WesWorld

[SIZE=3]Summary[/SIZE]

January 1
The French Navy held an 'open ship' event today at the naval base of Toulon, allowing civilians to tour the aircraft carrier Clemenceau. France's oldest carrier is scheduled for retirement soon as newer carriers have been constructed to take it's place. The ship has largely served as an aircraft transport, moving large aircraft between French outposts abroad.

January 3
The Armee de l'Aire has started to conduct an evaluation of Societie Dassault's performance as the managing partner of Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Indochine (AIAI) and Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Alger (AIAA). The evaluation, which will be completed on January 31st, will determine whether or not Societie Dassault will continue to manage the two companies, created to produce Air Force assets abroad. Dassault acquired the management of both firms last year when the company acquired all assets of Loire-Nieuport, the previous managing partner. Since the merger, Bloch has started to assemble MB.1052 fighters in AIAI's Saigon factory, using parts imported from France.

January 4
Foreign Minister Murail left Paris today, beginning a week-long state visit to meet with Syrian president Shukri al-Quatli in Damascus. Economic development issues are believed to be the primary topic of discussion.

January 5 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: in the editorial section, commenters supported plans put forward by the French leftist parties to spend 7.2 million francs to connect the railways of French West Afrique.

January 7 - Science et Vie
The Centre d'Essais en Vol has accepted for trials the new Dewoitine D.800 Flèche, the first French fighter aircraft designed to be powered by a turbojet engine. The Flèche, designed by Emil Dewoitine, is powered by a centrifugal Rateau A.62 turbojet, a heavily-modified version of the A.60 turbojet used in the Bloch MB.1000 Triton, which flew last year. ONERA intends to schedule the Flèche for a first flight sometime in February. Dewoitine hopes that the aircraft will achieve a speed of 850 km/hr. 1944 may prove to be a major year for French aviation, as the nation intends to host the second Les chevaliers du ciel event in August.

January 8
The cruisers Duquesne and Gloire departed the port of Brest to conduct exercises in the Atlantic Ocean, after which point they will make a call at the Iberian port of Cadiz.

January 11
Foreign Minister Murail returned today from Damascus, where he discussed economic development issues with Syrian president Shukri al-Quatli. The Foreign Minister and President al-Quatli signed an agreement paving the way for the formation of a joint oil exploration team.

January 12
In remarks made to a breakfast meeting of the French Railway Association, President Theisman commented on a proposal by the French leftist parties to spend 7.2 million francs to connect the railways of French West Afrique. "The proposal understates the ease of building such a railway across the proposed terrain," the president said. "The government is highly interested in investing in such a railway project and is developing its own proposal, which will be presented to Parliament in the next few months."

January 14
Cruisers Duquesne and Gloire arrived in the port of Cadiz, where they were welcomed by the Iberian Navy. The cruisers will depart on the 21st following a week-long port call.

January 15
Former French minister of national education Jules Bernard was charged today with accepting illegal campaign donations for his anticipated bid for the French presidency.

January 17
French Parliament has voted to establish the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA). This body will investigate aircraft accidents in France, if necessary working with other bodies elsewhere in the world.

January 18
Preparations for the turnover of Tchad to the British Empire, and France's acceptance of the Togo mandate and full ownership of the New Hebrides, are currently underway. Rumors indicate that President Theisman will travel to Lome for the transfer ceremonies, while Foreign Minister Murail will go to N'Djammena.

January 19 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: In this week's column with leaks from the French government, the paper discusses rumors that the French government intends to follow a plan similar to that currently used in Indochina in regards to the mandate of Togo and Leban.

January 21
The cruisers Duquesne and Gloire have left the port of Cadiz following a week-long port call. According to a spokesman for the Marine Nationale, the visit was highly successful in establishing new contacts and partnerships within the Iberian Navy.

January 22
Sailing today with the liner Pasteur for South America are ten men delivering supplies, primarily medical gear, to the earthquake-hit Argentine city of San Juan.

January 24
The Syrian government announced today that they were seeking the purchase of twenty-five single-seat Soko Orao fighters from Yugoslavia, as well as five two-seat trainers.

January 25
The cruisers Duquesne and Gloire returned to the port of Brest today after a lengthy series of exercises and port calls along the Atlantic coast.

January 26 - e Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: "While French colonial officials play up the coming re-adjustment in the overseas territories, how many millions still abide in poverty, not only in those very colonies, but here in enlightened Europe?"

January 27
President Theisman departed today for Lome, Togo.

January 30
In official ceremonies held today in N'Djammena, Lome, and Port Vila, France and Britain transferred control of several territories, as agreed last year. The former French colony of Tchad is now transferred to the British Empire, while France takes up the Togoland Mandate as well as full control of the former Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides.

President Theisman, speaking at the handover ceremony in Lome, announced that the French government intended to invest strongly in infrastructure and educational initiatives within Togo, based on the model practiced in Syria and Indochina.

February 1
The submarine tender Jules Verne arrived today in the port of Mumbai, where she begins a week-long call in one of the premier Indian port cities.

February 2 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: In this week's editorials, writers express criticism of American 'dollar diplomacy' in regards to the massive US government donation extended in response to Argentina's San Juan earthquake.

February 3
Two more new Fantassin-class infantry landing craft have been launched yesterday from La Rochelle. These cunningly-designed light craft continue to demonstrate the increasing scope and capacity of the modern French naval forces.

February 7
The weeklong Concours général agricole opened today in Paris. Among the displays are a new breed of wheat being developed in Algeria by American scientists Norman Borlaug and John Niederhauser. Also on display is a fertilizer and pesticide application aircraft developed by a local French entrepreneur.

February 8
Lieutenant Wenceslas Voisin and Lieutenant Claude Nicolas Hennequin return to print in the second edition of Voisin et Hennequin. In this second issue, Hennequin's MS.406 fighter is downed in the mountains due to sabotage, and he falls into the hands of the Galila el-Hakim's band of rebel tribesmen. As Hennequin tries to escape captivity, Voisin tries to find both his friend and the mysterious saboteur who is crippling the French war planes.

February 9
Managing Director A. R. Pechiney announced today that the Société des Produits Chimiques d'Alais et de la Camargue will be investing in the development of several new bauxite mines and aluminium smelters in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The new mines and smelters will help to meet the rising demand for aluminium in South American industry, and may even produce aluminium for export by 1947.

February 10
The French sail-training ship Belle Poule departed Port Vila in the Nouvelles-Hébrides islands today, bound for Suva in Fidji. The sail-training ship, with sixty cadets from the French naval academy aboard, was present in the Nouvelles-Hébrides for the ceremonies marking the end of the Franco-British condominium there.

February 11
The first purpose-designed French jet-powered fighter, the Dewoitine D.800 Flèche, had its first flight today at ONERA's CEV testing facilities.

February 14
The French Socialist Party, supported by centrist members of the Alliance Republicaine, passed a bill today calling for the creation of a League of Nations Humanitarian Air Service. In remarks to the press, President Theisman indicated he did not believe the proposal would be a good use of fiscal resources, but would probably sign the bill anyway.

February 15
With the creation of the French overseas territory of Togoland has come the creation of many new entities, including military and police forces to protect the territory, reunited for the first time since 1917. Ground was broken on the construction of the newly-planned University of Lomé, which expects to induct its first class of students in August or September of this year. The University of Lomé will focus on training a new generation of civic leaders, businessmen, and educators. Meanwhile, the French Army has created a new Régiment de Tirailleurs Sénégalais du Togo for the land defense of the region. The Regiment will report to the governor in Lomé. Naval and Air Force protection is not yet arranged, but the Armee de l'Aire indicated a local patrol-counterinsurgency escadrille would be established before the end of the year.

February 16 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: In this week's editorials, leftist author Georges Bertrand de la Sarre criticizes President Theisman's administration for not speaking out on the Dalmatia-Slovenia issue. "The Italians desire to buy off the people of those territories with citizenship, but Rome has yet to offer what Dalmatians and Slovenians may truly want - a referendum."

