WesWorld

Danish News Summary, January – June 1936

January
12th - Copenhagen
Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen sat in a quite unremarkable office in the Ministry Of Culture. They were there for a meeting concerning the possibility of setting up a television transmission system similar to the one being set up in Great Britain. Although they had arrived early and had expected to be sitting in the foyer waiting, they had been ushered into this office.
A strongly built man entered the room, closing the door behind him.
“Good morning Gentlemen. Please sign these documents.” He said as he placed two sheets of paper on the table in front of them.
Peter and Svend looked at the forms in front of them, and turned to look at the stranger.
“Gentlemen, I am offering you the opportunity to serve your country, and make some money into the bargain. Now, please, your signatures?”
They both produced pens from their suit jackets, and after a brief glance at each other, signed.
“Thank you Gentlemen.” The stranger said as he collected the paper.
”My name is unimportant, but what is important are your skills, and how you can use them to keep our nation safe. Our time today is short, so I will just tell you what it is that we require of you. This envelope contains the outline of the system that we require. I have been informed that you are the best men for the job, so I hope you will be able to do this for your country.”
“I will be in contact Gentlemen, will 4 weeks be enough to ready a draft proposal?”
Peter looks at Svend, who nods, and Peter replies, “Y-yes, we think so.”
“Excellent. I will remind you that you have signed The Official Secrets Act, and you will be prosecuted if found to be in breach of said Act. So, until next month, good afternoon”, he said, leaving the room as swiftly as he entered.
Svend looked at Peter, “What was that about?” he asked, reaching for the envelope.
Just then the door opened and a group of officials and others, men who were competitors in the world of electronics, entered.
Peter took the envelope from the table and placed it in his jacket pocket. “Later” he whispered.

25th – R.A.M.S.E.S. headquarters.
Entries in the current tender for supply of vehicles for personnel and cargo transportation have arrived in R.A.M.S.E.S. offices in Copenhagen.
Entries have been received from……
Imperia-Abadel of Belgium
Minerva of Belgium
Jules Miesse of Belgium
Brossel of Belgium
Fabrique Nationale of Belgium
Maskinfabriken Dana of Copenhagen
De forenede Automobilfabrikker A/S of Odense
Ørskov Christensens Steelshipyard A/S of Fredrikshaven.
A decision on which vehicles will be selected for prototype testing will be made by March 25th.

February
12th – Copenhagen
It was an unusually busy lunchtime in the Tivoli Gardens for a February weekday. Although the amusement park itself was closed, the restaurants around the edge of the Park were open all year round. The queue to be seated was moving at a reasonable pace, and Peter and Svend were progressing steadily towards the front. The group of men ahead of them were approached by a waiter who escorted them to a table.
“At last!” exclaimed Peter “I am absolutely famished”
“You are always hungry, and I don’t know where you put it either, you rake!” laughed Svend, patting his middle-age spread.
“It’s called exercise, Big Man, you might try it sometime” he chuckled at his partner’s expense.
Before Svend could respond to the jibe, a waitress approached.
“This way please Gentlemen” she said as she gathered 2 menus and started towards a table in the bat window, with a view of the gardens.
The 2 men followed her to the table, which was set for 3, and seated themselves so as to look over the garden. The waitress removed the surplus place setting, and handed the menus to them.
“This morning’s meeting went well” Svend said as he perused the menu.
“Yes, it did.”Peter answered, as he glanced across the wine menu.” This Television thing might just be something to get involved with on a serious level”
Just then, a man pulled out the third chair and sat down.
Both men looked at him, and were about to complain, when recognition dawned. The stranger was the man with whom they had met last month.
“But I hope that this meeting will be of more interest Gentlemen” the stranger asked.
“Now, what have you got for me?”

