Equipment Loan Agreement: Fill & Download for Free

You are sent back to January 1, 1936 and are put in charge of the British Empire with all your knowledge from the future. How do you win the Second World War?What an amazing advantage it would be for any leader to have certainty about the future (that’s what our timeline would be if you are sent back to the past). However, it's one thing taking back knowledge, but as Marty and Doc found out in 'Back to the Future', some things were just not possible to replicate in the past. I will try to keep my alternative history as plausible as possible, using what we know was at least possible, or nearly within reach, at that time. Additionally, it's not enough to know now what COULD have been done, we also have to provide a plausible way to PAY for and produce it then. Therefore, we have to ensure the economic and industrial capacity exists before we talk about using it. In short, by 1st Jan 1936, it didn’t. In this alternative history, I don’t just intend to win the war, but also (unlike in our timeline) win the peace.One thing I would NOT do is assassinate Hitler, El Duce, The Emperor, or anyone of note to 'stop the war'. The same general conditions would prevail, and other people of greater competence could emerge, while we know the measure of those people in our timeline. Stephen Fry's excellent novel "Making History" explores this exact counter-intuitive issue.To have kept the Empire in its contemporary form, which for many equated to winning the war, we would have to have stunted the rise of the US, Soviet Union, China and Japan simultaneously. Impossible. There would be losses, compromises and changes, and grievous sacrifice on my part.'A stitch in time saves nine' is supremely relevant in counter-factual history. It's likely that seemingly small changes would have disproportionate outcomes - a ship or two in exactly the right place, the removal of one known spy - imagine the implications. Further, we would have two and a half crucial extra years to increase production and stockpile what we would need. That's right, Bitch, I'm going to war in 1938! July 1938 – “The Continuity European War”. See, one change already, no grand name because I am anticipating three, maybe four smaller wars, not one World War, which I expect to end in 1940 when we get The Bomb, a nascent IT industry, and jet aircraft, upon which we may (or may not), have to deal with Japan. Crucially in my timeline, we don’t have to confront our opponents at the same time.Let us begin: The Continuity European War.“It’s The Economy, stupid!”From 00:01, Jan 1st 1936, I assume full control as Leader of the British Empire. Using historical knowledge of stock markets’ movements, Agents / ’Front Companies’ are sent around the world to deal shares in companies in friendly and un-friendly countries to reveal intelligence, raid commercial secrets, and raise money. In particular we target oil, coal, metals, SILICON & COPPER, and URANIUM assets (explained later), but the same goes for any resources that we now know were needed, including Foreign Capital.Specifically, they would buy shares in / takeover US and Canadian companies that were instrumental in war production - at least we profit from that with much needed currency. The investments would also foster greater friendship and co-operation - militarily and commercially.Success in seemingly having a good eye for prediction would also help convince other parties in the UK/ US/Empire that I have some kind of insight that they don't...and we would need the money and resources immediately. I’d be able to borrow what we cannot raise, knowing full well that the projects we’re funding will be successful, and that however expensive the loans are, the alternative was worse in our timeline.Dumb Luck?Agents would also place bets on sporting events, lotteries etc around the world, knowing the results, particularly in countries from whom we will be buying (to raise the relevant Foreign Capital). This might sound trivial, but do this for the 2.5 years before the outbreak of war in 1938 and it becomes a lot of money that we won't need to borrow, for a spectacularly small outlay (thank you 'Back to the Future'). More importantly, it cements my God-Like reputation and trust in my decisions. I am consequently soon nicknamed “Der Füturer”, but have to radically upgrade my security, becoming the most important asset of the British Empire. Sadly, I am also banned from all bookmakers and casinos anywhere. Grievous sacrifice?I would also use knowledge of 'future' finds of essential raw materials / resources to direct companies under Empire control to extract them, or deny them to potential enemies. Additionally, modern knowledge of Axis WW2 economic deficiencies can be used to acquire or