WesWorld

[SIZE=3]Q1/1942 SUMMARY[/SIZE]

January 1
The Belle Poule arrived in Zhanjiang today.

January 2
Spokesmen from the Armee de l'Aire acknowledged rumors that a number of test pilots and senior commanders have advised terminating the Farman F.400 heavy bomber. Read more...

January 5
The Belle Poule departed Zhanjiang bound for New Caledonia, where the ship is expected to arrive on the 24th.

January 6
The new French ambassador to the Philippines, M. Charles Leroux, presented his credentials to the new Philippine government and took up residence in Manila. Despite some past barbs leveled by members of the Filipino press, Leroux's welcome in Manila has been fairly warm.

January 7 - Le Figaro
The Armee de l'Aire wrapped up a three-day conference of senior officers in Dijon... Read more...

January 9 - Le Temps
Publisher Société Parisienne d'Édition announced that it would conduct a third re-print of the first volume of the popular hit comic book Reynard. The first run of Volume One sold out in October after only fifteen days in print, while the second run sold out in early January. The comic has proven extremely popular in France, with over 400,000 volumes sold since September 1941, and fans eagerly await the second volume, due out in mid-February.

January 12 - Shortwave Radio
*A calm female voice speaks.*
"Dix, quatre, cinq, cinq, dix-sept, onze, vingt-et-un, quatre, vingt-sept ans, six, vingt-deux, vingt-trois, vingt-six, vingt-trois, dix-sept, dix, cinq, onze, vingt-sept ans, treize."
*Frère Jacques plays.*

January 15
Construction began today on the Amaria Dam, located on Guinea's Konkouré River. Read more...

January 16
The Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aéronautiques announced today that it has extended a research grant to SEA (Société d'Electronique appliquée à l''Automatisme) to develop electronic equipment for unidentified purposes.

January 19
Officials from Farman made a last-ditch appeal against the anticipated cancellation of the Farman F.400 heavy bomber, claiming that their proposed F.403 Ourse variant will be capable of fulfilling or exceeding all of the Armee de l'Aire's performance requirements.

January 20
Prime Minister Monnerville departed Paris today by plane for Beirut and Damascus. The Prime Minister will consult with local leaders in French Lebanon about colonial matters and regional concerns before travelling to Damascus to meet with Syrian leaders. The trip to Lebanon and Syria is the second Monnerville has undertaken to discuss colonial issues since becoming Prime Minister, and unconfirmed rumours indicate he is planning a third trip in the coming months to visit Indochina, to speak with recently-elected Governor-General Truong Van Bao.

January 21
Prime Minister Monnerville met today with local leaders and businessmen in Beirut.

January 22
An electrical malfunction started a fire which resulted in significant damage to the Stade Jules Deschaseaux in Le Havre. The stadium will be closed for several weeks to months while repairs are made.

January 23
Syrian president Hashim al-Atassi welcomed Prime Minister Monnerville to Damascus today, where the two leaders discussed Middle East security, trade and economics, and Syria-Lebanon border issues.

January 24
Belle Poule arrived today in New Caledonia.

January 26
The French Parliament opened discussions today regarding a proposal to establish a body to nominate and administer national parks. An immediate proposal is the creation of a park in the Tarentaise Valley, opposite the Italian Gran Paradiso National Park in the Graian Alps.

January 27 - Le Figaro
Construction crews broke ground today on a port improvements project in Bougie, Algerie. The first stage of the project, scheduled for completion in August 1943, will result in the renovation of Bougie's marine oil-loading terminal. Bougie will be the Mediterranean terminus of the newest Algerian oil pipeline, scheduled to begin operation in December of 1943.

January 29
The Armee de l'Aire requested a prototype of the Swiss-designed Pilatus P-2 trainer aircraft for technical evaluation.

February 2 - Toulon Matin
The carriers Clemenceau, Gambetta, and Vauban are reportedly homeward bound to Toulon after delivering aircraft to French bases in the Pacific.

February 4
The Air Liquide firm, a specialist in compressed and industrial gases, announced their creation of the subsidiary firm La Spirotechnique.

February 5
The Antarctic Research Consortium's new Nord N.1510 Normandie transport flew its first cargo mission to the Antarctic continent today. The N.1510 departed Punta Arenas with six scientists and seven metric tons of cargo, arriving at Magnus Station at 1200 hours. The acquisition of the specially-winterized Normandie has doubled the capacity of the weekly air cargo service to the united research groups in the Antarctic region.

February 6 - Agence Havas
Prime Minister Monnerville will travel to meet with Governor-General Truong Van Bao and other Indochinese local leaders later this month in order to discuss regional issues such as economic development, anti-corruption measures, and Far East defense policy. Among the major issues to be discussed is the Indochinese Territorial Forces. The ITF, which will include land, air, and sea components, is proposed to serve as a professional regional militia for Indochina; if Indochina votes for independence in the upcoming 1945 Plebiscite, the ITF will presumably become the new nation's armed forces.

There are additionally rumors within the Foreign Ministry that Monnerville may extend his trip to visit Manila to meet with that nation's new government.

February 6 - La Croix
The French Parliament voted to establish the new agency Parcs Nationaux de France to oversee the creation of national parks and other natural reserves.

February 9
ONERA reported that their workshop at the Centre d'Essais en Vol in Brétigny-sur-Orge has successfully installed a newly-constructed ramjet engine in a Leduc O.10 test aircraft, and has already flown in a composite with its MB.161 mothership.

February 10 - Le Nouvel Economiste
Buoyed by the recent completion of port improvements in Abidjan, improved ground transportation in West Africa, and faster refrigerated sea transport, fruit importers have reported increased profits and lowered shipping times, particularly in the pineapple market. According to industry studies conducted over the last year, European importers have reduced transit times by hours or days while increasing deliverable quantities and reducing waste. As a result, industry leaders have reported growth as high as six percent in the last two years.