February 17
The colonial administration has approved plans for the construction of a hydroelectric dam on Côte d'Ivoire's Bandama River, near Yamoussoukro. The dam will create a body of water to be named Lake Kossou. Construction will begin in September and complete in September of 1947. This dam will provide electrical power to the city of Yamoussoukro, which even ten years ago was a small village with a low population. Now Yamoussoukro is growing, having doubled in population every single year since 1938, rivalling Niamey as one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.

February 18
The Armee de l'Aire published their report on Societie Dassault's operation of the government-owned Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Indochine (AIAI) and Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Alger (AIAA) aircraft plants. According to the report, Dassault has earned a 'satisfactory' grade, resulting in their operation contract to be extended until the end of 1945, when the contract will be re-negotiated following the Indochina Plebiscite. According to the report, over the course of 1943 AIAI constructed fifty-six Épouvantail counter-insurgency aircraft, seventy-nine Dassault MB.1050 Milan fighters, and eighteen LN.180 biplane trainers. AIAA constructed onlu thirty-two Épouvantails during the same period, but conducted extensive maintenance work on over nine hundred aircraft of the Armee de l'Aire.

February 20 - Shortwave Radio
*A calm female voice speaks.*
"Dix-neuf, douze, six, quatre, douze, quatre, neuf, quatre, quatre, cinq, douze, dix-neuf."
*Frère Jacques plays.*

February 21
Airship Méditerranée, once part of the Le Dirigeable française Tranportation Entreprise fleet, was retired today following an extended period of falling traffic and fiscal uncertainty. The French airship line, once six dirigibles strong, was virtually put out of business by Air France with the introduction of transatlantic passenger service to New York and Cleito. The last stronghold of DFTE is the Paris-to-Saigon route, flown with two dirigibles via Djibouti, which no airliner yet has mastered. With the fading of the company, the Méditerranée has been turned over to the Aeronavale to settle debts.

February 22 - Le Temps
Breguet-Nord acknowledged today that it was engaged in the design of a single-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber, to be powered by turbojet engines. The aircraft is expected to fly before May 1945.

February 24
Noted French cinema director Aimé Clariond began filming the movie Napoléon today. It will be one of the largest movies of its type produced in France.

February 25
Construction began today on the first of a series of breakwaters designed to turn the small port of Tema, Côte-de-l'Or, into the largest manmade harbor in Africa. The project will take approximately seven years to complete in its entirety, although an initial stage shall be finished in 1947.

February 28
The submarine Calypso was launched today in La Rochelle.

February 29
A construction accident at the site of the Hoa Binh hydroelectric dam in the Hoa Binh province of Indochina resulted in the uncontrolled release of several thousand cubic meters of water stored behind a temporary retaining dam. Three construction workers were critically injured and several dozen others suffered milder injuries. The construction company was unavailable for comment at press time, but local government spokesmen stated that the construction of the rockfill dam itself would not be strongly affected.

March 1
The new destroyer Duperré was laid down today in La Rochelle. The eighth ship in the Forbin or T43 destroyer class, Duperré commemorates one of the greatest, but also one of the least well-known, naval commanders of French history.

March 2
The Institut des hautes études cinématographiques was officially established today in Paris. Filmmaker Marcel L'Herbier will be the institute's first president.

March 3
The Manufacture de Machines du Haut-Rhin (Manurhin) company has announced the purchase of a license for the German Mauser G-11 rifle. The weapon, to be produced in 6.5mmx51 FAR, will equip the French paratroops and the Legion Etranger.

March 4
The Paris-Nice "Race to the Sun" bicycle race opened today in Paris.

March 6
Sous-Lieutenant Gustave Remy and his survey expedition has returned from the Mount Nimba region of Guinea. The sous-lieutenant was conducting extensive surveys of the region, which is under consideration by the French parliament for the creation of a nature preserve.

March 7
Lioré et Olivier has received a contract from the French military to design and construct an unspecified number of models of a new ramjet testbed, to be dubbed the LeO-620, in conjunction with Fonderie de Ruelle. This research project is intended to help assess the use of ramjet-powered vehicles in the interception of high-flying bombers.

March 8 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: In this week's satirical cartoons, the French leftists challenge the center-right government to offer further support to Yugoslavian Unionists.

March 9
Construction on the Kossou Dam on the Bandara River in Cote d'Ivoire began today.

March 10
The Marine Nationale confirmed an order for four more Forbin-class contre-torpilleurs, to be named Indomptable, Tonnant, Infatigable, and Inébranlable. The first of this quartet of ships will be laid down in May. In other naval news, the Marine Nationale is debating whether or not to rebuild or dispose of the nine remaining Audaciaux-class destroyers, currently in the port of Brest in reserve.

March 13
The cruiser Temeraire and the frigate Tran Nhat Duat departed today for a port visit to Japan, followed by Vladivostok.

March 14
Three tank prototypes were paraded today before the staff of the Arme blindée cavalerie (Armoured Cavalry Branch) at Saumer. Read more...

March 15 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: in the editorial section, authors commented on the recently confirmed plans by the German Army for a draw-down of forces.

March 17
The Société d'Exploitation Minière de Fidji was established today to open copper mining in the Namosi Province of the Viti Levu island of Fidji. The company plans to build a mine at Waisoi, which is believed to have significant copper deposits.

March 18
The cruiser Temeraire and the Indochinese training frigate Tran Nhat Duat arrived at Edo, Japan today for the start of a port visit.

March 20
President Theisman unveiled a proposal today to construct a new meter-gauge railway connection between Bamako, the easternmost point of the Dakar-Niger Railway, and Bobo-Dioulasso, a town on the Abidjan-Ouagadougou Railway; a second line will link Kankan and Bamako. If approved, the 7.9 million franc project will link the three meter-gauge railways of French West Africa by 1948.

March 21
The Azalai, the great Tuareg salt caravan, started today from Taoudenni, bound for Timbuktu and the river ports of French Soudan (Mali). With an estimated four thousand camels, this azalai is one of the largest spring caravans organized within the last five years. Last year, a combination of both nomadic raiders and infighting resulted in the deaths of nearly a dozen Toureg nomads. This year, the French Army has dispatched three Panhard armoured cars and several platoons of infantry to help deal with desert raiders.

March 23
Following the transfer of Tchad to Great Britain, the French Navy has received several comments from Parliamentary sources about the French cruiser Chari, which is named after the largest river in Tchad. The French Navy has determined to rename the vessel Bruix, after a noted historical admiral.

March 24
François de Grossouvre, founder of the Générale Sucrière, has acquired the exclusive rights to bottle and distribute the Coca-Cola brand in Europe, in conjunction with partners Gilbert Beaujolin and Alexandre Patty. The popular American drink will be distributed by Société parisienne de boissons gazeuses and the Glacières de Paris.

March 25
Moviemaker Charles André Boyer released today a new one and a half hour documentary, Des Deux Mers, about the construction of the Canal du Midi in the 1600s.

March 27
Alsthom-SACM announced that they have received an order for the construction of thirty-five new 1000hp diesel-electric locomotives for use on the Algerian railway system. These will be license-built versions of the ALCo RS-1 diesel-electric locomotive, albeit powered by Alsthom's own MD.12/108 diesel engine.

March 28
The Arsenal VG.640 Graoully jet fighter began taxi trials at CEV today. Henri Ziegler, the CEV's assistant director, revealed that the aircraft would begin flight testing sometime in the next few weeks.

March 30
The heavy cruisers Jean Bart and Jeanne d'Arc were completed today and handed over to the Navy for acceptance trials.

[SIZE=3]Leaving Tocopilla: A Study in Defeat[/SIZE]
by Capt. Marcel Alphonse Fouroux
Article from Le Spectateur militaire.

