MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Hereford1938 VBCW campaign doesn't normally celebrate Christmas and the New Year, as the campaign itself seems to exist in a form of "time loop", where it is always sunny and summery (unless the chance cards say otherwise) and always, but always, 1938.

Still, as its been such a rotten year in the "real life" timeline, that no doubt Lord de Braose, the Lord Warden of the Marches and Governor of Hereford, has taken pity on those going through a pandemic rather than a civil war, and decided to send 'something festive' to all the supporters of the Hereford1938 campaign:

Santa Claus sets out from London's Regent Street to Hereford

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year one and all!

To the Victor the Spoils.........by ZOOM

An experimental game of VBCW by ZOOM, hosted by Roo. The account of the victor, Alan:

A Royalist column suppressing local rebels was opposed by an Anglican force defending crossings over Blackwood Brook at Roobridge. The brook could only be crossed  by the bridge, or by two fords, one in the centre wood and one on the far left away from the road.

The Anglicans (Blue) deployed a veteran unit (I2) in the wood across the river, and inexperienced units guarding the bridge which was barricaded (I1) and the other ford (I3). An HMG was positioned in a field in the gateway leading to a ploughed field, covering the ford, while an Anti-Tank gun was sited near the pig pen covering the bridge, but able to traverse to cover the far ford if necessary. The HQ (Officer and Medic) was nearby.

The Royalists (Red) advanced a tank (T1) and Infantry section (I1) along the road, stopping half way to the bridge with the infantry behind a roadside hedge facing the wood containing the ford. This unit was tasked with fixing the bridge defenders, and providing covering fire into the wood. The bulk of the Royalist forces deployed on the left, with two Infantry units (I2,I3) and two tanks (T2,T3), along with a Mortar, HMG, and HQ. I3 supported by the HMG was tasked with taking Roo’s Ford, while I2 supported by two tanks and the mortar attempted to nullify the Anglicans in the wood.

While T1 duelled with the Anglican AT gun and Anglican I1 fired on Royalist I1, the heavy volume of fire directed on the Anglican unit in the wood soon caused heavy casualties, causing them to be pinned.  Similarly the Royalist HMG pinned the inexperienced Anglicans defending the ford, enabling I1 to advance.

Despite their casualties the veteran Anglicans in the wood repelled an attempted assault by Royalist I2, but further concentrated fire finally reduced them to combat ineffectiveness as being unable to reform they remained permanently pinned and unable to act. Meanwhile Royalist I3 crossed the ford and assaulted the pinned Anglican I3 causing them to surrender.

The duel between Tank T1 and the Anglican Anti-Tank gun eventually resulted in the tank being immobilised, and when it was hit again the crew bailed out, but not before inflicting casualties on the gun crew.

Having cleared the ford I3 advanced towards the farm, killing the Anglican Medic, and was followed by the two tanks. Accurate mortar fire decimated the Anglican gun crew, pinning them, while the Anglican HMG was also pinned by machine gun fire from the two tanks.  Having silenced their enemies the two tanks charged forward, crushing both the A.T. gun and the HMG.  At this point Captain Verity, commanding the Anglicans, realised the hopelessness of his position and ordered ‘Sauve Qui Peut’, conceding the battle to the Royalists.

The Royalist battle plan worked pretty much to perfection. By concentrating overwhelming force on one portion of the enemy position a breakthrough was achieved. The fragility of inexperienced troops and the tenacity of veteran troops was reflected in the contrasting fortunes of Anglican infantry I2 and I3.  The Royalist mortar proved to be very effective, and despite having no H.E. the tanks were useful, with their longer move rate enabling them to take out the enemy HMG before it could inflict heavy casualties on infantry in the open.

[With many thanks to Alan for this battle report]

AN ACQUITTAL - AND AN APOLOGY

Long term followers of this Hereford1938 AVBCW Blog (who, it is speculated, can comfortably be accommodated in the back of armoured truck) may recall not only the travails of Sir Gilbert Hill after the Battle of Winforton Pontoons, but also the earlier Government sponsored arrest of Councillor Walter Cracknutt, Commander of the Wormelow Tump LDV, upon charges of "treating with the enemy"[note1].

Cracknutt, who had steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout Lord de Braose's proceedings against him, today declared himself "complete vindicated" upon learning that all charges had finally been discontinued. His contemporaneous dispatches proved, according to the Councillor's friends and colleagues, that his 'battlefield co-operation' with "Cousin Verity" of the Verity LDV was born of necessity only, and had the added virtue of anti-Communism. While those less charitably disposed towards Cracknutt whisper that the charges could no longer be maintained by reason of an unfortunate lack of witness evidence [note2], Councillor Cracknutt has now "returned in triumph to the Tump" and - without a stain on his reputation - resumed command of the Local Defence Volunteers.

