North African strategy if Britain does well in Far East in 42

[Sheldrake]

I’m currently writing a What If, that see Britain doing much better in Malaya/Singapore on the beginning of war with Japan.

The question I pose here is, with Britain holding Japan somewhere near the Malaya/Thailand border, with Japan facing logistical problems restricting her advance, what might Britain’s strategy be in North Africa.

Why would the strategy in the Middle East change if Britain retains Malaya and Singapore? At the highest levels Allied Strategy is Germany First, and for the British the only theatre in which they can engage the Germans is in North Africa. The C-in-C Middle East is under pressure to defeat Rommel and clear the Axis from North Africa.

The likely impact is on reinforcements no longer needed in the Far East. The 18th Infantry Division was originally earmarked for the Middle East and could have been diverted back from Singapore. 7th Armoured Brigade would not be needed in Burma. There would be less pressure to return Australian divisions to defend Australia. The aircraft diverted to the Far East might be returned to the Middle East.

That looks like an extra corps for the Eighth Army - 1st Australian(?). Would it have made a difference at Gazala - or would the British commanders still have screwed up?

[Fatboy Coxy]

I’m currently writing a What If, that see Britain doing much better in Malaya/Singapore on the beginning of war with Japan.

The question I pose here is, with Britain holding Japan somewhere near the Malaya/Thailand border, with Japan facing logistical problems restricting her advance, what might Britain’s strategy be in North Africa.

Why would the strategy in the Middle East change if Britain retains Malaya and Singapore? At the highest levels Allied Strategy is Germany First, and for the British the only theatre in which they can engage the Germans is in North Africa. The C-in-C Middle East is under pressure to defeat Rommel and clear the Axis from North Africa.

The likely impact is on reinforcements no longer needed in the Far East. The 18th Infantry Division was originally earmarked for the Middle East and could have been diverted back from Singapore. 7th Armoured Brigade would not be needed in Burma. There would be less pressure to return Australian divisions to defend Australia. The aircraft diverted to the Far East might be returned to the Middle East.

That looks like an extra corps for the Eighth Army - 1st Australian(?). Would it have made a difference at Gazala - or would the British commanders still have screwed up?

Hi Sheldrake, apologies, I seem to have mislead you with my explanations. Britain has been successful in holding Malaya, and this has had a knock on effect of slowing the Japanese advance elsewhere, but by no means is it stopped.

Given the dramatic and drastic shifting of forces from the Middle East to the Far East historically to belatedly try and stopped the Japanese, clearly there is immense pressure on Britain to act to 'save' Singapore. My What If merely delays that, but if the Allies are unable to stop the Japanese sweeping down through Celebes, down onto Bali, and then through Java and Sumatra, then Singapore will fall. In this situation, what do the British do in North Africa?

[OldBill]

I can't really say anything regarding NA. For Singapore however, you can probably, if you are willing to take substandard equipment, get US 6 ton (US version of FT17) tanks from the US. The Dutch NEI have some indigenous Armored Car designs, which are not suitable to use offroad, but can help in defending convoys. There isn't any reason that if you have enough heavy trucks you can't lash up something similar. Lastly, were I running things in Singapore, I'd really think about landmines in large numbers. You might even make your own, and booby traps of any other type would be useful in securing flanks. Leaving some small groups of volunteers behind to conduct guerilla raids on any IJA targets would pay dividends. Anything to slow them down.

[OldBill]

Coxy I'm not sure if you are aware of this lot, but the University of Singapore Press has several books you might be interested in, such as this one:

https://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/collections ... f-february

[nuyt]

The Dutch NEI have some indigenous Armored Car designs, which are not suitable to use offroad, but can help in defending convoys. There isn't any reason that if you have enough heavy trucks you can't lash up something similar.

There is a quote here
viewtopic.php?p=1412205#p1412205
stating that Singapore did just that, unfortunately I have no further info!

[OldBill]

Thanks Nuyt, I'll have a look/see!