1956JanuaryJanuary 1: A panicked crowd stampede at Yahiko Shrine in Niigata, Japan results in 124 deaths and over 200 injuries.
January 2: World famous adventurer Tom Sawyer dies in St. Louis, aged 123.
January 3: The Colonial Office announces that provisional elections will be held in Soudan in 1958.
January 4: A mysterious fire breaks out atop the Eiffel Tower, damaging the arcane and television receptor transmitters atop the famed 1254ft tall structure.
January 5: A Dutch coaster collides with a French collier at Gravesend, resulting in the sinking of both vessels.
January 6: The Ministry of Housing confirms an earlier decision banning the construction of high-rise apartment blocks in London.
January 7: Stirling Moss wins the 1956 New Zealand Grand Prix at the Ardmore Circuit.
January 8: Five American missionaries are killed by Auca natives in Ecuador, sparking calls for a punitive expedition in response.
January 9: An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale strikes Northern Chile, killing at least 50.
January 10: The Red Navy successfully launches an RF-11M Scud ballistic missile from a converted Project 611 submarine.
January 11: American wizards smash a coven of dark sorcerers the depths of the Brazilian Amazon.
January 12: Yugoslav police corner a suspected werewolf in Southern Montenegro, but lose contact overnight.
January 13: An unnatural eight-day ice storm lashing New Hampshire comes to an end.
January 14: President Thompson signs an executive order streamlining Federal defense mobilisation powers.
January 15: Discovery of a cache of crystal treasures in the jungles of Central Borneo.
January 16: Egyptian nationalists rally in Cairo, drawing a crowd of over 70,000 to support anti-British and anti-Western protests.
January 17: The ghost of the Spanish conquistador Aguirre is spotted in the streets of Barquisimeto, Venezuela.
January 18: A suspicious explosion at a Canadian munitions plant in London, Ontario is ascribed to Communist sabotage by initial RCMP investigations.
January 19: Beginning of localised protests against Communist rule in Romania.
January 20: The British Middle East garrison at Suez is reduced to two divisions with the redeployment of the 3rd Armoured Division to Britain and an increasing focus on fielding an army for the defence of Europe.
January 21: Soviet jet fighters engaged an unidentified flying object over Tuva and Mongolia.
January 22: A passenger train is derailed outside Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, resulting in 32 deaths.
January 23: First recorded sighting of the rare Arabian cinnamon bird since 1893.
January 24: A Royal Australian Air Force Vickers Valiant drops an atomic bomb over the Commonwealth nuclear test site on Christmas Island in the Pacific.
January 25: Finnish forces accept the handover of the Porkkala Naval Base from Soviet forces in accordance with the Treaty of Helsinki of 1940.
January 26: Opening of the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
January 27: Japanese military scientists begin top secret development of an advanced robotic war machine.
January 28: RNAS Gloster Javelin fighters engage in a tense aerial standoff with Soviet Tupolev bombers off the coast of the Faroes.
January 29: France and Madagascar reach a provisional agreement regarding military bases.
January 30: The War Office announces that a new White Paper will be published in the second half of 1956 regarding the future composition of the British Army.
January 31: A £10,000 reward is posted in
The Times for the return of a kidnapped miniature giant space hamster by its distressed owner.
FebruaryFebruary 1: Two British intelligence agents defect to the Soviet Union in northern Persia.
February 2: A formal surrender agreement is reached between British colonial authorities
February 3: Commissioning of the 145,000t superliner SS
Germania in Hamburg.
February 4: Discovery of large new oil deposits in Bengal, India.
February 5: The 1956 Winter Olympics close with a spectacular fireworks display.
February 6: Establishment of a major new USAF airfield on Taiwan.
February 7: Eight Hawker Hunters of the RAF's Central Fighter Establishment try to land at RAF Marham in deteriorating weather, with six aircraft crashing.
February 8: The first AEC Routemaster buses begin public service in London.
February 9: 11 die in a coal mine collapse in Quaregnon, Belgium.
February 10: The Fleet Air Arm introduces a new guided bouncing bomb for use by carrier bombers.
February 11: Proclamation of the ''Great Spring industrialisation movement in Imperial China.
February 12: A referendum in Malta finds 79% of the population in favour of full integration with Britain.
February 13: Two witches are burnt at the stake in Edinburgh.
February 14: Britain and the United States reach an agreement on the provision of logistical and technical support to French forces in Vietnam.
February 15: New general elections are called in Egypt after the collapse of the ruling minority government.
February 16: The first deliveries of new US tanks arrive in Ottoman Turkey.
February 17: US agents conduct a clandestine meeting with Egyptian opposition politicians in Cairo, a step not unnoticed by British, French and Soviet intelligence assets.
February 18: An engine fire onboard a Scottish Airlines Airspeed Ambassador while taking off from Luqa Airfield on Malta results in the loss of all 50 passengers and crew onboard.
February 19: Opening of the Queen Elizabeth II Graving Dock at Southampton, the largest in the world.
February 20: Announcement of the deployment of a Commonwealth brigade to New Guinea to reinforce Australian troops in the light of continued tension with Indonesia.
February 21: French troops complete withdrawal from Laos.
February 22: Riots in Cairo threaten the Sirdaria in Cairo, resulting in the British garrison being called out from the Citadel.
February 23: Norma Jean Mortenson changes her legal name to Marilyn Monroe.
February 24: The Swedish Pacific island colony of Osterborg is granted domestic self government.
February 25: Stalin orders the relaxation of border controls along the Soviet-Ottoman border in the latest sign of growing rapprochement between Ankara and Moscow.
February 26: The first aircraft carrier of the postwar German Navy is laid down in Hamburg.
February 27: Establishment of female suffrage in Egypt.
February 28: Stalin gives a lengthy speech at the conclusion of the Congress of the CPSU, emphasizing the support of the Soviet Union, the Comintern and all progressive, peace-loving anti-imperialist forces in the world for the cause of freedom of the colonised states of Africa and Asia.
MarchMarch 1: A replica of the Discus Thrower is dedicated in Washington D.C., a gift from the Italian government to acknowledge the return of looted art objects from the Second World War.
March 2: Two Canadair Hunters of the RCAF Sky Lancers aerobatics team crash near Strasbourg, France.
March 3: The world's largest ship, the supertanker Lion Rampant, is launched at Harland and Wolff in Belfast; at 256,000t, it dwarfs the largest carriers and capital ships.
March 4: Resignation of the Indonesian government.
March 5: The Communist Party of Germany is placed under severe restrictions in response to serious accusations of sedition and collaboration with foreign enemies.
March 6: A Strategic Air Command B-47 disappear en route from Florida to Morocco, sparking a large scale search of the Atlantic.
March 7: Avalanches in Nordland and Troms in Norway kill 21 people.
March 8: The Austro-Hungarian Army receives its first defence aid shipment of modern heavy artillery from the United States.
March 9: A number of Cypriot nationalists are deported by British authorities to Kerguelen.
March 10: Fairey Aviation test pilot Peter Twiss sets a new world airspeed record in a Fairey Delta, reaching a top speed of 1524mph.
March 11: Former US Vice President Atticus Finch announces that he will not seek nor accept the Democratic nomination for President.
March 12: The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches a new record high.
March 13: Release of
The Searchers, an epic Western directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne.
March 14: Ford produces its 50 millionth automobile, a Thunderbird.
March 15: The musical
My Fair Lady opens on Broadway in New York City.
March 16: Newspapers report the discovery of the world's largest cow in Ethiopia.
March 17: The Liberal Party is returned to power in the Rhodesian general election.
March 18: USS
Willis A. Lee is driven onto rocks off Jamestown, Rhode Island in a freak storm.
March 19: Dutch boxer Bep van Klaveren retires after his last fight in Rotterdam.
March 20: Tunisia is formally proclaimed an independent kingdom with the end of the French protectorate.
March 21:
Sword of Freedom wins Best Picture at the 28th Academy Award, with Ronald Reagan winning Best Actor and Olivia de Havilland winning Best Actress.
March 22: Death of Nobel laureate Marie Curie in Paris, aged 88.
March 23: A proposal for the construction of a space elevator is published in
The Times.