The case of Sir Gilbert Hill proved more problematic. His own acquittal has taken place not before the bar of Lord de Braose's military tribunal, but "in the court of public opinion" within the County. Accused of 'over-celebrating" his victory at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons (or perhaps falling victim to his own 'ju-ju", or simply "going absolutely, completely nautical"), Sir Gilbert's anonymous accusers appeared to have solid photographic evidence:  

The photographic evidence against Sir Gilbert Hill.

Such was the outrage in the County that Sir Gilbert had to "confine himself to quarters" in Kentridge Court. But photographs circulated later began to sow doubt in the minds of Herefordians:

A later photograph as circulated - alleged to show Sir Gilbert conspiring with
Royalist and BUF officers.

It did not need Ludlow's famed Ecclesiastical Intelligence Service to pronounce the photographic evidence against Sir Gilbert as "obviously doctored" and "crude photo-manipulations", for the people of Hereford had already reached the same conclusions. But who could be responsible for such a dastardly smear on "the good Sir Gilbert"? Which faction had both the resources and the motivation? Step forward Comrade Colonel Professor Winter's own (Soviet trained) "Bureau Desinformatsiya": 

Beware the Soviet photograph manipulators! Comrade Nicolai Yezhov, Head of the NKVD, proudly accompanies Comrade Stalin (left), only to be subsequently "airbrushed out of history" (right).
 More on Yezhov can be found HERE.
More on Comrade Colonel Professor Winters in future blogposts....

Notes:

(1). after the Autumn 2017 Big Game, "The Last of the Summer Wye".

(2). the only possible witnesses in Councillor Cracknutt's case were the Anglican with whom the infamous "battlefield truce" was concluded, Cousin Verity, and the Councillor's immediate superior on the battlefield, Group Leader Giles of the BUF. Problems with providing Verity with a "pass of safe conduct" into Government lines were rendered academic upon his being 'terminally exploded' on the battlefield itself., leaving behind "only a pair of smoking suede loafers". Plans for the intended appearance of Group Leader Giles before the military tribunal were abandoned upon his being stood up against a wall and shot by a firing party organised by Captain Queeg, commander of HMG's notorious "WYRD Force". The "timely convenience" of Giles' death has provoked "dark mutterings" as to the possibility of conspiracy between Queeg and Councillor Cracknutt...

VBCW HEREFORD - THE BATHTUB HYPOTHESIS (2)

The first post in this irregular series of blogposts is HERE

Frank Chadwick’s “Bathtub Barbarossa” campaign started with a distinct advantage for ‘bathtubbing’: a pre-made hex map (from the “Fire in the East” boardgame, with a scale of a one inch hex = 16 miles or 25km ‘on the ground’).

However, Hereford1938 VBCW starts with something else - knowledge both of the dimensions of our available “tabletop” and of the County of Herefordshire ‘on the ground’.

Our usual “Big Games” are played on a number of a 8ft x 6ft tables. Normally, three such tables joined together to make, dependent upon the demands of the Big Game, a playing area of 8ft x 18ft or 6ft x 24ft. But what if, instead of three such tables, we were able to expand to six such tables, arranged in two rows? Arranged in the right manner, this would provide a massive - nearly square - playing area of 16feet x 18feet.

In real life, Herefordshire is slightly longer than it is wide. But not by much: the County is shaped somewhat like a “slightly squeezed circle”, being approximately 30 miles “wide” (e.g. east-west) and 32 miles “long” (e.g. north-south). “Approximately” is good enough for these purposes, as the “county lines” are highly irregular on the ground in any event.

The “bathtub challenge” is therefore to represent the “slightly squeezed circle” of Herefordshire (30 miles wide by 32 miles long) on a “six table” tabletop (16feet x 18feet). Looked at this way, the “scale” suggests itself: 2 miles = 1 foot. This even leaves us with a bit “left over” all round the tabletop, useful for the wargamer’s detritus of rules, dice and coffee cups (i.e. the County measures 15feet x 16feet vs the available tableop of 16feet x 18feet).

Back to the “Campaign Map”. We can’t make a useful map measuring 15feet x 16feet. But we could make a useful “Campaign Map” measuring 15inches x 16inches. This gives us a “map scale” of one inch (on the map) to one foot (on the tabletop) to two miles (on the ground).

It could be that the “Campaign Map” should use “hexes”, but to keep matters simple, one inch squares would be better, making it much easier to “translate from map to table”, which is the key for our purposes. With such a scaled map, all that the wargamer really needs to remember is that “one inch on the map equals one foot on the tabletop”, leaving the umpires to make sure that the map reflects “the ground” on the basis of “one foot on the tabletop equals two miles on the ground”.

