Miles From Our Home: 2018 Canada ISOTed to December 1939

[lordroel]

Apr 22, 2018 12:47:59 GMT redrobin65 said:

Apr 22, 2018 9:45:19 GMT James G said:

I like how you mentioned the grief and shock of many people. Other ISOTs have missed this.
There will be many people who are very upset and it won't be gotten over with quickly. The loss of such family members abroad, in the way which they have just disappeared so there was no chance to say goodbye and how they are just lost, will be quite traumatic.

Yup. Many of the people stuck in Canada will not get over this easily.

Well some will suffer, some will as you mention commit suicide because they lost everything, but i thank the most will mange.

[redrobin65]

Dec. 17, Mid Atlantic Ocean

Convoy HX-17 was rather odd. For one, it had fewer ships than most convoys. Its ships were decades apart from each other in design, weapons, technology and date that they were constructed.

The cargo ships Equinox, Brave and John Raame were from the ‘80s and ‘90s, while Anne-Marie, Roberta, Danger, Pullman, Truthful and Reckoning were ‘30s era. The Canadian frigates Toronto and Fredericton along with the British destroyers Grafton and Hyperion made up the escort force.

HX-17 had left Halifax on December 14th, and was due to arrive at Portsmouth on the 22nd. The merchant ships had a vast assortment of materials onboard. There was asphalt, bulldozers, steel, prefabricated barracks, fuel, generators as well as many other important items to support air and ground expeditionary forces. Making sure that this equipment made it to Britain was crucial, as it would go a long way to helping the Forces set up a supply base in the United Kingdom.

Cyclone helicopters from both Canadian frigates were in the air, hunting for U-boats. They were using various sonar systems to listen for submarines. Suddenly, a U-boat (U-29) was detected 18 km away from the convoy. The Cyclone from Toronto wasted no time. It sped over and dropped a Mk. 46 guided torpedo. It slammed into U-29 and tore it apart. U-29 was the first submarine to be sunk by the RCN in years.

It would not be the last, not by a long shot.

Dec. 17, Ottawa, Ontario

General Vance raised an eyebrow. “Only eleven of them can be used?”

Lieutenant-Colonel Bob Reford, Defence Research and Development Canada (Valcartier), nodded. “Yes, sir. We have assessed the Leopard 1’s, all of them, and have come to that conclusion. Most of ‘em can barely move and would be a huge drain on our resources.”

“What do you think we should do with them?”

“I would advise using most for parts honestly, and General Wynnyk supports that. We should also give some to Rheinmetall in Saint Jean.”

Dec. 20, Saint Jean, Quebec

Peter Williams, Director of Rheinmetall Canada sighed as he stared at the assembly area. He was in deep thought.

The Shift, as it was being called, had meant that Canada needed to rearm as fast as possible in order to fight the Axis Powers. This obviously meant that the various defence companies were receiving lots of attention from the public and the government; many had looked like idiots.

Sure, Bombardier, IMP and CAE were seeing if they could restart CF-5 production. Yes, General Dynamics had hired dozens of workers with more to come. However, all were hampered by the cessation of foreign parts shipments. Though it was true that the overwhelming majority of these parts could be manufactured in Canada, it would take months before this was possible as materials were shipped in and supply chains set up. This was made glaringly obvious in the case of Raytheon, who was currently attempting to see if they could replicate their various air-to-air missiles. Sure, it had only been a week since the Shift, but the fact that all of these companies were struggling with parts was an issue.

This was not helped by the now infamous Bell Tantrum, the heated exchange between the Defence Minister and the President of Davie Shipbuilding and the spat between Irving, Vard and BMT over the future of the AOPS and CSC programs.

His own company produced many of its parts at the plant he was standing in, but was still hurt by the loss of the more exotic parts and government demands. Williams snorted at the thought of replicating a Leopard C2. It could be done, but it would take a long time.

He gazed at the half finished TAPVs, produced by Textron and Rheinmetall.

