Chapter 885 – The Aden Conference

Edward Bridges, who was successfully persuaded to continue to benefit society, was in a good mood and took the initiative to inquire, “Allen, Norman’s adjustment this time has adjusted your rank to Deputy Secretary General, so it can be said that you’re also among the ranks of those who are trusted, and have been recognized as being very reliable, even in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in front of you, there’s only the Permanent Undersecretary who is at a higher rank than you. ”

“I think it may take time to work out.” Alan Wilson paused when he said this, “There are still a lot of things that need more help from Sir.”

“Like our line of work, resting on our laurels, always at the mercy of the cabinet. There are never any secrets.”

Edward Bridges had a particularly heavy accent on the word secret, “There are two routes you face at the moment, wait until Ismay leaves and then go along to take over as Permanent Undersecretary of the Foreign Office, if that doesn’t work. The other route is to be a private secretary to one of the ministers, of course the latter may take a while longer.”

“You’re a member of the Foreign Office, but do administrative work, which is fine. In fact the colonial work itself includes administrative matters, and before that it was split into several departments to avoid the Foreign Office’s power being inflated; the Colonial Department, the Indian Affairs Department, the Commonwealth Department, and the Foreign Office. So the working relationship won’t be a hindrance to you.”

“There’s actually a small problem with age, you’re just over thirty, Norman was already considered a unanimous favorite for real power in Whitehall in the first place, but he was forty when he went to the rank of Executive Undersecretary. All being well, you’re certainly ahead of him.”

Edward Bridges stood in Alan Wilson’s point of view and analyzed, “In terms of connections, with General Mountbatten in place, the military is definitely not a problem, and in the business world and amongst the aristocracy, the Mountbatten Group is now generally respected, not to mention the fact that you’re the Deputy Secretary General of the Overseas Assets Management Council, and the funds in your hands are enormous. The only flaw is that in Whitehall, because you have been working abroad for a long time, you may lack some accumulation, which is troublesome, but now?” ……”

“It’s true that I need someone like Sir to help me progress at all times.” Alan Wilson of course in his heart is very clear, but now? after what is it, there is a lack of Edward Bridges so a person, a former Cabinet Secretary and the Chief of Civil Service, and retired from the Ministry of Finance permanent undersecretary of the position of senior civil servants.

“Very well, you are indeed very reliable.” Edward Bridges nodded his head with a smile on his face, “Actually, Oxford University made me an honorary dean, a director of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a director of the Swire Group, a director of the Jardine Matheson Group, none of them are important to me. I mainly want to continue to defend the current interests of the British Empire, that’s why I’m going to look around to see if I can help during the winter.”

“Regardless of whether it’s Australia or Malaya, the climate is definitely not a problem, the winds and sunshine, and the terroir is something that the natives should be aware of.” Alan Wilson was full of approval, “A trip there will definitely not be regretted.”

“Of course my son’s project in Australia will also require more of Pamela’s attention.” Edward Bridges made the last condition and then said, “I suggest that you take care of all the hidden dangers as much as possible and finish your term or just come back early. Of course this is just a suggestion, you can consider for yourself whether to take it or not.”

“I don’t quite understand.” Allen Wilson let Edward Bridges puzzle it out directly.

“There are a lot of competitors in the Ministry of Finance, you are only a latecomer at the rank of Deputy Secretary General, Frank, Armstrong, and Lawrence ahead of you are all senior Deputy Secretary Generals now. But don’t you worry, they all hold important positions in the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs happens not to have any, that’s why I suggested that you should try to grab the position after Ismay, that’s the way it is with everything, there are fewer positions but there are more contenders.”

“The most likely candidate?” Alan Wilson extended his finger and pointed upward, indicating that he was asking about the position of Cabinet Secretary.

“Anything is possible, but my personal opinion, Burke Trende has a much more complete resume, he made it to Congressional Private Secretary in 1945, but you don’t have to worry about the Treasury Department, I’m retired, but for the Treasury, you can call on Robert Hall, the Chief Economic Advisor, when you need help.”

Edward Bridges is officially retired this time, but it is not without making arrangements, the role of the Chief Economic Adviser, is not lighter than the weight of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

Edward Bridges, director of the Mountbatten Group, at this time, also informed his part of the arrangement, informed the reliable candidate in mind.

Alan Wilson nodded, and then left Edward Bridges’s home, once again saw the bustling crowd, as if in a dream, but in any case, he has taken an important step in his life, into the rank of Deputy Permanent Secretary.