February 11
According to sources within the Ministry of National Defense and War, the Armee de l'Aire has given Avions Farman a March 1st deadline to present a plan for either improving the Farman F.400 Ourse to the Air Force's standards, or an alternative four-engine heavy bomber to enter service by no later than January 1943. There has been no official comment either from Farman or from the Armee de l'Aire.

February 13
La Mare aux Fées, the second Reynard comic book, comes out.

February 16
The French government condemned British intelligence's unwarranted February 12th assassination of Zionist leader Avraham Stern. "As the leader of the Lehi underground movement, M. Stern should have been arrested and tried by the judicial authorities for the crimes of which he stands accused. By assassinating M. Stern, the British government has created an unfortunate martyr for the Lehi movement, and dangerously disregarded the civil rights of the accused. Assassination should never be one of the tools of a civilized government."

February 17 - La Croix
The Concours général agricole opened today at the Parc des expositions de la porte de Versailles despite cold and rainy weather. The Concours is mainland Europe's largest agricultural trade show and one of the three largest agricultural shows in the world, dating back to 1870.

February 18
Air France unveiled a unique new paint scheme on one of their newest MB.970 Transatlantiques, which has been leased by the government for use by senior French government officials. The aircraft is all white with the French tricolor on the tail, bearing the name Émissaire.

February 20
The DEFA 501 23mm cannon spectacularly failed its first field test today, exploding and throwing pieces of itself around the test stand. The weapon, chambered for the new 23x140mm cannon round, is based on the theoretical "anti-airship cannon" that began development for the French Navy. A waggish officer commented to observers "If we mounted the 501 on the enemy airship, then we could call this test a success..."

February 23
Prime Minister Gaston Monnerville departed Paris on the first leg of his trip to Indochina. The prime minister will travel aboard the new Air France airliner Émissaire, which was rented by the French government for the trip. The prime minister's aircraft will fly to Saigon via Beirut and Colombo.

February 25
ONERA reported that a planned flight of the Leduc O.10 was scrubbed today due to heavy winds.

February 26
Émissaire arrived in Saigon early this morning, where he was greeted by Governor-General Truong Van Bao and other members of the Indochina Governing Council, including majority leader Nguyen Van Minh.

February 27 - Agence Havas
The Leduc O.10 made the first powered ramjet flight, clocking up a confirmed ground speed of 710kph. Read more...

February 28
The carriers Clemenceau, Gambetta and Vauban, as well as their escorts, dropped anchor in the Rade of Toulon after delivering aircraft to the French Pacific possessions.

March 2
Shareholders voted to give the final approval to the proposed merger of aircraft manufacturers Breguet and Societie Nord. The combined company, to operate under the name Breguet-Nord, currently produces three aircraft of their own joint design (the Breguet Epaulard, the Breguet Bretagne, and the Nord Normandie) and two aircraft under license (the Nord Noralpha and the VG.64N fighter.)

March 3
Prime Minister Monnerville and Governor-General Truong Van Bao reached a verbal agreement today about the 1945 Indochina Plebiscite planned as part of France's Indochina commitments. Read more...

March 4
Prime Minister Monnerville arrived in Manila for a state visit to the Philippines. He received a warm welcome from President of the Council Soriano and other leading members of the new Filipino government.

March 5 - Le Temps
Avions Farman presented a proposal to the Armee de l'Aire to drop development of the Farman F.400 Ourse heavy bomber, and substitute a customized and license-built version of the American Consolidated B-24 bomber. According to Farman, the American government has already given their verbal permission to Consolidated to license the B-24 for French construction.

March 6
The Franco-Philippine Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed today in Manila. The Filipino Congress swiftly ratified the treaty. Although the French Parliament previously gave Prime Minister Monnerville instructions to sign the treaty, they are not scheduled to discuss ratification until later this month, when Monnerville has returned from Southeast Asia.

The Prime Minister will remain in Manila until the afternoon of March 8, and shall attend mass at the Basilica of San Sebastian before returning to Saigon.

March 8
Prime Minister Monnerville returned to Saigon late this evening from Manila. He will begin his trip back to France in the morning.

March 9
Édith Piaf performed her latest song, Un Coin Tout Bleu, for the first time today in Paris.

March 11
A cooperative of farmers and minor agricultural interests have formed Groupe Limagrain, a seed distributor company.

March 12 - Agence Havas
Prime Minister Monnerville returned to Paris today at the conclusion of his trip to Indochina and the Philippines. President Theisman was on hand at the airport to welcome the Prime Minister home.

March 13
The liner Marianne, inbound to Le Havre, reportedly narrowly missed running down a small sailing boat in foggy weather in the Manche. Although the liner missed the craft, it disappeared and was feared swamped. Rescue boats dispatched to the area discovered neither boat nor wreckage. The liner did not show any signs of an impact. One of the Marianne's lookouts reported to investigators at Le Havre that the boat appeared to be empty.

Although Marianne has radio-teledetection equipment to prevent collisions of this nature, experts noted that it was likely not sensitive enough to detect such a small craft. The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique has indicated that both Marianne and her stepsister Normandie will be reequipped with more modern RDT equipment during their next modernization period.

March 16 - Gia Dinh Bao
The Manila Steamship Company receives permission to begin regular service between Manila and Saigon.

March 16
The research ship Le Suroit has successfully observed the South Pacific solar eclipse. The Chilean naval ships Vidal Gormaz, Ignacy Domeyko and Vanguardia assisted in the observations, taking extensive readings with a variety of equipment along the path of the eclipse.

March 17 - Toulon Matin
Sail training ship Belle Poule completed transit of the Panama Canal following her crossing of the Pacific, and has departed for her next port call.

March 17
Jean-Jacques Barre conducted the test-run of the EA 1941 rocket engine today at his research facility at Larzac. The liquid-fueled rocket operated for five seconds before exploding, producing a thrust of 719 kgf.

March 18
Another test of the EA 1941 rocket engine has produced 650 kgf for four seconds before exploding.