Local Recruiting Centre Swamped by Volunteers

Toronto Star

December 27th, 1939

As news of the Shift spread, volunteers began to show up at this recruiting centre near Yonge and Sheppard.

Volunteers flocked to this usually quiet Canadian Armed Forces recruiting station on the morning of the 16th. There was a long line stretching outside the door. It took three hours for Michael Lisowski to finally enter the building, and one more to reach the desk.

“I had already been thinking of joining, but I made up my mind after the Shift,” he says outside of his North York apartment. “I’m half Polish and right now, the Nazis and Russians are both raping that country. I want to set things right.”

Lisowski is far from the only person to express similar views. Many other people of ethnicities and religions targeted by Hitler have signed up. Others have done the same simply to set a new course for history.

“If we stop Hitler a couple years sooner, he won’t be able to kill nearly as many people as last time,” remarks Lewis Carter, a Canadian Jew. “I know that a lot of people feel the same way.”

The government is having issues processing such a large amount of recruits. There are not enough people to recruit and train tens of thousands of recruits in a few short months. Veterans and reservists will help out in these aspects, but the entire process is rather clunky. Old training camps such as Cornwallis Park, formerly known as CFB Cornwallis are being requisitioned and prepared for a massive influx of trainees.

Dec. 28th, CFB Halifax, Nova Scotia

The base was bustling with activity today.

Most of it was centered around the submarines Windsor and Chicoutimi. The latter had transferred from MARPAC for a NATO deployment prior to the Shift. Despite the rather spotty record of the quartet of former British submarines, most were functioning in a state that could be described as ‘good enough.’ Navy technicians and civilian contractors overran both vessels in an effort to make sure that there was nothing wrong with them.

The six Kingston-class coastal defence vessels were being hastily repaired and refitted. Most of these were focused on the engines and electronics of the ships, which had a record for not working properly. The Kingstons were only armed with a 40mm Bofors and had a slow top speed of 15 knots. They had no anti-submarine capability whatsoever. These vessels would use their modular mine-hunting systems to search for any mines that might be in Canadian waters.

Unsurprisingly, the seven Halifax-class frigates were the most active. Two were escorting merchant ships to Halifax, four were undergoing last minute checks and one was sailing to Britain. Along with the soon to be transferred from the Pacific HMCS Calgary, they were expected to carry out antisubmarine, anti-air and anti-ship missions.

The supply ship Asterix was the newest vessel in the RCN. It would be tasked with resupplying Canadian ships at sea. However, there were doubts that a single ship could support warships all over the ocean.

Dec. 29th, 4.2 km West of Truro, Nova Scotia

The group of young schoolchildren eagerly pushed each other, trying their best to get a good view of the train as it rumbled along the track.

The train in question was a transport carrying dozens of armoured vehicles from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade-Group (2CMBG) to Halifax, where they would subsequently be loaded onto ships and transported to Europe.

MFOHMFOHMFOH

Despite shifting most of their military resources to Europe and the Atlantic, the Canadians kept a watchful eye on the Asia-Pacific region. IJN movements were closely monitored, as it had taken little effort for all of their codes to be cracked by Canadian cyber warfare teams.

The Canadian Armed Forces were aware that they did not currently have the logistics capabilities or the troop numbers to commit to Europe and Asia at the same time. Many Army and RCAF units in Western Canada were slated for deployment to Europe. Thus, MARPAC and some of the RCAF and Army would mostly occupy themselves with patrolling Canada’s Pacific coast…and slightly beyond.

HMCS Calgary would reinforce MARLANT while Vancouver, Winnipeg and the submarine Corner Brook would take up patrol duties. In the meantime, Canadian intelligence officers prepared to visit British and French commanders in the region…

Dec. 29th, Near Marville, France

For the past two days, the man had contented himself watching Canadian and French engineers work on a long airstrip. A token amount of aircraft had landed, and what big aircraft they were! They were only transport planes, but the man was still impressed.

The Czech forces in exile across France were unorganized and suffered from a lack of modern equipment. The Free Czechoslovak Air Force barely had any planes, and most of its airmen were scattered across France and her Empire.

