[1938] Timeline, Part 2: The Alternate Timeline

Continuing the timeline of 1938: A Very British Civil War (reference Edward VIII Cocktail Bar forum thread):

1936, December 7: King Edward VIII and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin meet a second time, where the King informs the prime minister he will marry Mrs. Simpson. Baldwin and the cabinet resign.

1936, December 11: The King asks his friend Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF), to be prime minister.

1936, mid-late December: In light of an unelected prime minister, both houses of parliament walk out, leaving Mosley to form a rump parliament. Across the country, people protest the appointment of Mosley as well as the parliament. The BUF take to the streets in response, attacking protesters.

1937, January: Opposition by the The Church of England to the King's planned marriage increases in most of the United Kingdom. Additionally, anti-Mosley protests and riots occur across the country.

1937, February: The King authorizes the Chief Constables to create auxiliary constabularies to assist police in quelling the unrest. Often, these constabularies are staffed with BUF members, prompting many to call them "Mosley's Legion."  In Scotland, the cities of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee experience a wide variety of protests and strikes, all aimed at the Mosley administration.

1937, February 15: Supply trains for the BUF and the army are hijacked near Nottingham, with no clues to the culprits. The local rail union chapters are suspected.

1937, April. The Scottish Kirk issues a statement decrying the King planned marriage.

1937, April 4: The BUF fight at several protests, including York and Wighill.

1937, April 12: A military supply convoy is ambushed in Yorkshire near Ferrybridge. The Yorkshire Communist Collective claim responsibility.

1937, May 12: In the midst of King Edward VIII formal coronation, shots are fired at the royal car. BUF soldiers fire onto the crowds, sparking the Guards regiments to retaliate against the BUF.

1937, May 13: The King orders Mosley to declare martial law. The Scots, Welsh and Irish Guards regiments are disbanded at the King's orders. Mosley expands the auxiliary constabularies powers. The United Kingdom is in civil war.

1937, late May: Scotland secedes from the United Kingdom, declaring the King unfit. The Scots Guards are welcomed home with full honors. Between June and September, several Scottish regiments desert and return home, bringing their not inconsiderable equipment with them. The BUF are violently forced from Scotland.

1937, June: Wales splits between a national movement in the north and those loyal to the King in the south. The mayor of Cardiff welcomes the Welsh Guards home and bases them in the city. Many coal pits in the south create socialist militias. The BUF elements of the auxiliary constabularies form their own official BUF Legions, separate from police control and answerable to Mosley.

1937, August: Dock workers strike in Liverpool.

1937, September: With more authorized powers, the BUF attempt to break the Liverpool dock strike and the city explodes in violence. The Liverpool Regiment defects to support the city council and the Liverpool Free State soon forms. Royalist forces lay seige to Liverpool.

1937, September: Military campaigns into Scotland, with battles at Sumburgh, Castlegate and Glasgow. A final battle at the Bridge of Dee formally establishes Scottish independence. Cornwall experiences growing violence.

1937, November: British troops, with loyalty split between Cornwall and the King, fire on each other. The Scottish border is fortified by both sides.

1938, January: Indian troops are moved to tension points around the Empire, like the Middle East, to facilitate a recall of troops to England. The BUF march on Canterbury to capture the city and the Archbishop. The attack ends in a military and propaganda disaster for Mosley and the King. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in league with other bishops, forms the Anglican League as a result.

1938, February:  The BUF Canterbury front stalls in the Medway. Mosley appoints BUF governors and administrators across the Empire. Canada and Australia decline the appointments.

1938, March: BUF militia attempt to disrupt the nascent Scottish Republic.

1938, April: Carlisle is shelled.

1938, May: General Wynd-Grator receives rushed orders to return to England. Gathering his army around him, he marches to Acre and sets sail to England.

1938, June: BUF troops invade the Isle of Man but the Islanders, with Scottish assistance, turns back the invasion. Port St. Mary is occupied by the remnants of the BUF invasion force and soon under siege by Manx forces.

1938, July: Wynd-Grator establishes a base in the Channel Islands to raid (and eventually invade) England.

1938, August: Scottish forces under command of Admiral James Douglas-Buccleah, land near Liverpool to aid the Liverpool Free State. The Royalist army bars the Scots from the city, so Douglas-Buccleah marches south, causing havok along the way.

1938, September 3: Scottish forces capture Shrewsbury then retreat through northern Wales to the coast.

1938, September: Scottish forces return to Scotland via boat.

1938, October: The International Brigades withdraw from Spain.