‘Force Majeure 2- Paralysis’, Cover reveal.

by harveyblackauthor on 14/06/201515/07/2018

Force Majeure 2 – Paralysis, cover reveal.

Publication date for ‘Force Majeure 2 – Paralysis’ is only 4 weeks away now!

I thought that in the meantime I would share the cover for the second book in the series. So, here is the draft cover for the next episode in my Apocalyptic series. The blurb has been taken from Purgatory and will be updated for the final cover.

Force Majeure 2 – Paralysis

Harvey Black (24)

Force Majeure 2 – Paralysis

The first in my new Apocalyptic series, Force Majeure – Purgatory.

Out now in paperback and on Kindle.

Site and content is copyrighted to Harvey Black.

Force Majeure – Purgatory (Editor’s Choice)

by harveyblackauthor on 06/05/201515/07/2018

Force Majeure – Purgatory (Editor’s Choice)

The Bookseller -Independent Authors, Editor’s Choice.

Graphic and pacy account of the aftermath of a nuclear strike.

Force Majeure – Purgatory.

The first in my new Apocalyptic series, Force Majeure – Purgatory. Due out in mid-March.

Site and content is copyrighted to Harvey Black.

Force Majeure – Purgatory.

by harveyblackauthor on 19/02/201515/07/2018

Force Majeure – Purgatory.

The first in my new Apocalyptic series, Force Majeure – Purgatory. Due out in mid-March.

With the country of Ukraine on the boil, NATO troops move in to support the Ukrainian Prime Minister in defiance of Russia’s continued belligerence. British, US and Polish forces start to dig in along the Russian/Ukrainian border and the temperature rises.

With the Russian economy spiralling downwards, the sanctions starting to bite, and while the rest of Europe debate the level of of involvement they are prepared to commit to, the Russian President’s forces strike. Attacking from the east and from the south, with forces they had built up in the Crimea, they send NATO reeling.

The German, Dutch and Belgian Governments finally release troops into the fight, recognising the threat the Russian action would have on the stability of the European continent. But too late, by that time the Russian President’s patience ran out, and the button was pushed….

What would happen if the UK was hit by over 300 megatons of nuclear missiles/bombs? What plans are in place to deal with the aftermath?

The basis of defence planning in the UK during the 90’s and beyond had two key areas of focus:

Miltary

To secure the United Kingdom against any internal threat and to mitigate the effects of any direct attack on the United Kingdom involving the use of conventional, nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

A direct major military attack on the UK, is likely to be in tandem with a conflict triggered elsewhere in the world. The UK’s involvement in say the Ukraine, helping to defend a potential incursion from Russian forces, would involve British troops digging in on foreign soil. But should Russian troops attack, a potential overspill from the battle could involve strikes against the British mainland. Any aggressor launching a land attack against the UK mainland would not find the task easy. With one of the most modern armies in the world, a navy with its latest warships and hunter killer nuclear submarines and an air force with latest air superiority fighters, any enemy would more than likely regret the day the decision was made. But in respect to a nuclear attack, that would be a totally different ball game…..

Civil

To provide an alternative mechanism of government at all levels to direct national survival; and to enhance the basis for national recovery in the post-attack period.

To cope with the aftermath of a nuclear strike on the UK, Britain’s civil defence was based on a Regional Government structure.

The Regional Government Headquarters were the embodiment of the original regional level structure that began with the joint civil-military HQs in the mid-1950s. Other than the terms used, the number of staff allocated, their primary role had changed little from the late 1950s to the early 1990s.

Although the majority of the Regional Government Centres are no longer supported, it is possible that many could be resurrected in a time of war.

Many of the 1980s RGHQs used buildings which had previously been used as Regional Seats of Government or Sub Regional Controls in the 1960s. The majority though, were refitted in the 1970s or 1980s. During the 1980s, new bunkers were built. The mid-1980s saw the biggest increase in bunker construction since the early 1950s. Hardened facilities were built for army headquarters, communications facilities, fuel supply points, water companies, etc during the decade.

Harvey Black Force Majeure-Purgatory (2) .

Regional Government Headquarters – Chillmark

The Chilmark RGHQ.

The Chilmark Regional Government Headquarters served the eastern zone of the Number 7 South Western Home Defence Region, covering the counties of Avon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Dorset. It was designated as RGHQ 7.1.

Some great additional information can be found at Steve Fox’s, Struggle for Survival, site below.

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/features/sfs/new_page_1.htm

Site and content is copyrighted to Harvey Black.

The Red Effect. The Cold War hots up. Part 5.

by harveyblackauthor on 15/11/201415/07/2018

The Red Effect. The Cold War hots up. Part 5.

The first novel in my ‘Cold War’ trilogy, The Red Effect, published by SilverWood Books, is now available. Thoroughly enjoyed writing it, as i do with all my novels. There are three books in total, covering the hypothetical invasion of West Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, by the Warsaw Pact in the mid 1980′s. Book 1, ‘The Red Effect’, encompasses part of the intelligence build up leading to the initial Warsaw Pact strike against the NATO forces lined up against them. The purpose of the posts is to give the reader some additional background information to enhance their reading experience.

. .

‘The Red Effect’ by Harvey Black – Available now. The Cold War that became a Hot War.

The Cold War era started very soon after the end of the second world war, when the communist east, led by the Soviet Union, and the Western world, led by the United States and its NATO allies, faced each across what became known as the ‘Iron Curtain’.

