WesWorld

[SIZE=3]YEAR-TO-DATE SUMMARY[/SIZE]

January 1
Ship enthusiasts at Galway and Haulbowline will note with dismay that scrapping efforts have begun on the four Contae class destroyers belonging to the Irish Naval Service. The ex-British S class destroyers were among the first ships acquired and refitted by the INS, but due to their age, high maintenance costs, and the commissioning of more modern replacements their service life had come to an end.

A planned expansion of GTÉ's Rushbrooke Shipyards has also started.

January 14
The Dail has given the Army permission to seek out submittals for a new tank to replace the worn-out Crusader tanks used in Afghanistan. The British-built Crusaders gave excellent service, but their desert foray has had a detrimental effect on their maintenance, and according to Army estimations, eighteen of the twenty-four tanks which returned from Afghanistan are in "poor or nonoperational condition".

January 29
Construction began on a new swing bridge between Corraun Peninsula and Achill Island. The new bridge will replace the Michael Davitt Bridge, completed in 1887, which is too small for vehicle traffic. The new bridge is scheduled for completion by December 1943, and will probably take the name of the old span.

February 9
Aer Lingus advised the Dail of their desire to renovate the rest of the aircraft fleet by December, requesting money to retire the older de Havilland Dragon, Dragon Rapide, and Express biplanes and purchase four more Bv144 airliners.

February 23
Kaye Don has announced that he has formed several agreements to found Ambassador Motorcycles. The new company, which will take up its headquarters at the Tyrrelstown Industrial Park later this year, will serve as a Zundapp importer, as well as producing a design with CKD parts.

February 26
Edward MacLysaght, a prominent scholarly writer, journalist, politician and nationalist, has been elected to the Royal Irish Academy. MacLysaght has recently published The Kenmare Manuscripts relating to the family papers and manuscripts belonging to the Earl of Kenmare.

March 2
The Irish Army releases a request-for-proposal for a new tank. See here.

March 17
Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

March 26
Aer Lingus has placed an order for three Bv144 airliners and one Bv146 cargo aircraft.

April 2
The Irish Naval Service requested funds to purchase four LeO-400 floatplanes to replace the current Grumman J2F Ducks aboard the cruiser Granuaile. Only one of the Naval Service's four orginal Ducks remains in flyable condition, with two of the planes essentially destroyed as a result of heavy weather during the NATO exercise in 1940.

April 5
Easter Sunday.

April 14
The Irish and British governments have agreed to set up customs and immigration facilities at Dublin's Amiens Street Station and Belfast's Great Victoria Street Station. This shall allow for quicker border control processing along the Great Northern Railway.

April 25
Kaye Don unveiled the first Ambassador motorcycle in Dublin today. Limited production, however, will not begin until October of this year, once the company is more settled.

May 5
Fine Gael party leader W.T. Cosgrave declined to confirm rumors that he is preparing to step down from a leadership position by the end of this year. The Fine Gael party has remained in opposition to Taoiseach de Valera's Fianna Fail party since the 1932 elections, and a number of observers feel that the party needs new leadership, suggesting former independence fighter and army general Richard Mulcahy, or a younger leader like seanadóir Desmond Myles of the Oireachtas.

May 21
GTÉ engineers presented Irish Army officers with an initial mockup of the proposed follow-on to the ACW-IP infantry carrier. The new proposed vehicle, tentatively named the 'Mechanized Infantry Carrier, Armoured' (MICA), will replace the improvised ACW-IP infantry carrier with a purpose-designed vehicle. The proposed vehicle uses a heavily-modified Ford Ireland 6x8 chassis and a 5.85L Ford V-12 engine, and is expected to weigh ten tons.

June 3
The 5th Annual Tall Ships Race opened today in the harbour of Cobh, County Cork. The race, which brings together the world's largest remaining tall ships to expose to a generation unfamiliar with them, returns to Ireland after five years. Sail training ships began arriving in Cobh today.

June 9
Construction began today on a manufacturing center for Continental Tyre & Rubber Ltd just outside the Tyrrelstown Industrial Park.

June 26
The Irish Air Corps let a contract to purchase twelve Blohm-und-Voss Bv146 transports. The transports will be used to support the Irish Army Ranger Battalion as well as future field deployments as part of a League of Nations field force.

July 3
Astronomer Kenneth Edgeworth has returned to Ireland after an extended study tour at the Chajnantor Observatory in Chile. Mr. Edgeworth will remain in Ireland working at the Dunsink Observatory for the next few months while seeking a funding grant to return to Chajnantor.

