Post by Diarist on Mar 24, 2017 21:13:47 GMT 1
After leaving the MoD I went to my office and typed a letter to George Patton then a second to General Howard in Jerusalem. I informed them both that I should be arriving in Alexandria on the 8th of February and asked the latter to plan meetings with Jewish and Arab leaders beginning the following Monday. They will be sent with courier tomorrow morning. I then called the 24th Squadron and gave them advance warning of a flight to Paris on Saturday afternoon. I talked with WO1 Jake Higgins and he said that he would love to be my pilot after I suggested that he takes his wife as well. Next I called Alan Turing and arranged that he and Marian accompany me tomorrow to Cambridge. I also asked Henry Tizard to meet me there. We need to reorganize the Bletchley Park operation. I also called John Keynes and we agreed to have lunch together.
Sally, Wilhelm and I then drove home to Saffron Walden and after a couple of sandwiches Wilhelm and I walked to TRADOC HQ and as hoped for John Gort and General Franco were already there. Our guest had already been shown the plans for the FTX operation and now COL de Lattre de Tassigny was showing him the original plan for the NW Italian campaign and how it actually evolved. He had many questions including, "do you have a contingency plan to invade Spain?"
"Do we need one, General?" I answered.
While de Tassigny was talking to him about our armoured division design John took me to one side and asked my opinion of Air Commodore Trafford Leigh-Mallory as Deputy Commander of TRADOC. "Isn't he on his way to Iraq?"
"That was postponed after your assessment of the situation in Palestine. Your opinion of Pierse wasn't very positive."
"I didn't report anything negative either but back to your original question I believe that A/Cdre Leigh-Mallory is a good choice. He's a strong advocate of air support for ground forces. We need that. We also need to motorize the ground component of RAF squadrons so that they can keep up with the advancing armoured spearheads. Could you arrange an interview with him this week? Not tomorrow though."
"At the hotel?"
"Of course. How well do you know George Weir, the GOC in Egypt?"
"Never got on well with him. He got passed over a couple of times."
"Egypt will probably be his last command."
"I'm surprised he got that far. Let me guess, he's interfering in Geoff Howard's mission?" I nodded and showed him George Patton's report.
"Let's transfer to the hotel."
On the way I asked General Franco why he asked that question. "The communists might not accept the vote if they lose."
"The people you send to TRADOC need to know not only your armed forces but also those which you consider loyal. And speak English. It would make things easier if Spain were informally an associate member of our new alliance."
Later we agreed to compose an article about the new European Alliance which can be published in a couple of Spanish newspapers on Sunday. He suggested that we give presentations in Barcelona on Monday, followed by Madrid and Valencia the next day. Socialist strongholds. So much for staying out of domestic politics. I wrote a couple of memorandums for Winston before going to bed. Spain has become a potential problem.
Sally, Wilhelm and I then drove home to Saffron Walden and after a couple of sandwiches Wilhelm and I walked to TRADOC HQ and as hoped for John Gort and General Franco were already there. Our guest had already been shown the plans for the FTX operation and now COL de Lattre de Tassigny was showing him the original plan for the NW Italian campaign and how it actually evolved. He had many questions including, "do you have a contingency plan to invade Spain?"
"Do we need one, General?" I answered.
While de Tassigny was talking to him about our armoured division design John took me to one side and asked my opinion of Air Commodore Trafford Leigh-Mallory as Deputy Commander of TRADOC. "Isn't he on his way to Iraq?"
"That was postponed after your assessment of the situation in Palestine. Your opinion of Pierse wasn't very positive."
"I didn't report anything negative either but back to your original question I believe that A/Cdre Leigh-Mallory is a good choice. He's a strong advocate of air support for ground forces. We need that. We also need to motorize the ground component of RAF squadrons so that they can keep up with the advancing armoured spearheads. Could you arrange an interview with him this week? Not tomorrow though."
"At the hotel?"
"Of course. How well do you know George Weir, the GOC in Egypt?"
"Never got on well with him. He got passed over a couple of times."
"Egypt will probably be his last command."
"I'm surprised he got that far. Let me guess, he's interfering in Geoff Howard's mission?" I nodded and showed him George Patton's report.
"Let's transfer to the hotel."
On the way I asked General Franco why he asked that question. "The communists might not accept the vote if they lose."
"The people you send to TRADOC need to know not only your armed forces but also those which you consider loyal. And speak English. It would make things easier if Spain were informally an associate member of our new alliance."
Later we agreed to compose an article about the new European Alliance which can be published in a couple of Spanish newspapers on Sunday. He suggested that we give presentations in Barcelona on Monday, followed by Madrid and Valencia the next day. Socialist strongholds. So much for staying out of domestic politics. I wrote a couple of memorandums for Winston before going to bed. Spain has become a potential problem.