1941, Tuesday 02 December;
The clean olive coloured Humber Snipe turned into the naval base, and was waved through the checkpoint, driving on down to the main office building, where it slowed to a halt, a smart Royal Marine sprung to the car, opening a rear door, allowing Lord Gort to get out. Vice Admiral Layton, in full dress uniform, was waiting at the entrance for him, “Lord Gort, a pleasure to see you Sir, do come inside” and he led Gort, and a couple of aides in.
They sat at a lovely big polished cherry table, Layton at the head, hosting, with on one side of the table Gort and two aides, and on the other side Admiral Phillips and his two aides. Phillips had wanted Layton to attend, as he was still not totally familiar with all that had previously happened. They had all been at the War Council meeting in the morning, where the move to second degree readiness had been reviewed, and had since eaten lunch, so knowing why they were there, Layton, got straight down to business and asked Lord Gort, for the benefit of the recorded notes, to explain a little, as to why he wanted so urgent a meeting.
Lord Gort took a deep breath while sitting up straight, then leaned forward, almost conspiratorial and began to speak slowly and steady, his arms opened out, his hands making appropriate gestures to emphasise particular points as he spoke.
“Thank you, Geoffrey, as you all know, I am charged, as Commander in Chief of the Far East Command, as to maintaining a defence of Hong Kong, Borneo and Malaya, of which Singapore is a part of. I have jurisdiction over both the Land and Air forces present in those three areas, but not the Navy, which falls under your command, Admiral Phillips, making us Joint Commanders in the same theatre. Because this theatre is not in a war zone, resources are limited, both in men and material, although His Majesties Government has made massive strides in the last 12 months to improve that situation.
Owing to the great need to deploy most of the Navy in Home, Atlantic or
Mediterranean waters, the defence of Malaya had been planned to be based on a deployment of a significant aircraft strength as to cause great concern to anyone who would consider attacking us. However, the RAF has also struggled to provide enough modern aircraft, and so, the Army has taken a more significant role in the defence plan than was originally planned.
Strategically, it has long been realised that a forward defence of Malaya, occupying Southern Thailand, would have major advantages, denying the enemy the port of Songkhla, forcing any force to rely on a line of supply down the nearly 600 miles of single-track railway, back up to the port of Bangkok. We have a plan, Operation
Matador, to do that very thing, however it is faced with several problems.
Firstly, this would mean breaking our non-aggression treaty with Thailand, not something to be taken lightly. This could be considered only if we were on the point of certain war with Japan
Secondly, for propaganda purposes with the American public it is vitally important that we are seen in a good light, being strong is good, but being an aggressor, bullying a small independent nation, is not, and cannot be seen as the reason for causing any war with Japan. Which means we have to make an educated guess as to whether any significant Japanese seaborne force sailing into the Gulf of Siam, is actually intending to invade, and not just sabre rattling.
In addition, to effectively oppose any invasions, ideally, we must begin our occupation 48 hours ahead of any landings, to give our forces the time needed to move forward and secure the port of Songkhla, the airfields at Songkhla and Pattani, and create a defensive line in the Kra Isthmus. This all makes the decision of launching Operation
Matador as extremely doubtful, and indeed, at the moment, Winston and the CoS, haven’t given me authority to make such a decision.
However, up to now our planners have worked with the constraint of having no effective South China Sea force to threaten any invasion force on the seas. Working with Vice Admiral Layton here, we have been able to plan limited operations on the West Coast, for example, Operation
Betty, but not on the East Coast. Currently, the latest intelligence reports estimate around 180 Japanese aircraft in southern Indo-China, including 90 heavy bombers. They also think there are a minimum of two divisions and a mechanised formation, with another two or three divisions in the north. Today we have received sightings of nine submarines, 100 mile north of Cam Ranh Bay, and twenty transports anchored in the bay itself. Which is all very ominous.
However, with the arrival of Force Z, new options are open to us, and this is why I am here, asking you to spend some time deliberating the idea that with Force Z at sea, an invader now has to contend with an opposed landing both from the land/air aspect, but also from the sea. The need we have, for a 48-hour window, although still greatly advantageous, is now not so critical. I realise, I am placing an enormous burden on you, but if you were able to agree such a plan, jointly with
Matador, it would be a much more attractive proposition for Winston and the Chief’s, would possibly give us a better understanding of an invader’s intent, by how they react to your presence, and make those 48 hours needed, less so”.
Lord Gort sat back, and waited, while a pregnant pause took over the room. Layton began to speak “Thank you, Lord Gort, that was most” “No it’s OK Geoffrey, I’ll take it from here” interrupted Phillips, who continued “the thought has crossed my own mind one or twice, and indeed much of these last few days have been about what ships are available to make Force Z a more potent force.
I am more than happy to look at this option, indeed as you point out, as a joint commander of the theatre, it is only right I do so. But what you are suggesting is that I, in effect, put my head in the lion’s mouth, by risking the only real force the Royal Navy has in these waters. I will have a great need of air support, and will want to know what can be offered. With that in mind, I will have my team plan such an operation, and in keeping with yours being called
Matador, I shall call mine Operation
Picador. Also knowing Winston and his funny ways as well as I do, I suggest we call the combined operation, and any other small ones we might have that are of a pre-emptive nature, collectively as Operation
Bullring, that’s just the sort of thing Winston might embrace.
Can I suggest our planning teams meet first thing tomorrow morning, which will give both mine and yours a little breathing space today to prepare, and see what can be reasonably done, and maybe we can agree something that might fulfil our needs and satisfy Winston too? But I must warn you Lord Gort, that you may be asking too much, and I may decide a sortie north would not be the right move, which will, in effect kill your planned Operation
Matador.” Phillips stopped and looked at Gort, who nodded, and at Layton, who then said “Well gentlemen, on that note, I shall arrange rooms here for the planning teams, tomorrow from 9am, if everybody is in agreement, yes, fine, well that’s settled then, we’ve all got a lot of work to do, thank you Gentlemen”