March
23rd – D.A.F. headquarters
“Yes, ok, I get the idea of it, but will it fly Kurt?”
Dipl.Ing. Simon looked over his drawings on the Directors desk, “Yes Sir, I firmly believe that it will, and that it will out fly anything currently in the air.”
Adolph Rohrbach scratched his head, looking at the plans. He sat back in his chair, and looked at his son.
“Well Wolfgang, what do you think of Kurt’s design?”
“Well Father, it is theoretically possible. Kurt’s figure’s appear to be correct, and the idea is not exactly new, but never tried in this configuration. I think it will be successful.”
“Alright then. Kurt, get Jensen to carve a model for the wind tunnel, and assuming that the results from it are positive, I will present it to the board for funding. If you could get the Air Force on board it would help, but we have only just sold them on the Falcon, and we have an improvement for it in flight testing. This might be a bit of a stretch.” Rohrbach replied.
“Thank you, Her Director” Kurt said as he gathered his drawings.
Wolfgang opened the office door, letting Kurt out. “Thank you Father” he said as he backed out of the office, closing the door behind him.
They started back towards the design office. Kurt was excited. “Wolfgang, I going to make this work. It will be the start of a new direction for my designs.”
“Kurt, calm down. It still has to go before the Board of Directors. It would be a lot of money for the company if we don’t get the Air Force to fund it.”

26th - Modeler's workshop, D.A.F. headquarters.
"But Jensen, can you make it for me?" asked Kurt.
"Yes Sir, I can, but I still think it looks wrong!" laughed the carpenter.


25th – R.A.M.S.E.S. headquarters
The short list of vehicles in the current competition has been completed by R.A.M.S.E.S.
4 x Test vehicles have been requested from the following....
Imperia-Abadel of Belgium, for their staff car
Minerva of Belgium, for their M20 Off-Road car
Brossel of Belgium, for their TAL 13 ton truck
Maskinfabriken Dana of Copenhagen, for their 4X4, 6X6 and 8X8 “Stallion” trucks
De forenede Automobilfabrikker A/S of Odense. for their 4X2 and 6X4 “Courier” trucks.
And 3 of the “Sea Stallion” design from Ørskov Christensens Steelshipyard A/S of Fredrikshaven.
These vehicles are to be delivered to R.A.M.S.E.S. headquarters no later than June 30th.


April
24th – Kastrup Airfield, Copenhagen.
The 2 aircraft taxied out to the end of the runway, the Falcon leading out the new aircraft.
At the side of the runway, Kurt Simon stood with a group of officers from the Air Force and officials from the Ministry of Defence.
“As you are about to see Gentlemen, the new plane is noticeably faster than the Falcon, with no loss of capability in performance in other areas, with one exception, that of landing speed, which is slightly higher” Kurt announced as the 2 aircraft got airborne.
“Both pilots are from R.A.M.S.E.S., so we can be sure of a fair, unbiased test, as none of D.A.F.’s employees are involved”, announced Colonel Petersen, C.O. of the Royal Armaments, Materiel and Supplies Evaluation Service.
All those assembled watched the 2 planes circled round to start the pattern they were to fly.
The planes passed the man at the far end of the runway, who raised his arm and shot off a flare.
“The 2 planes have passed the threshold at the same time, and the timing of the test has commenced” explained Col. Petersen to the civilian officials.
The group watched as the 2 planes powered around the circuit that had been marked out for them, and as they passed each corner, a man would fire off a flare to signify that both planes had passed the marker legally. After the first lap, it was clear that the new plane was getting away from the Falcon.
At the end of the third lap, the 2 aircraft landed, the new design taxing to a halt on the apron some 20 seconds before the Falcon had turned off the runway.
Ground crew started working on both aircraft, and drained the fuel tanks of both. The new design had used slightly less fuel than the Falcon.
“As you can see Gentlemen, this new design is not only faster, but is also more efficient, as a result of better aerodynamics” Kurt explained as the officials measured the extracted fuel.
“Colonel Petersen, what is your opinion of this new aircraft?” asked one of the civilians.
“Well Sir, I believe that the improvement in performance speaks for itself. It will give the Air Force an edge that it will badly need if any of our neighbours get aggressive. Having said that, I would like to ask the Dutch, Italians and Iberians to lend us some competitors to test against.”
“Very well Colonel. Dipl.Ing. Simon, please supply 6 aircraft for more “comparative” testing. Would 10 weeks be sufficient to produce these aircraft? replied the civilian .
“Yes, I would think that that should be more than sufficient” answered Simon
“Excellent. And I will organise with the Dutch, Iberian and Italian authorities for some of their aircraft to test against. We shall conduct the trials at Camp Schumacher to keep prying eyes away. Until July then Gentlemen.” He said as he turned to walk to the waiting column of cars.





