Dark Earth: History of the Tank

Like Brazil, ore do they prefer United states hardware.

Could be that they look to the Germans, but the Germans are prohibited from selling tanks, does this also include license production.

   Sdarkshade

   Replying on US armour chapters, before I forget too much or read the British post-war bit.

  A) I'm glad to see the Sherman avoided it OTL problem of brewing up so easily, hence its unpleasant nicknames in British service.  Also saving a lot of tankers lives in all the armies that used it.

  B) From the mention of the US advance in the Pacific starting from Fiji does that mean the Japanese were a bit more successful in the S Pacific and took those islands?

  C) Loved the comment about the gremlin. Presumably part of Britain's reverse lend-lease programme.

- The Shermans do not get their rather unfortunate nicknames and serve their many forces very well.
- Japan gets as far as the New Hebrides, with the Americans and Commonwealth launching their South Pacific offensives from Fiji, New Caledonia/Bensalem, New Zealand and Australia.
- The gremlins play their part.
- The Free French fight a very, very broken-backed war. They lack the ability to do more than defend the Mareth Line in the ~24 months between the Fall of France and the end of the North African campaign, whilst Italian and German air raids from Sicily are quite the nuisance. Algeria and Tunisia lack the transport networks, infrastructure and ports to support a British Empire field army; Egypt has all three in spades. The Marine Royale is a big factor, but the Allies are stretched by the demands of the Peninsular Campaign, the Regia Marina, Austro-Hungarians and the German Mediterranean Squadron in the centre of the Med and the Turks in the Eastern Med.
- Japan surrendered after the combination of Olympic, the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and four atomic bombs.
- MBCR is the equivalent of NBC
- The East India Company is a very complex organisation, retaining much of its paramilitary capability. Its role in India is very much in the background as an investor, owner of infrastructure, mines, oil fields and subsidiary companies. It has a more overt role in Burma, Borneo, Malaya, Siam and Indochina.
- The Centurions were employed in Vietnam in @ by the Australians; their use in Malaya is symptomatic of their ubiquity.
- It is an early version of Chobham armour, with a fantastic twist. It is a very formidable tank and will be produced in large numbers.
- Austria-Hungary is within the general Western defence orbit, as is Germany; the circumstances of both will come out in the Timeline and Never Had it So Good.
- The deployments to Europe in 1956 were as a deterrent and did not go into action

Excellent questions that are interesting to answer.

Regards,

Simon

They are similar in some regards, but can vary in their malevolence.

It wasn't a particularly good time, even if one of the atom bombs, delivered by an RAF Avro York, was on the headquarters of Unit 731 in Pingfang, Manchuria.