Post by Catsmate on Mar 16, 2021 13:00:46 GMT
The Eighth Electra. Or Chamberlain doesn’t make it back.
On 16th September 1938 Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain, was flying back from his first meeting with Hitler. It was only the second time in his life Chamberlain had been on an aircraft (the first being his trip to Berchtesgaden to meet with Hitler on the 15th).
Chamberlain flew from Munich to Heston Aerodrome in a Lockheed 14 Super Electra. Interestingly in 1938 IOTL, seven such aircraft crashed (three due to mechanical or structural problems, three because of pilot error and one for unknown reasons), though Chamberlain's would have been the fifth to crash that year.
For completeness these are:
So what happens if an eighth Electra crashes, killing Chamberlain? What happens next? Who replaces him as Prime Minister?
How do the press react? Will rumours of assassination start circulating in London?
What of those in Germany contemplating the overthrow of Hitler (most notably the Oster plot), will they accept it is an accident or will they conclude Hitler has gone too far in an effort to provoke war?
Why did the plane crash? History has changed but why? Has someone deliberately caused the crash, or is it an accident?
Where did the aircraft crash?
For Hitler the Munich Agreement added an air of legitimacy to his territorial ambitions. His 'little green men' were in the Sudetenland, stirring up trouble for the Czechoslovak government, which in turn lead Prague to clamp down on the ethnic Germans. This gave the pretext for the annexation of the Sudetenland.
Anti-Nazi opposition
There had been, by September 1938, at least eleven attempts on Hitler's life but one of the most interesting attempts was the little known Oster Conspiracy. This was a full-scale plan for a military coup, to be spearheaded by Lieutenant Colonel Hans Oster and high ranking members of the German military, the Berlin Police, local authorities and religious leaders.
It was intended that the conspirators would storm the Reich Chancellery and kill Hitler crushing the Party apparatus in the process and thus preventing the invasion of the Sudetenland and ultimately avoid war they felt Germany would lose.
Historically the plot was only called off when Hitler and Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement; if Chamberlain had died and the Munich Agreement had not been signed, then the anti-Nazi opposition may have reached out to those in Britain who were sympathetic to their cause.
Whether killing Hitler would have destroyed the Nazi Regime or not is debatable, but it could have prevented a war...
The British.
"Rogue elements" in the British establishment would have had more of an opportunity to 'tinker' with Chamberlain's plane than anyone else, and perhaps they did. Certainly Oster and his collaborators, led by the then German Secretary of State Ernst von Weizsäcker and the brothers Theodor and Erich Kordt (both diplomats; Theodor was Chargé d'Affaires at the London embassy), had sounded out support for their plan in Britain.
Perhaps someone in Britain agreed and arranged that the Munich Agreement would die with Chamberlain? For Britain this might have seemed the easiest way to avoid war; to coordinate efforts with the anti-Nazi opposition to remove Hitler.
Game use.
The players arrive, in medias res, to discover that Chamberlain has died in a plane crash. The Munich Agreement appears to be
void and there are rumblings in Germany, while Britain is trying to find a new PM (Lord Hallifax seems the likely choice). It looks like war may be avoided, especially if the anti-Nazi coup in Germany succeeds.
But what are the long-term consequences? Will Stalin attempt to conquer Europe? Will the persecution of the Jews end?
What will the world be like a few decades later?
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
On 16th September 1938 Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain, was flying back from his first meeting with Hitler. It was only the second time in his life Chamberlain had been on an aircraft (the first being his trip to Berchtesgaden to meet with Hitler on the 15th).
Chamberlain flew from Munich to Heston Aerodrome in a Lockheed 14 Super Electra. Interestingly in 1938 IOTL, seven such aircraft crashed (three due to mechanical or structural problems, three because of pilot error and one for unknown reasons), though Chamberlain's would have been the fifth to crash that year.
For completeness these are:
- On 10JAN1938, Northwest Airlines Flight 2, an L14H, crashed near Bozeman, Montana, due to structural failure caused by a design defect, killing all 10 passengers and crew on board. Witnesses reported that as it passed over the Bridger Mountain range the aircraft immediately dropped, went into a stall, glided for a short time, then spun into the ground. The wreckage burst into flames. Rudder loss due to turbulence induced stress. Structural failure.
