OPERATION HERKULES is a Novel of Alternate History work of fiction. It
began with a question. Might WWII have gone differently had Hitler not
made so many strategic blunders? Eventually I wondered what last, single
blunder he might have avoided and still had a chance to win the war?
From Dunkirk to Stalingrad I read all I could find on these mistakes and
realized that of them all, the story of the siege of Malta and the
blunder of omission, that of NOT seizing the island, was perhaps the
least well known of Hitler’s gaffes, at least in the United States, and
that as late as the spring or summer of 1942 he still had the chance to
correct his error.
From this sprang the idea of this novel of
alternate history. In it we’ll meet many well-known and some lesser
known historical figures, but also purely fictional characters whose
experiences reflect those whose ordinary lives were interrupted by
extraordinary times. Kenneth Wiltshire, an American farm boy and
volunteer pilot with the RAF, flies Spitfire fighters and fights for his
life from Malta’s Ta Qali airfield. His English lover, the beautiful
and mysterious Maggie Reed, toils in anonymity from Malta on Britain’s
most vital wartime secret. Kuno
Schact, German Army officer, is
drafted as a last minute replacement for the invasion. His dreams are
haunted by fear that his two young sons will someday fight and die for
the Third Reich. Roland Webster, Royal Navy gunnery officer; only combat
gives him relief from remorse of his lost love Althea, killed in the
London Blitz. Through their eyes and many others we’ll live the Axis
invasion of Malta in June 1942 and follow their adventures in subsequent
novels as WWII is refought from a new point of reality.
I have
attempted to hew to a reasonable and plausible alteration of history.
Neither side will come to possess alian technology, nor suddenly stumble
on the secrets of high energy lasers. But from June 21, 1942, the day
Tobruk in North Africa fell to Rommel and his Afrika Korp a single,
simple change could have reshaped our history. Herewith, what might have
come, had Hitler decided to take Malta, rather than not.
PLANNED SEQUELS:
1) "The Gates of Victory"
With Malta in Axis hands Rommel and his combined German/Italian Afrika
Korp receive the weapons, supplied and reinforcements needed to WIN the
first Battle of El Alamein.
2) "Death on Frozen Seas" ( Tentative title )
With the fall of Malta and the Battle of El Alamein as backdrops,
convoy PQ17 leaves Iceland bound for the North Russian ports or Murmansk
and Archangelsk. DKM Tirpitz sails to confront them, but needing to
prove German superiority over their Italian allies Tirpitz is brought to
action by HMS King George V and USS Washington!
3) "HMS Ashanti" ( Tentative title )
One of the small 'back-stories' of the Malta Fulcrum WW2 Alternate
History series, this book goes back to the sinking of the British Tribal
Class destroyer in "OPERATION HERKULES" and follows her crews ordeal in
the water and in Vichy French POW captivity in Algeria.
4) "Panzers Across the Volga" ( Tentative title )
Following the Battle of El Alamein Rommel is frustrated by Hitler's
order to remain in a defensive posture. Rommel demands "A fighting
command". Hitler obliges, ordering Rommel to exchange commands with
Paulus at Stalingrad!
5) "Beautiful Maquis" ( Tentative title )
Follows the drama of Monique Covet, lovely French spy after she is
released from Gestapo custody, turned as a double agent. Will she serve
her new German masters or remain true to France?
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