As the destroyer Almirante Lynch turned westward into the Pacific Ocean and her guns fell silent, Capitan de Fragata Horatio Tilgher stood on her bridge and looked down at the deck of his crowded ship. The deck of his destroyer was crammed with two hundred mountain troops and another hundred and fifty civilians from the city of Tocopilla. Back on the shore, the Bolivian Army moved in to occupy the town. It was the second major Chilean city that had fallen to invasion in three weeks.

In 1932, the Bolivian First Army under Raúl Angelo Quiroga had advanced into Chile's Antofagasta Province, following the route of the FCAB railway. The outnumbered Chilean defenders of Antofagasta, the city and the province, fought a valiant but losing battle against the Bolivian invaders; but the Chilean Army, under Commander-in-Chief Sanfuentes, had been taken by surprise by the invasion. General Sanfuentes had refused to allow the Chilean Navy to evacuate Antofagasta, declaring that it could 'hold out indefinitely against the enemy attack.' But on June 10th, seven thousand men surrendered in the city of Antofagasta, and Bolivia realized their war aims of reaching the sea. Chile was cut in two.

For the Republic of Chile, the outcome of the campaign was nothing less than a disaster. Before the start of the war, the Ejercito de Chile numbered only forty-five thousand men. In the months leading to the loss on the city of Antofagasta, four thousand men had been killed or captured by the Bolivians. When the city fell, another seven thousand men came into enemy hands. Of the pre-war army, one in four men had been killed or captured in six months. Their fourth-largest city, and the rich copper and nitrate-producing regions, had been lost. Several foreign governments extended quiet offers to the Chilean government to help negotiate a peace with Bolivia.

As the nation reeled, General Sanfuentes was sacked and replaced by General Ricardo Larrain, a man of a different caliber than his predecessor. Larrain had to answer the hard questions brought forward by the politicians while still dealing with the realities of the war. The Bolivian Army did not stop their operations in order to give him breathing room. On June 18th, Larrain met with the senior field commanders of Army, Navy, and Air Force at the town of Taltal, where he laid out his strategy for turning defeat into victory.

To reach the conference, General Mathias Aravena, commander of the Army of the North, boarded the destroyer Almirante Lynch in the port town of Iquique. Sailing south, the Lynch dodged an attack by Bolivian aircraft in order to deliver the general to the conference. Aravena's presence was necessary: the Army of the North had fended off a halfhearted attempt to take Iquique and Arica, and they were now encircled in the north, supplied only by sea. Aravena brought news of Bolivian operations on the 'northern flank': Bolivian General Cusincanqui had started toward the port of Tocopilla with the 2nd Bolivian Division, a force which outnumbered the entire Chilean Army of the North. Defending Tocopilla were four hundred and ninety-seven men of the 12th Infantry Battalion (Mountain).

The Defeated
The 12th Infantry Battalion had been on the front lines of the defenders of Antofagasta Province during the invasion. Once nine hundred men strong, they had suffered terrible attrition in the battles in the Andes and the Atacama. They'd lost fully a third of their men escaping from near-encirclement on Cerro Palpana on the second day of the war. The battalion's beloved lieutenant colonel, Manuel José Palacios, had been wounded by artillery fire in February, and had been captured when the battalion's hospital was overrun by the Bolivians. There was no replacement, and the battalion executive officer, Major Claudio Bennett, was killed in action two weeks later. The company commanders were killed, and without replacements, command of the battalion devolved on Captain Adolf Guissen. An immigrant to Chile, Guissen had fought for the German Army in the Great War. Guissen's tactical skill had been sufficient to extricate the 12th Battalion from no fewer than five desperate battles where the battalions on both flanks of the 12th had been destroyed in their entirety.

For six months, the 12th had fought and retreated. By June, at half-strength, Guissen's tired men found themselves with their backs to the sea, at Tocopilla. Taking a survey of his men, Captain Guissen reported that they subsisted on nine hundred calories per day. The battalion had lost their mortars at Cerro Palpana - the llamas used to tow them were eaten - and they had an average of only five rifle rounds per man. They had no chance of defending the town against Cusincanqui's ten thousand Bolivians.

Though the desperate state of the 12th Battalion was not known to General Larrain or General Aravena, both commanders knew the battalion was still in grave danger. The Chilean reserves were still being called up and organized, and there were no men to send as reinforcements to defend the port. The Bolivians were moving slowly due to their supply situation, and Cusincanqui was known to be one of the more slothful Bolivian commanders. His slow approach gave Larrain time to take action. In the conference at Taltal, Larrain listed to Aravena's report. Turning to his naval commander, Contrealmirante Vincente Foxley, Larrain asked what the Navy had available. "Can you get them out?"

"General, we'll do it," Foxley replied.

In the Hands of the Navy
After returning General Aravena back to Iquique, Capitan de Fragata Tilgher pointed the bows of his destroyer back southward. A chartered merchant ship, the Condor, was charted with steaming to Tocopilla and rescuing the remains of the 12th Battalion. The Almirante Lynch would escort the steamer and assist as far as they were able. Little was expected of the destroyer, aside from her services as an escort.

The Lynch and the Condor arrived off Tocopilla in the wee hours of June 23rd, and Capitan Tilgher went ashore in his boat to begin arranging for the withdrawal of the 12th Battalion. He was stunned to get his first glimpse of the mountain troops. "They stood watching me with vacant eyes and downcast expressions. Every man was haggard beyond belief. None had shaved in weeks or months, and their beards had grown long even as they had grown thin and gaunt. Their uniforms had devolved into scraps, and grime covered them from head to foot." Expecting to meet a colonel, Tilgher instead found himself dealing with a captain. "We've come to take you to Iquique," Tilgher informed Guissen.

"At that moment," Tilgher later related in an interview, "The town's bells began ringing as the aircraft spotter saw Bolivian aircraft. Three Bolivian biplane bombers flew over the town and dropped their bombs on the ship. The Lynch opened fire with her machine guns and main gun, knocking one down. But then a plume of smoke rose over the Condor."

The Bolivian flyers had dropped only two fifty-kilogram bombs, but one of the bombs had plunged into the side of the steamer, hitting her engine rooms. The ship sank in twenty-nine minutes with the loss of six men from her crew of thirty-nine. The men of the 12th Battalion lined up on the shore and watched in dead silence as their salvation slowly turned onto her starboard side and went under the ocean.

Tilgher, returning to the Almirante Lynch, felt much the same dejection of the troops ashore, but he determined to defy the despair. Radioing a call to Contrealmirante Foxley, Tilgher moved his destroyer up to the pier and began making preparations to bring the men aboard the destroyer. To his surprise, the troops did not start lining up. Guissen came to the pier to explain the difficulty. "There are civilians here who want to leave. Will you take them?"

Evacuation
By noon on the 25th, Captain Tilgher had organized the evacuation of Tocopilla. Nearly two thousand of the town's civilians decided to flee, and Tilgher, supported by Guissen, organized them into groups. The Lynch's sistership, the Almirante Riveros, arrived on the morning of the 25th and took on four hundred civilians, sailing later in the day for Iquique. The Lynch remained. The morale of the troops was near the breaking point, but the presence of the warship helped rally the battalion's survivors. In a nation always so close to the sea, the Chilean Navy holds a special place with the people it protects, and the Almirante Lynch symbolized that to the town of Tocopilla.


[SIZE=1]The destroyer CNS Almirante Lynch was a veteran of the Battle of Jutland before being transferred back to the Chilean Navy, which ordered the ship shortly before the Great War.[/SIZE]

Four years later, Adolf Guissen explained his theory. "When the battalion reached Tocopilla, our world had shrunk until we were its only inhabitants. The destroyer was an interruption in our claustrophobic nightmare. It reminded us that the rest of the country was behind us: the Navy had not abandoned us to death or captivity."

