RE: Letters from a Prime Minister

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1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/18/2015 3:59:47 AM)
From The Prime Minister to General Blamey re: Defences of Port Moresby Please supply the following as soon as possible Current man power Port Moresby State of defences main commanders there The state of the troops Are plans being made for support of the base, reinforcement of the place if, as planned, the initial Japanese landings (should they come at all) are rebuffed? I wish to give Winston the 1st Australian Division as well as the 6th, 7th. What is its state? How are plans for formation of our other divisions proceeding? I know you are busy, if you require further staff, please take them. (On a personal note.........I have almost had confirmation from the President that SW Pacific command will fall to you...Mac has made a botch of the Phillipines, and nobody, it seems , wants our area, "a poisoned chalice" I believe was the quote. I understand Porter is your point man at Port Moresby. I know him. SUPPORT HIM, I know you and him did not get on in Crete, but PLEASE, PLEASE do not allow personal feeling into this. I have enough on my plate with out personal squabbles Frank Ford

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/18/2015 4:04:10 AM)
Townsville A large pub Converted, at the moment, to HQ eastern Army Blamey turns to his staff officer. "So, really, just what available reserves do we have here, now that our last battalion has sailed?" 'None sir" "That's what I thought..........look, rustle up a reply to this damn letter from the PM, something along the lines....adequate numbers, good morale, you know. Heaven help us when Politicians actually get involved" "yes sir.ah, sir, in reality, what DO we do if the Japs besiege Port Moresby?" "What everyone is doing, I suppose, call the Americans for Help"

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/18/2015 4:21:44 AM)
Dec 19th from ABDA Command to All Commands Intelligence reports indicate that Invasion force for Palembang is in Kuching area and approaching. Force is supported by CV Kaga, 2, possibly 3 CVL, possibly 2 CVE, 2 battleships, multiple cruisers and destroyers. We have commenced landing substantial reinforcements Oosthaven Nothing, repeat, Nothing must allow these landings to be disrupted. The enemy are over confident. It is time to teach him a lesson, to break his will and moral Now is the time for all to exert all in battle ABDA

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/18/2015 4:24:37 AM)
The Japanese land a SNLF and considerable numbers of support troops at Singawang The garrison at Kuching, considerably reinforced, and at least 3 times as large as that single SNLF is put on standby. Let them come, smash them, then chase them all the way back to Singawang...... The real battle though, the battle for Palembang, begins.........

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/18/2015 4:29:38 AM)
SS sturgeon barely has to manoeuvre to effect the attack The sound of the screws is picked up and tracked early......multiple ships, big ones at that They will pass 1000 yards to the North. Her Skipper risks only one quick peek up the scope "battleship"....and makes a good attack 4 fish are fired (2 more fail to leave the tubes). 1 simply sinks , another goes God knows where. Another clangs quite distinctly against steel The lucky last, however, goes of with a satisfactory bang Battleship Haranua earns the unwanted distinction of the first successful American SS attack of the war. A small beginning But a beginning none the less

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/19/2015 6:56:44 AM)
Dec 19th dawn It brings a savage response from the Japanese A small battalion of Dutchmen begins to unload at Kuching. They are loaded on 4 old slow transports. Defence, a few machine guns. CV Kaga and her consorts are but 80 miles away, and send a strike far heavier than needed. Few, very few Dutchmen will make the beach alive. War is brutal. Allied response, almost chilling in its coldness "Confirm immediately the estimated number of Torpedoes expended in the attack"

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/19/2015 7:02:52 AM)
Bridge Battleship Prince of Wales "Tom, Tom thumb" to his friends views the ships joining him with satisfaction CA Boise, barrels still black, 4 of those little 4 stackers......useful additions for a task force desperately short of escorts. They cleave the Indian ocean swell, fighting fit, it seems...... 'Signal from the Boise sir" "Yes, lets have it" 'We are fully ammunitioned, fully fuelled.........." the signal man pauses........"are we going to piss about, or are we going to fight" "Americans, love em....." "Send a reply please......Follow me,...I assure you the party will be lively enough" "Navigator......course for Oostenhaven please, I want to be there by dawn"

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/19/2015 7:35:28 AM)
20th December The Indians are coming. At Oostenhaven, desperate risks are being taken The docks simply are not large enough, yet they must be made so. Two deep, three deep, the transports rub against each other, against the wharf. The Chaos is intensified by the rain. A large depression is moving across southern Sumutra towards Singapore It is not a typhoon.......yet. But the rain tumbling from it may as well come from one. From the transports lines of miserable men are hustled across the wharves, and directly onto flat bed rail cars. This first train, quite possibly, is the most important train of the decade It must, simply must, get the Indians to Palembang, before the damn nips arrive There is no protection for the transports. Not a single warship. Not one Admiral Doorman is not going to wait for the hammer to fall If its Dutch, if it floats, if it carries a weapon no matter how small, its charging North.......