After a bit of research, here are the “as the crow flies” distances between Hereford and the principal towns that have featured in the Hereford1938 campaign, given first according to “on the ground”, then in squares “on the map”, and finally in feet “on the tabletop”:

Hereford to Hay on Wye -    22 miles (11 squares on the map) (11 feet on tabletop)

Hereford to Leominster -     12 miles (6 squares on the map) (6 feet on tabletop)

Hereford to Ledbury -          12 miles (6 squares on the map) (6 feet on tabletop)

Hereford to Presteigne -       19 miles (9.5 squares on the map) (9.5 feet on tabletop)

Hereford to Ross on Wye -  11 miles (5.5 squares on the map) (5.5 feet on tabletop)

Hereford to Bromyard -       13 miles (6.5 squares on the map) (6.5 feet on tabletop)

Hereford to Ludlow -           22 miles (11 squares on the map)  (11 feet on tabletop)

while two other interesting  distances between towns can also be calculated:

Ludlow to Ross on Wye - 33 miles (16.5 squares on the map) (16.5 feet on tabletop) (north south)

Presteigne to Bromyard -  25 miles (12.5 squares on the map) (12.5 feet on tabletop) (east west)

[Just for fun, Hereford to London - 117 miles (58.5 squares on a map/58.5 feet on tabletop - a tennis court is 78 feet long) Such gives a good indication of the “bathtub scale”, but in real life, well, we have to stop somewhere.]

Now, it must be acknowledged that some of our Hereford VBCW towns are not actually in Herefordshire, but just on the border - Ludlow in Shropshire, Hay on Wye in Brecknockshire (now part of Powys) and Presteigne in Radnorshire (also now part of Powys). Given that our scaled representation of Herefordshire is actually a little smaller than our available tabletop, however, we can still happily “adopt” these towns into a bathtub - based “Biggest Game of All”.

DOMESDAY BOOK HEREFORD - AND A BIG MISTAKE

After this blogpost on the Siege of Hereford in 1055AD, a glance at Hereford some thirty years later, on the publication of the Domesday Book in 1086AD - see HERE - when both manorial lord and manorial tenant was the Bishop of Hereford.

Hereford was clearly going through tough times. Property values had roughly halved in the twenty years from 1066 to 1086, down from four pounds fourteen shillings to two pounds ten shillings. As this table demonstrates, Hereford was far from being the busiest place even within the County - having only 19 households as opposed to 48 for Shobdon, 59 for Bromyard, and an astonishing 101 for Hanley Castle (now only in a small village in The Malverns, and officially part of Worcestershire).

Hereford's inferiority to Hanley in the 11th Century may have been due to Hereford being ruled by the Bishop, but Hanley being royal land, in the ownership of William the Conqueror (who had clearly nicked it after 1066 from the defeated Saxon lord, Brictric, son of Algar, who had large landholdings across the Midlands (including the Earldom of Gloucester). The Domesday Book records Brictric having 86 landholdings in 1066, and in 1086, er............nil). Such 'land redistribution' may well have derived as much from personal revenge as public policy, for William Dydes' 18th Century "History and Antiquities of Tewkesbury" notes (p.23) of Brictric:

"This Brictric (being ambassador at the court of Baldwin, Earl [or Count] of Flanders) Maud [known to history as Matilda], the Earl's daughter, fell violently in love with him, but being slighted, she afterwards married William the Conqueror, and after the Norman Conquest, revenge still rankling in her breast for such a slight, and the Conqueror being tempted with his large estate, she worked Brictric's ruin, who was seized in his manor of Hanley and sent [as] prisoner to Winchester, where he died without issue, and was there buried....[and his lands taken]...."

Definitely not one for rejection - a 28mm Queen Matilda.
 A limited edition figure from the 2016 Crisis Show,
very nicely painted by Scrivs. See his blog HERE. 

Equally, of course, Hereford's 1086 position may simply have reflected it's experience in the 1055 Siege. The volumes upon the subsequent VBCW Siege of Hereford, some eight hundred and fifty years later, have yet to emerge from the publishers....

A (probably Edwardian) representation of Matilda. Married to William at 19,
crowned as Queen of England at 37. When she was crowned in Winchester
Cathedral, it is likely (but presumably not at all co-incidental) that Brictric was
 already languishing in the dungeons of Winchester Castle. More on Matilda
and Brictric (including the illustration upon which her 28mm figure
was clearly based) HERE

AIRCRAFT (7) AIR MARSHALL EDWARD VIII

Quite apart from the bothersome business of being King (or "kinging", as he liked to put it), upon his accession, Edward VIII automatically became the senior Air Marshall of the RAF:

Air Marshall Edward VIII, Chief of the RAF. A contemporary postcard
recording his inspection tour of 8th July 1936.

Sunglasses on to view the flypast at Northolt. Behind the King, the Duke of York

This Pathe newsreel records some events from the morning inspection at Northolt (including the King "sneaking a fag" while supposedly closely inspecting his air force) and is complementary to the Pathe newsreel flagged up in this previous post.

The July 1936 RAF inspection was, of course, one of the last occasions upon which the King and the Duke of York were seen in public together before the outbreak of the VBCW. By July 1936, the King was already looking forward to his summer cruise aboard "The Nahlin" in the company of Mrs Simpson (as she then was), which holiday alerted the world (if not then the British public) to the forthcoming crisis in the British monarchy, and thereafter the country. See HERE.