July 15
Naval observers in Cobh will note the presence of British cruiser HMS Burma, refitting at the pier-side at Haulbowline Dockyard. This demonstrates Haulbowline's increased ability to refit technically-advanced and modern vessels with all the necessary accoutrements for a modern naval service.

July 31
The Irish Army announced that due to fiscal priorities, they will be unable to purchase new tanks for the Armoured Regiment until January 1943. Rumor in financial circles indicates the Army placed a higher priority on the Air Corps' acquisition of Bv146 transport aircraft to support the Ranger Battalion. It seems probable that the Armoured Regiment will continue operating with the hodgepodge of equipment which survived the Afghanistan deployment.

August 3
The Irish Army announced that military exercises will be held in County Donegal from August 17th to August 24th. Citizens of the region are advised not to be alarmed if a hundred well-armed men suddenly parachute onto their front lawns.

August 24
The Irish Army announced the successful completion of military exercises in County Donegal, declaring that they were "very informative."

August 31
Controversy broke out over the Irish Naval Service's announcement that the two new Contae II destroyers have been sold to an unnamed British protectorate. The two ships were both laid down in 1940. The Naval Service has reportedly been very dissatisfied with the seakeeping of the two vessels completed, as well as the attempted mix of surface action, air defense, and antisubmarine roles that the Contae IIs attempted to assume. The Naval Service now plans to segregate the various roles, assigning antisubmarine duties to frigates, and surface action and anti-aircraft duties to destroyers.

September 9
Great Southern Railways Company placed an order for twelve RS-1 diesel-electric locomotives from the American Locomotive Company (ALCo) of Schenectady, New York. The trucks of the RS-1s will be modified slightly to operated on 1,600mm Irish gauge tracks. The railroad's chief mechanic, in a statement to the press, noted that the RS-1 is the most reliable and innovative of the road-switchers he evaluated, along with the FT from the Electro-Motive Division of American GM.

October 21
The Irish Army has selected the Czechoslovakian-designed CKD LT vz. 42 Tank for acquisition by the Armoured Regiment. Once funds are available in 1943, thirty-six tanks will be acquired.

November 12
Fine Gael party leader W.T. Cosgrave stepped down today in favor of seanadóir Desmond Myles of the Oireachtas. Myles, the youngest opposition leader in Irish history, spoke to his party's leader in a private luncheon today. Some of his remarks, leaked to the press, demonstrated that he intends to lead Fine Gael in a more energetic contest against Taoiseach de Valera's Fianna Fail party, which has controlled Ireland since 1932.

November 30
Kenneth Edgeworth, Ireland's premier astronomer, has departed for another research period at Chajnantor Observatory in Chile. Mr. Edgeworth intends to use the period to study his hypothesized disc of icy objects orbiting beyond the planet Neptune.

December 7
GTÉ unveiled a pre-production test variant of the MICA 6x8 armoured infantry carrier. The vehicle will begin pre-production testing by the Irish Army, a process expected to last nine months.

January 1
Ship enthusiasts at Galway and Haulbowline will note with dismay that scrapping efforts have begun on the four Contae class destroyers belonging to the Irish Naval Service. The ex-British S class destroyers were among the first ships acquired and refitted by the INS, but due to their age, high maintenance costs, and the commissioning of more modern replacements their service life had come to an end.

A planned expansion of GTÉ's Rushbrooke Shipyards has also started.

January 14
The Dail has given the Army permission to seek out submittals for a new tank to replace the worn-out Crusader tanks used in Afghanistan. The British-built Crusaders gave excellent service, but their desert foray has had a detrimental effect on their maintenance, and according to Army estimations, eighteen of the twenty-four tanks which returned from Afghanistan are in "poor or nonoperational condition".

January 29
Construction began on a new swing bridge between Corraun Peninsula and Achill Island. The new bridge will replace the Michael Davitt Bridge, completed in 1887, which is too small for vehicle traffic. The new bridge is scheduled for completion by December 1943, and will probably take the name of the old span.

February 9
Aer Lingus advised the Dail of their desire to renovate the rest of the aircraft fleet by December, requesting money to retire the older de Havilland Dragon, Dragon Rapide, and Express biplanes and purchase four more Bv144 airliners.

February 23
Kaye Don has announced that he has formed several agreements to found Ambassador Motorcycles. The new company, which will take up its headquarters at the Tyrrelstown Industrial Park later this year, will serve as a Zundapp importer, as well as producing a design with CKD parts.

