10:15 (GMT)
Wednesday, October 16, 1940
Ash firing range, Camp Aldershot
England
There were more generals and civilian V.I.P.s at the Ash firing range this gray morning than you could shake a stick at. There was even an American delegation present, led by Secretary of War Henry Stimson, who was said to be shopping around to reequip in a hurry American troops that were still ill prepared for the now expected war with Japan. General Philip Joubert, of the Combined Operations Staff, excused himself with Lord Beaverbrook and Sir John Dill, Chief of the British Imperial Staff, before getting a fresh mug of tea from the mobile canteen truck parked besides the 400 yards firing line of the range. He nearly bumped into an American brigadier general on his way back.
“I’m sorry, sir. Aren’t you the American Defense Attaché?”
“That’s right, General! Brigadier General Emmett Walker, at your service. This big major besides me is my Army Assistant Attaché, Major Mike Crawford.”
They all shook hands while eyeing each other professionally.
“May I ask what is the interest of the American delegation at this weapons demonstration, General Walker?”
“Oh, it is twofold, really. First, you may know that we are looking at new weapons to reequip our army and we hope to see interesting things here this morning. Secondly, Major Crawford has somewhat of a vested interest in the coming rifle demonstration.”
“Oh, how so, General?”
Joubert then noticed Crawford’s ordnance specialty insignia on his uniform, as Walker answered him.
“Well, he happens to have worked closely with your Major Laplante in modifying both a B.A.R. and a Bren Gun into automatic assault rifles.”
Seeing Joubert’s surprised look, the tall major offered more explanations.
“I happen to be both a gunsmith and an ordnance engineer, sir. While the design idea came from Nancy, er, Major Laplante, I did the actual gunsmithing work on the prototypes with the help of a local British gunsmith who loaned his workshop to us. Both the modified B.A.R. and Bren Gun were test-fired first at our embassy’s indoor firing range.”
“Well, this is certainly a fine example of transatlantic cooperation. Do you know Major Laplante well, Major Crawford?”
Brigadier Walker answered that one, smiling, as Crawford started to blush.
“They know each other very well, General Joubert. How about yourself?”
“I met her a few times, the first one being when she was in hospital, just back from her raid in France. A very gutsy lady indeed.”
They all nodded in agreement to that. Walker then spoke in a very deliberate tone.
“You know, General, her example makes me wonder how much good talent we may be wasting by relegating women to secondary, non-combat roles. They may not be ready for the infantry or the artillery, but what about trades like signalers, intelligence specialists, bomber crews and truck drivers?”
“We are actively reassessing this aspect right now, General Walker. However, you can imagine how acrimonious the debate can be on this subject. A lot of old attitudes and preconceptions will have to be thrown out the window, along with quite a few regulations, before women are accepted on the battlefield, or even simply in the Army. The only women that could actually see battlefield service soon are nurses.”
Major Crawford tightened his jaws in irritation.
“We know, sir. I hope that today’s demonstration will change a few minds.”
“What do you mean? You know something I don’t about this demonstration?”
Walker grinned from ear to ear and pointed at Crawford.
“Let’s just say that Major Crawford has a very well placed source, General.”
Joubert suddenly saw the connection and smiled in amusement.
“Major, you are one lucky man.”
“And a happy one, sir.”
An announcement on the range’s loudspeaker system suddenly got everybody’s attention.
“May we have your attention, please. The demonstration team is on its way and will arrive shortly.”
The crowd of V.I.P.s and senior officers turned their attention towards the access road leading to the range. After a minute or so, an engine noise was heard approaching. However, it came from the air and not from the ground. The crowd’s heads went up, surprised, to see a small twin-engined transport aircraft approach just under the cloud ceiling. Its mission became clear when five small dots dropped from the aircraft.
“By jove! They are parachuting in. Splendid!” Exclaimed Anthony Eden, the British war minister. Spontaneous applauses and cheers showed that this unexpected twist in the demonstration was well appreciated. More exclamations soon followed.
“Hey, what kind of parachute are they using?’’ Asked a Canadian colonel standing near Joubert, who answered him.
“These are of the new model of directional parachute introduced by Major Laplante. Our airborne and commando units are now equipped with it, along with the RAF.”
