The end of the world as we know it?

[Roger Neilson]

Thanks for the comments Rob, I hate the copy and paste combat results, plus I'm kinda a frustrated author anyway I suppose. I enjoy doing these. Its only a shame (see elsewhere) that I don't have combat results to work from and have to rely on fast type 1 pen and paper memory aides!

Cheers

Roger

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, welcome again. In terms of the last 24 hours things could be a lot worse, but we have not had the customary successes due to weather. I regret to inform you that Operation Crazy Horse has come to a close - for several days now a group of American PT boats based sometimes at Bataan and sometimes at Vigan have been raiding the area round San Marcellino, forcing the Japs to cease landing support troops there. Unfortunately they became perhps too predicatable and sailed into a Tf of Cruisers and Destroyers... some damage to the enemy, but our force was destroyed. They did manage to delay enemy plans for several key days, so their sacrifice was not in vain.

Elsewhere Operation Chase the Lady continues to frustrate the enemy. Yesteday night the planes moved again from Manila and the Jap airforce, plus the flyers of the KB wasted their bombs and fuel on Aparri and Batan. We wonder if they will be lucky tomorrow?

Shipping at both Rangoon and Georgetown has come under attack from land based bombers, it is a shame we cannot hit back with our own fighters, but our 'allies' the Dutch refuse to release planes to aid us at present. We anticipate further bombing in the next 24 to 48 hours and are likely to lose some ships from this.

More ships that survived the bombing of Force Z arrived at Diamond Harbour today, although somewhat damaged they had made the transit under their own power and docked with flags flying from what little superstructures they had left.

Current estimates of air losses for the two sides in this gargantuan conflict are 219 planes lost on our side (many in the initial attacks on undefended airfields)compared to 183 Japanese, all the result of air combat, flak or operational losses. This clearly proves we are more than holding our own in air combat, despite the supposed 'superiority' of the Zero. Gentlemen we will have no more talk of this plane as some sort of all powerful fighter.

[Roger Neilson]

'Gentlemen, another very brief briefing... excuse my small joke!'
There is a round of laughter from the officers, its not a good idea to lack humour when the General tells one of his 'funnies'.
'To business. Those in the room who are part of Operation PoorDog will know now that it is ongoing and very successul. We hear from our American allies that Operation Chase the Lady had a rest yesterday. Operation Nightwatchman has concluded but again only those who are party to the highest levels of security will be ware of this plan's details. Doubtless they will emerge over the next week or so. Operation OldWoman has just begun, more of this in a day or two.'
'Action today is minimal, Singapore remains quiet, bombing of the northern bases of the Philippines continues, and another massive raid by carrier borne aircraft on Batan took place. There was a small surface skirmish between a PT boat and a Jap transport off Aparri. No futher raids took place at Rangoon, but Georgetown was again subject to heavy air raids.'

[Roger Neilson]

There is a different air in the room. The staff officers wait anxiously, something is up. The doors crash open, the general strides into the room, his face as dark as thunder. He pauses, as if to summon up his stregth, then launches into a tirade at all who are present.

'Gentlemen, I want no liars on my staff, I want no rank incompetents. Any man who is not up to the job ahead may leave now and return to Britain. Those who remain will never, I repeat never tell me anythign but the true situation we face.'

He pauses and stares hard at each and every face in the room, daring them to so much as blink. The air is absolutely silent, apart from the ceiling fans.

'You may wonder why I open the briefing with this... I wonder myself. In command you rely upon, trust your subordinates. Well trust has been misplaced I tell you, and it will not be misplaced again. Less than an hour ago I receieved the following communincation:

'Singapore HQ. This will be our last message. The enemy has broken through decisively at several parts of our perimeter and is approaching HQ itself. In order to save further loss of life, and knowing the Japanese to be an honourable adversary, I have conveyed a message to my counterpart that we will surrender to them in one hour. We have done our duty, think kindly of us.'

Gentlemen, as we stand here the ignominy of surrender is taking place. Only yesterday I was assured, yes assured, that Singapore would fight on for months and we could rely on them. Now we are wide open, and at any day we expect the tide of yellow peril to be rushing at us.

I expect urgent communications from London and Washington in the near future. This is a dark day, we must all redouble our efforts in order to assure we are not defeated.'

[Roger Neilson]

Hi Guys, Sebatian Flashman here, all round bad egg and a 'star' of the Sun will never set AAR.

I know its very bad form, and the sort of thing to get one expelled from a good Public school, but what do you make of this... Singers under the nasty nips before Xmas 1941.. I say old bean, where will it end?

Should old Flashy be banking on a home team win or is it time to organise my career as far away from the Japs as possible?

Which way will this approach go?

I invite comments and observations.

