The Bristol Blenheim was shepherded all the way through Israeli airspace by a camouflaged DC-3, which carried a large blue six-pointed star on its side and wings. A man appeared periodically at the DC-3's cargo door to point what looked liked a gun at them. Two black triangular "rocket ships" circled throughout, as if waiting to pounce. The RAF aircraft was motioned to land at Ashkelon. The DC-3 landed alongside it, and the mid-upper gunner noticed that he was the only man with a gun - the other bloke had been pointing a camera at him.
After climbing out the Blenheim, Flt Lt John Holt and his crew, Sgt David Appleyard, and LAC Donald Smith were greeted by and Israeli officer. They didn't quite catch his name, but it sounded like "Spectre". They then became the focus of a small diplomatic incident, as British embassy staff, and Israeli
Heyl Ha'Avir and Aman personnel debated who would talk to them first.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain looked into the abyss, and the abyss stared back. The rumblings of discontent over the conduct of the War, especially with regard to Norway, and the lukewarm support for Finland in their “Winter War” against the Soviets, had been growing for weeks. The news from Egypt, however, had administered a fatal blow. The Navy could protect England from the worst the Germans could do, but the capture of the Suez canal – by unknown forces - had put England and the Empire in mortal danger. Cut off from Persia, India, Burma, Malaya, and its bases in the Orient, the British war effort would falter and crumble.
Somehow the Mirror, Herald and Express had got hold of the news of the tanks sat on the banks of the canal, and while the editor of the Times and (thank heavens) the BBC had been persuaded to keep silent, those paper were preparing to print headlines like “Suez captured” and “Empire at Risk”.
With that in mind the resignations of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Malcolm MacDonald, and the Secretary of State for War Oliver Stanley had been a dire political necessity, and against his better judgement Chamberlain had had to appoint Anthony Eden and Winston Churchill to those cabinet posts.
The news from Norway was equally unbearable, and Chamberlain would have to endure an adjournment debate, and a confidence vote in the Commons.
Everything he had strived for was in ruins, it seemed.
What else could go wrong?
[Time to Westfeldzug: 86 hours]
From the moment it became apparent the the State of Israel was co-existing on the same planet with
der Tausendjahrige Reich, contingency plans were made to track the movements of the
Führer,
Reichsführer-SS Himmler,
Reichsmarschall Göring plus Hess, Milch, Udet, Heydrich, Goebbels, Dönitz and many of the other disciples of evil.
With a view to facilitating their assassination, of course.
When the name Adolf Eichmann was added to the list, an exasperated Shin Bet exclaimed "You mean, we've got to kill him again?"
Hitler was currently at Bad Munstereifel, at the Felsennest bunker. A nuclear attack had already been considered, but the known facts about the bunker suggested the Führer would survive such an attack. Towards the end of June he would most probably move to Brûly-de-Peche
History books were the main source, but exhaustive details were hard to come by, and there was every chance the time displacement had already affected known events.
Wiser counsels claimed that killing Hitler and Goring may be counter-productive, as their arrogance and insanity have contributed to the The Third Reich's defeat.
At least the Nazis themselves were largely oblivious to developments in the Middle East, obsessing as they were over the forthcoming implementation of Fall Gelb, the great test of the Wehrmacht against the Reich's old enemies.
The French and British were all too aware of the threat the Israeli seemed to pose. It would be necessary to offer military assistance to these nations with great haste...whether they would accept their help was a good question.
Above the Shin Bet paygrade, another feasibility study was in progress, lead by Benny Peled and "Mottie" Hod, current and previous heads of the Israeli Air Force.
Everyone was reticent about what Operation Vengeance would entail, but they would have to face the consequences, whatever happened. At least the final decision would have to be taken at a political, rather than a command level – hopefully the extent of the attacks would decided at cabinet level too, and the inevitable resulting controversy would not damage the IDF.
This was all unknown territory, and any action would involve personnel and equipment as yet untested in battle, trained and designed to fight a very different war.
Plans were being made to contact the British and French governments, in person and by radio as soon as possible...
~
The Beech Queen Air was usually tasked with transporting senior Israeli personnel, so it was the perfect for transporting Aluf Mordechai "Motta" Gur and the UNEF commander Lt Gen Ensio Siilasvuo plus others to Cairo to meet with the British.
However it was the reassuring shape of the aircraft that accompanied it that would ensure their safety.
IDF technicians and reservists had worked night and day to get TE554/57 airworthy again, it having become a static museum piece in 1976, having been deemed a costly luxury. As usual it was flown by Ezer Weizman. Under normal circumstances, there would be no other Spitfires in the Middle East, not until late 1942.
As planned, the two aircraft landed at Almaza, where they were greeted by Gen. Henry "Jumbo" Wilson, the Old-Etonian General Officer Commanding of British Forces in Egypt, who was eager to meet these foreign strangers, and find out what exactly WHAT had been going on these last six days.