Authors: Anthony G Williams
THE FORESIGHT WAR (54 page)
He gave his life so that others might live.
Don stood for a few moments before the grave, his eyes unexpectedly welling with tears. He thought back to the world they had both left far behind in the future, of the hopes and fears they had brought with them to the past. He had met Stadler, had heard much about what drove his fellow time traveller, of his growing despair.
‘You made it right, in the end,’ he whispered, ‘you made it happen.’
Then he turned and, hand in hand with his wife and daughter, walked down towards the new world they had made between them.
ANNEX 1:
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
HISTORICAL
Ludwig Beck
German General, member of German resistance to Hitler
Walter von Brauchitsch
German Field Marshal and Army C-in-C
Alan Brooke
Field Marshal, Chief of General Staff
Neville Chamberlain
British politician, Prime Minister 1937-40
Claire Chennault
American Colonel in charge of “Flying Tigers”
Winston Churchill
British politician, First Lord of the Admiralty and Prime
Minister 1940+
Karl Dönitz
German Admiral, C-in-C U-boats
Nikolas von Falkenhorst
German General in command of Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway
Mitsuo Fuchida
Commander, Imperial Japanese Navy
Eberhard Godt
German Käpitan, Dönitz' Chief of Staff
Joseph Goebbels
German Minister of Propaganda
Carl Goerdeler
leader of German opposition to Hitler
Hermann Göring
German Nazi, Reichsmarshall of the Luftwaffe
Lord Halifax
British politician, Foreign Secretary 1938-40
Heinrich Himmler
German Nazi, Reichsführer-SS
Adolf Hitler
German Führer, head of the Nazi Party
Alfried Jodl
German General
Wilhelm Keitel
German Field Marshal
Ernest King
USN Admiral, Chief of Naval Operations
Gustav Kleikamp
Käpitan zur See, Captain of the "Schleswig-Holstein"
Takeo Kurita
Rear Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy
F L Lindemann
Lord Cherwell, Churchill’s scientific adviser
Birger Ljungberg
Norwegian Colonel, Defence Minister in 1940
Douglas MacArthur
American General, in charge of defence of Philippines
Erich von Manstein
German Field Marshal
George Marshall
US General, Army Chief of Staff
Joannis Metaxas
Greek General, dictator of Greece 1936-41
Chuichi Nagumo
Vice-Admiral, Imperial Japanese Navy, in charge of
Johan Nygaardsvold
Norwegian politician, Prime Minister in 1940
Richard O'Connor
British General, commanding in North Africa
Omori
Rear Admiral, Imperial Japanese Navy
Hans Oster
Major General, second-in-command of Abwehr
Jisaburo Ozawa
Vice-Admiral, Imperial Japanese Navy
Kim Philby
British intelligence officer, a double-agent for the USSR
Johannes Popitz
member of German resistance to Hitler
Erich Raeder
German, Grossadmiral of the Kriegsmarine
Erwin Rommel
German General / Field Marshal
Franklin D Roosevelt
US President
Gerd von Rundstedt
German Field Marshal
Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben
German Lt General, defender of Cherbourg
Ivan Simson
Brigadier, Royal Engineers
Ubaldo Soddu
Italian General in command of invasion of Greece
Carl Spaatz
USAAF General i/c strategic bombing
Albert Speer
German Minister of Munitions
Hans Speidel
German General, Rommel's Chief of Staff, and member of German resistance to Hitler
Josip Stalin
Dictator of the USSR
Henry Tizard
British scientist, Chairman of the Aeronautical Research
Committee and the Committee for the Scientific Survey
of Air Defence, Rector of Imperial College, London
Archibald Wavell
British General/Field Marshal
Erwin von Witzleben
German Field Marshal, member of German resistance to Hitler
Isoroku Yamamoto
Admiral, Commander in Chief, Imperial Japanese Navy
FICTIONAL
Mary Baker
British, assistant to Don Erlang
Blackett
British Squadron Leader in Coastal Command
Intelligence
"Chairman"
civil servant chairing the Oversight Committee
"Creamed Curls"
RAF representative on Oversight Committee
"Diplomat"
Foreign Officer
representative
on Oversight Committee
Charles Dunning
British civil servant employed in the security services
"Elderly Cigar"
civil servant on Oversight Committee
Don Erlang
British historian transported from 2004 to 1934
David Helmsford
British Naval Intelligence officer
Konrad Herrman
German historian transported from 2004 to 1934
Harold Johnson
British Naval Intelligence officer
"Military Man"
Army representative on Oversight Committee
Peter Morgan
British RAF Intelligence officer
"Ruddy Face"
