unit 2: what characterised churchill's relations with his generals?

Question 1

first few months and prime minister

Answer 1

> german forces broke through french lines at sedan
lord gort, british commander, ignored churchill’s orders to preserve british forces
port of calais be defended was pointless and lost valuable men
churchill wanted to send another force, sir john dill destroyed it. dill was removed

Question 2

who was brooke?

Answer 2

> highly competent organiser and thorough professional
deploy british forces carefully and avoid heavy causalities
annoyed by churchill ‘thinking out loud’ & frustration written in diaries after meetings. supported churchill’s idea to send troops and equipment to north africa

Question 3

who was wavell?

Answer 3

> disliked by churchill because he took forces away from churchill when italy invaded greece in 1940
troops were taken to a flawed campaign, lack of time and preparation
did not have the resources to meet german forces
demoted

Question 4

who was auchinleck and montgomery?

Answer 4

> was not prepared for the premature attack on the germans
sacked for his delays and not being aggressive an daring
self confident but insisted on thorough preparations

Question 5

the war in 1943-1994

Answer 5

> american and british forces captured sicily and landed in sourthern italy
long and slow campaign in italy, distracted the allies from defeating main german armies & kept british and russian armies
the generals were not keen on invading france as they believed it would lengthen the war

Question 6

heavy casualties and unsuccessful

Answer 6

> churchill had planned it for summer 1944 but US general eisenhower was put in charge
churchill showed little appreciation for his generals deep