NOW 9

Chapter Nine

Canada to expand and modernize Military (Toronto Daily Star)

“The Canadian Ministry of National Defence published details for the planned expansion of the Canadian Military. The Canadian Army is to be expanded by two Divisions (1x Mechanized Infantry, 1x Armored) and the MoND is to buy a licence for the production of the British Chieftain Universal Tank, the Royal Canadian Air Force is to replace the Victor Mk.III with the Vulcan Mk.II and the Squadrons of Air Defence Command are to be equipped with the Arrow Mk.I. It is expected to enter service starting from 1965 onwards...

Average of 6.3 million viewers for An Unearthly Child (Internal BBC Memorandum)

According to careful examination of the statistics gathered, the Serial's first episode gathered some 5.5 million viewers, the second around 6 and the other two parts roughly 7 million. It can there for be said that so far the concept of the show has been approved of by the viewership and it is hereby recommended that 1) The production of another ten Serials be approved 2) The Empire-wide broadcast begun immediately, especially in India 3) That William Hartnell be approached over a more permanent contract beyond the six serials....[1]

England prepares for 1966 FIFA World Cup (Der Kicker)

Preparations for the 1966 World Cup in England continue apace and the construction of the Wembley Stadium is 'on schedule'...

Germany to buy the Lightning? (Air Forces Monthly)

Recently surfaced rumours say that the German Federal Ministry for Defence has approached the British Government about the purchase of the English Electric Lightning Mk.I for the Luftwaffe to both replace the Supermarine Swift and to expand the Fighter Wings to a number of at least four...

Arthur Harries dies in London (The Times)

Arthur Harris, one-time CinC RAF Bomber Command died in London yesterday after a Heart Attack. Harris, disgraced and removed from Bomber Command after the recognized failure of Area Bombing attacks to affect enemy morale and industrial capacity lived his life...[2]

HMS Warspite in Thames Estuary (The Manchuster Gruadian)

In an comtroverssial and audacious move the removal of HMS Warspite from Bermuda and the move of the old veteran to London continues as per plans and from tomorrow...

Franz-Josef Strauß arrested [3] (Frankfurter Allgemeine)

Former Minister of Finance Franz-Josef Strauß was arrested today after being implicated in the FiBag Scandal during which he allegedly accepted bribes for allocating contracts for the construction and refurbishment of military bases for Allied and Bundeswehr Units and the subesequent raids on Der Spiegel that were declared unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court last year...

~**~~~~**~

Whistling the Canadian Anthem[4] Charette drove rented blue four-door NSU down the road leading out of Breslau. He still had a day's leave to burn up before the Wing was moved to the Sudan and he was spending it here, now that his protests at being included in the move had been rebuffed by CINCOCAIR (CinC Occupation Air Force). Breslau was the biggest city anywhere near the base and while it was nowhere near Quebec City, it was adequate if one wanted to amuse himself. He had spent most of today hiking in the countryside around the city, something he liked to do at home.

The countryside had nothing on the area around his home, but then again, this area was probably not very representative of Germany. Luckily he had not been forced to arrange for anywhere to stay as he doubted around here people spoke enough English. He had decided to go back to the base early, for all his proficiency with supersonic aircraft he didn't trust his wheelmanship enough to drive a little sports-car such as this during the night on unfamiliar roads as he (like most other pilots) tended to drive faster than the rest of the populace, even in the self-professed car country #1.

He cursed as he realized that he had misjudged the time and the traffic inside Breslau and flicked the switch that turned on the lights. It was still pre-dawn but he decided not to take any chances as the road that would eventually lead towards the base itself was winding and ran through several areas where visibility was impaired.

He increased speed as he turned on the A23[5] that ran roughly parallel with Germany's eastern border in the north towards the Austrian one in the south. Now, this was much more to his liking. At this time of day the lane out of the city was almost totally empty and the lack of a speed limit on this particular example of it's breed made it very tempting to let rip and test out the reputed top speed of this particular little car. Charette decided against it and instead drove towards the exit three kilometres away where he would have to leave the Motorway again. He drove past a petrol station and then slowed down as he reached the off ramp.

The country road he soon found himself on wound through the darkening day towards the base. He needed a Coffee, he decided.

In the next village he was lucky, as the bakery was still open and also sold a surprisingly good Coffee.