“You …… are getting married, it’s not worth me waiting so long. I thought you had to wait until you went to Aden for a meeting before the good news came.” Clipped to the microphone Allen Wilson took a deep breath and stretched his voice to say to Makins on the other side of the microphone, “Straight to the time, it’s quite late.”

“God, why do you sound so strange.” Makins asked strangely rhetorically, “But then again, do you want to see an opera these days, Mary Martin is touring London.”

“Sure, set a time.” Alan Wilson, breathing as smoothly as he could, winked at the seated Pauline Gaudet.

Pauline Gaudet flushed and was careful not to make a sound, lest she hear something.

Until Allen Wilson put down the phone, Pauline Gaudet only breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately Allen Wilson sat up, so that she couldn’t help but exclaim in shock, directly brought up, “I remember, you also came with Mary Martin, right, I told you that, and you don’t have a movie to publicize, the Royal Gamble has been released.”

“It’s not like you’re always complaining about being alone, it just so happens that Mary is in London, so I came over.” Pauline Gaudet put her arms around the man’s neck and complained, “You just answered the phone and startled me.”

“But you solved no small part of my problem.” Alan Wilson confessed that he had recently returned to the country, somewhat unable to do both public and private, and was unwillingly busy with public affairs once his heart was set on it, and Pauline Gaudet’s arrival was just right, “If you don’t mind, there’s no need to rush back.”

It was not at all excessive for him, a deputy secretary-general, to make such a request, and Pauline Gaudet really didn’t refuse.

A few days later, Allen Wilson appeared at the Opera House with Makins to watch Mary Martin’s performance. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that Makins had such elegant hobbies.

Just Allen Wilson did not, halfway through the time has been drowsy, if not in front of Makins’s fiancée, he was considering whether to leave on this.

Makins’s fiancée appearance is naturally nothing to say, there is a little childish, this year is only twenty-two years old. In the most beautiful age of life, very good understanding of the bottom of the colleague Allen Wilson, can only wish Makins can change after marriage.

But a thought of himself, he seems to have no qualifications to say others, apparently Makins on this little fiancée is still quite spoiled, this girl called Julian, made the request is to let Makins, accompany her to see the opera.

“Alan, with Pamela out of the picture, your life is all out of whack.” Makins laughed and teased, “And Julian wants to meet the famous chairwoman.”

“That will come, she’s been slacking off lately and doesn’t want to fly around all the time.” Alan Wilson smiled and explained, “Actually, after the newlyweds, you two can Malaya travel for a while, which is also very telling. By then we can see each other often.”

Makins took out a thunderous side after entering the Ministry of the Interior, and for the sake of the wind rating in Whitehall, the wedding was carried out quickly, and quite a number of officials from the Ministry of the Interior were present at this wedding.

Throughout the wedding, Makins also took advantage of this occasion, and colleagues in the Ministry of the Interior to build a network.

A round trip of more than a month, Alan Wilson can not continue to stay in London, visit Gerard Edward, by the way, stayed in Bonn for two days, through Paris, Rome, Comet I landed in Aden.

British South Yemen is a British colony in the Arab region, Aden, is associated with the Suez Canal throat control.

Even if Britain lost Egypt, Aden made it impossible for the forces holding Port Said to use the Red Sea to access the Indian Ocean. Moreover, it also made it impossible for any outside power to enter the Persian Gulf without British acquiescence and approval.

With this in mind, Britain’s home base in the Arab world was placed in Aden, while the other Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, that were nothing more than British protectorates, although most of the British forces in the Arab countries were deployed in the Persian Gulf.

A large part of Britain’s hopes for the funds it expected to revive rested here.

But Alan Wilson’s own biggest impression of the place was that Hussein had left the Saudi princes in the dust. To prove in practical terms that Soviet weapons were not so bad and that American weapons could be blown apart.

British Arabia as represented by Aden is in a deeper sense an extension of British strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. The position was extremely important, and that was the purpose of this meeting in Aden.

After arriving in Aden, Alan Wilson also met with the Australian and New Zealand Garrison, led by his colleagues. There was no mistaking that there was an ANZAC garrison here as well, stationed in Aden under British leadership.

In the following days, the two men were just hanging around waiting for the arrival of the other colonial commissioners, Allen Wilson also took the time to go to the Indian community, the richest man in India, Ambani, who built a mansion next to a slum kiln in the latter days, is supposed to have been born in the Indian community here, and it is not known if the family is around now.