Sighing, the man continued to watch the construction. These men sure were efficient.

Jan. 8th, Mississauga, Ontario

Kent Helsburger swore as he paid for gas. Ever since the Shift, gas prices had soared. Sure, they had stopped rising, but the impact was still felt. Fewer cars were on the roads now. There were still plenty, but highways seemed less crowded.

As he returned to his 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer, he reflected on his task. Crossing the border wouldn’t be too hard. If he could not get past the guards, he would just find a road to jump. His car, arguably the worst in its class, was filled with gasoline and printed documents. He would do his best to get to Washington D.C.

Jan. 11th, Somewhere in Britain

Dozens of Canadian armoured vehicles drove down the country road. They were heading to Camp Maple, the area where most of the Canadian Expeditionary Force would stay until they were deployed elsewhere.

In the column were vehicles of all shapes and sizes. LSVWs drove amongst TAPVs and LAVs. Coyotes hid in the shadow of Leopards.

The column approached a bridge that was over a stream. Most of the vehicles crossed with ease. Not all would be able to do this. Most bridges in the ‘30s were not built to handle 60+ ton behemoths. Leopards began to cross the bridge one at a time. They drove slowly and carefully. Thanks to these efforts, most of the tanks were able to cross without too many issues. Three more needed to get across.

The first tank slowly crossed the bridge. Unfortunately, the structure of the bridge was stressed from taking extraordinary amounts of weight. Cracks appeared in the structure and an audible groan was heard. The Leopard, a 2A6M, sped up and reached the other side just as part of the bridge caved.

Oslo, Norway

Johan Nygaardsvold stared out of the window, thoughts swirling around his head. The up-time Norwegian Ambassador to Canada, the military attaché and a man from the Canadian Ministry had left hours ago, but what they had told him was startling.

The German invasion and its effects were the main topic. He had been dismayed to learn that Norway had its neutrality violated, and was unhappy with the fact that his country would have been occupied.

That would not happen this time, not on his watch.

[James G]

German-built (the good Germans) tanks being used to fight German-built (bad Germans) tanks?
That will be a blast!

I assume the traveller on his way to Washington is up to no good? Off to the German embassy in DC?

[redrobin65]

May 6, 2018 16:04:41 GMT James G said:

German-built (the good Germans) tanks being used to fight German-built (bad Germans) tanks?
That will be a blast!

I assume the traveller on his way to Washington is up to no good? Off to the German embassy in DC?

Yep. I like the irony.

Mr. Helsburger is on his way to DC.. but he'll have some difficulties.

[lordroel]

May 6, 2018 16:46:13 GMT redrobin65 said:

May 6, 2018 16:04:41 GMT James G said:

German-built (the good Germans) tanks being used to fight German-built (bad Germans) tanks?
That will be a blast!

I assume the traveller on his way to Washington is up to no good? Off to the German embassy in DC?

Yep. I like the irony.

Mr. Helsburger is on his way to DC.. but he'll have some difficulties.

Driving that car, i can only say he will face problems getting to the German embassy in DC.

[stevep]

May 6, 2018 16:46:13 GMT redrobin65 said:

May 6, 2018 16:04:41 GMT James G said:

German-built (the good Germans) tanks being used to fight German-built (bad Germans) tanks?
That will be a blast!

I assume the traveller on his way to Washington is up to no good? Off to the German embassy in DC?

Yep. I like the irony.

Mr. Helsburger is on his way to DC.. but he'll have some difficulties.

  Now that subtly dodged the question.  Is he a hard line German or possibly an American?  We will find out in time but either way it could be disruptive.

[stevep]

redrobin65

Good update. I wonder if rather than trying to recreate the industry and infrastructure for 2018 weapons they might be better off seeking to produce simplier stuff from the 50's or late 40's say? This would be less of a challenge, although they would have to dig up some very old designs and recreate some industries but it would be easier for down-timers to manage, both in terms of producing and of operating in combat. Possibly they will try both paths. Or at least dredge up some old designs say for a Mustang or Typhoon a/c that allied industry could actually start constructing themselves.

