John Birmingham

Final impact

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

ALLIED COMMANDERS

Arnold, General Henry H. (Hap). US Army Commander of the Army Air Force.

Churchill, Winston. Prime Minister, Great Britain.

Curtin, John. Prime Minister, Commonwealth of Australia.

Eisenhower, Brigadier General Dwight D., US Army. Head of War Plans Division. Appointed Commander of US Forces, European Theatre of Operations, June 1942.

King, Admiral Ernest J., USN. Commander-in-Chief of the US Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations.

Kolhammer, Admiral Phillip, USN. Task Force Commander, Commandant Special Administrative Zone (California).

MacArthur, General Douglas, US Army. Commander, Allied Forces, South-West Pacific Area. Headquartered in Brisbane, Australia.

Marshall, General George C., US Army. Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Nimitz, Admiral Chester, USN. Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Fleet.

Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Thirty-second president of the United States of America.

Spruance, Rear Admiral Raymond A., USN. Commander, Combined Pacific Task Force.

Stimson, Henry. US Secretary of War.

ALLIED PERSONNEL

Black, Commander Daniel, USN. On Secondment as Chiefs of Staff Liaison to Special Administrative Zone.

Danton, Sub-Lieutenant Philippe. Ranking officer on Robert Dessaix.

Denny, Sergeant Adam, USMC Force Recon.

Flemming, Chief Petty Officer Roy, RAN. CPO HMAS Havoc.

Francois, Major Margie, USMC. Combat surgeon and Chief Medical Officer, Multinational Force.

Grey, Lieutenant Commander Conrad, RAN. Executive Officer, HMAS Havoc.

Groves, General Leslie. Director of the Manhattan Project.

Halabi, Captain Karen, RN. Commander, British contingent; Deputy Commander, Multinational Force; Commander, HMS Trident.

Harrison, Sergeant Major Aubrey. 82nd MEU.

Howard, Lieutenant Commander Marc. Intelligence Officer, HMS Trident.

Ivanov, Major Pavel, Russian Federation Spetsnaz. On secondment to US Navy SEALs.

Jones, Colonel JL, USMC. Commander, 82nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Judge, Captain Mike, USN. Commander, USS Hillary Clinton.

Kennedy, Lieutenant John F., USN. Commander PT 101.

Kicji. Guide to Pavel Ivanov.

Liao, Lieutenant Willy, USN. PA to Admiral Kolhammer.

Lohrey, Lieutenant Amanda, RAN. Intelligence Officer, HMAS Havoc.

McTeale, Lieutenant Commander James. Executive Officer, HMS Trident.

Mohr, Chief Petty Officer Eddie. Transferred to Auxiliary Forces, Special Administrative Zone.

Muller, Captain Jurgen, Deutsche Marine. On Secondment to Special Operations Executive.

Nguyen, Lieutenant Commander Rachel, RAN. Multinational Force Intelligence Liaison to South-West Pacific Area HQ.

Rogas, Chief Petty Officer Vincente, US Navy SEALs.

Snider, Sergeant Arthur, USMC. 1st Marine Division. (Contemporary.)

St. Clair, Sergeant Major Vivian Richards, British SAS force.

Steele, Captain Colin, USN. Commander JDS Siranui.

Viviani, Lieutenant Colonel Nancy. Production Chief for Admiral Kolhammer.

Willet, Captain Jane, RAN. Commander, HMAS Havoc.

Windsor, His Royal Highness Major Harry. Commander, British MNF SAS contingent. Commander Training Squadron.

GERMAN COMMANDERS

Gering, Reichsmarschall Hermann. Chief of the Luftwaffe.

Himmler, Reichsfuhrer Heinrich. SS Chief.

Hitler, Reichschancellor Adolf.

Oberg, General Karl. SS Commander in Paris.

Speer, Albert. Minister of Armaments.

Zeitzler, General Kurt, Wehrmacht Chief of Staff

GERMAN PERSONNEL

Brasch, Colonel Paul. Engineer. Reich Special Projects.

Skorzeny, Colonel Otto. Personal bodyguard to Adolf Hitler.

JAPANESE COMMANDERS

Hidaka, Commander Jisaku, IJN. Interim Military Governor of Hawaii.

Homma, General Masaharu. Commander of Imperial Japanese land forces in Australia.

Oshima, General Hiroshi. Japanese ambassador to Germany.

Uemura, Lieutenant Masahisa, Squadron leader, “Thunder Gods,” Special Attack Squadron, Sapporo.

Yamamoto, Grand Admiral Isoroku, IJN. Commander-in-Chief, Combined Fleet.

Yukio, Lieutenant Seki, Commander Special Attack Squadron, Caroline Islands.

USSR COMMANDERS

Beria, Lavrenty Pavlovich. Head of NKVD.

Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeyevich. Prisoner.

Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich. Foreign Minister.

Stalin, Josef Vissarionovich. General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.

CIVILIANS

Davidson, James “Slim Jim.” Formerly Able Seaman, USS Astoria. Chief Executive Officer and principal shareholder Slim Jim Enterprises.

Donovan, William. Chief of the Office of Strategic Services.

Duffy, Julia, New York Times feature writer. Embedded 82nd MEU.

Halifax, Lord. British Ambassador to USA.

Hoover, J. Edgar. Director, FBI.

Natoli, Rosanna, CNN researcher/producer. Embedded 82nd MEU.

O’Brien, Ms. Maria. Lawyer, former USMC captain, 82nd MEU. (Retd.)

Stephenson, William. Churchill’s personal representative in the USA.

PROLOGUE

CHRISTMAS DAY 1942

HMAS HAVOC, 210 NAUTICAL MILES

SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS