Post by Diarist on Oct 28, 2015 11:27:23 GMT 1
I spent the early morning reviewing the material received from Lisbon yesterday then presented it to General Gort. We'll have all our forces in place before the end of August as planned. Now all we have to do is wait for Mussolini to make his move. Will our politicians make the necessary decisions? We've done our work.
This morning, Brigadier Percy Hobart will join us at TRADOC to entertain our German guests. He currently commands our Light Armoured Brigade and is Inspector of the Royal Tank Corps. He is not a friend of Cavalry officers because they often disagree with his 'unconventional' doctrine. TRADOC loves him. It was a pleasant day so we were outside in the rose garden.
It was an interesting conversation and one could argue that we are giving away information to a potential adversary but several of us disagree. Firstly, it is a two-way flow of information - it's helping us decide our path as well. Secondly, we haven't mentioned our IFV, the 400hp Christie-type tank nor our 6-pdr gun being developed for our tanks. Finally, we need friends in Germany. The only friend we have at the moment is Canaris and people tend to disappear without trace in Germany.
After lunch Rommel totally surprised me by asking if he could go with me to Egypt and Sudan. I didn't know what to answer. So we consulted the General. Rommel's knowledge of the Italians could be useful - in fact, he has been useful the last couple of days. Even General Gort was quiet. Thinking out loud, I turned to Rommel and said that if Admiral Canaris could get you an Austrian passport and you could be in Malta on the 1st of September....the General was looking at me. He's a veteran of the Austro-Hungarian army and kicked the Italians in the butt at the Battle of Caporetto. General Gort accepted it but the rest was up to Admiral Canaris. Back in my office I gave him instructions how to contact me in Malta and wished him luck. I added that he should not mention anything to his colleagues here.
We also had an opportunity to inform Brigadier Hobart about the latest armour developments. The snail-pace stuff has been changed to Infantry Support Vehicles, the tanks will be much faster and well armed.
This morning, Brigadier Percy Hobart will join us at TRADOC to entertain our German guests. He currently commands our Light Armoured Brigade and is Inspector of the Royal Tank Corps. He is not a friend of Cavalry officers because they often disagree with his 'unconventional' doctrine. TRADOC loves him. It was a pleasant day so we were outside in the rose garden.
It was an interesting conversation and one could argue that we are giving away information to a potential adversary but several of us disagree. Firstly, it is a two-way flow of information - it's helping us decide our path as well. Secondly, we haven't mentioned our IFV, the 400hp Christie-type tank nor our 6-pdr gun being developed for our tanks. Finally, we need friends in Germany. The only friend we have at the moment is Canaris and people tend to disappear without trace in Germany.
After lunch Rommel totally surprised me by asking if he could go with me to Egypt and Sudan. I didn't know what to answer. So we consulted the General. Rommel's knowledge of the Italians could be useful - in fact, he has been useful the last couple of days. Even General Gort was quiet. Thinking out loud, I turned to Rommel and said that if Admiral Canaris could get you an Austrian passport and you could be in Malta on the 1st of September....the General was looking at me. He's a veteran of the Austro-Hungarian army and kicked the Italians in the butt at the Battle of Caporetto. General Gort accepted it but the rest was up to Admiral Canaris. Back in my office I gave him instructions how to contact me in Malta and wished him luck. I added that he should not mention anything to his colleagues here.
We also had an opportunity to inform Brigadier Hobart about the latest armour developments. The snail-pace stuff has been changed to Infantry Support Vehicles, the tanks will be much faster and well armed.