PS. It is unknown how much "air support" the Duke of York presently enjoys within the VBCW. Following his return from Canada, the Duke is instead gathering "popular support" for the Albertine cause in South Wales - and Ross-on-Wye.

AIRCRAFT (6) VBCW "MONGREL DAY BOMBER"

Our piece of "cheep Chinese plastic", as used in the Modelling Challenge 2020, may be many things (check back on this thread using the label "Aircraft & Anti Everything"), but it is clearly more of an "air superiority fighter/ground attack fighter" than a "bomber". For the purpose of VBCW "air fleets", this posed a significant problem that could only be solved by - well, doubling down with another piece of "cheep Chinese plastic", as purchased from Ebay:

As long as you don't look at the underside of the fuselage, it's, er.....ok. What do you want for 80p inclusive of P&P?

This particularly fine example of the Chinese plastics industry is made of rather softer plastic than our Vickers Venom job, but it is still workable and takes paint kindly enough (over a plastic primer). And it actually "scales" rather nicely with the Vickers Venoms, so all is not at all lost.

But what kind of 1930s plane is it? Originally, it was purchased in the hope that - with its long canopy, elongated nose and single propellor, it would bear a passing resemblance to that wonder of 1930s British Aircraft Industry, the Fairey Battle "day bomber":

Introduced to service in 1936, by 1940 the Fairey Battle was fulfilling its grim role of being shot up by marauding Me 109's (when not being shot down by ground AA fire).

And to a certain extent, it does. But closer examination reveals the horrible truth - the front end and wings appear to be an oversized (and mangled by constant copying over the years) species of Spitfire, while the canopy and tail appear to come from an (equally mangled early variant) Stuka! If this was to be a Fairey Battle, it would be a fairly "bastardized" version! 

Camouflage painting may hide many "problems", but this was time for a more significant intervention : the ever helpful VBCW 'backstory'. Hence can be presented - the Elstree Industries "Mongrel" day bomber (although actual manufacture may have been sub-contracted to Messrs. Woolworths & Woolworths of Enfield) as designed by Elstree's most famous aircraft engineer, Sir Reginald B'stard (knighted in the 1938 Honours List for services to the VBCW aircraft industry). For those unfamiliar with his technical work (quite why he is ignored in almost all the 'history' books, in favour of Camm and Mitchell, remains a mystery), he is probably now best known for being the grandfather of that public spirited Member of Parliament of the 80s and 90s, Alan B'stard:

Alan B'stard MP, grand-son of the VBCW aircraft designer responsible for the Elstree "Mongrel"

The Elstree Mongrel, once introduced into VBCW service, will complement the RAF's existing "heavy transport/bomber" fleet:

This well armed transport was recently seen in action at The Second Battle of Shobdon

A squadron of RAF Heavy Bombers at an airfield "somewhere in the West Midlands".
(The model is a "snaptite egg scale" Lancaster by Meng Kids)

AIRCRAFT(5) THE KING'S VENOM

From "British Aviation : Ominous Skies" by Harald Penrose (p.92):

"The full panopoly of the [aircraft] industry's latest designs was on view at the A&AEE Martlesham Heath on 8th July [1936] when the King [Edward VIII], in RAF uniform, accompanied by Air Chief Marshall the Duke of York, make a tour of four stations of his Air Force. In his Royal Rapide, piloted by Flt. Lt. "Mouse" Fielden, he flew first to Northolt to inspect the Fury and Gauntlet Fighter Squadrons, then visited No.11 Flying Training School at Wittering, afterwards to Mildenhall to inspect Hind and Heyford Bomber Squadrons, and so to the A&AEE ["Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment"] where he was received by Air Commodore R.H.Verney and the Station Commander, Grp. Capt. A.C. "Cissie" Maund. On the tarmac, backed by the original World War 1 hangars, were the Spitfire, Hurricane and Venom, all with gun muzzles aggressively protruding, the hitherto unrevealed Bristol Blenheim medium bomber, Westland Lysander, Fairey Battle, Vickers Wellesley, Vickers Wellington, Handley Page HP52 Hampden (nicknamed the 'flying panhandle') and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. The King went aboard the Wellington and received a dissertation on gun turrets, spending five minutes personally operating the nose turret. Thereafter, Sqn Ldr "Ted" Hilton, Officer commanding the bomber Test Flight, demonstrated the Blenheim, and Sqn Ldr D.F. Anderson, Officer commanding the fighter Test Flight, flew the Spitfire. Reported Flight [magazine]:

'The Spitfire roared past the Royal Standard at well over 300mph, followed by the Blenheim, the speed of which was a revelation of what a modern monoplane bomber can do. We certainly have a bomber which can outfly any fighter in service in the world today....'"[note1]

The only Blenheim prototype, K-7033, which had made its first flight only in June 1936, just weeks before
Edward VIII's inspection tour.