May
17th - Hydrema’s test facility, near Nykobing, Falster
“Well Carl, how does she handle?” Erik asked, as the N.C.O from R.A.M.S.E.S. climbed out of the tank.
“Well, the turret is a bit cramped, what with the tail end of the recoil system jutting into it, and the bigger breach is a pain.” He jumped off the fender, landing in front of Eric.
“However, given the requirements of the new gun, and the space available, I think you have an acceptable compromise.” he finished.
“I will be recommending that it be acquired for the Army”
“That is excellent news Carl. Thank You!!” enthused Eric.


June
3rd – Camp Schumacher, Jylland
Prince Frederick stood beside the camp Commandant.
“So everything has been checked” asked the Commandant.
“And rechecked, Sir.” Replied the Prince, “And we are confident in the new weapon.”
“And this is possible because of the work of that Swiss chemist you told me about”
“Yes Sir” replied the Prince, “It was most fortuitous to meet Henry Mohaupt at that Embassy event in Bern late last year. A Most interesting man, with some fascinating ideas”
“Well, we shall see if they are as good as you claim. And the man who is foolish enough to be firing it today is.....”
“Sergeant Sorensen, Sir.” Replied the Prince, “with Private Kryger acting as loader.”
“Very well, Lieutenant. You may fire when you’re ready then.” said the Commandant as he turned to step down into the trench beside the firing range, joining the civilians already there.
The Prince turned towards the range, and signalled to the sergeant.
The sergeant acknowledged the signal with a crisp salute, and knelt beside the new weapon.
The Prince followed the Commandant into the trench, and took a position behind the vision slits in the front wall.
Moments later, a flare shot up above the firing party, signifying that they would fire within the minute.
Everyone in the trench waited for the first shot. Seconds ticked by, then with a sound like a dull roar, a shaft of flame and smoke emanated from the rear of the weapon and a streak of flame shot out of the front. The old van target 100 meters downrange exploded, debris showering over the end of the range.
“That, Gentlemen, is the effect of the normal high explosive warhead. It has a similar effect on buildings.” the Prince explained. “We shall now see the effect against armour. The second target, separated from the first by an earth bank, is a piece of 50mm armour, to which we have welded some metal containers of the type used on armoured vehicles”.
A second flare shot into the air, and moments later, the weapon roared again, and an explosion ripped across the target. As the smoke cleared, it became obvious that although the containers were ruined, the armour was intact.
“You can see the problem, Gentlemen. Now, with this third shot, we shall demonstrate the new warhead that we have developed for the new weapon” the Prince said as he turned back to the vision slits.
Minutes later, a third flare shot skyward, and the assembled spectators waited expectantly.
The weapon roared again, and the target rocked again to another explosion.
The Prince exited the trench and signalled to the firing team, who gave him a “thumbs up”.
“Gentlemen, would you please join me at the targets please” he asked, stepping clear of the stairway.
The party made their way to the targets. What remained of the old truck was still burning as they approached, but a fire fighting unit had driven downrange to douse the fire. The armour seemed intact until they got within 40 metres, when you could start to make out a small hole.
When they got to the target, it was obvious that something had gone straight through the armour, and as they walked around the back of the armour, the earth bank behind the target was scoured clean, with a hole directly in line with the hole in the armour.
“I believe that this clearly shows the advantage of this new weapon Gentlemen.” Beamed the Prince, as a smiling Sergeant Sorensen arrived with Private Kryger, the weapon balanced casually on his shoulder.

Quoted

“As you are about to see Gentlemen, the new plane is noticeably faster than the Falcon,

Unless it has considerably more power and speed than advertised, the wing sweep will hardly make any difference. The only regime it would be noticeable would be in a 500mph+ dive but with retaining the same tailplane there would still most likely be control problems due to Mach effects. At low level there won't be any noticeable difference. The wing sweep is fairly small so you might extend Mcrit up to around 0.85ish or slightly higher than for the Spitfire. It would probably be easier just to make the wing thinner or reduce aspect ratio.

It's also lighter, the extra airframe to house the guns in the booms would be less than the weight saved by shortening the fuselage.

And Kurt is trying to "sell" the new plane!!

Quoted

25th – R.A.M.S.E.S. headquarters
The short list of vehicles in the current competition has been completed by R.A.M.S.E.S.
4 x Test vehicles have been requested from the following....
Imperia-Abadel of Belgium, for their staff car
Minerva of Belgium, for their M20 Off-Road car
Brossel of Belgium, for their TAL 13 ton truck

The various Belgian companies will happily comply.
DAF of the Netherlands will curse that they haven't got their amphibious car to quite do that floating thing yet.

