Post by Diarist on Jan 2, 2017 23:45:40 GMT 1
On the way to the MCD Winston told me that it will be a Palestine meeting in the A&N Club to discuss options. I told Sally not to worry about picking me up because there will be several people present who also have to get back to Saffron Walden. It was John Simon's first visit at MCD so he was given a brief tour by COL Wilkins. Afterwards we went to the MoD then were driven to the Army and Navy Club with Winston. Louis and Sir Philip were already there together with Geoffrey Howard, the newly promoted and designated High Commissioner of Palestine and Transjordan.
"Nice to see you again, Geoffrey. Congratulations on your promotion. Have you met Secretary Churchill?"
"Briefly last year. Good afternoon, Mr Secretary"
"This is John Simon, the Home Secretary and former Deputy Foreign Secretary." The others slowly trickled in. George Patton was a new face for General Howard as was Ritchie O'Connor. He remembered Irvine Miller but under a different name. We explained that to him. He was also informed him about Orde Wingate and WO1 Thomas Shaw's real identity.
"You have plenty of expertise in your new command," Winston told him.
"A lot of your former division will be joining you in Palestine to become the 5th Armoured Division. Cadres are being sent back to England to form new battalions while there will promotion opportunities for many 5th Infantry Division officers who go to Palestine. Ritchie is the commander of the 5th Armoured and I'm sure he would appreciate your help selecting battalion commanders."
"I'll be glad to help."
Lunch was served and it looked like Christmas had returned. Turkey with gammon, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts and sauce Béarnaise. Delicious and accompanied by a Silvaner white wine from Baden. Afterwards General Howard was given a thick dossier. "To keep you busy. Most of it is background material with a lot of intelligence reports to round it off," Winston explained.
"So what's going on in Paris," he asked.
I answered. "We are hoping to extend our excellent Anglo-French cooperation to the Middle East. They have problems with their Mandate in Syria. It's probably more volatile there than in Palestine. We need to work together because an anti-French victory would strengthen anti-British sentiment in the region. Syria is France's Iraq."
"At Chequers last weekend we suggested giving Golan to us because it would help us stop insurgents coming from Syria to Palestine and it would also be one less problem for them. Several of the Levant states aren't Sunni Arabs and want autonomy from Damascus. Until now the French have refused that but with their back up against the wall and a new non-Laval government in Paris they may be more susceptible to new ideas. I believe that not only we British and the French would benefit from this arrangement but also the Circassians who form the majority in Golan. They are from the Caucasus, north of Georgia. Victims of Russian expansion last century who took refuge within the Ottoman Empire," Winston added.
"Like the Jews they are without a home. Back to Palestine, I managed to arrange a four month secret truce between the Arabs and Jews. I shall be returning in early February to negotiate a permanent solution but to be honest there is little chance of success. I'm buying time so that we can prepare for the inevitable conflict."
"That bad?"
"Yes, and Syria could only make it worse."
"So how do we respond?
"That hasn't been decided yet but I know that Bob supports a tough response, at least that's what Admiral Keyes told me."
"That's a misunderstanding which I would gladly correct if I may. I believe in a flexible response, measured but also guided by their actions. Peaceful demonstrations are met with the local police authorities peacefully keeping them away from sensitive areas. If civil servants strike their office building is closed for good. If shop keepers strike their shops are closed and their goods are distributed to the poor and needy for free. If they start killing people the people responsible are executed, their families evicted then escorted to Syria or Saudi Arabia. They can choose where. If an Arab villages harbours the terrorists then the village is thoroughly searched and in all properties where weapons are found the adult males are executed and the remaining villagers are sent to Syria or Saudi Arabia and the village becomes a Jewish Kibbutz."
"I have to stop you there, Bob. That'll cause even more troubles."
"You didn't let me finish, Winston. I'm trying to say that if they know these responses in advance then they will be directing our responses. Let them decide what we do. Last month the Black Hand abducted a couple of members of our police force then executed them. They determined our future response. If they deny their services then we deny them their service. We shall be responding according to their actions and they know in advance what our reaction will be. Another important point. If it comes to a partition, and it probably will, how do we determine which areas become Jewish? I'm saying let the Arabs decide. If a district/village supports Arab terrorism then it is cleansed and becomes a Jewish district/settlement. A poetic solution. The nastier the Arabs get the more they'll lose. Let them determine the final outcome. The smart Arabs will quickly realise that and will welcome Transjordanian forces to maintain order and at the same time reject the extremist policies of the Grand Mufti and his terrorist friends."
"So you predict all this will happen?" Roger Keyes asked.
"It's not a prediction. I'm proposing it as a strategy. We can support the strategy by dropping leaflets over peaceful and turbulent areas. The Mufti admires Hitler so let's give him a dose of Nazi propaganda. Also if we are prepared I would rather have them target British forces. If they start targeting Jewish communities the Haganah and Irgun might become uncontrollable and start retaliating on their own. The last thing we need is to lose control of the situation."
"What do you consider prepared?" General Howard asked.
"We have the joint counter-terrorist unit active and at least 15,000 troops available. We have that many troops, and more, in theatre at the moment but not in the right position. We just need to rearrange our furniture so if necessary we can rearrange theirs."
"I'm not making any decision today but we shall meet again next Friday. If you have any alternatives or suggestions I want them in writing on my desk not later than Thursday afternoon."
"In writing? How about this?" I wrote a quote from the Quran in Arabic and passed to him. "wa Allahu yuhibbu as-saabiriina. Translated: and Allah loves the steadfast."
