WesWorld

Summary post

Hoa Binh Dam Opens
Wednesday, October 9, 1946 - The Hoa Binh hydroelectric dam in the Hoa Binh province of Indochina was commissioned today. The dam will provide power to the city of Ha Noi.

Dijon Firm Expands Operations
Friday, October 18, 1946 - The Hudon dit Deslongchamps SA firm of Dijon has broken ground for the construction of a new factory in Plzen for the manufacture of gear motors. The factory's primary customer will be the nearby Skoda factory, although other major customers throughout Eastern Europe shall be served.

Jabal al-Tair Occupied by French Navy
Tuesday, October 22, 1946 - A company of Fusiliers Marins were landed on the unclaimed island of Jabal al-Tair in the Red Sea today, tasked with establishing navigation beacons and a radio and observation post. The island recently received attention after the arrest of an Arab dhow, engaged in piracy and weapons-smuggling, was found to be using the island as shelter. Since that time, other security concerns about the area were raised. The Fusiliers found evidence of previous observation post on the island's summit, as well as a small stockpile of ammunition hidden near the landing area. The French Navy will begin patrolling the waters around the island to deny its use to smugglers or pirates.

Naval Exercises to Begin in Bay of Biscay
Wednesday, October 30, 1946 - The Russian seaplane carrier Zenit will join the "Force opérationnelle Atlantique Nord" in the Bay of Biscay for a series of naval training exercises, code-named Exercise Régulus III, beginning this Friday. Exercise Régulus has become a regular part of the Marine Nationale's training routine since the first time it was run in 1944.

Severe Winter Forecast
Friday, November 8, 1946 - Meteorologists in both France and Great Britain have predicted the likelihood of a severe winter.

Rembrance Day
Monday, November 11, 1946 - President Clemenceau and Prime Minister Delattre participated in Remembrance Day events in Paris, attending solemn ceremonies at the Arc d'Triomphe and elsewhere.

Syrian Army's Loyalty Questioned; Riot in Aleppo
Tuesday, November 12, 1946 - Bashir Qabbani, senior commander of Syria's al-Tali'a militia, stated yesterday that he felt many senior members of the Syrian Army were 'politically unreliable' due to their lack of affiliation with the League of Nationalist Action party or their 'incompatible' religious beliefs. Several hours later, troops of the 1st Defense Battalion, garrisoned in Aleppo, demonstrated in front of the local al-Tali'a headquarters following rumors that a popular officer, the battalion's commander, had been dismissed from service. Encouraged by the presence of the soldiers, other anti-government elements joined the demonstration, which soon got out of control, with the soldiers burning a pair of al-Tali'a trucks parked outside the headquarters. al-Tali'a regulars gathered nearby and appeared ready to disperse the crowd using force. However, the battalion's commander arrived and ordered his troops to return to the barracks. The rest of the crowd lost energy with the departure of the regular troops and slowly dispersed over the next few hours.

Voisin et Hennequin Return
Wednesday, November 13, 1946 - Voisin et Hennequin returns to publication from Société Parisienne d'Édition with its new second series. In the first issue, ace French Air Force pilots Wenceslas Voisin and Claude Nicolas Hennequin journey to the small Oriental kingdom of Ti'en, accompanying a diplomatic mission which hopes to sell French hydroplanes to the Sultan. They find Ti'en a hotbed of revolutionaries, and the initial aircraft demonstration nearly goes terribly wrong when Voisin and Hennequin are attacked by a rogue Ti'en air force pilot.

What the Bird Has to Say - Le Canard enchaîné
Wednesday, November 20, 1946 - Editorial. The editors and staff of Le Canard enchaîné cannot help but express their disgust at the results of the corrupt elections held nine days ago in the civil war-torn region of Oubangi-Chari. Scheming by the Orange colonialist enforcers of King Alexander limited the Socialist Action Party to the marginal triumph of only thirteen of the twenty-five seats in the Second College, with nine seats still held tightly by colonialists. But this disappointing result is many leagues ahead of the blatant corruption observed in areas controlled by Mboya's rebel army, where elections were clearly staged despite the presence of South African observers. What, we ask, is the point of Mboya permitting these elections to be held at all? The world wonders.

