July 26th,1941
London - Winston Churchill lunches in a private room at Simpson's* on the Strand with the American ambassador, John G. Winant (who succeeded Joseph P. Kennedy, recalled in the spring at the request of 10 Downing Street for misjudgements - errors of judgement - and, even more, ill-concealed sympathies for the Third Reich, whose authoritarianism he greatly admired and, despite the Pact, approved of anti-communism). Winant indicates to the Prime Minister that Washington, without wanting to interfere with London's action in the Middle East, nevertheless wants to recommend circumspection, "first in Iran, but not only".
"Our neutrality," explains Winant, "requires us to have at heart the interests of all non-belligerents, of which Iran is one". Churchill agrees - which does not commit him too much. But the ambassador continues, without trying to explain his remarks: "Our anti-colonial tradition will always lead us... you Europeans, both in London and in Algiers, must be aware of it... our anti-colonialism will always lead us, I said, to pronounce ourselves in favor of the emancipation of the colonized peoples, and not to accept that one or the other imperialism tries to undermine a country whose independence we have decided to guarantee."
Churchill feels that silence offers him the best response to the undertones and implications of this barely muffled philippic, which obviously concerns Saudi Arabia.
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Washington - Summoned politely, but without any warmth, to the White House, Lord Halifax is ushered into the Oval Office late in the morning by the president's personal adviser, Harry Hopkins (whom some in the federal capital referred to as an eminence grise, with some indulgence, and others, more critically, as a damned soul). The Ambassador of the United Kingdom is told by Franklin Roosevelt, who hardly seems to contain hisirritation, that the United States, faithful to the alliance with Riyadh, and (he says openly) very tied to their oil interests in the Arabian Peninsula, would not tolerate the slightest threat from London against the Sauds or the California-Arabian Standard Oil Co. Roosevelt, more formal than he is used to, says, with a combative glare: "You, Ambassador, please convey to Prime Minister Winston Churchill that my feelings of friendship for him personally as for Great Britain, and the pro-British turn... favorable to the Allied cause, I mean... that I have imprinted on the policy of my country in spite of the pressures of the isolationists, and at the risk of alienating the Congress, never let me lose sight... never!... of the true interests of America... yes, of
America, and not only the United States."
Lord Halifax, taken aback, risks a "But we are all persuaded of that, Mr. President." And Roosevelt says: "Well, let's not forget it, not more in London than in Algiers. The United States does not wish to reconsider its policy. But if they are forced to, they will not hesitate."
The content of the algarade was immediately telegraphed, in code, to Anthony Eden. Winston Churchill is informed during his dinner. The Prime Minister, always affectionate, notes that Franklin Roosevelt, with whom he prided himself on having the best personal and political relations, had, however, subjected him to "a volley of fire." He says, resignedly: "Well, pity! What a shame! Our window of opportunity is even narrower than I had imagined..."
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Alger - Sir Harold Nicolson tells Paul Reynaud that Winston Churchill's reply to his letter of the 15th would reach him the next day. For Margerie, he adds that King George VI had been "sadly impressed" by the incident in general and, in particular, by the tone and content of the missive that Albert Lebrun had Paul-Boncour give him**. The sovereign, using the royal prerogative of which he is not however inclined to exaggerate the use of it, "advised" the Prime Minister not to become embattled, as strong as the French reaction, and to seek an arrangement with the government of Algiers as soon as possible.
Sir Harold does not, however, reveal to Reynaud what is being whispered in the corridors of 10 Downing Street. A monarchist by conviction and a loyal subject of Her Majesty, Churchill would have muttered, quoting Scripture, that the sinner never ends up falling back into his sin - and that the King remains a supporter of appeasement as he had been in 1938 at the time of Munich. Sir John Colville, the Prime Minister's secretary, even believes he heard him mutter "This fellow has no guts," which for some, is akin to a blasphemy and, for others, to a crime of lèse-majesté, one slips without smile in the lounges of the West End clubs.
It is true that the relationship between the sovereign, shy and introverted, and Winston Churchill, flamboyant extrovert, have never been, all appearances aside, of real warmth***. The propaganda orchestrated at the Ministry of Information by Duff Cooper, whose popular press, from the Daily Mirror to the Daily Mail and from the Morning News to the Evening Standard, echoes every day with a beautiful complacency, nevertheless claims the opposite.
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Baghdad and Basra - Without knowing the date yet, Cunningham, Slim and their staffs are preparing the start of Countenance.
- The naval component of the operation will rely on the three Royal Navy establishments in the Gulf area. Command will be provided by Commodore 2nd Class Cosmo Graham RN CB DSC and bar, commander of HMS Juffair, the naval and air base in Bahrain, occupied since the 19th century by Her Majesty's sailors. Commodore Graham, from a British family settled in South Africa, holds the title of Gulf Senior Naval Officer.
Two of the ships of the Bahrain-based naval group, the HMS Shoreham and Falmouth, are to sail up the Shott-el-Arab to enter the port of Abadan, to neutralize the Shah's ships there (the aviso Palang and some barcasses) and put troops on land. Other soldiers are brought in by several of the paddle-ships requisitioned by HMS Euphrates, the Naval Shore Facility in Basra (these paddle-ships have already been used during operations in Iraq) and, if necessary, by various motorized craft (barges).