Also possibly some smaller items would be very effective and could possibly be produced in numbers faster. Say modern, or even ~1970 say radio and other communications equipment and things like night fighting gear, a light shoulder launched missile for hitting armoured vehicles - since even a light one will kill any current German AFV let along other units they have. Possibly also some proximity fuses and IIF type equipment. What should be very easy is supplies of modern anti-biotics and other such medicines, which could save a lot of lives both in the allied military and civilians.

How easily will those 2018 transport ships, which are probably based around containerised cargoes be able to unload at a 1940 port?

Wonder if the Canadians will be informing the down-timers about asbestos, smoking and other factors that could change lifestyles dramatically. Probably not going to get much movement in cutting smoking, especially in the middle of a war. Also there will of course be cultural clashes on issues such as racism and sexism as 2018 Canada and 1940 W Europe are going to shock each other.

I wonder if it would be considered letting the Italians know what has happened and some of the abilities of 2018 Canada? While some details are likely to be leaked to Germany it could persuade Mussolini, or failing that other members of the Italian fascists that Italy would be better off sitting out the conflict? That would have the problem of leaving the regime in power for the foreseeable future but may ease the problem of fighting the Germans without needing to worry about the Med.

  PS - Sorry, checking back on earlier posts I have mentioned a fair amount of this before but had forgotten.

[lordroel]

They sure have the power to beat anything the Germans can trow at them.

[redrobin65]

The Canadian Armed Forces had very ambitious plans regarding the war in Europe. A division sized mechanized force was supposed to be deployed to Britain, while air units would move into bases in Britain and France. Navy ships were tasked with escorting convoys. These plans were quite ambitious…and very difficult for the CAF to attain. There were mobilization problems in all three branches of the Armed Forces.

In the uptime, the CAF had been poorly funded for decades. Warships rusted in port, aircraft sat in hangars. The Army had shortages of everything from ammunition to fuel. Though there was some modern equipment such as the Leopard 2 and CH-147, most major military systems were quite old. Aircraft such as the Hornet, Aurora, and Sea King were over thirty years old; the Sea Kings were fifty years old. The Navy was in a decent state (depending on whom you asked). The twelve Halifax class frigates were reliable workhorses with many different capabilities. MV Asterix was a stopgap, but a good replenishment ship.

That is where good naval news ended. The Famous-for-the-Wrong-Reasons Victoria-class submarines had been plagued with issues the day they entered the RCN. Lead, rust, dead engines, inability to dive, fires. All of these had affected at least one of the submarines at one time or another. Thankfully, most had been rectified and two were ready to go to Europe. The Kingston-class patrol vessels were useless for most types of wars. Armed only with one 40mm Bofors, they were slow, unreliable and had limited minesweeping capability. The Navy was debating what their fate would be.

Relatively speaking, the Army was the best equipped out if the three branches. That did not mean that it had no problems. Many vehicles required extensive maintenance and care due to lack of regular funding for that type of work. There had been an embarrassing incident in Britain where a broken-down LAV-III had held up an entire convoy. There was a disturbing lack of anti-aircraft weaponry in service at the time of the Shift. This was rectified by Starburst and Blowpipe MANPADS and ADATS systems taken out of storage, along with borrowed British equipment from BATUS.

On December 19th, Prime Minister Trudeau announced an increase in Defence spending to an emergency session of Parliament. This was to cover the cost of training new personnel, building new equipment, and refitting current equipment. While a few MPs grumbled, the vast majority from all parties were supportive of the plan. Each of the leaders of the other parties, Scheer, Singh, May and Ouellett, threw their support behind the PM.