Leaning against the counter an sipping at the porcelain cup he watched as a black Mercedes W 110 park in front of the bakery and a young-ish man came walking out and up to the counter. Looking at his face Charette couldn't help but feel that he had seen the man before, or at least someone very closely related to him, and it irked him that he couldn't place the resemblance. As the various German accents all sounded alike to him Charette snuck a peek a the licence plate and saw that the badge of the Administrative District and the German Bundesland placed the car down south somewhere, most certainly not from here, the coat of arms was totally different from the other cars around here.

Buying a surprisingly large pack of bread rolls the man joked with the cashier, saying (according to Charette's rudimentary German) how a certain type of on wasn't available here and how they would make a killing if it were.

The elusive, unavailable delicacy. Totally killer with cherry marmalade or peanut butter.

Curiousity overwhelming, Charette stuck around even though his coffee was long since relocated to his stomach as he watched the man walking back to the car. There were a man and a woman who greeted him with delight when he got back in. They drove off.

Charette paid for his Coffee and decided that it was time to get back to base. As he started his own engine he saw the Mercedes stopping at what had to be the only traffic light in thirty kilometres distance and go left, the same road Charette would have to take.

He watched as he inadvertently followed the car out of the village, all the while mulling about why the resemblance wouldn't leave his mind alone so that he did not watch where he was going and soon enough he was hopelessly lost.

As he realized this both the Mercedes wand the village where nowhere to be seen and no roadsigns anywhere.

He cursed loudly and decided that since his Escape and Evasion training specified to backtrack if possible this was the thing to do, so he drove a few yards into a nearby access road and reversed out of it.

He drove back down the road and wondered where on earth he was as almost twenty minutes later he still was nowhere near the large A-Road he had been following. Cursing ever louder he did not watch as the Mercedes came out of another access road. When he saw it he stepped on the brakes as hard as he could and the four brakes, notorious for failure of pressed too hard, worked perfectly for once and the car stopped inches before the flank of the Mercedes.

Charette took a few moments to reassemble his faculties and turned off the engine. He stepped out of the car and was about to excuse himself for almost smashing into them when he saw the rear passengers stepping out. One was a middle-aged woman, but the man was...

It couldn't be. It was nigh on impossible that among 76 million Germans he would meet this one right here. He had aged from the Pictures everyone had seen, but it was undeniably the same face.

He opened his mouth to speak and said....

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Comments, questions, rotten tomatoes?

[1] Lacking the JFK assassination there are of course more viewers. OT Note: New Episodes by Easter! Yay! Now where did I put these TARDIS blueprints again...

[2] Strange as it may seem, this isn't an expression of my personal politics, but rather an effect of military priorities. ITTL the course of rearmament and the war was such that the Army, the Navy and Fighter Command (in that order) had first dibs on resources, thus making BC too small to do any meaningful damage to German, let alone Soviet Cities. A lot of those were devastated as per OTL, but not from the Air... Harris refused to see the light and was promptly axed by Winston when it was decided to use Bomber Command more productively.

[3] Now this is blatantly an expression of my intense hatred for this ugly and corrupt tub of lard. He landed us with the F-104G...

[4] ITTL 'The Maple Leaf Forever'

[5] Autobahn 23, I.e. M23 in the UK.

NOW 8

Chapter Eight

“Jesus Christ, Wachmann!” the Commissioner yelled. Wachmann decided to bear the dressing down for two reasons, one it hadn't been the best idea to shoot around, this wasn't the pre-war Balkans after all, but also because the Commissioner had long since turned from a police Officer into a politician. A rather diplomatic one, given that at least six different nations were always involved in the city at any given time, but still a politician.

“I did what I felt was best, Sir.” Wachmann said and wished that he could go back upstairs to where Kelso was overseeing the search of the flat.

“Fiddlesticks!” the Commissioner yelled. “You are lucky that we managed to apprehend König and that his flat was full with evidence supporting your accusations.”

But then, for a second at least, the old copper who had walked the beat in his time shone through. “But surely he is to old to be our stabber.”

“That he is, Sir.” Wachmann agreed. “But he was the last known owner of the Hitler Youth dagger used in at least one of the murders and he fired at us when we knocked on the door an identified ourselves.”

