War in the Far North

[rcaf_777]

Originally Posted by chico20854

Thanks for all the feedback folks!

The force's manifest failings as a combat unit led to it being disbanded fairly quickly, the British and Canadian units falling under command of other HQs of their own military, the Belgians repatriated and the Italian deserters who remained to fight (most of the Alpini battalion) and the Luxembourgers attached to the Canadian headquarters.

why not have the entire Canadian force in Norway have them move from Germany to Norway there was certainly enough political pressure in Canada to do so many at NATO that felt if 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and
Canadian Air-Sea Transportable Brigade Group were committed to Norway it would have tipped the balance of power in the region towards NATO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadi..._Brigade_Group

[Ewan]

I thought the photos gave it a really professional feel to it and what would be really useful at the end would be bullet points of the key dates of the campaign.

The 96/97 Balkan/Turkish theatre would certainly be an interesting area to explore.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Ewan

I thought the photos gave it a really professional feel to it and what would be really useful at the end would be bullet points of the key dates of the campaign.

The 96/97 Balkan/Turkish theatre would certainly be an interesting area to explore.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll add a comprehensive campaign timeline as an annex to the Kola piece. I'm both excited and intimidated about the Balkans campaign, since there isn't as much information on the area and the savagery of the conflicts in the region over the past 200+ years!

[Rainbow Six]

Hey Chico, good to see you around.

Personally I'd love to see a German Army Guide (especially if it included the German Territorial units that were largely overlooked by the NATO Vehicle Guide). Would probably fit well with your Czechoslovak Guide.

[pmulcahy11b]

Yeah...I went to your site and basically downloaded everything new. I love having a GBit connection!

[Ewan]

Still valid back then as it is today
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-an...rctic-mobility

[Vespers War]

Just as an aside because this is one of the rare times it's relevant, a Norwegian campaign seems like the sort of place where someone might try dogsleds for transporting supplies. Historically, a pair of large sled dogs could pull a sled with 200-250 pounds plus provisions for the dogs and musher at about 4 miles per hour. The Sirius Patrol in Greenland currently uses around 11-15 dogs per sled, which are smaller than the 19th-century dogs (Greenland dogs are 30-32 kg while malamutes are 36-54 kg), and they haul 350-500 kilograms at a time. Greenland has close to 15,000 dogs, half of which are actively used for pulling sleds.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by rcaf_777

why not have the entire Canadian force in Norway have them move from Germany to Norway there was certainly enough political pressure in Canada to do so many at NATO that felt if 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and
Canadian Air-Sea Transportable Brigade Group were committed to Norway it would have tipped the balance of power in the region towards NATO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadi..._Brigade_Group

I think that would be a little too drastic of a change from the v1 storyline, which has an entire Canadian division in action in 2000 in Central Europe. As it was, the CAST Brigade's Norway commitment was withdrawn in 1987. More relevantly, transporting a mechanized brigade from southwestern Germany to northern Norway would have been a very difficult move with all the reinforcements flowing into Germany in late 1996, and upon arrival in Norway the armored vehicles would have been tied to the few roads that existed, already burdened with trying to support a large NATO force. The deployment of the US 6th ID from Alaska (a mission which, as far as I can tell, was never considered in Cold War planning) does a bit to tip the balance of power in the theater as well.

[stilleto69]

Hey Chico,

I don't think you need to change anything. I like how you give just enough information to allow the reader to fill in the gaps left and just enough leeway, that allow a ref to tweak if they are so inclined. Thanks to your info, I can finally fill in some of the gaps for my US Navy/Marine Corps aviation history as well as USAF unit histories. Again what a great read.