Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2

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Story 1989
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    • fester


    North Atlantic, April 8, 1943


    Sixty seven merchant ships steamed in columns. The mid-ocean escort force had joined during the morning. By lunchtime, the local escorts had turned back to Halifax to refuel, replenish and to give the exhausted, wet crews a run ashore for laundry and booze. SC-123 was ready for action. A Canadian Liberator flew overhead. One would watch the convoy for the next thirty six hours before an American Privateer took overwatch responsibilities away from its shorter legged sister.
    Fifty hours from now, another escort carrier, fresh from working up, and three destroyers would shepherd the flock through the black gap. Avengers and Wildcats would prowl and hunt along the edges of the convoy. This coverage would only be temporary until the Icelandic and Northern Ireland based Privateers, Liberators, Fortresses, Stirlings and Sunderlands could take over.

    The crossing continued. Sonars pinged and HuffDuffs listened for the enemy that had taken fearful losses over the past five months.
     
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    • sonofpegasus

    After the Fall of Denmark Britain sent a force to occupy Iceland on the 1oth of May. The British troops were replaced with Canadian forces and later (whilst still neutral) by American forces. at it's peek nearly 40,000 allied personnel were based on Iceland.
     
    NHBL

    NHBL

    sloreck said:
    On a personal level during the Cold War there was a lot of "we're all in the same boat". We routinely photographed any Soviet subs on the surface (a lot of film used) for obvious reasons. One time a crew was making a couple of photo runs, then took the plastic container a sonobuoy came in, filled it with Playboys and similar, and on the next pass dropped it near the sub. Naturally the sub went over to "recover" this piece of American gear, and on the next pass there were some sailors on the sail, a couple of Playboys open to the centerfold, and all giving a "thumbs up". I always wondered what the political officer on the sub made of that.
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    I like that! Depending on the political officer, he might have "confiscated" them and secured them in his locker for safekeeping.
    Did you ever get anything from their boats?
     
    historyfelon

    historyfelon

    Never had the pleasure of sharing a port of call with "The Enemy", but did nearly have a brawl with some of the Queens finest over the selection of music on a juke box. We were at some dive in the Old City part of San Juan, PR, and a table of the Royal Navy's finest were enjoying singing along with Johnny Horton for the 14th time on, "Sink the Bismarck"..and were particularly loud on the line.."..the world depends on us". Finally a friend of mine says, "This is bullshit" and goes over and plays "Battle of New Orleans"..."..and they began a runnin' " was shouted with great gusto by our chorus..and was not greatly appreciated by our audience. The timely appearance of the Shore Patrol kept the situation from getting uglier than it had already become.
     
    Story 1990
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    • fester


    Karelia, April 9, 1943


    Lumberjacks swung axes. The weather was cold and they were wet, but an ax beat a rifle. Pioneers were busy repairing a trio of bulldozers while tractors waited for a truck lugging fuel cans to come forward. Slowly the road was coming into form. Work had almost ceased during the winter, but as the snow seasons turned to mud seasons, work had resumed. 15,000 men had been building a path from the Murmansk rail head and within another two months, a lifeline to Leningrad would be ready for daily traffic. The trucks would need to go through Finland, and the Finns had extracted significant concessions, Petsamo would be theirs again at the end of the war and they would get one fighter aircraft for every fourteen delivered to Murmansk by the Allies to rebuild their air force. The defenders of Leningrad would be routinely supplied from a secure land route. It would not be enough to engage in a spirited offensive, but it would be enough to prevent starvation and hold the line.
     
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    • Story 1991
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    • fester


    Singapore, April 10, 1943


    The whistle blew. The last men of the wave departed. There was ungainly trampling and bodies bumping into each other as men tightened their gear and made sure their shoes were tied.

    The whores relaxed. Another shift was coming in. The American draftees were not particularly hard to please; they paid cash and they paid far better than the local rate. Most of the extra money went to the brothel owners and the rough men who offered “protection,” but some made it into their pockets. Most of the new customers were anxious to become men before they had to storm ashore.

    Business had been booming. The girls had been working in shifts for the past week and rumors had it that the boom would end soon enough. Even as they made ready for another round, the house mothers walked up and down the hallway, handing out more rubbers (a requirement from the medical officers who were willing to turn a blind eye to brothels that would keep the men healthy enough) and ordering a few of the girls who had been with too many men to take a break. Replacements scurried from the canteen to the work rooms.

    Warring and whoring went together, and soon another whistle blew.
     
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    • fester

    dmg86 said:
    Finland is going to need to be careful not to be seen as taking too much advantage of the situation.
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    Finland can offer to do nothing instead of allowing a back door relief of the siege of Leningrad --- And if the cost of that relief is a wing of Hurricanes and a squadron or two of AeroCobras, that is cheap.
     

    ShortsBelfast

    Dathi THorfinnsson said:
    Meh. I suspect most of the ladies were lower priced than 'escorts'. Oh. You meant ships... ;):)
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    In the southern part of County Down up until the end of the 1990s or the early 2000s dwelt a highly disreputable elderly female who had been of negotiable affection in her younger days. She was locally known as the "pedaller" due to the American soldiers at Ballykinler camp concerned about the limitations imposed on their quality time with her due to the vagaries of wartime bus services in rural Northern Ireland clubbing together to buy her a bicycle.
     

    Draconis

    fester said:
    Singapore, April 10, 1943

    Most of the new customers were anxious to become men before they had to storm ashore.

    Business had been booming. The girls had been working in shifts for the past week and rumors had it that the boom would end soon enough. Even as they made ready for another round, the house mothers walked up and down the hallway, handing out more rubbers (a requirement from the medical officers who were willing to turn a blind eye to brothels that would keep the men healthy enough) and ordering a few of the girls who had been with too many men to take a break. Replacements scurried from the canteen to the work rooms.

    Warring and whoring went together, and soon another whistle blew.
    Click to expand...

    Everything about WW2 was efficiently run just like a production line.
     
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