Post by Diarist on Sept 21, 2016 14:26:33 GMT 1
We had an early breakfast with King Leopold and thanked him for everything. He gave me a letter for Prince Edward which I put with the two I had written yesterday. At the Embassy I changed the address to TRADOC and placed it in a larger envelope with the letter for John Gort. We took off from Haren airport at 09:25 bound for Lyon where we refuelled, stretched our legs and had a light lunch. The next stop was Corsica where we just refuelled. Thirty minutes later we were in the again on our way to Malta. I had decided not to visit Rome so we would stay overnight in Valetta then fly to Tobruk in the morning. I want to take advantage of the good flying weather.
It is difficult to arrive incognito in a RAF aircraft at a RAF airfield. A/Cdre Paul Maltby, the Malta AOC, met us at the airfield and had arranged rooms for us. I thanked him for his support and tried to tell him that we are just passing through and will be leaving in the morning. Instead of going to the harbour restaurant I know from my last visit we ended up in the Officer's Club where we also had rooms. I did have an interesting conversation with the Lieutenant Governor Sir Harry Luke. He had been Acting High Commissioner for Palestine for 6 months in 1928 and had a year later tried in vain to mediate an agreement between Jewish and Arab leaders. He pretty much confirmed what Thomas Shaw had told me. In the early 1920's separate administrations for Arabs and Jews had been created which turned out to be a huge mistake. In his opinion there is no chance of bringing the two together. I would have a difficult task there if I were a diplomat. Luckily I'm not and it isn't my reason for going there.
We went for a walk afterwards and sent postcards to England. Tomorrow evening we shall hopefully be in Alexandria.
It is difficult to arrive incognito in a RAF aircraft at a RAF airfield. A/Cdre Paul Maltby, the Malta AOC, met us at the airfield and had arranged rooms for us. I thanked him for his support and tried to tell him that we are just passing through and will be leaving in the morning. Instead of going to the harbour restaurant I know from my last visit we ended up in the Officer's Club where we also had rooms. I did have an interesting conversation with the Lieutenant Governor Sir Harry Luke. He had been Acting High Commissioner for Palestine for 6 months in 1928 and had a year later tried in vain to mediate an agreement between Jewish and Arab leaders. He pretty much confirmed what Thomas Shaw had told me. In the early 1920's separate administrations for Arabs and Jews had been created which turned out to be a huge mistake. In his opinion there is no chance of bringing the two together. I would have a difficult task there if I were a diplomat. Luckily I'm not and it isn't my reason for going there.
We went for a walk afterwards and sent postcards to England. Tomorrow evening we shall hopefully be in Alexandria.