Post by codystarbuck on Jul 2, 2024 0:51:38 GMT -5
ps In thinking about it, all of this could fit within 1939, except for the bomb damage in London. That is the only thing that causes a real problem, as Steve Rogers could be watching newsreel coverage of the fighting in Poland. However, Britain is not attacked until after the capitulation of France and the withdrawal of British forces, at Dunkirk. The Germans began attacks in July, on shipping and harbors, then in earnest in August, to try to establish air superiority, in advance of Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of the British Isles. Beginning on August 13, 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked British airfields, in an attempt to destroy fighter squadrons on the ground, to pave the way for bombing attacks. The strategic bombing campaign, attacking London and other key cities, begins in September.
Had they left out the bomb ruins, this could all easily fall within 1938 and 1939. The film that Thomas Halloway goes to see, where Steve Rogers is in the audience and they see the newsreel footage of the Nazis, was Only Angels Have Wings. This is both a nod to Halloway becoming The Angel, but is also a film released in 1939, though in May, before the invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the war. However, in those days, films played longer engagements, so it could be September 1939 and newsreel accounts of Germany and the invasion of Poland. That would have the movie out for about a month and a half, which is entirely possible.
If the bomb scenes had been Poland, with an agent contacting Britain and then a scene of British radio monitors receiving the information and passing it on, the timeline would work. However, the caption says London, above the image of bomb ruins. That might have been a mistake, in the lettering , though the interior room, where you see the British agents monitoring the radio transmissions, indicates damage, though you could pass it off as an old building, used as a cover, were it not for the outside images.
The other historical problem is with Nick Fury and Red Hargrove training paratroops. The Parachute Regiment wasn't formed until 1940, after the German use of paratroops in the invasion of The Netherlands and France. British observers had been present at Soviet demonstrations of paratroop techniques, in 1935, but did not create a formal until until later, retasking a commando unit to train for parachute duties. Now, you could make the case that they are training SOE personnel to parachute into occupied territory, rather than military personnel, except they also weren't formed until 1940.
The problem becomes trying to tie that Howler origin story into Dr Erskine leaving Germany, moving it from 1940 and the invasion of The Netherlands, to 1939.
That leaves us only the device of an alternate history, in the Marvel Universe, where the Germans invaded Western Europe in 1939, instead of pausing , while they consolidated gains in Poland and prepared to turn their eyes to Franc. What might have worked better is having Hargrove and Fury performing for British audiences, though barnstorming displays, during wartime, would be a hard sell, too, even early in the war. Plus, you have to add the expense of transporting an aircraft across the Atlantic for such a thing, unless they acquired one in Britain. You might establish them as performing in the UK, though. Barnstorming was more of an American thing, though there were aircraft exhibitions in the UK and in Europe, after World War 1. It still doesn't really work, though.
The original Sgt Fury story worked, up to a point, because it was set in 1940, during the German advance on the Netherlands. Having Sam Sawyer in the British Army was a bit of a stretch, but not totally impossible. Fury and Hargrove being in the UK, to help train paratroops makes some sense, except the Parachute Regiment wouldn't be formed until after the time frame in the story.
But, why let history stand in the way of a good yarn? Sgt Fury had problems with history from day one, with Gabe Jones serving in the unit, when segregation was in force, in the US Army. However, there is a way out of that, with a little creativity. Black soldiers served in non-segregated units in the Canadian Army; so, you could make Gabe either a Canadian, seconded to the unit, like Percy Pinkerton from the British; or, you have him cross the border into Canada and enlist in the Canadian Army and serve alongside the British Army, before being seconded to the Howling Commandos, where he is equipped with American uniform and equipment.
Had they left out the bomb ruins, this could all easily fall within 1938 and 1939. The film that Thomas Halloway goes to see, where Steve Rogers is in the audience and they see the newsreel footage of the Nazis, was Only Angels Have Wings. This is both a nod to Halloway becoming The Angel, but is also a film released in 1939, though in May, before the invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the war. However, in those days, films played longer engagements, so it could be September 1939 and newsreel accounts of Germany and the invasion of Poland. That would have the movie out for about a month and a half, which is entirely possible.
If the bomb scenes had been Poland, with an agent contacting Britain and then a scene of British radio monitors receiving the information and passing it on, the timeline would work. However, the caption says London, above the image of bomb ruins. That might have been a mistake, in the lettering , though the interior room, where you see the British agents monitoring the radio transmissions, indicates damage, though you could pass it off as an old building, used as a cover, were it not for the outside images.
The other historical problem is with Nick Fury and Red Hargrove training paratroops. The Parachute Regiment wasn't formed until 1940, after the German use of paratroops in the invasion of The Netherlands and France. British observers had been present at Soviet demonstrations of paratroop techniques, in 1935, but did not create a formal until until later, retasking a commando unit to train for parachute duties. Now, you could make the case that they are training SOE personnel to parachute into occupied territory, rather than military personnel, except they also weren't formed until 1940.
The problem becomes trying to tie that Howler origin story into Dr Erskine leaving Germany, moving it from 1940 and the invasion of The Netherlands, to 1939.
That leaves us only the device of an alternate history, in the Marvel Universe, where the Germans invaded Western Europe in 1939, instead of pausing , while they consolidated gains in Poland and prepared to turn their eyes to Franc. What might have worked better is having Hargrove and Fury performing for British audiences, though barnstorming displays, during wartime, would be a hard sell, too, even early in the war. Plus, you have to add the expense of transporting an aircraft across the Atlantic for such a thing, unless they acquired one in Britain. You might establish them as performing in the UK, though. Barnstorming was more of an American thing, though there were aircraft exhibitions in the UK and in Europe, after World War 1. It still doesn't really work, though.
The original Sgt Fury story worked, up to a point, because it was set in 1940, during the German advance on the Netherlands. Having Sam Sawyer in the British Army was a bit of a stretch, but not totally impossible. Fury and Hargrove being in the UK, to help train paratroops makes some sense, except the Parachute Regiment wouldn't be formed until after the time frame in the story.
But, why let history stand in the way of a good yarn? Sgt Fury had problems with history from day one, with Gabe Jones serving in the unit, when segregation was in force, in the US Army. However, there is a way out of that, with a little creativity. Black soldiers served in non-segregated units in the Canadian Army; so, you could make Gabe either a Canadian, seconded to the unit, like Percy Pinkerton from the British; or, you have him cross the border into Canada and enlist in the Canadian Army and serve alongside the British Army, before being seconded to the Howling Commandos, where he is equipped with American uniform and equipment.