deny those resources more effectively.Government PurchasingWasteful MOD orders for equipment (weapons ships, planes etc) that were proven ineffective in our timeline would be eradicated, while we could rush through the successful ones, saving time, resources and money (excepting contract penalty clauses). For example, The Covenanter tank, The Boulton Paul Defiant aeroplane would all be sidestepped. The Cromwell tank, Lancaster Bomber, and the Spitfire would be developed earlier. Still, an extra 2.5 years producing what was proven useful reduces waste, enables stockpiling and puts us in a much better relative position before the outbreak of hostilities.Are you hungry, Hun?Back to the economy. Our Agents secretly start spiking the food supplies of future enemy countries in 1936. In response to their problems, in the guise of preventative measures of a similar attack, I get the unemployed, the non-essential, and even school children growing more food on farms and on public land. Separately, prisoners do the same thing. This would increase the agricultural skill level while increasing the manpower available to do it. This is ramped up to coincide with any imposition of rationing. Also, British / Empire citizens do the same around the Empire (especially India!), anywhere we can, to help supply Empire armies around the world. Simultaneously, we should better prepare our armies to eat food locally produced to at least reduce logistical burdens. In comparison, the Japanese were pretty good at this. This will appear prescient when the Indian famine hits in 1943.Jolt into life.Domestically, I would Implement more efficient modern coal-powered electric power generation and transmission techniques, reducing the need for coal and the logistics / manpower needed to extract it (technology allowing). This manpower will be needed elsewhere. Clearly this has post-war economic benefits.https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/af12/90d4d024fcd81e718053293694f3e9b30cd8.pdfAt this time, Clement Attlee, my Health Minister, announces an embryonic Empire Health Service. All military and war production personnel to get free medical treatment for any injury / illness during their employment, or because of conditions they incurred at work. This is very loosely interpreted and therefore most people qualify. This time people will know that ‘getting back in one piece is [not] the best that they can hope for’ (Herman Goerring, 1946).All these previous points (and various others, I’m sure) help to create the economic plausibility to prosecute a World War without ruining the Empire, as actually happened. Now for the more interesting stuff.Muscle Building: Industrial war.As soon as I have the money from the financial markets etc coming in, and co-operation from the public, now is the time to start re-equipping industry for much greater war production levels than those that were anticipated or achieved in our timeline.British War Production [Chapter II]Ofcourse, unlike reality, it is much easier for “Der Füturer” to convince the govt and the people that we are indeed headed for war, therefore they are readier to accept the price that that entails, especially when it will involve the near eradication of unemployment after so many lean years after The Great Depression.The process of building factories, extending production lines, and training the people needed for them begins now, years earlier than history tells us.Tanked up.A seemingly odd thing I would do would be to upgrade the docking facilities at various ports around the Empire. One of the problems in our World War 2 was the ability to load and unload heavy tanks to and from ships, so there was no point in making them. Thereafter the ones we fielded got creamed by the German Flak88 cannons. Similarly, we had problems with the rail system, in that we could only transport tanks of a certain width. I would try to get the relevant carriages re-designed to at least alleviate that problem, thus enabling more effective tank designs to be manufactured and transported to battle.Immediately, I can get our heavy industry to ponder over the specs of the Cromwell tank.Cromwell tank - WikipediaAdditionally, I let the designers know that our tanks are going up against the Flak 88 cannon so prepare accordingly! So many lives can be saved with this one gem of future foresight. Although not the best tank of the war by 1943, the Cromwell would probably be more than adequate for 1938 and would put the impressive Centurion tank within easy reach thereafter.Imagine the difference we make wielding decent tanks at the outset of war! Imagine how we will do when we are not going up against tanks with cannons, armed just with heavy machine guns! I’m not kidding, that actually happened. What a waste of