March 24: Devon Loch, ridden by Dick Francis and owned by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, wins the Grand National.
March 25: The USSR conducts a hydrogen bomb test over Novaya Zemlya.
March 26: Defeat of a private member's bill on the abolition of capital punishment in the House of Commons by 592 votes to 158.
March 27: The offices of
The Daily Worker are raided by the FBI and IRS in New York City.
March 28: Retirement of the Avro York from active RAF service.
March 29: The giant sequoia tree
General Grant is declared a National Shrine by President Thompson.
March 30: Eruption of the Bezymianny volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Soviet Far East.
March 31: The British Type 125 'Green Goddess' over the horizon RDF/BMEWS enters initial service.
April April 1: TWA Flight 400 crashes during takeoff from Greater Pittsburgh Airport in Pennsylvania, killing 24 out of 36 passengers and crew on board.
April 2: The Egyptian general election results in victory for a strongly nationalist coalition that enjoys considerable support among the military and Mameluke nobility and campaigned for the removal of British forces from Egypt.
April 3: The F-104 Starfighter enters active USAF service.
April 4: King Farouk of Egypt reluctantly allows the Wafd lead nationalist coalition to form a new government under intense internal pressure.
April 5: RAF Vulcans and Valiants take part in a major transatlantic air defence exercise in the United States and Canada.
April 6: Establishment of the Socialist Party of Central America.
April 7: Spain reaches an agreement to terminate its protectorate over northern Morocco in exchange for continued basing rights and a military recruitment agreement.
April 8: Scotland Yard arrests a gang of American thieves on suspicion of planning to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
April 9: Norway, Sweden and Denmark renew their defensive alliance.
April 10: Closure of two major border crossings between Israel and Egypt in the latest disagreement over water rights in the Sinai.
April 11: Arrival of a US punitive expedition in Ecuador to punish the natives responsible for the death of American missionaries.
April 12: Secret U-2 reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union are increased in the light of disturbing photographic imagery of a suspected build up of bombers.
April 13: Vietnamese communist leader Ba Cụt is captured by French and South Vietnamese forces in the Mekong Delta.
April 14: A wizard is fined $65,000 by an Illinois court for unleashing a herd of flying pigs over downtown Chicago.
April 15: 25 people are killed and hundreds of homes damaged as a tornado rips through Birmingham, Alabama.
April 16: Disbandment of the French Korean Brigade as part of a draw-down of forces in the Far East outside Indochina.
April 17: Conversion of the first of four Hawaii class battlecruisers to guided missile ships begins in Philadelphia.
April 18: Prince Rainier of Monaco marries US actress Grace Kelly at the Prince's Palace in Monaco.
April 19: British frogman Lionel Crabb successfully uncovers several hidden features on the hull of a Soviet cruiser visiting Portsmouth on a diplomatic mission.
April 20: Completion of the TransCanada Pipeline.
April 21: Margaret Truman marries Clifton Daniel in the Trinity Episcopal Church in Independence, Missouri.
April 22: Security forces in Poland fire upon protesting workers in Krakow.
April 23: Recommissioning of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS
Melbourne in Sydney after an extensive refit.
April 24: France calls up 125,000 reservists for service in Algeria and West Africa.
April 25: Ruritania agrees to the placement of an experimental US radar station within its borders.
April 26: Launching of the world's first container ship in London.
April 27: Former heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano retires at age 32.
April 28: The former USS
Wichita is transferred to Republic of China Navy on Taiwan.
April 29: Entry into RAF service of the Super Vanguard medium range ballistic rocket.
April 30: Opening of the Torre Latinoamericana in Mexico City.
MayMay 1: Construction of a modern port city begins in Ashdod, Israel.
May 2: Violet Gibson, the one-time attempt assassin of Mussolini in 1926, dies in a Scottish insane asylum after thirty years of confinement.
May 3: Unveiling of the National Monument to the fallen of the Second World War in Amsterdam by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
May 4: The United States conducts a nuclear test at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Proving Grounds.
May 5: Dwarven separatists in Byzantine Greece call for the establishment of an independent Balkan dwarven state.
May 6: Discovery of a new mountain range beneath the ice of Antarctica, corresponding almost precisely with details in the Piri Reis map.
May 7: The Ministry of Health authorises a government campaign warning of the potential health damage of smoking.
May 8: Polish Togoland is granted internal self government under the protection of the British Empire.
May 9: Japanese mountaineer Toshio Imanishi and Sherpa Gyalzen Norbu successfully ascend Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak.
May 10: HMS
Talent is damaged in a collision with an unknown vessel in the Solent.
May 11: The Philippines and Japan sign a war reparations agreement and peace settlement in Manila.
May 12: Severe storms and tidal waves lash Eastern Bengal, causing much damage.
May 13: Retirement of the Avro Avalon attack bomber from active RAF service after a relatively short service life.
May 14: Large scale protests begin in the streets of major Polish cities.
May 15: An Avro Canada CF-103 Cannuck crashes into a convent in Orleans, Ontario, killing 15.
May 16: Polish shipyard workers in Gdansk stop work and openly discuss strike action.
May 17: The Egyptian government issues a formal protest with the British Viceroy in Cairo regarding the inequity of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty.
May 18: The Royal Air Force skyship aerocarrier
Arion is commissioned in Nottingham. It carries two squadrons of de Havilland Gnat fighters and reflects the design lessons of the Korean War.
May 19: Polish secret police and troops launch a coordinated series of crackdowns against the Polish democracy movement.
May 20: A USAF B-52 drops a 5 Mt hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
May 21: Polish underground forces begin low level active resistance against the campaign of repression of the Communist regime.
May 22: Discovery of ancient human remains in East Africa.
May 23: Arrival of a Royal Navy task force headed by the battleship HMS
Black Prince in Haifa.
May 24: A partial lunar eclipse leads to several incidences of bizarre behaviour across Europe and North America.
May 25: The Admiralty begins reviewing contingency plans for the reinforcement and support of British forces in Egypt and the Middle East.
May 26: A fire onboard USS
Bennington in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, kills 123 crew.
May 27: Famed Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh dies peacefully in his sleep at his home in Provence, aged 102.
May 28: President Thompson signs an expansive new Farm Bill allowing the stockpiling of agricultural surplus.
May 29: Border clashes between India and China raise fears of a major conflict.
May 30: Mickey Mantle hits a home run clean out of Yankee Stadium.
May 31: The Cunard liner RMS
Caronia runs aground at Messina, Sicily.
JuneJune 1: Soviet forces in Poland and Romania are reinforced to support their fraternal socialist allies in their operations against 'fascist organisations backed by Western imperialism'.
June 2: Resignation of the Italian Prime Minister on health grounds.
June 3: A meeting of the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington D.C. recommends a precautionary reinforcement of Allied forces in Germany.
June 4: The first English Electric Lightning F.1 supersonic fighters enter initial service with the Royal Air Force.
June 5: China orders the deployment of elements of two field armies to the borders of Tibet and India.
June 6: Prime Minister Eden, upon the recommendation of the Committee of Imperial Defence, orders a partial mobilisation of British reserve forces and defence industry in response to the situations in India, the Middle East and Europe.
June 7: Austria-Hungary recalls its ambassador to Germany and temporarily suspends defence cooperation discussions after an undisclosed scandal erupts in the Austrian government.
June 8: A heavy earthquake strikes Afghanistan, killing over 400.
June 9: India moves two corps towards its border with China as tensions continue to mount.
June 10: Discussions begin in Singapore regarding progress towards internal self government of the colony.
June 11: Stalin proclaims that German and Austrian militarism shall never again threaten the peace of the world and the Soviet Union possesses all the means of ensuring this. His remarks are met with alarm in the West, being seen as a direct threat rather than aggressive rhetoric employed for domestic consumption within the USSR and its satellites.
June 12: A British infantry brigade detached from Far East Command begins arriving in Darwin, Australia as part of previously scheduled Commonwealth exercises aimed at deterring Indonesian aggression.
June 13: Orcish bank robbers get away with a record haul of 183 million pesos from a Mexico City bank.
June 14: Formal dedication of the Flag of the United States Army.
June 15: An ornamental chocolate palace is melted by the summer heat in India.