HMS Euphrates, created de jure only in June 1941, is commanded by Captain Richard Garstin RIN OBE, an elderly but valiant officer, recalled to service for the duration in 1939. The infantry has to protect the refinery and its tanks as well as the terminal facilities, take control of the city and ensure the safety of the foreign executives of the Anglo-Iranian : more than a hundred citizens of the Metropolis or the Dominions, about forty Dutch, four French, two Belgians, a White Russian living under a Nansen passport, with their families - without counting the Indian and Zanzibarite subjects of His Majesty employed by the Iranians for all kinds of work.
The other ships of the Bahrain group (light cruiser HMS Enterprise, auxiliary cruiser HMS Kanimbla, avisos HMAS Yarra and Parramata and HMIS Hindustan) will intervene a little further south, at Bandar-e Chahpour, in cooperation with the Walrus of the Fleet Air Arm of HMS Juffair, which patrols the Strait of Hormuz. Their mission will be to disable the rest of the Iranian navy (the Palang's sister ship, the Badr, some gunboats and launches) and to protect, once again, the oil installations. The Royal Navy does not underestimate the value of Iranian sailors, as the small ports of the Persian coast have, for centuries, launched generations of courageous fishermen and smugglers who are not afraid of the cold - men whose veins carry salt water, as they say, and who know how to sail in all weathers - against ship of all kinds on thei dhows.
But the military potential of their small ships seems almost negligible.
Finally, in Bandar Abbas, in addition to the landing companies of the ships assigned there, the Royal Marines (two sections probably, three at best) from the Muscat base (HMS Al Jalali, commodore 1st class Edward O'Driscoll RN CBE DSC) will have to board the German and Italian ships, whose cargoes will immediately find a job in the service of the Allied cause. The ships themselves, entrusted to the crews of the catch (to be formed by August 30th at the latest from the surplus personnel of the depots of Alexandria, Bombay and Mombasa), will reinforce the shipping potential.
- But most of Countenance will be on land. Slim plans to progress along three axes for his first stage. An infantry brigade, supported by motorized cavalry, will cross the Shott-el-Arab to join the elements landed in Abadan by the Royal Navy and secure the oil field. From Basra, two brigades, supported by armoured (or at least mechanised) elements, will head towards Ahvaz, in order to control the Tehran-Abadan road and railroad and to prohibit any Iranian counter-attack towards the south - while at the same time getting their hands on the pipelines and the "Christmas trees" that cover the black gold wells. The bulk of the British forces, stationed not far from Baghdad, will attack due east from Qankin to seize the oil wells in the Naft-e-Shah area, just over the border, and then will have to rush towards Korramshar.
When they have reached these objectives, the troops of His Majesty will mark a twenty-four hour pause to reorganize, maintain and repair their vehicles, which suffer greatly under local conditions. It is especially a question of allowing the Shah to save face - if he wishes, indeed - by giving in to London's demands before his capital is occupied. If he persists in his unwillingness, Slim would decouple his armored cavalry and motorized infantry to take Tehran as quickly as possible and lead the Shah, "under duress," to submit to British Rule.
As the assurance is given in Moscow, the British will not go beyond, in the north, a line Ourmiyah - Tabriz - Zanjan - Qazvin - Tajrish (a large town located about twenty kilometres north of Tehran) and they will establish themselves eastward south of the railroad line that connects Tehran to Mashad. The Red Fleet will thus act freely on the Caspian Sea (which will deprive Iran of its caviar and could provoke the protests of the amateurs, numerous in theclubs in London), while the Red Army will be able to settle solidly on the foothills of the Elbrus and hold the glacis of Iranian Turkmenistan. There is no question of the red flag to fly in Teheran.
In ignorance of the inventory finally made available to them for Countenance by the Middle East Command, Cunningham and Slim have not yet chosen the units assigned to the various missions. They are also waiting for news from India Command: one or two brigades detached from its reserves could intervene from Baluchistan, to force the Iranian army to fight on three fronts... and remind the Soviets that all Iran's oil must remain the preserve of British finance and engineering. The swap between Sir Archibald Wavell and Sir Claude Auchinleck, which had taken place a few days earlier, obviously does not make the task of the generals of the Iraq and Persia Command any easier.
* Expensive, extremely chic, Simpson's has a well-deserved reputation for serving the best roast beef in London (and an exceptional cellar). It is customary, now as then, to tip the maitre d'hotel handsomely if you want him to slice and place a second piece of meat on the plate.
** Lebrun was never tempted to abuse his powers and violate the 1875 constitution - which, strictly speaking, is not a constitution. He wrote, so to speak, under the dictation of Reynaud and Margerie.
*** It seems that George VI did not forgive Churchill for having taken a stand in 1937 in favour of his brother Edward VIII, and for having embarked on the creation of a ghostly "King's Party" in the weeks before his high-profile abdication due to his marriage to Wallis Simpson.