March 20 - Le Temps
Café de la Paix reportedly received a distinguished visitor in the personage of Otto von Hapsburg and two unidentified guests today. The pretender to the Austro-Hungarian crown reportedly retired to the Palais Garnier for a performance of Puccini's Tosca after finishing dinner. Also attending the performance was the famous Franco-Atlantean actress Eos de Lisle, retired Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet, and Arthur Honegger, one of Les Six.

March 21
The infamous Liechtenstein-born con-artist Marco Kaiser was arrested today in Nantes.

March 23
Armee de Terre officials, including Minister of National Defense Jean-Marie Lemaréchal, have begun a week-long review of several programs overseen by DEFA (Direction des Études et Fabrications d'Armement). Read more...

March 24 - Agence Havas
The French Parliament voted today to ratify the Franco-Philippine Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The treaty saw opposition from the members of the French Communist Party, who whined about concluding an agreement with an "illegitimate government opposed and condemned by the people", whereupon their speaker was laughed into submission. Attempts at further Communist obstructionism were rejected, and most members of the French Socialist Party voted with the center and right parties to overwhelmingly ratify the treaty.

March 25 - Le Figaro
French test pilot Louis-Antoine Messiaen took the Leduc O.10 ramjet for its second free flight today, in a test that ONERA declared 'highly satisfactory'. Although in the first successful powered test flight on February 27 was limited to 60% throttle, Capitaine Messiaen was given permission to push the test aircraft a bit more. Upon separating from the mothership composite, Messiaen started a climb to altitude that reportedly far exceeded that of the most modern piston-engine fighters. Upon reaching 8,000 meters altitude, Capitaine Messiaen reportedly registered a true airspeed of just over five hundred knots.

March 26 - Le Nouvel Economiste
Société des Avions Marcel Bloch announced today they are pursuing a deal to acquire and merge with aircraft manufacturer Avions Amiot sometime within the next six months. Felix Amiot and the company's three thousand employees are reportedly in favor of the merger. The deal will not cover Amiot's shipbuilding assets in Cherbourg. The announcement comes amidst unconfirmed rumors that Bloch is also looking into a merger with Loire-Nieuport.

March 27
President Theisman spoke today at a ceremony announcing the creation the Institut franco-allemand de la technologie, l'économie et des sciences (tr. Franco-German Institute of Technology, Economy, and Sciences) in his hometown of Metz. Joining President Theisman was Magnus Alexander Maximilian Freiherr von Braun, the German Minister of the Interior. The new institute, which will be based in Metz, received Theisman's support during the French election campaign a year ago, and shall offer cross-cultural educational exchanges for French and German college level students.

March 30
The heavy cruiser Téméraire and the destroyers of the 4th Flotilla Torpilleurs departed Brest today for Antwerp, where they will call on the Belgian Navy. Task Force commander Contre-amiral Marcel St-Hilaire shall be meeting with Belgian naval commanders to prepare for joint Franco-Belgian naval exercises later this year.

March 31
The French Army has accepted the LGPR-41AC for weapons trials.

[SIZE=3]CNS Chiloe and the Porte-avions d'escorte Concept[/SIZE]
by Capt. Marcel Alphonse Fouroux.
Article from Le Spectateur militaire.

With the increased emphasis many navies place on naval aviation, naval designers and theorists have begun working to determine such things as ideal size, speed, and other operational parameters for aircraft carriers. One of the major issues discussed by the theorists is how to best reduce cost for construction and operation, which has led to the envisioning of the Porte-avions d'escorte concept.

The Porte-avions d'escorte is an aircraft carrier converted from a merchant ship, or an aircraft carrier built in civilian yards using civilian-sourced equipment and construction techniques. This process allows for substantial cost savings during the construction of the ship itself. Operational costs are similarly lower, as such a ship would use a more economical civilian diesel or steam turbine engine. Such emphasis on utility exacts a price. Most aircraft carriers built from the keel up have extensive armour suitable for their size, as well as extensive internal subdivision to help with damage control. Speed usually exceeds thirty knots, which is vital for the operation of the embarked air group. Civilian-built ships lack the internal subdivision, the armour, and usually the speed.

Relatively few navies have built a ship like the Porte-avions d'escorte, instead preferring to spend their money building more effective vessels or converting existing military ships, such as older cruisers. Many of the first aircraft carrier and seaplane carrier prototypes, however, were conversions of merchant ships, particularly during the Great War period, when the desired low cost outweighed the weaknesses. The Indian Navy has specialized in the type, converting a collier into their first carrier Otta, then a troopship-liner into the Lathi, and more recently, converting the Aruval, Vel, and Katar. The Chilean Navy has also made the Chiloe, a ship I've had the opportunity to inspect firsthand. As it's one of the only modern examples of the type that can be inspected by Western observers, it merits close attention as one of the prime exemplars of the type.

The origin of the Chiloe came as a result of the theories of Admiral Eduardo Moore, then the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Navy, and a preeminent advocate of carrier aviation. Moore noted the attrition suffered by his naval aviators in the Andean War and the Peruvian Civil War, and quickly determined that a lengthy war would swiftly deplete Chile's cadre of trained naval aviators. Alarmed by this prospect, Moore arranged to substantially increase the number of naval aviators, and pushed for the acquisition of a training carrier. The construction of the larger Chilean fleet carrier Libertad, begun in 1938, helped make this a high priority, as the new ship would require a cadre of trained naval aviators and their associated deck personnel. A training carrier would help create these crews.

Like many ships of her type, the Chiloe was born in a civilian yard as a civilian ship. The Chilean government's merchant marine directorate, DIRECTEMAR, ordered her as a fast passenger-cargo ship, but was having difficulty finding a civilian shipping line willing to lease or buy the vessel. Her transition to military ownership was swift, as she was already owned by a government agency. Unlike most other escort carriers, the Chiloe had no intervening civilian life, as the Chilean Navy acquired the ship before she was completed. The ship's unfinished state allowed the Chilean naval yard, ASMAR, to make a more efficient conversion than might otherwise have been possible, which is visible in several aspects of her construction.