June 16: Two German intelligence officers defect to the Soviet Union after disappearing in Helsinki.
June 17: The British Ambassador to the Imperial Court in Peking presents a note indicating that Britain will regard any hostile action against India, Burma, Nepal or Tibet by Chinese forces as an attack upon the entire British Empire, requiring full strategic retaliation.
June 18: A new Grand Vizier is appointed by the young Ottoman Sultan.
June 19: Withdrawal of the British Sirdar and his staff from Alexandria for consultations in London.
June 20: Two battleships are laid down in Yokosuka and Kure in the latest manifestation of the increasing pace of Japanese rearmament.
June 21: French troops in Lebanon suppress anti-Western riots allegedly inspired by Syrian backed agitators.
June 22: The US Sixth Fleet is reinforced by a further carrier task group, bringing its strength to four carriers.
June 23: A secret conference of Western intelligence officials in Paris concludes that the recent Austro-German Crisis was a product of Soviet misinformation and signifies a prelude to further aggressive action. Recommendations are made to raise the alert level and posture of Allied forces in Germany and Western Europe.
June 24: Nationalist Egyptian Army officers begin clandestine planning for a coup.
June 25: Swedish wizards report a dramatic increase in arcane communications traffic in the Western Soviet Union.
June 26: Opening of the Imperial Conference in London amid the strained global situation.
June 27: Release of the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's
The King and I, starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner.
June 28: Soviet troops open fire on a crowd of protesters in Poznan, Poland, killing over 100.
June 29: Polish and Soviet Army divisions enter Poznan, heralding a wave of violent suppression and the arrests of hundreds as martial law is declared across the country.
June 30: An aerial collision between a TWA Lockheed Constellation and a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 above the Grand Canyon kills all 128 people on both aircraft.
JulyJuly 1: An explosion at a radiological metallurgic laboratory in New York City results in a severe poisoning incident and a number of disturbing mutations.
July 2: British patrols and garrisons in the Suez Canal Zone in Egypt come under attack from local police and irregular units. 8 British soldiers and airmen and over 170 Egyptians are killed as they return fire.
July 3: Riots on the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez follow the earlier fighting in the Canal Zone, leading to an ineffectual declaration of martial law and a general breakdown in public order. British Army garrisons in the Cairo Citadel and Iskandar Citadel in Alexandria are essentially besieged and contingency plans for their evacuation by air and sorcerous means are prepared.
July 4: The United States conducts its most powerful H-Bomb test to date, with a B-52 aidropping an operational bomb with a yield of 25.64 megatons on Bikini Atoll.
July 5: British military airfields around Cairo are sealed off by Egyptian troops as a protective measure.
July 6: A meeting of the British Cabinet agrees to the Prime Minster's proposal for the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet to be reinforced and prepare for a retaliatory blockade of Egyptian ports, while a combined British expeditionary force be organised for operations in the Middle East.
July 7: The Soviet Union conducts a long range missile test over Central Asia.
July 8: Anti-French strikes paralyse much of Algiers and Constantine.
July 9: The Cyclades in the Aegean Sea are struck by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
July 10: Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies declares that Australia will back Britain unconditionally in any conflict. Preparations are made to move a combined Australian and New Zealand division to the Middle East by air at short notice and Australia, New Zealand and Indian warships depart Trincomalee after joint Commonwealth naval exercises are bought to an early end.
July 11: Israel calls up 25,000 first line reservists in response to the Egyptian unrest.
July 12: A top level meeting of British and American military and intelligence officials to form a unified front on the developing crises in the Middle East and India collapses into intractable arguments regarding preferable global strategy and the nature of the threat.
July 13: British troops are evacuated from Cairo and Alexandria in the dead of night by helicopters deployed from RAF skyships. Egyptian fighter aircraft do not intervene at this time.
July 14: A further three Soviet tank divisions are moved into Poland and Prussia
July 15: Nationalist officers of the Royal Egyptian Army launch an anti-British coup in Cairo, taking advantage of the Sultan's absence in the south of France.
July 16: Mexican bandits are fired upon by US troops manning the border wall after attempting to cross the Rio Grande.
July 17: The
Chicago Post publishes an exclusive expose charging British Commonwealth troops and security forces in Malaya with conducting hidden massacres, widespread torture and running concentration camps, sparking widespread outrage and criticism, both of the
Post and of the British Empire. The story is later revealed to be the product of KGB disinformation, but for the moment, it is effective in pushing a wedge between the two largest English speaking powers at an extremely unfortunate time.
July 18: General Zadeh, head of the Egyptian Army junta, proclaims that he is officially repudiating the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty and calls for the complete withdrawal of all foreign imperialist forces from Egypt and a restoration of its pre-1902 borders; the latter demand is seen as not only a direct challenge to Israel, but a reassertion of Egyptian claims on the Sudan.
July 19: Pan-Arabist and anti-royalist protests in support of the Egyptian coup turn to riots in the streets of Baghdad and Damascus
July 20: RAF combat squadrons begin arriving in bases in Malta, Corfu, Crete and Cyprus.
July 21: The Iraqi Royal Family arrive at RAF Habbaniya to seek refuge from the tenuous situation in Baghdad, with only their escort battalion of the Royal Guards remaining loyal.
July 22: The Soviet Union and Ottoman Turkey sign a general statement of amity and cooperation in Ankara, surprising the world and horrifying Byzantine Greece.
July 23: President Thompson issues a statement supporting freedom and democracy in the Middle East, which is widely interpreted as being critical of British imperialist influence in the region. In a subsequent telephone call with Prime Minister Eden, he explains that his position is motivated by internal pressure from within the Republican Party and a desire to prevent any further penetration of Soviet influence in the Middle East. Eden accepts his reasoning, but insists that Britain will act to protect its interests and support its allies under the Baghdad Pact, leading to a heated disagreement.
July 24: Egyptian financial assets in Britain and the Commonwealth are frozen. The King of Syria and the Royal Family fly to Beirut after receiving a warning of an imminent coup and their murder. Syria descends into a state of confusion, with rival factions within the Syrian Army maneuvering to gain power with any new government.
July 25: The Italian ocean liner SS
Andrea Doria collides with SS
Stockholm approaching Nantucket and is left severely stricken and listing. Several other liners rush to its rescue, along with aircraft and flying boats of the United States Navy and Coast Guard.
Andrea Doria is miraculously rescued by the intervention of a caped superhero and towed into New York Harbor amid great celebration.
July 26: Arrival of several Aeroflot skyships loaded with agricultural and industrial equipment and accompanying technical advisors in Cairo.
July 27: Royal Space Force orbital photography indicates a movement of Chinese heavy bombers to airfields within range of India and South East Asia.
July 28: Back channel communications from Soviet officials to American intelligence in Rio de Janeiro indicates that Stalin is interested in reducing current international tensions, a move which surprises many in Washington.
July 29: A US delegation meets with members of the Egyptian military government in Cairo, aiming to circumvent Soviet influence and intervention by offering full recognition, military aid and a security alliance. Royal Navy amphibious vessels depart Plymouth for the Mediterranean.
July 30: The Comintern passes a public declaration calling for international peace in Europe and the Middle East. American military commanders of US forces in Britain meet secretly with their British counterparts at RAF High Wycombe, agreeing to continue cooperation, even in the event of political differences between the United States and the British Empire; the so-called Pinetree Convention later proves to the foundation for the rebuilding of amicable relations between the two Western superpowers.
July 31: England beat Australia by an innings and 250 runs in the Fourth Test at Manchester. Jim Laker takes all 20 wickers for 90 in a famous effort in what is later known as 'Laker's Match'.
AugustAugust 1: Prime Minister Eden announces a mobilisation of selected British forces in response to the Middle East Crisis and the deteriorating situation in Europe in a speech broadcast on the BBC. All reservists are recalled to active duty, further elements of the Reserve Fleet and RAF reserve are activated and the Territorial Army is called up. The remainder of the Ashes series is called off in light of the prospect of imminent conflict.
August 2: Stalin orders a defensive mobilisation of certain Soviet forces to defend against 'imperialist aggression'. This is followed by matching steps by France and Germany and, within the hour, an announcement of a call-up of US military reserves and reinforcement of American forces in Europe and the Far East. Significant elements within the Thompson Administration are privately incensed at what is seen as precipitous British action pushing the world to the brink of war on account of imperialist ambitions.
