Final, approved Script for Project: “Thunderclap”
“Where's my Bentley?”
“It's had it's day I'm afraid. From now on you'll be using this Aston Martin DB5, with all the usual refinements.”
6th Airborne Division deployed to British Sudan (Frankfurter Allgemeine Evening edition)
Sources within the British Ministry of Defence issued a statement afternoon stating that the 6th Airborne Division is to join those British forces already there....
Palestine and Israeli Governments continue silence, continue 'Economic Talks' (Reuters)
The Governments of the State of Israel and the Palestine Republic continue their silence on developments elsewhere in the Near East and continue the traditional economic talks that have been held since the dissolution of the League of Nations Mandate in 1947. There are however indications that both countries have begun mobilization of their eastern Military sectors bordering Jordan and Syria..
RN Mediterranean/Red Sea Squadrons, RIN Western Fleet to prepare convoy system (Bombay Times)
A spokesman of Far Eastern Command announced late yesterday evening that commercial shipping to and from British ports in the region and going through the Suez Canal. In a related statement the German Embassy in London announced that this would include the German Destroyer currently en route to Cyprus.
WAR! SAUDI GOVERNMENT SEES VULCAN FLIGHT AS ACT OF WAR, DECLARES WAR AGAINST BRITAIN AND GERMANY! (Le Monde)
In a televised and Radio address the leader of the Saudi Military Government today declared war on the British Empire and the Federal Republic of Germany for 'encroachment on the Kingdom'. Both the German and British Governments have issued statements deploring this action and have vowed to do their utmost to liberate the hostages...
~**---**~
Excerpt from “The Official History of the Middle Eastern War” Defence Ministry Publishing, 1983
“With the modern concept of 'armed responsibility' so often used in German politics these days it is often hard to understand just how big of a political storm the Declaration of War on 10th January 1964 unleashed in Germany. The country, less than twenty years after the end of the war, was as far removed from the state it had been in in 1950 but still far from the same nation that committed itself to sending half a million men as a constant standing Force pledged to the defence of Canadian territory.
The political implications of the war were the starkest in Germany. On the street the most visible and vocal group was the root of the same movement that would form the core of the protest movements five years later (if most of that were the student groups) but polls taken by papers on both sides of the political spectrum revealed that the population, while horrified of the war, was willing to endure it, for a time at least.[1]
Then unprecedented rioting took place in several places, most importantly near the British War Memorial in Berlin-Treptow[2], near the temporary Defence Ministry Facilities outside Frankfurt and to a lesser extent near every allied and German military base. Nearly every affected community found itself overwhelmed and at the time Police Forces were utterly untrained in anything approaching regular crowd control tactics, with the exception of the mounted Branches.
Heads were busted and the number of wounded went into the hundreds but miraculously no one was actually killed. Even though the Bundestag never actually declared an Emergency (as the Allies never activated Article Ten of the treaty, nor the territorial integrity of the Republic was threatened) and the Verteidigungsfall[3] was not legislated until a year after the war the Police Forces were rather more aggressive than was later judged to have been necessary.
Rioting was nearly as bad as during the state visit of the Russian President-General and his wife that triggered the massive riots that drew the German ultra-left scene and the Student movement into the '69 revolts[4], though without any damage more permanent than broken bones and the backdrop of the inconvenient fact that Germany had been declared war upon in spite of frantic, intense, loud and most of all very public efforts at diplomacy and that an Embassy had been violated kept the pot from boiling over.
The next election did indeed spell the downfall of the current coalition and none of the men involved in the decision not to back down and actively partake in the war ever held any sort of high Office again but eventually public opinion came to accept their actions and appreciated it because during these months Germany re-learned something the Nation had lost during the dark years of the Third Reich. Yes, Germany could stand up for herself, yes she could wield her power in a more or less responsible manner.
Before 1970 and in spite of howling French protests (and ironically without any open protests from Poland) the projected size of the German Armed Forces would quadruple and as early as 1966 the first German Division was permanently stationed in Canada.
~**---**~
Lethbridge-Stewart was sitting behind the desk in an office in the massive, sprawling complex of Middle East Command at Aden. Upon arrival he had found himself bumped up one grade with that rank made permanent upon the outbreak of open hostilities.
“Bloody hell! The Germans must tear themselves apart trying to figure this one out.” said upon opening the morning's Newspaper.
Opposite him sat Brigadier O'Reiley. Native to Belfast he looked at many things differently than his General.
“Of course, Sir. But at the least they are sending almost every combat-ready unit they have.”
“Which is little enough. One Armoured Regiment, two Grenadier Regiments[5] and that Squadron of Crannies.”
Lethbridge-Stewart shrugged. “And not to forget that Destroyer. But we cannot fault our Allies for that.” It felt strange saying that. “Their Army is young, as is their country and dear god we wanted them rid of their warrior instincts. Can't have it both ways, I supposed.”
“True enough, General.”
O'Reiley leaned over the table and reached for a piece of paper.
