The Foresight War

Well I finally got my copy yesterday.

Now all I have to do is read it and then I be able to amase all and sundry by my biased and ignorate interpretation of this fine work.:p

From what I've read so far I have a question Tony.

Were there any changes to the adoption of transistors?

With a POD of 1934 research should be well on the way to there development or even production by the start of the war.

Sorry but this is my latest bugbear of a long list of changes the might have had serious effects on how WWII could have been fought.:eek:
 
No, transistors aren't specifically mentioned (along with lots of other things - it isn't a very long book, after all!). The one electronics issue I do emphasise is the need for the UK to prepare for a substantial increase in electronic equipment both in terms of production capacity and in training enough specialised engineers before the war begins - this was a serious problem in OTL.

I hope you enjoy the book!

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
 
hey tony,

finally i have bought this book :) im gonna start reading right now....i wanna knock this one out tonight :p

i read the sample chapter a while back, cant wait :)
 
Why no 18inc guns for the RN tony if where in dons place i would of instisted on the RN to lay at least 2 or 3 BB ships? of 18inc guns and yes i do know that WIT is in froce. yes i knowing that the INJ goning is break it any way you may as well go ahead in 1934 and hang lawers .
 
17inc said:
Why no 18inc guns for the RN tony if where in dons place i would of instisted on the RN to lay at least 2 or 3 BB ships? of 18inc guns and yes i do know that WIT is in froce. yes i knowing that the INJ goning is break it any way you may as well go ahead in 1934 and hang lawers .

Apart from the political angles, I don't think they were needed. The 15" performed well enough, and was already available in quantity. By reusing existing armament, the cost and time saved enabled the new ships to be available much sooner and cleared the slipways for the carriers.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
 
Tony Williams said:
No, transistors aren't specifically mentioned (along with lots of other things - it isn't a very long book, after all!). The one electronics issue I do emphasise is the need for the UK to prepare for a substantial increase in electronic equipment both in terms of production capacity and in training enough specialised engineers before the war begins - this was a serious problem in OTL.

I hope you enjoy the book!

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum

I'm still slogging through it work and domestic pressures are eatup up my time.

But you'll love where I found your book "Rendezvous! The Romance Bookstore"
I only went in when I saw a science fiction book in the window.:eek: ;)

One thing that puzzels me is why did the Panther take so long to enter production and why with only an 88mm when both Germany and England were working on 105's?
It seems to me that the panther should have started production by 39 at the latest.

When I get time to finish your book I'll start tearing it to pieces.
 
Syphon said:
One thing that puzzels me is why did the Panther take so long to enter production and why with only an 88mm when both Germany and England were working on 105's? It seems to me that the panther should have started production by 39 at the latest.

For much the same reason that the British didn't immediately start producing something like the Centurion; they didn't think it would be needed, and smaller tanks were cheaper and easier to make. Don't forget that neither the British nor the German 'throwbacks' realised that they had opposite numbers - and would therefore be facing much more serious threats - until quite close to the war, too late to alter the initial equipment planning.

When I get time to finish your book I'll start tearing it to pieces.

'tis the fate of all such works :) What intrigues me is that although nearly all of the reviews and comments I have seen have been mostly favourable, they all find something to criticise or argue about - but it's always something different!

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
 

MrP

Banned
There's always something, eh, Tony? ;) Would you mind answering something that has intrigued me a bit? The war against Japan wasn't forestalled. Was this because you don't feel it could have been, or because the WWII Japanese gfovernment was a generally disreputable and dangerous beast or was there another reason? Thanks :)
 
MrP said:
There's always something, eh, Tony? ;) Would you mind answering something that has intrigued me a bit? The war against Japan wasn't forestalled. Was this because you don't feel it could have been, or because the WWII Japanese gfovernment was a generally disreputable and dangerous beast or was there another reason? Thanks :)

The overwhelming reason is that Britain wanted the Japanese to attack, so that the USA would be brought into the war. Otherwise the UK might have been left to fight Germany almost alone for much longer.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
 
Tony Williams said:
For much the same reason that the British didn't immediately start producing something like the Centurion; they didn't think it would be needed, and smaller tanks were cheaper and easier to make. Don't forget that neither the British nor the German 'throwbacks' realised that they had opposite numbers - and would therefore be facing much more serious threats - until quite close to the war, too late to alter the initial equipment planning.



'tis the fate of all such works :) What intrigues me is that although nearly all of the reviews and comments I have seen have been mostly favourable, they all find something to criticise or argue about - but it's always something different!

Tony Williams
Tony, Its what all of us to lazy to publish plebs do!:p
It's easier to criticise than actually write.:D
 
The Best is the Enemy of Good Enough

Tony Williams said:
Apart from the political angles, I don't think they were needed. The 15" performed well enough, and was already available in quantity. By reusing existing armament, the cost and time saved enabled the new ships to be available much sooner and cleared the slipways for the carriers.

