Hi again,
I am sorry to ask so many questions, but you are my best option.

Well, gentlemen,’ Churchill said, ‘it seems to me that we can’t do better than put our money on General Plaster-arse, and hope that his feet are not made of clay.

What I understand from the following sentence, pronounced by Churchill in Athens, by Christmas 1944, when the country is on the verge of civil war out of tensions between monarchists and communists, is more or less that (my "translation"):

"Our best bet is to stake it all on the generals being calm (immobile, plaster-like, as a "chien de faïence", so to say) and hope anyway that they have got the guts (or the means) to hold the position". (Obviously playing on words —plaster/clay— much more graciously than me… —but what I need to know is wether the idea is correct or not).


Thanks again,

CM

Churchill was referring to General Nikolaos Plastiras, Papandreou's replacement as Prime Minister in Greece during the period in question. Plastiras, despite proving in hindsight a capable prime minister on three occasions, managing to tread a middle ground between the ultra conservative and ultra left factions that were threatening to plunge the country into interminable civil war, also therefore managed to anger both sides equally. Churchill regarded him as a "plodder" and an "appeaser" so didn't much care for him either, though he also acknowledged that Plastiras was probably the best bet in the circumstances. So while he supported him (even lending him British troops) he privately made little of him, as your quote demonstrates.

Hi!
This is to discharge you from duty, so to say, because I've found it myself (for once).

It's a phonetic pun with the name of the  general Nikolaos Plastiras, a republican anti-Communist.


But I see that you already are answering me!

Yes, nordmann, that's right.

I find it difficult to hold the whole book in my head. I nevertheless progress little by little to the top of this mountain.

All the best,

CM