Fall and Rise: A WW2 ISOT

No, it is his son.

The first would entail a birth on the wrong side of the sheets, which would remove the chance of inheritance. Although characters make an appearance, they aren’t always direct facsimiles.

Rommel survives and ultimately a few more Germans will also do so.

The 7th Panzer Division, though, won’t be among them. Without significant AAA beyond their organic 20mm, nine waves, each of 600+ fighter-bombers, do the job. The addition of cluster bombs, more developed in DE from the US M29, and napalm to rockets and cannon strafing does particular damage to the soft skin vehicles that predominate in the 1940 Panzer division TOE (trucks, buses, motorcycles and cars). Thousands of dead.

5th Panzer Division gets a different attack (dragons).

Absolutely spot on as ever, Steve.

Two divisions being knocked out with as much thought and exertion as a boy gives to stamping out an anthill (ie not very much at all) takes place on June 16, or the same day as Norway.

It will follow on a bit on the initial French reaction to the news from the British (which has been quickly double checked with some flying visits to England by a French delegation lead by the Undersecretary of War on the 14th/15th) and how it shifts the Weygand/Pétain/Laval vs Reynard/Blum/Mandel argument. Whilst DE doesn’t see the exact same French cabinet rupture occur in June (occurring in July after the Great Retreat to Algeria), there is enough information fed to Reynaud of who the worries are. There will be an overflight above Bordeaux of two of the pre-production Avro York 8 engined superheavy bombers during the meeting, but even gestures may not completely sway the situation, at least until an unexpected few fellows turn up.

What is very likely in the event of a split is a withdrawal to FNA and Britain plus other forces melting into the countryside; the British and Commonwealth liberation will come and is simply a matter of shipping, landing craft, planning and the right weather. That there will be a specific promise offered that it will come as soon as possible; that may not be soon enough to sway the whole of Weygand faction. As matters stand, there is sufficient shipping and air cover to get a corps in Britanny and a division in the Cotentin within 1 week to 10 days, with 1.5 divisions per major port/week once the ports are secure; that means Brest, Cherbourg, Lorient and Saint Malo.

Part of the reason for the delay is that I’m leaning towards the French fighting on and the British beginning an administrative landing in Northern France based on a few factors:

- Admin landings don’t need landing craft, just shipping
- The tacair strikes are going to shock the Jim Christ out of Germany in terms of capability (plus BC going for Berlin and the mediums starting to hammer the German supply lines)
- I had an idea about how to change some minds in France
- British advantage is not so completely huge as to render Jerry completely obsolete/lacking in threat
- It would be too politically unpopular to not “go” when the window is open and thus push the war well into 1941 (no good invasion weather until May)
- Money, money, money! Winning the war sooner saves it, as well as not spending as much on extended war production. DE Britain is better off economically, but not utterly radically so
- Whilst Brooke (Dark Earth version) is reasonably circumspect and cautious, there are some more offensively minded/aggressive commanders who are champing at the bit to go

Japan is just checkmated, really.

Too late for that:
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/italy-declares-war-on-france-and-great-britain

Absolutely not.

In what circumstances would any country ignore an enemy state that had declared war on them; invaded their ally; sunk the cruiser HMS Calypso; is poised on the edge of Egypt with a large army; that the Western Desert Force has invaded, capturing two forts; and that the RAF has already bombed on the night of the 11th/12th of June (Genoa and Turin)?

Does that seem like it can be overlooked as the 1940s version of accidentally dialing a mobile phone with one’s backside?

Given that you’ve done a day by day account of WW2 yourself, I’d have thought that some of these events might have come to mind before asking whether any Britain would just suddenly let Italy off…because reasons? Pity, maybe? What if Mussolini gets a note from his mum that he is feeling sick and can he please be excused from the war?

Now, I do understand that you can’t be expected to remember all of them, but surely the Italian invasion of France is something that most historical aficionados of WW2 are vaguely aware of?

I love and appreciate your feedback and comments, but on a few rare occasions, you manage to make me chuckle. Given that I no longer laugh or have any of those type of emotions, I thank you for the inadvertent humour.

No worries and no need to apologise; I just found the idea of being able to go “backsies” on a DoW and subsequent acts of war on both sides amusing. That is a rare pleasure for me.

The only thing that Mussolini could do is the option he can’t and won’t take - unconditional surrender. It is too late. This is a Britain that has fought the Italians in Greece, in North Africa, in Sicily and in Spain. There is no love lost and plenty of hate there no present in @.

The only response they would get is “Vae victis.”