-- yes, I liked that (and liked the book in general). You have to consider cost-effectiveness; is going for that last 5% of performance at the price of raising unit costs by 35% worth it?

After all, you don't just want an effective weapon; you want something that you can mass-produce in sufficient quantity, which the troops can learn to use effectively in a reasonable time, etc.

It would be an interesting post-war world; Britain much stronger, no USSR, etc.
 
Consequences:

For example, with no Cold War, and with Europe a lot less prostrate after the war, the US would probably not be involved in extrahemispheric politics to nearly the same extent; demobilization after the war would be more complete and US attention would be directed more towards Asia after the defeat of Japan.

Germany remains united and is a major world power. And German nationalism is not discredited by going down in flames with the Nazis; instead it (in the form of the German army) disposes of the Nazis and brings Germany out of the war if not triumphant then fairly successful and in a better position than it was in in 1939.

Hence the exaggerated pacifism and anti-militarism of our Germany's postwar period would not happen.

Ripple effects like that would extend all over Europe. No Greek civil war, for instance.

France would still have to worry about Germany a bit, unlike OTL, but not about Russia. It would probably make a more determined effort to hang onto its overseas possessions and would face somewhat weaker challenges there. Whether that would affect the outcome is a moot point.

In fact, all the European powers would be in a different position vs. a vs. anticolonial movements. First, they (Britain particularly) would be much stronger; second, they'd be much less hampered by the Cold War and by the Soviets supporting 'national liberation' movements.

Events throughout Asia also would be very different, mainly because the Japanese wouldn't be nearly so successful.

That in turn would mean a lot less upsetting of applecarts; the prestige of the colonial powers in general and Britain in particular would be much greater.

Instead of humiliating defeats and surrenders and a partial rescue by the US, the British stop the Japanese in their tracks and drive them back. The Japanese never get to the Dutch East Indies, IIRC, and don't occupy Malaysia and Burma. The course of decolonization would be different; slower, for starters.

Would there be a partition of India, for instance, or would it become independent as a unitary state and successor to the Raj?

And then there's the outcome of the Chinese civil war.

Worldwide, a lot depends on how much 'leaks out' about the original history. If the news gets out, people all over the world would be doing pre-emptive strikes on their future opponents, trying to kill them off before they can get started.
 
Thanks for that. A lot of people have been interested in the postwar implications, and have even asked if I'm doing a follow-up novel on 'what happened next'. The answer to that is no, but it's interesting to read the discussion.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
 
Got a question, exactly at what time does the time travelers arrive?

I know it is 1934, I just want to know the exact date, to the month and day.
 
IIRC its in the first or second page of the book ...

Now that this thread has been resurrected i must say: Very interesting book, Tony. I bought it 2 years ago and it was what gave me interest in Alternate History.

Although I think its a bit British biased ( who knows why, heh ), and even if I think is just a minor problem, it will be more interesting a more worldwide perspective, for example the tidbits you gave of the Konrad´s personality are very well done ( for a plot driven book ), and more explaining would be nice to read, and the soviet and US response to such technological, tactical and strategical advances from both UK and Germany would be interesting too.

The only two things that did not sound right to me were that the protagonist forgot about Philby and the other Cambridge Five for several years ... ( not impossible but strange ) and that the Foresight unilaterally decided that stopping Germany when concentrated with Poland was impossible, sure that after knowing about Konrad was logical, but before?

And just a curiosity why the Fw 187 instead of the Bf 110?

Anyway, excellent work, Mr Williams.
 
Thanks for your comments, I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

I decided to concentrate on the UK and Germany, as I didn't want to spread the net too wide and risk losing the focus of the book.

It is of course possible to debate all of the choices I made in the book - there are no right answers - but my take on the 1939 situation is that, even forewarned and forearmed, there was nothing that the UK could have done to stop Germany conquering Poland. At that time there were no UK troops on mainland Europe, and how would they have got them to Germany in time? By the time the troop and armour movements had been organised, agreed with the French (who were rather reluctant allies at that stage) and had taken place, Poland would have been history.

The Fw 187 was a high-performance interceptor, the Bf 110 was a multi-role plane which wasn't a lot of good at anything it did. It was best as a night-fighter, but even there the Ju 88 was probably superior.
 
Mr. Williams if your interested in taking a look, I done a few vehicles from the Foresight War and even the BSA. Not sure if they're anything close to what you had in mind but would love to hear what you think.

My Foresight War AFVs
 
What was the weather like?:)

Early rain, warm and sunny later. :D

I went to some lengths to check those facts which I could. My alternative D-day really was on the right date for the very high tide needed. And the weather around my D-day was exactly as described: I spent some time trawling through microfilms of contemporary newspapers, one of which always included a brief summary of what the weather had been like in the Channel the previous day. I realised that no-one would notice or care, but I did want to get it right!
 
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