The Commissioner grunted in agreement. He disliked Wachmann's insubordinate attitude immensly and would have loved to cut him to size for involving an Allied Officer, but the fact that Wachmann usually produced results had prevented this in the past and would do so again today, especially considering that Brigadier Larking, commander of the Commonwealth Berlin Brigade had made the impromptu co-operation between Wachmann and Kelso official and congratulated them all. It galled the Commissioner that Berlin was taking it's directions from the Allied Control Council instead of the German Government, but he had sworn to uphold the law in the difficult days after the Allies had captured Berlin.

“Still, pull something like that again and you are out of the Force.” the Commissioner said and turned around before he lost his temper again.

The warning went into one ear and out the other. Wachmann was hearing the exact same speech whenever he stepped onto the Commissioner's toes, and that happened once a month at least.

The flat was indeed packed to the brim with evidence, and most pieces were illegal enough on their own to bring the owner at least a month or two of prison time. But what they did not find was the dagger. So nothing. They had absolutely nothing at all to go on now.

Kelso came up to Wachmann and they watched as a group of police officers packed up the things in the flat.

“Well, what now?” Kelso asked, deferring to Wachmann who knew the city and the people in it better.#

“Let's check out his other properties. It's all we can do.”

“You know, I wish we could have talked to him before he decided to become a Bond Villain.”

Wachmann nodded. “Agreed. But at least we know we are on the right track, in fact if I had to bet I'd say we'd find something in his warehouse in Steglitz.”

Kelso looked at Wachmann. He was slightly puzzled as to why Wachmann was so certain.

“How come, Wachmann?”

“Well, primarily because he inherited it from his bugnuts Kreisleiter of a father who, as he claims, held the first and the last NSDAP party meeting there before you and your Asiatic Mercenary Armies brought down the glorious Third Reich.”

Wachmann sighed.

“Sarcasm aside, it's one of his lesser-known properties.”

“This damn thing turns into a bloody treasure hunt.” Kelso replied.

“True that, but this time we will damn well take some reinforcements. Now at least we have probable cause.” Wachmann said with a wolfish and almost predatory grin on his face.

~*~---~*~

“Attention, Attention. This is the Bomber Controller for Bomb List Baker. SCRAMBLE. Authentication EASY NINE ZEBRA. E-Hour One Zero Zero Zero Zebra. Positive Release Authorised.”

The brand new Vulcan painted in Anti-Flash White raced down the runway in response to this one, very dreaded wireless message, it's Rolls-Royce Olympus engines producing the customary howl. RAF Chabua was one of the many dispersal bases that Bomber Command maintained in India, and right now almost a hundred British and British-Indian Victors and Vulcans would be doing what he did, ready to cross the mountains to the north and deliver a mixture of Blue Sun free fall Bombs from the Victors and brand new Blue Steel missiles from the Vulcans and...

Instead of the flash of a PRC or American Cruise Missile that he had expected he was looking at the face of the ADC.

“Signal from London for you, Squadron Leader.”

Flight Lieutenant John Dashwood rose from the chair he had nodded off in and walked into the communications room.

It was as expected. The small detachment of Tankers on RNAS Malta was given operational orders, to stand by to tank a group of German aircraft somewhere north of Sicily. As a Bomber pilot he he was not accustomed to be stationed on this smallest of all Mediterranean Naval Air Stations, but breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident two months earlier had earned him medical leave, but it wouldn't be much longer.

Exactly eight minutes later Dashwood slowly made his way across the space between the doors and the Land Rover with his driver, a private of the RAF Regiment. The RAF detachment was big command for a Flight Lieutenant on the ground, but the CO was the Squadron Leader flying the lead tanker, so Dashwood was forced to do most of the work on the ground today, as the planes had been out in an exercise with the Italian Royal Air Force last night, and thus the pilots and crews were still asleep. Dashwood was one of the first post-war generation of RAF Officers, he had been trained on Avro Lincoln Bombers and served on the North Pole deterrent patrols with the Valiants, but almost immediately transferred to the Vulcan when it had entered service.

Much to the feigned displeasure of his father. The son of the Commander of 633 Squadron, the RAF's most famous Fighter Squadron not flying the Lightning? Unthinkable! The comment his father had used was 'at least it's not Coastal Command.', using the outdated term for Strike Command's Maritime patrol force. Harold Dashwood had personally delivered his son to the Squadron that was still his nominal home the day after his latest promotion.