Navy representative on the Oversight Committee
Kurt Stadler
German SD officer
Swinton
British Captain in Naval Intelligence
Geoffrey Taylor
British Army Intelligence officer
ANNEX 2: GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND EQUIPMENT
The equipment mentioned in this book and listed here falls into three categories:
- Historically accurate - shown in plain text
- Historically accurate but for minor changes or earlier availability –
[alterations described in square brackets and italics] - Substantially different from historical equipment which may have had a similar name –
shown in bold italics [with comments in square brackets]
British Terms
AA
Anti-Aircraft (artillery)
ack-ack
slang for AA
AEW
Aircraft Early Warning;
an aircraft
carrying radar to detect the approach of other aircraft
[not introduced until after WW2]
Aldis lamp
naval lamp with shuttering, used for sending Morse code signals
AP
Armour Piercing
APC
Armoured Personnel Carrier
[not in wide use until after WW2]
APDS
high-performance anti-tank ammunition (Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot)
[available 1940 instead of 1944]
archie
slang for AA fire
ARV
Armoured Recovery Vehicle
Asdic
submarine detection equipment using echo-location (Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee)
ASV
air-to-surface vessel; radar carried by aircraft to detect ships
Besal
compact self-loading .303 inch rifle using the bullpup layout [the historical Besal was an LMG, designed as a Bren alternative]
Blackshirts
members of the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley
boffin
slang term for scientist
Bofors
Swedish gun manufacturer
Bren
Gun
adaptation of a Czech light machine gun to fire the .303 inch
cartridge (from BRno and ENfield)
Browning
adaptation of an American machine gun to fire the .303 inch cartridge
canister
artillery or tank shell holding a large quantity of steel balls, for short-range defence
Cavalier
self-propelled anti-tank gun mounting a 17-pounder gun on a Crusader chassis [the historical Cavalier was a tank]
Centaur
armoured recovery vehicle based on the Crusader tank [the historical Centaur was an unsuccessful prototype tank]
Churchill
40-45 ton battle tank with 17 pdr or 35 pdr gun [the historical Churchill was an entirely different tank]
centimetric
radar
high-frequency radar capable of great precision at short range
Colt
self-loading pistol in 9x25
calibre
(based on the M1911A1)
Comet
anti-aircraft tank mounting twin 20mm Oerlikon or Polsten cannon, based on the Crusader [the historical Comet was a tank]
Conqueror
self-propelled artillery gun mounting a 62 pdr gun on a Crusader chassis [the historical Conqueror was a 1950s heavy tank]
Corncob
programme of blockships used to protect D-day landing beaches
corvette
fast anti-submarine and anti-aircraft escort warship of 1,500 tons, armed with 4 inch, 40 mm and 20 mm guns and Squid AS mortar [historically used to describe a class of smaller and less capable escorts]
Covenanter
armoured personnel carrier and command car based on the Crusader tank chassis [the historical Covenanter was an unsuccessful prototype tank]
Cromwell
Crusader assault tank equipped with a 25-pdr gun in the turret and fitted with thicker armour [the historical Cromwell was a medium tank]
Crusader
18-20 ton four-man tank and the basis for a range of other armoured fighting vehicles.
MkI with 2 pdr gun, MkII with 6 pdr, MkIII with 14 pdr [the historical Crusader was an early, unsuccessful tank which saw service in
North Africa
]
huge steel and glass hall erected for the 1851 Great Exhibition
Dingo
light 4x4 armoured car built by Daimler
E-boat
Enemy boat: Allied term for German S-boot (
q.v.
)
EW
electronic warfare; confusing or jamming enemy radar and communications systems
Eyeties
slang term for Italians
FAC
Forward Air Controller; an officer based with ground troops who gives instructions to supporting aircraft
Foxer
noise-making device towed behind a ship to confuse acoustic torpedoes
Free French
French who remained at war with Germany, in defiance of the Vichy Government. Also known as the Fighting French
frigate
warship of c.4,000 tons, armed with eight 4.7" dual-purpose guns, Bofors, Squid and torpedoes [historically this term was applied to much smaller escort vessels]
Gee
radio navigation system, used by bombers
gen
slang term for information
GNAT
German Naval Acoustic Torpedo: British term for Zaunkönig (
q.v.
