The Grand Alliance (144 page)

Tommy stood disconsolate. The Captain had brushed his project aside in a way that captains have. The steward was a trained member of the crew; he could not take one single person more; every tank was filled to the brim with petrol. It

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would be quite a task getting off the water even as it was.

So we taxied out to the far end of the harbour, leaving Tommy lamenting as bitterly as Lord Ullin in the poem,
3

but for different reasons. Never before and never afterwards were we separated in these excursions.

It was, as the Captain had predicted, quite a job to get off the water. Indeed, I thought that we should hardly clear the low hills which closed the harbour. There was really no danger; we were in sure hands. The flying-boat lifted ponderously a quarter of a mile from the reef, and we had several hundred feet of height to spare. There is no doubt about the comfort of these great flying-boats. I had a good broad bed in the bridal suite at the stern with large windows on either side. It was quite a long walk, thirty or forty feet, downhill through the various compartments to the saloon and dining-room, where nothing was lacking in food or drink. The motion was smooth, the vibration not unpleasant, and we passed an agreeable afternoon and had a merry dinner. These boats have two storeys, and one walks up a regular staircase to the control room. Darkness had fallen, and all the reports were good. We were now flying through dense mist at about seven thousand feet.

One could see the leading edge of the wings, with their great flaming exhausts pouring back over the wing surfaces. In these machines at this time a large rubber tube which expanded and contracted at intervals was used to prevent icing. The Captain explained to me how it worked, and we saw from time to time the ice splintered off as it expanded. I went to bed and slept soundly for several hours.

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I woke just before the dawn, and went forward to the controls. The daylight grew. Beneath us was an almost unbroken floor of clouds.

After sitting for an hour or so in the co-pilot’s seat, I sensed a feeling of anxiety around me. We were supposed to be approaching England from the southwest and we ought already to have passed the Scilly Islands, but they had not been seen through any of the gaps in the cloud floor. As we had flown for more than ten hours through mist and had had only one sight of a star in that time, we might well be slightly off our course after such a lengthy flight. Wireless communication was of course limited by the normal wartime rules. It was evident from the discussions which were going on that we did not know where we were. Presently Portal, who had been studying the position, had a word with the Captain, and then said to me, “We are going to turn north at once.” This was done, and after another half-hour in and out of the clouds we sighted England, and soon arrived over Plymouth, where, avoiding the balloons, which were all shining, we landed comfortably.

As I left the aircraft the Captain remarked, “I never felt so much relieved in my life as when I landed you safely in the harbour.” I did not appreciate the significance of his remark at the moment. Later on I learnt that if we had held on our course for another five or six minutes before turning northward we should have been over the German batteries in Brest. We had slanted too much to the southward during the night. Moreover, the decisive correction which had been made brought us in, not from the southwest, but from just east of south – that is to say, from the enemy’s direction rather than from that from which we were expected. This had the result, as I was told some weeks later, that we were reported as a hostile bomber coming in from Brest, and six The Grand Alliance

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Hurricanes from Fighter Command were ordered out to shoot us down. However, they failed in their mission.

To President Roosevelt I cabled, “We got here with a good hop from Bermuda and a thirty-mile wind.”

END OF BOOK TWO

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Appendices

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Contents

Appendices To Book One

A. List of Abbreviations

B. List of Operational Code Names
C. Prime Minister’s Personal Minutes and Telegrams,
January–June, 1941

D. Estimated British and German Air Strengths, December,
1940. Note by Prime Minister and Minister of Defence
E. Monthly Totals of Shipping Losses, British, Allied, and
Neutral

F. Military Directives and Minutes, January–June, 1941

Appendices To Book Two

A. Prime Minister’s Personal Minutes and Telegrams, July–

December, 1941

B. Prime Minister’s Telegrams to the Government of Australia
C. “The British Purchasing Commission in the United States.”

Directive by the Prime Minister of August 11, 1941

D. The Anglo-American-Russian Conference: General
Directive by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence,
September 22, 1941

E. Fleet Dispositions in the Indian Ocean: Correspondence
between the Prime Minister and the First Lord and First Sea
Lord, August, 1941

F. Tanks for the Middle East

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G. Naval Directives and Minutes, March–December, 1941

H. Ministerial Appointments for Year 1941

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Book One

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Appendix A, Book One

List of Abbreviations

A.A. GUNS

Anti-aircraft guns, or ack-ack guns A.D.G.B.

Air Defence of Great Britain

A.F.V.s

Armoured fighting vehicles

A.G.R.M.

Adjutant General Royal Marines

A.P.

Armour-piercing

A.R.P.

Air Raid Precautions

A.T. RIFLES

Anti-tank rifles

A.T.S.

(Women’s) Auxiliary Territorial Service C.A.S.

Chief of the Air Staff

C.I.G.S.

Chief of the Imperial General Staff C.-in-C.

Commander-in-Chief

CONTROLLER Third Sea Lord and Chief of Material C.O.S.

Chiefs of Staff

D.N.C.

Director of Naval Construction

F.O.

Foreign Office

G.H.Q.

General Headquarters

G.O.C.

General Officer Commanding

H.E.

High Explosive

H.F.

Home Forces

H.M.G.

His Majesty’s Government

M.A.P.

Ministry of Aircraft Production

M.E.W.

Ministry of Economic Warfare

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M.O.I.

Ministry of Information

M. OF L.

Ministry of Labour

M. OF S.

Ministry of Supply

M.T.

Motor Transport

P.M.

Prime Minister

U.P.

Unrotated projectiles – i.e., code name for rockets V.C.A.S.

Vice-Chief of the Air Staff

V.C.I.G.S.

Vice-Chief of the Imperial General Staff V.C.N.S.

Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff

W.A.A.F.

Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

W.R.N.S.

Women’s Royal Naval Service (“Wrens”)

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Appendix B, Book One

List of Operational Code Names

A
CROBAT: Advance from Cyrenaica into Tripoli.

A
RCADIA: First Washington Conference, December, 1941.

B
ARBAROSSA: German plan for invasion of Russia.

B
ATTLEAXE: Offensive operations in Sollum, Tobruk, and Capuzzo area, June, 1941.

C
ANVAS: Attack on Kismayu.

C
OLORADO: Crete.

C
RUSADER: Operations in Western Desert, November, 1941.

E
XPORTER: Operations in Syria.