Re: Britain breaks with the US over Iran

[John Dallman]

In article <7g5Tf.62405$Ug4.24554@dukeread12>, (Dan) wrote:

> And there was a study (Tedder?) after WW1 done by the Brits to look
> into invading the U.S. to keep us from becoming a world power.

Just as the USA had a war plan ("Red", I think) for war on the British
Empire. Competent militaries will study all sorts of things in peacetime
to keep people busy and see if any bright ideas develop. It doesn't mean
that they have any intention to /use/ those plans.

---
John Dallman, , HTML mail is treated as probable spam.

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:32 +0000 (GMT Standard Time),
(John Dallman) wrote:

>In article <7g5Tf.62405$Ug4.24554@dukeread12>, (Dan) wrote:
>
>> And there was a study (Tedder?) after WW1 done by the Brits to look
>> into invading the U.S. to keep us from becoming a world power.
>
>Just as the USA had a war plan ("Red", I think) for war on the British
>Empire. Competent militaries will study all sorts of things in peacetime
>to keep people busy and see if any bright ideas develop. It doesn't mean
>that they have any intention to /use/ those plans.

I've read that prior to WWI the two most common adversaries in RN war
games were Imperial Germany and the U.S.

Not only did we fight two wars with Britain we came close in at least
the American Civil War over the Trent Affair. We were at constant
loggerheads with Britain (and most other European colonial powers)
over their siezures of "Third World" territory. The USN was in no
condition after the ACW and before its major expansion in the 1880s to
do much, but we clearly had the potential. After our one foray into
imperialism (the Spanish-American War) we pretty much reverted to
prior policies.

I wold love to see some documentation on any British scheme to invade
the U.S. after WWI.

Bill Kambic
Haras Lucero, Kingston, TN
Mangalarga Marchador: Uma Raça, Uma Paixão

[John Dallman]

In article >,
() wrote:

> I've read that prior to WWI the two most common adversaries in RN war
> games were Imperial Germany and the U.S.

To be fair, they were the ones with fleets big enough to make it an
interesting exercise, Japan and France being reasonably firm allies
from 1900 onwards.

> I wold love to see some documentation on any British scheme to invade
> the U.S. after WWI.

So would I. I doubt it got as far as a serious study, though.

---
John Dallman, , HTML mail is treated as probable spam.

[~Nins~]

John Dallman wrote:
|| In article >,
|| () wrote:
||
||| I've read that prior to WWI the two most common adversaries in RN
||| war games were Imperial Germany and the U.S.
||
|| To be fair, they were the ones with fleets big enough to make it an
|| interesting exercise, Japan and France being reasonably firm allies
|| from 1900 onwards.
||
||| I wold love to see some documentation on any British scheme to
||| invade the U.S. after WWI.
||
|| So would I. I doubt it got as far as a serious study, though.

Perhaps nothing more than a whimsical thought. ;-)

Post-WWI, Britain, didn't they build up their air power during that period,
number of planes?

[John Dallman]

In article <lJ2Uf.838592$x96.5146@attbi_s72>, (~Nins~)
wrote:

> Post-WWI, Britain, didn't they build up their air power during that
> period, number of planes?

Not my field, but the Ten Year Rule - that military spending could be cut
very hard given that there was no prospect of major war within ten years -
was applied to all the UK services from about 1920 to about 1935. Then
there was a considerable build-up.

Just after WWI, the problem was disposing of the vast numbers of surplus
planes. We were fortunate in the that engine that some fool had decided to
standardise on for all RAF aircraft hadn't quite made it into service. The
"ABC" was hopelessly heavy and unreliable, but thanks to the end of the
war that only cost money rather than lives.

The RAF did get to experiment with colonial policing from the air -
bombing people is not calculated to make them think you're policing them
fairly - but basically did not get to grow very much until Hitler started
to look like a serious threat. Progress in aircraft design was fairly
gradual until the all-metal monoplane with heavy wing-mounted armament
popped up at just the right time.

The RAF's notable achievement between the wars was building the world's
first Integrated Air Defence system. That, plus Goering, won us the Battle
of Britain.

---
John Dallman, , HTML mail is treated as probable spam.

[~Nins~]

John Dallman wrote:
|| In article <lJ2Uf.838592$x96.5146@attbi_s72>,
|| (~Nins~) wrote:
||
||| Post-WWI, Britain, didn't they build up their air power during that
||| period, number of planes?
||
|| Not my field, but the Ten Year Rule - that military spending could
|| be cut very hard given that there was no prospect of major war
|| within ten years - was applied to all the UK services from about
|| 1920 to about 1935. Then there was a considerable build-up.
||
|| Just after WWI, the problem was disposing of the vast numbers of
|| surplus planes. We were fortunate in the that engine that some fool
|| had decided to standardise on for all RAF aircraft hadn't quite made
|| it into service. The "ABC" was hopelessly heavy and unreliable, but
|| thanks to the end of the war that only cost money rather than lives.
||
|| The RAF did get to experiment with colonial policing from the air -
|| bombing people is not calculated to make them think you're policing
|| them fairly - but basically did not get to grow very much until
|| Hitler started to look like a serious threat. Progress in aircraft
|| design was fairly gradual until the all-metal monoplane with heavy
|| wing-mounted armament popped up at just the right time.
||
|| The RAF's notable achievement between the wars was building the
|| world's first Integrated Air Defence system. That, plus Goering, won
|| us the Battle of Britain.

Wow, that was interesting, sparked my curiosity. I'm off to read about the
system now. There are some interesting posts in this group. Unfortunately,
the most I can contribute to it are inquiries, so I guess I'll just read
here and there. Although, when I was a little girl I thought I could fly.
I made cardboard wings, managed to strap them on after getting out the glue
and cutting open my mother's fav feather pillow, my brothers helped me up
into the mulberry tree, and I jumped, but alas my wings failed me, and I hit
the ground hard. My father was a bit upset, not so much with me, but with
my brothers for helping get up the tree. Mama wasn't too happy about the
pillow either. I was lucky I didn't kill myself. The sky, day and night,
still fascinates me though (maybe I was a bird in another life). <G>