Blenheim Mk.1 and Spitfire in company. A view Edward VIII may well have had on 8th July 1936.

British Pathe, as ever, was on hand to film Edward VIII's inspection of the Fury and Gauntlet fighter squadrons at Northolt - see HERE - but it appears (perhaps for security reasons) that they were not invited along to Martlesham Heath to film the new generation of fighters "all with gun muzzles aggressively protruding" - Spitfire, check; Hurricane, of course; Venom.....Venom? What on earth was a Venom?

A contemporary cigarette card gives a good view of the Vickers Venom prototype
"painted in cream for exhibition purposes...with RAF roundels". The marking
PVO-10 was a "Private Venture" registration, and the Venom would subsequently
be marked with a large "3" on the fuselage (although there was only ever "1" prototype).
The "3" designation was used at the 1936 Hendon Air Display as the aircraft's "new types
number", enabling the public to identify it from the list of aircraft

within their display programmes.

The 1937 popular "part work" magazine, "Aero Engineering" carried a data sheet on the Vickers
Venom and the (now, not then) better known Vickers Wellington 1....

....and here is that 'Data Sheet', with the prototype Venom photographed with its fuselage "3".
 For the 1937 readers of "Aero Engineering", the Venom was just
 one of the RAF's new eight gunned interceptor fighters...

An earlier colour scheme for the Venom, which was unveiled in 1936 "in natural polished metal
and silver dope on the fabric control surfaces" at the Society of British Aircraft Constructors display.
This display took place at De Havilland's airfield at Hatfield.

Regular readers of the blog will recall the mystery aircraft captured on film ("just after the prototype Spitfire") at the 1937 Hendon Air Display - see this earlier BLOGPOST. Whilst there has been some (VBCW) speculation that the mystery aircraft was an "Elstree Aeronautics prototype", in fact it has now been positively identified as the Vickers Venom in flight.

Which takes us back to the VBCW, and the 2020 Modelling Challenge. Once our piece of "cheep Chinese plastic" - with its prominent radial engine - is converted into a monoplane (a matter of seconds), it makes for a pretty fair (well, at least with a fair wind) wargamers' resemblance to the "Vickers Venom". The Venom was, after all, the ultimate British development of a radial engined fighter (powered by the Bristol Aquila as opposed to the Spitfire's inline Rolls Royce Merlin), and the model competition field is threadbare - there has only ever been one 1/72 kit of the plane, the now very OOP Magna Models metal and resin version:

The Magna Models 1/72 kit assembled and painted by
Peter Burstow. See:
https://modelingmadness.com/review/preww2/gb/burstven.htm

In any event, why did the Venom remain only a prototype and not go into production? Why was it Spitfires and Hurricanes defending our shores in 1940 - and, given the hopes and illustrations of 1936/1937, not fleets of nimble Venoms? [note2]. Some of the factors that seem to have told against the Venom were:

(1). Supermarine, the manufacturers of the Spitfire, was a subsidiary of Vickers, the proposed manufacturer of the Venom. The same congolomerate producing two different designs for the same role, i.e. fighter interceptor, would have been somewhat problematic; particularly as Supermarine had well known issues with Spitfire production that required urgent resolution by management;

(2). apart from Spitfire manufacture via its Supermarine subsidiary, Vickers was also producing the Wellington bomber. It's production was at full capacity, which would have meant the Venom either being produced under licence, or by a sub-contractor, or an entirely new 'shadow factory' being constructed. None of these were straightforward prospects;

(3). there were significant "cut out and fade out" problems with the powerplant around which the Venom had been designed, the Aquila AE-3S radial engine, which problems were never really resolved;

(4). the Venom lacked all armour protection. While "the possibility of fitting 600 pounds of armour to the Venom was...briefly investigated" it was "swiftly dismissed as the airframe would have to be completely redesigned to take the additional weight".

These problems saw the Venom relegated swiftly from its once prominent position as part of the 'new generation' of British fighters. However, there was a flurry of "fresh interest" in the Venom programme in mid-1937, apparently based on its relative cheapness, prospective ease of manufacture and maintenance, and the possibility of sub-contracting manufacture to enable potential sales to friendly foreign countries. This "last flurry" died out soon enough, however, and the British aircraft industry instead concentrated entirely on the Spitfire and Hurricane.....

But as for the VBCW......all these same factors - cheapness, ease of manufacture and maintenance, sub-contract manufacture - combined to make the Vickers Venom highly attractive as a fighter plane for the contending factions, and 1938 soon saw a number of 'shadow factories' set up by both the RAF and the BUF, the latter particularly designed to supply "Air Wings" for use on newly acquired carriers such as the Charles A. Lindbergh....