August 3: British Labour Party leader Hugh Gaitskell gives a strong speech in the House of Commons, condemning the actions of General Zadeh and the Egyptian regime as aggressive tools of fascism and international communist expansionism. In Sevastopol, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet is ordered to prepare to sortie. A fast convoy carrying Canadian, New Avalonian, Newfoundland and West Indian troops departs Halifax for Liverpool.
August 4: The Sublime Porte declares a general mobilisation of the Imperial Ottoman Armed Forces to defend its interests and those of its neighbours from external aggression. KGB and GRU intelligence sources conclude Britain alone possesses a limited capacity for intervention in the Middle East given its heavy force commitments in India, the Far East and Germany, but additional Commonwealth forces give it the capacity to act with substantial effect.
August 5: Intelligence reports indicate the presence of a number of former SS and Nazi personnel in Cairo since the July coup. The Imperial War Cabinet in London provisionally authorises preparations for Operations
Musketeer,
Huntsman and
Trident, the invasions of Egypt, Syria and Iraq, aimed at restoring their pro-British regimes.
August 6: Leader of the Opposition Hugh Gaitskell dies of a sudden heart attack in London, aged 50. British officials meet with their French counterparts in Paris to formulate a united response to the current global crisis in light of the growing rupture with the United States.
August 7: Three Egyptian divisions move up to the border of the Suez Canal Zone, but do not make any overt moves to engage the British garrison at this time. General Zadeh calls for the complete removal of British forces and influence from the entire Middle East.
August 8: US Secretary of State Earl Warren calls for an international conference in Geneva to resolve the Middle East Crisis, a step swiftly echoed by Soviet Foreign Commissar Molotov. The United States places intense financial and political pressure on Britain to acquiesce with the opportunity for a diplomatic solution.
August 9: Prime Minister Eden announces that Foreign Secretary Wooster will take part in the Geneva conference, whilst still moving forward with preparations for military operations in the Middle East. This dual track approach is aimed at exhausting all possible opportunities for peaceful resolution before war and giving the armed forces of the British Empire sufficient time to mobilise and move into place.
August 10: A reported sighting of a UFO over the North Sea causes a brief air defence emergency in Britain and the Low Countries. Elements of the Grand Fleet depart Scapa Flow and Portsmouth for Malta.
August 11: Heavy flooding of the Murray River in South Australia and Victoria. Regular Army and Citizen's Military Forces units take part in rescue operations using amphibious vehicles and landing craft. The arrival of the Martian Convoy provides Britain with a welcome boost of hard currency in the form of gold and rare minerals.
August 12: Opening of the Geneva Conference on the Middle East. The Soviet delegation calls for the removal of all external military forces from the area to support its movement towards full independence and true democracy. Secretary of State Warren counters by supporting the rights of all states to form their own regional security arrangements such as the Baghdad Pact, whilst Foreign Secretary Wooster reiterates the British position supporting legitimate regimes, stating that the British Empire will honour its treaty commitments.
August 13: Both Soviet ballistic missile submarines sortie from Murmansk, silently shadowed by British and American atomic submarines. As this movement has not been accompanied by any changes in the deployments of Soviet bombers or the readiness of their strategic rockets, the nuclear forces of Britain and the United States remain at a heightened status of alert, but not yet on the outright brink of atomic war.
August 14: A weird and noxious miasma pervades over New York City for most of the day, sickening hundreds, but doing little to disrupt the preparations of mobilisation. SS
United States departs for France carrying an entire infantry division and a large convoy of over 120 ships is forming up in New York Harbor.
August 15: Belgian Foreign Minister Paul Henri Spaak suggests that the Middle East Crisis be resolved through the replacement of the British garrison at Suez with a neutral Multilateral Force guaranteeing the international status of the Suez Canal. It attracts support from both the US and Soviet delegations, while Britain argues against the proposal and France describes it as a dangerous precedent.
August 16: Averell Harriman receives the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America. Two Soviet freighters leave Leningrad carrying special cargoes.
August 17: The Geneva Conference on the Middle East Crisis collapses after the British delegation indicates that it will not abrogate its responsibilities and alliances in the region, bringing negotiations to an impasse. USAFE begins to step up combat air patrols over Germany and Austria-Hungary.
August 18: Secretary of the Treasury George M. Humphrey orders the US Federal Reserve to prepare to sell part of their sterling bond holdings as part of the American effort to exert pressure on Britain. RAF tactical bombers begin to arrive on Libyan airfields.
August 19: The keel of the world's first atomic powered super battleship is laid down at Newport News. An agreement is signed between France and Britain to coordinate military operations in the Middle East in the event of conflict.
August 20: Soviet diplomats advise the Egyptian government to curtail their demands for the withdrawal of British forces at this time in the light of London's apparent determination. The Central Intelligence Agency issues a Special National Intelligence Estimate predicting that Britain will invade Egypt within a week. President Thompson, under the influence of certain cabinet members, decides to oppose any hostile action whilst still supporting Britain.
August 21: The British Ambassador to Egypt issues the Egyptian government with an ultimatum calling for the cessation of all aggressive actions against British forces and interests and the restoration of the rightful King and his government. It is coldly refused and Egyptian forces are ordered to their highest state of alert. The Egyptian Army musters a total of 10 divisions - four deployed along the Suez Canal, two at Alexandria, one at Port Said and three around Cairo, equipped with 240 Crusader tanks and 345 artillery pieces - and the Egyptian Air Force operates 258 modern aircraft, including Gloster Meteors, Supermarine Warriors and de Havilland Venoms.
August 22: A USN P4M Mercator patrol plane is shot down over the Taiwan Strait, killing all 16 crew on board. USAF fighters based on Taiwan respond by shooting down five Imperial Chinese aircraft in an offensive counter-air sweep close to the Chinese coast. SAC B-47 bombers at Clark Field and on Guam are prepared for atomic strike missions against Chinese targets.
August 23: British Empire and French forces begin offensive operations against Egypt, aimed at eliminating the rebel government and restoring King Farouk to his throne, and in Syria and Iraq to support their teetering monarchs.
Operation
Musketeer: 124 RAF Vickers Valiants flying from Crete, Cyprus and Malta bomb Egyptian airfields and military targets around Alexandria, Cairo and Port Said at 0300, followed forty five minutes later by 238 Canberra medium bombers operating from Libyan and Israeli airfields striking at power stations, coastal and communications facilities. Paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division land around Port Said and move to secure key airfields and launch attacks into the city. At 0525, elements of two Commando brigades are landed by helicopters behind Egyptian lines and swiftly link up with the airborne forces. This is followed at dawn by an amphibious landing by the 2nd Royal Marine Division, heavily reinforced with tanks, war machines and armoured carriers and supported by substantial naval gunfire.
Troops of the 5th and 9th Infantry Divisions attack Egyptian forces from their bases along the Suez Canal, capturing Ismaila in a pincer movement and scattering their lightly armed opposition, which had been devastated by rocket artillery and carpet bombing by RAF, RAAF and RNZAF Canberras. Armoured heavy infantry prove virtually invulnerable to Egyptian small arms fire. Four Israeli divisions strike across the Sinai in two armoured columns from El Arish and Eilat to support the Suez Force in its drive on Cairo. A composite Australian-New Zealand division lands at Suez and destroys localized Egyptian resistance through heavy air and naval firepower and South African-Rhodesian and Gurkha brigades are landed at Beni Suef by skyship in a surprise vertical envelopment, having flown non-stop from Salisbury and Nairobi respectively.
At Alexandria, a reinforced brigade of the 4th Royal Marine Division lands after a 45 minute naval bombardment and waves of airstrikes from over 400 carrier aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. They meet stiff initial resistance, but Egyptian forces are broken by a combination of naval guns, combat magic, guided missiles and dragonfire by three RFC dragons. A simultaneous combat drop by brigades of the 1st Airborne Division and the 12th Canadian Airborne Division seizes RAF Aboukir and Alexandria International Airport. Heavy fighting continues throughout the day as further Royal Marines and Commandos are landed, establishing a strong perimeter bisecting the city. Resistance is heavy and many Egyptian civilians take up arms in answer to the calls of their radio stations before British jamming takes them off the air. A large convoy carrying the main body of the British Expeditionary Force moves in towards Alexandria to prepare for landing.