Quoted

General Specifications, CNS Chiloe
Dimensions: 170m x 18.9m x 5.8m
Displacement: 11,000 tons (approximate, normal displacement)
Speed: 24 knots (maximum)
Armament: 1x13cm gun, 8x7.6cm guns, 16x4cm guns
Aircraft: 24 planes

A curious aspect of Chiloe's construction is her power plant. The ship has Chilean-licensed versions of Burmeister and Wain maritime diesels which can economically power the ship to eighteen knots. A subsidiary steam turbine, also civilian sourced, can raise the maximum operational speed, but this is unusual except during flight operations in no-wind conditions. Although some navies have shunned the diesel engine due to concerns about reliability, the Chileans have observed that the B&Ws have had fewer issues at their normal operating speed than a steam turbine of comparable power.

The Chiloe, as a result of her civilian origins, has very little in the way of protective armour, and her crew refers to her, somewhat skeptically, as a "one-torpedo ship." Although internal subdivision was improved during her final construction, it does not compare to a purpose built military warship in any way. Shock testing in 1940 revealed that a number of the civilian-sourced fittings failed when subjected to relatively minor close impacts, such as would occur with a near miss by a bomb. As the Chileans primarily use the ship for training naval aviators and deck crews, this relative fragility is not a major concern during peacetime, but if the ship is ever to be used in war, it could be a critical issue.

In her training role, the Chiloe carries twenty-four ENAER Coati-Ns. The Coati is a modern all-metal monoplane designed for advanced training of pilots. The Coati-N variant, powered by the nine hundred horsepower Austral Streiff radial, was developed for use on aircraft carriers, made with non-corrosive metals and equipped with a tailhook and strengthened fuselage. Although not a war plane, the Coati has two machine guns and wing racks for light bombs or depth charges. This airgroup, while not militarily formidable, allows the Chilean Navy to train numerous pilots in carrier landings. In wartime, the Coati would be a useful anti-submarine aircraft, as it is easy to maintain and fly, even from a carrier deck.

Although the Chileans employ the ship almost exclusively for training, the Chiloe has been used in a number of major military exercises to determine the ideal military role of a ship of her type. These exercises usually see her airgroup exchanged for visiting squadrons, operating aircraft as varied as the F4U / F4E Corsair naval fighter and the heavy Alicanto bomber. Operating these aircraft is tricky for a ship as slow as the Chiloe. Chilean research has shown that a torpedo-laden Alicanto requires a hundred and twenty meters of take-off run with a twenty-five knot headwind - a sizable amount of real estate on a deck only a hundred and seventy meters long. In calm weather conditions, the Chiloe may also have difficulty achieving the minimum necessary airspeed over the ship's flight deck, and aircraft parking configurations further complicate operations. Chilean-built F4E Corsairs are more forgiving of space, but have their own tricky handling issues. This has led to a regular use of the single steam catapult for almost all air operations with aircraft beside the Coati. The catapult permits the Chiloe to operate more aircraft at the same time. Although the launch rate is slower, more aircraft can be spotted at the same time on the flight deck for launch. The ship also is not forced to operate at her difficult-to-attain maximum speed.

In 1941, the data the Chilean Navy acquired while operating the Chiloe and its other carriers was worked into a handbook, which was in turn distributed to a number of cadets at the Escuela Navale, Chile's naval academy. These cadets familiarized themselves with carrier operating doctrine and worked out a six week long series of naval kriegspiels, evaluating different methods of organizing and employing aircraft carriers of all types. This experience confirmed that the fleet carriers, such as Chile's Libertad, were worth their weight in fighting power. The large carrier's mix of speed, protection, and large air wing gave an operational flexibility that light and escort carriers could not match, even when the smaller ships were grouped to give approximately similar aircraft numbers. The escort carriers, in order to compose enough mass for an air strike, required significant collaboration between ships and squadrons, resulting in delays planning a major combined operation. By contrast, a fleet carrier, as it is able to mass a full air-strike on its own, can streamline such collaboration.

Despite these unsurprising findings, the cadets determined that escort carriers, if formed into a well-organized task force, could hold their own in a surprising number of situations. The cadets determined that four to six escort carriers, carrying between a hundred fifty and two hundred planes, was ideal from an operational standpoint, maintaining enough air-power to be potent, but not overwhelming a single commander's ability to exercise command and control. This sort of operational group was strategically the equal of two fleet carriers when on the offensive. On the defensive, the cadets determined that the fleet carriers had a much more pronounced edge, both in defending themselves from air and surface attack and surviving damage from attackers that got through. As one slight advantage to operating more numerous but smaller carriers, however, was that damage to a single ship eliminated a smaller percentage of a task force's strength, both by causing attackers to dissipate their strength against multiple targets and by allowing undamaged ships to continue operations.

At the end of the day, then, what results ought to be drawn from this ship?

Chilean Navy officers familiar with the Chiloe emphasize that, at least in peacetime, the ship's greatest shortcomings are relatively unimportant, and the operational economy it allows is highly desired. In wartime, the dangerous risks run by such relatively fragile vessels may be offset by acquiring them in numbers and employing them en masse for mutual protection. However, at the same time, the Chileans emphasize that there is no substitute for quality.

[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]

January 1
The Belle Poule arrived in Zhanjiang today.

January 2
Spokesmen from the Armee de l'Aire acknowledged rumors that a number of test pilots and senior commanders have advised terminating the Farman F.400 heavy bomber. The development program struggled even before the fatal crash of a prototype in mid 1941, but an increasing number of test pilots have voiced dissatisfaction with the Ourse's performance. The Armee de l'Aire has also questioned the rising cost of the aircraft, with Farman now expecting a production F.400 to cost 1.7 million francs, far in excess of the original stated price of 1.05 million francs.

The Armee de l'Aire's spokesman stated that a conference of senior officers would be held on January 5th to determine whether or not to continue or cancel the F.400 program. If the aircraft is cancelled, there remain several key questions for the Armee de l'Aire to address regarding the future of its heavy bomber force. Although the heavy bomber fleet has declined since its high water mark in previous decades, the air force's leadership is reluctant to abandon use of the type altogether.

