Have posted this on the other site I'm active on but also mention it here. Will try and keep track of what's been said where.
On the night of 31st August 1945 many people in the UK are asleep tired but with hope for the future with peace - of a kind in Europe - and signs that the war in the Pacific will soon be over. Others are still awake, working hard on various projects related to war or peace or other matters.
At midnight something changes. Many people suddenly disappear, causing concern and consternation. All foreign military personal in the UK, including Commonwealth, Imperial and allied forces along with German and Italian POWs suddenly disappear, along with in the case of foreign forces in their own units all their equipment. However some appear to replace them. The mainly US bases across the country are not left empty but suddenly filled with British air and ground forces from overseas, along with their equipment. Medical facilities are filled not only with their previous patients but also thousands of emaciated men who when their own confuse passes explain they were in Japanese prisoner of war or labour camps across the latter's empire. Off Scapa Flow very confused radio messages are heard as RN forces overseas, including the British Pacific fleet similarly find themselves within a few miles of the prime British fleet base. Especially confusing for those who were in daylight and tropic waters only seconds before. Similarly men and women in naval shore facilities around the world find themselves back in British fleet bases.
An emergency meeting of the cabinet is under way seeking to make sense of what has happened when the French ambassador contacts Mr Attlee to report he has received a strange message from Paris claiming to be from Prime Minister Édouard Daladier asking for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Chamberlain! This gives an hint and telegraph messages and listening to foreign radio am amazed cabinet learns that somehow they and their country have found themselves back on 1st September 1939 listening a few hours later to the 1st reports of the German invasion of Poland.
Britain in 1945 is tired, a lot of its facilities battered by 6 years of war and industry exhausted by hard use in the same period. Many people both military and civilian were looking forward to peace and the hope of a better life. Now they face the start of the crisis all over again. They have a much more powerful military but a lot of that is of limited lifespan as it relies on parts and supplies from the US which even if the latter was willing can not be replaced as the equipment isn't in existence yet. Defeating Germany should be a relatively short but bloody affair but exactly how do they go about it? Massive bomber raids against a largely unprepared Ruhr or Berlin may be very effective but would be seek as barbaric by most of the rest of the world without the knowledge of what 'was to come'. If such attacks prompts a military coup against Hitler what terms would be acceptable to Britain? Would they insist on unconditional surrender to ensure that Germany can be de-Nazified and disarmed and democracy restored there? The withdrawal from Poland and Czech territory.
How do they respond to Stalin knowing that he's due to attack eastern Poland in a few days? If they warn him off what happens if he doesn't listen. What are their plans for the empire of Japan and its brutal invasion of China? Do they share technical knowledge most especially of nuclear weapons, with current or possibly future allies or keep them a secret? What plans occur for India in TTL - given that while they know independence is inevitable they don't know how much of a bloody horror its going to be?
I am assuming that.
a) Hitler won't be changed in backing down in his attack on Poland because he won't believe what's happened in the time available. [Plus arguably this would be bad for everybody as it would leave the Nazis in charge of Germany and its conquests and a continued threat to world peace].
b) That British forces, air ground and naval in existence overseas on 1-9-39 are still there. This will mean some duplication of both people and equipment, especially ships but its the easiest way of arranging things without causing chaos across the empire and also to balance the loss of allied forces from the UK. Similarly the merchant fleet and other civil organisations - other than those in the UK itself and coastal waters, are as 1-9-39.
Anyway how do people think things will develop and how things go from here. Plus what other, probably obvious issues have I overlooked?
On the night of 31st August 1945 many people in the UK are asleep tired but with hope for the future with peace - of a kind in Europe - and signs that the war in the Pacific will soon be over. Others are still awake, working hard on various projects related to war or peace or other matters.
At midnight something changes. Many people suddenly disappear, causing concern and consternation. All foreign military personal in the UK, including Commonwealth, Imperial and allied forces along with German and Italian POWs suddenly disappear, along with in the case of foreign forces in their own units all their equipment. However some appear to replace them. The mainly US bases across the country are not left empty but suddenly filled with British air and ground forces from overseas, along with their equipment. Medical facilities are filled not only with their previous patients but also thousands of emaciated men who when their own confuse passes explain they were in Japanese prisoner of war or labour camps across the latter's empire. Off Scapa Flow very confused radio messages are heard as RN forces overseas, including the British Pacific fleet similarly find themselves within a few miles of the prime British fleet base. Especially confusing for those who were in daylight and tropic waters only seconds before. Similarly men and women in naval shore facilities around the world find themselves back in British fleet bases.
An emergency meeting of the cabinet is under way seeking to make sense of what has happened when the French ambassador contacts Mr Attlee to report he has received a strange message from Paris claiming to be from Prime Minister Édouard Daladier asking for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Chamberlain! This gives an hint and telegraph messages and listening to foreign radio am amazed cabinet learns that somehow they and their country have found themselves back on 1st September 1939 listening a few hours later to the 1st reports of the German invasion of Poland.
Britain in 1945 is tired, a lot of its facilities battered by 6 years of war and industry exhausted by hard use in the same period. Many people both military and civilian were looking forward to peace and the hope of a better life. Now they face the start of the crisis all over again. They have a much more powerful military but a lot of that is of limited lifespan as it relies on parts and supplies from the US which even if the latter was willing can not be replaced as the equipment isn't in existence yet. Defeating Germany should be a relatively short but bloody affair but exactly how do they go about it? Massive bomber raids against a largely unprepared Ruhr or Berlin may be very effective but would be seek as barbaric by most of the rest of the world without the knowledge of what 'was to come'. If such attacks prompts a military coup against Hitler what terms would be acceptable to Britain? Would they insist on unconditional surrender to ensure that Germany can be de-Nazified and disarmed and democracy restored there? The withdrawal from Poland and Czech territory.
How do they respond to Stalin knowing that he's due to attack eastern Poland in a few days? If they warn him off what happens if he doesn't listen. What are their plans for the empire of Japan and its brutal invasion of China? Do they share technical knowledge most especially of nuclear weapons, with current or possibly future allies or keep them a secret? What plans occur for India in TTL - given that while they know independence is inevitable they don't know how much of a bloody horror its going to be?
I am assuming that.
a) Hitler won't be changed in backing down in his attack on Poland because he won't believe what's happened in the time available. [Plus arguably this would be bad for everybody as it would leave the Nazis in charge of Germany and its conquests and a continued threat to world peace].
b) That British forces, air ground and naval in existence overseas on 1-9-39 are still there. This will mean some duplication of both people and equipment, especially ships but its the easiest way of arranging things without causing chaos across the empire and also to balance the loss of allied forces from the UK. Similarly the merchant fleet and other civil organisations - other than those in the UK itself and coastal waters, are as 1-9-39.
Anyway how do people think things will develop and how things go from here. Plus what other, probably obvious issues have I overlooked?