Remember what you say now though may come back to haunt you in future.. the forum cannot be edited to remove your predictions.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, please be seated, the war continues!

In our sector we must report the loss of four Aks which were intercepted off Georgetown by a large squadron of japanese destroyers. We have to assume from now on that, following the fall of Singapore, the Jap navy will range much further afield. This is forcing a rethink of operation Legbefore. We have reports of fierce fighting on the railway near Wuhan where our Chinese allies are cutting the line of the Jap's communications. we also have to report that another attack on the garrison of Hong Kong has failed. Another four MSWs have been sunk as they try to clear a channel to Hong Kong harbour, we assume to enable the Japs to land more troops as their overland route at Canton is blocked.

Elsewhere, news from the Americans gives us more cheer. Two operations have been undertaken and both have had success.

1. Operation FisherKing intercepted a Japanese Task Force north of Tulagi and their aircraft managed to sink the Light Cruiser Yubari and the Destroyer Yayoi. It remains to be seen whether the remains of this Tf, identified as a CL and several Dds continue towards Guadalcanal.
2. Operation HangedMan also was a success. A strong task force of Battelships and escorts sailed from Midway a few days ago and last night arrived at Wake Island. In a short range battle, with a transport task force there are at least 5 Japanese ships confirmed sunk, and many others damaged. The task force went on to bombard the Wake defences.

Again we have reports of large air attacks on all northern Philippines bases and Batan.

These are dark days gentlemen, but soon will come the light and our chance to counterattack in force.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, another day has passed. Overall it has been a quiet day, though the situation in China continues to rumble on. We have reports of another day of massive air assaults on Aparri and Batan... over 300 aircraft in total being used in these bombing waves.

North of Tulagi the Japanese task force attacked already by carrier borne aircraft was discovered to have broken up and remained in range of the american planes. In two attacks another two destroyers were confirmed sunk, with damage to others being observed as well.

Might I wish one and all a happy Christmas, we wonder if the heathen Japs will allow us to celebrate it at all?

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, may I wish you all the best of this festive season, we must take what cheer we can at present.

I have to report a massive air bombardment campaign in China, it would seem that almost all the bombers used recently in the camapign against northern philippine bases and Batan have turned northwards and are bombing in China from their current bases. Taking advantage of this the P40s in the Philippines have struck at Lagaspi and scored numerous hits in low level strafing and bombing of a transport task force there.

In our sector the main development has been two attacks on Rangoon by Betties and Sonias. These were met by elements of the AVG and turned back with considerable loss to the jap raiders. estimates are that there were 11 kills against three minor damage to our planes. raids also were mounted against Akyab, but without any damage.

I have today issued orders for the conclusion of Operation Poordog, we estimate this is a 75% success and conditions are unlikely to stay favourable for the remaining 25%.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, another quiet day overall. maybe the Japs are having a holiday too?

However there has been some action....

Over Akyab we suffered another raid of Betties supported by Oscars, these were dealt with and very few Oscars made it home.

The Yanks seem to have stirred up the Japs round the Philippines and we heard today of a massive landing on Batan which quickly surrenndered to overwhelming force. Payback was another strafing mission on a group of transports heading south from Lagaspi, destination as yet unknown.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, in our sector another attack on Akyab by Betties escorted by Oscars has been driven back, interestingly the Betties did not press their attack but turned round in the face of our aircraft. Inteligence summaries indicate that at this stage of the war Japanese plane losses are higher than our own, we suspect this must be causing them some concern.

Another heavy attack on Hong Kong was beaten back. We suspect that the enemy is very determined now to clear this area before going on a general offensive in China. Every day we hold thwarts his plans further.It is a shame that the defence of Singapore had not been conducted half so well.

More bases have fallen to the enemy, though these were all evacuated in advance: Naga, Malacca.

We expect developments in our own plans within the next few days, more on them soon.

Thank you gentlemen, back to your posts.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, across most of the Pacific it remains quiet. We are sure this is not because the Jap has given up the fight, merely that something is brewing somewhere and we are not yet invited to the party.

He does seem to be paying a great deal of attention to Changsha in central China where over the last 24 hours we estimate over 50% of his offensive bomber capacity has been used. Another large assault on Hong Kong was beaten off.

There were two small raids on Akyab and a ship off the coast, both resulted in no damage to our forces.

In the Sulu Sea a destoyr force of three ships was spotted by assorted American planes flying from a philippine base. These were strafed at low level as is our customary greeting method. At least one was seen to have multiple hits to it in several passes.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, according to latest intelligence there are over 30 separate units operating at Canton or Hong Kong. We must conclude from this that the Japs are determined to take the City and also that this will presage an expansion outwards into the Chinese heartlands. Frankly the defenders have done a superb job and have held out now for three weeks under constant bombardemnt and assaults. We must also thank our Chinese allies, whose swift move on Canton with several divisions has blocked swift reinforcements to the enemy's assaults.

