From here to...well...it SEEMS like an eternity

[bradfordkay]

The US Army needs to get its priorities in gear. The cartographers left the fossil beds off the map!

[Cap Mandrake]

************A clearing in the Burmese jungle, on the 'road' to Imphal, 6 miles from the Burma Railway, Feb. 2, 1943******

4 Bren carriers hug the edge of the clearing. An RAF Dakota yaws purposely to scrub speed as it barely clears the jungle canopy on its approach. It bounces hard on landing but safely comes to a stop, nearly slamming into a big mahogany tree. The pilot pivots on one brake and guns the throttle to bring C-47 with special RAF enamel ash trays about......

[Cap Mandrake]

*********Steps of the British Museum, London, Feb. 4, 1943************


From the sandbagged entrance, a short, pudgy man with a cigar emerges with the museum curator.


Short, pudgy man with a cigar: Is it really that good, then?

Curator: It is absolutley sple....errm...superb! There are at least 3 fossilized hadrosaur embryos. And the botanical specimens. Astonishing. I can scarcely wait to share this with my colleagues at Yale.

Short, pudgy man with a cigar: <stops abruptly> There will be none of that!

Curator: But sir, I thought we were allies.

Short, pudgy man with a cigar: Don't be so naive, man. Surely our cousins are onto something too or it would have been a topic at Halifax. They can't know about this. Do you understand me?

Curator: Yes sir, understood.

Short, pudgy man with a cigar: Fine, fine. Now, are there any other areas of which we need be aware?

Curator: Well sir, there is Egypt. We could use a few more mummies.

Short, pudgy man with a cigar: Eighth Army is on that. Anywhere else?

Curator: Mesopatamia then. Ur, Babylon. And Persia. Anything from Xerxes is big. The public love it.

Short, pudgy man with a cigar: Hmmm. Persia?............

[Cap Mandrake]

*********Heard over the Tokyo Rose broadcast, 19:45, Feb 4, 1943************


"...............OOOhhhh---Do we have a flanking move occurring in the CBI??!! Could be fun."


[:@]

[Cap Mandrake]

********Primitive joint USAAF/RCAF airfield, Adak Island, 01;20, Feb 4, 1943************

Pvt. Muhoney stands stiffly in his fur-lined parka against an impossibly cold wind. He smokes a GI cigarette. Anyone with any sense would be inside, but his tar paper and lumber "barrack" smells of halibut as if it had been used to clean fish, which, in fact, it had. On the horizon he spies a ripple of orange, and in very short order, at least four more. He watches with fascination as incandescent darts arc skyward, then after perhaps 7 or 8 seconds, reach their zenith and...like an outfielder tracking a fly ball, his brain begins to make inferences about the trajectory of the darts. Another part of his brain begins to warn him of impending danger.....

[Cap Mandrake]

After a week of thunderstorms and rain, the weather clears a bit on Feb. 4th. Naturally, Chennault orders a "maximum effort". The annoying torpedo bombers at Akyab are taken out. Simultaneous raids are made on Pagan, Rahaeng, Andaman airfields. Rangoon troop concetrations are hit. Only one aircraft is lost, a Welly to flak over Rangoon. Fighter bombers are tasked to hit the Japs on the Burma Railroad.

Andaman is hit pretty hard, but Rahaeng and Pagan will need another go. Almost certainly, the region will get Jap air reinforcements soon as Tokyo Rose is already taunting the boys aboard the ships.

[Cap Mandrake]

You know, this may sound paranoid, but I swear, since I started "going out' with stalker girl I have been getting these annoying "add 3 inches" email ads. I see I have an email in the in box....my heart races....a new WITP turn! Instead it is generally some internet hoax about Obama from my brother-in-law or an ad to "add 3 inches" [:@]

I never open the things. I am completely satisfied with my height.

[BrucePowers]

Are you sure they were talking about height[:'(][:D]

[saj42]

Oh man - M&M Advancaed Weapons Division must have diversified their operations in the last 60 years.
Obviously the UBER-Corsair was a product in stock WITP of the secret 3.5" MGs made by M&M.
So Cap, just image what they could do for you today - you can ditch those platform shoes you've been wearing since the 70's [:D]

[Cap Mandrake]

You know...I wasted 25 minutes on this..but at least now I know where everything is. Organizing this, estimating the sea lift needs, escorts, minesweepers, air support needs, resting air groups, changing bases, making a plan to suppress enemy airfields (sort of)...it makes your head hurt.

Already it looks like the LCT's will be late to the party so the armor will be skimpy on day 1 and I will have to rush the Bengal Engineering Regt. The Japs posted some Recon aircraft at Akyab right before push off <looks furtively from side to side, looking for security leaks>. Of course I was bombarding the place every 3 days with the BB's so it wasn't unreasonable. [:)]

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Are you sure they were talking about height[:'(][:D]

Why sir, whatever do you mean? Surely you do not suggest that stalker girl could find me lacking in some other fashion?

