The first blog : The first blog

The family looked quite happy and normal, smiling...

2010-08-11T18:45:30Z

The family looked quite happy and normal, smiling serenely up out of the newspaperBaby Ariana's arm waved vaguely out of her shawlHarry looked above the picture and saw the headline:

C1="BIOGRAPHY OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE"
cbEXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM UPCOMING
lBIOGRAPHY OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORElb
by Rita Skeeterc
Thinking it could hardly make him feel any worse than he already did, Harry began to read:
Proud and haughty, Kendra Dumbledore could not bear to remain in Mould-on-the-Wold after her husband Percival's well-publicized arrest and imprisonment in AzkabanShe therefore decided to uproot the family and relocate to Godric's Hollow, the village that was later to gain fame as the scene of Harry Potter's strange escape from You-Know-Who
Like Mould-on-the-Wold, Godric's Hollow was home to a number of Wizarding families, but as Kendra knew none of them, she would be spared the curiosity about her husband's crime she had faced in her former villageBy repeatedly rebuffing the friendly advances of her new Wizarding neighbors, she soon ensured that her family was left well alone
"Slammed the door in my face when I went around to welcome her with a batch of homemade bay bag chloe Cauldron Cakes," says Bathilda Bagshot"The first year they were there I only ever saw the two boysWouldn't have known there was a daughter if I hadn't been picking Plangentines by moonlight the winter after they moved in, and saw Kendra leading Ariana out into the back gardenWalked her round the lawn once, keeping a firm grip on her, then took her back insideDidn't know what to make of it
It seems that Kendra thought the move to Godric's Hollow was the perfect opportunity to hide Ariana once and for all, something she had probably been planning for yearsThe timing was significantAriana was barely seven years old when she vanished from sight, and seven is the age by which most experts agree that magic will have revealed itself, if presentNobody now alive remembers Ariana ever demonstrating even the slightest sign of magical abilityIt seems clear, therefore, that Kendra made a decision to hide her daughter's existence rather than suffer the shame of admitting that she had produced a SquibMoving away from the friends and neighbors who knew Ariana would, of course, make imprisoning her all the easierThe tiny number of people who henceforth knew of Ariana's existence could be mulberry bags counted upon to keep the secret, including her two brothers, who had deflected awkward questions with the answer their mother had taught them"My sister is too frail for school
iNext week: Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts - the Prizes and the Pretensei
Harry had been wrong: What he had read had indeed made him feel worseHe looked back at the photograph of the apparently happy familyWas it true? How could he find out? He wanted to go to Godric's Hollow, even if Bathilda was in no fit state to talk to him: he wanted to visit the place where he and Dumbledore had both lost loved onesHe was in the process of lowering the newspaper, to ask Ron's and Hermione's opinions, when a deafening icracki echoed around the kitchen
For the first time in three days Harry had forgotten all about KreacherHis immediate thought was that Lupin had burst back into the room, and for a split second, he did not take in the mass of struggling limbs that had appeared out of thin air right beside his chairHe hurried to his feet as Kreacher disentangled himself and, bowing low to Harry, croaked, "Kreacher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher, Master
Mundungus scrambled up and pulled out his omega replica watches wand; Hermione, however, was too quick for him
"iExpelliarmus!i"
Mundungus's wand soared into the air, and Hermione caught itWild-eyed, Mundungus dived for the stairsRon rugby-tackled him and Mundungus hit the stone floor with a muffled crunch
"What?" he bellowed, writhing in his attempts to free himself from Ron's grip"Wha've I done? Setting a bleedin' 'house-elf on me, what are you playing at, wha've I done, lemme go, lemme go, of - "
"You're not in much of a position to make threats," said HarryHe threw aside the newspaper, crossed the kitchen in a few strides, and dropped to his knees beside Mundungus, who stopped struggling and looked terrifiedRon got up, panting, and watched as Harry pointed his wand deliberately at Mundungus's noseMundungus stank of stale sweat and tobacco smokeHis hair was matted and his robes stained
"Kreacher apologizes for the delay in bringing the thief, Master," croaked the elf"Fletcher knows how to avoid capture, has many hidey-holes and accomplicesNevertheless, Kreacher cornered the thief in the end
"You've done really well, Kreacher," said Harry, and the elf bowed low
"Right, we've got a few questions for you," Harry told Mundungus, who replica tiffany jewelry shouted at once
"I panicked, okay? I never wanted to come along, no offense, mate, but I never volunteered to die for you, an' that was bleedin' You-Know-Who come flying at me, anyone woulda got outta thereI said all along I didn't wanna do it -"
"For your information, none of the rest of us Disapparated," said Hermione
"Well, you're a bunch of bleedin' 'eroes then, aren't you, but I never pretended I was up for killing meself -"
"We're not interested in why you ran out on Mad-Eye," said Harry, moving his wand a little closer to Mundungus's baggy, bloodshot eyes"We already knew you were an unreliable bit of scum
"Well then, why the 'ell am I being 'unted down by 'ouse-elves? Or is this about them goblets again? I ain't got none of 'em left, or you could 'ave 'em -"
"It's not about the goblets either, although you're getting warmer," said Harry
It felt wonderful to have something to do, someone of whom he could demand some small portion of truthHarry's wand was now so close to the bridge of Mundungus's nose that Mundungus had gone cross-eyed trying to keep it in view
"When you cleaned out this house of anything valuable," Harry began, but Mundungus interrupted him chanel purse white ag

"The sword that lies inside it is a fake He...

2010-08-10T18:39:01Z

"The sword that lies inside it is a fake He looked from one to the other of them"I think that you already know thisYou asked me to lie for you back there
"But the fake sword isn't the only thing in that vault, is it?" asked Harry"Perhaps you've seen other things in there?"
His heart was pounding harder than everHe redoubled his efforts to ignore the pulsing of his scar
The goblin twisted his beard around his finger again
"It is against our code to speak of the secrets of GringottsWe are the guardians of fabulous treasuresWe have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers
The goblin stroked the sword, and his black eyes roved from Harry to Hermione to Ron christian dior saddle bag and then back again
"So young," he said finally, "to be fighting so many
"Will you help us?" said Harry"We haven't got a hope of breaking in without a goblin's helpYou're our one chancethink about it," said Griphook maddeningly
"But -" Ron started angrily; Hermione nudged him in the ribs
"Thank you," said Harry
The goblin bowed his great domed head in acknowledgement, then flexed his short legs
"I think," he said, settling himself ostentatiously upon Bill and Fleur's bed, "that the Skele-Gro has finished its workI may be able to sleep at last
"Yeah, of course," said Harry, but before leaving the room he leaned forward and took the sword of Gryffindor from beside the goblinGriphook did not protest, tiffany heart tag necklace but Harry thought he saw resentment in the goblin's eyes as he closed the door upon him
"Little git," whispered Ron"He's enjoying keeping us hanging
"Harry," whispered Hermione, pulling them both away from the door, into the middle of the still-dark landing, "are you saying what I think you're saying? Are you saying there's a Horcrux in the Lestranges vault?"
"Yes," said Harry"Bellatrix was terrified when she thought we'd been in there, she was beside herselfWhy? What did she think we'd seen, what else did she think we might have taken? Something she was petrified You-Know-Who would find out about
"But I thought we were looking for places You-Know-Who's been, places he's done something important?" borse replica said Ron, looking baffled"Was he ever inside the Lestranges' vault?"
"I don't know whether he was ever inside Gringotts," said Harry"He never had gold there when he was younger, because nobody left him anythingHe would have seen the bank from the outside, though, the first time he ever went to Diagon Alley
Harry's scar throbbed, but he ignored it; he wanted Ron and Hermione to understand about Gringotts before they spoke to Ollivander
"I think he would have envied anyone who had a key to a Gringotts vaultI think he'd have seen it as a real symbol of belonging to the Wizarding worldAnd don't forget, he trusted Bellatrix and her husbandThey were his most devoted servants before he fell, and they went mens gucci watches looking for him after he vanishedHe said it night he came back, I heard him
Harry rubbed his scar
"I don't think he'd have told Bellatrix it was a Horcrux, thoughHe never told Lucius Malfoy the truth about the diaryHe probably told her it was a treasured possession and asked her to place it in her vaultThe safest place in the world for anything you want to hide, Hagrid told me
When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his head
"You really understand him
"Bits of him," said HarryI just wish I'd understood Dumbledore as muchCome on - Ollivander now
Ron and Hermione looked bewildered but very impressed as they followed him across the little landing and knocked upon the door opposite Bill and bag chloe paddington Fleur's

The king was a delighted witness of the theft;...

2010-08-08T18:44:57Z

The king was a delighted witness of the theft; Gilderoy, assuming an air of
facile intimacy, motioned him to silence; and he, deeming it a trick put
upon Richelieu by a friend, hastened, at the service-end, to ask his
minister if perchance he had a purse of gold upon him Richelieu
instantly discovered the loss, to the king's uncontrolled hilarity, which was

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
mitigated when it was found that the thief, having emptied the king's
pocket at the unguarded moment of his merriment, had left them both the
poorer
Such were Gilderoy's interludes of gaiety; and when you remember the
cynical ferocity of his earlier performance, you cannot deny him the credit
of versatility He stayed in France until his ominous reputation was too
widely spread; whereupon he crossed the Pyrenees, travelling like a
gentleman, in a brilliant carriage of his own From Spain he carried off a
priceless collection of silver plate; and he returned to his own country,
fatigued, yet unsoftened, by the grand tour Meanwhile, a forgetful
generation had not kept his memory green The monster, who punished
Scotland a year ago with fire and sword, had passed into oblivion, and
Gilderoy was able to establish for himself a new reputation He departed
as far as possible from his ancient custom, joined the many cavaliers, who
were riding up and down the country, pistol in hand, louis vuitton backpacks and presently proved
a dauntless highwayman He had not long ridden in the neighbourhood
of Perth before he met the Earl of Linlithgow, from whom he took a gold
watch, a diamond ring, and eighty guineas Being an outlaw, he naturally
espoused the King's cause, and would have given a year of his life to meet
a Regicide Once upon a time, says rumour, he found himself face to
face with Oliver Cromwell, whom he dragged from his coach, set
ignominiously upon an ass, and so turned adrift with his feet tied under the
beast's belly The story is incredible, not only because the loyal
historians of the time caused Oliver to be robbed daily on every road in
Great Britain, but because our Gilderoy, had he ever confronted the
Protector, most assuredly would not have allowed him to escape with his
life
Tired of scouring the highway, Gilderoy resolved upon another
enterprise He collected a band of fearless ruffians, and placed himself at
their head With this army to aid, he harried Sutherland and the North,
lifting cattle, plundering homesteads, and stopping wayfarers with a
humour and adroitness worthy of Robin Hood No longer a lawless
adventurer, he made his own conditions of life, and forced the people to
obey them He who would pay Gilderoy a fair contribution ran no risk of

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
losing his sheep or oxen But evasion was impossible, and the omega usa smallest
suspicion of falsehood was punished by death The peaceably inclined
paid their toll with regret; the more daring opposed the raider to their
miserable undoing; the timid satisfied the utmost exactions of Gilderoy,
and deemed themselves fortunate if they left the country with their lives
Thus Scotland became a land of dread; the most restless man within
her borders hardly dare travel beyond his byre The law was powerless
against this indomitable scourge, and the reward of a thousand marks
would have been offered in vain, had not Gilderoy's cruelty estranged his
mistress This traitress--Peg Cunningham was her name--less for avarice
than in revenge for many insults and infidelities, at last betrayed her
master Having decoyed him to her house, she admitted fifty armed men,
and thus imagined a full atonement for her unnumbered wrongs But
Gilderoy was triumphant to the last Instantly suspecting the treachery of
his mistress, he burst into her bed-chamber, and, that she might not enjoy
the price of blood, ripped her up with a hanger Then he turned defiant
upon the army arrayed against him, and killed eight men before the others
captured him
Disarmed after a desperate struggle, he was loaded with chains and
carried to Edinburgh, where he was starved for three days, and then
hanged without the formality of a trial on a gibbet, thirty feet high, set up
in the Grassmarket Even then Scotland's vengeance was unsatisfied
The body, cut down from its first chanel logo earrings gibbet, was hung in chains forty feet
above Leith Walk, where it creaked and gibbered as a warning to evildoers
for half a century, until at last the inhabitants of that respectable quarter
petitioned that Gilderoy's bones should cease to rattle, and that they should
enjoy the peace impossible for his jingling skeleton
Gilderoy was no drawing-room scoundrel, no villain of schoolgirl
romance He felt remorse as little as he felt fear, and there was no crime
from whose commission he shrank Before his death he confessed to
thirty-seven murders, and bragged that he had long since lost count of his
robberies and rapes Something must be abated for boastfulness But
after all deduction there remains a tale of crime that is unsurpassed His
most admirably artistic quality is his complete consistence He was a