The Bloch MB.162, currently France's only heavy bomber, ended production in late 1940, as the F.400 Ourse was anticipated to enter service in 1942. Marcel Bloch has stated that his company would require at least four to five years lead time to design a replacement heavy bomber, and advised against the suggested course of using the MB.970 airliner as the basis of a new heavy bomber. Wary of Farman's current difficulties and Bloch's reluctance, most other French manufacturers are reluctant to accept the challenge to design a high-performance heavy bomber.

Some reports among the Armee de l'Aire's lower levels indicate that the air force is seriously considering the possibility of a foreign sourced heavy bomber. Unsubstantiated rumors have named the German Heinkel He-177, the British Avro Lancaster, the American B-29 and B-32, or the Russian ANT-35b as the AdlA's object of interest. No official confirmation of these rumors has been offered to date.

January 5
The Belle Poule departed Zhanjiang bound for New Caledonia, where the ship is expected to arrive on the 24th.

January 6
The new French ambassador to the Philippines, M. Charles Leroux, presented his credentials to the new Philippine government and took up residence in Manila. Despite some past barbs leveled by members of the Filipino press, Leroux's welcome in Manila has been fairly warm.

January 7 - Le Figaro
The Armee de l'Aire wrapped up a three-day conference of senior officers in Dijon. While the conference was held to discuss whether or not to cancel the Farman F.400 heavy bomber, the debate allegedly veered into a major argument on French bombing strategy, with the lines drawn between officers who favor heavy four-engine bombers operating in a strategic role, and a second group of officers (backed by the Armee de Terre) who advocate a greater emphasis on light and medium bombers for tactical bombing and ground attack.

Rumours from within the Air Ministry have been contradictory about the results of the conference. Reportedly, Farman officials made a concerted effort to preserve their F.400 Ourse heavy bomber program, proposing an improved derivative dubbed the F.403, but there have been no firm indications whether or not this effort was successful.

January 9 - Le Temps
Publisher Société Parisienne d'Édition announced that it would conduct a third re-print of the first volume of the popular hit comic book Reynard. The first run of Volume One sold out in October after only fifteen days in print, while the second run sold out in early January. The comic has proven extremely popular in France, with over 400,000 volumes sold since September 1941, and fans eagerly await the second volume, due out in mid-February.

January 12 - Shortwave Radio
*A calm female voice speaks.*
"Dix, quatre, cinq, cinq, dix-sept, onze, vingt-et-un, quatre, vingt-sept ans, six, vingt-deux, vingt-trois, vingt-six, vingt-trois, dix-sept, dix, cinq, onze, vingt-sept ans, treize."
*Frère Jacques plays.*

January 15
Construction began today on the Amaria Dam, located on Guinea's Konkouré River. The 65MW electric plant will provide electric power to run a bauxite reduction facility planned by the Kimbo-Fria company. The project has suffered from a number of setbacks, as the original schedule called for the completion of both the hydroelectric dam and the smelter in December 1941. Many of the delays have come due to the construction of a meter-gauge railway from the port of Dubréka (near Conakry) some 65km away on the Atlantic Ocean, which had to be re-routed and re-surveyed in 1941.

While the Amaria Dam project, partially funded by a French government loan, has begun to take shape, the far more ambitious Akosombo Dam project in Côte-de-l'Or continues to languish in a mire of difficulties, both on the financial and public relations fronts. The 912MW Akosombo Dam, if built, will create the world's largest man-made lake, drowning some of the prime farmland in Côte-de-l'Or and causing the displacement of a large number of locals. The additional cost of constructing the dam, smelter, and its supporting infrastructure has given pause to numerous investors, and even to the French government.

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
January 12 - Shortwave Radio
*A calm female voice speaks.*
"Dix, quatre, cinq, cinq, dix-sept, onze, vingt-et-un, quatre, vingt-sept ans, six, vingt-deux, vingt-trois, vingt-six, vingt-trois, dix-sept, dix, cinq, onze, vingt-sept ans, treize."
*Frère Jacques plays.*

Rut roh!

January 16
The Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aéronautiques announced today that it has extended a research grant to SEA (Société d'Electronique appliquée à l''Automatisme) to develop electronic equipment for unidentified purposes.

January 19
Officials from Farman made a last-ditch appeal against the anticipated cancellation of the Farman F.400 heavy bomber, claiming that their proposed F.403 Ourse variant will be capable of fulfilling or exceeding all of the Armee de l'Aire's performance requirements.

January 20
Prime Minister Monnerville departed Paris today by plane for Beirut and Damascus. The Prime Minister will consult with local leaders in French Lebanon about colonial matters and regional concerns before travelling to Damascus to meet with Syrian leaders. The trip to Lebanon and Syria is the second Monnerville has undertaken to discuss colonial issues since becoming Prime Minister, and unconfirmed rumours indicate he is planning a third trip in the coming months to visit Indochina, to speak with recently-elected Governor-General Truong Van Bao.

January 21
Prime Minister Monnerville met today with local leaders and businessmen in Beirut.

January 22
An electrical malfunction started a fire which resulted in significant damage to the Stade Jules Deschaseaux in Le Havre. The stadium will be closed for several weeks to months while repairs are made.

January 23
Syrian president Hashim al-Atassi welcomed Prime Minister Monnerville to Damascus today, where the two leaders discussed Middle East security, trade and economics, and Syria-Lebanon border issues.

January 24
Belle Poule arrived today in New Caledonia.

January 26
The French Parliament opened discussions today regarding a proposal to establish a body to nominate and administer national parks. An immediate proposal is the creation of a park in the Tarentaise Valley, opposite the Italian Gran Paradiso National Park in the Graian Alps.

January 27 - Le Figaro
Construction crews broke ground today on a port improvements project in Bougie, Algerie. The first stage of the project, scheduled for completion in August 1943, will result in the renovation of Bougie's marine oil-loading terminal. Bougie will be the Mediterranean terminus of the newest Algerian oil pipeline, scheduled to begin operation in December of 1943.

