premiership six months ago during the political crisis over how to fight the war.
The 1st Free French division is expected to be operational in the East African theatre within two weeks. The division had been hampered somewhat by its lack of transport - which is in very short supply in Africa at the moment. The RAF has promised that once the division is operation, it will release the Gladiator fighters for additional support (this is a quid pro quo for the French Maryland bombers), as by then it is expected additional fighters will have arrived from England.
The battleship Richelieu arrives at Norfolk Virginia to be completed and repaired. As there are ongoing politics involved with the recognition of the Free French (which ironically haven't stopped the Americans taking payment from them for the purchase orders placed by France before she fell!), the vessel is flying the White Ensign.
The first of the merchant carrier conversions, HMS Athene, has finished her workup - this has been pressed as fast as possible, the increasing U-boat activity has meant the new escort carriers are needed urgently. She will carry twelve Swordfish for A/S duties plus four Goshawks to welcome any inquisitive German patrol aircraft. The second of these ships, HMS Engadine, was commissioned today.
Churchill meets with Dowding to offer him a new job. He realises that Dowding has pretty much burnt his bridges with the current Air Board, but after talking with some of his advisors, he has been given an idea. Dowding will be the head (and Air Force representative) of a small committee looking at the future of the air war - both independently and in conjunction with the Navy and Army. The building plans have returned to normal after the invasion scare, but with a number of new aircraft coming online now or soon, and with a number of existing ones seen as obsolete or downright dangerous, a strategy is needed to use them in the most efficient way to hurt Germany. The committee will report as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the year, so long term building plans can be made.
12th November
Molotov arrives in Berlin, to begin talks with the German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop, who expounds yet again on the imminent collapse of England. But this collapse may need to be accelerated by invasion.
After lunch Molotov met with Hitler. The Fuhrer said that he had reached several conclusions:
1. Germany was not seeking to obtain military aid from Russia.
2. Because of the tremendous extension of the war, Germany had been forced, in order to oppose England, to penetrate into territories remote from her and in which she was not basically interested politically or economically.
3. There were nevertheless certain requirements, the full importance of which had only become apparent during the war, but which were vital to Germany. Among them were certain sources of raw materials.
Molotov for his part gives a non-committal assent but enquires about the Tripartite Pact. What is the meaning of the New Order in Europe and the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and where does the USSR fit in it? Issues regarding Russia's Balkan and Black Sea interests must be clarified.
Meanwhile Hitler issues his 18th war directive, ordering political measures to bring Spain into the war and death by slow strangulation for Britain. The following day he orders Goering to prepare the Luftwaffe for an invasion of Russia next May.
In Britain the first prototype Mosquito makes its first flight, piloted by Geoffrey DeHaviland.
13th November
Molotov again meets with von Ribbentrop. He presses him on the purpose of the German troops present in Finland. The reply is that the troops are merely in transit to northern Norway and that the whole matter is a "misunderstanding". Hitler also evades the question when he meets with him later, instead launching into a speech on the dissolution of the British Empire and its subsequent carving up between the Axis powers (and the
The 1st Free French division is expected to be operational in the East African theatre within two weeks. The division had been hampered somewhat by its lack of transport - which is in very short supply in Africa at the moment. The RAF has promised that once the division is operation, it will release the Gladiator fighters for additional support (this is a quid pro quo for the French Maryland bombers), as by then it is expected additional fighters will have arrived from England.
The battleship Richelieu arrives at Norfolk Virginia to be completed and repaired. As there are ongoing politics involved with the recognition of the Free French (which ironically haven't stopped the Americans taking payment from them for the purchase orders placed by France before she fell!), the vessel is flying the White Ensign.
The first of the merchant carrier conversions, HMS Athene, has finished her workup - this has been pressed as fast as possible, the increasing U-boat activity has meant the new escort carriers are needed urgently. She will carry twelve Swordfish for A/S duties plus four Goshawks to welcome any inquisitive German patrol aircraft. The second of these ships, HMS Engadine, was commissioned today.
Churchill meets with Dowding to offer him a new job. He realises that Dowding has pretty much burnt his bridges with the current Air Board, but after talking with some of his advisors, he has been given an idea. Dowding will be the head (and Air Force representative) of a small committee looking at the future of the air war - both independently and in conjunction with the Navy and Army. The building plans have returned to normal after the invasion scare, but with a number of new aircraft coming online now or soon, and with a number of existing ones seen as obsolete or downright dangerous, a strategy is needed to use them in the most efficient way to hurt Germany. The committee will report as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the year, so long term building plans can be made.
12th November
Molotov arrives in Berlin, to begin talks with the German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop, who expounds yet again on the imminent collapse of England. But this collapse may need to be accelerated by invasion.
After lunch Molotov met with Hitler. The Fuhrer said that he had reached several conclusions:
1. Germany was not seeking to obtain military aid from Russia.
2. Because of the tremendous extension of the war, Germany had been forced, in order to oppose England, to penetrate into territories remote from her and in which she was not basically interested politically or economically.
3. There were nevertheless certain requirements, the full importance of which had only become apparent during the war, but which were vital to Germany. Among them were certain sources of raw materials.
Molotov for his part gives a non-committal assent but enquires about the Tripartite Pact. What is the meaning of the New Order in Europe and the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and where does the USSR fit in it? Issues regarding Russia's Balkan and Black Sea interests must be clarified.
Meanwhile Hitler issues his 18th war directive, ordering political measures to bring Spain into the war and death by slow strangulation for Britain. The following day he orders Goering to prepare the Luftwaffe for an invasion of Russia next May.
In Britain the first prototype Mosquito makes its first flight, piloted by Geoffrey DeHaviland.
13th November
Molotov again meets with von Ribbentrop. He presses him on the purpose of the German troops present in Finland. The reply is that the troops are merely in transit to northern Norway and that the whole matter is a "misunderstanding". Hitler also evades the question when he meets with him later, instead launching into a speech on the dissolution of the British Empire and its subsequent carving up between the Axis powers (and the
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