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
ruffian finished and rotund; he made no concession, he betrayed no
weakness Though he never preached a sermon against the human race,
he practised a brutality which might have proceeded from a gospel of hate
He spared neither friends nor relatives, and he murdered his own mother
with as light a heart as he sent a strange widow of Aberdeen to her death
His skill is undoubted, and he proved by the discipline of his band that he
was not without some talent of generalship But he owed much of his
success to his physical strength, and to the temperament, which never
knew the scandal of ladies omega watches hesitancy or dread
A born marauder, he devoted his life to his trade; and, despite his
travels in France and Spain, he enjoyed few intervals of merriment Even
the humour, which proved his redemption, was as dour and grim as
Scotland can furnish at her grimmes: and dourest Here is a specimen
will serve as well as another: three of Gilderoy's gang had been hanged
according to the sentence of a certain Lord of Session, and the Chieftain,
for his own vengeance and the intimidation of justice, resolved upon an
exemplary punishment He waylaid the Lord of Session, emptied his
pockets, killed his horses, broke his coach in pieces, and having bound his
lackeys, drowned them in a pond This was but the prelude of revenge,
for presently (and here is the touch of humour) he made the Lord of
Session ride at dead of night to the gallows, whereon the three malefactors
were hanging One arm of the crossbeams was still untenanted `By
my soul, mon,' cried Gilderoy to the Lord of Session, `as this gibbet is
built to break people's craigs, and is not uniform without another, I must
e'en hang you upon the vacant beam' And straightway the Lord of
Session swung in the moonlight, and Gilderoy had cracked his black and
solemn joke
This sense of fun is the single trait which relieves the colossal
turpitude of Gilderoy And, though even his turpitude was melodramatic
in its lack of balance, it is a unity of character which is the foundation of
his vintage chanel jewelry great

And away he went, in a great hurry Beth had a...

2010-08-07T18:39:11Z

And away he went, in a great hurry
Beth had a rapture with her mother, and then rushed up to impart the glorious news to her family of invalids, as the girls were not homeHow blithely she sang that evening, and how they all laughed at her because she woke Amy in the night by playing the piano on her face in her sleepNext day, having seen both the old and young gentleman out of the house, Beth, after two or three retreats, fairly got in at the side door, and made her way as noiselessly as any mouse to the drawing room where her idol stoodQuite by accident, of course, some pretty, easy music lay on the piano, and with trembling fingers and frequent stops to listen and look about, Beth at last touched the great instrument, and straightway forgot her fear, herself, and everything else but the unspeakable delight which the music gave her, for it was like the voice of a beloved friend
She stayed till Hannah came to take her home to dinner, but she had no appetite, and could only sit and smile upon everyone in a general state of beatitude
After that, the little brown hood slipped through the hedge nearly every day, and the great drawing room was haunted by a fendi b bag tuneful spirit that came and went unseenShe never knew that MrLaurence opened his study door to hear the old-fashioned airs he likedShe never saw Laurie mount guard in the hall to warn the servants awayShe never suspected that the exercise books and new songs which she found in the rack were put there for her especial benefit, and when he talked to her about music at home, she only thought how kind he was to tell things that helped her so muchSo she enjoyed herself heartily, and found, what isn't always the case, that her granted wish was all she had hopedPerhaps it was because she was so grateful for this blessing that a greater was given herAt any rate she deserved both"Mother, I'm going to work MrLaurence a pair of slippersHe is so kind to me, I must thank him, and I don't know any other wayCan I do it?" asked Beth, a few weeks after that eventful call of hisIt will please him very much, and be a nice way of thanking himThe girls will help you about them, and I will pay for the making up," replied MrsMarch, who took peculiar pleasure in granting Beth's requests because she so seldom asked anything for herself
After many serious discussions with Meg and Jo, picasso cartier the pattern was chosen, the materials bought, and the slippers begunA cluster ofgrave yet cheerful pansies on a deeper purple ground was pronounced very appropriate and pretty, and beth worked away early and late, with occasional lifts over hard partsShe was a nimble little needlewoman, and they were finished before anyone got tired of themThen she wrote a short, simple note, and with Laurie's help, got them smuggled onto the study table one morning before the old gentleman was up
When this excitement was over, Beth waited to see what would happenAll day passed a a part of the next before any acknowledgement arrived, and she was beginning to fear she had offended her crochety friendOn the afternoon of the second day, she went out to do an errand, and give poor Joanna, the invalid doll, her daily exerciseAs she came up the street, on her return, she saw three, yes, four heads popping in and out of the parlor windows, and the moment they saw her, several hands were waved, and several joyful voices screamed
"Here's a letter from the old gentleman! Come quick, and read it!"
"Oh, Beth, he's sent you began Amy, gesticulating with unseemly energy, but she got no replica tiffany jewelry further, for Jo quenched her by slamming down the window
Beth hurried on in a flutter of suspenseAt the door her sisters seized and bore her to the parlor in a triumphal procession, all pointing and all saying at once, "Look there! Look there!" Beth did look, and turned pale with delight and surprise, for there stood a little cabinet piano, with a letter lying on the glossy lid, directed like a sign board to "Miss Elizabeth March
"For me?" gasped Beth, holding onto Jo and feeling as if she should tumble down, it was such an overwhelming thing altogether
"Yes, all for you, my precious! Isn't it splendid of him? Don't you think he's the dearest old man in the world? Here's the key in the letterWe didn't open it, but we are dying to know what he says," cried Jo, hugging her sister and offering the note
"You read it! I can't, I feel so queer! Oh, it is too lovely!" and Beth hid her face in Jo's apron, quite upset by her present
Jo opened the paper and began to laugh, for the first worked she saw were
"Miss March:
"Dear Madam--"
"How nice it sounds! I wish someone would write to me so!" said Amy, who thought the old-fashioned address very elegant
"`I vintage omega watches have had many pairs of slippers in my life, but I never had any that suited me so well as yours, '" continues Jo"`Heartsease is my favorite flower, and these will always remind me of the gentle giverI like to pay my debts, so I know you will allow `the old gentleman' to send you something which once belonged to the little grand daughter he lostWith hearty thanks and best wishes, I remain "`Your grateful friend and humble servant,"
`JAMES LAURENCE'
"There, Beth, that's an honor to be proud of, I'm sure! Laurie told me how fond Mraurence used to be of the child who died, and how he kept all her little things carefullyJust think, he's given you her pianoThat comes of having big blue eyes and loving music," said Jo, trying to soothe Beth, who trembled and looked more excited than she had ever been before
"See the cunning brackets to hold candles, and the nice green sild, puckered up, with a gold rose in the middle, and the pretty rack and stool, all complete," added Meg, opening the instrument and displaying its beauties
"`Your humble servant, James Laurence'Only think of his writing that to youThey'll think it's splendid," said Amy, much impressed by the gucci watches for women not

At the conclusion of the ceremonies, Beth retired...

2010-08-06T18:39:08Z

At the conclusion of the ceremonies, Beth retired to her room, overcome with emotion and lobster, but there was no place of repose, for the beds were not made, and she found her grief much assuaged by beating up the pillows and putting things in orderMeg helped Jo clear away the remains of the feast, which took half the afternoon and left them so tired that they agreed to be contented with tea and toast for supper
Laurie took Amy to drive, which was a deed of charity, for the sour cream seemed to have had a bad effect upon her temperMarch came home to find the three older girls hard at work in the middle of the afternoon, and a glance at the closet gave her an idea of the success of one part of the experiment
Before the housewives could rest, several people called, and there was a scramble to get ready to see themThen tea must be got, errands done, and one or two necessary bits of sewing neglected until the last minuteAs twilight fell, dewy and still, one by one they gathered on the porch where the June roses were budding beautifully, and each groaned or sighed as she sat down, as if tired or troubled
"What a dreadful day this has been!" began Jo, usually the women's rolex watch first to speak
"It has seemed shorter than usual, but so uncomfortable," said Meg
"Not a bit like home," added Amy
"It can't seem so without Marmee and little Pip," sighed Beth, glancing with full eyes at the empty cage above her head
"Here's Mother, dear, and you shall have another bird tomorrow, if you want itMarch came and took her place among them, looking as if her holiday had not been much pleasanter than theirs
"Are you satisfied with your experiment, girls, or do you want another week of it?" she asked, as Beth nestled up to her and the rest turned toward her with brightening faces, as flowers turn toward the sun
"I don't!" cried Jo decidedly
"Nor I," echoed the others
"You think then, that it is better to have a few duties and live a little for others, do you?"
"Lounging and larking doesn't pay," observed Jo, shaking her head"I'm tired of it and mean to go to work at something right off
"Suppose you learn plain cookingThat's a useful accomplishment, which no woman should be without," said MrsMarch, laughing inaudibly at the recollection of Jo's dinner party, for she had met Miss Crocker and heard her account of it
"Mother, did you go away and let new cartier watches everything be, just to see how we'd get on?" cried Meg, who had had suspicions all day
"Yes, I wanted you to see how the comfort of all depends on each doing her share faithfullyWhile Hannah and I did your work, you got on pretty well, though I don't think you were very happy or amiableSo I thought, as a little lesson, I would show you what happens when everyone thinks only of herselfDon't you feel that it is pleasanter to help one another, to have daily duties which make leisure sweet when it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and lovely to us all?"
"We do, Mother we do!" cried the girls
"Then let me advise you to take up your little burdens again, for though they seem heavy sometimes, they are good for us, and lighten as we learn to carry themWork is wholesome, and there is plenty for everyoneIt keeps us from ennui and mischief, is good for health and spirits, and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion
"We'll work like bees, and love it too, see if we don't," said Jo"I'll learn plain cooking for my holiday task, and the dinner party I have shall be a success
"I'll make the set of shirts for father, gucci men wallet instead of letting you do it, MarmeeI can and I will, though I'm not fond of sewingThat will be better than fussing over my own things, which are plenty nice enough as they are
"I'll do my lessons every day, and not spend so much time with my music and dollsI am a stupid thing, and ought to be studying, not playing," was Beth's resolution, while Amy followed their example by heroically declaring, "I shall learn to make buttonholes, and attend to my parts of speech
"Very good! Then I am quite satisfied with the experiment, and fancy that we shall not have to repeat it, only don't go to the other extreme and delve like slavesHave regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it wellThen youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty
"We'll remember, Mother!" And they did
CHAPTER TWELVE

Beth was postmistress, for, being most at home, she could attend to it regularly, and dearly liked the daily task of unlocking the little door and distributing the mailOne July day she came in with her hands full, and fendi spy went about the house leaving letters and parcels like the penny post
"Here's your posy, Mother! Laurie never forgets that," she said, putting the fresh nosegay in the vase that stood in `Marmee's corner', and was kept supplied by the affectionate boy
"Miss Meg March, one letter and a glove," continued Beth, delivering the articles to her sister, who sat near her mother, stitching wristbands
"Why, I left a pair over there, and here is only one," said Meg, looking at the gray cotton glove"Didn't you drop the other in the garden?"
"No, I'm sure I didn't, for there was only one in the office
"I hate to have odd gloves! Never mind, the other may be foundMy letter is only a translation of the German song I wantedBrooke did it, for this isn't Laurie's writingMarch glanced at Meg, who was looking very pretty in her gingham morning gown, with the little curls blowing about her forehead, and very womanly, as she sat sewing at her little worktable, full of tidy white rolls, so unconscious of the thought in her mother's mind as she sewed and sang, while her fingers flew and her thoughts were busied with girlish fancies as innocent and fresh as the pansies in her belt, that chanel cambon fake Mr

Thank you very, very much!" Meg spoke earnestly,...

