by Scott Palter
Balbo, Italo (1896-–1940): WW1 veteran. One of the founders of Italian Fascism. One of the creators of the Italian air force as a major service. Governor General of Libya, 1933. Did not support either the anti-Jewish laws or the Nazi alliance. Killed by Italian AAA while trying to land at Tobruk, 1940.
Bandera, Stepan (1909-1959): Ukrainian nationalist leader. Worked with the Nazis, who also imprisoned him. Postwar worked with the CIA. Co-founder of the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization OUN. Helped raise paramilitaries who worked with the Germans 1941-1943 before fighting everyone (Soviets, Germans, Poles) afterwards and continuing after the end of the war under the UPA banner. The postwar campaign was funded and armed by the CIA, although the British MI-6 claim credit for the relaunch. Hated Poles, Jews, Russians, and Communists. His troops killed large numbers of all of them. A fanatic nationalist and an unpleasant person to anyone who opposed him, but charismatic and quite competent.
Beck, Ludwig (1880–1945): served as a staff officer, Western Front WW1. Backed the Nazis in the early 30’s but never joined the Party. Fired as head of Army General Staff 1938 over his opposition to Hitler’s military adventurism. Part of many anti-Nazi plots, including 1944 Bomb Plot where he was slated to be chief of state. Executed when the coup failed. Beck was smart and capable, but incredibly narrow-minded. As with many in his generation and class, he regarded the Nazis as gutter-trash. Was enraged when Hitler did not let himself be “guided” by the better sort of experts such as himself. Widely revered among the old Army officer corps, which is why I make him part of the junta. Beck’s name would swing the old Reichswehr officers to the new regime. He never understood how his kind lost control of Hitler, and will be equally mystified over losing control of Heydrich.
Begin, Menachem (1913-1992): Betar from age 16. Graduated in law, University of Warsaw 1935. By 1939 had been head of Betar first in Czechoslovakia and then Poland. Fled with other cadres to Vilna ahead of the advancing Nazis. The return to Poland is ATL. In OTL he stays in Vilna, is arrested by NKVD, does time in GULAG and then is released as part of Anders’ Army. Exits Soviet Union through Persia to Palestine, where he is allowed by Polish command to exit the Free Polish forces to work fulltime with Irgun. Brilliant orator and hardline Revisionist Zionist. Extremely intelligent.
Beresford-Peirse, Noel (1887-1953): Military family. Artillery. Commanded 4th Indian Division to victory over the Italians. Commanded Western Desert Force/XIII Corps against Rommel’s first offensive. Sacked for mistakes of both subordinates and superiors. Spent the rest of his career in rear-area assignments. Competent but not especially skillful.
Bergonzoli, Annibale ‘Electric Whiskers’ (1884-1973): Successful Italian commander in Ethiopia. Less so in Spain, but one of the few not sacked for failure. Commanded a corps in North Africa. Captured by the Australians. The failure was not his fault. In this book the Italians have enough trucks plus enough German armor and air strength to win. In OTL they were sent as lambs to the slaughter by an inept Mussolini regime.
Beria, Lavrentiy (1899–1953): Old Bolshevik with a slightly checkered political past during the Civil War years. From Georgia, but not exactly Georgian (similar to Stalin in that respect). Number 2 at NKVD in 1938, then in charge a few months after. Effectively Stalin’s Number 2 in WW2. Stalin told FDR at Yalta that Beria was “his Himmler”. Compared to Himmler, Beria was smarter and far more competent. Might have been the most competent of Stalin’s henchmen.
Bevin, Ernest (1881-1951): Major figure in the British trades union movement, who segues to being a Labor cabinet minister. The historic Bevin had an interest in foreign affairs and was postwar foreign minister. Mildly anti-Semitic and quite anti-Communist. A realist on the Empire and more so on both US and European relations.
Bigeard, Marcel (1916-2010): Commando sergeant 1940 campaign. Escapes to Africa. Given para training and sent back to head resistance unit. Gains nickname of Bruno (his radio callsign). Stays in postwar army Indochina and Algeria. One of the paratroop mafia that did the heavy fighting, and are featured in Larteguy’s novels. Didn’t take part in the putsches and plots that marked the end of the Algeria adventure. Stayed in the Army and retired as a Lieutenant General. Postwar was defender of the harkis, Algerian Muslims in French service. Broke with de Gaulle over this. Also at the center of the endless debates on torture during the Algerian Campaign. Bigeard defended the technique but denied ever doing it himself.
