Secret US plan to attack UK in the 1930s

The United States and the United Kingdom have fought against each other a few times; during the War of Independence and the War of 1812.  But who would have thought that the two countries who have been allied to one another in the closing years of WW1, from 1941 during WW2 and have enjoyed a 'special relationship' for decades would have considered that war between them was a possibility in the 1930s?
Since the 19th century, military strategists in the United States had made plans for defending against attack by an external power, using colours associated with the US - blue and the British Empire - red.  During the cold war, the colours remained the same, but the proposed red enemy was the Soviet Union.
However, it certainly seems strange to us now that at a time of fascism and communism spreading across Europe, that the USA would draw up plans for a pre-emptive strike against the British.  But this is exactly what happened.
There were elements in the US government who saw the British Empire as a threat to US aspirations as a world power.  The British Empire had dealt with any potentially rising world powers with military intervention.
Along with a general anti-British feeling in the US, the American military drew up a plan to attack Canada and British interests in the Caribbean.  Military airfields were build along the Canadian border along with a significant build up of troops and military exercises.
It has been suggested that the initial attack planned on Nova Scotia would have meant a war on the eastern seaboard of the United States which would have included 6 million combatants. 
Both Churchill and Hitler saw this as a possibility.  Hitler wanted a British victory and would have allied with the UK against the US.
Imagine what the world would be like now if that had happened!

Jacobite Machine Gun

I have been searching for information on a story I was once told.  During one of the early Jacobite rebellions, but not the '45, reports were sent back to London from Scotland about a secret weapon.
As well as the terrifying Highland charge which often sent Hanoverian troops scattering in panic, it was reported that there were great volleys from a number of muskets which seemed to outnumber the Jacobite rebels that they were facing.
It had seemed to several company commanders, who had been forced to retreat, that they had faced a sustained musket assault.  This was taken so seriously that spies, such as Daniel Defoe, were sent to find out about this secret Jacobite weapon.
Was this a very early machine gun?  Was there a genius secretly at work with the Jacobites?  Why did these reports suddenly stop and what happened to this devastating weapon?

French Secret Weapon at Agincourt 1415

On this day in 1415, England won a major battle in the Hundred Years War against France at Agincourt.  Victory in this famous battle gave England the upper hand in the war, crippling France and in due time allowing England's King Henry V's son to be made heir to the French throne.
The English victory was extraordinary.  The French overwhelmingly outnumbered the English and were fighting on home territory, while the English were hungry, illness sweeping through their ranks and weary with marching.

English War Crime
During the battle, Henry V, according to Shakespeare, commanded his troops;
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead."
and
"Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!"
Unfortunately, this famous victory had a dark side.  A very dark side.  During the toing and froing through the increasingly sticky mud of the battlefield, the English took several thousand French prisoners.  After the initial English victory, Henry V became increasingly concerned that the huge numbers of prisoners could re-arm themselves and were a threat to the exhausted English army.  As a result he ordered the slaughter of the unarmed prisoners, have thousands of men killed, leaving only the most valuable and highly ranked prisoners alive.
This action was considered by the English knights to be so unpalatable that they refused to take part in the massacre, leaving only the archers and foot soldiers to carry out the action.
Times and values were different in 1415; if the massacre of the prisoners had not been carried out, then the English victory may have been out in jeopardy.  But never the less, viewing the killing of unarmed prisoners of war with modern eyes, makes this event, without a doubt, a war crime.

French Weapon
The English and Welsh archers' longbow was used with deadly effect against the French, bringing down their infantry and cavalry.  Often made from Yew, the longbow was famously used in the English victories against the French at Crecy and Poitiers.  It has often been suggested that the obscene two finger 'V' sign was originally made by French soldiers at the English archers, meaning that, if caught, the archers would have their two most important fingers cut off so they would never be able to use a longbow again.
Most interestingly though, at this victory of longbows, one of the English archers was killed by a new weapon; a weapon which would supersede all others in its various forms, a weapon which is still in use today and continues to be developed to be more deadly than before.  The archer was killed by a gun.  A French gun.

The British SS Corps

By late 1940, the decision had been made to recruit foreign volunteers into the SS.  This began with Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch and Belgian units, but after a short while further nationalities were added; Cossack, Swiss, Croatian amongst many others.
One unit which was created was from a German enemy; the British Free Corps.  Recruited from POW camps in 1944, volunteers were given the chance to leave the camps and fight against what Germany called a 'common enemy'; the Soviet Union.
Originally called the Legion of St George, the BFC never numbered more than 70 members and were used mostly as a propaganda tool.  It is extremely difficult to find information on the BFC, so it is unknown if they were ever actually used in combat on the Eastern Front.
So, if anyone has any further information....

The day German and Allied forces fought together against a common foe

On the 5th of May 1945, US soldiers and German Wehrmacht troops fought on the same side, defending French VIP prisoners in an Austrian castle against a veteran SS unit sent to execute the prisoners.
For two days, members of the US 12th Armoured Division, the 103rd Infantry Division, and Wehrmacht troops led by Major Josef Gangel fought against the battle hardened crack troops of 17th Waffen-SS Panzer Grenadier Division.
The French prisoners included  the ex-prime ministers Paul Reynaud and Eduard Daladier and former commanders-in-chief Generals Maxime Weygand and Paul Gamelin.
The Battle raged until the defenders were almost out of ammunition, when, at the last moment, they were saved when US troops arrived to reinforce them.
The full story of this extraordinary joining of Allied and Axis forces is told in Stephen Harding's 'The Last Battle'.

A tiny Axis power

The Principality of Monaco was officially neutral during the war. The population of the country was largely of Italian descent and sympathized with Italy. Its prince was a close friend of the Vichy French leader, Marshal Philippe Pétain, an Axis collaborator. A fascist regime was established under the nominal rule of the prince when the Italian Fourth Army occupied the country on November 10, 1942 as part of Case Anton. Monaco's military forces, consisting primarily of police and palace guards, collaborated with the Italians during the occupation. German troops occupied Monaco in 1943, and Monaco was liberated by Allied forces in 1944.

The day Fascist Italy nearly went to war with Nazi Germany

We are used to seeing that Italy and Germany (as well as Japan) were allied against the Allies during the Second World War, albeit, with Germany as the dominant partner in Europe.  However, this was not always the case.
During the early 1930's Mussolini had a great distrust of Hitler and the Nazis.  In fact, it was not always clearly cut that these two nations would become allies, in spite on their political similarities; Italy had close links with the UK and France, having been allied with them against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War.
After the First World War and the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, Italy came to see Austria as a buffer state between the two countries.  Diplomatic relations between Italy and Germany fluctuated between Hitler declaring  an admiration of Mussolini and a possible military pact between the two countries to Mussolini opposing any form of German-Austrian union.
Diplomatic relations broke down on 25th June 1934.  Hitler and Mussolini had met several weeks before in Venice where Hitler had promised to respect Austrian independence for the time being.  Mussolini blamed Hitler personally for breaking this promise when Austrian Engelbert Dollfuss, Chancellor of Austria, was assassinated by members of the Austrian Nazi party.
Italian rapidly deployed several army divisions and air squadrons to the Brenner Pass on the border with Austria and warned Germany that any attempt to send German military units into Austria would result in a declaration of war.  Italy signed a pact with France to protect Austrian independence and discussions were made between the military of both counties on a possible war against Germany.
Hitler panicked and denied all responsibility for the assassination and dissolved any links between the German and Austrian Nazi parties.  Eventually, diplomatic relations were restored and Mussolini changed his views on Germany, especially after German support of his war in Ethiopia.
How different things would have been...