2010-08-05T18:43:24Z

Thank you very, very much!"
Meg spoke earnestly, and forgot herself entirely till something in the brown eyes looking down at her made her remember the cooling tea, and lead the way into the parlor, saying she would call her mother
Everything was arranged by the time Laurie returned with a note from Aunt March, enclosing the desired sum, and a few lines repeating what she had often said before, that she had always told them it was absurd for March to go into the army, always predicted that no good would come of it, and she hoped they would take her advice the next timeMarch put the note in the fire, the money in her purse, and went on with her preparations, with her lips folded tightly in a way which Jo would have understood if she had been there
The short afternoon wore awayAll other errands were done, and Meg and her mother busy at some necessary needlework, while Beth and Amy goth tea, and Hannah finished her ironing with what she called a `slap and a bang', but still Jo did not comeThey began to get anxious, and Laurie went off to find her, for no one knew what freak Jo might take into her headHe missed her, however, and she came walking in with a very queer expression of countenance, chanel cc necklace for there was a mixture of fun and fear, satisfaction and regret in it, which puzzled the family as much as did the roll of bills she laid before her mother, saying with a little choke in her voice, "That's my contribution toward making Father comfortable and bringing him home!"
"My dear, where did you get it? Twenty-five dollars! Jo, I hope you haven't done anything rash?"
"No, it's mine honestlyI didn't beg, borrow, or steal itI earned it, and I don't think you'll blame me, for I only sold what was my own
As she spoke, Jo took off her bonnet, and a general outcry arose, for all her abundant hair was cut short
"Your hair! Your beautiful hair!" "Oh, Jo, how could you? Your one beauty "My dear girl, there was no need of this "She doesn't look like my Jo any more, but I love her dearly for it!"
As everyone exclaimed, and Beth hugged the cropped head tenderly, Jo assumed an indifferent air, which did not deceive anyone a particle, and said, rumpling up the brown bush and trying to look as if she liked it, "It doesn't affect the fate of the nation, so don't wail, BethIt will be good for my vanity, I getting too proud of my wigIt will do my brains good to have that mop taken offMy head gucci watch bands feels deliciously light and cool, and the barber said I could soon have a curly crop, which will be boyish, becoming, and easy to keep in orderI'm satisfied, so please take the money and let's have supper
"Tell me all about it, JoI am not quite satisfied, but I can't blame you, for I know how willingly you sacrificed your vanity, as you call it, to your loveBut, my dear, it was not necessary, and I'm afraid you will regret it one of these days," said Mrs
"No, I won't!" returned Jo stoutly, feeling much relieved that her prank was not entirely condemned
"What made you do it?" asked Amy, who would as soon have thought of cutting off her head as her pretty hair
"Well, I was wild to to something for Father," replied Jo, as they gathered about the table, for healthy young people can eat even in the midst of trouble"I hate to borrow as much as Mother does, and I knew Aunt March would croak, she always does, if you ask for a ninepenceMeg gave all her quarterly salary toward the rent, and I only got some clothes with mine, so I felt wicked, and was bound to have some money, if I sold the nose off my face to get it
"You needn't feel wicked, my child! You had no winter things and got the simplest tiffany and co jewelry with your own hard earnings," said MrsMarch with a look that warmed Jo's heart
"I hadn't the least idea of selling my hair at first, but as I went along I kept thinking what I could do, and feeling as if I'd like to dive into some of the rich stores and help myselfIn a barber's window I saw tails of hair with the prices marked, and one black tail, not so thick as mine, was forty dollarsIt came to me all of a sudden that I had one thing to make money out of, and without stopping to think, I walked in, asked if they bought hair, and what they would give for mine
"I don't see how you dared to do it," said Beth in a tone of awe
"Oh, he was a little man who looked as if he merely lived to oil his hairHe rather stared at first, as if he wasn't used to having girls bounce into his shop and ask him to buy their hairHe said he didn't care about mine, it wasn't the fashionable color, and he never paid much for it in the first placeThe work he put it into it made it dear, and so onIt was getting late, and I was afraid if it wasn't done right away that I shouldn't have it done at all, and you know when I start to do a thing, I hate to give it upSo I begged him to take it, and told him why I was in such a chanel pearl necklace hurryIt was silly, I dare say, but it changed his mind, for I got rather excited, and told the story in my topsy-turvy way, and his wife heard, and said so kindly, `Take it, Thomas, and oblige the young ladyI'd do as much for our Jimmy any day if I had a spire of hair worth selling
"Who was Jimmy?" asked Amy, who liked to have things explained as they went along
"Her son, she said, who was in the armyHow friendly such things make strangers feel, don't they? She talked away all the time the man clipped, and diverted my mind nicely
"Didn't you feel dreadfully when the first cut came?" asked Meg, with a shiver
"I took a last look at my hair while the man got his things, and that was the end of itI never snivel over trifles like thatI will confess, though, I felt queer when I saw the dear old hair laid out on the table, and felt only the short rough ends of my headIt almost seemed as if I'd an arm or leg offThe woman saw me look at it, and picked out a long lock for me to keepI'll give it to you, Marmee, just to remember past glories by, for a crop is so comfortable I don't think I shall ever have a mane againMarch folded the wavy chestnut lock, and laid it away with a short gray one in her authentic hermes d

But something was needed, and the elder ones felt...

2010-08-04T21:41:57Z

But something was needed, and the elder ones felt it, though none confessed the factMarch looked at one another with an anxious expression, as their eyes followed MegJo had sudden fits of sobriety, and was seen to shake her fist at MrBrooke's umbrella, which had been left in the hallMeg was absent-minded, shy, and silent, started when the bell rang, and colored when John's name was mentionedAmy said, "Everyone seemed waiting for something, and couldn't settle down, which was queer, since Father was safe at home," and Beth innocently wondered why their neighbors didn't run over as usual
Laurie went by in the afternoon, and seeing Meg at the window, seemed suddenly possessed with a melodramatic fit, for he fell down on one knee in the snow, beat his breast, tore his hair, and clasped his hands imploringly, as if begging some boonAnd when Meg told him to behave himself and go away, he wrung imaginary tears out of his handkerchief, and staggered round the corner as if in utter despair
"What does the louis vuitton diaper bags goose mean?" said Meg, laughing and trying to look unconscious
"He's showing you how your John will go on by-and-byTouchin, isn't it?" answered Jo scornfully
"Don't say my John, it isn't proper or true," but Meg's voice lingered over the words as if they sounded pleasant to her"Please don't plague me, Jo, I've told you I don't care much about him, and there isn't to be anything said, but we are all to be friendly, and go on as before
"We can't, for something has been said, and Laurie's mischief has spoiled you for meI see it, and so does MotherYou are not like your old self a bit, and seem ever so far away from meI don't mean to plague you and will bear it like a man, but I do wish it was all settledI hate to wait, so if you mean ever to do it, make haste and have it over quickly," said Jo pettishly
"I can't say anything till he speaks, and he won't, because Father said I was too young," began Meg, bending over her work with a queer little smile, which suggested that she did not quite agree vintage gucci handbags with her father on that point
"If he did speak, you wouldn't know what to say, but would cry or blush, or let him have his own way, instead of giving a good, decided no
"I'm not so silly and weak as you thinkI know just what I should say, for I've planned it all, so I needn't be taken unawaresThere's no knowing what may happen, and I wished to be prepared
Jo couldn't help smiling at the important air which Meg had unconsciously assumed and which was as becoming as the pretty color varying in her cheeks
"Would you mind telling me what you'd say?" asked Jo more respectfullyYou are sixteen now, quite old enough to be my confidente, and my experience will be useful to you by-and-by, perhaps, in your own affairs of this sort
"Don't mean to have anyIt's fun to watch other people philander, but I should feel like a fool doing it myself," said Jo, looking alarmed at the thought
"I think not, if you liked anyone very much, and he liked you Meg spoke as if to herself, and glanced out at the lane white chanel bag where she had often seen lovers walking together in the summer twilight
"I thought you were going to tell your speech to that man," said Jo, rudely shortening her sister's little reverie
"Oh, I should merely say, quite calmly and decidedly, `Thank you, MrBrooke, you are very kind, but I agree with Father that I am too young to enter into any engagement at present, so please say no more, but let us be friends as we were
"Hum, that's stiff and cool enough! I don't believe you'll ever say it, and I know he won't be satisfied if you doIf he goes on like the rejected lovers in books, you'll give in, rather than hurt his feelingsI shall tell him I've made up my mind, and shall walk out of the room with dignity
Meg rose as she spoke, and was just going to rehearse the dignified exit, when a step in the hall made her fly into her seat and begin to sew as fast as if her life depended on finishing that particular seam in a given timeJo smothered a laugh at the sudden change, and when someone gave a modest chanel handbag 2.55 tap, opened the door with a grim aspect which was anything but hospitableI came to get my umbrella, that is, to see how your father finds himself today," said MrBrooke, getting a trifle confused as his eyes went from one telltale face to the other
"It's very well, he's in the rackI'll get him, and tell it you are here And having jumbled her father and the umbrella well together in her reply, Jo slipped out of the room to give Meg a chance to make her speech and air her dignityBut the instant she vanished, Meg began to sidle toward the door, murmuring
"Mother will like to see youPray sit down, I'll call herAre you afraid of me, Margaret?" And MrBrooke looked so hurt that Meg thought she must have done something very rudeShe blushed up to the little curls on her forehead, for he had never called her Margaret before, and she was surprised to find how natural and sweet it seemed to hear him say itAnxious to appear friendly and at her ease, she put out her hand with a confiding gesture, and said fendi spy replica gratef

Weasley, who looked nervous"The, er, sitting...

2010-08-02T18:43:01Z

Weasley, who looked nervous"The, er, sitting room, why don't you use that?"
"You can lead the way," Scrimgeour said to Ron"There will be no need for you to accompany us, ArthurWeasley exchange a worried look with MrsWeasley as he, Ron, and Hermione stood upAs they led the way back to the house in silence, Harry knew that the other two were thinking the same as he was; Scrimgeour must, somehow, had learned that the three of them were planning to drop out of Hogwarts
Scrimgeour did not speak as they all passed through the messed kitchen and into the Burrow's sitting roomAlthough the garden had been full of soft golden evening light,
it was already dark in here; Harry flicked his wand at the oil lamps as he entered and they illuminated the shabby but cozy roomScrimgeour sat himself in the sagging armchair that MrWeasley normally occupied, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione omega ladies watch to squeeze side by side onto the sofaOnce they had done so, Scrimgeour spoke
"I have some questions for the three of you, and I think it will be best if we do it individuallyIf you two" a150a150 he pointed at Harry and Hermione a150a150 "can wait upstairs, I will start with Ronald
"We're not going anywhere," said Harry, while Hermione nodded vigorously"You can speak to us together, or not at all
Scrimgeour gave Harry a cold, appraising lookHarry had the impression that the Minister was wondering whether it was worthwhile opening hostilities this early
"Very well then, together," he said, shruggingHe cleared his throat"I am here, as I'm sure you know, because of Albus Dumbledore's will
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another
"A surprise, apparently! You were not aware then that Dumbledore had left you anything?"
"A-all of us?" said Ron, "Me and Hermione new chanel bags too?"
"Yes, all of a150a150"
But Harry interrupted
"Dumbledore died over a month agoWhy has it taken this long to give us what he left us?"
"Isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, before Scrimgeour could answer"They wanted to examine whatever he's left usYou had no right to do that!" she said, and her voice trembled slightly
"I had every right," said Scrimgeour dismissively"The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power the confiscate the contents of a willa150a150"
"That law was created to stop wizards passing on Dark artifacts," said Hermione, "and the Ministry is supposed to have powerful evidence that the deceased's possessions are illegal before seizing them! Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was trying to pass us something cursed?"
"Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour
"No, I'm not," chanel devil wears prada necklace retorted Hermione"I'm hoping to do some good in the world!"
Ron laughedScrimgeour's eyes flickered toward him and away again as Harry spoke
"So why have you decided to let us have our things now? Can't think of a pretext to keep them?"
"No, it'll be because thirty-one days are up," said Hermione at once"They can't keep the objects longer than that unless they can prove they're dangerousRight?"
"Would you say you were close to Dumbledore, Ronald?" asked Scrimgeour, ignoring Hermione
"Me? Not a150a150 not reallyIt was always Harry who
Ron looked around at Harry and Hermione, to see Hermione giving him a stop-talking-now! sort of look, but the damage was done; Scrimgeour looked as though he had
heard exactly what he had expected, and wanted, to hearHe swooped like a bird of prey upon Ron's answer
"If you were not very close to Dumbledore, how do you account for the chloe bag bay fact that he remembered you in his will? He made exceptionally few personal bequestsThe vast majority of his possessions a150a150 his private library, his magical instruments, and other personal effects a150a150 were left to HogwartsWhy do you think you were singled out?"
"Ihen I say we weren't close mean, I think he liked me
"You're being modest, Ron," said Hermione"Dumbledore was very fond of you
This was stretching the truth to breaking point; as far as Harry knew, Ron and Dumbledore had never been alone together, and direct contact between them had been negligibleHowever, Scrimgeour did not seem to be listeningHe put his hand inside his cloak and drew out a drawstring pouch much larger than the one Hagrid had given HarryFrom it, he removed a scroll of parchment which he unrolled and read aloud
"'The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian white chloe bag Dumbledore

Once Ollivander and Griphook are well enough,...

