Hello Antonio,
If anyone is confused, it is you, about the who, what and when of your collapsing conspiracy theory, undermined by the fast-disappearing CMDS myth it is built on. If hearing about the Silver Bullet is going to have to wait until you shuffle this muddle-headed mess into book form, you will be taking the secret to your grave.
As Dunmunro has pointed out, since you now say everybody was "in on it" why bother to change things when nothing would be released for 100 years (latterly 30)? Just who was supposed to be fooled? The King?
Tovey's 1941 letter says B of I because he was writing to Pound
who knew the truth. His 1961 letter says Court martial and was written to Roskill
who did not know the truth, because he had never seen the 1941 letter. (he never quotes from it or refers to it.)
Roskill, Corelli-Barnett and Rhys-Jones all make an interpretation all quoting
Kennedy as the source. They leave out his caveat and are thus slipshod and careless in my opinion.
Barnes
praises Leach and W-W in one paragraph of fourteen.
That does not confirm CMDS. No disciplinary measures at all are described in 205/10 or the Cabinet Minutes
McMullen merely repeats what Tovey told him. Everybody who has read a book mentioning CMDS
is as valid a witness as McMullen. That is completely valueless.
Sir Henry Leach supplies no evidence at all, other than the interpretations he has read.
Since you have reposted a discredited box of interpretations and hearsay as evidence, here is a reminder of
what Pound had these men do after he supposedly wanted them Court Martialled:
Both Leach and Wake-Walker stayed in their positions of trust and enormous responsibility, were not censured in any way by Pound, and so therefore the threat whatever it was, if it existed, was not followed through."
Wake-Walker:
"This operation EF involved an unsuccessful carrier raid commanded by W-W on Petsamo and motivated entirely for political reasons to support the newly-attacked USSR and lasting from 22nd July -4th August. 24 hour daylight and inadequate strike aircraft made failure a forgone conclusion but W-W did his best, receiving a stony silence when he went to commiserate with surviving aircrew in Victorious on return. However, orders are orders. Groping their way into Seidisfjord in fog meant risk had to be taken and Achates' dead were the price. I have yet to read the National Archive file on this, but their Lordships' opinion looks superficially like appalling hindsight and back-seat driving.
Contrary to any imaginary official unhappiness with his general performance after this, and now three whole months after Pound was supposed to have wanted him court-martialled W-W set off again with a twin carrier task force on operations Dervish and Strength again supplying support for the Russians around Murmansk. His covering force had the complex task of covering the Dervish convoy, the very first Russian convoy, and also the transfer of a flight of 24 RAF Hurricanes to North Russia, flown off the Argus. He fitted in some air strikes against German shipping in the Tromso area as well. These operations lasted from 19th August through to 10th September."
"A further accolade for Wake-Walker was that he was on the Parliamentary Committee, as expert advice, set up to investigate the loss of PoW and Repulse "Battleship" Middlebrook."
John Leach:
"Leach was in command of HMS Prince of Wales from commissioning until the day she sank apart from his hernia operation and convalescence, that is complete approval of his performance. If there had been any other opinion, another Captain would have been appointed."
"Except that Winston was full of praise and bonhomie when sailing with Leach to Placentia Bay five days after Brockman made his mistaken guess. Pound's green ink says I will take the C-in-C's report with me- where? Why on board PoW to America with Winston and Leach of course."
As a remembrance of his pleasant trip under Leach's protection, Winston sent him a signed photograph. It did not say "to the man who did the worst thing since Troubridge turned away from the Goeben in 1914"
The idea that this totally imaginary Conspiracy was created so the Bismarck's destruction could be presented as a "good news" PR stunt (not that wasn't wonderful news already) and solely so everybody could be dished out with medals has been laughable since the start. Whatever bits of ribbon these men got, they were fulfilling their positions of trust and responsibility from 24th May 1941 to the day of their deaths.
This evidence of recorded events, not opinions masquerading as evidence, make it clear that Sir Dudley Pound had complete faith in the abilities of these men. If the 28th May letter from Pound did request a Board of Inquiry IMHO it was purely to mollify the ill-informed, hasty and unfair outburst of WSC, and not because, as has been claimed "ADM 205/10 is stating that the PoW retreat was an aspect that had to be investigated" Only this explanation fits with Pound immediately abandoning the idea, and keeping these excellent officers in their posts of considerable responsibility.
All the best
wadinga