January 29
The Armee de l'Aire requested a prototype of the Swiss-designed Pilatus P-2 trainer aircraft for technical evaluation.

January 30
-.-. .--. --.. - .... .- -..- .... ..- --.. .--. -.- -. .--- -- . -..- .-- - -.. . -.- --.- -.-. .... -. -... .- -... --- .-.. .--. ..- .... --- .... ... .... .-.-.- ..--- .-.-.- .---- .. ... -.- -..- -.-- -.-. -.-. -.-- -. - -... ..- -.- -..- .... .--. ..- -- -.. . .--- --. -.-- --.. -.. .-- .-.. -.-- .- - ..- -- -.-- ..-. .--- ... --- .. -- -.-- -- ..- .- .--. .... .. .--- ..-. .... - -..- --.- --.. ... ..- -.-. ... .. . -.. -. -.. .- .-- - -... - ...- --.- ...- --.. ..-. --.. . .- ..-. .-.. -.. ..- --.. -.-- ... .. .- ..- -.-. ..- -- --.. .-.-.-

Hmmm. That is indeed interesting.

Quoted

Originally posted by Rooijen10
Hmmm. That is indeed interesting.

I'll take your word for it.

Quoted

Originally posted by Rooijen10
Hmmm. That is indeed interesting.

Il fait chaud dans le Suez.

Les longs sanglots des violons de l'automne …

Really Brock? Really? If you put a space between each word I might be able to break the code, if its a simple substitution one.

Quoted

Originally posted by Desertfox
Really Brock? Really? If you put a space between each word I might be able to break the code, if its a simple substitution one.

*Laughs with an evil laugh.*

The Morse, with spacing, converts out to:

Quoted

CPZTH AX HUZPK NJM EX WTDEKQ CHN BABO LPUH OHSH.2.1 ISKXYCCY NTBUKXHPUM DE JGY ZDWLYATUMY FJSO IMY MUAPHI JFH TXQZSUCSI ED NDA WTBT VQVZ FZEAFLDU ZY SIAU CUMZ.

Hint #1: the first word is "Where" and the last word is "down".
Hint #2: there is padding.
Hint #3: I wrote the original message in English.
Hint #4: None of the two-letter words are the same.
Hint #5: The word "Stop" appears three times in the message.
Hint #6: The message was broadcast from east of Fidji by a ship in FPAR.2.1, delivering aircraft to Noumea, Suva, Papeete.

I'll share the original message later tonight.

Its not a one-time pad code is it? Definitely not a simple substitution...

Quoted

Originally posted by Desertfox
Its not a one-time pad code is it? Definitely not a simple substitution...

It's neither a one-time pad nor a substitution.

I'll just pick up the scrambler phone and call the boys down at Bletchley.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
I'll just pick up the scrambler phone and call the boys down at Bletchley.

Well, they did work it out historically.

Well, here's the message for those who are still curious.

Quoted

WHERE OH WHERE HAS MY LITTLE DOG GONE STOP FPAR.2.1 REPORTS COMPLETION OF ALL OBJECTIVES STOP THE HORSES ARE RETURNING TO THE BARN STOP ZACCHEUS DO COME DOWN.

In other words, the three French carriers (Clemenceau, Vauban, and Gambetta composing the Force de Porte-avions Rapides 2.1) dispatched to deliver aircraft to New Caledonia, Fidji, and French Polynesia, and offer carrier-landing refresher training to Aeronavale pilots in those places, have completed their mission and are returning to France.

[SIZE=3]The Legion Russe at the Battle of the Nations; August 1917[/SIZE]
Article from Le Spectateur militaire.

Summer, 1917: war-ravaged Europe shook to the sounds of falling empires. In the far east, the Russian Empire, making fresh peace with the Central Powers, reorganized itself into the modern democratic Russian Federation. In Asia, the still-defiant but wretched Ottomans, sundered from their German and Austro-Hungarian allies, faced off against the British General Allenby in the Holy Land. On the blood-soaked Western Front, the French, British, and Canadians rose from their trenches to begin the Hundred Days Offensive. The Italians finally crossed the Isonzo.

And in Vienna, the ancient regime of Austria-Hungary tottered and collapsed into the pages of history. Into the palatial Hofburg, once the seat of the Holy Roman Empire, stormed a thousand of the rough and defiant men of the Russian Legion, who finished alone what Mother Russia had started three years before: to tear down the flag of the great power of Central Europe.

The Legion Russe
In December 1915, the men who stormed the Hofburg had no foreknowledge of what lay a year and a half in their future. French Minister Paul Doumer, on a visit to Russia, asked for an expeditionary force of three hundred thousand Russians to join the fighting on the Western Front. Though Czar Nicholas II was in favor, much of the Russian High Command opposed the idea, and only agreed when the French promised to fully equip and supply the troops, and place them in units under Russian generals.

Before the Russian Expeditionary Forces could make the long trek into the west, plans changed. In February of 1916, an Atlantean general, Damon Thule-Saulius, waded ashore at Akcay in Turkey, with two hundred and fifty thousand men of the Army of Asia. Their goal was the city of Constantinople, which not months before had withstood the British and Australians in the dismaying Gallipoli Campaign. Thule-Saulius had no intention of repeating the disastrous mistakes of Gallipoli, and within six months, the Atlanteans smashed the Ottoman defenses and forced Sultan Mehmed to flee ignomiously to Sansun. The Turkish Straits were opened, and battered Bulgaria defected to the Entente rather than to face the coming storm alone. The Russian Expeditionary Forces went not to the killing fields in France, but were gathered in the Black Sea ports of Crimea. From there, protected by Atlantean warships, they joined the Entente's Army of the Orient as it prepared to liberate conquered Serbia and plunge into the soft underbelly of the Central Powers.