The perception of a potential Third World War, was generally one of a nuclear war. It may have come to that. In reality we will never know. But, one scenario is that of a conventional war. The massed forces of the Warsaw Pact against the supposedly technically superior, but weaker, NATO armies, that may well have escalated into a nuclear exchange.

Allied Forces Central Europe, AFCENT

Allied Forces Central Europe, AFCENT, would have to take the brunt of any attack by the Warsaw Pact forces. With responsibility for Parts of Europe stretching from Denmark in the north to the borders of Austria in the south, it had three subordinate commands. The two key ones, Northern Army Group, NORTHAG, and Central Army Group, CENTAG. For this and the next Post, I will concentrate on CENTAG:

The Corps sectors of responsibility for NATO forces in the 80s. The layer cake principle was used.

CENTAG, Central Army Group, had four powerful frontline Corps to defend its sector from just south of Kassel to the border with Austria. III German Corps in the north, then the V and VII US Corps with II German Corps in the south. For this Post I will focus on V US Corps, who had the prime responsibility for defending the well known Fulda-Gap.

V Corps shoulder badge insignia.

V US Corps had three key units to provide the defence of the Fulda Gap. More on the Fulda-Gap later.

V US Corps. HQ – Frankfurt

3rd (US) Armoured (Spearhead) Division (Frankfurt-am-Main

1st Brigade – Kirchgoens

2nd and 4th Battalion, 32nd Armoured Regiment (Abrams-M1)
2nd and 3rd mechanised Infantry Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment

2nd Brigade

3rd and 4th Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment (Abrams-M1)
1st Battalion, 48th Mechanised Infantry Regiment

3rd Brigade

2nd and 4th Battalion, 67th Cavalry Regiment (Abrams-M1)
1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment.

An XM1 at Fort Knox, Kentucky in 1969

105mm M1 Abrams of the 11th Armoured Cavalry Regiment at a training area, Germany, 1986. First introduced in in 1980, it was the replacement for the ageing M-60. Armed with the licence-built version of the 105mm Royal Ordnance L7 gun.

Abrams during desert Storm in 1991. Honeywell AGT1500C multi-fuel turbine engine powering the 60+ ton tank to speeds up 40mph.

M1A1 in Iraq, September 2004.

US Army M1A2 Abrams

M1A1 Abrams, Germany 2005.

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade

2nd Battalion, 227th Attack Helicopter Regiment (21 x AH1F, 13 x OH58C, 3 x UH60A)
3rd battalion, 227th Attack Helicopter Regiment (18 x AH64A, 13 x OH58C, 3 x UH60A)
G Company, 227th Attack Helicopter Regiment (6 x UH1H, 6 x OH58A, 6 x OH58D, 3 x EH60)
H Company, 227th Attack Helicopter Regiment (15 x UH60A)

Bell 207 Sioux Scout. A mockup of Bell’s D-255 helicopter gunship concept, named Iroquois Warrior.

Israeli AH-1F Cobras. Crew of 2. 20mm M197 3-barreled gatling cannon, 70mm rockets and 4 or 8 TOW anti-tank missiles.

3rd Artillery Division.

72 x M109A3, 9 x MRLS

8th Infantry Division

1st Brigade

1st Armoured Battalion, 68th Armoured Regiment (Abrams-M1)
4th Armoured Battalion, 69th Armoured Regiment (Abrams-M1)
3rd and 5th Mechanised Infantry Battalion.

2nd Brigade

2nd Armoured Battalion, 69th Armoured Regiment (Abrams-M1)
1st Battalion, 13th Mechanised Infantry Regiment
1st Battalion, 39th Mechanised Infantry Regiment

3rd Brigade

5th Armoured Battalion, 68th Armoured Regiment (Abrams-M1)
5th Armoured Battalion, 77th Armoured Regiment (M60A3)
4th Mechanised Infantry Battalion.

8th Infantry Division Artillery.

M-60 tank. Slowly being replaced by the M1 Abrams

8th Combat Aviation Brigade

3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment (M60A3)
2nd Battalion, 4th Attack Helicopter Regiment (21 x AH1F, 13 x OH58C, 3 x UH60A)
3rd battalion, 4th Attack Helicopter Regiment (21 x AH1F, 13 x OH58C, 3 x UH60A)
G Company, 4th Attack Helicopter Regiment (6 x UH1H, 6 x OH58A, 6 x OH58D, 3 x EH60)
H Company, 4th Attack Helicopter Regiment (15 x UH60A)

OH-58 Kiowa.

OH-58D Kiowa. Unique IR suppression systems mounted on its turbine exhaust. Scout helicopters, some armed with AIM-92 air-to-air Stinger missiles.

UH-60A Black Hawk. Troop carrier, minelayer and medical evacuation.

UH-60A’s over Port Salinas during the invasion of Grenada, 1983. The first use of the Black-Hawk in a conflict.

11th Armoured Cavalry Regiment

1st, 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Squadrons (Abrams-M1)
4th Air Cavalry Squadron (26 x AH1F, 27 x OH58C, 3 x UH60, 18 x UH60A

M2A2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Main armament is a 25mm M242 Chain Gun. TOW anti-tank missiles.

Top speed of 40mph on roads. Six troops could be carried in the passenger compartment.

i hope this has given you a further insight into what NATO, in particular the US Army, had in its arsenal. Going forward I will add more information in support of my Cold War trilogy, including maps and photographs.

The Blog is copyrighted to Harvey Black.