The Line in the Sand
....That Turkey threw in her lot with the Axis in WW2.
This was a distinct possibility early in the war as Turkey was very keen to not only get back the Italian held islands of the Dodecanese but also the great swathe of their former Middle Eastern territories - Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, much of the Arabian Peninsula etc. These had been divided up after the end of the First World War between the British and French under the terms of the Sykes-Picot agreement. See the following for a short introduction - Sykes-Picot Agreement.
With the British and French colonial forces facing a German backed Turkish onslaught (even though Syria fell under Vichy control following the fall of France) I am thinking that there is some entertaining mileage in this from a gaming perspective.
Throw in the Russian Bear lurking in the north with designs on encircling the former 'Sick Man of Europe' and I reckon you have a rich canvas on which to create some varied actions. WW2 Colonial forces, revolting tribesman, sinister Nazis and Reds under the divan should make for an entertaining set up.
One to ponder further methinks....;-)
12 comments:
We now know what you'll be buying at the next wargame show!
One I've never of thought of before....musing indeed!
Are you thinking they join in after the Fall of France or when Barbarossa kicks off?
Maybe they deal with the Balkans when Italia flubs it, and Barbarossa kicks off a couple weeks earlier, if weather allows it.
Hmm. Yeah. A lot of interesting possibilities there.
Many great gaming potentialities me thinks...
Hi Ray,
You may think that....but I couldn't possibly comment....;-)
No doubt I will see you at Tonbridge.
All the best,
DC
Hi Fran,
If its odd, off the wall or just plain down right bonkers you can rest assured I will find it interesting!
More research on the possibilities and fleshing out of the background will be needed but I already have some cunning plans.
All the best,
DC
Hi SAROE,
I am undecided yet but it will early war for sure. I want to read a little more around the diplomatic machinations pre war to get the story 'hook'.
Gaming wise though this could be a beauty for reasons that will feature in a later post.
All the best,
DC
Hi Tradgardmastare,
The wargaming bread and butter of 'what if' alongside of 'just suppose'.
I am really excited about this and am kicking myself for not seeing the idea sooner!
All the best,
DC
Could be a really interesting campaign setting - definitely right down your alley - I can imagine Turkey throwing its lot in after the successful Axis campaign in Greece.....or even, as a slight curveball - invading the East of Greece rather like Russia did at the start of the war in Poland....
Hi SoS,
As I am sure you can imagine, I have a number of possibilities under consideration for this idea - most of which will fature in a blog post later. Needless to say the naval dimension will also feature....;-)
All the best,
DC
You may have read this but if not I recommend, The Evasive Neutral by Frank Weber. This tells the story of Turkey in WW2.
I have a note inside my copy that refers to a War Office publication, Notes on the Turkish Army. Available at the public record office.
Hi Balkandave,
Thanks for the heads up on this - I will certainly try and track a copy down. I will also need to find out some concrete details on the Turkish Army of the period although as this will be an alternative history type project the additional kit will probably be German in origin!
All the best,
DC
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