By January 21st, 1940, almost 124,000 men and women had volunteered for the Armed Forces. Naturally, this created many problems. The recruitment system was overwhelmed by the deluge of volunteers, with lines outside centres stretching around the block in many cases. As a result, more recruiting centres were opened all across the country. Old training camps were reactivated while new ones were hastily constructed. The vast majority of these volunteers had signed up for the Army, around 81,000. 29,000 flocked to the RCAF while the Navy took 14,000. There weren’t enough weapons, equipment or even uniforms for all of these recruits, but the issues were slowly being fixed. Armaments companies strove to produce more, while Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, having signed agreements with their downtime counterparts regarding ownership, were contracted to build trucks and armoured vehicles. Certain clothing companies were employed by the government to make uniforms for all the new recruits to wear.

From Victoria to Halifax, Iqaluit to Winnipeg, Ottawa to Whitehorse, St. John’s to Hamilton, Canada was preparing for war.

[lordroel]

May 16, 2018 2:02:18 GMT redrobin65 said:

From Victoria to Halifax, Iqaluit to Winnipeg, Ottawa to Whitehorse, St. John’s to Hamilton, Canada was preparing for war.

Nice to see it happening, Go Canada.

[James G]

I like this. It is a very honest assessment of good intentions meeting real world problems. Building a war fighting machine to go halfway across the world in an instant isn't possible. Unforseen gremlinso in the system will get in the way.

[lordroel]

May 16, 2018 7:15:26 GMT James G said:

I like this. It is a very honest assessment of good intentions meeting real world problems. Building a war fighting machine to go halfway across the world in an instant isn't possible. Unforseen gremlinso in the system will get in the way.

You are right, that raises a question, does Canada of 2018 need to build military hardware, like those which where used in the 1950s, as i assume they might be easy to build then 2018 military hardware.

[stevep]

May 16, 2018 13:11:56 GMT lordroel said:

May 16, 2018 7:15:26 GMT James G said:

I like this. It is a very honest assessment of good intentions meeting real world problems. Building a war fighting machine to go halfway across the world in an instant isn't possible. Unforseen gremlinso in the system will get in the way.

You are right, that raises a question, does Canada of 2018 need to build military hardware, like those which where used in the 1950s, as i assume they might be easy to build then 2018 military hardware.

  I would say that IF they can produce all the components themselves without too much difficulty 2018 equipment may be better as its more familiar to them and more powerful.  On the other hand, dusting off plans for systems from the late 40's and 50's would probably be useful for beefing up their down-time allies as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Things like 44/45 a/c, radar and electronics would be a considerable advance on what they have now, or what their going up against but would be easier for Britain and France to produce themselves and also support.  This could also be a factor with some modern Canadian weapons for instance.  Leopard IIs are a massive advance on what they will face but could cause problems logistically in terms of what roads, bridges etc they could use, how easily they could be transported by ship and rail and what fuel and spares etc they use.

  A third option would be mixing things up a bit.  For instance 1940 AA guns would be massively more efficient if they can be paired up with 2018 radars and proximity fuses.  If Canada can produce the latter in sufficient numbers they could be used to make artillery far more efficient as well but without the danger of any munitions that fail to go off and fall into German hands being reverse engineered.  This was one reason why such weapons were not used for much of the war as while they made artillery a lot more lethal there was the fear that the Germans would obtain examples and quickly develop their own versions.  If [and I fear its a big IF] Canada can produce modern micro-ships in decent numbers, even if say ~1990 versions there's damn all chance that the Germans could copy them.

  Which raises a similar point.  If they can be adapted to work in 1940 Europe a lot of domestic electronic tools, especially for communications are going to be very, very useful for the downtime allied forces and there is relatively little chance the Germans can make much use of them.  A few elderly PCs deployed with their forces would revolutionise a lot of tasks in terms of co-ordinationing operations, code breaking operations and the like. 

  Its quite possibly that the biggest boost they could give the down-time allies would be in equipment the latter won't immediately think of as weapons at all.  Let alone the historical information on factors such as tactics and what historical weapons to develop/not develop.