RAF Hawker Hunters, Fairey Deltas and Supermarine Swifts and RN Fairey Rangers and de Havilland DH.116 Vipers conduct hundreds of sorties throughout the day, destroying the remnants of the Egyptian Air Force that survived the strategic bombing raids overnight. The English Electric Lightning makes its combat debut, shooting down three Egyptian Venoms over Port Said. Virtually all communications out of Egypt by telegraph, wireless and arcane means are jammed by RAF electronic warfare skyships and initial reports are confused. The Avro 707 Avalon supersonic light bomber makes its combat debut, causing great damage with guided bombs and terrible new heat rays.
Operation
Huntsman: French paratroopers of the 1ere and 2eme REP, a brigade of the British 1st Airborne Division and Israeli paratroopers land around Damascus as French Marines and Foreign Legionnaires conduct an administrative landing at the Syrian port of Tartus. A joint British-Israeli reinforced division crosses the Syrian border and pushes towards Damascus to relieve the airborne contingent. British, French and Israeli jet fighters maintain comprehensive combat air patrols above Damascus and Southern Syria, but earlier sabotage efforts by SIS and SOE agents ensure that no Syrian Air Force combat aircraft rise to challenge them.
Operation
Trident: Two Indian infantry divisions, two Royal Marine battalion and a brigade of Royal Indian Marines land at Basra before dawn and quickly secure the city, facing only token opposition. A composite British and Anzac airborne brigade lands at Habbaniya and prepares to drive on Baghdad in conjunction with the Arab Legion, advance elements of which have driven up from the Jordanian border, the loyal Assyrian Regiment and the Royal Air Force Brigade. RAF Hunters and Canberras strafe and bomb rebel held Iraqi air bases around Baghdad.
August 24: The British and French action in the Middle East sparks global consternation and outrage from many quarters and measured expressions of support from others. Massive international protests and spontaneous street marches occur in South America, Asia and many European states, along with bitter recriminations in US Congress and in the American press. The British and French Embassies in Washington D.C. are the scenes of vocal protests. British public opinion is reasonably well aligned behind Prime Minister Eden and opposition in Parliament at this early stage is limited to left wing members of the Labour Party, the Radicals and the Socialists.
President Thompson publicly decries the action and calls for an immediate ceasefire. In a tense telephone conversation with Prime Minister Eden, he labels the invasions as 'sheer madness that will drive the Arabs into the arms of the Soviets; Eden responds that he would not stand to let aggression grow into general war once again and, that if he did not act, he would have presided over the eclipse of the British Empire and the end of Britain as a world power.
In Syria, Damascus is nominally secured by British and Israeli mechanised forces, but the situation remains tense as French troops advance from Tartus and through Lebanon to complete the restoration. British Empire forces in Iraq push 40 miles halfway towards Baghdad, facing only limited opposition as RAF bombers put rebel Iraqi formations to flight with a terrible combination of napalm, wildfire and carpet bombing. The twin-pronged Indian advance from Basra along the Euphrates and Tigris is similarly dramatic, leapfrogging opposition through skyships airlifting brigades to Nasiriya and Amara before noon.
The situation in Egypt is extremely tense as the first elements of the British Expeditionary Force, consisting of the 3rd Infantry Division, Guards Division and the 7th Armoured Division, begins to disembark at Alexandria. The bridgeheads occupied by the airborne forces, Royal Marines and Commandos are now contiguous and formal Egyptian resistance has been gradually reduced to sniping and ambushes as the heavy use of armour and relentless firepower eliminates strongpoints and any organised countermeasures. Extensive employment of combat magic, particularly illusions and enchantments, and new electrical stunguns has lowered civilian casualties somewhat, but urban fighting in a modern city continues to be a bloody proposition. Precision bombing, guided missile attacks and rocket strikes by RAF Avalons continues to isolate and destroy the movement of any large scale forces.
Along the Suez Canal, Port Said and Damietta have been secured by the Royal Marines and 6th Airborne Division and advanced tank units have linked up with Suez Force and the Israelis at Ismailia. The Anzac Division has pushed 32 miles up the railway towards Cairo and the Sarac and Gurkha force, now reinforced by a further South African mechanised brigade has closed to within 80 miles of the Egyptian capital from the south, facing little organised resistance. Aside from isolated units still fighting around Port Said, Ismailia and Alexandria, the main force of the Egyptian Army, some 5 divisions, is increasingly concentrated around Cairo and subjected to continual air attack from British and Commonwealth aircraft. USN carrier aircraft and ships continue to harass Royal Navy and Commonwealth ships of the Mediterranean Fleet, but no accidental clashes have occurred at this time.
Canadian Prime Minister Richardson gives an expansive press conference on the fighting, outlining the direct role of Canadian troops, decrying any suggestion of appeasement and plainly stating that he would have no truck with aggression or unjust war. This statement by a widely respected international elder statesman is seen as a boon for the British cause by some in the United States, although many in both the Democratic and Republican Parties see the fighting as simply naked imperialism. In Moscow, the course of events have caused great alarm and disquiet, as Stalin's gambit of encouragement and support for the Arab rebels now seems to be moving the USSR towards the brink of a global conflict that it could not possibly win.
August 25: The United States begins to implement economic sanctions against Britain and France, sparking a run on sterling and the franc, which, although initially painful, does not threaten either state with existential damage due to their financial preparations for conflict. More consequential is a US oil embargo, which has the immediate effect of sending international oil prices soaring. Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria-Hungary and the Scandinavian countries cautiously condemn the Anglo-French operations under US pressure, but the German governments provide statement of general support and Spain and Greece endorse the action. Protests continue across the Arab world and there is considerable rioting in Libya and Jordan. A Soviet attempt to condemn the action in the Council of the League of Nations is vetoed by Britain and France, with the United States abstaining at the last moment after an intense internal debate within the Thompson Administration.
In Syria, Commonwealth troops begin to fan out from Damascus, seizing key airfields as they proceed. Resistance is sporadic, but protests mount in the capital as French troops arrive from the Lebanon. Turkish commandos cross the border on reconnaissance missions. To the east in Iraq, Habforce continues its advance towards Baghdad, encountering increasing resistance. Skyship airlifts of Indian troops result in the capture of Diwaniya and Kut, moving a brigade at a time in a leapfrog strategy. A British infantry brigade is flown to Mosul from Britain by RAF Brabazons as the 21st Infantry Division crosses the Iraqi-Persian border in the central mountains.
The British Expeditionary Force continues to disembark in Alexandria as the remainder of the 4th Royal Marines and 1st Airborne begin to break out from the city, pushing towards Damanhur and Kafr El Sheikh. The Port Said Force, reinforced by the West Indian Division, captures Mansoura in a helicopter assault and continues to advance through Nile Delta. The Suez Force reaches Kassassin and prepares to push on Zagazig. Organised Egyptian opposition is beginning to break down given British air supremacy and the ubiquitous naval gunfire by Royal Navy cruisers and battleships offshore and civilian resistance is breaking down in the face of sheer numbers.
The Ottoman Sultan issues a declaration that Turkey will not allow any threats to its sovereignty and interests in the region and will take all necessary actions to protect them and secure the territories unjustly separated from the rule of the Sublime Porte. Nine Red Army divisions begin to move into Armenia and Azerbaijan in what is regarded as a dangerous escalation.
Public protests and riots in both Jordan and Arabia are suppressed by loyal troops and police and the situation remains extremely tenuous. In Britain, there is a firming of opinion in favour of the military response due to the great success enjoyed thus far and joint determination by the two major political parties to see matters through to their end. Across the Atlantic, there are some voices speaking in support of the Anglo-French operations, but a small majority of public and political opinion remains vocally against the conflict; many Republicans declare that such imperialist moves make it difficult to oppose Soviet oppression in Eastern Europe with any sense of consistency.