With such a high-profile war hero as a father Dashwood could have had the pick of units to serve with, but when he had joined the RAF he had made it clear to his father that he wouldn't want patronage. Still, the jokes he'd had to suffer....

Anyway, he got out of the car and rued the day he had ever decided to buy that blasted motorcycle. He slowly walked past the large Valiant Tankers painted not in Bomber Command's Anti-Flash white but rather the new RAF camouflage pattern and glanced up a the retraccted refuelling probes that were mounted at three points under the wings and the fuselage. The quarters of the detachment were beyond the hangars of the Tankers and that was where Dashwood was headed. The CO would have to be wakened and told of the message that had confirmed the orders that had come through yesterday via the Admiralty. It admittedly felt odd to work with the Germans instead of against them, but Dashwood felt indifferent towards the Germans that now served in the Luftwaffe. Two Wings of Swifts and one more of Canberras hardly represented a threat to No.11 group, especially since they couldn't use French Airspace, never mind that the Crannies weren't considered operational yet.

Squadron Leader Pickwick cursed as Dashwood banged on the door. Dashwood wordlessly handed the CO the message. There was no love lost between the two. The CO hated Dashwood for his status as a bomber pilot and his impending transfer to RAF Space Command, filed on nearly a whim two weeks ago when he had been given the date for his meeting before the medical commission of 22 Group.[1]

Dashwood couldn't stand the CO because he saw him as a greedy little man with entitlement issues who was mad at the world for being washed out of the Glowing Course, the in-service nickname for the course that turned normal RAF pilots into those that flew the deterrent patrols in the Great White North. In spite of this both men were competent pilots and big enough to recognize this in the other.

“When did this come in, Dashwood?”

“About ten minutes ago, Sir.”

“Hell's teeth.” the CO said. “Took them long enough. So, we do have to share our precious fuel with those damned Gerries.”

Dashwood declined to answer to that and kept his feelings to himself.

“Anyway, they could have bloody well waited until after Christmas to do this transfer.”

Again Dashwood didn't answer. Dashwood believed that it was as much politics as it was a desire to get up to scratch with the rest of the contemporary Air Forces. Most likely the German MoD feared that if they did not manage to get things done this year the political winds might be such that they could not go at all... But as a mere Flight Lieutenant it was not his place to comment on strategic policy, so he said nothing.

~**~~~**~

The Head of Station SA (Saudi Arabia) of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service Foreign Service, also known as MI6 was happy that he was about to be relieved. If the whispers running around the capital were even only slightly accurate then the country was turning into a powder keg. It was hardly surprising, considering that the Petrol Pounds that rolled into the country consistently failed to make it past the middle level of the chronically corrupt bureaucracy. There were any numbers of rumoured plots against the Monarchy, but the Foreign Office in London believed that it was unlikely these would succeed. In spite of the League Arms embargo that was in place the Government was by far the best armed faction.

The biggest problem the SIS and HM Government had in the region was that Saudi-Arabia was sitting atop the biggest oil deposits in the region, and while so far the needs of the Western World were covered from sources in Iraq, Persia and to a lesser degree Russia and Indonesia[2] sooner or later one would either be forced to deal with the autocratic regime or accept the insecurities of some sort of Republican regime.

Saudi-Arabia was the odd duckling out in the Region. Neither Iraq nor Persia were model Democracies as a defined by the Manchester Guardian, but they were far better than this particular patch of desert.[3] It was a sticky situation and not going to get any easier. The Foreign Office had badly neglected the Middle East during the 1950s. Hardly surprising when most of the decade had been spent rebuilding Europe and trying to stabilize the Southern Chinese territories into the Republic of China.

Now this was coming back to haunt them. Palestine and Israel were surprisingly friendly with each other and the Head of Station suspected that the Jerusalem Regiment of the British Army had something to do with that, but the rest of the region was a powder keg. The IGS had even reinforced Aden with The Gordon Highlanders, temporarily detached from the 51^st Highland Division that was stationed with XXX Corps in Canada at the moment.