Bormann, Martin (1900–1945): Served in late 1918, but never saw action. In Freikorps. Did a prison stretch for an assassination. Joins the Nazis in 1927. Founded the Nazi Socialist Motor Corps when driving or fixing autos were relatively rare skill sets. Rose in the Party bureaucracy based on financial and administrative competence, plus a natural skill at currying favor. Became Number 2 to Hitler’s Number 2, Hess. Assumed Hess’s job, but not his title, when the idiot flew off to Scotland chasing a madcap peace plan. Used his control over access to Hitler and to the after-meeting memos to attain vast power. Mostly used this power to sabotage every other power-holder. Also sabotaged the war economy and manpower mobilization, currying favor with the Gauleiters. Last seen leaving the Bunker in one of the escape parties. Supposedly killed. Body supposedly found some decades later. Rumored to have been a Soviet agent. Rumored to have survived into the 1960’s with a lavish dacha in the Moscow suburbs.
Bose, Subhas Chandra (1897-1945): Indian nationalist and radical activist. Head of Congress Party until ousted by Gandhi/Nehru in 1939. Bose escapes to Germany and forms an Indian National Army with Nazi and Japanese help. He dies in a convenient air crash at the war’s end. Compared to Gandhi/Nehru he was more radical, had more ties to labor unions (and through them to COMINTERN), more strength in non-Hindi speaking Bengal and south India. Very smart, but unlucky in the foreign alliances he chose.
Bridges, Harry (1901-1990): An Australian-born seaman and socialist, Bridges came to the US in 1920. He joined the IWW and became a longshoreman. He was active in unionization and union politics from then until his death. US government repeatedly tried to expel him 1939-1942 as a Communist. They were never quite able to prove he was a formal member, although many of his associates were and he clearly followed the party line. The US Supreme Court ruled against his deportation in 1942. He was a firm anti-militarist from the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact in 1939 to Barbarossa in 1941, after which he was a fanatic social patriot, advocating for more arms and aid to Russia. Turned against US foreign policy, once Hitler was defeated and thus US is no longer allied to the Soviet Union. Extremely able and a dedicated Soviet patriot.
Busse, Theodore (1897-1986): WW1 veteran. Reichswehr. General Staff. Staff officer to von Manstein 1940-1944. Rapid rise from commanding division, to corps, to army, last year and a half of the war. Commanded Ninth Army at Berlin. Postwar was West Germany’s civil defense chief and a military historian. Generally well regarded, but not a flamboyant personality. His unit appears in the movie “Downfall”, although not with the prominence of Steiner’s.
Chekhova, Olga (1897–1980): Actress. Related to Chekhov by marriage. White Russian “refugee”. Probably Soviet agent. Star in Berlin cinema. Probable mistress of Goebbels. Friendly socially with Hitler. Postwar she worked in East Germany then moved to Munich.
Chennault, Claire Lee (1890-1958): US Army Air Corps officer turned mercenary in China. Created with FDR’s help the supposedly independent Flying Tigers who segued back to US service after Pearl Harbor. So did he. Tight with Chiang Kai-shek, and an airpower fanatic. Much better at PR than actual military leadership.
Chiang Ching-Kuo (1910-1988): Son of long-serving Chinese, then Taiwanese President for life/autocrat Chiang Kai-shek. Sent to Moscow for higher education 1925. A hostage after his father breaks with the Chinese left in 1927. Started out as a Trotskyite, but turned Stalinist prudently when Trotsky fell from favor. Sent back to China with Belorussian Communist wife in 1937. Not in favor because of decade in Moscow. Also because in Chinese terms a leftist, and a hard-ass on vice and corruptio
n. Promoted on Taiwan to head of secret police. Ascended in stages to President for life (1978) after father’s death in 1975. Created the vibrant Taiwanese economy and began the steps that turned Taiwan into a parliamentary democracy. Very bright and hard working, overcame amazing handicaps to come as far as he did.
