A Very British Civil War Comes to Mississippi

On Saturday, October 19th, I ran the first of what I hope will be a series on skirmish battles placed in the "what if" genre of A Very British Civil War.  For those who are not familiar with this period, the prime assumption is that King Edward VIII did not abdicate the throne when he married Wallis Simpson.  Instead, his marriage caused a constitutional crisis when the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, resigned rather than serve under Edward's increasing support of Fascist causes both at home and abroad.  Edward's choice of Oswald Mosley as his senior minister caused great consternation and led to strife between the leftist Labour Party, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF), the Anglican Church, and various nationalist groups.  So with that as a stage, let the "third English Civil War" begin.

Some additional information and other links may be accessed here:

http://panzerkaput.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-is-very-british-civil-war.html

This is mainly a posting to "whet your appetite" as I am still working on the battle report which will be posted on the Jackson Gamers web site.  I'll announce the posting of that report later.

The action takes place in the town of East Bergholt, near Ipswich, in Suffolk.  The local Royalist field force, reinforced by a unit of BUF troops, is out to gather supplies from the area.  Receiving word of this expedition, the local Anglican League command sent a small force to disrupt the Royalists.  At the same time, the Harwich Naval Soviet was sending a convoy to East Bergholt to trade with the socialist workers' union at Brown Brewery.  All three sides, plus the local townsmen and police, clashed in East Bergholt.

The town of East Bergholt simmers in the late autumn sun, unaware of the thunder that is coming.

The BUF leader, Neville Creasy, poses besides his spiffy sports coupe, decorated with a BUF banner on the front fender.

Supported by a heavy machinegun on the hill, the BUF forces advance towards East Bergholt.  In the distance you can see the Royalist column advancing up a road into town, while several town constables at the corner of the wall of the brewery try to halt the BUF troops.  Firing as already taken place as you can see from a BUF casualty by the stream.

The Anglican League force advance into town by the manorhouse of the Squire of East Bergholt (standing in front of car with his wife).  The Anglicans persuade the Squire to assist them against the Royalists.  In the background, you can see the Anglicans "secret weapon", a Rolls Royce armoured car, HMS Ajax.

Part of the Royalist command advances behind the Crescent Moon Pub heading to the Brown Brewery.  They are supported by their "secret weapon", a Vickers tankette.

The action was furious and resulted in the Naval Soviet troops in control of the brewery but threatened by the Royalists while the townspeople and the police held the pub and the Gilmore Delivery warehouse.

I hope that you enjoyed this "taste" of A Very British Civil War.