L2

L2

False plans were planted on a corpse that was allowed to wash up on a French beach. A world of false radio traffic  was created and maintained to  let the  German High  Command conclude  that General Patton was gearing up to lead the entire force over the narrowest part of the  Channel where Dover  could be  seen from Calais. The Germans knew it was the smartest move.

Admiral Sir Bertrand Ramsay, in overall command of the invasion, left absolutely nothing to chance. On June 4, 1944, just before D-Day, Sir Ramsay actually took  time to visit  St. Catherine's lighthouse. The weather was  quite  murky and  wet  so he  cut his inspection short. Benjamin showed Ramsay  the room  where the Teletype and  Clarinet transmitter  were installed. Ramsay thanked Benjamin personally for  his service  to the  King, and Benjamin, for his part, considered it prudent not to mention the assistance he received from Edith and Judith.

The Admiral   seemed  to  be   captivated  by  a   wall  chart. Benjamin said, "That's my moving five-day  weather forecast for Undercliff, sir. That would be this stretch where the lighthouse is located.  We are in a  rain-shadow right here, you  know. And also  a fog-shadow.  The weather  in  this little  patch is  not nearly as immoderate as it is for the Overners."

He led the Admiral into the white octagonal tower to inspect the Clarinet antenna and  took  him spiralling  up the  ninety-four steps to the  top. Benjamin showed Sir  Ramsay where  the huge crystal lens had been chipped by a 1943 air raid. They could see thirty nautical miles  out to  sea. The whole English  Channel was roiling with  whitecaps  kicked up  from  high winds  which threatened to derail the immanent invasion.

"And you do this weather forecasting as a sort of hobby?"

"Perhaps more than just a hobby, Admiral Sir Ramsay. I'm trained as a meteorologist, and I'm a damn fine one,  if you don't mind me carrying my own chair. But it's wartime now, and I'm a wickie for the duration.  Now I know we've all got  to pull together to stop Jerry, sir,  but all the same, one must  use the skills one has been trained to use, or one's mind gets in a bit of a rut."

"I see," said Ramsay.

"It's not the purely sterile pursuit you might imagine it to be, Admiral Sir. By a strange fluke of geography and wind and water currents, the  weather here  at the lighthouse  has a  very high correlation with the weather directly  across the Channel on the coast of France."