Elsewhere, as might be expected, things are very quiet. We would expect fighting in Malaya to resume once the Japs have rested their troops from the Singapore battles.

A few unhappy betties flew on a mission to Akyab again today, unescorted they were soon made unwelcome.

In the Sulu Sea the Americans are again having target practice on the three destroyers which seem to be on a pleasure cruise round this area. The destroyers are identifed as the DD Hasu, DD Tsuga, DD Hiyodori. The Hasu is reported to be very badly in need of a repainting job!

Gentlemen, let us begin our preparations to see in the New Year with a celebration party that the Japs will never have seen before!

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, as the end of the year comes round we must again report further losses and plucky acts.

We have receieved air recconaissance reports of lead japanese elements on the outskirts of Rangoon. Whilst this was to be expected, and all troops left a few days ago it is still sad to see such a fine city about to fall prey to the yellow peril. We also have rports that japanese tanks have reached Kuala Lumpur in pursuit of our Malayan forces.

Our allies have sunk a submarine, the SS -I - 153 was repeatedly hit with depth charges and was observed to surface then capsize and slide under by our ASW Tf operating near Tarakan. Those of you following the 'exploits' of the Japanese Destroyer squadron in the Sulu Sea will be interested to know there seem to be only two destroyers now, and one of them was shot up badly today.

[kaleun]

I like it! Keep it up (hits suscribe)

[Roger Neilson]

Thank you, I intend to..... both the AAR and the annoying behaviour towards the 'honourable' Japanese!

Roger

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, the end of the year comes round and it remains disturbingly peaceful out there. Very little activity is being observed except in China.

Our American friends report that their target practice is continuing, and the Jap destroyers seem to enjoy the job so much they have slowed to a very low speed, hardly moving at all. Out there somewhere is trouble I can sense it.

We have reports of attacks on Davao by Betties supported by Zeros, we can only assume they have rebased some units at Lagaspi and are operating out of there now. In the Philippines, Lingayen has fallen.The Japs staged a massive attack on the Chinese at Canton but were beaten back with casualties in thousands.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, might I wish you all a very happy new year. I note one or two faces suggesting that the celebrations last night were good ones. Little to trouble us today, operations are still underway in many areas as already indicated.

We have news of Lamon Bay being taken and at Canton, follwing a sustained shore bombardment and land assault, the Chinese were finally pushed out of their entrenchments around the city. They are falling back in good order but the implications for Hong Kong are grave, if not unexpected. Finally the Jap will be able to stream more troops across to attack our battered defenders. It is only a matter of time, but we must recall that the defence here might well have collapsed on day 1, and it is now 24 days since the start of the war. That is 24 days when the enemy has had to divert significant troops and naval asets that could have been used elsewhere. Last night he had to use four batteleships in the bombardment, just imagine the damage elsewhere to our strategy had they been available.

The destroyer target practice has ceased in the Sulu Sea, the smoking hulks were last seen heading for Palau.

Interestingly, though the city of Rangoon is 'under Japanese occupation' we have no word of substantial troops being there. I have asked the planners for Operation Willow to advise me on feasibilities.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, it hardly seems worth convening this meeting today. We have news that the Japanese have now reached Taiping in Malaya. Elsewhere Hong Kong was subjected to another attack with no advances made by the enemy here.

We gather that the Japanese are claiming that their destroyers in the Sulu sea were effectively unmarked by our planes.... we know differently do we not?

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, today much of the operations planned have been postponed due to bad weather, we hope this is a brief interruption to our chance to annoy the Jap.

Today we have to report that the malayan peninsula is turning even more yellow with the taking of the undefended town of Taiping.

Elesehwre the Japs launched a feroucious 'do or die' assualt on Hong Kong - they failed to dislodge the gallant defenders and count again the serious casulaties sustained.

In the Indian Ocean an unarmed merchantman was torpedoed by Betty bombers flying from somewhere in malaya. It is unlikely the ship will remain afloat.

[Roger Neilson]

Gentlemen, grim news I am afraid today. Last night a supply convoy bound for our troops in northern malaya was intercepted by a task force of Japanese destroyers. They were sunk by this overwhelming force. Our planes, stationed nearby, have been unable to locate them and we must assume they have passed out into the Indian Ocean. We must brace ourselves for more bad news as they get amongst the shipping lanes and continue to ply their piratical behaviour rather than stand and fight the Royal navy.

Elsewhere, things are quiet. Our American allies report they have returned to Tarawa at the same time as a small japanese transport task force. the dive bombers of the Carriers made short work of the troop transports and tankers they found.