July to October 1940 saw DW writing papers on a wide range of topics from conditions in the winter through measures to make life in the blitz more tolerable (in this one he had several 'rants') to measures to maintain the independence of Turkey.
Perhaps the most interesting to modern eyes was his Paper No. 13 of November 1940, 'After the Battle'.
Even in the (desperate) autumn of 1940 Churchill was thinking ahead to how, having won the war, Germany could be prevented from starting another war in twenty years time.
He asked the Joint Planning Staff to produce a paper, but the JPS were totally occupied with more immediate problems, so Darvall suggested DW be given the task.
DW considered the idea of combining all the European nations into one block with a federal government but rejected this on the grounds that it might come to be dominated by the Germans and the French, and because they might then turn the federation against the U.K.
DW accordingly decided Europe should be reorganised down from its pre-war 22 countries into 8 federated states. His rationale was that there would be no small states which could be threatened easily, and if the states were of more or less similar areas, populations and strength, they might counterbalance each other.
In his plan, Spain and Portugal would form the Iberian States. There would be a reduced France, Germany and Italy. Between France and Germany would be formed a new buffer of the United Provinces, which would also extend over the northernmost parts of France. South of Germany would be the Central States and the Balkan Union, and to the North there would be a Scandinavian League.
The UK meanwhile would sign an act of union with the USA. After much thought DW decided that the official language of all the countries would be English.
As can be seen from the third exhibit, by now DW had written over a dozen War Papers, and his confidence in his good reception by his exclusive audience was such that he felt able to tease them that they must resist any temptation that they might have to look at his maps before they had read his actual plans.
Later papers came up with similarly original ideas - in Paper No. 15 (early 1941) DW came up with the idea of an 'Atlantic Lifeline' - a system of tugs towing barges to overcome the U Boat menace and bring supplies safely from the U.S.A. to Britain, while in Paper No. 18, 'The Sword of Gideon' (May 1941) he came up with the idea - inspired by his Jewish doctor friend at Oakwood Court - of recruiting a Jewish army, backed up with the promise of a homeland after the war, situated somewhere other than Palestine.
References : 'Stranger Than Fiction' Chapters 3 - 14; especially Chapters 10 & 13.
'Drink and Ink' pp 202,215-6
Phil Baker pp 408-10,414.
Craig Cabell Chapters 13- 15.
