for.
The PM asked what was being done to
trace those officers. He couldn’t give a straight answer. It was obvious to
me that they had been written off as probably dead. Shots had been fired by at
least two officers. There were no figures for civilian casualties of those
shootings.
The two women from the NHS were the
next to be quizzed. They couldn’t give any figures for numbers being treated
but confirmed a new report, that there had been an outbreak of violence at Great
Ormond Street Hospital and they had temporarily lost contact with staff there.
The PM knew he had to make a decision quickly.
General Breck, who was the most
senior military man in the room, asked if the Prime Minister wanted to order
the army onto the streets. Breck was an older man, probably in his late
fifties I would guess. He was army through and through, with a ramrod straight
back and the fitness of a man in his twenties. But he was also incredibly
perceptive. He could see a problem looming and he wanted to be in a position
to deal with it before it got any worse.
The Prime Minister was aghast at the
suggestion. It was far too early to consider such a drastic action, he argued,
when we still didn’t know exactly what we were dealing with. All the same he
ordered that all leave should be cancelled with immediate effect and for all
the armed forces to be placed on high alert.
The situation at Buckingham Palace
was then discussed in some detail. The Royal Family were already at Windsor
for a private family event, he was told, and should be safe in the meantime. But
thousands were still congregated outside and there were reports of many
hundreds of casualties. The guard had asked for permission to open the gates,
in order to protect some of those who were gathered there. This idea was
immediately discounted. We couldn’t allow thousands of ordinary people access
to the Queen’s residence. Impossible.
The PM concluded the meeting by
addressing Dr Bryson and asking for his opinion.
‘I haven’t seen what is going on at
first hand,’ the Dr said. ‘I haven’t seen any of the injured or dead, or had
the opportunity to try to communicate with any of the attackers to see what has
triggered it.’
‘I would like you to do so
immediately,’ said the PM. ‘Go to one of the hospitals and find out whatever
you can about this. We need as much information as you can get.’
He turned to Brigadier Carrick of the
SAS, another who had been lucky enough to make it through the early carnage.
‘See to it that the Dr has an
escort.’
With that the meeting came to an end,
with the next one scheduled for 22:00 hours in the same room. That meeting
never took place. In fact, by the time 22:00 hours had arrived, most of the
people who had attended that meeting were dead, or had been infected.
Callum MacPherson
14:10 hours, Friday 15 th May, Buckingham
Palace, London
It was me who gave the first order to open the
gate. It was just the one at the side, near to the guard room, not the main
one where most of the people were gathered. What did it for me was the sight
of two young girls clinging to one another in fright as the world around them
descended into chaos. They never spoke. They didn’t ask to be saved, but the
imploring look in their eyes told me I had to do something.
From my vantage point I hadn’t been able to get
the best view, so I did something which was against protocol. I went inside
the main palace building. I knew the royal family were away, but if I had been
caught it would have meant serious trouble for me.
I went to the top floor with a pair of
binoculars and scanned across the Mall and the surrounding area. There were,
by now, tens of thousands of people either already gathered outside the palace
gates, or making their way towards us across St James’s Park and Green Park. I
gasped when I saw them all. There was no way