[redrobin65]

As one can imagine, an entire country appearing out of thin air spread shockwaves around the world.
In the United States, many were suspicious and even fearful about the beliefs of uptime Canada. It wasn’t hard to cross the border or listen to a radio broadcast, and many Americans did just that. They saw that Canada was a country where people of different races, religions, and orientations lived together. Together! Not segregated! Unsurprisingly, some religious and racist elements in the US had a field day. Don’t go to Canada, they’re the most immoral people you will ever meet! Bunch of drunks and druggies!

However, more moderate elements of US society were curious about the Canadians. Several journalists and high-ranking politicians were given carefully selected tours in many different cities. Many were astounded. The cars that Canadians drove and the planes they flew in were beyond anything they could have ever imagined. The glass skyscrapers and modern houses drove the point home.

Some Canadians tried to cross the border into the United States for a variety of reasons. Some wanted to see 1940’s buildings, others wanted to lecture Americans about their beliefs. A select few tried to get to the German Embassy in Washington DC; none made it. The interstate highway system had not been constructed yet, and most troublemakers were stopped right at the border. The two who made it across were either arrested or got lost, subsequently being dragged back to Canada.

Britain and France were wary about some of the uptime beliefs, but said nothing as the Canadians were gearing up to fight. These two countries were happy that the CAF was pouring into their lands. Generally, the people living there had a less radical reaction than their American counterparts did. While they had their fair share of bigots, most were excited to see what the future held.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway had all been informed about the fates of their countries. Most were horrified, but happy to hear about the historical information and assistance provided by Canada. It was felt that Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway could be held when the Germans came. Denmark accelerated its plans for a government in exile, evacuating important artifacts to Britain.

Germany got no contact from Canada. The Reich had agents in the United States and Britain who reported that the country had indeed came from 2018. Many high-ranking Nazis scoffed at this; Hitler himself was reported to have chuckled and threw the document into a waste bin. Others were more alarmed, especially given the disturbing amount of U-boats sunk in the last month.

[lordroel]

May 16, 2018 14:51:38 GMT redrobin65 said:

As one can imagine, an entire country appearing out of thin air spread shockwaves around the world.
In the United States, many were suspicious and even fearful about the beliefs of uptime Canada. It wasn’t hard to cross the border or listen to a radio broadcast, and many Americans did just that. They saw that Canada was a country where people of different races, religions, and orientations lived together. Together! Not segregated! Unsurprisingly, some religious and racist elements in the US had a field day. Don’t go to Canada, they’re the most immoral people you will ever meet! Bunch of drunks and druggies!

However, more moderate elements of US society were curious about the Canadians. Several journalists and high-ranking politicians were given carefully selected tours in many different cities. Many were astounded. The cars that Canadians drove and the planes they flew in were beyond anything they could have ever imagined. The glass skyscrapers and modern houses drove the point home.

Some Canadians tried to cross the border into the United States for a variety of reasons. Some wanted to see 1940’s buildings, others wanted to lecture Americans about their beliefs. A select few tried to get to the German Embassy in Washington DC; none made it. The interstate highway system had not been constructed yet, and most troublemakers were stopped right at the border. The two who made it across were either arrested or got lost, subsequently being dragged back to Canada.

Britain and France were wary about some of the uptime beliefs, but said nothing as the Canadians were gearing up to fight. These two countries were happy that the CAF was pouring into their lands. Generally, the people living there had a less radical reaction than their American counterparts did. While they had their fair share of bigots, most were excited to see what the future held.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway had all been informed about the fates of their countries. Most were horrified, but happy to hear about the historical information and assistance provided by Canada. It was felt that Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway could be held when the Germans came. Denmark accelerated its plans for a government in exile, evacuating important artifacts to Britain.

Germany got no contact from Canada. The Reich had agents in the United States and Britain who reported that the country had indeed came from 2018. Many high-ranking Nazis scoffed at this; Hitler himself was reported to have chuckled and threw the document into a waste bin. Others were more alarmed, especially given the disturbing amount of U-boats sunk in the last month.

Nice update, i wonder if the Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway and other 2018 embassies in Canada have contact with their 1940s counterparts.