2010-08-01T18:40:19Z

Once Ollivander and Griphook are well enough, we'll move them to Muriel's tooThere isn't much room here, but she's got
plentyGriphook's legs are on the mendFleur's given him Skele-Gro-we could probably move them in an hour ora151"
"No," Harry said and Bill looked startled"I need both of them hereI need to talk to them He heard the authority of his own voice, the conviction, the voice of purpose that had come to him as he dug Dobby's graveAll of their faces were turned toward him looking puzzled
"I'm going to wash," Harry told Bill looking down at his hands still covered with mud and Dobby's blood"Then I'll need to see them, straight away He walked into the little kitchen, to the basin beneath a window overlooking the seaDawn was breaking over the horizon, shell pink and faintly gold, as he washed, again following the train of thought that chanel quilted handbag had come to him in the dark gardena133
Dobby would never be able to tell them who had sent him to the cellar, but Harry knew what he had seenA piercing blue eye had looked out of the mirror fragment, and then help had comeiHelp will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for iti
Harry dried his hands, impervious to the beauty of the scene outside the window and to the murmuring of the others in the sitting roomHe looked out over the ocean and felt closer, this dawn, than ever before, closer to the heart of it all
And still his scar prickled, and he knew that Voldemort was getting there tooHarry understood and yet did not understandHis instinct was telling him one thing, his brain quite anotherThe Dumbledore in Harry's head smiled, surveying Harry over the tips of his fingers, pressed together as if in prayer
iYou gave Ron the chanel classic bags Deluminatora133You understood hima133You gave him a way backa133
And you understood Wormtail tooa133You knew there was a bit of regret there, somewherea133
And if you knew thema133What did you know about me, Dumbledore?
Am I meant to know but not to seek? Did you know how hard I'd feel that? Is that why you made it this difficult? So I'd have time to work that out?i
Harry stood quite still, eyes glazed, watching the place where a bright gold ray of dazzling sun was rising over the horizonThen he looked down at his clean hands and was momentarily surprised to see the cloth he was holding in themHe set it down and returned to the hall, and as he did so, he felt his scar pulse angrily, and then flashed across his mind, swift as the reflection of a dragonfly over water, the outline of a building he knew extremely well
Bill and Fleur were louis vuitton purses standing at the foot of the stairs
"I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander," Harry said"You will 'ave to wait, 'ArryZey are both too tired -"
"I'm sorry," he said without heat, "but it can't waitI need to talk to them nowPrivately - and separately
"Harry, what the hell's going on?" asked Bill"You turn up here with a dead house-elf and a half-conscious goblin, Hermione looks as though she's been tortured, and Ron's just refused to tell me anything -"
"We can't tell you what we're doing," said Harry flatly"You're in the Order, Bill, you know Dumbledore left us a missionWe're not supposed to talk about it to anyone else
Fleur made an impatient noise, but Bill did not look at her; he was staring at HarryHis deeply scarred face was hard to readFinally, Bill said, "All rightWho do you want to talk to first?"
Harry hesitatedHe knew what hung on his louis vuitton duffle bag decisionThere was hardly any time left; now was the moment to decide: Horcruxes or Hallows?
"Griphook," Harry said"I'll speak to Griphook first
His heart was racing as if he had been sprinting and had just cleared an enormous obstacle
"Up here, then," said Bill, leading the way
Harry had walked up several steps before stopping and looking back
"I need you two as well!" he called to Ron and Hermione, who had been skulking, half concealed, in the doorway of the sitting room
They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved
"How are you?" Harry asked Hermione"You were amazing - coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that -"
Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze
"What are we doing now, Harry?" he asked
Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Bill up the steep stairs onto a small landingThree doors led tiffany silver off

He had the uncomfortable feeling that he was...

2010-07-31T18:40:22Z

He had the uncomfortable feeling that he was eavesdropping on something furtive, shameful
For the first time, he wished he were clothed
Barely had the wish formed in his head than robes appeared a short distance awayHe took them and pulled them onThey were soft, clean, and warmIt was extraordinary how they had appeared just like that, the moment he had wanted them
He stood up, looking aroundWas he in some great Room of Requirement? The longer he looked, the more there was to seeA great domed glass roof glittered high above him in sunlightPerhaps it was a palaceAll was hushed and still, except for those odd thumping and whimpering noises coming from somewhere close by in the mist
Harry turned slowly on the spot, balenciaga london and his surroundings seemed to invent themselves before his eyesA wide-open space, bright and clean, a hall larger by far than the Great Hall, with that clear domed glass ceilingHe was the only person there, except for -
He recoiledHe had spotted the thing that was making the noisesIt had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, flayed-looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, struggling for breathSmall and fragile and wounded though it was, he did not want to approach itNevertheless he drew slowly nearer, ready to jump back at any momentSoon he stood near enough to touch it, yet he could not bring himself to do itHe big chanel felt like a cowardHe ought to comfort it, but it repulsed himAlbus Dumbledore was walking toward him, sprightly and upright, wearing sweeping robes of midnight blue He spread his arms wide, and his hands were both whole and white and undamaged
Stunned, Harry followed as Dumbledore strode away from where the flayed child lay whimpering, leading him to two seats that Harry had not previously noticed, set some distance away under that high, sparkling ceilingDumbledore sat down in one of them, and Harry fell into the other, staring at his old headmaster's faceDumbledore's long silver hair and beard, the piercingly blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles, the crooked nose: Everything was as he had remembered it
"But you're black fendi spy bag dead," said Harry
"Oh yes," said Dumbledore matter-of-factlyI'm dead too?"
"Ah," said Dumbledore, smiling still more broadly"That is the question, isn't it? On the whole, dear boy, I think not
They looked at each other, the old man still beaming
"Not?" repeated Harry
"Not," said Dumbledore Harry raised his hand instinctively toward the lightning scarIt did not seem to be there"But I should have died - I didn't defend myself! I meant to let him kill me!"
"And that," said Dumbledore, "will, I think, have made all the difference
Happiness seemed to radiate from Dumbledore like light; like fire: Harry had never seen the man so utterly, so palpably content
"Explain," said Harry
"But you already know," said chanel quilted bags DumbledoreHe twiddled his thumbs together
"I let him kill me," said Harry"Didn't I?"
"You did," said Dumbledore, nodding"Go on!"
"So the part of his soul that was in me
Dumbledore nodded still more enthusiastically, urging Harry onward, a broad smile of encouragement on his facehas it gone?"
"Oh yes!" said Dumbledore"Yes, he destroyed itYour soul is whole, and completely your own, Harry
Harry trembled over his shoulder to where the small, maimed creature trembled under the chair
"What is that, Professor?"
"something that is beyond either of our help," said Dumbledore
"But if Voldemort used the Killing Curse," Harry started again, "and nobody died for me this time - how can I be alive?"
"I think you know," said bag chloe paddington Dumble

"You won't be able to kill any of them ever...

2010-07-30T18:39:33Z

"You won't be able to kill any of them ever againDon't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people - "
"But you did not!"
" - I meant to, and that's what did itI've done what my mother didThey're protected from youHaven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture themYou can't touch themYou don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"
"iYou dare -i"
"Yes, I dare," said Harry"I know things you don't know, Tom RiddleI know lots of important things that you don'tWant to hear some, before you make another big mistake?"
Voldemort did not speak, but powled in a circle, and Harry knew that he kept him temporarily mesmerized at bay, held back by the faintest possibility that Harry might indeed know a final secret
"Is it love again?" said Voldemort, his snake's face jeering"Dumbledore favorite solution, ilovei, which he claimed conqered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like and old waxwork? iLove,i which did not prevent me stamping out your Modblood mother like a cockroack, Potter - and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curseSo what will stop you dying now when I strike?"
"Just one thing," said Harry, and mens gucci watches still they circled each other, wrapped in each other, held apart by nothing but the last secret
"If it is not love that will save you this time," said Voldemort, "you must believe that you have magic that i do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"
"I believe both," said Harry, and he saw shock flit across the snakelike face, though it was instantly dispelled; Voldemort began to laugh, and the sound was more frightening than his screams; humorles and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall
"You think iyoui know more magic than I do?" he said"Than iIi, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"
"Oh he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done
"You mean he was weak!" screamed Voldemort"Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"
"No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man
"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"
"You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong
For the frist time, the watching crowd stirred as the hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as one
"iDumbledore is dead!i" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as in the marble tomb in the prada black bags grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"
"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry calmly, "but you didn't have him killedHe chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant
"What chldish dream is this?" said Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver from Harry's
"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry"Snape was Dumbledore'sDumbledore's from the moment you starting hunting down my motherAnd you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understandYou never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"
Voldemort did not answerThey continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart
"Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were childrenYou should have realized," he said as he saw Voldemort's nostrils flare, "he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?" "He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worhier of him - "
"Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you cartier santos 100 threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"
"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort, who had followed every word with rapt attention, but now let out a cackle of mad laughter"It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great ilovei! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand!
"Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy - I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught upI killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"
"Yeah, it didBut before you try to kill me, I'd advise you think what you've done Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle
"What is this?"
Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had socked Voldemort like thisHarry saw is pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten
"It's your omega seamaster watch one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got leftI've seen what you'll be otherwise
"You dare a150a150 ?" said Voldemort again
"Yes, I dare," said Harry, "because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at allIt's backfired on you, Riddle
Voldemort's hand was trembling on the Elder Wand, and Harry gripped Draco's very tightlyThe moment, he knew, was seconds away
"That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong personSeverus Snape was never the true master of the Elder WandHe never defeated Dumbledore
"He killed a150a150 "
"Aren't you listening? iSnape never beat Dumbledore!i Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore instended to die, undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!"
"But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!" Voldemort's voice shook with malicious pleasure"I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against the last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"
"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yoursDidn't you listen to Ollivander? iThe wand chooses the black and white chanel wizardi