At dawn on the 26th, the rumble of artillery fire woke the town. Bolivian artillery for Cusincanqui's 2nd Division had taken the heights above the town, and started firing down into the town. Immediately, Capitan Tilgher ordered his gunners to man their posts and fire back. 4.7" shells flew through the air and landed near the Bolivian battery. For ten minutes, Bolivian soldiers and Chilean sailors carried on their artillery duel before the Bolivian guns fell silent. The Bolivians had run out of ammunition.

More civilians decided to evacuate the town, and more Chilean naval ships arrived to help. A radio-message came to Tilgher from Contrealmirante Foxley. "No matter what ship comes to Tocopilla, you remain in command of the evacuation," Foxley ordered. Later on the afternoon of June 26th, Tilgher was tested when the light cruiser Maunga Terevaka steamed to Tocopilla, her captain expecting to take command of the evacuation. Tilgher demurred and ordered the cruiser to take on six hundred of the last civilians. When night fell, the cruiser departed, heading north and leaving the Almirante Lynch as the last defender of Tocopilla.

As the town emptied, Capitan Guisson asked for volunteers from his mountain troops to be the last men off. Guisson would stay to the end, organizing the evacuation. There was little thought of defense, as the Chilean soldiers had too little ammunition to repel an attack. Nevertheless this was exactly what they did early on the evening of the 26th, when Bolivian cavalry tried to move into town to loot. A short firefight forced them to withdraw in disarray. By midnight, however, all of the civilians had been evacuated to six fishing boats and the Almirante Lynch, which waited faithfully at the pier for Guisson and his men.

At 0550 hours on the morning of June 27th, Capitan Guisson boarded the Lynch, the last man out of Tocopilla. The Bolivians heralded the occasion with artillery fire, opening up on the Almirante Lynch with their freshly-resupplied guns; the Chileans fired back while Tilgher got his ship underway. After another ten minute artillery duel, the Bolivian gunners realized they weren't hitting anything, and stopped firing. It took General Cusincanqui another twenty-four hours to cautiously creep forward far enough to find the town deserted. He proudly reported to his commander "the city of Tocopilla has fallen to the glorious troops of the Republic of Bolivia after two days of fierce fighting."

As the survivors of the 12th Battalion came ashore in Iquique, a British photographer snapped a picture of the dirty, half-starved, ill-equipped men. Asking the soldiers if they were going home, Sergeant Francisco Chaparro stunned the reporter with his reply. "Go home? Don't you know there's a war on? The football match is only at halftime, and we're still here to win!"

Aftermath
The Chilean nation endured the surrender of Antofagasta and the evacuation of Tocopilla. Defeat shook the country to the core. As foreign powers offered to help Chile negotiate peace with Bolivia, Chileans came to the recruiting stations to enlist. General Larrain's armies, composed of the battle-hardened troops who had thus far survived the invasion, regrouped and began eeking out victories, now under the control of commanders who had proven competent in the field. The trickle of victories shortly turned into a flood; the Chilean Army's reserves, swelling with new volunteers, came north to the Atacama with new equipment and a fierce desire to win.

The 12th Infantry Battalion (Mountain) was among them. Transported to Iquique, the battalion spent the month of July rebuilding, receiving new equipment and replacement troops. Captain Guisson was promoted to Major. On August 29th, the 12th Battalion joined a battle-group that rotated to the front lines. Their confidence restored, the men rested and re-equipped, the 12th Battalion fought hard, and on the 2nd of September broke through Bolivian lines in a night attack, emulating the stormtroop tactics used in the Great War by the German Army. The broken Bolivian line allowed a lightning raid by the Chilean cavalry, which destroyed the main Bolivian supply depot. Starving, the Bolivians retreated in disarray.

As the Bolivians retreated, the Chilean Army moved to recover lost ground. But it was the Chilean Navy which retook Tocopilla. On the morning of October 1st, 1932, two Chilean predreadnoughts appeared off Tocopilla and opened fire on the Bolivian artillery batteries. A line of destroyers, led by the Almirante Lynch, dashed toward the pier and unloaded two thousand Chilean Marines. The Bolivian garrison surrendered after a cursory fight. Tocopilla was liberated.

Oftentimes defeat is more instructive a teacher, particularly in regards to the characters of leaders and of nations. In the chaos of the Bolivian invasion, Captain Guisson preserved a battalion that, against all odds, survived their bloody initiation into battle. Captain Tilgher refused to be swayed from his course by challenges. They inspired their men to endure and keep fighting despite the plague of defeat, and together, they helped turn the tide of the war.

[SIZE=1]Author note: Capitaine de corvette Marcel Alphonse Fouroux served for two years at DCNS before becoming the French naval attache to the Chilean Navy. He is a qualified naval aviator.[/SIZE]

Very interesting reading. Le Spectateur Militaire is always enjoyable.

Quoted

Originally posted by BruceDuncan
Very interesting reading. Le Spectateur Militaire is always enjoyable.

Thanks, it's usually pretty fun to write.

January 1
The French Navy held an 'open ship' event today at the naval base of Toulon, allowing civilians to tour the aircraft carrier Clemenceau. France's oldest carrier is scheduled for retirement soon as newer carriers have been constructed to take it's place. The ship has largely served as an aircraft transport, moving large aircraft between French outposts abroad.

January 3
The Armee de l'Aire has started to conduct an evaluation of Societie Dassault's performance as the managing partner of Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Indochine (AIAI) and Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Alger (AIAA). The evaluation, which will be completed on January 31st, will determine whether or not Societie Dassault will continue to manage the two companies, created to produce Air Force assets abroad. Dassault acquired the management of both firms last year when the company acquired all assets of Loire-Nieuport, the previous managing partner. Since the merger, Bloch has started to assemble MB.1052 fighters in AIAI's Saigon factory, using parts imported from France.

January 4
Foreign Minister Murail left Paris today, beginning a week-long state visit to meet with Syrian president Shukri al-Quatli in Damascus. Economic development issues are believed to be the primary topic of discussion.

January 5 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: in the editorial section, commenters supported plans put forward by the French leftist parties to spend 7.2 million francs [1] to connect the railways of French West Afrique.



Notes:
Note [1]: 7.2 million francs = $1.04 billion USD (2012)

January 7 - Science et Vie
The Centre d'Essais en Vol has accepted for trials the new Dewoitine D.800 Flèche, the first French fighter aircraft designed to be powered by a turbojet engine. The Flèche, designed by Emil Dewoitine, is powered by a centrifugal Rateau A.62 turbojet, a heavily-modified version of the A.60 turbojet used in the Bloch MB.1000 Triton, which flew last year. ONERA intends to schedule the Flèche for a first flight sometime in February. Dewoitine hopes that the aircraft will achieve a speed of 850 km/hr. 1944 may prove to be a major year for French aviation, as the nation intends to host the second Les chevaliers du ciel event in August.

January 8
The cruisers Duquesne and Gloire departed the port of Brest to conduct exercises in the Atlantic Ocean, after which point they will make a call at the Iberian port of Cadiz.

January 11
Foreign Minister Murail returned today from Damascus, where he discussed economic development issues with Syrian president Shukri al-Quatli. The Foreign Minister and President al-Quatli signed an agreement paving the way for the formation of a joint oil exploration team.

January 12
In remarks made to a breakfast meeting of the French Railway Association, President Theisman commented on a proposal by the French leftist parties to spend 7.2 million francs to connect the railways of French West Afrique. "The proposal understates the ease of building such a railway across the proposed terrain," the president said. "The government is highly interested in investing in such a railway project and is developing its own proposal, which will be presented to Parliament in the next few months."

January 14
Cruisers Duquesne and Gloire arrived in the port of Cadiz, where they were welcomed by the Iberian Navy. The cruisers will depart on the 21st following a week-long port call.

January 15
Former French minister of national education Jules Bernard was charged today with accepting illegal campaign donations for his anticipated bid for the French presidency.

