Post by Diarist on Sept 26, 2014 15:11:34 GMT 1
Yesterday Guy Simonds and I met CPT Mike Franklin from the experimental Parachute Cpy. at the GQ Parachute Company Ltd. in Woking. It was very informative - I had no idea how many different kinds of parachutes there are. We informed the management what kind of parachutes we need, how many and impressed upon them the need to keep the nature of our order confidential. We were informed about some of the problems of parachutes but we informed them that it is quite probable that funds will be made available to develop better parachutes.
Mike Franklin gave me a copy of their proposal for the Company's organisation and I told him about our efforts to find aircraft to jump out of. We have a priority order for 6 Douglas DC-2's but they won't arrive for a while. We intend using them to help design a larger version as a Military Transport aircraft. We have also located a couple of private companies which may be "requisitioned" by the MoD. We also mentioned that Guy and I will be "volunteering" for the first course. We drafted a memorandum for our respective commanders before departing.
When I reported in to General Gort he surprised me with my promotion to Captain. Let's just say that it was an expensive evening. He also told me about the new Combined Operations Command. It is just a front for something more covert. It will be subordinate to TRADOC and the HQ will probably be in Scotland at a location yet to be determined however forward HQ's are to be established at Alexandria in Egypt, Khartoum in Sudan, and Mombasa in Kenya. When I looked a bit surprised he added that Downing Street and the MoD are of the opinion that Mussolini doesn't seem too impressed with our deterrence measures. We need to consider other options. I asked whether this was a Joint Anglo-French assessment and he told me that it was just a British decision for the time being. (That means that the non-British personnel don't need to know).
The Americans, all Cavalry officers, will be arriving tomorrow morning in Southampton and will be met by officials from the US Embassy. We need to have someone meet them at Paddington railway station. Other officers are reporting in over the weekend so I am going to be busy.
Mike Franklin gave me a copy of their proposal for the Company's organisation and I told him about our efforts to find aircraft to jump out of. We have a priority order for 6 Douglas DC-2's but they won't arrive for a while. We intend using them to help design a larger version as a Military Transport aircraft. We have also located a couple of private companies which may be "requisitioned" by the MoD. We also mentioned that Guy and I will be "volunteering" for the first course. We drafted a memorandum for our respective commanders before departing.
When I reported in to General Gort he surprised me with my promotion to Captain. Let's just say that it was an expensive evening. He also told me about the new Combined Operations Command. It is just a front for something more covert. It will be subordinate to TRADOC and the HQ will probably be in Scotland at a location yet to be determined however forward HQ's are to be established at Alexandria in Egypt, Khartoum in Sudan, and Mombasa in Kenya. When I looked a bit surprised he added that Downing Street and the MoD are of the opinion that Mussolini doesn't seem too impressed with our deterrence measures. We need to consider other options. I asked whether this was a Joint Anglo-French assessment and he told me that it was just a British decision for the time being. (That means that the non-British personnel don't need to know).
The Americans, all Cavalry officers, will be arriving tomorrow morning in Southampton and will be met by officials from the US Embassy. We need to have someone meet them at Paddington railway station. Other officers are reporting in over the weekend so I am going to be busy.