)
Gooseberries
breakwaters to protect D-day landing beaches, made from Corncobs (
q.v.
)
H2S
ground-mapping radar used by bombers
HE (1)
High Explosive
HE (2)
Hydrophone Effect; the sound of ship propellers detected by means of an underwater microphone
HEDS
(High Explosive Discarding Sabot) high-performance anti-aircraft ammunition
Hercules
aero engine built by Bristol
HESH
High Explosive Squash Head: a type of HE shell
[available earlier]
HF/DF
high-frequency direction finding; used to locate radio sources, particularly by the RN
Hispano
French 20 mm aircraft cannon adopted by the RAF (HS-404)
huff-duff
slang for HF/DF
Humber
6x6 armoured car, capable of taking the same turrets as the Crusader tank [the historical
Humber
was a 4x4 design]
hydrophone
microphone designed for use underwater; used to detect the sound of propellers at a distance
IFF
Identification Friend or Foe: an electrical device fitted to aircraft which responds to radar signals with a coded signal to indicate that an aircraft is friendly
IRA
Irish Republican Army: an organisation dedicated to
joining
(
British) Northern Ireland to the (independent and neutral)
Lee Enfield No.4
standard bolt-action infantry rifle made during WW2
[not built]
Leigh light
powerful searchlight carried by British anti-submarine aircraft
London
Naval Treaty
agreement between naval powers to restrict the size and number of warships to be built
[modification made to permit the use of 15 inch rather than 14 inch battleship guns]
MAC ship
Merchant Aircraft Carrier: a bulk carrier (grain or oil) fitted with a flight deck (and sometimes a small hangar)
[available in 1940 rather than later in the war]
Master Bomber
Commander of a bombing raid, who circled around the target observing where the bombs were falling and giving instructions to the incoming bomber crews; a role which could be combined with that of Pathfinder
[developed in 1940 instead of later in the war]
Merlin
aero engine designed by Rolls Royce
MG
Machine Gun
MGB
Motor Gun Boat
Molins Hispano
Hispano cannon modified to fire at 1,000 rpm instead of 600 [this was developed, but not put into production]
MTB
Motor Torpedo Boat
OB convoys
outbound, ie from the British Isles
Oboe
very accurate radio navigation system, used by bombers
[developed much earlier in the war]
Oerlikon
Swiss 20 mm AA gun
Osprey
air-launched, semi-active radar guided anti-ship missile
Pathfinder
Bomber carrying flares to mark the target for following bomber crews. Usually had particularly skilled navigators or advanced navigation aids
[implemented much earlier in the war]
pdr
pounder: a measure of the size of a gun based on the nominal weight of its shell
PIAT
shoulder-fired recoilless anti-tank gun (from Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank) [the historical PIAT was not recoilless, had a lower performance and was available later]
Polsten
20 mm AA cannon: a simplified version of the Oerlikon
RT
Radio telephone
SAS
Special Air Service: specialist troops
SBS
Special Boat Section or Squadron: specialist Marine troops
Schmeisser
incorrect British name for the MP 38 sub-machine gun, chambered for the 9x19 mm cartridge.
Serrate
an airborne receiver which picked up signals from German night-fighters’ radar
SHAEF
Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force
Sledgehammer
operation to invade
N France
[historically, the name was used for a planned raid on
France
which did not take place]
Solen
British submachine gun in 9x25 mm calibre (from SOLothurn and
ENfield
) [based on the Solothurn S1-100 SMG]
sonobuoys
disposable buoys containing hydrophones and radios; dropped by aircraft and used to track submarines
Spandau
incorrect British name for the MG 34 and MG 42: general purpose belt-fed machine guns chambered for the 7.92x57 mm cartridge and notable for very high rates of fire.
SPATG
self-propelled anti-tank gun
SPG
Self-propelled gun
Squid
three-barrel anti-submarine mortar
[available for the start of the war]
TBS
Talk Between Ships: a short-range radio
Treaty of Locarno
1925 pact confirming the frontiers between Germany, France and Belgium, and the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland
Treaty of Versailles
1919 agreement which ended the Great War
Triton
amphibious armoured tracked carrier, some with gun turrets
U-boat
German submarine (Unterseeboot – under sea boat)
Vichy Government
responsible for the part of France which Germany left unoccupied by its troops after the invasion