January 17
French Parliament has voted to establish the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA). This body will investigate aircraft accidents in France, if necessary working with other bodies elsewhere in the world.

January 18
Preparations for the turnover of Tchad to the British Empire, and France's acceptance of the Togo mandate and full ownership of the New Hebrides, are currently underway. Rumors indicate that President Theisman will travel to Lome for the transfer ceremonies, while Foreign Minister Murail will go to N'Djammena.

January 19 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: In this week's column with leaks from the French government, the paper discusses rumors that the French government intends to follow a plan similar to that currently used in Indochina in regards to the mandate of Togo and Leban.

January 21
The cruisers Duquesne and Gloire have left the port of Cadiz following a week-long port call. According to a spokesman for the Marine Nationale, the visit was highly successful in establishing new contacts and partnerships within the Iberian Navy.

January 22
Sailing today with the liner Pasteur for South America are ten men delivering supplies, primarily medical gear, to the earthquake-hit Argentine city of San Juan.

January 24
The Syrian government announced today that they were seeking the purchase of twenty-five single-seat Soko Orao fighters from Yugoslavia, as well as five two-seat trainers.



January 25
The cruisers Duquesne and Gloire returned to the port of Brest today after a lengthy series of exercises and port calls along the Atlantic coast.

January 26 - e Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: "While French colonial officials play up the coming re-adjustment in the overseas territories, how many millions still abide in poverty, not only in those very colonies, but here in enlightened Europe?"

January 27
President Theisman departed today for Lome, Togo.

January 30
In official ceremonies held today in N'Djammena, Lome, and Port Vila, France and Britain transferred control of several territories, as agreed last year. The former French colony of Tchad is now transferred to the British Empire, while France takes up the Togoland Mandate as well as full control of the former Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides.

President Theisman, speaking at the handover ceremony in Lome, announced that the French government intended to invest strongly in infrastructure and educational initiatives within Togo, based on the model practiced in Syria and Indochina.

[SIZE=3]Military Unit Spotlight: Polish Armed Forces[/SIZE]
Article from Le Spectateur militaire. Military Unit Spotlight is a monthly feature which focuses on a unit or type of unit fielded by either the French military or another world army.

Wojska Ladowe - Army
The Polish Army (Wojska Ladowe) constitutes the primary branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Founded in 1918 following the nation's independence, the Land Forces were originally modeled off the French Army. Over the last two decades, the Land Forces have grown in capability, diversifying their role as their nation's defenders.

The Land Forces are organized into five Operational Groups, or Grupa Operacyjna, which are named Karpaty, Krakow, Lodz, Warszawa, and Poznan. These five operational groups each field between two and eight infantry or alpine divisions, all built on the triangular pattern, with three infantry regiments, an artillery group, and various supporting units. At present, the Land Forces maintain twelve infantry divisions and two alpine divisions at full strength, with another fifteen infantry divisions in the reserves. In case of war, these divisions could be mobilized within two to three weeks. The Land Forces additionally fields three armoured divisions (Dywizja Pancerna).


[SIZE=1]Order of Battle for the Dywizja Pancerna (Armoured Divisions). As in the British and French armies, each Armoured Regiment represents a battalion-sized tank unit, each with fifty-one tanks.[/SIZE]

Since gaining their independence, the Polish Land Forces have established a distinct preference for trying to design and build their own military hardware. Since the 1920s, the Polish have invested heavily in the development of the tank and the armoured car, and they were one of the originators of the tankette concept, along with Italy. In recent years political upheavals have threatened this longstanding policy of favoring home-designed weapons, as a past government ordered the Land and Air Forces to buy German tanks and fighter aircraft. Although this move may have proven sound in permitting the Poles to catch up rapidly in a technologically-changing world, political backlash resulted in a new government which renewed interest in indigenous weapons designs. Poland's membership in the Eastern European "Warsaw Pact" has given the Polish industry a group of friendly nation-states to which they might export arms.

In recent months, the Polish company PZInz has prototyped the new 32TP wzor.44 medium tank, which is almost entirely of indigenous Polish design. Armed with an 85mm/L55 gun and capable of a top speed of fifty kilometers an hour, this tank favorably comparable to developments elsewhere in Europe. It seems highly likely that the Polish Army intends to produce enough 32TP tanks to completely equip its three armoured divisions and it's tank training center (with the expectation of over six hundred vehicles), though at what rate and cost remains unknown at present. In addition Bulgaria, which contributed financial support to development, has already ordered sixty tanks, while Romania has expressed interest in purchasing some as well.


[SIZE=1]The new PZInz 32TP wzor.44 is one of the most modern tanks in Europe.[/SIZE]

In 1941, Poland also started production of the versatile Transporter TO-2 wzor.42. The Transporter is a unique fully-tracked vehicle built on a 1.5-ton truck chassis, with everything highly simplified for ease of production and maintenance. The Transporter has also seen some export sales to minor powers such as Hungary and Switzerland.


[SIZE=1]The Transporter, seen here with a Hungarian Army unit on maneuvers, has seen mild export success.[/SIZE]

Marynarka Wojenna - Navy
The Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna) was once one of the premier arms of the Polish Armed Forces. However, rationalization efforts and changing budgets by the Polish government have seen the importance of the Navy drop dramatically in the last few years. Although Poland still fields two predreadnoughts and a secondhand Italian battleship, the Warzawa, Poland also fields significantly more modern cruisers and destroyers. Even this force seems over-ambitious given Poland's lack of seacoast and extensive overseas trade, and it is estimated that the Polish Army could have fielded another armoured division for the cost of each destroyer built in the last decade.

Since 1940, no new ships have been purchased or constructed, and given the state of the Polish government's budgetary reorganization, this seems unlikely to change in the immediate future. The Polish Navy has instead focused on keeping its ships updated and in good repair. For some time, the Polish Navy received control of naval aviation assets; but this ended in 1942, and all aircraft but naval floatplanes were returned to the Air Forces.

Sily Powietrzne - Air Forces
Second to the Land Forces in importance, the Polish Air Forces represent a highly modern and dynamic service. Founded in 1917, the Polish Air Forces acquired significant quantities of Great War era aircraft for bargain prices. However, new aircraft construction firms such as Lublin and PZL Aircraft have been founded in the country to develop planes. Up until 1939, PZL offered an extensive line of Polish-developed fighter, tactical bomber, and liaison aircraft, but poor political decisions in 1939 resulted in PZL's indigenous design capabilities being almost irrevocably harmed, a decision which mirrored policies aimed at the Polish Army's armoured corps. However, unlike the armoured forces, the Polish Air Force has been slower to recover, as much was lost before political backlash resulted in a change in elected governments.

At present, the Polish Air Force remains highly focused on air defense, using license-built versions of the German Bf109 fighter (designated the P.109), and aging P.80 and P.50 fighters. There are five fighter brigades (each with five fighter squadrons), and four bomber brigades (with a varying number of light or medium bombers). Although efforts to design an indigenous replacement for the P.50 and P.80 have been ongoing since 1940, PZL's development staff have not yet produced an acceptable and competitive design. Although the Polish Air Force intended to refine the Bf109 design beyond what was intended by the original German manufacturer, it seems that the airframe had too little room for further growth. Indeed, the most successful refinement was a dramatic effort to turn the plane into a twin-engine, twin-boom heavy interceptor. Armed with heavy cannon, it's speed and rate of climb have turned it into an impressive defender of the skies, although its maneuverability is reportedly 'constrained'.


[SIZE=1]Poland's most successful adaptation of the German Bf109 has turned it into an odd twin-engine fighter.[/SIZE]

As PZL has been unable to work out a new fighter design, or offer further competitive upgrades to the license-produced P.109, the Polish Air Force was again forced to seek answers outside the country, from allied Yugoslavia, which has recently fielded the highly impressive Soko Orao. PZL has recently purchased a license for production, and is planning to exchange the American-made Pratt and Whitney P-2600 radial for the Bristol Centaurus. Series production is expected to begin within six months.

