Alberto Virtuani wrote:[
You must be really desperate to think that someone can believe the nonsense you are writing" !
Play your tricks with someone else. NOBODY (not even the fair "deniers") will support you in this enormity.
Alberto
Here's a quote from Wills that covers the entire meeting between father and son:
Henry and his father had not seen one another for more than a year and had had no time to discuss the battle with the Bismarck, the voyage with Churchill or the action in the Mediterranean. Beyond that there was much that Henry wanted to share with his father about his life in the Royal Navy. Henry's first opportunity to visit his father was
on Saturday evening, 6 December on board Prince of Wales. (Because of the International Date Line, Singapore was one day ahead of London, Washington and Pearl Harbor.) Being accustomed to the strict dress code of the Royal Navy, Henry dressed in the evening uniform equivalent to a dinner jacket. To his surprise Henry discovered that his father, who was always meticulous about the dress code, was still wearing his white tropical uniform consisting of an open neck shirt and shorts.
Admiral Phillips had not yet returned from his meeting in Manila with General Mac Arthur and Admiral Hart; this meant that the Admiral's dining quarters were available. While Leach had the option of taking his son to dinner in the wardroom with the other officers, he preferred to dine in private. Before dinner they had a chance to talk in the captain's cabin where Leach had been writing a letter to his wife, Evelyn, at his roll-top desk. He handed the last page of the letter to Henry who added a note to his mother.
Henry was offered a cigarette with the comment,'! don't know what bad habits you've fallen into this year.'146 After they had talked about family matters, their conversation turned to naval subjects. Leach asked his son about Mauritius'?, RDF (Radio Direction Finding).This was a reference to what would be renamed radar. Henry had served in Mauritius for nine months and had kept watch regularly on the bridge, but he had never even heard of RDF.
The approaching war in the Pacific was foremost in Leach's mind. Referring to the mounting Japanese threat, he asked his son, 'What d'you make of the situation out here?'(147) Like other midshipmen Henry had total confidence in the Royal Navy. He replied,'Let 'em come ... Let's have a crack at them.'(148) With a grave look his father quietly said, 'I don't think you have any idea of the enormity of the odds we are up against.'(149)
That night, the final Saturday night of peace, the smartly dressed ladies and gentlemen at Raffles carried on as if nothing would ever change.
(146) Endure no Makeshifts, p.7
(147) " "
(148) " "
(149) " "
Note that Wills is citing
Endure no Makeshifts (and
not a personal communication from Henry Leach) and in that book there is no mention of Bismarck:
Shortly after the big ships arrived at Singapore I returned from my brief leave in Malaya and dined with my father in Prince of Wales. For dinner in the Flagship I had put on Mess Undress (evening uniform equivalent to a dinner jacket) and on arrival on board was surprised to find father, who was meticulous about his dress, still in tropical open-necked shirt and shorts. Though his usual cheerful self he seemed a trifle subdued and I could tell that a nagging anxiety was never far from his mind. Not having seen each other for nearly a year – and a highly eventful year for us both – there was much to talk about alone in his cabin and we quickly slipped back into our old, easy, very close relationship. He had a nearly-finished letter to my mother on his desk and had left space for me to add a tailpiece; it was the last letter home he ever wrote. After dinner we sat together on the sofa and talked. ‘Cigarette?’ he tentatively enquired. ‘I don’t know what bad habits you’ve fallen into this last year.’ ‘Thanks,’ I replied, taking one. ‘You’re quite right – I have!’ ‘What RDF’ (Radio Direction Finding – later to be renamed Radar) ‘do you have fitted?’ he asked next. ‘I don’t know,’ I said after a moment’s thought and feeling rather ashamed of my ignorance. In retrospect perhaps it was excusable; I had been in Mauritius for nine months and kept watch regularly on the bridge and in the main armament director control tower; never in all that time had I heard the term RDF even mentioned. How quickly that was to change. ‘I expect you’ve got Type 79,’ father speculated. This was one of the earliest sets, mounted at the masthead and entirely hand-operated; it gave some rudimentary warning of aircraft approaching at high level. It was not long before we turned to the subject which was clearly absorbing all his attention: the position of Singapore and the mounting Japanese threat. ‘What d’you make of the situation out here?’ my father asked. ‘Let ’em come,’ I replied without thinking. ‘Let’s have a crack at them.’
Father suddenly looked very grave. ‘I don’t think you have any idea of the enormity of the odds we are up against,’ he said. And he was right; I hadn’t. We agreed to meet at the Naval Base swimming pool two nights later and I left. Our poolside meeting proved to be prophetic. It was very hot that evening as there had not been the usual afternoon rain-storm. Being a poor swimmer I merely sploshed about to get cool. Towards 1830 my father remarked, ‘I must be getting out soon. I’ve promised to meet Bill Tennant, Captain of Repulse, for a drink before we go back on board.’ ‘Am I in on that?’ ‘Yes of course, but don’t be too long. I’m just going to swim a couple of lengths. You never know when it may not come in handy.’ Gin and tonic had not yet caught on; the popular drink out there (apart from whisky) was John Collins or Gin Sling. I had not previously met Captain Tennant but took to him at once. Tall, well set-up and with a kindly weather beaten face much lined by life in the open from which looked out two shrewd eyes of clear faded blue. He spoke softly and when he did his whole face and eyes creased into lots of little wrinkles. A real countryman as well as a sailor, at home with birds, wild animals and nature. It was obvious that the two Captains were close friends and held each other in mutual respect. That they were under considerable strain at the prospect which had all the ingredients of a one-way mission was also not hard to discern for the talk was rather desultory – of trivialities and of home. We parted and two hours later Force Z sailed. I never saw my father again.
Leach, Henry. Endure No Makeshifts
Wills cites only
Endure no Makeshifts ( IIRC, this was already mentioned ) and does not cite Henry Leach directly for any footnotes, nor as a source in the extensive bibliography, so if father and son discussed the Bismarck action, that discussion was not made available to Wills. Chapter VIII has 23 footnotes and none are from
Endure no Makeshifts while Kennedy is cited 9 times.
" 1)Henry and his father HAD NOT SEEN one another for more than a year and HAD HAD no time to discuss the battle with the Bismarck, the voyage with Churchill or the action in the Mediterranean.
2)Beyond that there was much that Henry wanted to share with his father about his life in the Royal Navy.
3)Henry 's first opportunity to visit his father was on Saturday evening, 6 December on board Prince of Wales. "
This the meaning above, clarified:
1) Henry had not seen his father for a more than a year and consequently did not discuss the battle with the Bismarck, the voyage with Churchill or the action in the Mediterranean.
2)Both men wanted to discuss other events. :
3)Henry 's first opportunity to visit his father was on Saturday evening, 6 December on board Prince of Wales.
So while the above is perfectly clear to me, if I'm wrong then there should be some hint of that in the text after the disputed quote, in one or both, of the books by Wills and Henry Leach,
and there isn't.