Soviet Domination - A Red Dawn story

Well if the British bass some squadrons and lets say a small garrison in Jamaica it might send a warning to Havana that the British are here and prepare to act if needed against Cuba,

Well Kennedy seems to a little anti-British due his pro-Irish views.

(72)

April 1982:

Operation WATERFALL was the codename given for British Armed Forces operations in Belize and the Caribbean; the name chosen at random using MOD computers. Where WATERFALL was written on all orders and taskings, be they combat or logistical, full priority above everything else was given. WATERFALL was partially based on existing plans for a reinforcement mission to Belize based upon the long-standing Guatemalan threat to the territory, though that all needed a sudden upgrade in all areas following what had happened. The previous plans had been based on a cross-border threat. What the Guatemalans had done was go further than that and secure the coastline of Belize therefore trapping British forces inside the country within the interior. Moreover, it was very soon clear that Cuban interference of the non-combat kind – though with the possibility of that expanding further needing to be considered into everything – was making WATERFALL even more difficult to achieve. Regardless of all difficulties encountered, diplomatic and militarily, WATERFALL went ahead. Belize wasn’t going to be lost nor the service personnel still fighting there abandoned.

The Royal Navy was at the forefront of WATERFALL operations. When the invasion took place, part of the Fleet was on exercises spread from the Gibraltar Straits down to the Spanish Canary Islands. The annual Springtrain exercises were taking place with missile firings and anti-submarine warfare practice. Many of the ships were diverted at once to the Caribbean, sent from training for warfare to the real thing. Those destroyers and frigates there were joined by more ships and submarines coming out of Britain. There was a major rush on with some things done in haste which needed later correction in terms of the supply situation for those ships. Both aircraft carriers that the Royal Navy had in service, the older HMS Hermes and the newer HMS Invincible, were to be joined by a couple of dozen further vessels. There were warships, support ships, amphibious ships and submarines. These came from bases across the country: Devonport & Portsmouth on the South Coast and the Clyde & Rosyth up in Scotland. Aircraft for the carriers joined them – plenty of Sea Harriers – along with many helicopters. The destination for the Fleet would be the Caribbean with vessels going in several waves to follow those Springtrain ships out ahead.

The Royal Air Force had a major NATO role and out of all of the British Armed Forces, there was less of a focus for the RAF on ‘out of area’ operations. Nonetheless, under WATERFALL, the RAF was called upon to deploy. There were combat units and non-combat units assigned to move to the Caribbean. They were sent to several islands across the region with independence nations and European colonial possessions being those where they would be stationed throughout the conflict or as jumping off points. Harriers, Jaguars and Phantoms formed the combat force; joined later by Vulcan bombers. For surveillance and intelligence there were some Canberras and Nimrods. Hercules’ and VC10s provided transport, with the VC10s used alongside Victors for airborne refuelling missions. The RAF sent many helicopters with Chinooks, Pumas and Wessexs also deployed. Getting all of these aircraft to the region was quite the challenge, sustaining them in-theatre was going to be more. The aircraft came with men and other equipment to support their flight operations then there were the issues of fuel, armaments and so much more to be addressed too. WATERFALL was a big deal for the RAF and the deployment of quite a bit of the RAF left gaps in NATO defences which had to be covered by the militaries of other nations.

5th Infantry Brigade was a new unit only stood up earlier in the year for the British Army. It was assigned for the out of area role beyond NATO though in a general war scenario would see action on NATO’s flanks. For the WATERFALL mission, the brigade was given the task of fulfilling the main British Army contribution to the fighting on land in Belize. The brigade was assigned large combat support and service support elements for its mission alongside a major combat contingent: in reality, it was oversized for the task eventually with all that was added. The 2nd & 3rd battalions of the Parachute Regiment were assigned at once, the latter unit being held at a high state of readiness as the Spearhead Battalion. They were joined by the 3rd battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment (which was due to go to Belize next month for a six-month deployment and nearly ready before the invasion) and the 1st battalion of the 7th Gurkhas. The four infantry battalions were within 5th Brigade along with a squadron – a company-sized unit – of armoured vehicles from the Blues and Royals: Scorpions and Scimitars.