PZL additionally resurrected their work on the PZL.49 Mis medium bomber, which was successfully put into series production in early 1943 after significant delay. Designed as a replacement to the PZL.37 Los, this new bomber offers speeds of over five hundred kilometers per hour, with acceptable range and payload. Work on a light bomber, as a replacement for the PZL.23 Karas and the failed PZL.46 Sum, has proceeded in fits and starts.

Additionally, Poland license-builds the American DC-3 / C-47 military transport plane, and holds the export licenses to Eastern Europe.

Another sign of Polish recovery in aircraft design has been the recent display of a new radial-engine advanced trainer, designed by PZL. Although it currently lacks a known designation, this plane is expected to be displayed at the Paris Air Show later this year.

Hi!

Where do I find specs for the 32TP wzor.44 medium tank?

Thanks

An Orao with a Centaurus engine. Now that's one fine combination.

I would assume the 32TP would share identical specs to the T-44. It's a good looking tank too. Nice work Brock.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
An Orao with a Centaurus engine. Now that's one fine combination.

I wanted to give the Poles something newer than the Bf-109, but because I've repeatedly shown them in a bit of a kerfluffle about license-building foreign designs, I wanted to bring in something that wasn't from a major power, and I wanted to give it some tweaks to make the Polish feel that they were still able to produce a good product. Given the Yugoslavian-Polish relationship, the Orao was a strong contender. I decided to use the Centaurus because it matched well against the R-2800 and probably wouldn't require too much in the way of redesign.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
I would assume the 32TP would share identical specs to the T-44. It's a good looking tank too. Nice work Brock.

Thank you. I think it's a good next step after the Polish Panzer IV clone.

I'd also given some consideration to whether or not the Poles would try to develop a light tank or armoured car. I have some thoughts on that, but I think any further developments on that front should wait until 1945 or 1946.

February 1
The submarine tender Jules Verne arrived today in the port of Mumbai, where she begins a week-long call in one of the premier Indian port cities.

February 2 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: In this week's editorials, writers express criticism of American 'dollar diplomacy' in regards to the massive US government donation extended in response to Argentina's San Juan earthquake.

February 3
Two more new Fantassin-class infantry landing craft have been launched yesterday from La Rochelle. These cunningly-designed light craft continue to demonstrate the increasing scope and capacity of the modern French naval forces.

February 7
The weeklong Concours général agricole opened today in Paris. Among the displays are a new breed of wheat being developed in Algeria by American scientists Norman Borlaug and John Niederhauser. Also on display is a fertilizer and pesticide application aircraft developed by a local French entrepreneur.

February 8
Lieutenant Wenceslas Voisin and Lieutenant Claude Nicolas Hennequin return to print in the second edition of Voisin et Hennequin. In this second issue, Hennequin's MS.406 fighter is downed in the mountains due to sabotage, and he falls into the hands of the Galila el-Hakim's band of rebel tribesmen. As Hennequin tries to escape captivity, Voisin tries to find both his friend and the mysterious saboteur who is crippling the French war planes.

February 9
Managing Director A. R. Pechiney announced today that the Société des Produits Chimiques d'Alais et de la Camargue will be investing in the development of several new bauxite mines and aluminium smelters in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The new mines and smelters will help to meet the rising demand for aluminium in South American industry, and may even produce aluminium for export by 1947.

February 10
The French sail-training ship Belle Poule departed Port Vila in the Nouvelles-Hébrides islands today, bound for Suva in Fidji. The sail-training ship, with sixty cadets from the French naval academy aboard, was present in the Nouvelles-Hébrides for the ceremonies marking the end of the Franco-British condominium there.

February 11
The first purpose-designed French jet-powered fighter, the Dewoitine D.800 Flèche, had its first flight today at ONERA's CEV testing facilities.

February 14
The French Socialist Party, supported by centrist members of the Alliance Republicaine, passed a bill today calling for the creation of a League of Nations Humanitarian Air Service. In remarks to the press, President Theisman indicated he did not believe the proposal would be a good use of fiscal resources, but would probably sign the bill anyway.

February 15
With the creation of the French overseas territory of Togoland has come the creation of many new entities, including military and police forces to protect the territory, reunited for the first time since 1917. Ground was broken on the construction of the newly-planned University of Lomé, which expects to induct its first class of students in August or September of this year. The University of Lomé will focus on training a new generation of civic leaders, businessmen, and educators. Meanwhile, the French Army has created a new Régiment de Tirailleurs Sénégalais du Togo for the land defense of the region. The Regiment will report to the governor in Lomé. Naval and Air Force protection is not yet arranged, but the Armee de l'Aire indicated a local patrol-counterinsurgency escadrille would be established before the end of the year.

February 16 - Le Canard enchaîné
What the Bird Has to Say: In this week's editorials, leftist author Georges Bertrand de la Sarre criticizes President Theisman's administration for not speaking out on the Dalmatia-Slovenia issue. "The Italians desire to buy off the people of those territories with citizenship, but Rome has yet to offer what Dalmatians and Slovenians may truly want - a referendum."

February 17
The colonial administration has approved plans for the construction of a hydroelectric dam on Côte d'Ivoire's Bandama River, near Yamoussoukro. The dam will create a body of water to be named Lake Kossou. Construction will begin in September and complete in September of 1947. This dam will provide electrical power to the city of Yamoussoukro, which even ten years ago was a small village with a low population. Now Yamoussoukro is growing, having doubled in population every single year since 1938, rivalling Niamey as one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.

February 18
The Armee de l'Aire published their report on Societie Dassault's operation of the government-owned Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Indochine (AIAI) and Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Alger (AIAA) aircraft plants. According to the report, Dassault has earned a 'satisfactory' grade, resulting in their operation contract to be extended until the end of 1945, when the contract will be re-negotiated following the Indochina Plebiscite. According to the report, over the course of 1943 AIAI constructed fifty-six Épouvantail counter-insurgency aircraft, seventy-nine Dassault MB.1050 Milan fighters, and eighteen LN.180 biplane trainers. AIAA constructed onlu thirty-two Épouvantails during the same period, but conducted extensive maintenance work on over nine hundred aircraft of the Armee de l'Aire.

February 20 - Shortwave Radio
*A calm female voice speaks.*
"Dix-neuf, douze, six, quatre, douze, quatre, neuf, quatre, quatre, cinq, douze, dix-neuf."
*Frère Jacques plays.*

February 21
Airship Méditerranée, once part of the Le Dirigeable française Tranportation Entreprise fleet, was retired today following an extended period of falling traffic and fiscal uncertainty. The French airship line, once six dirigibles strong, was virtually put out of business by Air France with the introduction of transatlantic passenger service to New York and Cleito. The last stronghold of DFTE is the Paris-to-Saigon route, flown with two dirigibles via Djibouti, which no airliner yet has mastered. With the fading of the company, the Méditerranée has been turned over to the Aeronavale to settle debts.

February 22 - Le Temps
Breguet-Nord acknowledged today that it was engaged in the design of a single-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber, to be powered by turbojet engines. The aircraft is expected to fly before May 1945.

February 24
Noted French cinema director Aimé Clariond began filming the movie Napoléon today. It will be one of the largest movies of its type produced in France.

February 25
Construction began today on the first of a series of breakwaters designed to turn the small port of Tema, Côte-de-l'Or, into the largest manmade harbor in Africa. The project will take approximately seven years to complete in its entirety, although an initial stage shall be finished in 1947.

February 28
The submarine Calypso was launched today in La Rochelle.

February 29
A construction accident at the site of the Hoa Binh hydroelectric dam in the Hoa Binh province of Indochina resulted in the uncontrolled release of several thousand cubic meters of water stored behind a temporary retaining dam. Three construction workers were critically injured and several dozen others suffered milder injuries. The construction company was unavailable for comment at press time, but local government spokesmen stated that the construction of the rockfill dam itself would not be strongly affected.

