Trouble in Borsetshire - DevLAM '20

DevLAM '20 was to have taken place at Snapcase Hall over this weekend. Obviously, during the latest Covid-19 restrictions, The Gentlemen of Much-Piddling have been unable to gather in the ancient and dusty environs of the Snapcase's ancestral pile. The annual bean-feast has had to be postponed and The Gentlemen have had to sustain a very stiff upper-lip with nary a tremble. There has been a weeping, a wailing and a gnashing of teeth in the servant's quarters as that band of toilers were traditionally given a day off (the only one of the year) from their duties.

A typical scene from previous years at the Hall.

Doug was to have presented us with a VBCW game and here I present Doug's story of the doings in Borsetshire:

Borsetshire has remained a quiet backwater whilst all round it the turmoil of civil war rages. Until now. 

Alarming reports of incursions by various groups of communists, socialists and similar riff-raff have reached the ears of Sir Rufus Pitt-Bulstrode, Lord -Lieutenant of Borsetshire. Confirmation has been received that these groups have coalesced into one striking force which, even now, is advancing on the county town of Borchester. Fearing that the inadequate resources he has to hand, mainly poorly armed county police, are inadequate to resist the invasion, Sir Rufus has called upon his old friend, Sir Albert "Badger" Brock, the recently appointed Chief Constable of Wiltshire. Sir Albert has been very active in building a well trained, mobile armed unit as part of his force. Known as the Wiltshire Police Flying Column (WPFC), it is designed for use against enemies of the King of whatever persuasion. It recently saw service in Herefordshire against a motley collection of petty aristocracy, socialists and colonial mercenaries, for example.

Recognising a situation for which the Flying Column was admirably suited, Sir Albert assured Sir Rufus that he would send aid. Consequently, a detachment of the WPFC has been sent to Borsetshire. The efficiency of the WPFC has led to detachments being sent to various parts of the country so the whole of the unit is not available for deployment in Borsetshire. However, it’s charismatic leader, Chief Superintendent Ronald Bigsworth-Hill is on hand to command it and he has secured the services of an old friend from his BUF days as his second-in-command. Hilary Snapcase-Mosley, a distant relative of the distinguished peer, Bertram, the 10th Earl of Snapcase. Hilary is the blackest of black sheep of the family and is never spoken of in Snapcase Hall. He still uses his ridiculous BUF rank of "Storm Battalion Leader", still sports a ludicrous monocle and still stamps about in brown leather jackboots, kept in immaculate order by his valet, "Cringing" Cyril Wormtongue.

As well as a cadre of the regular WPFC, some irregulars have been included in the Borsetshire relief column to compensate for those elements detached elsewhere. It is thought some of these are ex-BUF types recruited by Hilary. Sir Albert, virulently anti BUF, has been kept in the dark about these recruits.

 First, I should have mentioned that Hilary Snapcase-Mosely is an Honourable - possibly the greatest oxymoron of all time.

 And now, the other side:

The petit-bourgeois, privileged inhabitants of Borsetshire have been congratulating themselves on having avoided the hardships of the civil war. Not anymore. Elements of various revolutionary bodies from different parts of the country have despatched comrades to foment revolution and smash the smug fascists of Borsetshire. Several sections of committed comrades have coalesced into an ad hoc platoon with the intention of marching on the county town, Borchester, hanging the town council, putting the running-dog Lord Lieutenant up against a wall and raising the red flag over the town hall. It may not be quite as easy as first thought - word has reached the Borsetshire Revolutionary Committee that reinforcements are on their way to bolster the reactionary criminals presently holding sway in the county.

Making up the Platoon for the Freedom of Borchester are a disparate group of comrades. From the Liverpool Free State comes the People’s Revolutionary Shock Army No. 6, Quasi-autonomous, Trotsky-Leninist, Assault Battalion (Women’s Section) led by the firebrand communist politician Bessie Braddock. From the South Yorkshire coalfields an élite section from the Miners Welfare Club led by the inspirational rabble-rouser, Harold Scargill. Finally, from Derbyshire a section from the LMS Locomotive Works, led by "Red" John Hawley, a political activist and demagogue. He has been elected as leader of the platoon.

In order to assist in the mayhem that is VBCW, I have been tasked with producing the Higgleford-cum-Wortlebury-beneath-the-Hill Head Post Office Rifles.

Seen here, Inspector Pat Clifton (3rd from left), Mrs. Goggins (on the left) and Tommy Flowers (on the right, on loan to the Post Office Rifles from GPO Telecommunications).

..and here, the HQ Section, L to R: Lord Haw-Haw, Sir Osbert Molesworth, Unity Valkyrie Mitford, Storm Battalion Leader the Honourable Hilary Snapcase-Mosely, Diana Mitford and last but not least Sir Roderick Spode (the 7th Earl of Sidcup and also the proprietor of a store specialising in women's underclothes, Eulalie Soeurs of Bond Street ).