The Royal Marines were sent to the Caribbean too with the 3rd Commando Brigade assigned for the mission. Their brigade was assigned a British Army battalion of Foot Guards – 1st battalion of the Welsh Guards –, a unit which had just been replaced in that Spearhead role by Paras and was available for immediate action. Three battalion-sized units of Royal Marines formed the bulk of the 3rd Brigade: 40 Commando, 41 Commando and 42 Commando. 40 & 42 were fully-regular units with 41 being a formation stood down temporarily last year before being revived to act as a part-reserve unit in the face of a difficult international situation. That battalion was added too fast with reservists, plus regulars drawn from 45 Commando which was to stay in Scotland and not deploy as part of WATERFALL (they were pretty miffed to be left out as a whole unit), and the 3rd Brigade was complete. Both the British Army and Royal Marines brigades were brought under a non-divisional command headquarters in the form of Land Forces Belize as together they effectively formed a small division; there were those already on the ground in Belize which could reasonable called a third, smaller brigade too which were also brought under this headquarters. All of these troops were drawn from the best-trained units available for taking the fight to the Guatemalans: an opponent which wasn’t nowhere near as well-trained in comparison to those meant to one day fight in NATO missions. There were equipment shortages for the British – ‘the borrowers’ they were often known as – but when it came to taking on the Guatemalans, even when supported by Cuban and Nicaraguan volunteer attachments, they were believed capable of winning. Land Forces Belize was also given a large contingent of SAS and SBS special forces attachments to show the Guatemalans what commando operations were really about.


The Belmopan Pocket continued to hold out and did so in time for the British to start arriving in the Caribbean. The Guatemalans hadn’t necessarily shot their bolt following the immediate attack but their advances had slowed. They couldn’t get anywhere near the colonial capital in the middle of the territory and seemed content to shell and bomb those caught in the encirclement while meanwhile securing the coast. The Gurkhas, the Royal Welsh Regiment and the BDF units caught in the middle carried on the fighting. There was an airstrip which they had control over too, something that fast became their lifeline. Guatemalan A-37 Dragonfly attack aircraft bombed it and then the Guatemalan Independence Brigade tried to advance towards it but it remained in British hands. It was through there that the first reinforcements within the WATERFALL mission started to arrive come April 10th: eight long days after the invasion started. RAF Hercules transports, staging out of Jamaica (which offered conditional support to what was called a Commonwealth effort to defend Belize though in reality a British one), couldn’t land there for the airstrip wasn’t big enough, but several of them made low and slow passes above with supplies dropped on that first day: ammunition especially. Another Hercules dropped SAS men outside. These were combat missions which the Hercules’ undertook because their flights faced interference from the Guatemalans and those MiGs flown by their Cuban allies. That interference was countered by a lead detachment of RAF Phantoms flying out of George Town’s airport across in the Cayman Islands. The Guatemalans were informed by the Cubans of the appearance of those Phantoms across in the Caymans and ‘their’ MiGs were supposed to be ready for the Phantoms. They weren’t. A total of three MiG-23s went down on the first day, two shot down directly and one which crashed trying to make a landing back over in Guatemala. All those were lost for zero RAF losses. Those losses were unsustainable for the Guatemalans. The Cubans had only deployed ten to support the liberation of Belize and had already lost two during the invasion. Half of the force was now gone. A whole squadron of Phantoms was on its way to the Caymans while there were Sea Harriers on the pair of Royal Navy carriers. There were Cuban MiG-21s also being ‘transferred’ to Guatemalan service and the Cubans still had more aircraft in their own service. Nonetheless, it was a very bad start to air operations over Belize for the Cubans who’d felt confident that they could control the skies.

