Where did this come from: Because of my web site, I get a lot of e-mail. Recently, a columnist for a national children's magazine e-mailed me with a question one his readers had asked: What if Napoleon had a B52 at the Battle of Waterloo? I gave him my answer, and figured that since I had already done a great deal of thinking about the issue I would write up a brief scenario on it. 

I like my time travel and alternate history as plausible as possible. That usually means that I require my readers to swallow only one implausible or impossible thing in a scenario. In this case I'd be asking them to swallow the idea of some kind of rift of time bringing a B52 to France in time for it to be at Napoleon's disposal at the battle of Waterloo. Once it gets there, I'll try to make everything else follow plausibly, and hopefully naturally from the presence of that B52.

 Choices: Which B52? The B52 has been armed in a variety of ways during its lifetime. Do we want one armed with nuclear weapons? One armed with a huge load of conventional bombs? One armed with a much smaller payload of smart bombs? (The rest of the space is taken up by the equipment necessary to guide those bombs). One armed with long-range cruise missiles? I would go with the huge load of conventional bombs. If we went with nukes, the crew might well not be able to arm them without the proper codes. Cruise missiles could run into a couple of problems. They may or may not be dependent on Global Positioning Satellite data, and since the GPS system wouldn't be available in the 1800's, they may or may not be guidable. Even if the cruise missiles followed a terrain map, they might have problems because of the huge numbers of manmade changes that have occurred in over 150 years. 

Precision-guided munitions of any kind would probably overkill anyway. Our B52 will be trying to hit an army, not a specific window or ventilation shaft. I would go with a conventionally armed B52 from the late 1970's or early 1980's. That avoids any problems related to dependence on Global Positioning Satellites, while giving us the best technology in other regards. 

Choices: Start out in the air or on the ground? If the B52 appears in the air over France and never lands, then that avoids the problem of how to get it off the ground, but it gives the crew no motive to get involved. Why would a US aircrew bomb one faction or another in a 19th century European war? If it starts out on the ground, it may or may not have a crew, and would be useless without one. We also face the problem of how to get it off the ground. The best solution I could come up with is that the time-slip happens in the early stages of take-off. A B52 is taxiing down the runway and then is suddenly in a French field several days before the Battle of Waterloo. The crew is shaken up badly enough to be captured by a terrified local French commander before they sort things out. The plane sustains minor damage but is still flyable. 

Napoleon arrives at the scene, has his people interrogate the crew, and figures out that this huge flying thing can give him a huge advantage in the upcoming battle, if he can get it off the ground.

 Choices: Can he get it off the ground? Assuming that he can coerce the crew into cooperating, the main obstacle would be improvising a runway level and solid enough to get the plane off the ground. Napoleon theoretically has enormous manpower resources. Given some advice from the crew, he might be able throw manpower at the runway problem and improvise something. Getting a B52 up to takeoff speeds on a gravel runway without wrecking the thing would be difficult. Try driving a car sixty miles an hour on a gravel road sometime and you'll see what I mean. (Actually, don't. It can get really scary.) Getting several tons of airplane and ordinance going even faster on something like that is a scary thought. 

Could 1800's France build a cement runway? Probably, given time and advice. In a national emergency situation, putting enormous resources at the problem, it might be doable in a couple of weeks. Napoleon was pretty good at organizing huge projects. If he decided that the effort was worth it, he might manage to pull it off. It might well take improvising whole industries though, depending on whether or not all of the elements that go into concrete were already being used in 1800's France. Of course, if he puts this huge national effort into improvising a runway he also gives away some of the element of surprise. The English and Prussians will figure out that he is up to something huge, though they may not know what exactly. 

If Napoleon gets the plane too early, there might not even be a Battle of Waterloo. Either he or his opponents might react enough differently that the battle fails to take place or takes place somewhere else.

 Let's say Napoleon doesn't have enough time to improvise a way of getting his B52 off the ground. I say he still wins the battle. I'll let you know why next issue. (There are actually probably a number of reasons. See if you can guess mine.)

If you are enjoying this scenario, or if you are disappointed with it, please let me know. I always read and enjoy any feedback I can get.  

Note: I'm still planning to start an 'e-mail to the editor' section--hopefully next issue.  If you do e-mail me, please indicate whether or not I can use your e-mail in that section.  

About the author: Dale Cozort describes himself as a serious avocational historian. His fields of interest include just about every aspect of American Indian history and prehistory, but especially the emergence of agriculture in North America, and the proto-historic period—the time where Indians were in sporadic and indirect contact with European civilization. He is also interested in World War II, but primarily the early years of that war. He has a Bachelor's of Speech and Education from Wheaton College, a second Bachelor's in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University, and a Master's in Instructional Technology from Northern Illinois University. His 'real' job revolves around computers—programming them and helping users. He says, "I've programmed everything from machine code on a 6502 microprocessor to Cobol and PL/I on those big, water-cooled, you- have-to-have-a-separate-room-for-them monstrosities." He is married, with an eight- year old daughter and twenty-year-old stepdaughter.  He attends a Baptist Church, where he serves as the webmaster.