Paris Air Show Opens at Le Bourget
Friday, November 22, 1946 - The Paris Air Show opened this weekend despite chilly and overcast weather. A number of industry announcements were made on the opening day, with Air France signing a contract with the Russian Antonov firm to acquire thirty-one An-2 light airliners for use in northern and central Africa, in addition to several minor routes in the French Metropole. Marcel Bloch also unveiled a flying prototype of a new turbojet powered airliner, called the MB.164T Boréas, which is expected to enter service with Air France on the route connecting Paris, Berlin, and Petrograd in April. A planned flyover of the prototype was cancelled due to weather conditions.

However, the show was stolen by an aircraft that is not even present, and indeed may not exist at all. The Air Show had barely opened when rumors began spreading about a secret ramjet-powered experimental aircraft of Leduc and Breguet design that had supposedly broken the sound barrier earlier this year. The Breguet-Nord spokesman acknowledged that the company "has been working on a number of high-speed prototypes" but declined to address whether or not a French aircraft had actually achieved this milestone.

With the recent return of the popular comic books Voisin et Hennequin, one of the most crowded sections of the venue belongs to the French Air Force's display of two vintage Bloch MB.152 fighters, painted in the colors of the fictional "Escadron de Lions" depicted in the series. Also on display was a Nord Pingouin mocked up as the "Golden Chain", the fighter of honourable antagonist Abraham Dirksen.

Indochinese Marine Brigade Receives Colours - Le Courrier du Viet Nam
Tuesday, November 26, 1946 - The three battalions of Indochinese Marines and special riverine troops were officially unified today into the Indochinese Marine Brigade, headquartered in Vung Tau. The new unit assumes the responsibilities of its predecessors for garrisoning Indochina's South China Sea islands and policing the littoral and riverine regions. The creation of the Marine Brigade completes the Indochinese parliament's two-year plan to create an independent standing armed force for regional security. [1] This military force is backed by a smaller group of French Army troops in Indochina - composed of a mix of European, Foreign Legion, and locally-recruited units, the latter of which shall be be completely transferred to Indochinese control by the middle of 1947.

Macadam Opens in Cinemas -
Wednesday, November 27, 1946 - The movie Macadam (soon to be relieased in English as Back Streets of Paris) opens today in cinemas.



Russian Battleship Docks in Brest
Friday, November 29, 1946 - The Russian battleship Rostislav arrived in the port of Brest today, beginning an extended port call. The four Rostislav-class battleships were constructed in Baltic shipyards, but due to winter conditions, Rostislav will conduct further sea trials based out of Brest before heading to join the Northern Fleet during the spring. The three remaining ships of the class, still under construction at Petrograd, are expected to arrive in January or February of next year.

Discovery of New Mountain Range Announced - La Provence
Friday, December 6, 1946 - The Antarctic Research Consortium officially announced the discovery of a new mountain range in the French Antarctic Territory. The range, located in the isolated and virtually unexplored region of West Antarctica, is composed of a number of peaks, some of significant height. Discovery of the range was attributed to aerial mapping efforts of the area by ARC aircraft, and a small ground survey team used the early Antarctic spring to gain ground observations. Further inspection of the region is underway.

Stalker Targets French Actress - Paris-Soir (Evening Edition)
Saturday, December 7, 1946 - French cinema starlet Madeleine Neil looked her finest at a gala held last night by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, despite a harrowing journey from her home in Nice. Upon her departure from home, Mle. Neil discovered that an unidentified person had replaced her normal driver. According to Nice police inspector Jean-Charles Blanc, "the intruder displayed a gun and asked awkward questions", but still drove Mle. Neil to the Prince's Palace in Monaco. After dropping her off outside the Palace, the intruder drove away in Mle. Neil's car, which was found abandoned later in the evening on the Avenue Pasteur, just outside the Cimetière de Monaco.

Speaking to the press, Inspector Blanc said that the French and Monagasque police viewed the event as "very serious" and called upon the public to provide any information they might have. No arrests had been made.

Rumors originating from sources close to both Mle. Neil and Prince Rainier indicated that the evening event was intended to announce their engagement. However, no announcement was made at the time.