[SIZE=3]Special Article: The Indochinese Naval Forces[/SIZE]
Article from Le Spectateur militaire.

I. OVERVIEW
A. History
Bordering the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, Indochina possesses approximately thirty-nine hundred kilometers of coastline. Numerous navigable rivers and deltas cut through the landscape, requiring patrol and policing. To help police this vast area, the Indochinese Parliament created the Patrouille Navale Indochinoise (PNI) to serve as the region's coast guard force.

Over the last several years, agreements between France and Indochina resulted in an increasingly-independent Indochinese state, with its capital in Hanoi, under the broad aegis of the French Union. From 1941 onward, the Indochinese peoples received authority to elect their own governor-general, who exerts in Indochina powers equivalent in many ways to a head of government. In 1945, Indochina shall hold a plebiscite offering the choice between full independence and continued association with the French Union, in a relationship similar to that between Britain and her dominions of Canada and Australia. Regardless of the outcome of that plebiscite, local armed forces will be created under an Indochinese banner. The Patrouille Navale Indochinoise, which currently serves as the coast guard of Indochina, may soon become its official navy.

Up until 1941, the Marine Nationale alone was solely responsible for protecting the coastline of Indochina from attack, as well as patrolling against pirates, smugglers, and shipwreck. In addition, numerous French gunboats policed the internal waterways of the region. French investment, in ships, men, and infrastructure, has been significant, and to date, France still deploys three capital ships at the naval base of Cam Ranh Bay. From its starting point, Indochina is undoubtedly the smallest and least-experienced naval power in all of East Asia, neighbor to the large and bellicose Chinese Navy, the increasingly modern and well-funded Philippine Navy, and the more comparable Thai Navy, which nevertheless had several decades to develop their fleet with the help of European allies. Guided by French advisors and supported by French funding, the Patrouille Navale has begun a program of construction and development.

B. Mission
The goals of the Patrouille Navale Indochinoise relate to the region's close relationship with the sea and the numerous navigable rivers and deltas which flow through the area. Although there has been relatively little unrest in recent years as Indochina transitions to an autonomous, democratic and westernized society, major social, ethnic, and societal issues, as well as a lower state of human development, offer potential pitfalls.

Hanoi's stated worry on the international front remains the northern neighbor of China, with its massive population. The Indochinese people once regarded China as a potential ally to support nationalist sentiments against France, but within the last ten years, this regard has been shattered: Chinese wars against the Philippines and Chosen, attempted intervention in the Persian Civil War, and China's refusal to talk with Indochinese officials all played badly in the local press. Hanoi's concerns about Chinese militarization have proven particularly apt in light of the China-Chosen War.

The military imbalance between Indochina and China means that cooperation with French forces remains key to Indochinese strategy. The Patrouille Navale's growth largely began with the transfer of French warships, used for coastal and riverine policing, to Indochinese control. The mission of blue-water combat against potential armed invaders thus belongs entirely to the French Marine Nationale, and this seems unlikely to change unless Indochina should vote for independence in their 1945 plebiscite.

II. ORGANIZATION
A. Command Structure
1. Administration: The Patrouille Navale answers to the orders of the elected government by means of an appointed Naval Chief of Staff, who reports to the Governor-General of Indochina by way of the Military Chief of the General Staff for National Defense. A new naval command center is currently under construction in Hanoi, and once operational in October, will oversee intelligence, operations, and services.

2. Personnel: The PNI's greatest challenge is not, as is often the case in most nations, primarily financial. It is instead the human element which constitutes the greatest boundary on their growth. Through the 1930s, very few young Indochinese men saw the navy as a viable career field, as they would have to enlist in the Marine Nationale, or pass tests to get into the premier Ecole Navale in Brest, France. Nevertheless, some few did just this, and it is on the shoulders of these men that the future of the PNI falls.

First ranked among the native leaders is Contreamiral Charles Van Phu. The son of a French mother and a Vietnamese father, Van Phu served in the Marine Nationale between 1924 and 1941 under the pseudonym Dubois. Although he never attended the prestigious Ecole Navale, Van Phu achieved recognition as an officier marinier before moving to an officiers subalternes track. By 1938, he had taken command of a patrol boat in the Marine Nationale. With the start of the PNI, he was offered the opportunity for transfer, and became the senior-ranked Indochinese officer. In early 1944, Van Phu was promoted to Contreamiral and is preparing to assume the role of Chief of Staff (senior officer) of the PNI, replacing the French admiral who currently holds the command.

Other Indochinese-born officers, such as Capitaines de Fregat Duong Cao Ky and Tran That Dong, have also risen to senior positions within the PNI. Capitain Cao Ky is the first captain of the frigate Tran Nhat Duat, the PNI's official flagship, while Capitaine That Dong serves as the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations. Most other senior roles are still filled by officers of the Marine Nationale, on temporary loan; but as more Indochinese officers are promoted, these officers expect to return home or remain in advisory roles. Controversially, the Indochinese leadership has tried to avoid the appearance of favoritism to Indochinese officers simply to promote them in order to replace French officers: the government in Hanoi has maintained the line that they "desire roles to be filled by competent officers, even if they are not Indochinese."

Assisting with building a local officer corps is the Indochinese Naval Academy (Hoc vien Hai Quan Ban dao Dong Duong in the local Vietnamese language), which was established in 1937 in Nha Trang. With a three-year program for officer cadets (as well as a recently-introduced accelerated one-year program for junior sea officers and warrant officers), the Indochinese Naval Academy is preparing for the graduation of its fourth class in May 1944. Over two hundred new officers are expected to be commissioned into the PNI, nearly doubling the size of the current officer corps. An officer candidate at INA is expected to learn about the fine points of navigation, naval gunnery, antisubmarine warfare, minesweeping,

After graduation, an Indochinese naval officer may expect to spend three to four years in junior roles before advancing to command one of the numerous small patrol boats being built or acquired by the Patrouille Naval. With the recent transfer of fifty submarine chasers to the Patrouille Navale, there are numerous postings for qualified commanding officers, even ones of junior rank. The officers in these postings are closely observed for possible promotion.

B. Doctrine
1. Surface Warfare: The Patrouille Navale's focus on coastal and riverine patrol translates into a strengthening focus on surface warfare. Although the PNI currently lacks large dedicated surface combatants, discussions about the acquisition of French coast defense ships and destroyers have been undertaken.

2. Aviation: Supported by French resources, the Patrouille Naval established seaplane depots at Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Ha Long. Single-engine seaplanes, including several modern types, were acquired in 1942, while further purchases were delayed by difficulties with training. The Indochinese Air Defense Group argued in 1943 for the transfer of all Indochinese aviation assets to its control, but this was not granted Cooperation with aviation assets, including French aviation from the Armee de l'Aire and Aeronavale, remains a high priority for the Patrouille Navale.

3. Antisubmarine: Sparked by concern over unlimited submarine warfare in the China-Chosen War, Contreamiral Van Phu successfully petitioned for the Patrouille Navale to take control of fifty submarine chasers formerly operated by the Marine Nationale out of Indochina. Coastal patrol flotillas of ten ships each have been formed, and each has received a dedicated region of responsibility along the coast, and are supported by a system of patrolling aircraft.

4. Submarine: The Patrouille Navale operates no submarines at the present time, but some officers within the force have petitioned for the acquisition of a coast-defense submarine force.

5. Amphibious Operations: Indochinese amphibious capability is focused into a small number of small landing units, mostly used for riverine patrol and police work. No dedicated amphibious forces exist above company size. However, Indochinese troops have participated in exercises alongside the French 2nd Dinassaut, which is stationed in Vung Tau. This unit is a fully-realized amphibious division, and the Indochinese Corps de la Marine has sufficient manpower and training to form units up to regimental size.