August 26: Irregular advance units of the Imperial Ottoman Army cross the Syrian and Iraqi borders. This is seen as a dramatic escalation of the entire Middle Eastern War given Soviet-Turkish ties and a possible precursor to direct intervention. Southern Syria is largely secure and the King is due to return to Damascus by tomorrow, but with forces concentrated in Egypt and Iraq, there is comparatively few forces available to defend against a thrust by 15 well armed Ottoman divisions outside of two heavy divisions of the Israeli Army.
RAF Valiants bomb government targets in Baghdad and blast the city with sonic booms in direct psychological operations aimed at demoralising rebel forces and bringing about their capitulation. 'Habforce' reaches its planned destination 8 miles outside of Baghdad and begins bombarding the city with arcane and propaganda rounds. By late afternoon, discussions under flag of truce are underway with rebel Iraqi forces for their surrender.
After being rebuffed in the Council of the League, the Soviet Union introduces a motion in the Assembly of the League to condemn British and French aggression and bring about an immediate ceasefire and return to international arbitration and negotiation. It is supported by its Romanian, Tartar, Mongolian and Polish satellites, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Finland, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia, Persia and most of the South American states; the United States and its Central American allies are leaning towards endorsement, but intense British diplomacy succeeds in delaying the vote through administrative tactics.
Field Marshal Sir Charles Keightley, commander of all British and Commonwealth forces engaged in Operation
Musketeer, after considering the toll of the urban fighting in Port Said and Alexandria, orders a lightning thrust by the 7th Armoured Brigade and Royal Marine tanks towards Cairo before Egyptian defences can be properly prepared. The attack makes rapid progress, smashing through the thin screen of an Egyptian infantry brigade towards its first objective of Tanta, where the main Egyptian line of defence lies. By nightfall, Egyptian positions are being bombarded by long range British 8" howitzers along with regular carpet bombing by the ubiquitous RAF Canberras and Avalons.
The southern force has advanced to within 36 miles of Cairo and the vanguard of the combined Anzac, British and Israeli force from the east has paused just 25 miles to the east of the city, allowing the Royal Marines to consolidate their northern flank. As Egyptian attention is focused upon the north, east and south, dozens of RAF Wessex and Buckingham helicopters fly at low altitude to deliver a crack force of Commandos and Gurkhas to the desert on the western outskirts of Giza. They proceed to advance into the city, using the Great Pyramid as an observation post.
August 27: The initial phases of Operations
Trident and
Huntsman come to a successful conclusion with the restoration of the Kings of Syria and Iraq in Damascus and Baghdad under the watchful eye of British garrisons. Ottoman Turkish forces continue to advance at a slow pace; whilst the Grand Vizier declines to grant the British or French Ambassadors an audience to present their ultimatums, the rapid progress of facts on the ground in favour of Anglo-French forces is shifting the tides of power and influence within the Sublime Porte.
The main field force of the Egyptian Army is destroyed in a series of running battles with British armour between Tanta and Cairo in a devastating display of firepower. Self propelled artillery, machine cannons, tanks, dragonstrikes, multiple rocket launchers, guided missiles, spellfire and flamethrowers turn the battlefield into a smashed charnel house. The deadly effectiveness of tactical close air support from both RAF and RN fighter-bombers in the relatively open conditions is noted by observers and troops alike. Reconnaissance armoured cars penetrate to the northern outskirts of Cairo before halting at the last line of resistance to allow for heavier units to catch up; the speed of advance is significantly faster than that of Korea and World War 2, a development ascribed to improved logistics and aerial resupply by helicopters.
Cairo is hit by continual bombing raids by Valiants, Canberras and Avalons throughout the morning and both the eastern and southern forces have occupied the outskirts of the city. Just before noon, a composite Special Air Service battalion drawn from the British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South African and Rhodesian regiments is inserted by illusory cloaked helicopters from an overhead skyship onto the roof of the Abdeen Palace and Cairo Citadel. After a short but intense battle, the surviving coup leadership is killed or captured, including the erstwhile General Zadeh, caught in the tendrils of a web spell. Public pronouncements of the fall of the regime are broadcast over radio and aerial loudspeakers to the citizens of the city and the remaining Egyptian troops entrenched on its outskirts.
The US government orchestrates a full run on the pound and applies further sanctions on British trade, sending the global economy to the edge of a major collapse. This constitutes the highpoint of US pressure as the conflict shifts from its initial combat phase and represents the nadir of postwar relations between the United States and the British Empire. Even at this point, there are already quiet back channel communications from both sides working towards moving back from the brink of a full Anglo-American rupture. President Thompson refuses to take a telephone call from Prime Minister Eden, but accepts a private audience with the Canadian Ambassador, who conveys the British and Commonwealth position that the matter is rapidly becoming a fait accompli.
August 28:
Stalin threatens Britain and France with atomic rocket attacks on London and Paris in a public pronouncement and formal note to their governments. Eden responds by ordering RAF Bomber Command's V-Force of 326 Avro Vulcans and 624 Vickers Valiants to disperse to their wartime alert bases and readied the RAF missile force of 87 Super Vanguard LRBMs for launch. Red Army troops in Poland go to a high state of readiness and prepare for offensive operations against Germany and Austria-Hungary. US Army and BAOR forces move to their forward wartime positions and disperse tactical nuclear artillery. Strategic Air Command increases the number of B-52s and B-47s on airborne alert.
A British backed coup in Turkey replaces the Grand Vizier and government with one that leans towards Britain and the West with the Sultan further persuaded by Avro Vulcan demonstration flights over Turkish cities. The Imperial Ottoman Army halts its advance and begins withdrawing behind its borders. The Turkish-Soviet Agreement is annulled after the former Grand Vizier and his supporters are strangled.
King Farouk returns in triumph to Egypt, where he is greeted by empty streets and a capital under martial law and Commonwealth military occupation. The remaining elements of the Egyptian Army are kept prisoner under careful guard at large camps in the desert. International travel and media communications are still kept under tight control by British authorities. Across the Middle East, British forces and aircraft are held at high readiness to respond to large scale unrest as the Arab monarchs struggle to keep control of their restive populations.
A momentous Cabinet meeting in Washington D.C. sees the resignation of Secretary of State Warren after relations between the different Cabinet factions broke down into a series of shouting matchs. President Thompson declares that matters have now gone beyond the level of disagreement with the British and French and that the Soviets were moving towards full scale war due to the fractures in the Western alliance and therefore the first order of the hour was unity; recriminations over the Middle East War would come later. Britain begins full transition to war, mobilises her remaining forces and closes British ports and airports to all civilian traffic. Panic spreads across many cities in Western Europe, with thousands flocking to buy supplies and flee urban centres for fear of nuclear attack.
August 29:
Two Soviet freighters operating under false flags are boarded at sea by British special forces after a complicated and highly secret SIS operation. Each is carrying a 100kt atom bomb. Their targets were to be Newcastle and Southampton. In response, the Royal Navy atomic submarines Warspite and Dreadnought, operating in the Barents Sea, are ordered to sink both Soviet SSBs currently at sea in response and thereafter to sink any other Soviet warships encountered as a clear signal to Moscow.
RAF and Soviet fighters clash over Persia and Northern Iraq as the world creeps closer to war. USAF fighters shoot down a Soviet patrol aircraft over the Baltic Sea east of Bornholm. SAC moves to its highest status of alert for the whole crisis and two squadrons of Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles are readied for launch. A B-47 disappears in flight over Alaska and is suspected to have crashed.
An angry dispute breaks out between Britain and France, with the latter accusing the former of a cavalier approach coming from Britain's greater distance from Soviet rocket bases, whereas France is far more vulnerable to nuclear missile attack. From the Soviet arsenal of 4 R-6 Slava LRBMs and 25 R-5 Pobeda MRBMs, only the former are considered capable of striking the British Isles. The majority of the Soviet strategic nuclear forces aimed at Europe consists of long range flying bombs and strategic jet bombers, the former being concentrated around the Kola Peninsula.
In the Far East, China begins to move troops back from the Indian border and announces that the Soviet-Chinese Treaty of Amity and Cooperation has been temporarily suspended for full administrative review. The pro-Soviet faction within the Imperial Court is finally and thoroughly purged at the direction of Chancellor Fu Manchu and their screams last long into the night. Chinese troops move up to the Mongolian and Tartar borders, leading to a Soviet defensive reaction that continues over the next 18 months.