February 26
Edward MacLysaght, a prominent scholarly writer, journalist, politician and nationalist, has been elected to the Royal Irish Academy. MacLysaght has recently published The Kenmare Manuscripts relating to the family papers and manuscripts belonging to the Earl of Kenmare.

The Blohm und Voss Works, sometime in February

"Klink!" cried Herr Burkhalter

No order yet - have to get the money first. And have to catch up the news, too.

March 2
The Irish Army releases a request-for-proposal for a new tank. See here.

March 17
Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

March 26
Aer Lingus has placed an order for three Bv144 airliners and one Bv146 cargo aircraft.

April 2
The Irish Naval Service requested funds to purchase four LeO-400 floatplanes to replace the current Grumman J2F Ducks aboard the cruiser Granuaile. Only one of the Naval Service's four orginal Ducks remains in flyable condition, with two of the planes essentially destroyed as a result of heavy weather during the NATO exercise in 1940.

April 5
Easter Sunday.

April 14
The Irish and British governments have agreed to set up customs and immigration facilities at Dublin's Amiens Street Station and Belfast's Great Victoria Street Station. This shall allow for quicker border control processing along the Great Northern Railway.

April 25
Kaye Don unveiled the first Ambassador motorcycle in Dublin today. Limited production, however, will not begin until October of this year, once the company is more settled.

May 5
Fine Gael party leader W.T. Cosgrave declined to confirm rumors that he is preparing to step down from a leadership position by the end of this year. The Fine Gael party has remained in opposition to Taoiseach de Valera's Fianna Fail party since the 1932 elections, and a number of observers feel that the party needs new leadership, suggesting former independence fighter and army general Richard Mulcahy, or a younger leader like seanadóir Desmond Myles of the Oireachtas.

May 21
GTÉ engineers presented Irish Army officers with an initial mockup of the proposed follow-on to the ACW-IP infantry carrier. The new proposed vehicle, tentatively named the 'Mechanized Infantry Carrier, Armoured' (MICA), will replace the improvised ACW-IP infantry carrier with a purpose-designed vehicle. The proposed vehicle uses a heavily-modified Ford Ireland 6x8 chassis and a 5.85L Ford V-12 engine, and is expected to weigh ten tons.

June 3
The 5th Annual Tall Ships Race opened today in the harbour of Cobh, County Cork. The race, which brings together the world's largest remaining tall ships to expose to a generation unfamiliar with them, returns to Ireland after five years. Sail training ships began arriving in Cobh today.

June 9
Construction began today on a manufacturing center for Continental Tyre & Rubber Ltd just outside the Tyrrelstown Industrial Park.

June 26
The Irish Air Corps let a contract to purchase twelve Blohm-und-Voss Bv146 transports. The transports will be used to support the Irish Army Ranger Battalion as well as future field deployments as part of a League of Nations field force.

July 3
Astronomer Kenneth Edgeworth has returned to Ireland after an extended study tour at the Chajnantor Observatory in Chile. Mr. Edgeworth will remain in Ireland working at the Dunsink Observatory for the next few months while seeking a funding grant to return to Chajnantor.

July 15
Naval observers in Cobh will note the presence of British cruiser HMS Burma-shave, refitting at the pier-side at Haulbowline Dockyard. This demonstrates Haulbowline's increased ability to refit technically-advanced and modern vessels with all the necessary accoutrements for a modern naval service.

July 31
The Irish Army announced that due to fiscal priorities, they will be unable to purchase new tanks for the Armoured Regiment until January 1943. Rumor in financial circles indicates the Army placed a higher priority on the Air Corps' acquisition of Bv146 transport aircraft to support the Ranger Battalion. It seems probable that the Armoured Regiment will continue operating with the hodgepodge of equipment which survived the Afghanistan deployment.

August 3
The Irish Army announced that military exercises will be held in County Donegal from August 17th to August 24th. Citizens of the region are advised not to be alarmed if a hundred well-armed men suddenly parachute onto their front lawns.

Part One: Standing Around Talking - Casement Aerodrome
"All right, boys, gather round," Captain McGarry ordered. "We've got our call."

The officers and NCOs of the Irish Ranger Wing's B Company took their seats in a circle on the floor of the hanger. McGarry unfolded his map and took out his notes. "Now listen up, boys. Here's the scenario for our exercise. Our unit is part of a simulated League of Nations peacemaking force in the country of Camelrumpistan. This country's got a rebel region, up here, called Mountaindampistan."

"Looks more like Donegal to me!" commented Lieutenant Ian Rice, of Third Troop.