“On our side we have in place as of an hour ago: From the 6th Airborne Division the 101st Parachute, the Queen's Own[6] and the 1st Parachute Regiment (Royal Gurkha Rifles) are combat ready and the others will be during the day. The first units of the 51st Highland are in place, with the rest of the Division during this week, the 5th Indian Division is in place and active, the King's African Armoured is also in place. In the Air we have No. 617, 618 and 620 Squadrons from Bomber Command, the Fourth and Second Tactical Air Forces from Fighter Command which are of course sixteen Squadrons apiece.”
“It still surprises me how fast the Crabs managed to move into this area, though I supposed it was mostly a matter of physically moving planes and men.”
He appreciated the wisdom that had led the MoD to establish major Ordnance Depots anywhere near where conflict might break out. The largest ones of those were of course located in Canada, West Japan and on Formosa but there was one in Aden exactly because of this sort of emergency.
When he had romped through Poland and the Ukraine with the Cavalry Corps he had learned to appreciate the support lent to him by Fighter Command but that was still a lot to deploy. Still, the RAF had paid in blood for underestimating the enemy last time a 'second rate Air Force' had been counted among the Queen's enemies.
“The Naval said is not as important.”
“But I gather the Andrew still is doing it's part?”
“Yes, Sir. In addition to the Mediterranean Squadron, HM Ships Enterprise[7], Devonshire, Exeter, Fearless, Forward and Troutbridge, accompanied for the time being by the Federal Navy Ship München, and right here at Aden we have the Royal Indian Navy's Aden Detachement, HM's Indian Ships Bombay, New Dheli and Mysore. The Home Fleet is sending Illustrious, Formidable and Indefatigable, along with escorts.”
Lethbridge-Stewart wondered why the Navy was bothering. The Royal Saudi Navy was a mere four years old and so far consisted of about a dozen ex-Russian and French Corvettes and Minehunters, hardly much of a threat to even the Med Squadron. But he was not a Naval Officer and the First Sea Lord was a decent enough chap who had assigned him an Officer who knew what he was doing and was diplomatic enough to be able to make suggestions that made it not too obvious that his Commander wasn't all-knowing.
He put the paper away and glanced at the message in his other hand.
“The Germans they request that all there units are to be employed as visibly as possible.”
“The 51st have to leave the Gordon Higlanders here at Aden, so how about we attach the Germans to them as an organic, self-contained Brigade? That would turn 51st into a reinforced Mechanized Infantry Division with an full Tank Regiment instead of the Battlegroups.”
“Yes, Sir.” O'Riley made notes to that effect.
“And confirm the Staff meeting tomorrow with everyone. The warplan we were 'suggested' to use is, to put it mildly, a load of dogs bollocks and we need something new, and fast.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Lethbridge Steward looked out the window towards the RAF base and then made a decision.
“Let the Crabs know that from tomorrow they can begin their part of the plan. Either way we have to take out their Air Defence Network either way.”
The RAF had been ready in the manner of a coiled spring and when dawn broke the Air-raid sirens wailed over every major Saudi Military base.
Hawker Hunter Mk.Vg of No.43 Squadron taking off from an unsurfaced dispersal field to attack a Saudi Airbase
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Comments, questions, rotten Tomatoes?
[1] It's of course far more complicated than that. At the time a great many who would have screamed blood and murder ten years later had still enough obedience to authority in them to speak up. That has of course changed over the year (OTL and TTL) as the Baby-boomers came of age but at the time it was just what the Government needed. Here though the peace movement is far more fractured and weaker as unlike OTL there is no Soviet Union to provoke with rearming, and the Americans don't have the best and brightest of their Army on the other side of the non-existent Inner German Border. Hence why a far larger part of the population of of the “meh, whatever” persuasion regarding the Armed Forces, but now that war has been declared a lot think that they are stuck with it and if the country is ever supposed to be taken seriously again, and if they themselves want to feel self-confidence they have to step up to the plate. It can be argued that IOTL the latter still hasn't happened while the first most likely happened as a result of how our foreign Policy was re France and the Soviet Block in the 60s and 70s. And also TTL as OTL the Federal Republic shoulders the responsibility over old remnants of the Reich and what it did, it is even in our constitution that we are the legal successor of the Third Reich, something the oh so forward looking and anti-fascist East Germans never did.
[2] Where IOTL the Soviets placed an gaudy Soviet Realism statue. It's still there and I had a look at it some years ago.
[3] Our version of DefCon 1. Command of the Armed Forces devolves to the Chancellor from the Minister of Defence, war-time legislation comes into effect and the Military is authorized to shoot on sight.
[4] IOTL this thing was triggered by the visit of the Shah of Persia and the death of a student during the demonstrations to a likely accidental shots by a police officer.
[5] Panzer-Grenadiers were and are nothing but bog-standard Mechanized Infantry. These days they use Marders instead of Halftracks though.
[6] A unit that IOTL would be just “The Parachute Regiment”.
[7] A sparkling, brand new Missile Cruiser. :D
