THE FORESIGHT WAR Read Online Free

a copy of the Daily Mail on his way back to his rooms.   ‘ GENERAL STRIKE IN SPAIN ’ announced the headline. And the sub-heading, ‘Sound of firing heard in
Madrid
.’   This would be the abortive precursor of the Spanish Civil War, he thought, with an attempt to form a Catalan republic leading to a battle in Barcelona.   The real fighting would start in the following year.  
    Another headline caught his eye; ‘ NATION DEMANDS MORE AIR DEFENCES ’.   It seemed that the Conservative Party conference had passed a resolution expressing ‘grave anxiety in regard to the inadequacy of the provisions made for Imperial defence.’   Neville Chamberlain, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had tried to fend off criticism by describing the government’s plans to increase home defence aeroplane squadrons from forty-two to seventy-five over a five-year period.   The Party was obviously not so easily satisfied.   Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland, a former Cabinet Minister, claimed that air attacks would be so sudden and destructive that within forty-eight hours of war having been declared, one or other side would be annihilated.  
    That, thought Don, showed a remarkable lack of comprehension of basic statistics about aircraft, bombloads and the amount of destruction which bombs could cause.   He read on.   Lord Lloyd pointed out that Britain’s armed forces were so weak that   the country was ‘no longer in a position to guarantee the safety of our sea routes and food supplies.’   That struck much closer to home, he thought.   If war was inevitable, as the country’s most influential observers seemed to believe, much needed to be done.
    Don walked to the window and looked down into the street.   As on the previous few nights, an anonymous car was parked opposite the entrance to his building.   A brief flare within it marked the lighting of yet another cigarette.    Someone was keeping an eye on him and didn’t care if he knew it.
     
    Dunning dropped in a few days later, as usual without warning.   Don had been using the unexpected free time to walk around 1930s London, re-learning the city he had previously known so well.   He did not enjoy cooking and was finding the limited variety of eating places a distinct drawback; no Chinese, no Indian, no pizzas, even a burger would have been a welcome relief.   The pubs were no help either; meals weren’t available, and the restricted choice of beers (mostly mild or India Pale Ale) didn’t much appeal.   He noted that despite his frequent absences, Dunning clearly expected him to be in, and wondered about the extent of the surveillance he was under.
    ‘Just thought I’d drop in to see how you’re managing.’   Dunning said pleasantly.
    ‘Well enough Charles, but I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the policy decisions being made.’   Don had been worrying for days, and knew that the situation would slip out of his grasp if he kept silent.   ‘The powers-that-be seem set on allowing this war to happen and in using my information merely to fight it more efficiently.’
    Dunning raised an eyebrow but did not comment.   Don leaned forward urgently.
    ‘They have no conception of the horrors this war will bring.   Millions slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps simply because of their racial origin.   Tens of millions of Russians killed.   There has to be a way to stop it.’
    Dunning looked at him thoughtfully.   ‘I agree with your sentiments, Don, but what can be done?   You have said yourself that international tensions are such that, one way or another, Germany is bound to try to avenge the crippling penalties of Versailles.   Do you suppose that other countries will voluntarily give back the territories Germany has lost?   Perhaps in your time governments are more rational, less nationalistic, but there is a tide rising in Germany which will not be held back by the threat of war.   This boil has to come to a head before it can be