"It's representative," McGarry said with a sigh. "The Mountaindampistani separatists are engaged in a guerrilla war against Camelrumpistan. Their forces are organized into the Dampistani Liberation Army. We'll just call them the DLA for short. That's our OPFOR. They've got major encampments here, in this region called the Valley of Serpents." McGarry pointed to Glenveagh.

"Valley of Serpents? Mountaindampistan? Did headquarters pull these names out of a camel's rump?" First Troop's commander, Lieutenant Frank Mulhern, asked.

"No, they pulled it out of yours, Frankie," Lieutenant Donal Weldon said.

"Aw, stuff it, Don." Mulhern glanced over to McGarry. "We should let the Captain finish."

"Thank you," McGarry said. "Tensions between the League peacekeepers, the Rumpistani Army, and the DLA are going downhill. The DLA has seized European aid workers from a refugee camp, and is holding them for ransom. Intelligence believes the hostages are being held in one - or more - of the three DLA base camps in the Valley of the Serpents. Our job is to find the hostages and extract them safely. We have seven days to complete the assignment."

"What's the OPFOR look like?" Weldon asked.

McGarry shuffled through his set of papers. "Estimated strength currently in the Valley of the Serpents is a hundred and fifty to two hundred trained guerrilla fighters. They have light weapons only - rifles, a few machine guns, grenades, the like. Intel believes they're organized into five platoon-sized bands."

"How many hostages?" Fourth Troop's Michael Innis asked.

"Unknown at the present time, but as many as fifteen to twenty," McGarry replied.

Weldon leaned forward. "What's our infil-exfil plan?"

"Infiltration is by parachute drop. Some British Hertfordshires will fly into Casement to pick us up for our airdrop. We have two options for exfiltration, depending on which we want to use. Some INS destroyers will be off the coast of Donegal, ready to pick us up if requested. We can also march overland to Sligo, where there is another simulated League peacekeeping unit garrisoned."

"Where's our chosen DZ?" Innis asked.

"We'll jump as a company about half-way between Letterkenny and Ballybofey, assuming the British transport crews can be bothered to navigate," McGarry said. "We'll jump in the late afternoon on D-Day and rendezvous here, on the east bank of Lough Deele, if we get separated during the jump. We'll leave that rendezvous no later than 1400 on D+1." McGarry glanced at his paperwork. "Ah, right. There's another thing. We've got three teams of Gasóga Dúchasach, Native Scouts, already on the ground. They're composed of one of our Rangers - from A Company - and two native scouts. They'll be moving into the Valley of Serpents on D-Day to begin covert reconnaissance of the DLA camps."

"So we'll need to scout out each camp, find where the hostages are, assault that camp or camps, and then exfil?" Innis asked.

"That's correct."

"When's D-Day?" Weldon inquired.

"That's the hard part. D-Day is today," McGarry answered.

"Ah," Weldon muttered. "And here when Major King told us 'the easiest day was yesterday', I thought it was just a neat recruiting slogan..."

Oh, now this sounds interesting...

Part Two: Jumping out of Perfectly Good Airplanes - Somewhere in County Donegal
Lieutenant Michael Innis, the commanding officer of Fourth Troop, B Company, Irish Ranger Wing, watched the British jumpmaster as he pressed the radio headset to his ear. Then the little red light by the door lit up, and the jumpmaster motioned the Rangers to their feet.

"Stand up! Three minutes!"

The Hertfordshire was a tight fit for the fourteen parachute-equipped Rangers. Only one of Innis's three sections was in the same plane with him, and it was still a bit of a tight fit. Innis was an Afghanistan veteran, and had ridden in the Yugoslavians' more capacious Polish-built DC-3s.

"Hook up!" the jumpmaster ordered. Innis noted an Irish NCO standing quietly behind the British jumpmaster, observing the evolution and presumably training to carry out the same duties. Despite the noise of the airplane and the rush of wind through the open jump door, Innis heard the rattling and clicking as the Rangers hooked up their parachutes to the overhead wire.

"Buddy check!" Innis ordered.

All of the Rangers turned to their jump partners - the man in front and the man behind - and inspected their gear. Once they finished, they signalled their approval.

"Twenty seconds!" the jumpmaster announced.

Innis turned back to his men. "Fiannóglach! Glaine ár gcroí, neart ár ngéag agus beart de réir ár mbriathar!"

The Rangers responded with a shouted "Fiannóglach!"

The red light at the door turned green, and Innis stepped off. Wind caught him and he felt the jerk as his line pulled out his parachute - and then he slowed as he approached the ground. The wind blew him a bit further and when he finally got his feet on the ground, he had to jump up quickly to chase down his chute before it dragged him.