6. Trade Protection: In time of war, Indochinese forces would engage in the laying of a defensive mine belt offshore in order to protect coastal trade. Additionally, coastal convoys covered by light escorts and aircraft would be instituted, followed by a general arming of merchant steamers.

7. Communications: In wartime, ships at sea are ordered to maintain radio silence wherever possible to limit enemy interceptions and triangulation of positions. Particularly on smaller ships, formations are maneuvered using signal flags or semaphore lamps. Aircraft transmit their sightings back to their mothership if ship-launched, or back to their base if land-based. When complete, the PNI headquarters near Hanoi will maintain a plot of the situation and advise ships and commanders at sea.

8. Special Forces: The Patrouille Navale maintains an intense interest in riverine warfare and has a number of company-sized marine units trained in the operation of small arms, river craft, and close combat. Additionally, a twelve-man section has recently begun training in France as combat swimmers.

III. MATERIEL
A. Ships
Armed with twin 100mm and a twin 57mm guns, and equipped with the latest in antisubmarine equipment, the Tran Nhat Duat was the first large combatant to hoist the banner of the Patrouille Navale, and currently serves as the fleet flagship. This vessel was designed in France by DCNS for use as a seaplane tender, and in most situations, the Tran Nhat Duat can carry four Liore-et-Olivier LeO-400 floatplanes. Additionally, in the aft part of the ship, there are cabins for use by naval cadets, although these can be removed and replaced by minelaying rails. Completed in November of 1943, the Tran Nhat Duat is preparing to take on the graduates of the 1944 Indochinese Naval Academy class for their graduation cruise, following which they will be formally commissioned into the PNI.

Recent developments have resulted in the transfer of two aviso-drageurs of the Arabe class to Indochinese control. These ships are still under construction and the first, to be named Chi Lang, will be completed in May. More ships of this class will likely be ordered. In 1943, Germany also donated six patrol boats, reconstructed in Saigon and introduced into service as the Song Me Kong class. Originally armed with two 88mm guns, these vessels received modern detecteur electromagnetique equipment and a new 75mm gun.

In addition to these larger craft, Indochina fields a large force of submarine chasers, most formerly in French service. These wooden craft, manufactured in the early 1930s, are numerous and highly suitable for coastal work. However, they lack sophisticated sound detection gear. This shortcoming has been rectified on the newest class of submarine chaser, the Cam Ranh class, which was designed in Indochina and features more advanced detection equipment.

Other light craft used by the Patrouille Navale include the FOM river gunboats, small, lightweight craft at home in the shallow rivers and broad deltas of Indochina.

B. Aviation
1. Ship-based: With the commissioning of Tran Nhat Duat, the Patrouille Navale acquired its first ship-based air assets, four Liore-et-Olivier LeO-400 floatplanes. No further plans exist for increasing this force.

2. Shore-based: Most of the Patrouille Navale's shore-based aviation originates from either the French Aeronavale and Armee de l'Aire, or from the Indochinese Air Defense Group. Exercises have focused on operations with land-based scouting aircraft as well as with overhead air cover in the form of fighters and maritime strike aircraft. Recently, the Patrouille Navale has initiated talks with Breguet-Nord for the acquisition of twin-engine flying boats suitable for air-sea rescue and patrol.

C. Weapons Systems
1. Gunnery: At the present time, Indochina uses naval artillery solely of French origin, primarily of the 57mm, 75mm, and 100mm types. Indochinese officers have also reportedly begun the process needed to acquire 130mm/L54 guns, and they are reportedly engaged in the indigenous design of a single-gun mount for this weapon. The purpose of this mounting is as yet unclear, but rumors indicate the Indochinese hope to someday field a force of destroyers for defense on the high seas.

2. Torpedoes: At present, few ships of the Patrouille Navale offer torpedo capability; only the four Vedette Rapide 23m type motor torpedo boats carry torpedoes. These consist of either 40cm 26W or 55cm 23DT torpedoes. The latter are similar to those used on older French destroyers and submarines, while the former are modified versions of the air-dropped antiship torpedoes. The newer and heavier 42G torpedoes are unable to be launched from these MTBs due to size and weight.

3. Antisubmarine Warfare: Most seagoing patrol vessels carry the lightweight Guiraud Model 1930 depth charge, a modern weapon with a total weight of 130 kilograms and a charge of 100 kilograms.

4. Mines: As part of the Patrouille Navale's wartime expectation of defensive minelaying, stockpiles of Breguet B4 moored contact are held in readiness at depots operated jointly with the Marine Nationale. These mines have an eighty kilogram TNT charge, and forty-four can be accomodated on the Decauville tracks of the Tran Nhat Duat. Smaller mines, intended to be laid from motor torpedo boats and subchasers, are also held in readiness.

D. Infrastructure
1. Logistics: Perhaps uniquely in the world, the Patrouille Navale has adopted the diesel engine as its sole power-source for all of its warships. Aside from stocks held locally by the Marine Nationale, Indochina has funded the stockpiling of approximately seventy thousand tons of marine diesel fuel for use in wartime, sufficient for several months at wartime consumption. Due to concerns about aerial bombardment, most of the oil tanks are buried and spaced to prevent large-scale destruction.

2. Bases: The Patrouille Navale operates a number of bases along the Indochinese coast. The excellent port of Cam Ranh Bay, which serves as the home-port of the joint Franco-Russian Force Opérationnelle Indochine, is also one of the major ports of the Patrouille Navale, which operates the local patrol and service boats for the base. Saigon, although inland, is accessible by river and serves as another major center of gravity for the PNI. Smaller bases, useful for supporting light coastal forces and riverine units, exist at Da Nang, Hai Phong, Kampot, and elsewhere.

3. Industry: Although the Forges et Chantiers de Indochine yard in Saigon is not well-known internationally for their shipbuilding expertise, this yard, founded and expanded over the last several decades by the French Navy, is one of the keystones of the Patrouille Navale's growth. Over the last few years, FCI constructed warships ranging from submarine chasers and coastal submarines to naval auxiliaries, avisos, and riverine gunboats. The most recent project of note was the construction of the Patrouille Navale's new flagship, the frigate Tran Nhat Duat. Named after a prince and admiral of the Tran Dynasty, the victor of the Battle of Ham Tu, this new ship is designed to serve primarily as a training vessel for the Patrouille Navale's burgeoning officer corps. Forges et Chantiers de Indochine also reconstructed six German-designed patrol boats, donated in 1943.

Until just recently, FCI depended upon ship design bureaus in France to undertake all of their design work, with the yard solely involved with conducting the work according to plans. However, this is slowly changing, as FCI's small design team, composed of both French and Indochinese designers, drew up designs for the local rebuild of the Vorpostenboots. The company intends to eventually propose their own indigenously-designed warships sometime in the next few years, which will be a major step forward in local development.

Side note: I wrote the above article using the same standard outline Vincent P. O'Hara and company used when writing On Seas Contested. If you wish to see the simplified outline:

Quoted

[SIZE=3]I. Overview[/SIZE]
A. History
B. Mission

[SIZE=3]II. Organization[/SIZE]
A. Command Structure
----- Administration
----- Personnel
----- Intelligence
B. Doctrine
----- Surface Warfare
----- Aviation
----- Antisubmarine
----- Submarine
----- Amphibious Operations
----- Trade Protection
----- Communication
----- Special Forces (if applicable)

[SIZE=3]III.Materiel[/SIZE]
A. Ships
B. Aviation
----- Ship-based
----- Shore-based
C. Weapons Systems
----- Gunnery
----- Torpedoes
----- Antisubmarine Warfare
----- Mines
D. Infrastructure
----- Logistics
----- Bases
----- Industry

I might perhaps use this method to analyze other Wesworld navies, but that'll have to wait until I forget how much work this ended up being...