life, money and materiel.Tubular BellsBritain’s A-Bomb project, called ‘Tube Alloys’, now begins in 1936, not 1940, with the participating scientists being told to investigate Uranium 235 first off, thus saving time and money. Unlike reality, the resources the scientists need (uranium) are, as you might remember, already in the pipeline. This puts us well in front of the Manhattan, the German, Japanese and the Russian projects, and we are not yet too broke to pay for it. Efforts would be made to poach Otto Stern from the US, to join Rudolf Peierls and Otto Frisch et al, all prominent in the field of nuclear physics at that time. If I cannot avoid the UK being bombed by Germany (or others…), this project would be relocated to Canada, as planned in reality. Let’s assume it’s still a 4 year project, effectively ending The Continuity European War in 1940, after only 2 years of war.Tube Alloys - Wikipedia“Quantity has a Quality all of its own” (Joseph Stalin)The Military Training Act of 1939 is brought forward to 1936 to increase the number and combat potential of UK servicemen – a sore point at the start of our 1939 war. A few thousand fewer British, and a few thousand more Axis casualties could be crucial at an early stage of the war, before the mass-mobilisations that we eventually saw in our history, especially if I can avoid a ‘Dunkirk’ style event. My aim would be to have at least 10 extra better trained and equipped divisions available at the outset than we had in reality.Ship ShapeNaval strategy is BUILT strategy therefore I build ships – pronto, including expediting the design and construction of the Liberty merchant ships at whatever available yards. Another aircraft carrier would be useful, too. Further, instead of swapping our Caribbean naval bases for 50 elderly US destroyers, I buy them in early 1936 for their scrap value and contracts to refit them for frontline duty at US yards. If, in the extra 2.5 years we have until July 1938, we can't get them 'ship shape' then at least we have scrap metal, and still have the bases to trade or use.However, in reality, those ships did prove useful and now are available at the beginning of the war, not two or three years in. Of course, as Stalin might agree, ‘The more you use, the fewer you lose’:Avalanche PressSmall Arms.The Lee Enfield 303 was as good as any enemy rifle at that stage of the war, and we have not lost hundreds of thousands of weapons and other pieces of equipment in Operation Dynamo (and might still not). However, I do not dismiss the adoption of the much maligned STEN gun, described here:The World War II Sten Gun Was Cheap and DirtyThis was a $10 weapon meant to plug the gap of the Thomson SMG (the Gold Standard), which cost over $200. It was rushed in when we were panicking about being invaded, having lost most of our weapons. Not so now. We are not facing invasion, we have more foreign currency income than in our reality, and Germany is soon to be hemmed in. More importantly, we have more time. I rather suspect that the urgency of the invasion threat led to a high amount of production being accepted that would normally be rejected and re-worked. We now have more time to get it right, and if I’m successful, will not need as many anyway. Let’s assume we can iron out some design flaws while keeping it simple, but the cost rises to $15. It’s still a dirt cheap death stick, but more reliable, and much better for our Balance of Payments. My previous insistence of increasing our productive capacity in 1936 is starting to bear fruit.Additionally, it is pre-war, and this gives us greater chance to secretly stash hundreds of STENs and other materiel in countries I suspect will still be attacked by Germany. The STEN can even be made in a well-equipped ‘Dad’s Shed’ therefore is a good insurgency weapon, so examples and the plans are also given to our SOE agents abroad for distribution as and when necessary.Nerd AlertAlan Turing’s Bletchley Park team would get a blank cheque, and told to get the Colossus computer up and running asap, with far more resources and R&D. I would reveal the eventual miniaturisation of electronic technologies, over the coming years roll out computing to British organisations as quickly (but quietly) as possible, then emphasise the benefit to logistics of even simple computers. Transistor production (Siemens process and Silicon needed) would begin asap. Konrad Zuse of transistor fame might be poached or kidnapped. This will kick start a UK led IT revolution for which we will need – silicon and copper (which we’ve already been cornering while the market is cheap).Flying HighSimilarly for Frank Whittle, his Power Jets company, and the Gloster Aircraft Company - get them blank cheques and get those jets airborne. Let’s assume a two year