Early the next morning, the Hercules’ returned to Belizean skies. This time they made airdrops of soldiers and supplies rather than just supplies and special forces. Two companies from 3 PARA were flown into the Belmopan Pocket. There were some parachute engineers as well: British Army and RAF men who were fast in setting about getting work started on the airstrip at Belmopan. MiGs were spotted on the edge of radar coverage from the Phantoms but this time they didn’t intervene. The backing off was unexpected yet welcome. Thousands of British troops (many being non-combat soldiers) were arriving across the Caribbean at islands stretching from the Caymans & Jamaica to Antigua & Barbados & Dominica & St. Lucia to the French-controlled Guadeloupe & Martinique to Aruba & Curacao under Dutch administration. They all had to get to Belize eventually. Some in through the airhead to be established at Belmopan, others through the means of an amphibious operation in the early stages of development. The Royal Navy had ships through the Caribbean now as well with the majority of the Fleet steaming westwards. Cuban aircraft first out of Grenada were present in the skies and then more came from mainland Cuba. The possibility of ‘an accident’ occurring was fresh in the minds of the British and there was a readiness to respond to that should it occur. HMS Coventry, a Royal Navy destroyer, was near to the Caymans as British forces arrived there to help remind the Cubans that those islands was British territory and would be defended from any attack no matter who any attackers disguised themselves as. Fighting continued inside Belize while the wait was on with those Paras helping to secure the perimeter of the Belmopan Pocket and the SAS men – selected from those who knew Belize very well – raiding out into the jungle. A pair of A-37s showed up later that day where the MiGs didn’t dare and paid for that with both being downed as the Phantoms continued to make their presence known. The following days – April 12th through to April 15th – saw a major reinforcement of what was on the ground in Belize. The rest of 3 PARA, followed by 2 PARA and then many 5th Brigade assets, arrived and made certain that the Belmopan Pocket wasn’t about to fall. The Hercules’ kept coming and making their airdrops at low altitude of men, supplies and equipment: meanwhile the efforts to hastily expand their airstrip went on unabated so it could soon see them landing and making proper use of it.

At sea and in the air, the war stepped up a gear. The French naval base at Fort Saint-Louis in Martinique had been made available to the British and that was an excellent staging point for Royal Navy in-theatre making their progress towards combat easier. The Fleet built with the pair of carriers as their centrepiece closed in upon Belize to link up with those Springtrain ships already in the area but not too close without direct air cover. Once the Hermes and the Invincible arrived, their Sea Harriers were in the skies off the coast of Belize and covered the forward movement of other warships that went close. They protected the frigates HMS Yarmouth and then HMS Argonaut from Guatemalan air attack when the two of them were out seeking Guatemalan war shipping coming up from Guatemala’s Caribbean coast to Belize City. The Harriers got a lone MiG-23 and then a pair of MiG-21s. These further losses of aircraft and the Cuban pilots who flew them, for no gain at all, were a disaster for the Guatemalans who were unable to secure the skies even with all that Cuba had sent to help them. Those British warships, joined by a submarine beneath the water, were busy cutting the maritime supply route into Belize and leaving those on the Belizean coast on their own. From out of the Caymans, the Phantoms there covered the movement into Belize of RAF Harriers. These had made the long journey from Britain to the Caribbean first by ship and then later island-hopping from friendly base to friendly base. Now they would have a new base: inside Belize. Soon enough, they would be in action flying from the Belmopan Pocket. The Jaguars and the detachment of Vulcan bombers in the region had yet to see action but they would soon enough. There was still the need to set up the necessary infrastructure for them: it had been less than two weeks after all. There was still a lot that needed to be ready for other operations as well. The hurry in the mass deployment had seen problems crop up which were now being slowly fixed once in-theatre. The rest of the 5th Brigade needed to be put into Belize and the 3rd Brigade with its Royal Marines were making ready for an amphibious assault on the coast: the Royal Navy ships ahead, plus that submarine, were making ready for that but these things couldn’t be done overnight. Cuban attempts at intimidation continued as well with there being the detection of one of their submarines near the Fleet plus air activity of theirs as well. Strong words were being exchanged by diplomats on that matter yet the main focus for Britain was retaking what was theirs and getting the Guatemalans out of Belize. Talk of giving peace a chance, coming from Havana and Moscow, even Washington, no longer mattered now that the serious fighting had started. Through the rest of April and into May, the Belize War could continue.

Great update James, a lot for us to discuses about, seems the Empire strikes back.

