This sir, is what I was looking for! Thanks. You mention some very good information, and also give more ideas, as well.
So, if a TL were going to be written on this (or similar) German breakout attempts, the author would need to know at least:
How the RN is going to find them, and with what, and then intercept them with what once contact is made and kept? And this needs to include the Photo Recon spitfires as a likely first step, then both spotting done by Costal Command air search planes (and Norwegian coast watchers, IIRC?), likely now to be radar equipped? And then everything that follows, from where the HF is based, to when they sortie, and all that kinda stuff.
On second thought, maybe backup and figure out what kind of signs that a ship is being prepared to sortie exist, and when (how soon before) the ship can be ready based upon these observations?
Much good food for thought here.
So if I were to attempt this kind of a very limited, small in scope POD TL, who should I talk too, what websites do I need to visit/study? Books are, unfortunately, not an option ATM due to financial considerations, so anything I might try to research must be free.
Your mention of the other two, of course, got me thinking as well.
I have always wanted to break into the creative writing of ATL, but to be honest, I find the prospect daunting. Not only do I realize my limitations with (so called) writing skills, but my historical knowledge is even worse, lol. For instance, I know that there is a wiki page that deals with writing TL’s, and I even have a link, but have not made any effort to peruse it as of yet. Also, when I look at the forums and see TLs getting hundreds of responses, and going on for months and months, that too makes me less than inclined to post my own shabby ideas.
And then there are the unfortunate occurrences that take place here as well, that make people leery of posting something (anything) for fear of getting bashed, flamed, scolded, humiliated, and generally just feeling that all their hard work is for nothing, no, correct that, less than nothing.
For a case in point, take a look at my signature, and then read that thread, do the research to see exactly who was trying to do something to start an interesting discussion, and what happened for doing that, and what the other fellow did wrong (in both in terms of misconduct and his own research failures), and add the fact that no one called him on it, and…
Anyway, if I am going to try to learn how to write, which I anticipate is going to be a long, difficult and painful process, and find interesting alternatives to historical situations, and then attempt to turn these ideas into well written, well researched, entertaining and thought provoking fictional stories that the forum community can then read and enjoy, then I am going to need to believe that such stories, and all the hard work that they entail, will not be met with such outright rudeness.
Anyway, for this type of a POD, what I would ideally like to do is:
Write a story, that involves good, likeable, believable characters, on both (all) sides (so something like RSR, as opposed to Team Yankee), and dress it all out upon a framework manikin composed of historical facts that may lead folks to take a greater interest in learning what actually took place during this part of WWII.
So, I would need to learn about the photo recon spitfires, their outfits, bases of operation, technical details of their capabilities, and perhaps get some pictures of both the aircraft themselves (preferably both on the ground and in flight) as well as some of the photos that such aircraft historically took on missions during the war.
Where do I start for all that?
Then, I need do the same for the Costal Command folks, and their aircraft, bases, doctrine and capabilities, and, at least for making the story more interesting and readable, the Norwegian folks trying to help the allies out while avoiding getting caught (and shot) by the occupation forces.
Then I need to start my research into the RN, the Kriegsmarine, the weather in the north sea and the north Atlantic, the fact (unknown and unsuspected by me before mentioned above) that the G-I gap freezes over during winter, and then…
The list goes on and on, but I think that this can serve as a demonstration on why more, and better quality, alternative history TL are not finding a fertile (and supportive) environment here lately. If we kill the TL threads that are being written, because we don’t like where they are going, then we have nothing to read now, and likely less and less to read in the future. OTOH, if we mention our objections and then move on, and start trying to help an aspiring author to grow and improve their writing skills, then we can get better and better fictional stories to read here on the forums, which is better for all of us individually, and as a community.
So, who would like to point me in the right direction to consider where to start the process to eventually learn to be able to write good, believable, entertaining ATLs?