What can we do for him? Certainly we cannot serve

2009-12-19T20:48:08Z

What can we do for him? Certainly we
cannot serve Belgium?s cause by being hemmed in and starved
out. Our only hope is victory, and England will never quit the war
whatever happens till Hitler is beat or we cease to be a State.
Trust you will make sure he leaves with you by aeroplane before
too late. Should our operation prosper and we establish [anover at full speed. They must
be distributed in at least four fast ships. Could not some of them
come by passenger liner? Let me know what Admiralty can do.
Make sure there is no delay at Purco?s [Purchasing Commissionshould be most leniently viewed,
even if the consequences are not pleasant.
1. Mr. Dulanty is thoroughly friendly to England. He was an officer under me
in the Ministry of Munitions in 1917/18, but he has no control or authority in
Southern Ireland (so-called Eire). He acts as a general smoother,
representing everything Irish in the most favourable light. Three-quarters of
the people of Southern Ireland are with us, but the implacable, malignant
minority can make so much trouble that De Valera dare not do anything to
offend them. All this talk about partition and the bitterness that would be
healed by a union of Northern and Southern Ireland will amount to nothing.
They will not unite at the present time, and we cannot in any circumstances
sell the loyalists of Northern Ireland. Will you kindly consider these
observations as the basis upon which Admiralty dealings with Southern
Ireland should proceed?
2. There seems to be a good deal of evidence, or at any rate suspicion, that
the U-boats are being succoured from West of Ireland ports by the
malignant section with whom De Valera dare not interfere. And we are
debarred from using Berehaven, etc. If the U-boat campaign became more
dangerous we should coerce Southern Ireland both about coast watching
and the use of Berehaven, etc. However, if it slackens off under our counter -
attacks and protective measures, the Cabinet will not be inclined to face the
First Lord to First Sea Lord and others. 24.IX.39.
First Lord to First Sea Lord, D.C.N.S. and D.N.I. (For general
guidance.) (Most secret.)
24.IX.39.
556
serious issues which forcible measures would entail. It looks therefore as if
the present bad situation will continue for the present. But the Admiralty
should never cease to formulate through every channel its complaints about
it, and I will from time to time bring our grievances before the Cabinet. On
no account must we appear to acquiesce in, still less be contented with, the
odious treatment we are receiving.
While anxious not to fetter in any way the discretion of C.-in-C., Home Fleet,
I think it might be as well for you to point out that the sending of heavy
ships far out into the North Sea will certainly entail bombing attacks from
aircraft, and will not draw German warships from their harbours. Although
there were no hits on the last occasion, there might easily have been losses
disproportionate to the tactical objects in view. This opinion was expressed
to me by several Cabinet colleagues.
The first brush between the Fleet and the air has passed off very well, and
useful data have been obtained, but we do not want to run unnecessary
risks with our important vessels until their A.A. has been worked up to the
required standard against aircraft flying 250 miles an hour.4
Surely the account you give of all these various disconnected Statistical
Branches constitutes the case for a central body which should grip together
all Admiralty statistics, and present them to me in a form increasingly
simplified and graphic.
I want to know at the end of each week everything we have got, all the
people we are employing, the progress of all vessels, works of construction,
the progress of all munitions affecting us, the state of our merchant
tonnage, together with losses, and numbers of every branch of the R.N. and
R.M. The whole should be presented in a small book such as was kept for
me by Sir Walter Layton when he was my statistical officer at the Ministry of
Munitions in 1917 and 1918. Every week I had this book, which showed the
past and the weekly progress, and also drew attention to what was lagging.
In an hour or two I was able to cover the whole ground, as I knew exactly
what to look for and where.
How do you propose this want of mine should be met?
OCTOBER, 1939
First Lord to First Sea Lord and D.C.N.S. 29.IX.39.
First Lord to Secretary. 30.IX.39
557
The First Lord's Statistical Branch should consist of Professor Lindemann,
who would do this besides his scientific activities, and a secretary who
knows the Admiralty, a statistician, and a confidential typist who is also
preferably an accountant. The duties of this branch will be:
1. To present to the First Lord a weekly picture of the progress of all new
construction, showing delays from contract dates, though without
inquiring into the causes, upon which First Lord will make his own
inquiries.
2. To present return of all British or British-controlled merchant ships
together with losses under various heads and new construction or
acquisition? also forecasts of new deliveries.
(a) during the week,
(b) since the war began;
3. To record the consumption weekly and since war began of all
ammunition, torpedoes, oil, etc., together with new deliveries, i.e.,
weekly and since the war began, monthly or weekly outputs and
forecasts.
4. To keep a complete continuous statistical survey of Fleet Air Arm,
going not only into aircraft but pilots, guns and equipment of all
kinds, and point out all apparent lag.
5. To present a monthly survey of the losses of personnel of all kinds.
6. To keep records of inquiries and any special papers relating to numbers
and strength provided by First Lord.
7. To make special inquiries, analysing for First Lord Cabinet Papers and
papers from other Departments which have a statistical character, as
requested by First Lord.
As soon as the personnel of the department is settled after discussion with
Professor Lindemann, who should also advise on any additions to the above
list of duties, a Minute must be given to all departments to make the
necessary returns to Statistical Branch (to be called ?S?) at the times
required, and to afford any necessary assistance.
Air Supply
October 16, 1939.
First Lord to Secretary. 9.X.39.
558
This most interesting paper is encouraging, but it does not touch the
question on which the War Cabinet sought information? namely, the
disparity between the monthly output of new aircraft, and the number of
squadrons composing the first-line air strength of the R.A.F. We were told in
1937 that there would be 1,750 first-line aircraft modernly equipped by April
1, 1938 (see Sir Thomas Inskip's speeches). However, the House of
Commons was content with the statement that this position had in fact been
realised by April 1, 1939. We were throughout assured that reserves far
above the German scale were the feature of the British system. We now
have apparently only about 1,500 first-line aircraft with good reserves ready
for action. On mobilisation the 125 squadrons of April 1, 1939, shrank to 96.
It is necessary to know how many new squadrons will be fully formed during
the months of November, December, January, and February. It is difficult to
understand why, with a production of fighting machines which has averaged
over seven hundred a month since May, and is now running even higher,
only a handful of squadrons have been added to our first-line strength, and
why that strength is below what we were assured was so reached in April of
this year. One would have thought with outputs so large, and pilots so
numerous, we should have been able to add ten or fifteen squadrons a
month to our first-line air strength; and no explanation is furnished why this
cannot happen. Then squadrons of sixteen each, with one hundred per cent
reserves, would only amount to 320 a month, or much less than half the
output from the factories. The Cabinet ought to be told what are the limiting
factors. They should be told this in full detail. Is it pilots or mechanics or
higher ground staff or guns or instruments of any kind? We ought not,
surely, to continue in ignorance of the reasons which prevent the heavy
outputs of the factories from being translated into a fighting-front of firstline
aircraft organised in squadrons. It may be impossible to remedy this,
but at any rate we ought to examine it without delay. It is not production
that is lagging behind, but the formation of fighting units with their full
reserve upon the approved scale.
I am very much obliged to the Director of Scientific Research for his
interesting memorandum [on the Admiralty Research Departmentdiscussed situation in Crete. Admiral
Cunningham emphasised the value of possession of Crete to us
as a means of securing Eastern Mediterranean and of interfering
with Italian transit traffic to North Africa. It would not, however,
be possible to base fleet on Suda Bay for more than a few hours
at a time at present owing to lack of anti-submarine protection.
He does not consider Italian attempt to take Crete is to be
anticipated in the near future, nor unless and until Greece is
overrun. He and Wavell have concerted arrangements for sending
Mr. Eden to Prime Minister.
3.XI.40.
534
at once to Crete a part of the reinforcements referred to in my
telegram of November 1. Admiral Cunningham does not consider
it is necessary to keep any large British military garrison in Crete,
and is convinced that once the Cretans are organised, one
battalion, together with anti-aircraft defences, would suffice. We
then discussed the general question of help to Greece. As we said
on September 22, ?any assistance we may be able to give to
Greece cannot be given until German-Italian threat to Egypt is
finally liquidated, the security of Egypt being vital to our strategy
and incidentally to the future of Greece.? ?
Chief cry for help is for air reinforcements. Number 30 Blenheim
Squadron left today for Athens. Longmore again emphasised his
extreme reluctance to add any more squadrons to the Greek
commitment in present conditions. He feels that to do so would
lead to a large wastage of his aircraft from Italian attack whilst
the aircraft are on Greek or Cretan aerodromes unprepared with
protecting pens, adequate ground anti-aircraft defence, and other
precautions of such nature, which are difficult to improvise at
short notice? .In general all Commanders-in-Chief were strongly
of the opinion that the defence of Egypt is of paramount
importance to our whole position in the Middle East. They
consider that from the strategical point of view the security of
Egypt is the most urgent commitment, and must take precedence
of attempts to prevent Greece being overrun. It is also essential if
we are to retain the support of Turkey? .
He added in my private cipher the following:
5.XI.40.
Although reinforcements ordered in Chiefs of Staffs? telegrams
involve additional risks in Western Desert and probably increased
casualties, these risks must be faced in view of political
commitments to aid Greece. Withdrawal, though it will hamper
arrangements made in Western Desert, will not entirely dislocate
them. But any increase in commitment or attempt to hasten rate
of despatch to Greece beyond that now laid down will mean
535
serious risk to our position in Egypt. Uncertain factor still remains
date by which air reinforcements, particularly fighters, arrive in
Egypt to replace those sent to Greece. Experience hitherto shows
that previous forecasts have not been fulfilled and time-table is
sadly behind. Now feel that there is nothing further I can do
here, and propose leave tomorrow morning by air.
* * * * *
The Secretary of State for War got back home on November 8, and came that
evening after the usual raid had begun to see me in my temporary
underground abode in Piccadilly. He brought with him the carefully guarded
secret which I wished I had known earlier. Nevertheless, no harm had been
done. Mr. Eden unfolded in considerable detail to a select circle, including the
C.I.G.S. and General Ismay, the offensive plan which General Wavell and
General Wilson had conceived and prepared. No longer were we to await in
our fortified lines at Mersa Matruh an Italian assault, for which defensive
battle such long and artful preparations had been made. On the contrary,
within a month or so we were ourselves to attack. The operation was to be
called ?Compass.?
As will be seen from the map, Marshal Graziani?s Italian army, then above
eighty thousand strong, which had crossed the Egyptian frontier, was spread
over a fifty-mile front in a series of fortified camps, which were separated by
wide distances and not mutually supporting, and with no depth in the system.
Between the enemy?s right flank at Sofafi and his next camp at Nibeiwa there
was a gap of over twenty miles. The plan was to make an offensive spring
through this gap, and, turning towards the sea, attack Nibeiwa camp and the
Tummar group of camps in succession from the west ? that is to say, from the
rear. Meanwhile, both the Sofafi camps and the camp at Meiktila, on the
coast, were to be contained by light forces. For this purpose there were to be
employed the 7th Armoured Division, the 4th Indian Division, now complete,
and the 16th British Infantry Brigade, together with a composite force from
the garrison of Mersa Matruh. This plan involved a serious risk, but also
offered a glittering prize. The risk lay in the launching of all our best troops
into the heart of the enemy?s position by a move of seventy miles on two
successive nights over the open desert, and with the peril of being observed
and attacked from the air during the intervening day. Besides this, the food
536
and petrol had to be nicely calculated, and if the time-scale went wrong the
consequences must be grave.
The prize was worthy of the hazard. The arrival of our vanguard on the sea at
Buq Buq or thereabouts would cut the communications of three-quarters of
Marshal Graziani?s army. Attacked by surprise from the rear, they might well
be forced as a result of vigorous fighting into mass surrenders. In this case
the Italian front would be irretrievably broken. With all their best troops
captured or destroyed, no force would be left capable of withstanding a
further onslaught, nor could any organised retreat be made to Tripoli along
the hundreds of miles of coastal road.
Here, then, was the deadly secret which the Generals had talked over with
their Secretary of State for War. This was what they had not wished to
telegraph. We were all delighted. I purred like six cats. Here was something
worth doing. It was decided there and then, subject to the agreement of the
Chiefs of Staff and the War Cabinet, to give immediate sanction and all
possible support to this splendid enterprise, and that it should take first place
in all our thoughts and have, amid so many other competing needs, first claim
upon our strained resources.
In due course these proposals were brought before the War Cabinet. I was
ready to state the case or have it stated. But when my colleagues learned that
the Generals on the spot and the Chiefs of Staff were in full agreement with
me and Mr. Eden, they declared that they did not wish to know the details of
the plan, that the fewer who knew them the better, and that they wholeheartedly
approved the general policy of the offensive. This was the attitude
which the War Cabinet adopted on several important occasions, and I record it
here that it may be a model, should similar dangers and difficulties arise in
future times.
* * * * *
The Italian Fleet had not reacted in any way against our occupation of Crete,
but Admiral Cunningham had for some time been anxious to strike a blow at
them with his now augmented naval air forces as they lay in their main base
at Taranto. The attack was delivered on November 11 as the climax of a wellconcerted
series of operations, during which Malta received troops, and
further naval reinforcements, including the battleship Barham, two cruisers,
537
