29th
October, 1915
After
receiving some thanks and recognition for their part in the destruction of the
Graf Schmidt, the group are graciously given a week’s leave and allowed to
travel to Paris to rest and recuperate. After a boozy night in the
officer’s mess, Pankhurst and Captain Herbert are on hand the next morning to
wave the officers off as they hitch a lift with a supply convoy of several
trucks heading for Paris.
Before
they leave, Parkhurst tells them that their patron, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is
in Paris. He has requested their audience tomorrow at 11am at the Grand
Quartier Général, the general headquarters for the French army.
As the
trucks weave their way south, the group can see the scars of the trenches
illuminated by the early morning autumn sunlight. Artillery barrages are
hammering the entrenched German positions, there’s no let up for either side in
this war.
After
a reasonably short journey the group once again finds themselves in Paris.
Belgian refugees still clog the streets and troops march in preparation
for active duty on the western front.
Captain
Parker has given them the name of a small boarding house they have been
allotted to, the Hôtel les Degrés de Notre Dame Located in the heart of Paris,
just opposite the Seine and Notre Dame Cathedral.
After
being led upstairs to their stuffy but comfortable rooms by the surly bellboy,
they can relax and unwind. Paris is famous for its celebrated nightlife
and the pilots look forwards to a savouring whatever Paris can offer then in
the way of distraction.
The
following morning, probably with hangovers, the group can dress, breakfast and
make their way to the French general headquarters.
The
French general headquarters (GQG) was organised into a complex series of
departments and bureaux that changed frequently throughout the war. This
structure has been criticised by historians for failing to encourage
co-operation between departments and for widespread infighting. There were also
concerns about the autonomy and power vested in GQG. French policy, laid down
in 1913, had been for the two most important field armies, the north and
north-east, to retain operational independence. GQG, under Joffre, assumed
control of these armies in December 1915 and retained them until his
replacement by Nivelle when the Minister of War, Joseph Gallieni, raised concerns
that the pre-war policy was being violated. GQG failed accurately to assess
German casualties, basing military operations on wildly optimistic assessments
of the weakness of German units and reserves.
At
this time in the war, GSQ is based at the Hôtel du Grand Condé in the Chantilly
district of Paris. The hotel is a grand affair, seven floors tall in the
Chantilly district of Paris. Known before the war as a retreat for the
rich and famous, the hotel has been somewhat remodelled to accommodate the
French army command.
This
is also the home of The Bureau des Phénomènes Mystérieux Non Expliqués (Bureau
of Unexplained Mysterious Phenomena)
MI-13’s
head is there in consultation with his opposite number, Captain Roland Dutoit.
After making themselves known to the officers in the reception area of
the hotel, they are escorted by a subaltern to the basement of the hotel.
Down a flight of rough stone stairs, deep under the still functioning
kitchen, the group are escorted into the bowels of the hotel. At the end
of the twisting corridor past filing cabinets and boxes a thick oak door has a
neatly printed sign hung from it saying simply BDPME, under that is a small
note asking visitors to knock.
After
they knock and are invited in by a lightly accented French voice, they see the
small suite of offices are covered with filing cabinets, bookcases and desks.
There are no windows and a few and women in civilian clothing work
studiously at their posts. Captain Dutoit meets them by the entrance and
warmly shakes their hands with Gallic flourish, he is a tall, neatly dressed
man with a glasses and a rakish imperial goatee, and he greets them:
“Ah the famous flyers, the
knights of the air! Incroyable! Excuse me gentlemen, we see few heroes down
here in Le warren du lapin. Please, if you’d be so kind, Monsieur Doyle
awaits us in my office. »
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