There were considerable parts of the Army stationed in the region commonly grouped together as British Africa, but most of that was in Namibia and Rhodesia lest the South Africans decided to try something naughty. The current big fear by the Dominions and the Imperial Authorities in London alike was that the South Africans would try to escalate Angola, or that they would try and make a play for 'regaining' what they called 'Southwest' and what the Empire and the locals called Namibia.

But the Head of Station wasn't privy to more than the basics of the situation in Africa, what he did know was that his best contact within the Saudi Interior Ministry was three days late making contact. Having discreetly checked the man's home it was clear that he wasn't sick, and the men doing relay watches on him had reported that he hadn't been arrested either and was going to work regularly.

As he paced across the square in front of the Ministry concerned towards the Minor 100 he was using when having to go 'off the book' and decided that it was time to be a bit more active in the matter. There was a dead drop on the man's daily walk to work that would be hard to miss, and if the man declined to pick it up tomorrow then something would be wrong. Very, very wrong.

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Comments, questions, rotten Tomatoes?

[1] Operations in the Med.

[2] Iraq is likely to remain a monarchy, given that there's still a significant number of British troops nearby, stationed in Kuweit and Persia and India.

[3] ITTL the British saw the Persian reformers as the lesser of two evils and merely watched very closely. The Nationalization of the Oil Industry has not yet happened, as the reformers know that they are sitting between two British Bases, India and Kuweit/Iraq and decide to play it safe.

NOW 7

Chapter Seven

News of the World, 5^th December 1963

'Prime Minister to re-define Space Command Mission' (The Times)

'After last year's manned flight by both the American and the British Space Agencies Prime Minister Wilson has pledged to continue British participation in the 'peaceful exploration of the great beyond' and has announced that he would define Space Command's new mission in a land-mark speech tomorrow..'

'Cuban Insurrection continues' (Kingston Observer, late Edition)

'Sources close to Government House revealed today that the rural Insurrection on Cuba against the ruling Military-Ogliarchic Regime is still going on in spite of assurances out of Havanna that 'the Army is eradicating the rebel Forces'...'

'Government pledges Empire-wide electrification by 2000' (BBC World Service)

'The Minister for Economic Development spoke to the Imperial Parliament at Canary Wharf yesterday and revealed plans after which the Government plans to have the British Empire 100% electrified by the year 2000...

'Indochinese economy continues recovery' (Financial Times)

'The economies of the nations of Indochina continue to recover as the region starts to heal from the damages of the Indochina War. The Republic of Vietnam announced that the increase in tourism in the area around Da Nang...

'Peace protests continue country-wide' (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

'The series of Peace protests that have taken place both in front of the Ministry of Defence and around Bundeswehr installations all over the country intensified recently after rumours surfaced that one Luftwaffe Wing was to conduct a long-distance transfer flight and take part in the British Advanced Air Combat Course held in British-Sudan at the local training grounds...'

'German Verfassungsschutz fears rise in left and right-wing violence'[1] (The Guardian)

'In Frankfurt the organization, charged with protecting the Democratic Order of the German State, released a paper claiming that a clandestine network of left and right-wing extremist groups has been established over the last ten years, especially after the near-revolution in France during the closing days of the Indochina War. It is claimed that these groups might eventually resort to outright violence in order to promote their political aims and...'

'Royal Saudi Navy cancels County-Class contract' (The Times)

'The Royal Saudi Navy officially cancelled the contract signed in 1961 and has indicated willingness to buy four Russian-built M-57 Class Destroyers...'[2]

'West Japan signs economic agreement with RoC' (Financial Times)

'West Japanese and Chinese Officials came together in Taipe yesterday to sign a landmark economic co-operation treaty between the two nations. Relations between the Republic of China and the Republic of Japan have slowly been normalizing since the end of World War Two and this treaty is thought to be the first step towards an economic co-operation between the two biggest non-imperial economic powers in Asia..'

'Navy, RAF sign Rotodyne contract' (Jane's Defence Weekly)

'Fairey Aviation released a press statement yesterday after which the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy have signed a contract over at least 200 militarized examples of the company's upcoming aircraft and...

~*~---~*~

Kelso watched as Wachmann detailed the twelve policemen that he had weaselled out of his Chief into two groups and reflected over the last three hours. When Wachmann had heard the name in the surplus store he had pushed the owner of it into a shelf loaded with old medals and run out of the store without bothering to look if Kelso was following him. As they climbed into the car Kelso started the engine and the Land Rover jumped out of the parking space into the sparse traffic.