“Ah, yes, her.” Said the colonel with little enthusiasm now in his voice. His reaction irritated Joubert to no little degree. Walking away from the colonel, he saw the American secretary of war talking to Brigadier Walker while pointing at the parachutes, with Walker taking notes frantically. Under the watchful but incredulous eyes of the crowd, the five parachutists lined up besides each other in mid-air, using a series of tight turns, and approached the range in extended line. Touchdown was incredibly smooth compared to that of standard military parachutes, the soldiers actually hitting the ground running towards the targets and unclipping their parachutes in quick motions. A dozen enlisted men waiting on the sidelines ran up and retrieved the parachutes while the five soldiers of the demonstration team, wearing full battle gear, took hold of their rifles and started firing short bursts while on the run. The noise and muzzle flashes from their weapons were impressive.
“Hell, that’s a lot of firepower for a five-man team.” Exclaimed a brigadier general, sounding envious. He got even more envious when the soldiers started firing some sort of rifle grenades at the targets, ripping them apart from 200 yards. Contrary to known rifle grenades, which needed special muzzle devices and blank cartridges, the soldiers simply plugged grenades on the muzzle of their rifles and fired away, alternating between bullets and grenades without pauses. Whispers of disbelief went through the crowd then. Two of the soldiers suddenly went up from their prone positions at the 200 yards firing line and ran full tilt towards the 100 yards line, supported by intense automatic fire from the three other soldiers. Once they flopped down at the firing line, they opened up with short rifle bursts while the three others joined them at a dead run. The brigadier nodded his head in appreciation.
“These men know their job alright.”
Joubert took his binoculars and examined closely the five soldiers. He smiled but didn’t say a word.
“Now, what the hell is that?” Muttered the brigadier as one of the soldiers, the apparent team leader, unslung what looked like a short, fat steel container tube and, after taking off the end covers, pointed it at an old tank parked besides the targets. A cloud of gray flakes suddenly erupted from the back of the tube, while Joubert thought he saw some kind of projectile fly out from the front end. While the departure noise, incredibly enough, was a barely audible ‘POP’, the powerful explosion that rocked the tank and blew its hatches open was very audible indeed. Wild cheers came from the crowd as the tank went up in a ball of flames. The team leader picked up the now used tube and led the four other soldiers at a trot in single file towards the V.I.P.s. The applauses and cheers redoubled, to suddenly stop cold, replaced by surprised grunts as the demonstration team stopped ten yards in front of the spectators. Pushing his way through, General Joubert walked to the team leader, offering his hand and smiling.
“Well done, Major Laplante! That was quite a demonstration.”
The American secretary of war, with a beaming Major Crawford and Brigadier Walker in tow, was next to congratulate her.
“Major, I meet you at last. I see that you are up to your reputation. You will have to show me more about those weapons you just used, though.”
“With great pleasure, sir. We will open the static display now. I’ll be happy to answer all your questions there, sir.”
The crowd of senior officers nearly parted like the Red Sea before Moses as Nancy and the four Royal Commandos went to a few folding tables in front of a tent, to put their weapons down after unloading them. Joubert sensed with growing anger that the other generals were acting out of contempt towards Laplante rather than out of simple courtesy. Brigadier Walker whispered in his ear.
“Do I feel a bunch of stiffs around us, General?”
“You are certainly correct about that, Brigadier.”
Nancy then raised her voice, yelling to be heard.
“If I may have your attention, gentlemen! I am Major Laplante, Special Military Advisor to the Prime Minister, and my goal today was to demonstrate new weapons and equipment that are to be put into service soon with the British Army. First was the Mark III directional parachute which, I am happy to say, is already in widespread service with the RAF and special units of the British Army. Next, the rifle you saw us use. It is called the Enfield Assault Rifle, or E.A.R. in short, and is a compact variant of the Bren Gun. It is meant to equip at first airborne, commando, royal marines and mechanized units. It is hoped later to equip all infantry units with it. It fires the standard .303 round and uses the same 30-round magazine as the Bren Gun. It can fire in either in semi-automatic or full automatic modes, up to a maximum cyclic rate of 500 rounds per minute. The rifle grenades we used are a new concept called Bullet Trap, or BT grenades. They are launched by simply firing a normal rifle bullet, which then traps itself in the base of the grenade and propels it by imparting it with its kinetic energy. Proposed variants of the BT grenades are dual fragmentation/anti-tank, smoke, incendiary and flare. As for the anti-tank weapon I used last, it uses the Davis counter-shot principle to fire a shaped charge projectile to a maximum effective range of 250 yards. It can actually pierce over ten inches of steel armor. I am now open to your questions, gentlemen.”
