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The Fleet, too, has played up and de Robeck has guaranteed me two thousand to be made by the artificers on the battleships. Maxwell in Egypt has been improvising a few; Methuen at Malta says they can't make them there. But what a shame that the sons of a manufacturing country like Great Britain should be in straits for engines so simple.
Fell asleep last night thinking of Admirals, Commodores and men-o'-war and of how they might, within the next forty-eight hours, put another complexion upon our prospects. So it seemed quite natural when, the first thing in the morning, a cable came in with the tea asking me whether I have been consulting de Robeck as to "the future operations that will be necessary."
It confirms officially the loss of the three battleships: Friday. "My Dear General, "The enclosed is a copy of a Signal I have received from de Robeck. I sincerely hope that the word disastrous is too hard. It depends upon what results we have achieved I think. I gather from intercepted signals that the Ocean also is sunk, but of this I am not quite certain.
"J'ai l'honneur d'être avec l'assurance de ma plus haute considération. "Commandant en chef de la 5me Armée Ottomane. "Commandant en chef des Forces Britanniques, Sir John Hamilton, Excellence." 23rd May, 1915. H.M.T. "Arcadian." Blazing hot. Wrote all day. Had an hour and a half's talk with de Robeck high politics as well as our own rather anxious affairs.
They are only ours for defensive purposes; that is to say, they remain in their own gun positions in the French lines and are to help by thickening the barrage in front of the Naval Division. De Robeck and Keyes are quite as much at sea as Braithwaite and myself about this original scheme of the British Government for treating a tearing, raging crisis; i.e., by taking no notice of it.
"I only propose to ask Lord K. in case there may be political reasons why I should not select any particular place about which to spread a rumour of our landing." Forgot to note a step taken yesterday to nowhere perhaps perhaps to Constantinople. Yesterday the Doris brought me a copy of a long cable sent by Winston to de Robeck six days ago, together with a copy of the V.A.'s reply.
After breakfast went on board the Queen Elizabeth where Braithwaite and I worked for three hours with Admiral de Robeck, Admiral Wemyss and Commodore Roger Keyes. Last time the Admiral made the running; to-day it was my turn for I had to unfold my scheme and go through it point by point with the sailors.
French Fleet, General d'Amade, General Braithwaite, Admiral Wemyss, Captain Pollen, Myself. De Robeck greeted me in the friendliest fashion. He is a fine looking man with great charm of manner. After a word or two to d'Amade and being introduced to Wemyss, Guépratte and Keyes, we sat down round a table and the Admiral began.
How lucky I signalled de Robeck 8 p.m. yesterday to let us keep the Wolverine and Scorpion "in case of a night attack!" Sure enough there was another onslaught made against our northernmost post. Two Turkish Regiments were discovered in mass creeping along the top of the cliffs by the searchlights of the Scorpion.
It was notorious however that poor Lady Robeck secretly wrote for one of the papers, and the thing had certainly, in its glance at the doings of the great world, a side that might be made attractive. But we were going to make every side attractive, and we had everything to say about the sort of thing a paper like the Beacon would want.
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