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/19/2015 8:03:35 AM)
Jack Ford(Bluey) disembarks from his train. Flinders street station is cold, wind swept, miserable But isn't Melbourne always like that? Its 12 hours before the next train to Sydney Young and Jacksons with her world famous (if you're an Aussie) nude painting of Chloe will do for the day.... Jason Ford, Brigade Commander in the 7th Division, sweats. The small cabin is an oven, the red sea is like a warm bath. Before him, requisition forms. The 7th is fitted with desert khaki. And a fat lot of good that would be in the Jungles of Burma....... Jason Ford also battles requisition forms Destroyer Napier also is due to head East. It will be a long trip Gibraltar is stores heaven. So, if there is even the remotest chance Napier might need it, he's going to try and get it. Jeffery Ford views Cairns with distaste. Distaste because its the only way to respond to being refused shore leave. Better to think you have missed Nothing. Westralia, apparently, has new orders.... In Sydney, 16 year old Margaret faces reality. A second period missed. What in the world will she do? She knows so little about this Jeffery ford........maybe she should do something about that first of all. After a long Empire flight, Blamey occupies a guest house in Port Moresby, and considers with some Justification, that the defences here are now becoming more than a mere speed bump. Staff officer Jackson frets on the Enterprise, for days now they have marked time, waiting for the Saratoga, and now, even worse, for the tankers The middle of no where, and fuel becoming critical. And its HIS job The war is exploding, yet the Australian Government does what only her politicians could think of doing They disperse across the country for Christmas holidays.........

LargeSlowTarget -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/19/2015 4:47:49 PM)
So, Sturgeon no longer virgin - and neither is Margaret. Riveting AAR - subscribed.

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/20/2015 9:18:51 AM)
Admiral Doorman charges North. Blindly. The rain is simply incredible......the sheeting monsoonal dumping that only a tropical depression can deliver. CL De Ryuter, 5 dutch DDs, line ahead, the blind leading the blind, groping north. The three Mogami class, the CL, the 12 destroyers that share this wet world are not sighted until the range is 1000 yards , or even less. Doorman dies on his bridge 3 long lances, a storm of shells. The Japanese vanish, the three remaining dutch destroyers stumble on Lesson one, the japs are good, quick and good............. They also have torpedo reloads 16 minutes later, the second dutch task force blunders into the killing field Do they see the fish? Who knows?, there will be none to tell the tell CL Java, 2 Destroyers, long lanced in turn And Tromp will steam on, lost in this grey blanket of death........ A blanket settling rapidly over the allied cause.

Lowpe -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/20/2015 1:18:30 PM)
I am really enjoying your Leadership in this game.[&o][&o]

Lecivius -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/20/2015 2:21:48 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Lowpe I am really enjoying your Leadership in this game.[&o][&o] Aye, I really enjoy your AAR's [;)]

kaleun -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/20/2015 8:49:16 PM)
quote: quote: ORIGINAL: Lowpe I am really enjoying your Leadership in this game. Aye, I really enjoy your AAR's +3

zuluhour -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/20/2015 9:24:15 PM)
I've had better luck with the Dutch than RN, I hope they got some licks in.

BBfanboy -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/20/2015 10:26:21 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: zuluhour I've had better luck with the Dutch than RN, I hope they got some licks in. They have already served as torpedo magnets - it will be up to Tom Thumb's squadron to show those Japanese CAs that the British and Americans can fight night actions too. [sm=innocent0001.gif]