and three destroyers, reached Alexandria. Taranto lies in the heel of Italy
three hundred and twenty miles from Malta. Its magnificent harbour was
heavily defended against all modern forms of attack. The arrival at Malta of
some fast reconnaissance machines enabled us to discern our prey. The
British plan was to fly two waves of aircraft from the Illustrious, the first of
twelve and the second of nine, of which eleven were to carry torpedoes, and
the rest either bombs or flares. The Illustrious released her aircraft shortly
after dark from a point about a hundred and seventy miles from Taranto. For
an hour the battle raged amid fire and destruction among the Italian ships.
Despite the heavy flak, only two of our aircraft were shot down. The rest flew
safely back to the Illustrious.
By this single stroke the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean was
decisively altered. The air photographs showed that three battleships, one of
them the new Littorio, had been torpedoed, and in addition one cruiser was
reported hit and much damage inflicted on the dockyard. Half the Italian
battle fleet was disabled for at least six months, and the Fleet Air Arm could
rejoice at having seized by their gallant exploit one of the rare opportunities
presented to them.
An ironic touch is imparted to this event by the fact that on this very day the
Italian Air Force at the express wish of Mussolini had taken part in the air
attack on Great Britain. An Italian bomber force, escorted by about sixty
fighters attempted to bomb Allied convoys in the Medway. They were
intercepted by our fighters, eight bombers and five fighters being shot down.
This was their first and last intervention in our domestic affairs. They might
have found better employment defending their fleet at Taranto.
* * * * *
I kept the President well informed:
I am sure you will have been pleased about Taranto. The three
uninjured Italian battleships have quitted Taranto today, which
Former Naval Person to President Roosevelt.
16.X1.40.
538
perhaps means they are withdrawing to Trieste.
And again:
You may be interested to receive the following naval notes on the
action at Taranto which I have asked the Admiralty to prepare:
1. This attack had been in Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean?s
mind for some time; he had intended to carry it out on October
21 (Trafalgar Day), when the moon was suitable, but a slight
mishap to Illustrious led to a postponement. During his cruise in
the Central Mediterranean on October 31 and November 1, it was
again considered, but the moon did not serve and it was thought
an attack with parachute flares would be less effective. Success in
such an attack was believed to depend on state of moon,
weather, an undetected approach by the Fleet, and good
reconnaissance. The latter was provided by flying-boats and a
Glenn Martin squadron working from Malta. On the night of
November 11/12, all the above conditions were met.
Unfavourable weather in the Gulf of Taranto prevented a
repetition on 12th/13th.
2. Duplex pistols were used, and probably contributed to the
success of the torpedo attack.
3. The Greek Ambassador at Angora reported on November 11
that Italian Fleet was concentrating at Taranto in preparation for
an attack on Corfu. Reconnaissance on November 13 shows that
undamaged battleships and eight-inch-gun cruisers have left
Taranto ? presumably owing to the attack on 11th/12th.
* * * * *
I now addressed General Wavell.
Former Naval Person to President Roosevelt.
21.XI.40.
539
Chiefs of Staff, Service Ministers, and I have examined general
situation in the light of recent events. Italian check on Greek
front; British naval success against battle fleet at Taranto; poor
showing Italian airmen have made over here; encouraging
reports received of low morale in Italy; Gallabat; your own
experiences by contacts in Western Desert; above all, the general
political situation, make it very desirable to undertake operation
of which you spoke to Secretary of State for War.
It is unlikely that Germany will leave her flagging ally
unsupported indefinitely. Consequently, it seems that now is the
time to take risks and strike the Italians by land, sea, and air. You
should act accordingly in concert with other Commanders-in-
Chief.
News from every quarter must have impressed on you the
importance of Compass in relation to whole Middle East position,
including Balkans and Turkey, to French attitude in North Africa,
to Spanish attitude, now trembling on the brink, to Italy, in
grievous straits, and generally to the whole war. Without being
over-sanguine, I cannot repress strong feelings of confidence and
hope, and feel convinced risks inseparable from great deeds are
fully justified.
2. Have asked Admiralty to inquire about part assigned to Fleet.
If success is achieved, presume you have plans for exploiting it to
the full. I am having a Staff study made of possibilities open to
us, if all goes well, for moving fighting troops and also reserve
forward by sea in long hops along the coast, and setting-up new
supply bases to which pursuing armoured vehicles and units
might resort. Without wishing to be informed on details, I should
Prime Minister to General Wavell.
14.XI.40.
Prime Minister to General Wavell.
26.XI.40.
540
like to be assured that all this has been weighed, explored, and
as far as possible prepared.
It seems difficult to believe that Hitler will not be forced to come
to the rescue of his partner, and obviously German plans may be
far advanced for a drive through Bulgaria at Salonika. From
several quarters we have reports in that Germans do not approve
of Mussolini?s adventure, and that they are inclined to let him pay
the price himself. This makes me all the more suspicious that
something bad is banking up ready to be let off soon. Every day?s
delay is in our favour. It might be that Compass would in itself
determine action of Yugoslavia and Turkey, and anyhow, in event
of success, we should be able to give Turkey far greater
assurances of early support than it has been in our power to do
so far. One may indeed see possibility of centre of gravity in
Middle East shifting suddenly from Egypt to the Balkans, and
from Cairo to Constantinople. You are no doubt preparing your
mind for this, and a Staff study is being made here.
As we told you the other day, we shall stand by you and Wilson
in any well-conceived action irrespective of result, because no
one can guarantee success in war, but only deserve it.
Tell Longmore that I much admire his calling-in of the southern
squadrons and accepting the risk of punishment there. If all is
well Furious and her outfit should reach Takoradi tomorrow. This
should make amends for all the feathers we have had to pull out
of him for Greece, where the part played by R.A.F. in Greek
victories has been of immense military and political consequence.
All good wishes to you both, and to the Admiral, who is doing so
splendidly. I rejoice that he should feel Suda Bay ?an inestimable
benefit.?
I suggest the following to our Ambassador in Turkey:
We have placed before you the various arguments for and
Prime Minister to Foreign Secretary.
26.XI.40.
541
against Turkish intervention which have occurred to the Staff
officers who have reported upon the matter, but we do not wish
to leave you in any doubt of what our own opinion and your
instructions are. We want Turkey to come into the war as soon as
possible. We are not pressing her to take any special steps to
help the Greeks, except to make it clear to Bulgaria that any
move by Germany through Bulgaria to attack Greece, or any
hostile movement by Bulgaria against Greece, will be followed by
immediate Turkish declaration of war. We should like Turkey and
Yugoslavia now to consult together so as, if possible, to have a
joint warning ready to offer Bulgaria and Germany at the first
sign of a German movement towards Bulgaria. In the event of
German troops traversing Bulgaria with or without Bulgarian
assistance, it is vital that Turkey should fight there and then. If
she does not, she will find herself left absolutely alone, the
Balkans will have been eaten up one by one, and it will be
beyond our power to help her. You may mention that by the
summer of 1941 we hope to have at least fifteen divisions
operating in the Middle East, and by the end of the year nearly
twenty-five. We do not doubt our ability to defeat Italy in Africa.
6 P.M. The Chiefs of Staffs are in general agreement with the
above.
Furious should return home at once, and carry another load of
aircraft and pilots as reinforcement for the Middle East. Every
effort should be made to put off her refit till after she has carried
this force. C.A.S. should say what composition of force is best.
Exactly what have we got and done at Suda Bay [Cretecan be entered upon. In this
august association for collective security we must build up defence forces of
all kinds and combine our action with that of friendly Powers, so that we
may be allowed to live in quiet ourselves and retrieve the woeful
miscalculations of which we are at present the dupes, and of which, unless
we take warning in time, we may some day be the victims.
There lay in my memory at this time some lines from an unknown writer about a railway
accident. I had learnt them from a volume of Punch cartoons which I used to pore over
when I was eight or nine years old at school at Brighton.
Who is in charge of the clattering train?
The axles creak and the couplings strain;
And the pace is hot, and the points are near,
And Sleep has deadened the driver's ear;
And the signals flash through the night in vain,
For Death is in charge of the clattering train.
However, I did not repeat them.
97
* * * * *
It was not until May 22 that Mr. Baldwin made his celebrated confession. I am forced to
cite it:
First of all, with regard to the figure I gave in November of German
aeroplanes, nothing has come to my knowledge since that makes me think
that figure was wrong. I believed at that time it was right. Where I was
wrong was in my estimate of the future. There I was completely wrong. We
were completely misled on that subject.
I would repeat here that there is no occasion, in my view, in what we are
doing, for panic. But I will say this deliberately, with all the knowledge I
have of the situation, that I would not remain for one moment in any
Government which took less determined steps than we are taking today. I
think it is only due to say that there has been a great deal of criticism, both
in the press and verbally, about the Air Ministry as though they were
responsible for possibly an inadequate programme, for not having gone
ahead faster, and for many other things. I only want to repeat that whatever
responsibility there may be? and we are perfectly ready to meet criticism?
that responsibility is not that of any single Minister; it is the responsibility of
the Government as a whole, and we are all responsible, and we are all to
blame.
I hoped that this shocking confession would be a decisive event, and that at the least a
parliamentary committee of all parties would be set up to report upon the facts and upon
our safety. The House of Commons had a different reaction. The Labour and Liberal
Oppositions, having nine months earlier moved or supported a vote of censure even upon
the modest steps the Government had taken, were ineffectual and undecided. They were
looking forward to an election against ?Tory Armaments.? Neither the Labour nor the
Liberal spokesmen had prepared themselves for Mr. Baldwin's disclosures and admission,
and they did not attempt to adapt their speeches to this outstanding episode. Mr. Attlee
said:
As a party we do not stand for unilateral disarmament. We stand for
collective security through the League of Nations. We reject the use
of force as an instrument of policy. We stand for the reduction of
armaments and pooled security. We have stated that this country
must be prepared to make its contribution to collective security. Our
policy is not one of seeking security through rearmament, but
through disarmament. Our aim is the reduction of armaments, and
then the complete abolition of all national armaments and the
98
creation of an international police force under the League.
What was to happen if this spacious policy could not be immediately achieved or till it was
achieved, he did not say. He complained that the White Paper on Defence justified
increases in the Navy by references to the United States, and increases in our air force by
references to the air forces of Russia, Japan, and the United States. ?All that was oldfashioned
talk and right outside the collective system.? He recognised that the fact of
German rearmament had become dominating, but ?The measure of the counterweight to
any particular armed forces is not the forces of this country or of France, but the combined
force of all loyal Powers in the League of Nations. An aggressor must be made to realise
that if he challenges the world, he will be met by the co -ordinated forces of the world, not
by a number of disjointed national forces.? The only way was to concentrate all air power in
the hands of the League, which must be united and become a reality. Meanwhile, he and
his party voted against the measure proposed.
For the Liberals, Sir Archibald Sinclair asked the Government to summon
a fresh economic conference, and to bring Germany not only within the
political comity of nations, but also into active co-operation with ourselves in
all the works of civilisation and in raising the standards of life of both
peoples. Let the Government table detailed and definite proposals for the
abolition of military air forces and the control of civil aviation. If the
proposals are resisted, let the responsibility be cleared and properly fixed.
Nevertheless [he said to
consult together upon the conduct of the war in the Middle East
(in which they are all three concerned), and to advise me, as
Minister of Defence, upon the recommendations I should make to
the Cabinet. Will you kindly put this into the proper form? The
Secretary of State for War has agreed to take the chair.
Mr. Eden reported to his Committee the shortage of troops, equipment, and
resources in the Middle East, and that the C.I.G.S. was equally perturbed. The
Committee urged the full equipment of the armoured division already in Egypt
but far below strength, and also recommended the provision of a second
armoured division at the earliest moment when it could be spared from home.
The Chiefs of Staff endorsed these conclusions, the C.I.G.S. observing that the
moment must be chosen in relation to declining risks at home and increasing
risks abroad. On July 31, Mr. Eden considered that we might be able to spare
some tanks in a few weeks? time, and that if they were to reach the Middle
East by the end of September we might have to send them and the other
equipment through the Mediterranean. In spite of the rising tension about
invasion at home, I was in full agreement with all this trend of thought, and
brought the extremely harassing choice before the Cabinet several times.
The other aspects of the Middle East pressed upon me.
Where is the South African Union Brigade of ten thousand men?
Why is it playing no part in the Middle East? We have agreed
today to send further reinforcements of Hurricanes and other
modern aircraft to the South African Air Force. What is happening
to the concert of the campaign in the Middle East? What has
Prime Minister to Sir Edward Bridges. 10.VII.40.
Prime Minister to General Ismay.
23.VII.40.
413
been done by the Committee of Ministers I recently set up? Now
that large naval operations are contemplated in the
Mediterranean, it is all the more essential that the attack on the
Italian position in Abyssinia should be pressed and concerted by
all means. Make sure I have a report about the position, which I
can consider on Thursday morning.
I felt an acute need of talking over the serious events impending in the Libyan
Desert with General Wavell himself. I had hot met this distinguished officer,
on whom so much was resting, and I asked the Secretary of State for War to