- On 16MAY1938 a Northwest Airlines L14H2 (NC17394) struck Stroh Peak (near Saugus, California) while on a delivery flight, killing all nine on board. Flying in foggy conditions it struck the first of a series of ridges and bounced off two others, disintegrating on the way, before coming to rest and burning out on a hill called Stroh Peak. Pilot error
- On 08JUL1928 Northwest Airlines Flight 4, an L14H (NC17383), stalled and crashed on take-off from Billings Municipal Airport, killing one of 10 on board. Pilot error.
- On 22JUL1938 a LOT Polish Airlines L14H (SP-BNG) crashed near Stulpicani, Romania, killing all 14 on board; the cause was unknown, but the aircraft may have been struck by lightning. Crashed in poor weather (thunderstorm, rain, cloud at low attitude); eyewitness said the aircraft spun before crashed into wooden hill. Unknown cause.
- On 18NOV1938 a Trans-Canada Air Lines L14H2 (CF-TCL) crashed shortly after takeoff from Regina Airport, killing both pilots. Crashed shortly after takeoff. Mechanical failure.
- On 22NOV1938 a British Airways Ltd. L14-WF62 (G-AFGO) crashed at Walton Bay, Somerset while on a test flight, killing both pilots Commander E. G. Robinson and Commander Robert P. J. Leborgne. Mechanical failure.
- On 09DEC1938 a KLM L14-WF62 (PH-APE, Ekster) crashed on takeoff from Schiphol Municipal Airport due to engine failure while on a training flight, killing all four on board. Pilot error.
So what happens if an eighth Electra crashes, killing Chamberlain? What happens next? Who replaces him as Prime Minister?
How do the press react? Will rumours of assassination start circulating in London?
What of those in Germany contemplating the overthrow of Hitler (most notably the Oster plot), will they accept it is an accident or will they conclude Hitler has gone too far in an effort to provoke war?
Why did the plane crash? History has changed but why? Has someone deliberately caused the crash, or is it an accident?
Where did the aircraft crash?
- If it's in Luxembourg, Belgium or France, the British would probably be fairly confident that no-one had messed with the evidence before they got there; rather less so if it happened in Germany.
For Hitler the Munich Agreement added an air of legitimacy to his territorial ambitions. His 'little green men' were in the Sudetenland, stirring up trouble for the Czechoslovak government, which in turn lead Prague to clamp down on the ethnic Germans. This gave the pretext for the annexation of the Sudetenland.
Anti-Nazi opposition
There had been, by September 1938, at least eleven attempts on Hitler's life but one of the most interesting attempts was the little known Oster Conspiracy. This was a full-scale plan for a military coup, to be spearheaded by Lieutenant Colonel Hans Oster and high ranking members of the German military, the Berlin Police, local authorities and religious leaders.
It was intended that the conspirators would storm the Reich Chancellery and kill Hitler crushing the Party apparatus in the process and thus preventing the invasion of the Sudetenland and ultimately avoid war they felt Germany would lose.
Historically the plot was only called off when Hitler and Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement; if Chamberlain had died and the Munich Agreement had not been signed, then the anti-Nazi opposition may have reached out to those in Britain who were sympathetic to their cause.
Whether killing Hitler would have destroyed the Nazi Regime or not is debatable, but it could have prevented a war...
The British.
"Rogue elements" in the British establishment would have had more of an opportunity to 'tinker' with Chamberlain's plane than anyone else, and perhaps they did. Certainly Oster and his collaborators, led by the then German Secretary of State Ernst von Weizsäcker and the brothers Theodor and Erich Kordt (both diplomats; Theodor was Chargé d'Affaires at the London embassy), had sounded out support for their plan in Britain.
Perhaps someone in Britain agreed and arranged that the Munich Agreement would die with Chamberlain? For Britain this might have seemed the easiest way to avoid war; to coordinate efforts with the anti-Nazi opposition to remove Hitler.
Game use.
The players arrive, in medias res, to discover that Chamberlain has died in a plane crash. The Munich Agreement appears to be
void and there are rumblings in Germany, while Britain is trying to find a new PM (Lord Hallifax seems the likely choice). It looks like war may be avoided, especially if the anti-Nazi coup in Germany succeeds.
But what are the long-term consequences? Will Stalin attempt to conquer Europe? Will the persecution of the Jews end?
What will the world be like a few decades later?
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
