Post by Diarist on Jun 21, 2016 10:20:32 GMT 1
Several things happening. Firstly, the weather forecast for the remainder of the week is so bad that flying to Lisbon is out of the question. General Gort and I will travel there as guests of the Royal Navy. There is a convoy leaving for a Gibraltar on Thursday evening so HMS Ajax, a light cruiser, is being placed at our disposal.
Secondly, I received a phone call from Geoffrey de Havilland. Two V-12 motor blocks have arrived at the secret Edgeware site and he has no idea what they are for. I told him that I'll be there in the afternoon. That was Tuesday.
Then yesterday, Wednesday, John Maynard Keynes called to ask if we could meet so I drove to Cambridge for lunch. He handed me a twenty page document detailing an economic program based upon what I had written. It was wonderfully written. In fact it was so good I called Winston Churchill and arranged for the three of us to meet for lunch at the MoD today.
Tuesday afternoon George and I drove to the secret de Havilland workshop at Edgeware and met Geoffrey and a couple of his engine experts. I explained that the goal is to make a tank engine out of one of them. It's a private project so they can send all the bills to me and they can even hire someone if necessary. It's a secret project so it makes sense to have it here at our secret factory. I told them that the motor block is the one used for the Merlin engine so they can use the second one on their prototypes. On the way back to the HQ I told George that the aircraft he'd just seen doesn't exist so he saw nothing.
General Gort and I now have to go to London. We'll be travelling to Portsmouth by train after lunch at the MoD.
Secondly, I received a phone call from Geoffrey de Havilland. Two V-12 motor blocks have arrived at the secret Edgeware site and he has no idea what they are for. I told him that I'll be there in the afternoon. That was Tuesday.
Then yesterday, Wednesday, John Maynard Keynes called to ask if we could meet so I drove to Cambridge for lunch. He handed me a twenty page document detailing an economic program based upon what I had written. It was wonderfully written. In fact it was so good I called Winston Churchill and arranged for the three of us to meet for lunch at the MoD today.
Tuesday afternoon George and I drove to the secret de Havilland workshop at Edgeware and met Geoffrey and a couple of his engine experts. I explained that the goal is to make a tank engine out of one of them. It's a private project so they can send all the bills to me and they can even hire someone if necessary. It's a secret project so it makes sense to have it here at our secret factory. I told them that the motor block is the one used for the Merlin engine so they can use the second one on their prototypes. On the way back to the HQ I told George that the aircraft he'd just seen doesn't exist so he saw nothing.
General Gort and I now have to go to London. We'll be travelling to Portsmouth by train after lunch at the MoD.