Post by Diarist on May 23, 2016 15:51:41 GMT 1
Winston Churchill arrived punctually and after a short conversation with General Gort he joined AVM Freeman, John Mitchell and myself. I was driving my car while his driver would take Sally to London and back. The General had already informed him about the conversation with the Air Ministry and John confirmed Vickers' plans. That pleased him. He did mention that so far this year TRADOC has succeeded in cancelling five bomber designs and it appears we are heading towards a fighter-only RAF.
"The Heyford's are being upgraded to the Mk.III standard, we're just not building new ones, sir."
"Three squadrons."
"Plus the Overstrands as well as all the Hart and Hind light bombers. Do you recall the meeting at the MoD when the Fairey Battle was dropped?" I asked.
" I do."
"The strategy which TRADOC proposed was to build up a strong air defence then design strike aircraft to overcome not only our defences but hopefully those of our adversaries. The 'secret' design is the desired strike aircraft but we don't have an aircraft to counter it yet. So we are arguing that revealing this aircraft to potential enemies would not be a smart move."
"I understand the logic behind that argument," Churchill said. "The British public needs to be impressed now and again, major."
"So Mussolini's demise wasn't impressive enough, sir?"
Geoffrey de Havilland was waiting outside for us. Nothing indicated that an aircraft was being designed here. The 'hangar' was also an office with a dozen desks in one corner. The 1:4 model of the aircraft was impressive. It was the ground attack version with four .303 machine guns and four 20mm cannon in the nose. All four guests, including myself, were silent listening to Geoffrey. I was also seeing the model for the first time. Eventually Churchill broke the silence, "Very impressive," then repeated himself, "Very impressive."
I asked Geoffrey, "Do you have a name yet?"
"We like Mosquito. It has a sting. The fighter variant is the Hornet."
Winston Churchill was then shown all the different variants we have planned. "An unarmed photo-reconnaissance aircraft with a speed of 450mph? What am I missing?"
"It's made of wood, Mr. Secretary. The Air Ministry has already rejected the concept but I disagree with their assessment and convinced Geoffrey to pursue the design. The plan is to present them with a fait accompli."
Geoffrey added, "All we need now are the Merlin engines. Testing them with smaller engines makes little sense."
AVM Freeman mentioned,"We could try to get Twin Wasps from P&W. They are rated at 1100hp."
"Aren't they radial engines?" I asked.
"Does that matter?" He asked Geoffrey.
"We could try them, Air Marshall."
We then left the workshop and drove to Hatfield for lunch.