Post by Diarist on May 10, 2017 7:35:01 GMT 1
Before going to the Army and Navy Club for our SOE dinner I contacted LTC Rodriguez at the Spanish Embassy and arranged to visit him there. I'd like him to suggest finishing touches to my article for the Spanish press. In fact he made many changes. I explained that the intended message is "don't vote for the communists if they wanted to be part of the new Europe." All that without getting involved in the political campaign. After the changes were made he offered to send it to Madrid and have it delivered to General Franco tomorrow. He also informed me that the General has placed him on the list of candidates for TRADOC however the final decision hasn't been made yet.
I arrived at the Army and Navy Club just after noon. John Gort and Louis Mountbatten had already arrived so I joined them at the bar. "Everything taken care of?" John asked me.
"Yes. The essay is now a masterpiece and will be on it's way to Madrid later today."
"This letter arrived from Palestine. I presume it's from George."
"Probably. I'll read it later. Did I miss anything important?"
"Not really but Sir Philip knows about the maiden flight of the Hornet next week."
"It might be delayed if the new engines are available and I won't know that until I meet John Mitchell at the bank after lunch."
"At MCD we received a telephone call from Henry Folland at Gloster Aircraft Company. General Malin Craig has sent them six Pratt and Whitney R-1830 radial engines. They are rated a 1200 hp. In a note he wrote that these engines work and apologized again for R-2600 problem."
"That's better than the Bristol Hercules engine which produced less than 1000 hp when they first tested it a week ago."
"The RAE has also called. They ran four R-2600 engines at low power for 24 hours then slowly cranked them up to full power and all four ran for a further 100 hours. The problem isn't solved though because there is considerable corrosion in some of the cylinders."
"I can't understand why Wright had the nerve to sell it in the first place. I intend asking the Germans if they are working on a radial engine because they have the same problem that we have. Too many aircraft designs requiring the same engine. If someone designs a good fighter that doesn't require the Merlin it's guaranteed to receive orders."
Winston, Duff and Roger Keyes had now arrived so we transferred to the small dining room. After we had ordered Winston told Roger that I'm advocating a move against Japan next.
"I agree entirely," he replied. "Imperial Japan is the Far East's equivalent to Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Take your pick."
"Thank you, Roger. I only stated that we, Britain and France, should move the bulk of our capital ships to Singapore and Australia. If we show presence in the South China Sea and have an agreement with China it might leave Russia as their preferred target. Russia and Japan aren't the best of friends and I don't think anybody here would complain if the two were at war again."
Winston's concern is that a Euro-Chinese pact could have the opposite effect and unite them instead. A combined Russian-Japanese attack against China would be difficult to contain.
"So you believe that deterrence encourages aggression, Winston?"
"It does appear to do that if we consider what happened with Italy and Germany."
"Leaving Hong Kong, the East Indies and Australia undefended would be an open invitation for the Japanese to walk in and take what they want. Getting them out again would be difficult."
"Bob's right, Winston. We must defend the Empire. We could begin with defensive measures while we slowly build up men and material."
"...and also build up the industrial capacity of Australia," I added. "Vickers is already planning to do that. We need to encourage other firms to do the same."
"Present me a plan sometime next month and I'll consider it, gentlemen."
"We should start strengthening Hong Kong's defences first. I wasn't very impressed with what I saw there. In the territories there are no defences at all. Winston, I would like to send the fleet at Aden to Singapore then send a heavy cruiser squadron from the Home Fleet to Aden."
"Do you have a problem with that, Duff?"
"I do because any ships that go to the Far East should already have their final anti-aircraft upgrade. That has to be done here in England. The IJN has a considerable aircraft-carrier force and are well versed with carrier operations. We could begin by sending extra RAF Squadrons to Hong Kong and Singapore."
"Darwin too, Duff?" I suggested.
"Darwin too."
John Gort changed the subject asking me when I intend arriving at the club this evening. "Probably at 8 o'clock. The usual time."
"Trafford Leigh-Mallory will be at TRADOC this afternoon. You said that you would like to meet him."
"I would. Bring him to our house after six then we can travel to London together."
"I'll do that."
"I'm thinking of asking John Mitchell to travel with us to Paris tomorrow so that he can meet Milch, Wever and von Richthofen."
"The businessman is present again," Louis commented.
"What's wrong with Vickers having business contacts in Germany. They have the best aircraft industry in continental Europe. Definitely the largest if we can exclude Russia. We don't really know how much capacity they have."
"How much does your family know about SOE business, Bob?" Roger asked.
"The Mitchell family knows absolutely nothing. I don't discuss SOE affairs with anybody outside of SOE. Not even King Edward."
"Bob's business ventures have my full support because our Armed Forces benefit most."