Nancy was immediately surrounded by Stimson, Beaverbrook and Eden. The latter, after handling the rifle on display for a while, looked at Stimson with pride, like a kid showing off his new toy.
“I guess you would love to have a rifle like this one for your army, Mister Secretary.”
The American politician smiled and patted the shoulder of Major Crawford.
“Ah, but we’ll have one, be sure of that. The good major here was co-designer of this variant of the Bren Gun and of a similarly modified B.A.R. squad weapon, the latter of which we are adopting now. He modified both guns under the direction and guidance of Major Laplante.”
Anthony Eden’s military aide, a colonel, muttered a remark to himself at those words.
“So, a man made this rifle, not her.”
That remark made both Eden and Beaverbrook snap their heads angrily towards him. Eden then shouted loudly, genuinely angered by so much bad faith and prejudice.
“ARE YOU DAFT OR WHAT, COLONEL? YOU WOULD REJECT SUCH A WEAPON JUST BECAUSE A WOMAN MADE IT POSSIBLE?”
“But… sir…” Protested meekly the colonel, suddenly feeling very small.
“BUT NOTHING!”
Totally infuriated by now, Eden turned towards the assembled British and Canadian senior officers who, except for Joubert and a handful of others, were still keeping their distances from Laplante.
“LISTEN NOW, ALL OF YOU! AS WAR MINISTER, I SUPPOSEDLY DEPEND ON YOUR ADVICE TO RUN THE ARMED FORCES. HOWEVER, YOU HAVE UP TO NOW COLLECTIVELY TREATED MAJOR LAPLANTE, WHO HAS MORE THAN PROVEN HER WORTH BOTH IN BATTLE AND ON STAFF DUTIES, LIKE A PARIAH. WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, MAJOR LAPLANTE IS DEEMED BY THE PRIME MINISTER AND BY MYSELF AS VITAL TO OUR WAR EFFORT. I INTEND TO USE HER TALENTS TO THE UTMOST, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT YOU MAY THINK OF HER. DO YOU GET MY DRIFT, GENTLEMEN?”
A timid chorus answered the minister, who then signaled to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff to approach him. Sir John Dill did so cautiously, as if expecting his head to be ripped off. He glanced angrily at Eden’s aide, who all but shrank out of sight.
“Sir Dill, what is your professional opinion on the weapons demonstrated today, starting with this rifle?”
“Well, sir, this rifle is without a doubt far superior to our present Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle. Since it is essentially a shortened Bren Gun, its dependability should be as good as the Bren, which is considered excellent in that respect. As for the rifle grenade and this anti-tank launcher, we have nothing comparable in our arsenal. I have no objections to seeing these weapons being adopted by the British Army. They would in fact help greatly our soldiers fight German armored units.”
“Excellent! Please note down the following: first, I want this rifle to quickly equip all of the army as soon as possible. The Lee-Enfield rifles thus made available will go to the Territorial Army or will be sold overseas. I want also both this rifle grenade system and this anti-tank launcher to equip as speedily as possible our frontline troops. Furthermore, I want to be kept informed to the fullest about any other new weapon idea originating from Major Laplante. Lastly, scrap that commission we formed on Monday on the revision of the status of women in the armed forces. I will make the new policy by myself. Your generals have just proved that they cannot think straight on that subject, even when winning the war is at issue.”
Nancy, both stunned and overjoyed as she was listening in the background, had a hard time to keep from grinning. Eden was not finished however, turning next towards Beaverbrook.
“Can you arrange quickly for the mass production of those new weapons, Lord Beaverbrook?”
“I certainly can, Sir Anthony. Steps have already been taken to mass-produce the new rifles at the Enfield factories.”
Major General McNaughton closed on them at that moment.
“Lord Beaverbrook, do you think that it would be amenable to the British government if the Canadian government eventually requested the right to license-produce these weapons in Canada?”
“I see no problems with that, General. I will talk to Enfield about selling a production license to the John Inglis Company of Toronto. In the meantime, we could always share the production between British and Canadian units in England.”
“That would be splendid, sir.”
Eden turned to face Nancy, who looked like the cat who had just swallowed the canary.
“Major, may I presume that you have plenty more ideas like these in your pretty head?”
“You may, sir, you may.”