Churchill stance and style Flashcards
Astute
Kept Chamberlain in War Cabinet and allowed him to remain as leader of Conservative Party (silenced pro-Chamberlain MPs criticism).
Energy
Churchill, within hours of taking office, requested limitless supply of red labels bearing capital ‘ACTION THIS DAY’ attaching them to minutes and messages around Whitehall urgency. Colonel Ian Jacobs (military assistant secretary to War Cabinet) said that ‘things began to hum, and they hummed until the end of the war’.
Controlling
‘No matter how irritating, bullying, and wearing people found him [Churchill] at times, their negative reactions were in the end outweighed by the long-term positive one’.
Fighter
Carried a pistol on trips to France. In 1944, it took a direct order from the King to prevent Churchill from joining the D-Day invasion.
Demanding
Clementine’s letter, June 27 1940 said that ‘there is a danger of your being generally disliked by your colleagues and subordinates because of your rough sarcastic and overbearing manner’.
HE, Roberts writes that ‘once the first desperate and perilous months were past, meetings were less often unpleasant until the last nine months or so’.
Inspirational
Edward Murrow of CBS news said (after one of Churchill’s speeches): that he ‘mobilised the English language and sent it into battle.’
Ruthless
On 1st July Churchill ordered destruction of key part of French fleet at Oran, Algeria, fearing it was to fall into German hands (although was ordered to sail to USA but message not intercepted by British codebreakers)…. 1300 dead Operation Catapult on 3rd July.
Structure of government
Civilians in charge: Churchill did not want military running war… telling his ally that ‘power shall be in no other hands but my own. There will be no more Kitcheners, Fishers or Haigs’.
Small War Cabinet: initially only 5 members.
General Hastings Ismay, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence: Ismay had to express and explain Churchill’s views to Chief of Staff Committee, and to inform him of their reactions… an interpreter and a mediator… but meant that the Head of Govenrmetn and Chiefs of Staff were in direct and continuous communication with the Head of Government, and were able to act as a combined Battle Headquarters.
Churchill had a lot of power, but Roberts responds that ‘he never once rejected their unanimous professional advice on an operational matter’.
France
Churchill became PM on same day as Hitler’s attack on Western Europe. German advances = swift. French quickly on back foot.
Between 10th and 22nd June. Churchill flew to France 5 times.
On first flight, he was ‘full of fire and fury, saying the French were lily-livered’. But on return ordered Admiralty to begin planning evacuation of British troops from France… surrender and collapse was termed ‘a certain eventuality’.
Dunkirk = success:
- 338,000 troops were evacuated
- 68,000 BEF soldiers were killed/captured
- 75,000 tonnes of ammunition were left behind
- 60,000 vehicles were left behind
Initially, RAF was used to help France but they were decreasing at rapid rate such that on 3rd June, Dowding demanded the 331 fighters he had left should remain in Britain. Finally his advice was taken.
After fight them on the beaches speech, one RAF squadron leader recalled ‘after those speeches, we wanted the Germans to come’.
On 10th June, French government were forced to flee France. Churchill flew out to meet them on 11 and 12 June in Briare, south of Paris. CdG only French voice demanding French fight on… The French begged for British air support, arguing this was the ‘decisive moment’. Churchill, despite being a lifelong Franchophile, refused, replying: ‘This is not the decisive moment. The decisive moment will come when Hitler hurls his Luftwaffe against Britain’.
Battle of Britain:
- Following the evacuation at Dunkirk, Hitler issued a directive on 16 July 1940 for the preparation and, if necessary, the execution of a plan to invade Britain. It was codenamed Operation Sealion.
- Britain’s naval superiority meant an immediate invasion was unrealistic. The Germans planned first to secure aerial superiority. If this was achieved, the Luftwaffe could attack the Royal Navy more effectively and pave the way for a full German invasion.
- The numbers were in Germany’s favour: 1,300 bombers and a further 1,200 fighters – significantly more than the RAF’s 600 planes.
- However, radar gave Fighter Command early warning where to send their fighters.
- The Spitfire was extremely effective against slower German bombers. German fighter cover was only partially available because of fuel limits.
- Initially, the Luftwaffe targeted British shipping, ports and airfields along the Channel.
- From 8 August 1940, the Luftwaffe’s focus shifted to bombing air fields and radar stations.
- An enormous bombing raid on Berlin in September provoked Hitler to retaliate in kind, diverting the Luftwaffe to bomb British cities rather than RAF airfields. This gave the RAF a much-needed breather.
- On 15 September the Luftwaffe attempted an enormous bombing raid on London and other cities. However, the RAF met the Luftwaffe with full force and scored a decisive victory. It became clear the Luftwaffe’s tactics had failed.
- On 17 September, Hitler postponed Operation Sealion until further notice.
Blitz:
- The Blitz – the sustained bombing of London and other major British cities – began in September, towards the end of the Battle of Britain.
- The aim of the Blitz was to damage Britain’s ability to fight the war (factories etc.) and destroy morale.
- On 7 September some 950 German aircraft attacked London. It was the first and last mass daylight raid on London, but it heralded the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.
- In early November, Herman Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, ordered that the air offensive against cities, industry and ports had to be conducted entirely under cover of darkness.
- On 29 December, a major raid on London destroyed much of the City, but poor winter weather then led to a drop in attacks until March. The two months from March until May 1941 saw a series of heavy attacks, culminating in a very damaging raid on London on 10 May. The Blitz ended on 16 May, when most of the Luftwaffe was re-assigned east for the imminent invasion of Russia.
- In total, approximately 58,000 Britons died from aerial bombardment.
During Blitz, Churchill visited Battle of Britain Bunker at RAF Uxbridge on 16th August during raid. Apparently so affected by what he saw that in car back told General Hastings Ismay. ‘Don’t speak to me, I have never been so moved.’
During Blitz, Churchill travelled to 60 towns in total to see damage firsthand…. Told one member of public that he would pay Germans with ‘compound interest’. Indeed, 58,000 Brits died, compared to 500,000 Germans.
During Blitz also took unnecessary risk, bodyguard Walter Thompson said he once had to jump on Churchill to save him from a bomb blast.
Peace talks:
On 26 May 1940, just before the beginning of the evacuation of Dunkirk, secret discussions begun about whether to seek peace terms with Hitler. The subject was discussed 8 times in subsequent 4 days, Halifax threatened to resign if not allowed to pursue talks. To stop this, Churchill on afternoon of 28th, Churchill called a Cabinet meeting for that afternoon without War Cabinet (Halifax) where he rallied support against the idea of peace talks. After this Halifax dropped idea.
As Christmas approached in 1940, Churchill sent Halifax to Washington as ambassador. Halifax threatened to resign but they went anyway.
Persuading President Roosevelt
C saw US as vital to success. Wrote to FDR around 2000 times during war. Started on 15th May, stating that Roosevelt may have a ‘Nazified Europe established with astonishing swiftness’. Then again the next day that the capturing of the Royal Navy would mean America’s navy was dwarfed.
On 3 September 1940 Churchill announced the ‘destroyers for bases’ deal with the USA. America gave Britain some 50 destroyers (many obsolete) in return for long leases on land in various British territories. Materially, the deal benefitted the Americans, but the propaganda value of American support was enormous.