August 30:
British forces and Soviet-backed rebels clash in Northern Iraq, including a brief engagement between Centurion and T-54 tanks. Stalin works himself into an incredible fury over the reverses in China and Turkey over the course of several hours and finally orders the Strategic Rocket Forces to prepare to launch their nuclear missiles against Europe. Preparations are observed by the orbiting Royal Space Force spy telescopes onboard King George VI Station. The rocket base at Plesetsk is destroyed by a 2.5 Mt Blue Danube hydrogen bomb dropped in a secret RAF preemptive attack by a high flying specially modified Avro Vulcan. The world teeters on the edge of war for two hours. Stalin dies in mysterious circumstances at his dacha outside Moscow and is replaced by a troika of Molotov, Malenkov and Ivan Serov, who seek a peaceful end to the crisis.
Prime Minister Eden announces the resolution to the crisis, Stalin's demise and the Soviet offer of peace to the world over the BBC. The globe dares to breath once more.
August 31:
The aftermath of the Middle East War and the world crisis is an uncertain one, with Egypt, Syria and Iraq still restively lying under British military occupation, yet without any hope of external aid or intervention. Israel finds itself decidedly isolated from its Arab neighbours, having reinforced its status as the greatest local military power in the region. The relationship between Britain, the United States and France, the very cornerstone of the Western alliance, has been smashed asunder, leaving both sides of the Atlantic to pick up the myriad pieces amid bitter recriminations of betrayal. The new leadership of the Soviet Union are severely chastened and shocked by how close they came to utter destruction and are unified with a determination to never again be faced with such inferiority. Britain has achieved a great victory and kept its dominance over the Middle East, but the ruthlessness and power displayed in the fighting has been in many ways a double-edged sword in regard to how other peoples and states view the Empire; it gives additional credence to voices within India that call for a more independent path.
Economically, the impact of the crisis, mobilisation and the international financial chaos thrusts a number of states into a sharp recession; Britain, Canada, France and the United States record their worst economic performance for a decade. The wounds inflicted on world trade and economic confidence will take many years to heal and efforts to lower tariff barriers seem further away than ever.
British and Commonwealth casualties in the fighting of August amount to 532 killed and missing and 4945 wounded and French losses are 129 killed and 892 wounded. Over 20,000 Egyptian soldiers have been killed or are missing, along with at thousands of civilian casualties in the bombings and invasion. Syrian and Iraqi casualties are mainly military in nature and amount to an estimated 5200 killed and missing and twice that many wounded. The atomic bombing of Plesetsk resulted in at least 3264 known deaths and injuries, with others to follow from the effects of radiation; the sinkings of Soviet submarines and shipping add another 653 to that final figure.
SeptemberSeptember 1: Recall of the US Ambassador to the Court of St. James to Washington for consultations with President Thompson.
September 2: The collapse of a rail bridge in India kills 126.
September 3: Announcement of the temporary institution of petrol rationing in Britain.
September 4: First test flight of the American X-15 rocket plane.
September 5: Public funeral of Stalin in Moscow, an affair largely unattended by foreign dignitaries as a result of the recent war.
September 6: The French government indicates that it is suspending direct bilateral defence cooperation with Britain and the United States as part of a general review of international commitments in the aftermath of the Middle Eastern War.
September 7: An abandoned merchant freighter is found by a US Navy patrol bomber floating 250nm east of Nassau. Further investigations reveal no cargo nor any sign of life.
September 8: Vasily Stalin makes his first public appearance in Moscow since the mysterious death of his father.
September 9:
September 10: Further British reinforcements arrive in Egypt to replace British airborne and Royal Marine combat forces which are gradually being withdrawn to refit.
September 11: End of Typhoon Emma, which has devastated large parts of Okinawa and Korea over the last two weeks.
September 12: A British oil tanker is the first merchant ship to pass through the Suez Canal since July.
September 13: Invention of the hard disk drive by IBM.
September 14: General Zadeh and the surviving leaders of the Egyptian coup are sentenced to death for high treason in Cairo. They are publicly impaled in Ismailia Square two hours later.
September 15: Melbourne defeat Collingwood in the 1956 VFL Grand Final 18.21 (129) to 6.12 (48) in front of a crowd of 125,432 spectators at the MCG.
September 16: Sven Tyrsson's Moderate Party emerges from the Swedish General Election with the highest number of seats, winning 87 out of 256 and forming a grand coalition with the Conservatives, the Liberal Party and the Farmer's League.
September 17: A USAF B-52B Stratofortress crashes near Castle AFB, California, killing all on board.
September 18: First flight of the Tu-104 jet airliner in the Soviet Union.
September 19: American wizards demonstrate a revolutionary new teleportation gate far in advance of known European and Soviet devices.
September 20: King Ludwig II of Bavaria opens the Oktoberfest celebrations in Munich.
September 21: Assassination of Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza.
September 22: The United States Air Force conducts the first live fire test of an operational ICBM, launching an Atlas missile from Vandenberg AFB, California to its target point in the Pacific Proving Ground some 200nm south of Kwajalein.
September 23: 72 Egyptian soldiers are blown from guns in Cairo in the latest series of postwar reprisals.
September 24: Installation of a new dedicated transatlantic telephone cable.
September 25: President Thompson gives a widely publicized speech condemning international aggression and destabilisation by Communist forces and calling for expedited decolonisation by the European states in order to promote international freedom and democracy. The speech is extremely popular on both sides of US politics.
September 26: A secret report by the Luftwaffe recommends the acquisition of long range strategic missiles and heavy bombers to deter any future Soviet aggressive threats of similar character to those issued against Britain and France during the August Crisis.
September 27: Two members of the Paris Jockey Club die after an ill fated duel at the opera.
September 28: Beginning of a high level intergovernmental conference between Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands aimed at resolving differences exposed by recent events.
September 29: The Provisional Government of Korea is arrested by a group of army officers in Seoul.
September 30: First test firing of the British Army's new strategic nuclear artillery 'supergun' off the coast of Western Australia.
OctoberOctober 1: France refuses to accept a German proposal to reopen talks on the Saar.
October 2: The Korean junta announces that they will take all necessary measures to preserve the rule of democracy and law in the reunited country.
October 3: President Thompson takes time out from campaigning for a private meeting with former British Prime Minister Harcourt in Albany.
October 4: Britain and Australia conduct an atomic test at Maralinga, South Australia.
October 5: Opening of
The Ten Commandments, a Biblical epic directed by Cecil B. DeMille starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, in New York City.
October 6: American scientists announce the discovery of a new advanced medical compound with astounding healing properties.
October 7: General elections in Kenya result in a strong victory to the United Party, which wins 13 of 25 total seats.
October 8: New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen throws the only perfect game in World Series history in Game 5 against the Brooklyn Dodgers, leading to a Yankees victory.
October 9: The Korean military government invites Crown Prince Yi Un and the Imperial Family to return to the country.
October 10: The new super battleship HMS
Hood returns to a rapturous welcome in Portsmouth after being deployed on combat operations in the Mediterranean.
October 11: Discovery of an ancient Atlantean ruin in Antarctica by British explorers.
October 12: Air Marshal Sir William 'Billy' Bishop officially retires from the Royal Canadian Air Force.
October 13: Launch of the first atomic powered submarine of the Red Navy in Severodvinsk.
October 14: The first after-action report by the Royal Air Force on operations in the Middle East War is delivered to the Committee of Imperial Defence. It emphasises the value of tactical and strategic airlift capacity and describes the role of medium and heavy bombers as vital.
October 15: Two London restaurant critics are arrested after publicly dueling at Piccadilly Circus.
October 16: A suspicious fire in Luzhniki Stadium causes significant damage to the newly opened building.
October 17: Bobby Fischer, 13, defeats chess grandmaster Donald Byrne in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City.
October 18: Five English schoolchildren uncover a secret lemonade smuggling racket run by gypsies in Dorset.
October 19: A Turkish proposal to ban the use of dragons in warfare is vetoed by Britain at the League of Nations.
October 20: Austria-Hungary begins to extend confidential feelers to Britain, France and the United States regarding a security alliance.