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/21/2015 9:30:05 AM)
The Prime Ministers Office Parliament house Canberra 10 PM Frank Ford is clearing the last of his paperwork from his desk, when the door rings with a solid knock "Busy?" A tall, sunburnt thin man, head shining bald peers around the corner, a bright smile on his face "Ah, Tony!. Come on in" The Leader of the Opposition rambles in. This is no random description. Tony never seems to move fast, here in the parliament, or down South near Warrnambool on his farm, but that uncoordinated walk covers ground surprisingly quickly "Drink?" ""Drier than a Sao my friend, got any of that Scotch?" He takes the proffered drink 'Plans for Christmas Frank?" The Prime Minister hesitates. he would like to head for the coast with Susan, but......... But did he really want to spend a week alone with her...really? If only Janet was still with them. "I am not sure.....all four sons are away......" 'Oh....even Jeffery?" "Even Jeffery?" A heavy silence descends, both men in this office know all about Jeffery. Tony moves to a safer topic, the two sons from Franks first marriage, the older boys, born in happy times to that happy woman (rest her soul) so many years ago. 'Jason is enroute to Burma with the 7th, and Johns on the Napier.......when I will ever see them I have no idea" 'So you are sending the 7th to Burma?" The glass near Franks lips pauses "Please Tony, politics now?......its Christmas, and I have promised Winston' Tony merely shakes his head. No, this is not the time. later, but not now Frank see's the shake "relax mate, I am told the 18th div is enroute...that's a full corp , I think we can even recover the Malaya set back.........you wait and see' Tony does not answer, this conversation troubles him too much already he finishes his drink 'Have a good one Frank........."

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/21/2015 9:40:09 AM)
21/12/41 HMAS Canberra HMAS Australia Captain Getting in Command A fine man Fine ships An enemy invasion convoy near Lae, PNG A brutal action 1100 Japanese drowned, 8 ships sunk. A fine action indeed The two cruisers retire for Sydney.

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/21/2015 9:46:38 AM)
The First Japanese invasion convoy for Palembang is attacked by a Dutch SS 5 destroyers, 5 AK, escorts. There is another smaller one coming too They must be stopped, the Indians are still packing....... The allies commit all. A rolling series of Naval actions, the battle of the north java sea, begins.

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/22/2015 9:11:57 AM)
It is still raining Still raining hard From Batavia to almost Kuching, the weather is effectively socked in But to the North of Palembang, the area south of Singapore, clear, the front , moving Northwest, has yet to reach there. The rain is heaviest in the channel between Sumutra and the island of Bangka. 120 miles of narrow deadly waters between Muntok in the north, Toboali in the south. Deadly waters, reefs, madness to navigate In this weather, all but suicidal The allies, many of them, will try. Even as the Japanese attempt to approach Palembang, the shortcut is forced. CL Dragon tries 3 Japanese destroyers lie in wait Long lances..you know the rest.................... Prince of wales, the Boise force the passage south of Oosthaven, head due east. They will spend much of the day blindly searching in Visibility that never barely exceeds 2000 yards. Maybe, considering, this becomes a good thing Kaga, and her chicks, are just 90 miles away Totally socked in too But, but.......allied Dutch Bombers have her position pinned to a metre.

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/22/2015 9:28:51 AM)
Dusk Admiral Tom Thumb stares at his Communications officer hard "Are we sure?" "Absolutely sir. His kates have made multiple attacks on shipping near Oostenhaven, destroyers, lots and lots of bombs, no fish" "None?" "None sir.....the count says he has expended all he has got" The Admiral stares at the chart It is covered in pins. To his East.......the kaga.....undoubtably. To the North of Palembang......invasion convoys Enemy ships in the short cut Bombers, apparently moving into Sambewang....... But there are other pins, friendly pins Hermes......coming North, with her cruisers The Indian troop ships...... The Dutch PTs, his destroyer task forces And its still raining. The Orders almost come unbidden "Herme's to come north.........we will hunt here, here, and here.......send the destroyers up the short cut......" I will stop these barsteds. I will, I will, I will............or die trying

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/22/2015 9:30:55 AM)
Mutsu, Nagato cover invasion Kendari. Tarakan is lost

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/22/2015 9:44:48 AM)
from ABDA to Prime Minister Australia Appreciation battle for Palembang hangs in balance 44, 45, 46th Indian Brigades unloading Oostenhaven, or loading for transport to Palembang. 18th Div has entered strategic area, enroute. Malaya 22 brigade holds mersing. 2 Enemy Divs to North, one making for Kuala Lumpour. North looks promising Enemy does not seem aware of our advance towards Singora and patanai Nor is there any movement towards Temolah. Geargetown will become our base. Even if Singapore falls, japan will be forced to choose, send divisions North, or use against Palembang. Anything that delays enemy will buy time for 1st Aust corps. Enemy tactics Enemy is using fast transports to grab what he can But, and this is important, seems to have little back up if un expected resistance is found Finding the Indians at Palembang will disrupt his plans Finally I cannot promise holding the DEI's, but what I can do is this, promise that what Japan takes will be nothing but ashes.........and no oil if I can have my way. ABDA

AllenK -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/22/2015 7:40:33 PM)
Great stuff. Shaping up to be another epic.