Notes:

[1]. The maximum speed of the Blenheim was, in fact, 266mph (at 11,800ft). See HERE. Flight magazine's opinion was therefore mere puff - the Blenheim could not outfly the Spitfire, nor even the Hurricane Mk.1 (316mph at 16,200ft). In fairness, however, the Messerschmitt 109 was only introduced to the Luftwaffe some eight months later, in February 1937, and even then could not reach the Hurricane's speed until the introduction of the "E" series in late 1938/early 1939.

[2]. The Venom had a top speed of 312mph at 16,500ft, a service ceiling of 32,000ft and a rate of climb of 3,000ft a minute. It was therefore in the same class as the Hurricane Mk.1 in all respects, and quite as capable of dealing with a Blenheim. By way of contrast, it clearly outmatched the Gloster Gladiator (still in service during the Battle of France 1940 and, at least as to one squadron, the Battle of Britain, thereafter in Greece, the Middle East and Malta), which had a top speed of 253mph at 14,500ft and a rate of climb of 2,300ft a minute.

Additional Notes:

[1]. Edward "Mouse" Fielden's biography can be found HERE. For the Dragon Rapide of the King's Flight, see note 5 to this EARLIER BLOGPOST.

[2]. Air Commodore R.H.Verney's biography can be found HERE, and Group Captain "Cissie" Maund's HERE.

[3]. This page is particularly useful on the Vickers Venom, specifically on its potential use as a navalised fighter. This YouTube video demonstrates the Venom's undoubted ease of maintenance.

BAE Systems brief history of interwar Vickers experimental designs can be found HERE

SUPER SHODDY!

Another quick post to point up the "Shoddy Tank" building activities of Lead Adventure Forum member "Bearwoodman", who has taken the 2019 Modelling Challenge and translated it, through space and time (and as already mentioned HERE) into the 40K universe, resulting in the first recorded example of a "Super Shoddy":

Moshe Dayan approves! (see this LINK)

It remains to be seen whether any variant of "Super Shoddy" will make its way on to the Hereford VBCW 1938 battlefield, although there is already a great deal of popular pressure within Ludlow for a fully equipped armoured division of "Super Shoddies" ("We want eight and we won't wait!). With the development of the "Bearwoodman variants", however, there must now be concern that Hereford is falling significantly behind in the worldwide (indeed, universe wide) AFV development race. Such concern is allayed only in part by intelligence received of the construction of at least one new very strange vehicle by HM Government during these last few weeks (blogposts to follow)...

Full LAF link HERE!

VBCW HEREFORD - THE BATHTUB HYPOTHESIS (1)

Being the first in a series of speculative posts…..

              

A long time ago, back in 1986, Frank Chadwick and Games Designers Workshop (“GDW”) published a new set of WW2 miniatures rules, “Command Decision” (“CD”). CD was designed as an “operational - level” set of rules for combined arms engagements, where one “stand” of 2 figures represented a platoon or equivalent, and a model vehicle represented a platoon of approximately 5 “real life” equivalents. The overall effect was to enable players to command representations of brigades or even (in larger games) divisions on the tabletop, consisting of 2 - 6 battalions with supporting arms. While many WW2 rules were then (and remain) pitched somewhere around a “command level” of Platoon Leader or at most Company Commander, CD required tabletop Generals.

Command Decision by GDW

A couple of years later, in 1988, GDW published another Frank Chadwick product, titled “Barbarossa 25”. This was nothing less than an incredible attempt to enable 20mm WW2 wargamers to refight the entire WW2 Eastern Front campaign in a manageable way. Frank Chadwick’s introduction explained:

“…….I have never experienced more pleasure in a campaign or in individual games than I did playing Barbarossa/25 or ‘Bathtub Barbarossa’ as we came to call it…..the principle behind the bathtub campaign concept is contained in the title….Barbarossa/25 is the Barbarossa campaign scaled down 25 times. We began with the maps for GDW’s Europa game (“Fire in the East”) - which has 16 miles (or 25 kilometre) hexes and used each hex to represent one kilometre instead. With ground scale reduced 25 times, we then scaled down the Orders of Battle (i.e. the troops) by 25. The result was a good, proportional representation of the combatants which retains a nice feel for their capabilities but remains manageable for campaign purposes. Finally, time was scaled down by (roughly) 25, with each month reduced to a day, and the half-month game turns converted to morning and afternoon. There is no night turn……everyone rests at night. In the campaign which we played, our little war had much of the sweep and drama of its larger counterpart, and remained an exciting and challenging gaming experience throughout……”

Barbararossa 25 by GDW

Why did this game come to be called “Bathtub Barbarossa”? Apparently, Frank Chadwick reproduced the “Soviet Navy” for his original Barbarossa campaign - with an already small force scaled down 25 times, and then somewhat roughly modelled, a fellow player commented that, far from the “Soviet Navy”, the result looked like “something suitable for sailing in a bathtub”. In the way of wargame campaigns, the joke kept being repeated, and hence, “Bathtub Barbarossa”.