"I'll keep that in my mind," he replied with a smile on his face. Winston, John Simon, Roger Keyes and Sir Philip left so I stayed behind with the 'Palestine' group and helped them with the dossier. An hour or so later we Saffron Walden dwellers drove home. Some of us may meet later this evening in the hotel.
"Nice to see you again, Geoffrey. Congratulations on your promotion. Have you met Secretary Churchill?"
"Briefly last year. Good afternoon, Mr Secretary"
"This is John Simon, the Home Secretary and former Deputy Foreign Secretary." The others slowly trickled in. George Patton was a new face for General Howard as was Ritchie O'Connor. He remembered Irvine Miller but under a different name. We explained that to him. He was also informed him about Orde Wingate and WO1 Thomas Shaw's real identity.
"You have plenty of expertise in your new command," Winston told him.
"A lot of your former division will be joining you in Palestine to become the 5th Armoured Division. Cadres are being sent back to England to form new battalions while there will promotion opportunities for many 5th Infantry Division officers who go to Palestine. Ritchie is the commander of the 5th Armoured and I'm sure he would appreciate your help selecting battalion commanders."
"I'll be glad to help."
Lunch was served and it looked like Christmas had returned. Turkey with gammon, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts and sauce Béarnaise. Delicious and accompanied by a Silvaner white wine from Baden. Afterwards General Howard was given a thick dossier. "To keep you busy. Most of it is background material with a lot of intelligence reports to round it off," Winston explained.
"So what's going on in Paris," he asked.
I answered. "We are hoping to extend our excellent Anglo-French cooperation to the Middle East. They have problems with their Mandate in Syria. It's probably more volatile there than in Palestine. We need to work together because an anti-French victory would strengthen anti-British sentiment in the region. Syria is France's Iraq."
"At Chequers last weekend we suggested giving Golan to us because it would help us stop insurgents coming from Syria to Palestine and it would also be one less problem for them. Several of the Levant states aren't Sunni Arabs and want autonomy from Damascus. Until now the French have refused that but with their back up against the wall and a new non-Laval government in Paris they may be more susceptible to new ideas. I believe that not only we British and the French would benefit from this arrangement but also the Circassians who form the majority in Golan. They are from the Caucasus, north of Georgia. Victims of Russian expansion last century who took refuge within the Ottoman Empire," Winston added.
"Like the Jews they are without a home. Back to Palestine, I managed to arrange a four month secret truce between the Arabs and Jews. I shall be returning in early February to negotiate a permanent solution but to be honest there is little chance of success. I'm buying time so that we can prepare for the inevitable conflict."
"That bad?"
"Yes, and Syria could only make it worse."
"So how do we respond?
"That hasn't been decided yet but I know that Bob supports a tough response, at least that's what Admiral Keyes told me."
"That's a misunderstanding which I would gladly correct if I may. I believe in a flexible response, measured but also guided by their actions. Peaceful demonstrations are met with the local police authorities peacefully keeping them away from sensitive areas. If civil servants strike their office building is closed for good. If shop keepers strike their shops are closed and their goods are distributed to the poor and needy for free. If they start killing people the people responsible are executed, their families evicted then escorted to Syria or Saudi Arabia. They can choose where. If an Arab villages harbours the terrorists then the village is thoroughly searched and in all properties where weapons are found the adult males are executed and the remaining villagers are sent to Syria or Saudi Arabia and the village becomes a Jewish Kibbutz."
"I have to stop you there, Bob. That'll cause even more troubles."
"You didn't let me finish, Winston. I'm trying to say that if they know these responses in advance then they will be directing our responses. Let them decide what we do. Last month the Black Hand abducted a couple of members of our police force then executed them. They determined our future response. If they deny their services then we deny them their service. We shall be responding according to their actions and they know in advance what our reaction will be. Another important point. If it comes to a partition, and it probably will, how do we determine which areas become Jewish? I'm saying let the Arabs decide. If a district/village supports Arab terrorism then it is cleansed and becomes a Jewish district/settlement. A poetic solution. The nastier the Arabs get the more they'll lose. Let them determine the final outcome. The smart Arabs will quickly realise that and will welcome Transjordanian forces to maintain order and at the same time reject the extremist policies of the Grand Mufti and his terrorist friends."
"So you predict all this will happen?" Roger Keyes asked.
"It's not a prediction. I'm proposing it as a strategy. We can support the strategy by dropping leaflets over peaceful and turbulent areas. The Mufti admires Hitler so let's give him a dose of Nazi propaganda. Also if we are prepared I would rather have them target British forces. If they start targeting Jewish communities the Haganah and Irgun might become uncontrollable and start retaliating on their own. The last thing we need is to lose control of the situation."
"What do you consider prepared?" General Howard asked.
"We have the joint counter-terrorist unit active and at least 15,000 troops available. We have that many troops, and more, in theatre at the moment but not in the right position. We just need to rearrange our furniture so if necessary we can rearrange theirs."
"I'm not making any decision today but we shall meet again next Friday. If you have any alternatives or suggestions I want them in writing on my desk not later than Thursday afternoon."
"In writing? How about this?" I wrote a quote from the Quran in Arabic and passed to him. "wa Allahu yuhibbu as-saabiriina. Translated: and Allah loves the steadfast."
"I'll keep that in my mind," he replied with a smile on his face. Winston, John Simon, Roger Keyes and Sir Philip left so I stayed behind with the 'Palestine' group and helped them with the dossier. An hour or so later we Saffron Walden dwellers drove home. Some of us may meet later this evening in the hotel.