Not until Innis had his chute under control did he look up and see the last of the Hertfordshires winging away to the north, and a dozen of his compatriots floating down all across the DZ.

Three Rangers Innis recognized from 1st Troop moved over quickly. "Lieutenant, have you seen our Troop? We had to jump from a different aircraft, and we don't see them."

"Haven't seen them, yet," Innis said. "But come with me. I'm gathering up my boys, and you can detach when you find your troop."

"Yes sir," they all chorused.

Another three men, one of the fire-teams from Innis's C squad, arrived; one of them was being carried by his buddies. "I think I broke something, sir," the carried man reported. "Ankle gave out when I landed. Really painful, sir."

"Set him down, I'll have a look," Innis said. He got the man's boot off and inspected the ankle. "Probably just a sprain," Innis mused. "O'Finlay, take a look around and see if you can't find the corpsman - and if not ours, get one from another troop."

The corpsman who arrived five minutes later inspected the ankle with a critical eye. "I'd keep him off his feet, Lieutenant. It's a pretty bad sprain. No telling if he'll make it worse if he tries to march on it."

Innis looked up into the darkening sky. "All right, boys. Dargan, grab his Breire. Delaney, you and I'll carry him. We'll rotate when one of us gets tired. We're not gonna leave anyone behind, even if this is an exercise."

"Can we make a sling out of some of the parachute risers?" Delaney asked.

"Good idea, but make it quick." Innis helped the corporal fashion a field-expedient sling for the injured man, and grunted as he shouldered the weight. "All right," Innis said, nodding to the three First Troop men. "You guys take point."

Not too bad a drop. Looking forward to more.

At the moment, I've got this in, give or take, six parts; and so I think I'll post one part per day (assuming I actually feel inspired enough to write one per day... )

Incidentally, just so people remember what the Rangers look like:

Quoted

[SIZE=3]B Company, Irish Rangers[/SIZE]
The Ranger companies are formed out of four platoons (called Troops), a heavy weapons section with 60mm mortars, and a company headquarters.

Company Headquarters: 9 men, 7 carbines, 2 SMGs, 1 AT rifle; includes Captain P.J. McGarry and Company Quartermaster Sergeant Brian Rudkin (senior NCO).
Heavy Weapons Section: 8 men, 2 60mm mortars, 8 carbines
First Troop: 36 men, 9 Breire Guns, 3 rifle grenade launchers, 27 carbines; Lt. F. Mulhern commanding.
Second Troop: 36 men, 9 Breire Guns, 3 rifle grenade launchers, 27 carbines; Lt. D. Weldon commanding.
Third Troop: 36 men, 9 Breire Guns, 3 rifle grenade launchers, 27 carbines; Lt. I. Rice commanding.
Fourth Troop: 36 men, 9 Breire Guns, 3 rifle grenade launchers, 27 carbines; Lt. M. Innis commanding.

Quoted

Basic Ranger Troop:
- 3 ranger sections: 11 men, 3 Breire Guns, 1 rifle grenade launcher, 8 carbines
- 1 command squad: 1 CO, 1 NCO, 1 runner, 3 carbines
- Total: 36 men, 9 Breire Guns, 3 rifle grenade launchers, 27 carbines

Ranger Section
- 2 rifle fire teams: 3 men (1 machine gunner, 1 helper and ammo carrier, 1 rifleman), 1 Breire Gun, 2 carbines
- 1 grenadier fire team: 4 men (1 grenadier, 1 machine gunner, 1 helper and ammo carrier, 1 rifleman), 1 Breire Gun, 3 carbines, 1 rifle grenade launcher
- 1 section leader: 1 carbine or SMG
- Total: 11 men, 3 Breire Guns, 1 rifle grenade launcher, 8 carbines

Compared to most infantry formations, the Rangers have about three times as many light machine guns - three Breires per section instead of just one per section, as is normal in most world infantry units. The Rangers also carry American M1A1 paratrooper carbines, with the folding stock and twenty-round magazines.

sounds like a movie ... keep going

Is it me, or is the scenario way too modern?

A peacekeeper force is a bit more modern - late 1940s and 1950s, specific to the United Nations. For some reason, in Wesworld the League of Nations is a stronger body than it was historically, and has the authority to put together peacekeeping forces (which has happened in Bolivia, Lithuania, and Afghanistan). So yes - it's a more modern concept, but it's entirely true to the existing history and mentality of Wesworld.