Post by Diarist on Apr 27, 2015 18:10:18 GMT 1
A few of us decided to have a nightcap before retiring. General Smith had been told that Italian project was more important than parachute training therefore his name had been removed from the list. He wasn't complaining because he knew the decision was right and it wasn't everyday that a LTC has a 3-star General's position.
I changed the subject by asking Louis Mountbatten about an idea I have. Back in the good-old Horatio Nelson days we sent fire-ships into the French ports we were blockading. This tactic created havoc so why can't we do the same now? There at least a dozen destroyers scheduled for the scrapyard in the next 18 months. Let's make use of them. My suggestion is to fill the bows with high-explosives and aim them in the direction of an Italian port. Include a concealed timer which detonates 15 minutes after the skeleton crew abandons ship. Even if it didn't get near to a desired target the blast itself would be very destructive. We then bring up the battleships and take advantage of the confusion. CDR Mountbatten liked the idea. ADM Keyes added his idea. If Mussolini invades Abyssinia and goes in person to the inevitable League of Nations meeting - why not sabotage his aircraft so that it crashes in the Alps on the flight home. Won't happen. Foreign Secretaries are the highest members of a government that travel to Geneva.
George Patton brought us back to reality by remarking that we can't copyright these ideas. Once they have been disclosed the Germans might try the same tricks on us. Caution. I thought about it for a while. The first one, fire-ships, was easy to counter. As for second, we need to find convincing doubles for our leaders. Whatever we develop we will also have an effective countermeasure and hopefully we shall also have an improved version of the original design. Mountbatten agreed. They may copy us but the copy is never as good as the original. We had a second drink then retired.
Tomorrow we have two important meetings. In the morning we shall outline the mission of the Abyssinian Expeditionary Force then in the afternoon the Italian team will convene.