Post by Diarist on Nov 26, 2016 7:24:13 GMT 1
My first surprise was at the MoD. Edward had an office next to mine and will be the liaison officer between TRADOC and the MoD leaving me free to concentrate on Force Readiness and SOE. Edward won't be privy to SOE plans. The second surprise is that I'm booked on a cruise liner, S.S. Franconia, to New York next week. Two berths have been reserved for Sally and myself. General Malin has invited me to Washington. COL van Voorhis and family will also be passengers on the liner. They are leaving TRADOC.
"That means we'll be spending the New Year at sea if it leaves London on the 27th. Can I book a second cabin for my mother?"
"If you're paying but the home journey will be on a Royal Navy cruiser. Not so luxurious."
"I'll let her decide. Here's a copy of my notes from the board meeting this morning. Do we have the go ahead for Hurricane exports. The current aircraft of our allies will be obsolete in a couple of years although they can still be used for training or maybe ground support where there is local air superiority."
"Can we afford to export Merlin engines, Bob?"
"The current versions will be no problem. I'm hoping for a much improved version in a couple of years then we can either add the refurbished early versions to the export list or upgrade them for our own aircraft."
"How many exports Merlin engines are we discussing?"
"Several hundred over a period of 3 to 4 years. I hope that by then we will have produced several thousand in England and imported who knows how many from Canada and/or the USA."
"So we are talking about less then 10% of the available engines?"
"Correct and they'll be put to good use."
"I want to inform Sir Philip first but you have my approval. Anything else I need to know?"
I told him about my working breakfast and that our Rhineland planning for Belgium will happen across the road in MCD. He then informed me that a French and Belgium delegation will be in London this weekend so if I have anything else planned it's cancelled. Before leaving I dropped in to see Edward. He was busy making his new office comfortable. "Congratulations, Edward. Since you're not a minister you can still wear your uniform."
"Yes. Good afternoon, Bob. How was your morning?"
"A little hectic but constructive. I have to go to my other office. I'll see you later."
"That means we'll be spending the New Year at sea if it leaves London on the 27th. Can I book a second cabin for my mother?"
"If you're paying but the home journey will be on a Royal Navy cruiser. Not so luxurious."
"I'll let her decide. Here's a copy of my notes from the board meeting this morning. Do we have the go ahead for Hurricane exports. The current aircraft of our allies will be obsolete in a couple of years although they can still be used for training or maybe ground support where there is local air superiority."
"Can we afford to export Merlin engines, Bob?"
"The current versions will be no problem. I'm hoping for a much improved version in a couple of years then we can either add the refurbished early versions to the export list or upgrade them for our own aircraft."
"How many exports Merlin engines are we discussing?"
"Several hundred over a period of 3 to 4 years. I hope that by then we will have produced several thousand in England and imported who knows how many from Canada and/or the USA."
"So we are talking about less then 10% of the available engines?"
"Correct and they'll be put to good use."
"I want to inform Sir Philip first but you have my approval. Anything else I need to know?"
I told him about my working breakfast and that our Rhineland planning for Belgium will happen across the road in MCD. He then informed me that a French and Belgium delegation will be in London this weekend so if I have anything else planned it's cancelled. Before leaving I dropped in to see Edward. He was busy making his new office comfortable. "Congratulations, Edward. Since you're not a minister you can still wear your uniform."
"Yes. Good afternoon, Bob. How was your morning?"
"A little hectic but constructive. I have to go to my other office. I'll see you later."