Alternative History
Operation Burgoyne
Date July 7 1938 - October 14, 1939
Result Initial British victories, overall strategic British failure.
Belligerents
Flag of the United States United States of America Flag of the United Kingdom British Empire,
Commanders
American

Adolf Hitler

George Patton

Omar Bradley

Dwight D. Eisenhower

British

Bernard Montgomery Sir Brian Horrocks

Strength
V Army:
Local Militia units

I Army:
VII Army:
XIV Army:
XXI Army:

IVth Army:
2nd Canadian, 3rd Canadian, 116th british, 5th Canadian Armoured, 11th British Armoured.

III Army:
23rd British. IX Army:
11th British Armoured

Casualties and losses
870,069 killed,
49,380 wounded
376,000 killed,
10,580 wounded

Operation Burgoyne was a plan by the British to defeat the USA. The plan involved capturing the northern United States quickly before they could deploy a fully mobilized army. The operation made initial successes, but they failed to capture Washington DC. Second of all, much of their forces got bogged down in New York, greatly diminishing their army's size and overstretching the rest, especially after Mexico was kicked out by Eisenhower. Lastly, they did not take out the Rockies quickly. With Burgoyne a failure, this led to the Axis powers going into retreat, into Canada.

Opposing Forces[]

United States[]

The US Army In Anti-Tank weapons the Americans were at a disadvantage. Their heaviest AT weapon was the 37mm M2, although it was effective against the British cruiser tanks, it was useless against the heavy Infantry Tanks. They also had automatic rifles, namely the BAR M6 (which closely resembles a mixture of the AK-47 and the M-16), and Stuart light tanks. Relatively few of the M3 Lee/Grant Medium Tank had yet reached the front

The United States Air Force had some modern aircraft, namely the Curtiss P40 Kittyhawk fighter, the B-17 Dive bomber, and the B-24 Heavy bomber. several of the Experimental F-34 Pogo VTOL Fighter had reached the front, but reliability problems and over-complicated controls meant they played only a small part in the fighting.

British Empire[]

The British forces driving into the US were among the best trained forces in the World.

The RAF had many first rate fighters, including the supermarine Spitfire, one of the best fighters of WWII, and the Hawker Hurricane, another effective fighter. In bombers the British mainly had obsolete models like the Fairley battle. Only the new Short Stirling heavy Bomber was effective

The British armoured forces, re-organised by the Axis tank School, Headed jointly by Heinz Guderian and J Walter Fuller, were well trained. however most of their tanks were Either Lightly armoured Cruiser tanks, or slow heavy infantry tanks.

3

A British 3.7" Gun as used during Operation Burgoyne.

The British forces also had a massive bonus in their use of the 3.7 Inch Anti-Aircraft gun as an Anti-Tank weapon. this was the same as the German use of the 88mm KwK 36 Flak Gun, and soon all American tankers would fear the 'Crack' of a 3.7" going off. The American Tankers christened the gun 'the Tank Cracker'

The Campaign[]

1. The Opening Moves[]

Canadian Front

Operation Burgoyne.


The Eastern Front[]

Operation Burgoyne began with an amassed invasion force entering Maine via Quebec. two Armies, the 3rd and the 5th, were committed to the eastern front. Chicago was shelled by Canadian Great Lakes Battleships, causing heavy damage. British tank tactics tore through the American defensive lines. General Smedley (who didn't retire ATL, and successfully foiled the Business plot) begins an evacuation of New England, while delaying the British. With America on the retreat in its mainland, the Axis push deeper, capturing North Dakota, Washington State and besieging Seattle (which doesn't fall).

The Central Front[]

The drive into Montana was initially successful, with few American forces defending the area. However the vast distances involved soon took their toll on the British forces. The drive was primarily a diversion away from the strategically important eastern front.

2. Operation Hawk[]

Operation Hawk was the American Counter-attack plan to halt the invasions of the East coast and Montana. American forces would benefit from large numbers of the M3 Lee/Grant medium tank, which were now coming off the assembly lines. Initially the counter-attack went well, but soon entrenched 3.7" guns wreaked havoc with the American Armour. New cruiser tanks fitted with the 6 pounder gun also came as a nasty surprise. However for the Americans, a new VTOL F-41 Hummingbird dropship was coming off the assembly line and was much easier to fly and more reliable than the Pogo, but since they were not designed for air-to-air combat, they were mainly ground support. One problem that all WWII VTOL aircraft had was landing difficulties, as a pilot was often unable to see how far off the ground was, and more VTOL aircraft were crashed on landing than were shot down by enemy aircraft. The American thrust at the British forces in Montana was called off after 1 week, but the thrust at the British drive through New England lasted 3 weeks before the tired and battered American forces were called off. Now almost nothing stood between the British forces and their target, New York.

3. The drive to New York[]

The British drive to New York progressed well, but American troops, rather than stand and fight, simply retreated farther, and farther south. The British High Command felt that they were on the brink of victory, however, the retreat was a ruse to overstretch the British forces.

Soon British forces had surrounded New York, and orders were given for its capture, for use as a forward supply port. This led to the long and bloody Battle of New York. For all intents and purposes, Burgoyne was over.

The end of Burgoyne[]

After the failure of Burgoyne, The US Department of War decided to revise War Plan Red (IRL a hypothetical war plan for a war between America and Britain), and it became Operation Bald Eagle