Recent content by Freebird

Congrats Rochie & Wayne! Very sad to hear about Joe! BTW, I assume there'll be a memorial thread for FlyboyJ?

It makes very little difference into the availability of carriers in the Autumn of 1941. Ark Royal is at Gibraltar until Nov 41, then torpedoed. Victorious is with the Home fleet, and distant cover for Murmansk convoys. Indomitable is still working up Illustrious and Formidable are repairing...

Incorrect. Gneisnau was crippled while in drydock. Sharnhorst was struck while on trials after leaving the shipyard, and crippled again Konigsburg was destroyed at base (dockside) Tirpitz was destroyed at its base Yes, it was based in a Norwegian fjord, but the fjord was protected by numerous...

Singapore was one of the largest, most modern drydocks in Asia, capable of handling the largest battleships.

Has anyone ever seen a map with Japanese resource objectives in WWII? Oil in Borneo & Sumatra, rubber &;tin in Malaysia, etc, but I'm wondering if anyone's seen a full list or map of what they were planning to get? I found this article, but didn't see image linked WWII Resource Map Found

Hmm, has anyone thought about the Hawker Hurricane? 🤔 The problem with many of these "what if" is that it involves "crystal ball planning". In May 1939 Canada doesn't really need that many aircraft, as obviously there won't be any war ("Peace in our Time!") Only some patrol aircraft...

Fleetairarmarchive.net looks like it is also defunct. :(

On the contrary, any move by Hitler into the Balkans was likely to trigger immediate reaction by the British. Madeira is only 540 miles from Portugal, so well within range of Luftwaffe bases in SW Spain/Portugal. The British had the Royal Marine division on standby in 1940/41, with plans...

Why would Hitler's choice to invade the Soviet Union (or not) in June 1941 affect Lend Lease to Britain? (passed in Mar 1941?) OK, so the Axis spends considerable resources & logistics to capture Gibraltar. (Vast amounts of ammunition, re-guaging Spanish railway lines to allow the transport of...

Canadian Valentines refuted how? Please elaborate

?? On that post you suggested sending 200 Canadian Valentines in 1941, of which there aren't that many built. Additionally, the Allies couldn't spare that many, nor is there a need for a full armoured division in Malaya. There are about 60 Valentines built by early Sept, with the 100th...

Albacore is 17'9" wide Fulmar is 18 feet wide. Both are 40 feet long

Certainly a better command staff and operational planning would be vital. Having the RAF and the army cooperate on a defensive plan would work wonders

Beauforts aren't likely to be available in the autumn of 1941 for Singapore, from early 1941 there are two Beaufort squadrons operational in the UK (22 & 42) with two more (86 & 217) from the summer of '41. Better options might be Hampdens from Canada and Bostons from the US. Some Swordfish...

Excellent post, thanks! Presumably British aircraft production outstripped available aircrew significantly in 1941, so the limiting factor in the number of operational aircraft would be aircrew, not aircraft