(73)

April 1982:

Kennedy had been out of step on his initial reaction to the Belize War. He realised this… eventually. There was a political and public mood domestically within America in favour of the conflict from a British point of view. The UK was doing what the United States should be: engaging proxies for Cuban aggression in Central America and the Caribbean. A few isolated voices had shouted loud at first about colonialism and Redcoats but they were drowned out. This was Guatemala, a country which had just recently turned communist and was in league with Havana and thus Moscow. There’d been some American nuns who’d disappeared – presumed dead – down in El Salvador right before Belize was invaded and while that was a different conflict, it was generally all the same in the minds of many. Communist aggression in America’s backyard upset the US public and brought forth strong reactions from many politicians. When Kennedy had come out in favour of a peaceful settlement to the conflict, that flew in the face of what the American people were hearing about Guatemalan atrocities in Belize – some true, others not so much – and how those were all linked towards Castro down in Cuba. Western Europe and Canada took Britain’s side. The Soviets joined with Cuba in calling for an end to the fighting. Kennedy found himself perceived to be on the side of Moscow and Havana. That was something that wasn’t helped by criticism of his actions whereas British support in their fight to defend Belize was at first refused by the White House. The president didn’t want to give in on this matter, he moved beyond the actual issues to a matter of principle (his pride in reality) but events were overtaking him. The British took the war to the Guatemalans and it was revealed that some of those Guatemalans in their aircraft were actually Cubans. Britain was doing what many in the United States said their country should be doing: fighting the Cubans. The prophecies of doom for the country pushed by a few influential think-tanks that had many supporters, those which said that there was a grand Soviet plan for Central America where one day soon the whole region would turn red and therefore the United States would be isolated from South America, ideas mocked by the Kennedy Administration, suddenly looked a bit less crazy.

Kennedy didn’t reverse track and throw his full support behind Britain, but he cut out his opposition. British access of American military facilities on Bermuda – a British administered island – were opened up to them and there was also the refuelling of their ships (plus a Canadian one heading down to the Caribbean) suddenly allowed in Puerto Rico. These were done behind the scenes and along with United States diplomatic action, this all helped shift American official support from active neutrality, even opposition, to the Belize War to one of indirect support. The damage had already been done though. Paradoxically, in the coming years when the United States was in trouble, Britain would take a pragmatic approach and get over what Kennedy had done when realising that their security was tied to that of his country; other nations not so much when they saw just what kind of ally the United States actually was under the thirty-ninth president. Regardless, that was in the future. At the moment, the Belize War continued.


The airstrip inside the Belmopan Pocket was open to receive Hercules’. In they came laden with men and gear. The turn-around times for the transport aircraft were quick as they arrived from Jamaica and the Caymans before flying back out again. There were Harriers armed with Sidewinders flying out of the overworked airstrip too but the transports were still covered by Phantoms flying from the Caymans and now Sea Harriers from the Royal Navy carriers off-shore. No more MiG-23s showed up to try and influence this but there were high-speed, low-level runs made by the nimble MiG-21s which Cuba had sent to Guatemala. Air defences for British forces on the ground in Belize were still rather ad hoc with radars and missiles being set up and coverage patchy. That showed. One of the Hercules’ was hit by a MiG which managed to escape afterwards; the Hercules crashed into the jungle in a fireball killing all of those aboard. The 5th Brigade was still in the process of arriving and needed to be brought in by air: such an attack, if repeated, which it probably would be now the Guatemalans were getting desperate, put all that under threat. Back in London, the War Cabinet authorised direct action to put those MiG-21s out of business. A strike would take place inside Guatemala whereas before the war had been limited to Belize. Intelligence information had been passed on from the Americans (the intelligence sharing was working) as to where those MiGs were flying from. There were Jaguars in-theatre, tactical strike aircraft so far unused, but the distance was long and would require a lot of air refuelling making the mission dependent upon nothing going wrong. There were some other RAF strike aircraft chosen instead to hit the airbase at Santa Elena in northern Guatemala. Those were Vulcan bombers. The Vulcans flew from Barbados and were given tanker support by Victors flying from Aruba (the Dutch wouldn’t allow for a combat mission from their island but had no issue with in-flight refuelling) as they proceeded westwards, crossing above Belize first and then towards Santa Elena. Four bombers located the airbase and dropped their payloads of twenty-one high-explosive 1000lb bombs atop of it. Accuracy was good, not brilliant, but enough to do immense damage. That was the end of the MiG threat from Santa Elena for a while. A second attack was carried out simultaneously and to the south from where the four remaining MiG-23s were flying from, down near Puerto Barrios. This time it was Sea Harriers from the Invincible with SBS men on the ground nearby as well. The Sea Harriers flew in low, dropped their bombs and flew back to their carrier. The SBS went in afterwards, among the chaos post-attack with sniping done against key officers identified as trying to sort out the mess and the use too of an anti-material rifle to take shots against a Guatemalan A-37 getting ready to lift-off and chase after those Sea Harriers (that would have been a short flight / fight indeed), causing it to explode on the runaway when its fuel tank was hit.

