What was Churchill's stance towards the war in 1940?

Question 1

10 May 1940

Answer 1

Churchill becomes PM; G. launches all-out offensive on Western Europe

Question 2

13 May 1940

Answer 2

Churchill delivers ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’ speech (first speech as PM), in which he sets out his position - to never give in

Question 3

What did Chips Channon write about Churchill’s ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’ speech (first speech as PM)?

Answer 3

‘The new PM spoke well, even dramatically, but he was not well received.’

Question 4

15 May 1940

Answer 4

Holland surrenders

Question 5

23 May 1940

Answer 5

Churchill orders the BEF to evacuate France

Question 6

26 May 1940

Answer 6

Discussions begin, led by Lord Halifax, about whether or not to open peace talks w Hitler

Question 7

27 May - 4 Jun 1940

Answer 7

Evacuation of Dunkirk (over 300,000 men brought to Br.)

Question 8

4 Jun 1940

Answer 8

• Dunkirk evacuation ends
• Churchill delivers ‘we shall fight on the beaches’ speech

Question 9

10 Jun 1940

Answer 9

Mussolini declares war on Br.

Question 10

22 Jun 1940

Answer 10

France surrenders

Question 11

27 Jun 1940

Answer 11

Churchill’s wife, Clementine, writes to tell him to be nicer to his staff

Question 12

3 Jul 1940

Answer 12

Churchill tasks Sir James Somerville with sinking part of the French navy to prevent it falling into G. hands. 1300 French sailors killed

Question 13

Jul 1940 - Oct 1940

Answer 13

Battle of Britain fought between RAF and Luftwaffe

Question 14

20 Aug 1940

Answer 14

Churchill delivers ‘Never was so much owed by so many to so few’

Question 15

When did the Blitz start?

Answer 15

7 Sep 1940

Question 16

When did the Blitz end?

Answer 16

11 May 1941

Question 17

12 Oct 1940

Answer 17

Hitler announces Operation Sealion (plan to invade Br.) is off for the winter

Question 18

How can Churchill’s positions when he became PM be summarised?

Answer 18

• Never surrender (including refusal to ever talk peace terms w Hitler)
• French must fight and Br. will give what support it can
• Start to work on President Roosevelt to convince him to join war on Allied side

Question 19

How did Churchill describe the G. invasion of Western Europe in a telegram to Roosevelt?

Answer 19

‘The small countries are simply smashed up, one by one, like matchwood.’

Question 20

What did the Head of Fighter Command, Sir Hugh Dowding, think of Churchill’s policy that the French should continue fighting after and be supported by the RAF?

Answer 20

Critic - told Defence Committee shortly after collapse of Holland: ‘If the present rate of wastage continues for another fortnight we shall not have a single Hurricane left in France or in this country.’

Question 21

How many times did Churchill fly to France between his becoming of PM (10 May) and France’s surrender (22 Jun)?

Answer 21

5

Question 22

How did one diplomat describe Churchill on his first visit to France, and what did Churchill do following a meeting with the French generals?

Answer 22

‘full of fire and fury, saying the French were lily-livered (cowardly) and must fight’.

But following the meeting, he telegraphed the War Cabinet telling them to meet immediately, saying: ‘Situation grave in the last degree’

Question 23

Dunkirk stats:

Answer 23

• 338,000 troops evacuated
• 68,000 BEF soldiers killed/captured
• 75,000 tonnes of ammunition left behind
• 60,000 vehicles left behind

Question 24

What did Harold Nicolson say to his wife in a letter about Churchill’s ‘We shall fight’ speech on 4 Jun (last day of Dunkirk evacuation)?

Answer 24

‘This afternoon Winston made the finest speech that I have ever heard. The House was deeply moved.’

Question 25

What did a RAF squadron leader in 1940 recall about the ‘We shall fight’ speech?

Answer 25

‘After those speeches, we wanted the Germans to come.’

Question 26

What did Halifax argue?

Answer 26

That it might have been better to consider terms before France was defeated and before German bombing destroyed Br. aircraft factories

Question 27

What did the Australian High Commissioner plead for and what was Churchill’s response?

Answer 27

An appeal to Roosevelt for a peace conference but his memorandum was firmly rejected with the word ‘rot’.

Question 28

What did Churchill do on 11 - 12 Jun 1940?

Answer 28

Churchill flew out to meet French gov.

Question 29

What did the French ask Br. for, and what was Churchill’s response?

Answer 29

Air support, arguing that this was the ‘decisive moment’.

Churchill refused, replying ‘This is not the decisive moment. The decisive moment will come when Hitler hurls his Luftwaffe against Britain’.

Question 30

14 Jun 1940

Answer 30

Germans enter Paris

Question 31

16 Jun 1940

Answer 31

• Marshall Petain replaces Paul Reynaud as French premier and instructs French army to lay down their arms
• Meeting in which a plan is presented to fuse Britain and France together as a single country. Indicates how desperate British were to avoid French fleet falling into G. hands

Question 32

What did Churchill do during the Battle of Britain on 16 Aug?

Answer 32

Visited the Battle of Britain Bunker at RAF Uxbridge - was so affected by what he saw that he told General Hastings Ismay, ‘Don’t speak to me, I have never been so moved.’ and then ‘Never in the history of mankind has so much been owed by so many to so few’ - wld form basis of his speech on 20 Aug

Question 33

What did Churchill do during the Blitz?

Answer 33

Personally visited places that had been bombed - travelled to 60 towns in total. Became v. angry - said he wld pay back Germans w ‘compound interest’ - 58,000 Britons dead from aerial bombing vs 500,000 Germans

Question 34

What did the King record in his diary during the Blitz?

Answer 34

‘I cannot afford to lose him nor can the country at this moment.’

Question 35

How many times was the possibility of peace negotiations with Hitler discussed from 26 May 1940 (when discussions began)?

Answer 35

8 times in the next 4 days

Question 36

Why did Churchill instead say ‘the supreme question of whether we should fight on alone never found a place on the War Cabinet agenda…we were much too busy to waste time upon such unreal, academic issues”

Answer 36

Probably to protect the reputation of Britain (and Halifax) after the war

Question 37

What did Halifax threaten to do on 27 May 1940?

Answer 37

Resign

Question 38

How many times did Churchill write to Roosevelt during the war?

Answer 38

2000

Question 39

What did Churchill do returning from a trip to France on 16 May 1940?

Answer 39

Wrote to Roosevelt, warning him of a potential G. invasion of Br. and describing how the combined might of G. + Br. navy wld dwarf the US navy and they wld be able to attack the eastern seaboard

Question 40

3 Sep 1940

Answer 40

Churchill announced ‘destroyers for bases’ deal w US. US gave BR. 50 destroyers in return for long leases on land in various Br territories - propaganda of US support had enormous value

Question 41

What did Churchill do to Halifax towards the end of 1940?

Answer 41

Sent him away to Washington as ambassador. Halifax threatened to resign but eventually went