Although the Straits were opened, it was too late for Russia, which sought an independent armistice in March of 1917. To even the most understanding of the Entente powers, this was a dismaying and treacherous betrayal, though hindsight suggests that it was necessary and saved Russia from the carnage of a terrible civil war. For the Russian Expeditionary Forces in the Balkans, it was a bitter defeat, made more difficult by the suspicions of their former comrades in arms. Many of the troops of the REF were disarmed and set to work in labour units, but several thousand vowed to continue fighting as the Russian Legion.

The Russian Legion (Fr. Legion Russe), at its height, barely exceeded three thousand men, and remained under the operational aegis of the French Army, which equipped them with field kit and uniforms; but like all French troops in the Balkans, they carried new Atlantean-made Lycurgus rifles, a concession to the dominant Atlantean-led nature of the Army of the Orient. Administratively, the Legion Russe was usually paired with a French colonial unit, or the French Armenian and Czechoslovak Legions.

The Invasion of Austria-Hungary
In May of 1917, Thule-Saulius was promoted to Field Marshal of the Army of the Orient. The Atlantean general showed little appreciation for the gesture, though, as he was too busy planning for his next offensive - Operation Iron Wolf, his name for the invasion of Austria-Hungary. Facing him, in command of four hundred thousand battle-hardened German and Austro-Hungarian soldiers, was the redoubtable August von Mackensen. Against such a foe, Thule-Saulius could allow no mistakes to mar his campaign; Mackensen was slippery and very dangerous.

To defeat Mackensen and overthrow Austria-Hungary, Thule-Saulius brought one and a quarter million men from eleven nations. Five hundred thousand men of the force came from Atlantis and its far-flung empire. Alongside them were the Balkan powers, with the Romanians at the forefront with two hundred thousand men. Greece and Montenegro brought their own contributions, while the war-weary Serbians hungered for the defeat of Austria-Hungary, which had nearly destroyed their country in the past three years. Former enemy Bulgaria, having sensed the turn of the tide, added hundred and eighty thousand to the ranks of the Entente. France, Italy, and Britain, as well as the troops of Commonwealth members Australia and New Zealand, joined the ranks. In this great mass of soldiers, the three thousand men of the Legion Russe were merely a drop in the bucket.

Unlike the stalemate of the Western Front, the Army of the Orient fought a war of movement and momentum. Thule-Saulius, in the general field orders issued in May 1917, wrote "We advanced yesterday, we advanced today, and we shall advance again tomorrow. Throw the enemy back on his heels; never leave him room to catch his breath." Mackensen struggled daily to stem the tide with deceptions, planned retreats, and powerful counterattacks. In the spring of 1917 he launched a punishing campaign called the Third Mackensen Offensive, hammering away at the Romanian Army in the Battle of Arad, but the Romanians held and Entente forces elsewhere surged forward. Thule-Saulius and Mackensen fought a seesaw battle over Subotica, which finally ended late in May when Todorov's 1st Bulgarian Army stormed across the Danube, outflanking Mackensen's position. Mackensen expertly extracted his forces and redeployed, aiming to spoil any further advances.

In the warmth of June, Thule-Saulius, pleased by the defensive preparations of the previous week, sent his million troops surging forward onto the Pannonian Plain. They were supported by brand-new tanks, armoured cars, and airplanes, in one of the first modern examples of a combined-arms operation. The Entente advanced: three kilometers, five kilometers, ten kilometers, snatching up prisoners and supplies. Even Mackensen's most heroic efforts could only slow the advance. At the Battle of Lake Balaton, Georgi Todorov's Bulgarians outflanked the Austro-Hungarians. A force of French and Serbian troops led by Sarrail besieged and took Zagreb, which fell in July after two months of heroic resistance. The Romanians reached Miskolc, defying Mackensen's best efforts to stop them, and on the 10th of July, the Atlanteans raised the bull over the city of Budapest. From the banks of the Isonzo and the Dalmatian Coast to the mountains of Slovakia, Austria-Hungary shook to the force of the blows.

For much of this campaign, the Legion Russe served in the rear, guarding prisoners and protecting supply lines against expected partisans, of which there were few. But on July 9th, German troops spearheaded a local counterattack in the region of the Neusiedlersee, exploiting a gap left between French and British divisions. With the British division cut off and embattled, Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, commanding the left wing of the Army of the Orient, ordered forward the Legion Russe. At the Battle of Donnerskirchen, the Legion Russe held the line, suffering four hundred killed and wounded in a brutal, courageous fight that lasted only six hours. The Legion's commander, Colonel Nikolai Kasyanov, received the French Legion of Honor for his defense, and a dozen soldiers were decorated.

Their worth, loyalty, and fighting spirit proven in combat, the Legion Russe was rotated to the front lines for the greatest of the Army of the Orient's battles: Vienna, immortalized in history as the Battle of the Nations.

Iron Wolf's Million
The accomplishments of the Entente's Army of the Orient hides beneath the shadow of the Western Front. The Atlanteans set foot in Asia Minor in February 1916, and they ended the war in Munich in November 1917. In twenty-two months, they marched over two thousand kilometers, their advance averaging three kilometers a day when troops on the Western Front counted their gains in meters. Some of the greatest cities in Europe - ancient Constantinople, captive Belgrade, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague, and Munich - echoed to the sounds of the army's advance. The use of gas - so terrifying at the Somme and elsewhere - was rare.

Eleven nations pledged their military might to swell the ranks, and with each nation at the table, there was the constant threat of disunity. Many of the national commanders were vain and pompous; others were of marginal competence, while a number of stars first shone in the ranks of the Army of the Orient. Throughout nearly two years of campaigning, Thule-Saulius fought as many battles with his own subordinates as he fought with Mackensen. In his memoirs, Bulgarian general Vladimir Vazov wrote: "While Thule-Saulius was an indifferent tactician, he was an excellent composer of grand strategy; but no general I have ever seen was his equal in organizing and motivating his officers. At the head of a million men, the stress was immense; but the Field Marshal would meet with his commanders, give them a quiet smile, praise their good deeds and command them to undertake every order to his wishes. He learned how to work with even the most trying of subordinates, and convinced even the most arrogant and egotistical to accept his orders. He steered armies with a whisper."