Why 'bathtub' at all? The concept of 'bath-tubbing' simply bridged the divide between available resources and outrageous expectations. In other words, Frank Chadwick's wargames group (the Central Illinois Tabletop Wargamers) already had large 20mm armies built and organised for ordinary "CD" brigade or divisional level games. To wargame the entire Eastern front, however, required not brigades or divisions, but whole armies. Instead of keeping the "CD" rule and Orders of Battle as they were (which would have been one approach, requiring years of effort to add more and more 20mm divisions to the model order of battle, and then finding a huge area of desert finally to wargame 'the Eastern Front'), Frank Chadwick simply 'scaled down' everything (troops, area and time) to make the "Eastern Front" fit the available wargame resources ("CD/25") The existing model "platoons" therefore no longer represented "real" platoons on the tabletop, but battalions; in the same way, existing model "divisions" no longer represented 'real' divisions on the tabletop, but whole armies.

Now, all this might be historically interesting (if you’re interested in the history of wargaming, that is, which is admittedly a somewhat esoteric taste), but what does it have to do with the Herefordshire VBCW? Well, while we’ve staged “Big Games” (using 3 x 6ft by 8ft tables) to represent small parts of the County (i.e. Shobdon, or Mortimer’s Cross), the “bathtub concept” might allow us to stage “The Biggest Game of All”, i.e. fighting across the whole of the County of Herefordshire on one tabletop! Instead of a player taking the part of a Platoon Commander fighting over small fields, hedgerows and country barns, in “The Biggest Game of All”, players would become “Army Generals”, fighting over all of the County’s towns, villages and hamlets, all in a swirl of action around the ultimate prize, the historic City of Hereford!

Is this even possible, and if so, how? Would it not require wholesale changes to everyone’s well-established “Went the Day Well” Platoons, with all the fuss and bother that such entails - and which must at all costs be avoided? The ‘short answer’ to these proper questions is: if the Central Illinois Tabletop Wargamers could represent the entire Soviet Union in their 1/72 (or 20mm) wargame scale and keep to their established (20mm) “Command Decision” tabletop rules, it should be possible to represent Herefordshire in 28mm with the WTDW rules. It’s surely just (a small?) matter of changing the ‘representation parameters’ of the WTDW game - but without changing the number or organisation of the troops available! So much for the short answer; the ‘long answer’ and all "bathtub ramifications" will be developed over a series of irregular blog posts to follow…. 

BUF LONDON HQ - "THE BLACK HOUSE"

The learned editor of "The Very British Civil War - Then and Now" (not, of course, to be confused with the much more voluminous "Hereford in the VBCW - Then and Now") has kindly provided, with full illustrations, this new information on the BUF's London HQ from 1932 - 1940. See also this subsequent post with film of the entrance to the Kings Road "Black House".

HOW CLOSE WAS CIVIL WAR?

Archivists of the Ludlow Public Records Office have made public certain extracts from a tome of arcane lore on a subject close to the heart of every VBCW student of alternative history : how close was Civil War? Also contains contemporaneous illustrations of the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool. See HERE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY BUF

The Bishop's Broadcasting Service has come into possession of one of "Big X's" bulging intelligence files (or possibly just scanned the internet) and produced this programme on the Oxford University Fascist Association in the 1930s (and its 1939 successor, the Oxford University National Socialist Association), as addressed by Oswald Mosley, Leader of the BUF.

VBCW "PROLEY" TANKS

Comrade Colonel Professor Winters has become increasingly worried by the Government's rapid introduction into service of "Elstree Industries" tanks, apparently now being produced by his sworn enemies within the County (and the Automobile Association) on an industrial scale. Determined neither to lose face nor the Civil War, and following anxious consultations with Comintern, Winters has therefore established a "shadow factory" for new model tank manufacture at a secret location "behind the Black Mountains", based on a "flatpack assembly line" sent to him by secret freighter from Leningrad:

If Comrade Colonel Professor Winters had actually believed in Christmas, his secret delivery from Leningrad
might have given him that "warm Christmas morning feeling". As a militant Atheist, however....

......he was concerned only to establish the number and utility of the tanks contained in "the Leningrad package"....

and the speed with which they could be assembled. With a maximum of only six pre fabricated parts
 per tank, there was yet hope that the County Communists might catch up and even exceed the
 "Elstree Industries" output. Winters noted that a variety of tank marques could be made:

Comrade Colonel Professor Winters' Soviet flat pack factory was assembled in record time, and was officially christened the "Popular Revolutionary Organisation Light Engineering Yard No.1" (or, in Comintern records, "Narodnyy Revolyutsionnyy Organizatsiya Svetlyy Inzheneriya Dvor No.1"). Soon enough, Winters reckoned, his new assembly lines would be churning out "PROLEY" tanks in vast quantities, enough to bring the Hereford VBCW to a swift end in his favour.....

Following manufacture, only field testing of the PROLEY tanks would remain, and Winters was supremely confident of Soviet manufacturing techniques.

