THE FORESIGHT WAR by Anthony G Williams Page B

fact.’
    Don grunted irritably.   An apparently endless stream of first aid, fire service, ARP and other civil defence volunteers had marched through the Park past the King’s saluting stand.   What bothered him most, however, was the grand finale.   He didn’t have long to wait.   A growing roar, partly mechanical, partly from the cheering crowd, preceded the arrival of most of the 1st Mechanised Division.   The two observers watched with mixed emotions as the first reconnaissance units came into view, pennants proudly flying from the aerials of the little Daimler Dingos.   Hard on their heels came the big Humber armoured cars, two-pounder guns poking menacingly forwards.   Last, filling the air with their thunder, came rank after rank of Crusader tanks.  
    ‘Thank God we managed to hold back the other tracked vehicles.   It’s bad enough giving the Germans a free view of this lot.’
    ‘Don’t thank God,’ corrected Dunning, ‘thank the Oversight Committee.’
    His last words were drowned out by the roar of aero-engines as formations of warplanes flew low overhead, beneath the cloudbase.   A fleet of Hurricanes, Spitfires, Blenheims, Hampdens and Wellingtons filled the sky.   Don anxiously studied the Hampdens.   The other aircraft would look familiar enough to anyone of his time, but thanks to his advice the Handley Page bomber was significantly different, with its circular-section fuselage, big Hercules engines and power-operated dorsal and ventral gun-turrets.
    ‘Sorry about the Hampdens,’ shouted Dunning.   ‘It was hard enough keeping the RAF from including Reapers, Mosquitoes and Herefords, but we managed to persuade them that it wouldn’t be in the interests of national security.   And of course, the Fleet Air Arm wanted their Beaufighters and Beauforts to join the fun as well.   Had to promise them a separate naval review to pacify them.’  
    Don grimaced. The Gloster Reaper was an historical design which had been brought forward at his recommendation. A single-seat long-range fighter, its twin Merlin engines gave it a phenomenal performance and the quartet of Hispano cannon under the nose provided firepower to match. The Mosquito was very much as he remembered it, whereas the Hereford was a variant of the Hampden with a solid nose packed with machine guns, powerful anti-tank guns installed in the bomb bay and additional armour protection for the ground-attack role. He wasn’t sure if Bristol had been influenced to name their new carrier planes after historical models, but in any case the Beaufighter and Beaufort were very different. The former was a single-engined, single-seat fighter-bomber based on Bristol’s historical Type 153 design study for a Hercules-engined fighter.   The Beaufort, a single-engined, multi-role two-seater, was as similar as possible, using the same engine installation and many common parts to ease maintenance in service.
         Dunning suddenly rummaged in an inside pocket.   ‘By the way, I think we’ve identified your friend.’   He produced an envelope which Don opened under cover of Dunning’s umbrella.   In it was a photograph of a man in civilian clothes standing in a group of men, mostly in German military uniform, except for someone standing close to him who was wearing a leather coat.
         ‘Part of Hitler’s entourage.   We have several photographs of him, but so far have been unable to find out who he is.   All we know is his name: Professor Herrman.   He holds no official position and we’ve been unable to trace his background.’
         Don stared at the photograph with sudden intensity, as if to try to read the man’s mind.   The picture showed a tall, slim, bespectacled figure in his late sixties with light, probably grey, wavy hair.   He seemed preoccupied, somehow depressed.
         ‘It would fit Hitler’s character to want to keep a chap like this around him.   Probably makes him feel more