timescale, but even if that slips, falling after the proposed 1940 end of the Continuity war, the military and commercial opportunities are well attested.Frank Whittle - WikipediaSoft Words – Hearts and Minds.Foreign Language instruction would be given to all military and colonial staff for the countries we know we are going to 'visit’. This will enable faster and more trustworthy communication during, and commercial advantages after, the war.July 1938: The Empire Strikes Back: The Continuity European War Begins.Germany is making serious threats to The Sudeten Land and being proven correct (but disbelieved) regarding re-occupation of the Rhineland, I say that this is the line in the sand and that we will be manning the formidable Czech defences at their border. The British public (and Parliament) were not willing to go to war to stop Germany having complete control over its own territory, but taking another country’s land is a different matter – and we are much better prepared than history tells us, and therefore confident. We issue a statement echoing the Poland declaration, that we would defend Czechoslovakia, and that a state of war would exist between us if Germany invaded.From this point on the fog of war returns, and history as I know it changes completely. So……I mobilise….…against Norway.Norwegian campaign - WikipediaI happen to know it has massive oil reserves, iron ore, and importantly, uranium, and heavy water production facilities. And it’s undefended. Further, at a stroke Germany’s sea lanes to the Atlantic are almost entirely cut. No ‘Battle of Norway’, where we lose 6600 men, 1 aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers, 7 destroyers, 1 submarine and 112 aircraft.There can be no ‘Battle of the Atlantic’, where we lost over 60 000 people, 700 odd aircraft, 3500 merchant ships and 175 warships from various countries….Battle of the Atlantic - WikipediaThere can be no ‘Battle of Britain’ with 1,542 British aircrew killed and 422 wounded; 1,744 aircraft destroyed, and 14,286 civilians killed, 20,325 injured….Battle of Britain - Wikipedia…because, there is no effective Kriegsmarine from that point on, despite not suffering the losses it incurred at the real battles. Das Dritten Reich knows it has been trumped, doesn’t get control of Norway’s navy (we do….MHWHAHAHAHHAAA), faces complete naval blockade, has no allies of note, it’s unlikely to get any, and cannot now prevail against the British Empire in a protracted struggle. Meanwhile the British Empire is increasing its war production and overnight incorporated the 100+ vessels of the Norwegian navy into the fold, securing all of Norway’s resources whiles starving Germany’s.I occupy and fortify Norway 'for it's own protection', then put an airbase on Iceland for good measure. Quisling and his Co-Nazis are publicly executed to both re-assure and intimidate the population, but otherwise, British Forces are ordered that they remain under Norwegian Law. Little changes in Norwegian life, but they know we are serious, and understand why. To further re-assure Norway, a few months later I arrange a royal wedding between the two Royal families.Using modern knowledge of where to find it, we start drilling for oil in the UK, Norway and North Sea (as soon as naval supremacy is established and technology permitting). Taking Norway cuts off the German nuclear programme from Heavy Water, which we would then use in our nuclear programme. Norway and its oil are admitted into the Sterling Area. Now, about that Danegeld you Viking bitches….Germany could still decide to invade Denmark, but what would that achieve other than to dilute its forces, while putting them in range of British / Norwegian airbases? Therefore no invasion of Denmark.Back to the Czech border.Czechoslovak Border FortificationsIn reality, the Czech defences were awesome, as described by both Winston Churchill and Albert Speer in their respective books “The Second World War” and “Inside the Third Reich”. Speer highlighted that if Britain had made it’s stand at The Sudeten Land, WW2 would have been over there and then, so formidable was the defensive line. After checking for themselves, Churchill and the British certainly agreed with that analysis. The Germans even uprooted parts of it wholesale to incorporate into the Atlantic Wall. Their own tests indicated that they might lose 100000 soldiers if they encountered a determined opposition at that point. Ofcourse, that’s exactly where I put 2 divisions, along with the Czechoslovakian army, who in our reality didn’t fight. No invasion of the Sudaten Land. Letters of ‘thanks for the language lessons’ start arriving from loved-up British squaddies. I also put a division or two in Poland…So, Germany does what Germany is best known for: makes an agreement