American newspapermen covering the war, seeing the multinational army, jokingly called it "Thule's Zoo", but in the aftermath of the Battle of Vienna, dubbed it "the Army of All the Nations." It was an apt name. Among the ranks of the British troops were Irishmen who would in only a few years declare their own republic, Sikhs from Pakistan and dark-skinned Kenyans. The French and Atlanteans brought ferocious troops from Morocco. Both the Greeks and the Bulgarians claimed their own Macedonian regiments.

Though their origins were disparate, the Army of the Orient was melded together with a single goal, and possessed of an élan worthy of a crusader. The soldiers who pushed forward each day knew the terrible arithmetic of the Western Front, but they also recognized that such carnage was not their fate. Though the Army of the Orient often faced savage fighting, most of the soldiers expected to survive the campaign - and most did.

Into Vienna with the Legion Russe
In July of 1917, when the Legion Russe reached the front line, their numbers had fallen to two thousand men. Combat attrition and sickness, a constant threat to the army, whittled down their numbers in July, particularly after the unit suffered four hundred killed and wounded in the bloodbath at Donnerskirchen.

Colonel Nikolai Kasyanov, who commanded the Legion Russe for most of its existence, was informed on July 24th that his unit would be participating in the coming attack on Vienna. Rumors among the troops quickly spread; Austria-Hungary was breathing its last ragged breath. Not two weeks earlier, a hundred and thirty-five thousand Austro-Hungarian troops, badly demoralized, had mutinied between Budapest and Lake Balaton, surrendering without a fight to the advancing Entente forces. On July 20th, Austria-Hungary asked for an armistice, but rejected the Entente's demands for unconditional surrender. The reticence of the Austro-Hungarian government, however, had little effect on the army defending Vienna, which suffered desertions and mass surrenders. Only the continuing presence of the ninety thousand German soldiers under Mackensen's command prevented a complete collapse.

Though the Austro-Hungarians expected Mackensen to fight for Vienna, the German general realized the city was a trap he could not be drawn into. Strong Atlantean and Romanian forces ranged to the northeast, advancing onward from Bratislava. At a command, they could turn west and dash along the banks of the Danube, cutting off any retreat from Vienna. Thule-Saulius had on previous occasions demonstrated that the Danube was a minor barrier: in May, the Atlantean engineers created in two days a group of pontoon bridges that allowed the Bulgarian First Army to cross and nearly outflank Mackensen's defense at Subotica, and Mackensen was wary of any further traps. His goal now was the safe extraction of his German troops from the collapse of Austria-Hungary.

On the morning of August 1st, after a desultory artillery bombardment that was more noise and smoke than actual fire, the Entente moved forward. British Brisfits and Atlantean Spads roamed over the city, driving away the remnants of the Luftstreitkrafte and the K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen. The Legion Russe advanced along the Triester Strasse, meeting little resistance aside from some looters, who Kasyanov arrested and sent to the rear. The Legion's objective was the Westbahnhoff, but when the Russians reached the railway station, they found British armoured cars already in possession.

Turning northeast after a brush with fleeing Austro-Hungarian defenders, the Legion Russe advanced along the Mariahilferstrasse for two kilometers, taking prisoner more looters and accepting the surrender of nearly a hundred Austrian deserters. Captain Yevgeny Makeyev, the Legion's intelligence officer and a close friend of Colonel Kasyanov, later related "We all had very poor maps of Vienna, and most of us had very little idea how far into the city we'd come. The Colonel received orders to keep advancing, and so we followed the road."

Shortly before noon on August 2nd, the Legion stumbled into the undefended and nearly abandoned Maria-Theresien-Platz, and spotted the Austrian flag still flying over the nearby Hofburg. Makeyev, in his memoirs, described the scene: "For a few moments, we stood in shock, amazed that our long campaign had led us here, to the centerpiece of the Austrian Empire. Then one of the sergeants shouted 'Forward, ura!' and the whole of the Legion, a thousand men strong, charged to seize the palace. None resisted us."

As the Russians swept into the palace, other troops seized neighboring landmarks. The Hofbibliothek and the Vienna State Opera house, to the southeast of the Hofburg, were occupied only a few minutes later by the reconnaissance troops of the 3rd Atlantean Zouaves Regiment, who posted a guard against looters, while the French 339th Infantry Regiment seized the Austrian Parliament and the Vienna City Hall.

By the evening of August 3rd, Vienna was wholly in Entente hands. Fighting inside the city itself had been minimal, as Mackensen concentrated on fleeing the doomed city rather than a heroic and futile defense. Even in full retreat he proved dangerous, however; at Asperhofen, thirty kilometers west of Vienna, a German Eingreif division struck out at pursuing Greek troops on the afternoon of August 2nd, causing heavy casualties and disrupting the Entente pursuit. On August 4th, the Austro-Hungarian government accepted the inevitable and ordered all its troops to lay down their arms. On August 6th, they surrendered unconditionally, with Thule-Saulius accepting the surrender outside the Hofburg. While the formalities were carried out, the Legion Russe stood guard around the palace, observing the events.

Mackensen escaped Vienna and withdrew to Linz, which he defended until mid-August before retreating to Salzburg. At Salzburg, his desperate troops, the last veterans of the Balkans Campaign, held off Thule-Saulius and the Atlantean Army for two days while Louis Franchet d'Espèrey encircled and finally trapped the extraordinarily capable Mackensen, who reluctantly surrendered to his longtime enemy.

Shorn of their allies, the German Empire fought on alone after the fall of Vienna and the surrender of Austria-Hungary; but the writing was on the wall. On November 11th, 1917, Germany accepted an armistice that would end the Great War.

Of the Legion Russe, approximately eleven hundred men returned to Russia following the end of the war. Colonel Kasyanov, who had led the Legion through most of its existence, was not among them, being killed by a German sniper outside Munich on October 31st. He was the last man of the Legion Russe to die in action before the signing of the Armistice.