Post by Diarist on Oct 27, 2015 9:34:30 GMT 1
This morning Captain Mike Franklin of the newly formed Parachute Regiment visited us at TRADOC. He commands the future 'A' Company and I'm glad that he has been assigned to the Eritrean mission. Because of General Wavell's indiscretion Mike already knew a little about the mission so I only had to inform him that a destroyer will be waiting for your platoon at Portsmouth Sunday evening. As soon as you are all on board it will head to Alexandria with a stop at Malta. An aircraft carrier is ferrying a squadron of aircraft to the island.
He is authorized to select personnel from other platoons to form a 5th squad which will consist of two Lewis LMG teams and four snipers. The squad leader should preferably be an armourer. Enough ammunition for a week of combat is required. Furthermore the Colchester and Aldershot garrison have been tasked to ensure that all members of your platoon have the necessary vaccinations. All personnel must also write a Testament and Will before leaving, legal personnel are available to assist.
I'll be meeting you in Alexandria at the beginning of September. A squadron of Vickers Valentia transport aircraft is being assembled there, familiarize yourself with them while you are waiting for me. I shall be the overall commander organizing the aircraft, communications support and reinforcements which will arrive after the objective has been secured. Only your platoon sergeant needs to know all this information. The remainder will be informed when we arrive at Khartoum.
After lunch I continued catching up with what I missed while I was on vacation then in the afternoon I attended a meeting to discuss the material I had brought back from France and Italy. I had to smile about veiled French complaints of General Smith's 'excessive' training methods. Actually we were all smiling, especially Brigadier van Voorhis who knows Patton well.
At the Saffron Hotel yesterday evening there was a letter from Admiral Canaris waiting for me. He said there are few German officers who he recommended for a visit to England. One name I recognized, Heinz Guderian, but the others I didn't. I showed the letter to Colonel Fuller and Captain Liddel Hart and they told me that Oberst Ferdinand Schaal commands their Cavalry regiment in Erfurt. We the approached General Gort who gave the go-ahead. We could show them the A9 and A10 which we are not building and tell them of the squabbles about who should command our larger units - pure disinformation. I then called the telephone number included in the letter and told Admiral Canaris that this Friday will be fine, they can have a weekend visit here.
A busy day. At home Sally had already been looking. She is still on vacation until Monday. She also informed me that money from Monte Carlo is now on my account, our bank manager friend had called her. One house was only a few minutes walk from work. Four bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a guest toilet, a garage and a large garden with trees. When I saw the price I winced but she reminded me that we have two salaries plus the rent from this house in Church Street. Also her father wants to give us a nice wedding present.
That didn't please me too much because I want to provide for Sally myself. On the other hand, Sally is their only child so she'll inherit everything anyway. It is also a nice house, I've walked past it many times.