Field testing would no doubt demonstrate the unique capabilities of Winters new PROLEY Tanks (Mks.1 - V)

Notes

(1). The "PROLEY" tanks are in "approximate 1/48ish -1/50ish scale" and look fine next to 28mm figures, being almost exactly the same size and height as "Elstree Industries" tanks. They were obtained from this Russian Ebay Seller ("kotofeykotovich") and are made of hard plastic, costing about £4.00 each (INCLUSIVE of Postage & Packing from Russia to UK). Not quite as (ridiculously) inexpensive as the "cheep Chinese plastic tanks" from Elstree Industries used in the Modelling Challenge 2019, but of much better material and modelling detail - and you don't have to source an alternative tank turret for any of them!

(2). Unfortunately, it appears that Ebay seller "Kotofeykotovich" has temporarily shut his shop by reason of the Covid crisis, but no doubt he will be back, once things return to normal, for anyone wishing to order. Just as well that Winter's planning staff had the good fortune to have already "laid in" a goodly supply of PROLEYS....Onward to Hereford, Comrades! Death to the Fascist Beasts!

HEREFORD ON VE DAY 1945

On 8th May 1945, the country celebrated the end of the European War and Victory over Germany [note 1]. Here is how Hereford celebrated:

The scene in High Town. British and American flags decorate an awning erected in front of the Butter Market.
To the left, Lloyds Bank advertises Savings Bonds. A variety of uniforms can be seen in the crowd,
including some airmen and WAAFs, possibly from RAF Shobdon, plus an excited schoolboy in striped cap,
 possibly from the Cathedral School.

The same scene in High Town, the camera veering right. The Market Hall sign is clearly visible above the entrance to the Butter Market, together with, to the right, the "City and County Stores" and Currys, selling radios and bicycles.

A children's street party in Church Street, just off High Town.

The same party, with Union Jacks and a portrait of Churchill in the centrepiece. Behind and to the right, an outlet
of Ind Coope & Allsopp, the Lichfield Vaults pub, which remains in Church Street today.

The same party with its most senior member at the head of the table. Check the ties, flat caps, and airman in the background.
Capstan cigarettes are available from the Lichfield Vaults.

The same ground many years later (probably the late 1980s) looking in the opposite direction towards the Cathedral.
The Lichfield Vaults are still in business to the left, and the shop fronts have little change (the white arched windows
to the left of the Lichfield Vaults, for example, are the same - and the same colour - as in 1945).

[Note1] - for those visiting this Blog for news of the "Very British Civil War", these photographs are no doubt somewhat disorientating. They emanate, of course, from a parallel universe where Edward VIII did not fight for his throne, Mosley never became "Prime Minister", and Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany in 1939. Instead of leading an "Assault Column" into Herefordshire (blog posts to come), Mr Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940, and five years later celebrated victory:

WHAT'S THE BEST TANK?

Continuing our vague theme of providing suitable entertainment to the socially isolated, HERE is Richard Smith, the Director of the Tank Museum, Bovington, delivering a lecture from home on the subject of "What is the Best Tank?"

The "comments" section beneath the video provides universal approval for this "academic but delivered with some verve" lecture. Perfect material to accompany a 28mm painting session.

And if you like the Tank Talk, the Director's EARLIER LECTURE could be straight from the quirky depths of the VBCW: "Why do soldiers wear Hats?"

DANGEROUS DAME (with Lewis Gun)

The Lewis Gun was the quintessential Light Machine Gun of the Herefordshire VBCW, especially deadly in the hands of spirited ladies, most notably the Pontrilas Women's Institute.

In THIS CLIP, a modern day Hereford VBCW lady re-enactor demonstrates the power of the Lewis MG. The clip is only slight disfigured by (1). the first 30 seconds being taken up by the loading of the instantly identifiable circular Lewis magazine (yawn!); and (2). the bearded American "crashing the party" towards the end. It is unclear whether his re-enactment interests lie with the Benedict Arnold Legion or the George Washington Battalion, both of whom are known to have used the Lewis Gun extensively within Herefordshire.

SPANISH CIVIL WAR - IN CARD!

For those who disdain Chinese plastic as simply too expensive a medium for VBCW modelling, try this HUGE THREAD titled "Paper Models as Propaganda During the Spanish Civil War".

Spanish Bi-Plane Competition for Elstree Aeronautics

New "Light Tank"

Just a couple of examples of paper/card models on the thread, produced in the Republican sector as minor "pieces of propaganda" during the war itself, and therefore more or less contemporaneously with the VBCW. You will need to sign in to the "Papermodellers" forum to be able to access (or simply view for historical interest) all the designs, but this is simple and takes only a minute or so. And for those brave enough to try this new form of VBCW modelling, you will probably need to resize the models a bit to your preferred "28mm scale", which may take a bit of Photoshop/Paint technique before you hit "Print" and seize your scissors....