Dec 13 Secretariat of the High Commissioner, Baghdad. Dearest Father. I've still a few minutes and I've more to say. I've written to Scott, Garvin and Geoffrey Dawson telling them that there's an article of mine in the next number of the Rd Table, unsigned of course and its authorship not to be alluded to. I've asked them to call attention to it and told them that rosy as it is, if I had been writing it now it would have been still rosier - Shi'ahs all come into line, 'Iraq army earning golden opinions from our military people, police first rate, new Cabinet as good and steadfast as the old, Kamalists falling into a deeper and deeper slough so that Gen. Burnett Stuart told me we had nothing to fear from Turkey - i.e. we may hope to get our crucial Mosul [Mawsil, Al] question settled aright and even an Assyrian enclave included in the 'Iraq, to our lasting honour.
I've pointed out that the only honourable, or even practicable way of relieving Great Britain of her responsibilities here is to settle the frontiers of the 'Iraq as against Turkey and Syria and get her included in the L. of N. when the mandate automatically lapses. She will be eager to make an alliance with us; she has her principal British advisers for 15 years, paying them herself; she will be delighted to give us an air base if we want one - I wouldn't be surprised if she were ready to contribute something to it. What she needs is the advisers and to be able to say to the world at large that she has our friendship and support as an ally. That will be enough.

Now would you like to hand this on to the Yorkshire Post or any other decent local journal you're familiar with? With most of our press gone to the devil there is little to depend on.

(That's one of the things General B.S. said - the hopelessness of everything because the general public are so misled.)

Show it to Charlie too and ask him please to read my article. Now I really must stop! Gertrude

Half the air mail sat in the desert (in the company of poor Col. Vincent, whose wife is Kitty you remember) and your letter of Nov 28 has this moment come in. What doings! I'm glad I've got £125 more - I wonder why.

You're a truly remarkable person.

Tell me the sex of Hugo's baby.