invite him over for a week for consultation when an opportunity could be
found. He arrived on August 8. He toiled with the Staffs and had several long
conversations with me and Mr. Eden. The command in the Middle East at that
time comprised an extraordinary amalgam of military, political, diplomatic, and
administrative problems of extreme complexity. It took more than a year of
ups and downs for me and my colleagues to learn the need of dividing the
responsibilities of the Middle East between a Commander -in-Chief, a Minister
of State, and an Intendant-General to cope with the supply problem. While
not in full agreement with General Wavell?s use of the resources at his
disposal, I thought it best to leave him in command. I admired his fine
qualities, and was impressed with the confidence so many people had in him.
The discussions, both oral and written, were severe. As usual I put my case in
black and white.
I am very much obliged to you for explaining to me so fully the
situation in Egypt and Somaliland. We have yet to discuss the
position in Kenya and Abyssinia. I mentioned the very large
forces which you have in Kenya, namely, the Union Brigade of six
thousand white South Africans, probably as fine material as exists
for warfare in spacious countries; the East African settlers, who
should certainly amount to two thousand men, thoroughly used
to the country; the two West African Brigades, brought at much
inconvenience from the West Coast, numbering six thousand; at
Prime Minister to General Ismay, for General Wavell. 10.VIII.40.
414
least two brigades of King?s African Rifles (K.A.R.); the whole at
least twenty thousand men ? there may be more. Why should
these all stand idle in Kenya waiting for an Italian invasion to
make its way across the very difficult distances from Abyssinia to
the south, or preparing themselves for a similar difficult inroad
into Abyssinia, which must again entail long delays, while all the
time the fate of the Middle East, and much else, may be decided
at Alexandria or on the Canal?
Without, of course, knowing the exact conditions locally, I should
suppose that a reasonable disposition would be to hold Kenya
with the settlers and the K.A.R., and delay any Italian advance
southward, it being so much easier to bring troops round by sea
than for the Italians to make their way overland. Thus we can
always reinforce them unexpectedly and swiftly. This would allow
the Union Brigade and the two West African Brigades to come
round at once into the Delta, giving you a most valuable
reinforcement in the decisive theatre at the decisive moment.
What is the use of having the command of the sea if it is not to
pass troops to and fro with great rapidity from one theatre to
another? I am sure I could persuade General Smuts to allow this
movement of the Union Brigade. Perhaps you will let me have
your views on this by tomorrow night, as time is so short.
1. I am not at all satisfied about the Union Brigade and the West
African Brigade in Kenya. These forces as now disposed would
play no part in the critical attacks now being developed against
Egypt, Khartoum, and Somaliland. It is always considered a
capital blemish on military operations that large bodies of troops
should be standing idle while decisions are reached elsewhere.
Without further information, I cannot accept the statement that
the South African Brigade is so far untrained that it cannot go
into action. The Natal Carbineers were much further advanced in
training before the war than our British Territorials, and they
have presumably been embodied since the declaration. I cannot
see why the Union Brigade as a whole should be considered in
Prime Minister to General Ismay, for General Wavell. 12.VIII.40.
415
any way inferior to British Territorial units. Anyhow, they are
certainly good enough to fight Italians. I have asked for full
particulars of their embodiment and training in each case.
2. I do not consider that proper use is being made of the large
forces in Palestine. The essence of the situation depends on
arming the Jewish colonists sufficiently to enable them to
undertake their own defence, so that if necessary for a short time
the whole of Palestine can be left to very small British forces. A
proposal should be made to liberate immediately a large portion
of the garrison, including the Yeomanry Cavalry Division. I do not
understand why the Australians and New Zealanders who have
been training in Palestine for at least six months should be able
to provide only one brigade for service in Egypt. How many of
them are there, and what are the facts of their training? These
men were brought at great expense from Australia, having been
selected as the first volunteers for service in Europe. Many of
them had previous military training, and have done nearly a year?
s training since the war broke out. How disgraceful it would be if
owing to our mishandling of this important force only one brigade
took part in the decisive operations for the defence of Egypt!
3. The two West African brigades could certainly be brought to
Khartoum via Port Soudan. It is a very good policy to mix native
units from various sources, so that one lot can be used to keep
the other in discipline. These two brigades ought to be moved
immediately to the Soudan, so that the Indian Division can be
used in Egypt or Somaliland as soon as it arrives. I do not know
why these brigades were taken away from West Africa, if the only
use to be made of them was to garrison Kenya.
4. Let me have a return of the white settlers of military age in
Kenya. Are we to believe they have not formed any local units for
the defence of their own province? If not, the sooner they are
made to realise their position the better. No troops ought to be in
Kenya at the present time other than the settlers and the K.A.R.
Considering the risks and trouble we are taking to reinforce Egypt
from home, it cannot be accepted that forces on the spot should
not be used to the highest capacity at the critical moment.
416
5. Let me have a full account of the two British divisions in the
Delta. It is misleading to think in divisions in this area, nor can
any plea that they are not properly equipped in every detail be
allowed to prejudice the employment of these fine Regular
troops.
6. Surely the statement that the enemy?s armoured forces and
vehicles can move just as easily along the desert as along the
coastal road requires further examination. This might apply to
caterpillar vehicles, but these would suffer severely if forced to
make long journeys over the rocky and soft deserts. Anyhow,
wheeled transport would be hampered in the desert unless
provided with desert-expanded india-rubber tyres of a special
type. Are the Italian vehicles so fitted, and to what extent?
7. What arrangements have been made to ?depotabilise? 1 for
long periods any wells or water supplies we do not require for
ourselves? Has a store of delayed-action fuzes been provided for
mines in roadways which are to be abandoned? Make sure that a
supply of the longest delayed-action fuzes, i.e., up to at least a
fortnight (but I hope they run longer now), are sent to Egypt by
the first ship to go through. Examine whether it is not possible to
destroy the asphalt of the tarmac road as it is abandoned by
chemical action of heavy petroleum oil, or some other treatment.
8. Let me have a statement in full and exact detail of all units in
the Middle East, including Polish and French volunteers and
arrivals.
I should be glad to discuss all these points tonight.
* * * * *
As a result of the Staff discussions on August 10, Dill, with Eden?s ardent
approval, wrote me that the War Office were arranging to send immediately to
Egypt one cruiser tank battalion of fifty-two tanks, one light tank regiment
(fifty-two tanks), and one infantry tank battalion of fifty tanks, together with
forty-eight anti-tank guns, twenty Bofors light anti-aircraft, forty-eight twenty-
417
five-pounder field guns, five hundred Bren guns, and two hundred and fifty
anti-tank rifles, with the necessary ammunition. These would start as soon as
they could be loaded. The only question open was whether they should go
round the Cape or take a chance through the Mediterranean. I pressed the
Admiralty hard, as will be seen in a later chapter, for direct convoy through
the Mediterranean. Much discussion proceeded on this latter point. Meanwhile,
the Cabinet approved the embarkation and despatch of the armoured force,
leaving the final decision about which way they should go till the convoy
approached Gibraltar. This option remained open to us till August 26, by which
time we should know a good deal more about the imminence of any Italian
attack. No time was lost. The decision to give this blood-transfusion while we
braced ourselves to meet a mortal danger, was at once awful and right. No
one faltered.
* * * * *
The following directive, which we had thrashed out together, was finally
drafted by me, and the Cabinet approved it without amendment in accord with
the Chiefs of Staff:
(General directive for Commander-in-Chief, Middle East.)
1. A major invasion of Egypt from Libya must be expected at any
time now. It is necessary, therefore, to assemble and deploy the
largest possible army upon and towards the western frontier. All
political and administrative considerations must be set in proper
subordination to this.
2. The evacuation of Somaliland is enforced upon us by the
enemy, but is none the less strategically convenient. All forces in
or assigned to Somaliland should be sent to Aden, to the Soudan
via Port Soudan, or to Egypt, as may be thought best.
3. The defence of Kenya must rank after the defence of the
Soudan. There should be time after the crisis in Egypt and the
Prime Minister to Secretary of State for War and C.I.G.S. 16.VIII.40.
418
Soudan is passed to reinforce Kenya by sea and rail before any
large Italian expedition can reach the Tana River. We can always
reinforce Kenya faster than Italy can pass troops thither from
Abyssinia or Italian Somaliland.
4. Accordingly either the two West African Brigades or two
brigades of the K.A.R. should be moved forthwith to Khartoum.
General Smuts is being asked to allow the Union Brigade, or a
large part of it, to move to the Canal Zone and the Delta for
internal security purposes. Arrangements should be made to
continue their training. The Admiralty are being asked to report
on shipping possibilities in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.
5. In view of the increased air attack which may be expected in
the Red Sea following upon the Italian conquest of British
Somaliland, the air reinforcement of Aden becomes important.
6. The two brigades, one of Regulars and the other Australian,
which are held ready in Palestine should now move into the Delta
in order to clear the Palestine communications for the movement
of further reserves, as soon as they can be equipped for field
service or organised for internal security duties.
7. However, immediately three or four regiments of British
cavalry, without their horses, should take over the necessary
duties in the Canal Zone, liberating the three Regular battalions
there for general reserve of the Field Army of the Delta.
8. The rest of the Australians in Palestine, numbering six
battalions, will thus [alsoI stressed the disadvantages which an
occupation of Norway by the British would have for us: the control
of the approaches to the Baltic, the outflanking of our naval
operations and of our air attacks on Britain, the end of our pressure
on Sweden. I also stressed the advantages for us of the occupation
of the Norwegian coast: outlet to the North Atlantic, no possibility of
a British mine barrier, as in the year 1917/18. The Fuehrer saw at
once the significance of the Norwegian problem; he asked me to
leave the notes and stated that he wished to consider the question
himself.
Rosenberg, the Foreign Affairs expert of the Nazi Party, and in charge of a special bureau
to deal with propaganda activities in foreign countries, shared the Admiral's views. He
dreamed of ?converting Scandinavia to the idea of a Nordic community embracing the
northern peoples under the natural leadership of Germany.? Early in 1939, he thought he
404
had discovered an instrument in the extreme Nationalist Party in Norway, which was led by
a former Norwegian Minister of War named Vidkun Quisling. Contacts were established,
and Quisling's activity was linked with the plans of the German Naval Staff through the
Rosenberg organisation and the German Naval Attach?in Oslo.
Quisling and his assistant, Hagelin, came to Berlin on December 14, and were taken by
Raeder to Hitler, to discuss a political stroke in Norway. Quisling arrived with a detailed
plan. Hitler, careful of secrecy, affected reluctance to increase his commitments, and said
he would prefer a neutral Scandinavia. Nevertheless, according to Raeder, it was on this
very day that he gave the order to the Supreme Command to prepare for a Norwegian
operation.
Of all this we, of course, knew nothing. The two Admiralties thought with precision along
the same lines in correct strategy, and one had obtained decisions from its Government.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, the Scandinavian peninsula became the scene of an unexpected conflict which
aroused strong feeling in Britain and France, and powerfully affected the discussions about
Norway. As soon as Germany was involved in war with Great Britain and France, Soviet
Russia in the spirit of her pact with Germany proceeded to block the lines of entry into the
Soviet Union from the west. One passage led from East Prussia through the Baltic States;
another led across the waters of the Gulf of Finland; the third route was through Finland
itself and across the Karelian Isthmus to a point where the Finnish frontier was only twenty
miles from the suburbs of Leningrad. The Soviet had not forgotten the dangers which
Leningrad had faced in 1919. Even the White Russian Government of Kolchak had informed
the Peace Conference in Paris that bases in the Baltic States and Finland were a necessary
protection for the Russian capital. Stalin had used the same language to the British and
French Missions in the summer of 1939; and we have seen in earlier chapters how the
natural fears of these small states had been an obstacle to an Anglo-French Alliance with
Russia, and had paved the way for the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement.
Stalin had wasted no time; on September 24, the Esthonian Foreign Minister had been
called to Moscow, and four days later his Government signed a Pact of Mutual Assistance
which gave the Russians the right to garrison key bases in Esthonia. By October 21, the
Red Army and air force were installed. The same procedure was used simultaneously in
Latvia, and Soviet garrisons also appeared in Lithuania. Thus, the southern road to
Leningrad and half the Gulf of Finland had been swiftly barred against potential German
ambitions by the armed forces of the Soviet. There remained only the approach through
Finland.
Early in October, Mr. Paasikivi, one of the Finnish statesmen who had signed the Peace of
1921 with the Soviet Union, went to Moscow. The Soviet demands were sweeping; the
Finnish frontier on the Karelian Isthmus must be moved back a considerable distance so as
to remove Leningrad from the range of hostile artillery. The cession of certain Finnish
405
islands in the Gulf of Finland; the lease of the Rybathy Peninsula together with Finland's
only ice-free port in the Arctic Sea, Petsamo; and above all, the leasing of the port of
Hango at the entrance of the Gulf of Finland as a Russian naval and air base, completed
the Soviet requirements. The Finns were prepared to make concessions on every point
except the last. With the keys of the Gulf in Russian hands the strategic and national
security of Finland seemed to them to vanish. The negotiations broke down on November
13, and the Finnish Government began to mobilise and strengthen their troops on the
Karelian frontier. On November 28, Molotov denounced the Non-Aggression Pact between