“Go to this address, and fast.”

Tires squealing the car turned around in the middle of the street and sped off, ignoring the honking of the other cars completely. Kelso flipped a switch and on the roof the siren and the light came to life.

“We have to be fast, if my hunch is correct he'll know about our visit to the shop within half an hour at most.”

Kelso was far too busy navigating the traffic to really listen to anything so Wachmann decided against a full explanation until they reached the Friedrichsstraße fifteen minutes later where they were simply forced to slow down as the city was replacing faulty water lines in the area.

“Richard König, small-time crook, part-time writer and newspaper publisher. Late of the Reichspartei before it was banned and well known for having views that'd make the Bavarians seem like the bloody Communists. We've never been able to pin anything on him, but I would bet my left arm that he was the bloke behind that Tiger thing when I was OK[3].”

“So you think he's the stabber?” Kelso said. The Land Rover cleared the construction and turned eastwards onto Unter den Linden.

“No, he's about seventy years too old for that. But he does like to claim that he can be spotted in the first row of one of the Hitler Youth marching blocks in Triumph des Willens, and we busted him once for having a copy of Mein Kampf.”

“Ouch.”

“That's an understatement.”

They crossed the river and moved onto Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße[4] and eventually turned left again.

After a record thirty-seven minutes for this distance Kelso switched off the siren and parked the car. Wachmann decided against stepping into the nearby phone booth and call this in, time was of the essence. Much to Kelso's surprise he produced an FN Hi-Power next.

“Jesus, what are you expecting?” he asked even as he removed his own 9mm from it's holster at his hip.

“Nothing, but with these bastards it helps to be prepared.”

The two dashed into the seven storey house, past a very disgruntled old lady that was far too busy with her shopping bags to notice that they were armed or that one of them wore the uniform of an Australian Military Policeman. Luckily for them the culprit lived on the second floor, and when Wachmann pressed the button to ring, they waited.

“Who's there?”

“Kriminalpolizei, open up!”

No reply came, but just as Wachmann was about to ring again he heard a metallic sound behind the door. Kelso had heard it too and in one swift motion they took cover on either side of the door.

None to soon as a milisecond afterwards the door was torn to shreds by 9x19 mm Parabellum rounds fired from a meticulously maintained MP-40.

Wachmann and Kelso merely glanced at each other before Wachmann yelled: “König you idiot! Surrender!”

Another burst was the only reply. Wachmann fired three rounds blindly around the corner, more to announce that he was armed than anything else and looked over at Kelso.

“You better go and call this in, Lieutenant.”

As Kelso made his way down the stairs Wachmann turned his attentions back to the man in the flat, but before he could react or move he heard the sound of a window being smashed. He cursed loudly and ran inside the flat. He ignored the Hitler picture at the far wall and the Nazi War Flag hanging over it and ran past the chair König had been sitting on and towards the living room window that he could just so see. He saw König climbing down the fire escape.

“HALT!” he yelled. König hesitated and looked upwards. The MP 40 swung around, but before König could fire Wachmann shot in the arm and the gun fell towards the street below. Knowing that he had no other choice König raised his unwounded hand.

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Comments, questions, rotten tomatoes?

I decided to use this age-old trick to widen the window into this world. I have been doing a lot of thinking about the world after the end of World War Two almost immediately since I started this and I have found that these narrative stories, while good at exploring one particular issue, are unsatisfactory for giving anyone a general overview without it de-generating into a fact dump. Henceforth we will see these press overviews regularly. Ish. Anyway, I reserve the right to detail any of these in any given medium at a later date.

[1] Self explanatory. Their job is to protect the constitution. Amongst other things they watch Scientology and various extremist groups. Just what they do exactly and how is shrouded in mystery, albeit sometimes they are seen with the same lack of respect as any other Government institution, especially when their use of undercover men screwed up the attempt to have the NPD banned...

[2] OTL Kashin Class. Some details are different, mostly slightly more advanced electronics and Radars.

[3] Organisierte Kriminalität, Organized Crime

[4] OTL Karl-Liebknecht-Straße IOTL after the co-founder of what was to become the German Communist Party.