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/24/2015 2:46:53 AM)
22 December 1941 Lt Jackson takes the expected signal, and rushes to the bridge "Admiral!' Scowling, the Admiral turns to him "Are we killing japs Jackson, or still &^%$#ing about in the middle of nowhere?" Jackson swallows 'Good news sir, two tankers will be with us in 2 days. Saratoga in 3. We can then proceed to Suva, there is plenty of fuel there" "I bloody hope so" They are running on empty, them, the destroyers, everyone In fact, not enough fuel to reach anywhere.......... They need those tankers Jackson turns to go "Anything from Signals on the Jap carriers?" 'Nothing sir, not a thing" They could be any bloody where.

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/24/2015 2:56:02 AM)
22 December "the Short cut" 3 Japanese destroyers, flush with victory from yesterday charge south. They encounter no less than 9 AMc class patrol vessels. Murder occurs. But if they have been tasked to protect the invasion convoys, they have failed 20 miles out of Palembang, a confused action is occurring. In the dark, in the rain, the little boys are taking on the big un's...and winning 6 Dutch PT boats cover themselves in glory, slotting 2 large AKs with fish. 2 are lost dodging the defending destroyers It is, remember, dark. It is raining. In the minds of Japanese merchant men, the seas are alive with enemy ships. The invasion convoy, no, both invasion convoys, turn about, and retire. Palembang will tonight receive more troops. Allied, not Japanese.

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/24/2015 3:08:29 AM)
0900 hrs Prince of Wales The reports coming in have been confusing, disjointed Encouraging. Depressing There has been a series of engagements in "the shortcut" CL Ceres is retiring, her opponents r, 3 DDs, reported burning. The Dutch seem to have done well The American 4 stackers also report those same destroyers. The rain is breaking up, dispersing , patches of sun. Around them, the seas are empty. Missed. Obviously, during the night, they have missed. Would it hurt? Soon to find out, undoubtedly. And then, it all gets very busy. "Message sir........enemy carriers sighted east of Letapang...course South" CL Ceres reports 'am engaging 5 destroyers' CVL Hermes reports "am launching strike" But from Boise, 20 miles ahead "Enemy aircraft, your way" Well, you fail to pay the piper, he will want a price. Tom Thumb reluctantly places his yet to be finished cup of tea into his stewards hands. "I hope Guns, our torpedo counting has been good......Captain, Full ahead when you are ready, general course North, but fight her as you please"

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/24/2015 3:13:44 AM)
The war in China is not going to plan Chinese Troops take Foochow on the southern coast. Inchang is retaken A whole Japanese division finds itself trapped at Changten with the loss of Inchang And the Changsha offensive fails to take the city And everywhere east of there, it seems small companies of chines troops are fanning out, cutting roads, creating chaos. No, China, is not going to plan

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/24/2015 3:20:46 AM)
From POTUS to Prime Minister Australia Frank Just a quick appreciation and update. The Japanese carriers, my Admirals seem to think, are loitering north east of pearl harbour, hoping I would think, to catch crippled Battleships returning to the mainland. We, of course, are having none of that. But, this, of course, effects our convoys to you and the south west area. With Japanese ships running riot in the pacific, I am afraid that we will have to route our convoys via the Atlantic /Indian ocean route. Painful, I know, but with our current escort shortage, the only thing we can do. My Admirals think Pearl itself is under threat. I will coldly say this. The war is going to be a long one. Pearl harbour produces no oil, no fuel Palembang does, Java does. So I still support plan 1. I salute your efforts so far. We, of course, are facing the task of mobilising the might of this Nation. Rest assured, when it is realised, Japan will be ground to dust.... POTUS

1275psi -> RE: Letters from a Prime Minister (10/24/2015 3:23:57 AM)
From Prime Ministers Office to The Admiralty Fully support plan to concentrate Australian station vessels Auckland. Can we spare (say the Adelaide) for a visit to our Vichy French friends at Noumea? If French un co operative, do we have any forces we can spare 'to make them co operative?" Ford

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