Responses to other items.
First Fox with his twinboom pusher seaplane, now you with the landplane, I really have to get the D.XXIII into service !

Are you stealing France's HEAT capability before they ever invent it? Dual stage yet?

Looks to me like we're getting ahead of ourselves a bit with the bazooka-like weapon.....

Quoted

Originally posted by Hrolf Hakonson
Looks to me like we're getting ahead of ourselves a bit with the bazooka-like weapon.....

...and with the HEAT projectile.

Lined Shaped Charge explosives invented by the Swiss Chemist in the news in 1935.

And who said anything about a bazooka - Recoilless rifles have been around since the mid 20's

From Wikipedia.....
The first recoilless gun was developed by Commander Cleland Davis of the US Navy, just prior to the First World War. His design connected two guns back to back, with the backwards-facing gun loaded with lead balls and grease of the same weight as the shell in the other gun. His idea was used experimentally by the British as an anti-Zeppelin and anti-submarine weapon mounted on an Handley Page O/100 bomber and intended to be installed on other aircraft. During the Second World War the Swedish company Bofors Carl Gustaf developed a small 20 mm device, the 20 mm m/42; the British expressed their interest in it, but by that point anti-tank rifles were already out of date.

In the Soviet Union development of recoilless weapons ("Dinamo-Reaktivnaya Pushka" (DRP), roughly "dynamic reaction cannon") began in 1923. In the 1930s many different types of weapons were built and tested with calibers ranging from 37 mm to 305 mm. Some of the smaller examples were tested in aircraft and through some limited production and service, but development was abandoned around 1938, possibly as a side effect of Great Purge. The best-known of these early recoilless rifles was the Model 1935 76 mm DRP designed by L.V. Kurchevski. A small number of these mounted on trucks saw combat in the Winter War. Two were captured by the Finns and tested; one example was given to the Germans in 1940.

The first recoilless rifle to enter service in Germany was the 7,5 cm Leicht Geschütz 40 ("light gun" '40), a simple 75 mm smoothbore recoilless gun developed to give German airborne troops some useful artillery and anti-tank support that could be parachuted into battle. The 75 was found to be so useful during the invasion of Crete that a larger 105 mm version was developed on the same basic pattern. Interestingly both of these weapons were loosely copied by the US Army, reversing the flow of technology that had occurred when the Germans copied the Bazooka. The US did have a development program and it is not clear to what extent the design was copied, as there were in fact differences. The Japanese had also developed a portable recoilless anti-tank rifle which they had reserved for the defense of anticipated invasion of the mainland. As it was, however, these weapons remained fairly rare during the war though the US versions of the 75 started becoming increasingly common in 1945.

Both within agreed time frame, and the Danish Rocket Corp, an historical military body, have a go-getter in the developement section (The Future King!)

Quoted

Seconds ticked by, then with a sound like a dull roar, a shaft of flame and smoke emanated from the rear of the weapon and a streak of flame shot out of the front.

The "streak of flame shot out of the front" said "rocket" to my mind, with the backblast mentioned is also consistent with rocket weapons. Even if it's a recoilless, unless it's a Davis-type gun, it's probably a bit early for it (note that the OTL Russian interest was mostly confined to aircraft).

While the principle behind shaped charges was discovered in the 1880s, it took until after the demonstration of how effective tanks were, and how ineffective the anti-tank rifles of the period were, before they were fielded (starting in 1940). This is why I'm dubious about this development at this time in WW.

Ok, so I'll keep the shaped charge on the "developement" pile at RDRC headquarters!!

But considering the Madsen 20mm was one of the most effective of the smaller calibre anti tank weapons of the period, it would be safe enough to assume that the Danes would see it's limitations given the armour that is being seen on tanks in other nations, and therefore start looking for a replacement, and in that replacement to be looking for something a bit more man portable, not requiring a motorbike,sidecar combi to get it around.

Denmark is a small country, it will never be able to compete on the grounds of numbers, and shortly after I joined this fantasy land, I was asked about the fleet I was building.
My answer now is the same as then, I have to build the best, because I cannot build the numbers. The N2 rule will NEVER apply to Denmark