More snippet goodness…

 January 1, 1942 - The White House, Washington, D.C. U.S.A.

President Velasquez sat at a table with President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, Chinese Foreign Minister T.V. Soong, Free French leader Charles de Gaulle, and the Soviet Ambassador, Mr. Litvinoff. Spread before them was a document on pale blue paper, freshly printed with the text of the agreement and lots of blank space for signatures. Behind them were the representatives of several other nations, gathered for this occasion.

Roosevelt spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen, with this instrument we are creating a new alliance, the United Nations, to face and defeat the Hitlerite nations who have so threatened the peace and stability of the world. I am pleased that so many of the nations you represent have chosen to join us in this cause.”

He dated the page, then signed it on behalf of the United States. As the only other head of state present, President Velasquez was next. He signed.

For the Republic of Texas

Samuel Houston Velasquez

After him came Prime Minister Churchill, then the representatives of the Soviet Union, France, and China. Next were the representatives of the Commonwealth nations, India, and the governments-in-exile of the nations occupied by the Axis powers. Finally the remaining representatives. In all, 27 nations pledged themselves to the defeat of the Axis, agreeing not to seek any separate peace with any of the enemy powers.

When everyone had resumed their places and the official photographs had been taken, one of the reporters called out “Can we get a picture of General de Gaulle and President Velasquez shaking hands?”

The two men looked at each other. De Gaulle gave a Gallic shrug and stood, walking around to the front of the table. Velasquez met him there. He held out his hand. De Gaulle took it. They turned to face the cameras, which were all flashing as quickly as their operators could wind them and replace the flash bulbs.

Later, the two Presidents, the Prime Minister, and General de Gaulle retired to the Oval Office.

“General, I’m pleased to have you here with us today.”

“Thank you, Monsieur President. This is indeed a momentous day. But I must ask whose idea it was to suggest that President Velasquez and I shake hands?”

Roosevelt and Churchill looked at each other, then at the French and Texan leaders. “It wasn’t either of us, but I’m glad it happened. That photograph will be in Berlin, Rome, and Tokyo within a week, a symbol of the strength of this alliance.”

“Indeed, the relationship has improved greatly from where things were a year ago.”

“Yes, it has, General. And speaking of relationships, Mister President, I understand that you have decided to keep the new Combined Chiefs of Staff an Anglo-American only affair. That seems somewhat unusual, given the level of support that my nation is providing to the alliance.”

“I must agree with Monsieur Velasquez. We deserve a seat on that council.”

“Under other circumstances” said Churchill, “I would also agree. The problem, however, is that were we to expand the Combined Chiefs beyond America and Britain, then the Soviets would certainly demand a seat. I hope you gentlemen would agree that giving Stalin any measure of control over the use of the armed forces of the western allies is most undesirable.”

Velasquez and de Gaulle looked at each other and nodded. “That I understand, Winston. Just last week the Soviet Ambassador made a request that we turn the Albuquerque class light cruisers that we were building for Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia over to the Soviet Navy. I declined the request, of course, citing the fact that those nations had defaulted on the payments for the ships, thus they lost any claim to them. I also reminded him that we are using those vessels now in the Mediterranean. I didn’t mention that Texas does not consider the Soviet Union to be the legitimate successor to the democratically elected governments of those nations.”

“I, too, understand the situation, As with many recent decisions, I don’t like it, but I, and France, can live with it.”

“I’m very glad that you gentlemen understand. We have absolutely no intention of cutting your nations out of the decision making process. In fact, your input would be most welcome at any meeting of the Combined Chiefs. As would those of any of the other associated powers. In fact, we would like France and Texas to head a council of military representatives from all of the other powers, just to make sure that their voices are heard.”

“Monsieur President, that is a most excellent idea. I accept on behalf of France.”

“Count me in, gentlemen.” Velasquez looked at de Gaulle and smiled. “Don’t worry, General, I won’t be sending Admiral von Stahlberg to the meetings. He’s much more useful on a flag bridge.”

De Gaulle tried to hide a sigh of relief. It didn’t work.

Copyright 2024 D.A. Brock

New snippet from ‘The Lone Star, the Red Banner, and the Rising Sun’

 Thanks for your patience, y’all.

This snippet takes place at the ARCADIA Conference in December 1941.

(Previous text snipped)

“Excellent. That’s one problem solved already. On the subject of the Sicily operation, Would the U.S. Navy be able to provide support for that? Unfortunately, both we and the Royal Navy had ships badly damaged by the recent Italian frogman attack on Alexandria.” Admiral Tucek looked at the American Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Harold Stark, as he spoke.

“I don’t see why we can’t. How bad was the damage?”

Admiral Pound answered first. “The bastards had quite the stroke of luck that night. They managed to plant mines beneath HMS Valiant and TNS Albuquerque, as well as a tanker, the Sagona. Valiant suffered serious damage below the waterline, with flooding in several compartments including one of the shell rooms and magazines for ‘A’ turret. She will be moved to a drydock for temporary repairs within the next few days. The tanker was fueling the destroyer Jervis at the time, so the Italians got two for one there.”

“Yeah, and Albuquerque is down for the count. That mine broke her back, and she’s only floating on her outboard hulls. We think they were actually going for Queen Elizabeth, but got confused because the two ships were moored next to each other so Admiral Buchanan could consult with Admiral Cunningham. Don't get me wrong, Sir Dudley, if it comes down to a choice between losing a light cruiser and losing a battleship the cruiser loses every time. But it still puts a cramp in our operations. Makes me wonder if the Japs and Italians actually coordinated their actions beforehand.”

“Indeed, Admiral von Stahlberg. Whether through luck or enemy planning, all this has put us on the back foot. This needs to change. Admiral Tucek, When will your carriers and heavy cruisers be available?”

“Well, we’ve expedited the overhauls on Galveston and Laredo as much as we can, it’s looking like they will be ready for trials in March of ‘42.  Brownsville should be ready by April, and El Paso by May. On the upside, San Jacinto and Tampico will be starting trials for both the ships and their new air groups in mid January. 

We also have a fair bit of new construction in the pipeline. The first batch of our new William B. Travis class carriers will be commissioning in February, with the Dallas class armored cruisers coming in March as well. That’s three of each, and we have four more of each that were launched last week. Those should be ready to go by Spring of 1943. And, of course, we’re building smaller combatants as quickly as we can.”

“I see why you need some of our ships to cover the gap. We should be able to send New York and her sister, Minnesota, over to the Mediterranean within the next month, along with an appropriate escort and possibly the carrier Ranger, assuming the situation in the Pacific doesn’t go further south. We should also be able to send Washington and Wasp, with escorts, to Britain by April to reinforce the fleet there.”

Admiral Pound’s sigh of relief was almost audible. “Thank you, Admiral Stark. That will be most incredibly useful.”

Copyright 2024 D.A. Brock