"Thank you, Winston. Do you know if the restriction on banks expanding still exists because L&M needs more involvement in the Far East?"
"I'll bring it up at Monday's cabinet meeting. Let's finish here. I'm sure that I'm not the only one with a lot of work on my desk."
We all concurred there.
I arrived at the Army and Navy Club just after noon. John Gort and Louis Mountbatten had already arrived so I joined them at the bar. "Everything taken care of?" John asked me.
"Yes. The essay is now a masterpiece and will be on it's way to Madrid later today."
"This letter arrived from Palestine. I presume it's from George."
"Probably. I'll read it later. Did I miss anything important?"
"Not really but Sir Philip knows about the maiden flight of the Hornet next week."
"It might be delayed if the new engines are available and I won't know that until I meet John Mitchell at the bank after lunch."
"At MCD we received a telephone call from Henry Folland at Gloster Aircraft Company. General Malin Craig has sent them six Pratt and Whitney R-1830 radial engines. They are rated a 1200 hp. In a note he wrote that these engines work and apologized again for R-2600 problem."
"That's better than the Bristol Hercules engine which produced less than 1000 hp when they first tested it a week ago."
"The RAE has also called. They ran four R-2600 engines at low power for 24 hours then slowly cranked them up to full power and all four ran for a further 100 hours. The problem isn't solved though because there is considerable corrosion in some of the cylinders."
"I can't understand why Wright had the nerve to sell it in the first place. I intend asking the Germans if they are working on a radial engine because they have the same problem that we have. Too many aircraft designs requiring the same engine. If someone designs a good fighter that doesn't require the Merlin it's guaranteed to receive orders."
Winston, Duff and Roger Keyes had now arrived so we transferred to the small dining room. After we had ordered Winston told Roger that I'm advocating a move against Japan next.
"I agree entirely," he replied. "Imperial Japan is the Far East's equivalent to Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Take your pick."
"Thank you, Roger. I only stated that we, Britain and France, should move the bulk of our capital ships to Singapore and Australia. If we show presence in the South China Sea and have an agreement with China it might leave Russia as their preferred target. Russia and Japan aren't the best of friends and I don't think anybody here would complain if the two were at war again."
Winston's concern is that a Euro-Chinese pact could have the opposite effect and unite them instead. A combined Russian-Japanese attack against China would be difficult to contain.
"So you believe that deterrence encourages aggression, Winston?"
"It does appear to do that if we consider what happened with Italy and Germany."
"Leaving Hong Kong, the East Indies and Australia undefended would be an open invitation for the Japanese to walk in and take what they want. Getting them out again would be difficult."
"Bob's right, Winston. We must defend the Empire. We could begin with defensive measures while we slowly build up men and material."
"...and also build up the industrial capacity of Australia," I added. "Vickers is already planning to do that. We need to encourage other firms to do the same."
"Present me a plan sometime next month and I'll consider it, gentlemen."
"We should start strengthening Hong Kong's defences first. I wasn't very impressed with what I saw there. In the territories there are no defences at all. Winston, I would like to send the fleet at Aden to Singapore then send a heavy cruiser squadron from the Home Fleet to Aden."
"Do you have a problem with that, Duff?"
"I do because any ships that go to the Far East should already have their final anti-aircraft upgrade. That has to be done here in England. The IJN has a considerable aircraft-carrier force and are well versed with carrier operations. We could begin by sending extra RAF Squadrons to Hong Kong and Singapore."
"Darwin too, Duff?" I suggested.
"Darwin too."
John Gort changed the subject asking me when I intend arriving at the club this evening. "Probably at 8 o'clock. The usual time."
"Trafford Leigh-Mallory will be at TRADOC this afternoon. You said that you would like to meet him."
"I would. Bring him to our house after six then we can travel to London together."
"I'll do that."
"I'm thinking of asking John Mitchell to travel with us to Paris tomorrow so that he can meet Milch, Wever and von Richthofen."
"The businessman is present again," Louis commented.
"What's wrong with Vickers having business contacts in Germany. They have the best aircraft industry in continental Europe. Definitely the largest if we can exclude Russia. We don't really know how much capacity they have."
"How much does your family know about SOE business, Bob?" Roger asked.
"The Mitchell family knows absolutely nothing. I don't discuss SOE affairs with anybody outside of SOE. Not even King Edward."
"Bob's business ventures have my full support because our Armed Forces benefit most."
"Thank you, Winston. Do you know if the restriction on banks expanding still exists because L&M needs more involvement in the Far East?"
"I'll bring it up at Monday's cabinet meeting. Let's finish here. I'm sure that I'm not the only one with a lot of work on my desk."
We all concurred there.