Chiang Kai-shek (1889-1975): Military cadet who became one of the leaders of the KMT under Sun Yat-sen. Formed a cadre of loyalists based on a military academy he ran. At various times was a man of the left, right, and nationalist center. Ideology wasn’t his thing. Neither was military command. He was very good at the sort of factional politics that allowed the KMT to run much of China and dominate the remaining warlords. Made extermination of the Communists, whom he failed to either co-opt or marginalize, a major feature of his rule. Ran them out of China proper into the fringes in Yan’an. This is turn triggered the Japanese to preempt and start the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. Chiang avoids defeat but becomes what amounts to a regional warlord in the west (Chunking) with only a nominal hold on most of the local and provincial Nationalist forces. Kept in the war after Pearl Harbor by US money and equipment. Fails to master inflation or corruption postwar, leading his early successes against the Communists to dissipate into a near-total defeat. Flees to Taiwan with his remnant forces. Saved there by the start of the Korean War, which leads Truman to decide Chiang’s regime might again be a worthwhile ally. USN sent to police Taiwan Straits, and Chiang’s regime gets large-scale US aid. His fortes were factional politics and personal rectitude. Was not an especially great ruler or general.
Churchill, Winston (1874-1965): Winston is an iconic figure in the US for a handful of speeches, the Battle of Britain, and as a symbol of Britain standing up to Hitler. Part of the British victory myth version of WW2. Only period experts tend to remember his difficult personal habits (alcoholic, kept insane hours, made military decisions based on emotion rather than logic, etc.) or the long string of defeats 1940-1942. He essentially bankrupted the UK hoping something would turn up. USSR and then US entered the war (thanks far more to Hitler than Churchill) and the three Allied powers bludgeoned Nazi Germany to death. This series deals far more with the real man, warts and all, rather than the mythic figure of Their Finest Hour etc.
Ciano (Count), Gian (1903–1944): From a wealthy family. Bomber pilot in Ethiopian War. Mussolini’s son-in-law. Cultivated a playboy’s lifestyle. May have been lover/customer of Duchess of Windsor while in diplomatic service in Shanghai. Turned on Mussolini, 1943. Executed by Mussolini (at request of Nazis), 1944.
Cirillo, Enrico (1909 - ): He’s a real officer from the Libyan paratroop order of battle. The limited data we found for him gives him an accounting degree in 1926, parachute training in 1938, and the Bronze Medal for Military Valor in August 1941 for gallantry in the desert war. Retires in 1959 as a lieutenant colonel for medical reasons. Still alive in Rome as far as our researches show.
Corap, Andre (1878-1953): French professional officer. Did his line service with colonial units, his staff duties with Petain and Foch. Commanded the 9th Army in 1940. Made the goat for mistakes by others, chiefly Huntziger and Gamelin.
Costello, Frank (1891-1973): Born Francesco Castiglia in Calabria. Known as ‘The Prime Minister of the Underworld’. Costello was a clean-hands type of gangster. He hired out the violence. His specialty was the intersection of the criminal enterprises, legitimate business, the ‘Tammany Hall’ Manhattan Democratic machine, and the police. Costello spread the bribes and greased the wheels for the bootlegging and gambling. When Luciano went to prison, Costello was his nominal heir (in practice, he just followed Luciano’s orders from prison). Chased out of the top Manhattan job by more violent types in the 1950’s but kept his money, his life and some of his income streams. Very bright, very affable, but lacked the ruthless quest for power more typical of Mafia bosses.
Coughlin, Charles (1891-1979): Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest. He was an extremely effective broadcaster and political writer. He hated Communism, capitalism (especially banking/finance), and internationalism. His political views were in the Catholic corporatist tradition. He clearly expressed sympathy for fascism and Nazism. He blamed the Jews for both international finance / the Depression, and Communism (like many in the period he saw Bolshevism as a Jewish plot against Christianity). His anti-banking views led to attacks on global finance which was based in Manhattan (Jewish and Anglophile) and the City of London. This led to a large following among Irish-Americans whose loathing for the British went back to the Potato Famine. In OTL he was in the process of being silenced by a combination of FDR and his bishop at the time. I have obviously chosen a somewhat different life path for the man.
