Kan' Sharuminar
Fluffy
The Sound of Drums - A British Hearts of Iron AAR
Part Fifteen
Part Fifteen
1st January -24 March 1939
The people of Europe gave a collective sigh of relief at the beginning of 1939. The threat of Italy had been curbed by the sudden onset of German aggression, which in turn had been solved by some very adept negotiations from the Prime Minister which, ultimately, had seen the promise of total peace in Europe. Japan remained entrenched in China, neither advancing nor retreating, and the predicted threat of a second invasion near Hong Kong had not come to pass. To the public eye, all this was seen as the glorious testimony to the Prime Minister and his Cabinets policies over the past three years. It was an oddity then that no government official seemed particularly eager to accept such a view.
The sad reason for this was that no Member of Parliament truly believed that peace was assured, and remained under the belief that Britain would find itself in a major European war in the next few years. Nowadays there were fewer debates as to what direction Britain was heading in - that was assured, and now the Cabinet found itself working towards one common purpose, that of becoming a true military power.
The first Matilda tank brigade was deployed to Princescamps Egyptian army, alongside the newly produced 1st Armoured Division, the first British division solely devoted to tank warfare. Two similar divisions were to be produced by the end of 1939, a remarkable change in British armoured tactics, given that until now the sole role of tanks was to simply support the infantry, rather than be a separate part of it. Germanys own views on a powerful tank force had apparently made a mark on Britains own doctrines.
Theres never been a better time to join the RAF!
Similarly, the RAF were galvanised into action after hearing the boasts of Hermann Göring , commander of the German Luftwaffe, who was quite happy to boast his airforce as being the greatest in the world. Even in peacetime, the Royal Air Force with its grand history, was not prepared to let such claims lie. With the Cabinet frightened into action after the most recent New Year military figures, work began on expanding the RAF as quickly as possible. Nine Spitfire wings, three being produced simultaneously at any one time and all aiming to be completed and in operation by March 1940 began construction.
These expansions were always meant to threaten Germany and Italy, but only into submission, never provocation. Obviously missing this finer detail, Hitler decided to push his luck - already considered spent with the Munich Accords - by totally forgetting his pact with the British. The 15th March saw the end of Czechoslovakia as an independent nation, with the bulk of the Czech lands annexed into Germany, and Slovakia reduced to a mere puppet nation.
The more cynically-minded might have claimed they saw it coming, but they certainly never predicted that Hitler would then make an immediate demand for the Lithuanian city of Memel, formally part of Germany until the end of the Great War, which was accepted on the 24th March. Apparently feeling threatened by this show of power, Mussolini of Italy proceeded to make a similar demand to Albania on the following day, ordering the annexation of the entire country into Italian power. This demand was outright rejected, and once more a European nation was at war with another.
Britain prepares for war
Apparent to all, peace was no longer achievable in Europe. If the Italians took Albania, then Greece - a friendly nation to Britain - would be threatened. Germany was now clearly looking to regain her lost provinces, and the next natural territory would be the province of Cassubia, including its chief city of Danzig. Dealing with Hitler was no longer an option, and Britain would have to secure a defensive pact with Poland if it wished to send out the right message to Germany. If such an act was passed, it would undoubtedly lead to war within months, and not the predicted years that the military rebuilding programme demanded