There came a push out from the Belmopan Pocket as the month ended. The Paras and Gurkhas (the latter including those in Belize before the invasion and joined by further men arriving) went with the company of armoured vehicles brought in for use by the Blues and Royals on the offensive. The Guatemalans with their Independence Brigade couldn’t hold back the tide of oncoming the British attack, not when the British had control of the air. An advance began to drive the Guatemalans back westwards, further out from Belmopan. The SAS were busy raiding through the jungle meanwhile and while they had some bad luck trying to ambush the headquarters of that opposition brigade, they did manage to shoot-up a helicopter park hidden in the jungle. American-supplied UH-1 Hueys (sent during the Sixties) and Cuban-supplied Mi-24s (more recent transfers) were caught on the ground and especially were their aircrews. The jungle was left littered with bodies and the burning wrecks of helicopters destroyed. 5th Brigade pushed onwards, rolling through the Guatemalans. Night attacks by British infantry were favoured as in the dark they fought best. Things didn’t always go to plan and there were some set-backs, but when they did work, they worked excellently. The Independence Brigade was taken apart. A retreat was started, a ‘temporary retrograde manoeuvre in light of the current tactical situation’ according to their commander. He’d survive the war, evading British SAS efforts to kill him, only to be shot afterwards by his own side for this clear retreat. There were some Cubans and Nicaraguans among those who fought the British in this fighting in Central Belize. Some of those advisors died alongside the Guatemalans while others were instrumental in helping organise the retreat which took place. Two others ended up captured: one from each nation. The Cuban was wounded and despite all efforts to save him, he died in the jungle. The Nicaraguan captain captured by the Gurkhas – given a scare by the threat of their horrid-looking little knives – talked there upon capture and then later when in British captivity. He knew a lot about his own country’s involvement in the Belize War and that of the Cubans too. Along the Belizean coast, the Royal Navy had ships sailing up and down among the barrier reef offshore. There were already SBS men on the ground doing silent beach reconnaissance work but surveying had to be done first over the water. The natural environment was looked at and so too whether the Guatemalans had mined the few approaches for sea-going vessels to get into Belize. What was found was suitable. 3rd Brigade was on its way and the Royal Marines could be coming late to the party which the Paras & Gurkhas were already having but they would be coming in-strength. Guatemalan air interference had ceased and from out of the Caymans there was plenty of RAF air coverage along with what the Royal Navy carriers had to offer. Ashore, the Guatemalans with their Revolutionary Brigade were dug-in across some sites though left others wide open. This wouldn’t be a Normandy. There was no needed to send Royal Marines charging into prepared defences with machine guns, barbed wire and beach mines ready for them. An open, undefended site was chosen instead. At the beginning of May, the 3rd Brigade would be making their landing. Before then, there was naval gunfire too be done and aerial bombardment as well. The Guatemalans were no longer able to stop this. Some voices back in Guatemala City were already speculating about possibly getting out of this war but those voices were few. The way the war was going was out of their hands: others would decide when it would be over.

That they are. Markings are easy to paint on and that they have been.

Soft will be the word indeed when the Soviets - using the Cubans as proxies - start flooding the region with more than just MiGs. At first there will be alarm and then it will be something gotten used to.
I haven't seen the article before which you mentioned. I know that in RL, the US mined Nicaraguan ports to stop weapons transfers.