Syrian Government Legitimizes al-Tali'a
Monday, December 16, 1946 - Syrian President Khalid al-Hafiz signed a law today making the organization al-Tali'a, the paramilitary wing of the League of Nationalist Action party, part of the Ministry of the Interior. As part of the changes, Bashir Qabbani, the commander of al-Tali'a, was named Deputy Minister of the Internal Security. The law sets the manpower of al-Tali'a at eleven thousand uniformed personnel, although only three thousand are full-time.

Dewoitine to Build New Bombers
Thursday, December 19, 1946 - The Dewoitine firm received an order to construct D.832 Mousquetaire four-engine jet bombers. The contract, worth 37 million francs, is Dewoitine's largest in the last five years. The Mousquetaire is intended to begin replacing the aging LeO-451 medium bomber fleet in the Armee de l'Aire's order of battle.

Cergy Railway Conference
Tuesday, December 31, 1946 - At a year-end conference held in Cergy, French railway officials discussed a proposed plan to test and adopt a new high-speed locomotive, the CC 7000, designed by Alsthom. Two 150km/h prototype locomotives shall be delivered to the PLM in the new year for evaluation. The CF de l'Est, meanwhile, urged the universal adoption of flat wagon service for CTCF-3 and CTCF-6 shipping boxes by all UIC carriers in France.



Notes:
- Note [1]: In early 1945, the Indochinese plan envisioned the creation of an army composed of five regular divisions, one mechanised brigade, one marine brigade, one air-defense brigade, and one airborne brigade by December 1946. At the present time, the airborne brigade has yet to be created.

Reading the bit About Voisin et Hennequin made me think of something else. Found out that this appeared for the first time in January 1947 which is in the year that we are in now.

I love the French/Belgians, always coming up with cool stuff like that to read.

Quoted

West Antarctica

Uhm... West Antarctica? To me when I look at Antarctica, West is East and East is West and there is neither West nor East...

Quoted

French railway officials discussed a proposed plan to test and adopt a new high-speed locomotive, the CC 7000

I would assume that this is the historical one and thus an E-locomotive, right?

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Reading the bit About Voisin et Hennequin made me think of something else. Found out that this appeared for the first time in January 1947 which is in the year that we are in now.

I love the French/Belgians, always coming up with cool stuff like that to read. :)

Huh, I'll have to look into that more - I didn't know about it.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Quoted

West Antarctica

Uhm... West Antarctica? To me when I look at Antarctica, West is East and East is West and there is neither West nor East... ?(

West Antarctica is the part of Antarctica that is in the Western Hemisphere.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Quoted

French railway officials discussed a proposed plan to test and adopt a new high-speed locomotive, the CC 7000

I would assume that this is the historical one and thus an E-locomotive, right?

Yes, that's the one.

Quoted

Huh, I'll have to look into that more - I didn't know about it.

I like it a lot and, looking around some more, I see that I go and get the latest album the next time I go to Leiden.

One thing you will notice is that the characters do not age despite spanning a period of 75 years while it is quite apparent that all the planes become more and more modern the further you go through the series. What was modern back then is old now.

If you look here, you have all the covers together on one page so even if you have never read the stories, the covers easily show this change from old to modern day equipment.

There are a few more such Franco-Belgian comics series such as Dan Cooper from 1954 and Tanguy et Laverdure from 1959. Especially that last one is what I think of whenever I see Voisin et Hennequin being mentioned and might give you some ideas.

Quoted

West Antarctica is the part of Antarctica that is in the Western Hemisphere

Well, to me (Japan) that is East Antarctica.

Quoted

Yes, that's the one.

Okay. There wasn't really anything else given so in theory it could easily have been some fictional streamlined steam locomotive.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

...and Tanguy et Laverdure from 1959. Especially that last one is what I think of whenever I see Voisin et Hennequin being mentioned and might give you some ideas.

Voisin et Hennequin is my blatant Wesworld pre-ripoff of Tanguy et Laverdure. ;) I was bummed that the comic wasn't in our time scope, so I invented my own derivative.

Looking at it, both Charlier and Uderzo are already working on comics, so in theory you could introduce Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure now in 1947. Maybe as a rival to the Voisin et Hennequin series from Dargaud. Charlier would be 22 in early 1947 and Uderzo will be 20 in April 1947.

Interesting that Charlier worked on both Buck Danny and Tanguy et Laverdure as well as 3 Dan Cooper albums. I guess he must have liked the military aircraft subject a lot.