[BrucePowers]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Are you sure they were talking about height[:'(][:D]

Why sir, whatever do you mean? Surely you do not suggest that stalker girl could find me lacking in some other fashion?

Not really. I am not one to pry......................

[Cap Mandrake]

Feb.5. Another day without rain. Some of the bombers are moved to Imphal to get a bit more reach. They may have to visit the SEAC 5th Malaria Hospital afterward, but that is their problem. Raids on Rahaeng and Andaman are not met with opposition and do quite a bit of damage. Both fields have been evacuated but could likely be used in a pinch. The lack of Jap air reinforcement is puzzling. Coordination among the transport TF's is a problem as they are converging and I pulled the "go" lever a day or two early because of Jap recon. In the event, I have decided that with the weakness of the Royal Navy carriers, it is impractical to parade around the Bay of Bengal at 8 kts, so the dedicated landing vessels will just have to come later. I hope some of the tanks and combat engineers can make it on day 1.

NB: I am pretty sure I spelled "Valiant" wrong on the map. If anybody says anything...I swear...you are going to the cornfield faster than you can say "jack in the box". I'm not kidding.

[Cap Mandrake]

*************El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, Calif., Feb. 4, 1943************

A Marine Corps General shares the elevated plywood platform with a Congressman, the CO of VMF 214 and dignitaries from Vought Aircraft Company. To his right an airplane is shrouded from view.

"..........and so, it is with great pride I give you the very first production copy of the plane that will help win the war against the little yellow bastards.....the Vought F4U Corsair!" The shroud is dropped and there is an audible gasp and then wild applause from the crowd which is overawed by the evident testosterone-laced power of the thing, its massive propeller and its flush-riveted skin.

The General beams that the first F4U came to his Marine Corps and his base and his squadron. His smile fades as he notices a small stencil on the lower engine cowling that reads...."000017-F4U"

[Cap Mandrake]

BTW...does anybody remember if Admiral Draemel was 100% killed at the Port Moresby landings? My recollection is things were looking really bad for him but we never got to see if he..well..you know.

If he was finished then he too was cloned as he is now in command of one of the invasion task forces.

[Cap Mandrake]

***************Aboard HMS Fresia, a Flower-class Corvette, Bay of Bengal, Feb. 6, 1943**************


The small bridge is barely recognizable. Evey bulkhead, every protrusion not required to handle the ship is covered with sisal and hemp batting. The captain's chair has been fitted with a small lift to obviate any need for climbing. Double rails line every passageway. Steps are covered with sanded paint. There are signs everywhere which read "mind your step" or "low passageway, mind your head please". Even the Captain's lavatory has a large placard with symbolic instructions on how to use the head. There are step by step instructions in English and German. She is the safest vessel in the Royal Navy.

Admiral Draemel sits in the captain's chair enjoying the sunrise. There was an air raid warning a short while ago but it proved to be only a recon aircraft. Evidently the RAF and 10th Air Force had made a shambles of the Jap base at Akyab because no torpedo bombers rose to meet them. The Admiral picked up a pair of chopsticks to enjoy his pad Thai noodles. He rested his elbow on the arm rest as was his custom. A look of alarm appeared on the faces of several of those on the bridge but decorum or fear kept them from acting. Just as the chopsticks neared his face, the ship reached the trough of a heavy incoming wave. The ship's bow dove sharply into green water, slowing noticeably. The Admiral's head did not want to slow down, however. It has something to do with Newton, I think. Anyway, two chopsticks, each laden with 4-alarm curry sauce drove sharply into the admirals oversized nostrils. Only the redundancy of his oversized nose kept them from penetrating tinto the base of his brain.................

[BrucePowers]

That must of hurt[X(]

[BrucePowers]

I'm not crazy about Pad Thai myself.

[BrucePowers]

And I still haven't mastered cropsticks.

[Cap Mandrake]

***********Punta Alegre, on the Golfo de San Miguel, Southwestern Panama, Feb. 6,, 1943*******

Punta Alegre has seen better days. It was never Paris or New York, don't get me wrong, but it was way, way better than now. Majorly better. Not even like close. Even the pigs walking among the few house left standing look malnourished. What Punta Alegre does have is a quiet bay on which to land a seaplane and an old, weed-choked runway. It was cheap too.

In a large coffee-drying shed one can see 16 beautiful new Vought F4U Corsairs in jungle green camouflage. 8 have a red bull's eye roundel and 8 have a concentric yellow, blue and red roundel. A thing young man in a Hawaiian style shirt approaches the painter finishing the roundel on the first plane in the row. He inspects the plane. On the lower cowling there is a stencil which reads "00001-F4U". The thin young man smiles.


Thin young man in Hawaiian-style shirt:<in accented Spanish> Muy bueno amigo, my bueno! <turns to tall, hirsute fellow in cvilian clothes> Yossarian, Senor Vice Presidente, you crazy SOB, you take the first 8 to Quito. You are in charge. Make sure the General signs the delivery bill himself.