Cunningham, Alan (1887-1983): Brother of the dead admiral from book 1. Fairly standard career OTL leading to his appointment as GOC East Africa. He defeated the Italians in Somalia and Ethiopia, leading to command of the 8th Army in Egypt. Sacked by his superior Auchinleck when he wanted to break off the Crusader Offensive. Had secondary and staff appointments for balance of WW2 and postwar. He was the one who took down the British flag at Haifa when Israel became independent. In this ATL he is moved to Egypt before the East African campaign, but his realism will let him do good service. Adequate field commander at best, but his strength was an unwillingness to risk severe losses or serious reverses.
Cunningham, Andrew (1883–1963): WW1 veteran. Commander Mediterranean Fleet, 1939. Beat his fleet half to death covering the British force on Crete and then in the evacuation when resistance collapsed. Disobeyed direct orders from Churchill and the Admiralty not to risk his capital ships, refused to leave the Army to its fate: “It takes His Majesty’s Government three years to build a battle cruiser. It takes three hundred years to build a tradition. We are going in.” First Sea Lord, October 1943. Oversaw naval demobilization and then retired, 1946.
Darlan, Francois (1881-1942): From an old naval officer corps family. Commanded artillery battery at Verdun. Rapid rise through ranks to supreme naval command by 1939. Wanted to continue the war in 1940 and threatened to lead the fleet out to fight beside the British in the runup to the French surrender. Promised Churchill that the French fleet would never be used against Britain. Never forgave the British for the attack on the French Fleet at Oran, and swung to a policy of collaboration with the Germans. By an accident of history, Darlan was in Algiers when the Americans landed in November, 1942. He reached a deal with Eisenhower, swinging the French Maghreb, West Africa, and all overseas French naval vessels to the Allies. French ships in Toulon were scuttled at his orders. Assassinated soon after by a royalist dupe in an Anglo-Gaullist plot. Very talented but quite self-impressed.
Davis, Benjamin O. Sr. (1880-1970): African-American. Managed to reach the rank of brigadier general in the Jim Crow pre-WW2 US Army. Eased out of combat command and used in variety of PR and advisory roles in WW2. He will have a somewhat different fate in this ATL. Extremely good service politician.
Davis, Benjamin O. Jr. (1912-2002): Son of first US Army African-American general. Founded and commanded the legendary Tuskegee Airmen in WW2. This unit broke the color line for US air service. Went on to be first African-American general in US Air Force.
de Gaulle, Charles (1890-1970): From the minor provincial aristocracy. From youth had intellectual pretensions. Hero in WW1 and then POW. Protégé of Petain’s for most of the interwar period. Wrote a controversial book advocating a professional armored force in place of France’s traditional conscript armies. Given a scratch division in the first part of the 1940 campaign, and performed better than he had any right to. Was rewarded with a minor cabinet post that he leveraged into creating the Free French movement. There have always been rumors that this was Petain’s idea, as it gave France a foot in the British camp if the tide of war changed. Ungrateful to his Anglo-Saxon benefactors and near impossible to work with. Bungled his first try at politics post-WW2. Gets a second chance in 1958 when put into office by a parachute officers coup over the Algerian War. Backstabs h
is original backers, abandons Algeria, and manages to survive two further coup attempts and multiple tries to assassinate him. Created the current French 5th Republic as an elective monarchy. Survives the rebellions of 1968 but resigns in a huff in 1969 when his will is thwarted on relatively minor issues. Very tall, very brave, very arrogant, and in many ways destiny’s darling.
de Lattre de Tassigny, Jean (1889–1952): WW1 veteran. Youngest divisional commander, Battle of France, highly successful. Vichy until Germans overrun the “Free Zone”. Heads Free French 1st Army ETO 1944–1945. Moderately successful. Allowed his troops to loot and rape in several German cities at war’s last days. Probably guilty of a massacre of French SS prisoners. Brilliant command in Indochina cut short by his untimely death. A protégé of Weygand. In this series, uses nom de guerre of François Kellermann, a general of the Napoleonic Era.
Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997): Moscow-trained cadre. In Moscow he also befriended Chiang’s son. Maoist in the struggle with the Stalinists during and after Long March. Survived the Cultural Revolution to create the modern Chinese superpower out of that abyss.