21 Dec 1935 - Chequers

[Diarist]

While driving to Chequers John Gort and I talked about the new Spanish 'connection'. "I like Colonel Rodriguez," he said. "He was genuinely interested yesterday."
"I like him too but I don't know much about him. His father's a general, a friend of Franco and is in involuntary retirement. I don't know why either. I'll be talking to Franco's adjutant, a Colonel Rosa, on Monday morning. I'm going to see where it leads. We do have vacancies at TRADOC?"
"A standard 3-4 group is no problem. There will be three Czechoslovakian officers arriving in January as well as two from Greece."
"We are getting popular aren't we?"
"Do you know who will be here from France and Belgium?"
"I haven't seen a list but I can imagine that from France there will be PM Daladier and General Gamelin plus PM van Zeeland and Defence Minister Devèze from Belgium. All four of them know about our Rhineland plans."
"Does anybody else in Europe know about our plans?"
"As far as I know only King Leopold III."
When we arrived at Chequers I was surprised to see that King Leopold was also present. I greeted him and introduced Lord Gort. He enquired about his General van Overstraeten.
"He's settling in fine, Your Majesty. There won't be any serious planning until after the holiday season though."
"Will he be here this weekend?"
"I really don't know, Sir. I can ask if you wish."
"The naval officer over there looks familiar."
"I believe he is one of your many cousins, Sir. Louis Mountbatten."
"Yes, of course. Excuse me. Let me say hello." Shortly after leaving us Edward arrived so the two young royals were busy. John and I joined Winston. "Good morning, Winston. I hope we are not going to discuss the Rhineland response here. There are much too many people present."
"No, we're here to discuss a revision of the Locarno Treaties."
"Well that shouldn't take long," I replied with a smile. "I need to greet a few people and wish them a Merry Christmas." So I briefly joined colleagues from the Defence Council plus the French delegation headed by Prime Minister Deladier.
"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Prime Minister."
"Bonjour, Sir Robert. How was the rest of your trip? When did you arrive home?"
"I returned home last Sunday, Sir. It went well and I had many very constructive conversations. How long will you be staying in England? There are a couple of things I'd like to discuss with you, Sir."
"General Gamelin and I are having dinner with Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery-Massingberd this evening. Why don't you join us? Is Lady Carter here too?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but she isn't here. Someone has to do the Christmas shopping."
The meeting started with Stanley Baldwin welcoming the guests and announcing a visit to a nearby aircraft manufacturer to see an aircraft that Britain is hoping to export. As expected there is no desire to modify the Locarno Treaties. I mentioned that I'd like to see all mentions of the Versailles Treaty, The League of Nations and the Kingdom of Italy removed but that I cannot imagine that Germany would sign any document which still contained the current Article 4.
After about one hour the meeting was concluded, a warm buffet was offered and at 14:00 a couple of dozen people headed to Hawker Aircraft Company. It was a bit chilly but dry therefore we would see the Hurricane in flight. Sydney Camm and George Bulman, their chief test pilot, were present and after a ten minute presentation the Hurricane took off then performed a series of impressive manoeuvres for a further ten minutes before landing. There were many questions about the maximum speed, the armament and range, etc. Belgium is definitely sold but France will need some more convincing. Winston welcomed me joining the evening dinner so round two of our sales pitch is certain to follow.

[Diarist]

During the dinner we mostly talked about the afternoon's visit to Hawker Aircraft. My main argument was that if France were to build the aircraft there were also be export openings for their aircraft industry. Also France could concentrate on other aircraft. The main hurdle was having to import the Merlin. I pointed out the no Merlin engines will be produced in continental Europe.

"It's a Rolls-Royce policy and the British government supports it. The USA has similar rules and we have to accept them. The most important issue must be the defence of Europe."
"The Hurricane can also be used in the ground support role," Winston added, "and as Bob has already stated you could export parts for Belgium and Holland. Their industrial capacity is much smaller than yours."
"I accept your arguments but I need to consult with my colleagues at home," Édouard Daladier answered. Now what was it the you wanted to talk about, Sir Robert?"
I'd already received permission from Winston to address these issues so I started with the easy one first. "In the light of our excellent cooperation in Europe I'm hoping that we can do the same in the Far East. We'd like to suggest a Joint Defence Command for British, French and Dutch forces in the region. Australia and New Zealand would also be included and we wish to invite Thailand. Unfortunately Thailand has a territorial dispute with France. Could that dispute be solved, Sir? Give them the territory in exchange for their defence commitment and access rights to their facilities?"
"In principal that could be done. I welcome a joint defence policy and I admit that the Far East needs to be given greater priority. I'll consult with my Foreign Ministry and answer your request. Anything else?"
"Thank you, Sir. My next request is concerning the Middle East. Both our nations have problems there and maybe we can help each other. A couple of anti-Jewish terror groups come from Syria and often go back there when chased out of Palestine. I am also aware that the Golan region is predominately inhabited by Circassians who feel disadvantaged by the Arab dominated government in Damascus and are asking for greater autonomy. A request which was denied by the previous French government. Has that policy changed, Sir? To be blunt I would like to request that you allow British forces in Palestine to administrate the region. I believe that France, Britain and the Golan would benefit from such an arrangement."
"I wasn't expecting that request. Do you support that, Winston?"
"Bob has just returned from the region and has provided our government with excellent insight. His other recommendations have been approved by the Prime Minister. On the other hand because of Palestine's proximity to the Suez Canal the volatile situation in the region may have a different priority here than you have in Paris."
"I shall seriously consider your request and reply after consultations at home."
"We are hoping you may consider it as one problem less that you have to worry about."
"That would be ideal."
"One final topic, Sir. Germany. Let's pretend that Hitler attempts to remilitarize the Rhineland and our response is successful. What do we do next? In my opinion we should have a plan before Hitler makes his move. Ideally by the end of January at the latest."
"A good point, Sir Robert. Even if the guns are silent we are technically at war with Germany."
"...and therefore we need a peace treaty complete with demands, etc. They will have broken the Locarno Treaties and one could argue that Germany's treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia are worthless pieces of paper."
"I share your concern entirely. We have also been asking ourselves what happens after Hitler. There may even be a civil war. Then what do we do?"
"Do we even get involved? If one group is the SS under Himmler and Heydrich I believe that we should consider supporting the other side which would probably be the Wehrmacht and possibly socialists. Although a civil war is the worst case scenario."
"Hopefully there will be a peaceful transition. Winston, may I suggest that our Defence and Foreign Ministries create a study group to formulate a joint policy."
"I support that wholeheartedly, Édouard. I agree that we need both the military and diplomats involved."
"May I suggest that we keep the League of Nations and Italy out of it, but include Poland and Czechoslovakia. Also our goal should be the opposite of a new Versailles Treaty. We should try to bind the Germans into our defence strategy not alienate them further." That's the optimist in me speaking. "The Swiss Foreign Minister was extremely helpful during the Italian Crisis."
"I agree, Bob." Winston said further that he'll consult with Stanley Baldwin and Anthony Eden so that we'll have a more concrete proposal tomorrow.
That was pretty much the end of our dinner. Winston asked me later if I would like to be a member of the group.
"I'd love to but my plate is rather full at the moment. May I suggest John Gort and John Simon? I know that the latter is no longer in the Foreign Office but he has the expertise."
"You're driving home with John Gort this evening. Is that correct?"
"That's our intention."
"Talk with him on the way home. I'll handle the Foreign Office. Ideally I would like to have you and John in the group. Sleep on it, Bob."