with Stalin to invade Poland. It’s Germany’s only chance: that’s the route of least resistance to the Romanian and Caucuses oil fields, and we’ve cut off their sea deliveries.Progress ReportAt this point, the war is going well for the British Empire, with more forces available, more land, relatively few casualties, and no mainland bombing. In fact, officially, we are not yet even at war with Germany.Italy is also now nearly an irrelevance, similarly with no allies of consequence and ineffective forces, although I strengthen our naval presence in the Mediterranean to ensure that, along with 5 extra divisions of infantry, and 2 divisions of our brand new Cromwell tanks in Egypt– better than the Valentines and Matildas we really sent, available far earlier than in the true history, and far outclassing anything Italy can wield. Their thinly veiled designs on the Suez canal will be impossible.We are in a better position to deter, repel, or ‘deal with’ a Japanese invasion of our Far East colonies – we have a bigger army, navy and airforce, higher technology weapons and are getting near to having The Bomb.Looking to the future, industries that were instigated or controlled by the US will now be British, and we’ve cornered the resources to do it, while we have much more money in the alternative reality than we actually had.Norway – Occupied for the foreseeable future. Sorry.Of course, we still need to buy lots of materiel from the US, but as we are not officially at war with Germany or Japan, preserving US neutrality is not such an issue, and we won’t need to break ourselves financially, either. Churchill himself was half American so he can play a part in fostering this relationship further. However, as I mentioned earlier, changing or removing one person of note can have unintended consequences….The Home Front ParadoxAs part of the renewed spirit of co-operation between the US and BE, I find (manufacture?) a reason invite the US 8th Air Force, 305 Bombadier group to station in the UK. “Over paid, over sexed, and over here” (although the exchange rate would not be so favourable to them in this time…)Among the various pilots and ground crew is a handsome 21 year old air-sergeant called Harold Wayne Adams, from Peoria, Illinois. I arrange for him to be taken down the pub in England and surreptitiously introduced to a sweet young 16 year old called Betty. I arrange for the law to be ignored in this case. As in our timeline they fall in love and ‘suddenly plan to marry’, intending to return to the US when the war ends.At this point, I arrange an accident for blameless young Harold.A bomb on a bomb rack he is checking will roll off and pin him to the ground by his neck, and he will die 48 hours later in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Cambridgeshire, leaving Betty devastated and alone to raise their 6 month old child, my mother. Otherwise they do indeed go to the US and, years later, that child doesn’t meet my father, none of this alternative history happens, and 60 million people die. I literally must go back in time and kill my own grandfather.War is indeed hell.Sgt Harold W Adams OBE. The unknown hero of ‘The Continuity European War’.World War II Veterans: ObituariesFinal say.This point would be known to future historians as the end of the Continuity European War, but very quickly there would be others, perhaps of equal horror to that which we experienced. I’d like to outline a few more things that would likely change in the new history.We would NOT send the US our ‘magic box of secrets’ in The Tizard Mission, nor the Colossus computer, thus not giving them numerous military and commercial advantages over us later. Tizard Mission - WikipediaI’d have Royal Navy ships fighting at ‘Pearl Harbour’, to show we are ‘on their side’ but crucially, NOT defeating the Japanese.... so that there is still a Pacific war - a cynical effort to reduce the power of two competing empires.After a period of Germany’s economic blockade by the ever mightier British Empire, the Soviet Union attack Germany, possibly with Italy as an ally. With both Italy and Germany hemmed in by sea, and The Soviets not really having a good navy at this time, this remains ‘just’ another European war.There would be more autonomy and representation for Empire countries, along with greater help to deal with serious problems, like the Indian Famine (Bengal) of 1943, but not outright independence.Japan, not really appreciating the improvement in the British Empire’s renewed vigour, makes the mistake of invading various colonies.‘A stitch in time saves nine’. I would drop more A-Bombs, killing hundreds of thousands, to prevent the deaths of tens of millions. Oh, shut up, it’s not like Der Füturer is untouched by all of this, is it?The End (for now…).