Finland and Russia; two days later, the Russians attacked at eight points along Finland's
thousand-mile frontier, and on the same morning the capital, Helsingfors, was bombed by
the Red air force.
The brunt of the Russian attack fell at first upon the frontier defences of the Finns in the
Karelian Isthmus. These comprised a fortified zone about twenty miles in depth running
north and south through forest country deep in snow. This was called the ?Mannerheim
Line,? after the Finnish Commander-in-Chief and saviour of Finland from Bolshevik
subjugation in 1917. The indignation excited in Britain, France, and even more vehemently
in the United States, at the unprovoked attack by the enormous Soviet Power upon a small,
spirited, and highly civilised nation, was soon followed by astonishment and relief. The
early weeks of fighting brought no success to the Soviet forces, which in the first instance
were drawn almost entirely from the Leningrad garrison. The Finnish Army, whose total
fighting strength was only about two hundred thousand men, gave a good account of
themselves. The Russian tanks were encountered with audacity and a new type of handgrenade,
soon nicknamed ?The Molotov Cocktail.?
406
It is probable that the Soviet Government had counted on a walk-over. Their early air raids
on Helsingfors and elsewhere, though not on a heavy scale, were expected to strike terror.
The troops they used at first, though numerically much stronger, were inferior in quality
and ill-trained. The effect of the air raids and of the invasion of their land roused the Finns,
who rallied to a man against the aggressor and fought with absolute determination and the
utmost skill. It is true that the Russian division which carried out the attack on Petsamo had
little difficulty in throwing back the seven hundred Finns in that area. But the attack on the
?Waist? of Finland proved disastrous to the invaders. The country here is almost entirely
pine forests, gently undulating and at the time covered with a foot of hard snow. The cold
was intense. The Finns were well equipped with skis and warm clothing, of which the
Russians had neither. Moreover, the Finns proved themselves aggressive individual fighters,
highly trained in reconnaissance and forest warfare. The Russians relied in vain on numbers
407
and heavier weapons. All along this front the Finnish frontier posts withdrew slowly down
the roads, followed by the Russian columns. After these had penetrated about thirty miles,
they were set upon by the Finns. Held in front at Finnish defence lines constructed in the
forests, violently attacked in flank by day and night, their communications severed behind
them, the columns were cut to pieces, or, if lucky, got back after heavy loss whence they
came. By the end of December, the whole Russian plan for driving in across the ?Waist?
had broken down.
Meanwhile, the attacks against the Mannerheim Line in the Karelian Peninsula fared no
better. North of Lake Ladoga a turning movement attempted by about two Soviet divisions
met the same fate as the operations farther north. Against the Line itself a series of mass
attacks by nearly twelve divisions was launched in early December and continued
throughout the month. The Russian artillery bombardments were inadequate; their tanks
were mostly light, and a succession of frontal attacks were repulsed with heavy losses and
no gains. By the end of the year, failure all along the front convinced the Soviet
Government that they had to deal with a very different enemy from what they had
expected. They determined upon a major effort. Realising that in the forest warfare of the
north they could not overcome by mere weight of numbers the superior tactics and training
of the Finns, they decided to concentrate on piercing the Mannerheim Line by methods of
siege warfare in which the power of massed heavy artillery and heavy tanks could be
brought into full play. This required preparation on a large scale, and from the end of the
year fighting died down all along the Finnish Front, leaving the Finns so far victorious over
their mighty assailant. This surprising event was received with equal satisfaction in all
countries, belligerent or neutral, throughout the world. It was a pretty bad advertisement
for the Soviet Army. In British circles many people congratulated themselves that we had
not gone out of our way to bring the Soviets in on our side, and preened themselves on
their foresight. The conclusion was drawn too hastily that the Russian Army had been
ruined by the purge, and that the inherent rottenness and degradation of their system of
government and society was now proved. It was not only in England that this view was
taken. There is no doubt that Hitler and all his generals meditated profoundly upon the
Finnish exposure, and that it played a potent part in influencing the Fuehrer's thought.
408
All the resentment felt against the Soviet Government for the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact was
fanned into flame by this latest exhibition of brutal bullying and aggression. With this was
also mingled scorn for the inefficiency displayed by the Soviet troops and enthusiasm for
the gallant Finns. In spite of the Great War which had been declared, there was a keen
desire to help the Finns by aircraft and other precious war material and by volunteers from
Britain, from the United States, and still more from France. Alike for the munition supplies
and the volunteers, there was only one possible route to Finland. The iron-ore port of
Narvik with its railroad over the mountains to the Swedish iron mines acquired a new senti
mental if not strategic significance. Its use as a line of supply for the Finnish armies
affected the neutrality both of Norway and Sweden. These two states, in equal fear of
Germany and Russia, had no aim but to keep out of the wars by which they were encircled
and might be engulfed. For them this seemed the only chance of survival. But whereas the
British Government were naturally reluctant to commit even a technical infringement of
Norwegian territorial waters by laying mines in the Leads for their own advantage against
Germany, they moved upon a generous emotion, only indirectly connected with our war
problem, towards a far more serious demand upon both Norway and Sweden for the free
passage of men and supplies to Finland.
I sympathised ardently with the Finns and supported all proposals for their aid; and I
welcomed this new and favourable breeze as a means of achieving the major strategic
advantage of cutting off the vital iron-ore supplies of Germany. If Narvik was to become a
kind of Allied base to supply the Finns, it would certainly be easy to prevent the German
ships loading ore at the port and sailing safely down the Leads to Germany. Once
409
Norwegian and Swedish protestations were overborne for whatever reason, the greater
measures would include the less. The Admiralty eyes were also fixed at this time upon the
movements of a large and powerful Russian ice-breaker which was to be sent from
Murmansk to Germany, ostensibly for repairs, but much more probably to open the nowfrozen
Baltic port of Lulea for the German ore ships. I, therefore, renewed my efforts to win
consent to the simple and bloodless operation of mining the Leads, for which a certain
precedent of the previous war existed. As the question raises moral issues, I feel it right to
set the case in its final form as I made it after prolonged reflection and debate.
Norway ? Iron-Ore Traffic
Note by the First Lord of the Admiralty
16.XII.39.
The effectual stoppage of the Norwegian ore supplies to Germany ranks as a
major offensive operation of war. No other measure is open to us for many
months to come which gives so good a chance of abridging the waste and
destruction of the conflict, or of perhaps preventing the vast slaughters
which will attend the grapple of the main armies.
2. If the advantage is held to outweigh the obvious and serious objections,
the whole process of stoppage must be enforced. The ore from Lulea [in the
Baltic It can hardly be
argued that we can go on paying them till our last gasp. Surely
we ought to use this money to build more ships or buy more from
the United States in view of the heavy sinkings off the Bloody
Foreland.
Pray let me know how these subsidies could be terminated, and
what retaliatory measures could be taken in the financial sphere
by the Irish, observing that we are not afraid of their cutting off
our food, as it would save us the enormous mass of fertilisers and
feeding-stuffs we have to carry into Ireland through the De
Valera-aided German blockade. Do not assemble all the pros and
cons for the moment, but show what we could do financially and
what would happen. I should be glad to know about this
tomorrow.
I gave you and each of the C.O.S. a copy of the Irish paper. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer?s comments are also favourable, and
there is no doubt subsidies can be withdrawn at very short
notice.
We must now consider the military reaction. Suppose they invited
the Germans into their ports, they would divide their people, and
we should endeavour to stop the Germans. They would seek to
be neutral and would bring the war upon themselves. If they
withdrew the various cable and watching facilities they have,
what would this amount to, observing that we could suspend all
connections between England and Southern Ireland? Suppose
they let German U-boats come in to refresh in west coast ports of
Ireland, would this be serious, observing that U-boats have a
radius of nearly thirty days, and that the limiting factor is desire
of crews to get home and need of refit, rather than need of
refuelling and provisioning? Pray let me have your observations
on these and other points which may occur to you.
Prime Minister to General Ismay, for C.O.S. Committee. 3.XII.40.
600
I thought it well to try to bring the President along in this policy.
North Atlantic transport remains the prime anxiety. Undoubtedly,
Hitler will augment his U-boat and air attack on shipping and
operate ever farther into the ocean. Now that we are denied the
use of Irish ports and airfields, our difficulties strain our flotillas to
the utmost limit. We have so far only been able to bring a very
few of your fifty destroyers into action on account of the many
defects which they naturally develop when exposed to Atlantic
weather after having been laid up so long. I am arranging to
have a very full technical account prepared of renovations and
improvements that have to be made in the older classes of
destroyers to fit them for the present task, and this may be of
use to you in regard to your own older flotillas.
In the meanwhile we are so hard pressed at sea that we cannot
undertake to carry any longer the 400,000 tons of feeding-stuffs
and fertilisers which we have hitherto convoyed to Eire through
all the attacks of the enemy. We need this tonnage for our own
supply, and we do not need the food which Eire has been
sending us. We must now concentrate on essentials, and the
Cabinet proposes to let De Valera know that we cannot go on
supplying him under present conditions. He will, of course, have
plenty of food for his people, but they will not have the
prosperous trading they are making now. I am sorry about this,
but we must think of our own self-preservation, and use for vital
purposes our own tonnage brought in through so many perils.
Perhaps this may loosen things up and make him more ready to
consider common interests. I should like to know quite privately
what your reactions would be if and when we are forced to
concentrate our own tonnage upon the supply of Great Britain.
We also do not feel able in present circumstances to continue the
heavy subsidies we have hitherto been paying to the Irish
Former Naval Person to President Roosevelt.
13. XII.40.
601
agricultural producers. You will realise also that our merchant
seamen, as well as public opinion generally, take it much amiss
that we should have to carry Irish supplies through air and Uboat
attacks and subsidise them handsomely when De Valera is
quite content to sit happy and see us strangle.
* * * * *
One evening in December I held a meeting in the downstairs War Room with
only the Admiralty and the sailors present. All the perils and difficulties, about
which the company was well informed, had taken a sharper turn. My mind
reverted to February and March, 1917, when the curve of U -boat sinkings had
mounted so steadily against us that one wondered how many months? more
fighting the Allies had in them, in spite of all the Royal Navy could do. One
cannot give a more convincing proof of the danger than the project which the
Admirals put forward. We must at all costs and with overriding priorities break
out to the ocean. For this purpose it was proposed to lay an underwater
carpet of dynamite from the seaward end of the North Channel, which gives
access to the Mersey and the Clyde, to the hundred -fathom line northwest of
Ireland. A submerged mine -field must be laid three miles broad and sixty
miles long from these coastal waters to the open ocean. Even if all the
available explosives were monopolised for this task, without much regard to
field operations or the proper rearmament of our troops, it seemed vital to
make this carpet ? assuming there was no other way.
Let me explain the process. Many thousands of contact mines would have to
be anchored to the bottom of the sea, reaching up to within thirty-five feet of
its surface. Over this pathway all the ships which fed Britain, or carried on our
warfare abroad, could pass and repass without their keels striking the mines.
A U-boat, however, venturing into this minefield, would soon be blown up;
and after a while they would find it not good enough to come. Here was the
defensive in excelsis. Anyhow, it was better than nothing. It was the last
resort. Provisional approval and directions for detailed proposals to be
presented were given on this night. Such a policy meant that the diver would
in future be thinking about nothing but his air -pipe. But he had other work to
do.
At the same time, however, we gave orders to the R.A.F. Coastal Command to
dominate the outlets from the Mersey and Clyde and around Northern Ireland.
602
Nothing must be spared from this task. It had supreme priority. The bombing
of Germany took second place. All suitable machines, pilots, and material must
be concentrated upon our counter -offensive, by fighters against the enemy
bombers, and surface craft assisted by bombers against the U-boats in these
narrow vital waters. Many other important projects were brushed aside,
delayed, or mauled. At all costs one must breathe.
We shall see the extent to which this counter-offensive by the Navy and by
Coastal Command succeeded during the next few months; how we became
the masters of the outlets; how the Heinkel 111?s were shot down by our
fighters, and the U-boats choked in the very seas in which they sought to
choke us. Suffice it here to say that the success of Coastal Command overtook
the preparations for the dynamite carpet. Before this ever made any
appreciable inroad upon our war economy the morbid defensive thoughts and
projects faded away, and once again with shining weapons we swept the
approaches to the isle.
603
Suspense and Preparation ? The Forward Leap, December 7/8 ? Complete
Success ? Pleasure in Parliament ? My Messages to Mr. Menzies and General
Wavell ? ?Frappez la Masse ? ? The Gospel of St. Matthew ? Bardia, January
3 ? Tobruk, January 21 ? One Hundred and Thirteen Thousand Prisoners
and Over Seven Hundred Guns Taken ? Ciano?s Diaries ?

Hello, my friends

2009-12-17T19:02:26Z

Welcome to my first blog

Welcome

2009-11-20T10:24:29Z

Congratulations, your blog is created !
To access the different options of your Blog, click on � Connection � : Connect yourself with the username : Admin and your password (the one you chose at the blog creation).
Once you're connected, a toolbar will be placed automatically at the top of the page, managing you to access the administration panel.

(This text is an example of an article, you can delete it as soon as you wish)