prioritise Norway. When push came to shove, the choice was no contest. Most elements of the Norwegian campaign were almost complete with a concrete plan of attack [3] and the ability to carry it out. In comparison, there was no clear strategic goal for attacking Britain, other than the original gamble that a concerted air campaign would force Prime Minister Wood to sue for peace. Any possible plans to invade Great Britain had been ruled out, partly given Göring’s bullishness on the Luftwaffe’s abilities. For now, any plans to knock Britain out in the air quickly had to be put off. Whilst Göring’s pride had been wounded, he was forced to compromise with the other service leaders. With Hitler dead and his strategy of playing various factions against one another gone with him, Göring would be unable to repeat this strategy, forcing a compromise [4].
The new strategy for Britain would, as such, be a compromise. Luftflotte 3 would continue to operate against Britain whilst Luftflotte 2 would be split, with I. Fliegerkorps being reassigned to Sperrle’s command to remain in the fight against Britain whilst the rest of Luftlotte 2 (II. & IX. Fliegerkorps as well as Jagdfliegerführer 2) being reassigned to the Norway campaign to join Luftflotte 5.
As for Luftflotte 3, Göring had wished for a concerted attack against RAF airfields and aircraft factories, luring Fighter Command planes into battle where they could be destroyed. However, with Luftflotte 2, the main German force in the Battle of Britain, being redirected, that plan had to be altered. To compromise with the Kriegsmarine, Göring ordered that ports along Britain’s southern and western coasts should be bombarded, but the bombing of industries and airfields were given priority and he was unwilling to give the navy control of any Luftwaffe units [5].
On the 20th of August, Göring issued his new directive “Directions for operations against the British war economy [6].” The plan called for “ceaseless” attacks against British aircraft factories, Fighter Command airfields and Atlantic and Channel ports. That night, German bombers launched raids on Croydon, Wimbledon and Bristol. The next night, Cardiff and Fort Dunlop in Birmingham were attacked. On the 25th, over 200 bombers raided the Fort Dunlop factory in Birmingham. The raid caused severe damage, hampering production [7]. On the 1st of September, Liverpool was attacked. Multiple RAF stations were attacked as well, including Croydon, Eastchurch and Gravesend. The change in strategy began to show results, with the integrity of the Dowding system being threatened. To remedy this, aircraft from the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm brought in to offset losses [8]. As Luftflotte 2 had been redirected, the effects of the new strategy were limited in scale. Had the Luftwaffe not been redirected, it’s been debated among historians whether this would have been decisive in the air campaign.
In Berlin, Göring and the other service chiefs began to put the final touches on Operation Shark (Unternehmen Haifisch), the German invasion of Norway.
Footnotes
- [1] Spoiler alert!
- [2] Göring acted like this in OTL, always reluctant to compromise with other service branches against Britain, likely to the detriment of Germany’s war strategy in late 1940.
- [3] To be discussed in the next update.
- [4] With Hitler dead, Nazi Germany has been forced to operate a kind of collective leadership model, with Göring compromising with other factions including the Kriegsmarine and the Heer (led by Admiral Raeder and General von Brauchitsch respectively) in addition to Heydrich’s SS.
- [5] Similar to the direction given by Hitler’s Directive 23, in which British ports were included in Germany’s bombing campaign. Like OTL, Göring was always reluctant to compromise control over the air force.
- [6] The OTL name for Hitler’s Directive 23 in February 1941.
- [7] In OTL, Fort Dunlop was attacked on the 23rd/24th with similar results.
- [8] This happened in OTL as well.
Announcement
Yes it took a long time to finally write this. I'm not sure if this new Luftwaffe strategy is realistic, please tell me if it isn't.
Sources
Battle of Britain - Wikipedia
The Blitz - Wikipedia
How The Luftwaffe Fought The Battle Of Britain
In 1940, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) was the largest and most formidable air force in Europe. The organisation of the Luftwaffe was very different from that of the Royal Air Force (RAF), which was organised into ‘Commands’ based on function.
British shadow factories - Wikipedia
Comments?
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Very awesome chapter - I would like to see what equipment would be given to an Allied Norway
The change in strategy is roughly in line with OTL, Göring issued the change in strategy in our timeline around the 18th of August.
Thank you, it might take some time to research though.
Map of Europe, 1 September 1940
Map of Europe, 1 September 1940
The Second World War is one year old!
