Hello all, Sorry for my brief absence. Work has been quite retarded and I've been busy attending events with my WWII living history group. I've got a couple more questions about ideas for my WWII short stories. I'm mucking about with an idea of a Germany building and testing an atomic bomb. Of course, in actual history this has never happened...thankfully...but my short stories will all be alternate history. But my question is this...The storyline with Germany becoming in possession of an atomic bomb, an OSS assault team is going to sabotage the atomic bomb as it's awaiting testing. How many members would comprise of a reasonable assault force? What would the rank structure be? As they will be entering German held territory they'll need knowledge of the German language. As for location, I'm still pondering a setting for where this will be taking place and need help picking a believable German unit to provide defense for this high security base. Would SS or Gestapo be on site? Knowing the value of what they're protecting, I can be sure the site would be heavily defended.
As to the defence, the time period might indicate who 'guarded' the secret. Late war the SS took control of many wonder weapon's. The Gestapo was a police organization, so they would not likely guard the site, but could have a impact in tracking any allied party. As for location, East Prussia of Bavaria-Austria would seem as remote frome allied interruption as possible. An allied commando team would have to be small, too difficult to move a large group of people in a police state.
Interesting question... I DO have a problem with the basic premise, heavy water being as far as they got...then the (two) scientists involved readily(but secretly) admitted that they had no idea on how to proceed. But if they had? Firstly the location would dictate the force to be used. ie: can they land a water craft at night or an air drop? I think i would use the simple term "Commando" (if British) for the forces name. The real assualt took in a number of "facilities"-really a number of buildings grouped together...but if in your story the bomb is already assembled then the "team" need only be small...indeed, i would order an airstrike against it instead. But if that were out of the question - say its underground for instance, then a commando team might have to be employed. There are no "set" numbers for this type of operation...Usually a name is given as the lead...he quite often is then given the "opportunity" to choose his own team, since he would know better than any on who to take. You would need a beach force or "beach master" to secure the return craft...the actual assault team would then proceed to target...it would depend then on the defences as to who the "Major" (Usually the highest rank to go on operations) would take...for example, does he need an explosives expert to gain access to the base or not? How many guards? What weapons do they carry/use? How many would they actually have to get past to get access to the device? No need for German language skills...except for maybe hands up! or dont move...or "SHNELL!" (may need to subdue some guards instead of risking gunfire for example). The rank structure would be loose...the squad picked on abilities rather than rank...could be PTE right up to Major (or sometimes LtCol - Col) i would expect a number of Warrant Officers as that would sit them well in terms of age group and therefore skill sets. German units defending...completely depends. Spies in recruiting offices can pick up transfers and postings so sending the very best to protect maybe like raising a flag...i would guess a handpicked group of injured Eastern front veterans...cant hump any more, but are close fighting specialists.
Thanks for the comments guys! Definitely I'll be taking them in. As for the team, I was thinking something like the A Team, four guys. Thank you for all the info CAC. Very informative I've been trying to write something for awhile but I get so many ideas and storylines that I lose track of it and I don't know much when it comes to the commando side or German side. As for Gestapo, they wouldn't be guarding the site. They'd be there more for "interrogating" but as we all know...the "Commando" order wouldn't help any commandos captured during this mission. These WWII forums are very helpful and the people are wonderful.
I can empathise with having too many ideas...when writing my book, i was constantly coming up with ideas...filled two text books with them! Out of frustration i decided to outline the entire story...a paragraph for each chapter/section. I could then think of which ideas i wanted to use to acheive each section...AND THEN STUCK TO IT. That is definately a discipline one has to learn.
Thanks CAC. that's a great idea. Another problem im finding is because these will be short stories, it's hard to figure out what I want to put into the story. How to hash out a short story in under 20 pages is a little tricky.
I'm sorry all the questions I'm asking here. I've been attempting to do some more research but my Internet searching skills are...not the greatest and I can never seem to find the info I'm looking for, and again want to turn to the people I know who can guide me in the right path. So as you guys know, I'm working on a series of WWII alternate history short stories and this current story takes place in 1943. The current outline of the story I'm working on takes place after the attempted commando raid on St. Nazaire, while taking some damage, the crucial German port is still operational. Defenses are beefed up and, a convoy of transport vehicles defended by several French armored cars is bound for St. Nazaire, and it's carrying pieces of a weapon to be assembled elsewhere that will bring the allies to it's knees. Now, what I'm having trouble with, is finding a suitable starting point for the German convoy to start off from. Did Germany have any suitable factories for developing top secret weapons away from the prying eyes of the general public and perhaps spies? Kind of like somewhere totally secluded where scientists and essential personelle could come and go freely. I'm also playing with the idea of the convoy being ambushed by possibly....French resistance..just before they reach their destination of St. Nazaire. Any help would once again be appreciated. My research skills on the Internet are...quite atrocious. Thanks!
