WI the original Operation Musketeer?

Apparently the original plan for Operation Musketeer in 1956 was for the Anglo-French forces to invade Alexandria and for Armoured Divisions engage in a massive battle of anihilation to destroy the Egyptian army between Alex and Cairo.

In the event the plan was revised into OTL's version.

But WI the original was pursued?
 
IIRC the reasons why the invasion plan was changed was when British military planners looked at the logistics they discovered that there wasn't the ability to land that size of heavy armoured force as Britain had scrapped most of its amphibious capability after the War, thats why they subsequently decided on a helicopter borne assault. Also Britain did have an armoured division based in Libya and it was hoped to use this to invade the Western Desert but King Idris said no. I also doubt that attacking Alexandria would have sat well with the Anglo-French cover story of seeking to separate the Egyptians and Israelis, what they did was implausible enough for that.

Assuming that they do go ahead with this plan, it is a military success until as per OTL Eisenhower pulls the plug.
 
The planning was a bizzare and twisted process. In July Eden instructed his Chiefs to formulate a plan, which by early August was a RM landing and parachute assault on the canal zone and a bombing campaign. More or less simultaneously France had decided to fight Egypt in alliance with Israel, but I don't know what if any actual plans had been made.

Then the French and British got together and cooked up Musketeer by late August. Simultaneously France was organising it's alliance with Israel.

In September the Anglo-French changed their plan to Operation Revise which seems to me to be a bigger version of the early British plan. Simultaneously France was involved in secret talks with Israel to use Israeli airfeilds if Britain dropped out and Cyprus was unavailable.

It was only on the 5th of October that the British were informed of the Israeli-French alliance and war planning and that this was incorporated into the overall plan put into action 3 weeks later.
 
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