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Lovely map but Italy lacks the Dodecanese. Really excited for the Norway update!
Love the TL,
One thing to note, in Vichy France you have a lot of collaborators/fascists who are ex-leftists like Doirot (an ex-Communist Mayor, who then embraced a Nazi-like program) and Marcel Deat (a socialist, who embraced Neo-Socialism, basically socialism with elites controlling it, "for the common good") and could embrace this Red-Brown alliance and full participation in the war from an ideological perspective. On the other hand, Petain, and his fellow more reactionary socialists, wouldn't even have the excuse of "at least the Nazis are fighting the commies" ITL for their collaboration. You could see even more conflict between the various Far Right Leagues, parties, etc. in France on this issue, with a possible rise of Deat or Doirot to power in a civil war or conflict like in Romania OTL between the Iron Guard and Ion.
One thing to note, in Vichy France you have a lot of collaborators/fascists who are ex-leftists like Doirot (an ex-Communist Mayor, who then embraced a Nazi-like program) and Marcel Deat (a socialist, who embraced Neo-Socialism, basically socialism with elites controlling it, "for the common good") and could embrace this Red-Brown alliance and full participation in the war from an ideological perspective. On the other hand, Petain, and his fellow more reactionary socialists, wouldn't even have the excuse of "at least the Nazis are fighting the commies" ITL for their collaboration. You could see even more conflict between the various Far Right Leagues, parties, etc. in France on this issue, with a possible rise of Deat or Doirot to power in a civil war or conflict like in Romania OTL between the Iron Guard and Ion.
After going back over the timeline, I’ve made a few small changes.
One of which is that Indecided that Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk would have made a more realistic appointment as Chancellor than Baldur von Schirach given the former’s experience and the matter’s relative youth.
See here: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...rld-war-timeline.518040/page-10#post-22903489
Is that alright?
One of which is that Indecided that Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk would have made a more realistic appointment as Chancellor than Baldur von Schirach given the former’s experience and the matter’s relative youth.
See here: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...rld-war-timeline.518040/page-10#post-22903489
Is that alright?
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tbf what the Nazi party promoted was survival of the fittest so who ends up where is not easy to predict. Go with your gut no one can say for sure
ANNOUNCEMENT
The next chapter will be about Norway, so I went back to get info to ensure continuity.
In doing so, I realised that the way I'd written the landings of Operation Silver bothered me. I've re-written some sections of Chapters 5 & 6 as a result. Before reading the next chapter, I strongly urge you to re-read Chapters 5 & 6.
BurkeanLibCon
In doing so, I realised that the way I'd written the landings of Operation Silver bothered me. I've re-written some sections of Chapters 5 & 6 as a result. Before reading the next chapter, I strongly urge you to re-read Chapters 5 & 6.
BurkeanLibCon
Just another reminder that this timeline isn't dead, I'm just working on other things at the moment.
Chapter 28 will be out soon.
Chapter 28 will be out soon.
LOOK INTO THE FUTURE (3)
A proper update is coming, but here’s an early Christmas present to tide you all over in the meantime.
Look into the Future (3)
Sometime in the future
Somewhere in the United States
“In the name of the Constitution of the United States, you are under arrest…”
——————————
“Nein, nein, nein. Nicht gut.”
——————————
“We’re allies, we had a deal! We’re allies! YOU HERE ME!”
click
“Not anymore my friend.”
crash
——————————
Comments?
Look into the Future (3)
Sometime in the future
Somewhere in the United States
“In the name of the Constitution of the United States, you are under arrest…”
——————————
Somewhere below the Atlantic Ocean
“Nein, nein, nein. Nicht gut.”
——————————
Somewhere in Central Africa
“We’re allies, we had a deal! We’re allies! YOU HERE ME!”
click
“Not anymore my friend.”
crash
——————————
Comments?
My guess is that the US is gonna go full McCarthyist in the middle of a combined Red-Gray Scare once the war ends. Or if it's a sooner future than expected and is still in WW2, then this could be after the US joins the Allies and starts going after both Communist and Fascist spies.
If this is anything to go by, the Germans will still probably lose the Atlantic
I'm not much of an expert on Africa in this era. If i had to guess, maybe the Rome-Berlin Axis breaks down and this is part of a betrayal of some sort? A colonial uprising against the Allies is the only other option I can think of, but again, not an expert on Africa in WW2.