October 21: Establishment of the Federation of the British Pacific Islands, a regional grouping of Britain's colonial holdings in the South and Central Pacific.
October 22: FBI agents swoop on a meeting of surviving organised crime bosses in Philadelphia, arresting 15.
October 23: A secret meeting between British and American military officials in Montreal ends cordially after several fruitful agreements on coordination of patrols, operations and intelligence sharing, despite currently strained political relations.
October 24: RNAS air-sea rescue Avro Lancasters patrolling out of Freetown, Sierra Leone spot the survivors of a sunken merchantman off the coast of West Africa. Once recovered, they report the attack of a strange great white whale.
October 25: French Premier Charles de Gaulle orders the initiation of a super priority development programme for a French hydrogen bomb and long range ballistic missile capacity.
October 26: Publication of
A Sunset Crown, the seventh novel in the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.
October 27: A piano formerly owned by Richard Wagner is seen flying out over the Bay of Biscay, having mysteriously taken off from Bayreuth two days ago.
October 28: Pope Pius XII issues the encyclical
Luctuosissimi eventus, calling for peace and succour for suffering peoples across Eastern Europe and the world.
October 29: The international city of Tangiers is formally handed over to Morocco, although its former protecting powers retain extensive basing and extraterritorial rights and privileges.
October 30: A United States Navy exploration team arrives at the South Pole by air.
October 31: Waves of hauntings and weird events are reported across the United States throughout the night of Halloween.
NovemberNovember 1: Production begins of an 8" atomic artillery shell in the United States.
November 2: Opening of the first Sizzler restaurant in California.
November 3: Sir Charles Ratcliffe is awarded the Order of the Garter for unspecified special services to the Crown, having recently recovered from frostbite.
November 4: Dread weregoats terrorise a small town in Vermont through the night, before vanishing without trace.
November 5: Two suspected Soviet spies are arrested by ASIO agents in Sydney after a lengthy investigation.
November 6: Republican President Roger Thompson comfortably defeats Democrat Averell Harriman in the 1956 US Presidential Election, winning 325 electoral college votes to 197, with Whig candidate James Stephenson winning 22 votes.
November 7: Reopening of the border between Byzantine Greece and Ottoman Turkey.
November 8: The
Times predicts that absolute poverty will be eradicated in Britain within the next three years.
November 9: A public demonstration of a flying car takes place in Los Angeles.
November 10: Unknown assailants attempt to assassinate the Palatine of Hungary with grenades and gunfire, but are foiled by his quick-thinking bodyguard wizards.
November 11: A giant iceberg is observed in the South Pacific by USS
Glacier northeast of Victoria Land in the Ross Sea, measuring an estimate 208 by 60 miles.
November 12: The Committee for Imperial Defence and the Foreign Office finally reach an agreement on the conditions and scheduling for the sale of former Royal Navy aircraft carriers to Argentina, Brazil and Chile, with the latter particularly concerned with not sparking the third major arms race in South America within half a century.
November 13: Forward deployments of Strategic Air Command B-47 and B-49 bombers to Britain are halted indefinitely. Strategic bomber deployments to Iceland, France, Spain and Morocco continue.
November 14: Scotland Yard establishes a secret anti-vampire squad in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, MI5 and the Army.
November 15: Opening of the American Middle Eastern Technical University in Angora, Turkey.
November 16: Steel beer cans go on sale in Australia.
November 17: Mislabelled poisonous mushrooms sicken over 150 people in the French province of Sarre.
November 18: A Canadian merchant ship is capsized off Hong Kong by a marauding dragon turtle.
November 19: Indonesian fighter jets conduct dangerous maneuvers close to Dutch cruisers off the coast of the Moluccas.
November 20: British scientists secretly test a new, powerful poison gas at a secret chemical warfare facility in Canada.
November 21: German intelligence presents photographic evidence of a new supersonic Soviet bomber to Britain, France and the United States.
November 22: Opening of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, in front of a crowd of almost 150,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
November 23: The Ministry of Food issues an official denial of rumours regarding a forthcoming shortage of fats, clearing stating that there is no suet crisis.
November 24: Two well-known geneticists disappear from a hotel in Vienna, the latest in a series of mysterious abductions of prominent biological scientists.
November 25: Leon Trotsky suffers a minor heart attack in Rio de Janeiro.
November 26: Britain announces that it will reduce its troop commitment in Korea to a single brigade within eight months.
November 27: The TM-76 Mace tactical atomic cruise missile enters service with the United States Air Force.
November 28: A reclusive Anglo-American millionaire suggests the creation of a theme park populated by dinosaurs.
November 29: Three murderers are hanged at Newgate Prison in London.
November 30: Floyd Patterson wins the world heavyweight championship, beating Archie Moore.
DecemberDecember 1: Resignation of Indonesian Vice President Hatta due to profound differences with Sukarno.
December 2: An explosive device planted by the Mad Bomber explodes in a Brooklyn movie theatre, injuring 10 people.
December 3: A massive explosion at Bush Terminal in New York City kills 10 and injures 270.
December 4: A secret report by the Air Ministry recommends the significant strengthening of RAF Fighter Command's long range defences, particularly surface to air guided weaponry.
December 5: The Scandinavian Defence Union begins its annual winter exercises in Sweden and Norway.
December 6: Production begins at a major new oil refinery in Buenos Aires.
December 7: American scientists in the International Scientific Laboratory on Luna report the discovery of a new metallic element.
December 8: Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. The USA tops the medal tally with 104, followed by Australia with 50, Germany, competing for the first time since 1936, with 46 and Britain with 42.
December 9: Sir Henry Moseley is awarded his second Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum physics.
December 10: Cyril Norman Hinshelwood and Nikolay Semyonov jointly win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research into the mechanism of chemical reactions.
December 11: Chinese martial artists working with British intelligence expose and destroy a drug smuggling ring disguised as an ice factory in Bangkok, Thailand.
December 12: The Angolan Communist Party establishes a clandestine independence organisation in Portuguese West Africa.
December 13: A dire council of evil is held in London, with the only attendees consisting of a polite elderly lady and a silent figure in a dark bucket helm.
December 14: The Malayan colonial government reports no incidents of violence or attacks by communist terrorists have occured over the past nine months.
December 15: Criminals attempting to rob Notre Dame are chased off by a strange hunchbacked figure and are subsequently captured by French police.
December 16: Opening of the first atomic power station in Canada in Ontario.
December 17: A motion is passed by the Assembly of the League of Nations calling for an end to colonisation; it is viewed as a purely symbolic action, given the French and British vetoes in the Council of the League.
December 18: South African police begin a round-up of suspected Communist agents in a series of dawn raids.
December 19: Japan is formally readmitted to the League of Nations.
December 20: Demonstration of a number of new German jet aircraft at a Berlin airshow.
December 21: Indian Prime Minister Sir Rama Vikramaditya Singh arrives in Peking for a surprise visit that is thought by many to signify a new wind of change in relations between the British and Chinese Empires.
December 22: 16 Spanish diplomats are expelled from Britain on suspicion of being members of the Inquisition.
December 23: Traffic in Milan grinds to a standstill after a series of malfunctions paralyse the traffic light network.
December 24: Sir Dalton Cholmondeley announces that his recent expedition to West Africa has discovered a hitherto unknown valley populated by strange creatures in the depths of the jungle.
December 25: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh combine in the annual Royal Christmas Message televised on the BBC across the world, despite Prince Philip currently being onboard HMY
Britannia off the coast of Antarctica.
December 26: Five US agents are exchanged for a group of Soviet agents in a midnight rendezvous on a Danube bridge between Bulgaria and Romania.
December 27: Strange reports of a mysterious plague ravaging the lands of the Maya in Yucatan reach Mexico City.
December 28: Annual per capita egg consumption in Australia is recorded as 312.
December 29: Peasants revolt in Western China, destroying a local Imperial garrison.
December 30: The US Army establishes an experimental airmobile brigade as a test of newly developed theories of tactical aerial transport.
December 31: TASS announces that Soviet rocket scientists have made a major breakthrough in advanced engine technology and that the world will see the results in the new year.
- Missed the Jeff Wayne reference! 
- Especially with that description.
I would expect that TTL London would accept it.