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Churchill in WWII
Did Eisenhower Threaten Resignation over Bombing Policy?
11
Dec
2023
By MAX E. HERTWIG
At Kasserine Pass in 1943, Eisenhower realized the critical importance of air power—and the need to avoid parceling out control to different commanders. Eisenhower declared that the invasion of Europe could not come “until we had established ourselves so firmly that danger of defeat was eliminated—all air forces in Britain, excepting only the Coastal Command, should come under my control....”
Churchill Confronts “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp”
28
Sep
2023
1
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
Churchill fought the Second World War with single-minded intensity; thus, his reaction to the Colonel Blimp film. Any distraction from the war effort was inadmissible, even treasonous. His notorious outburst, “I hate Indians...beastly people with a beastly religion” was in reaction to Delhi separatists when India was under invasion. Alas today it is treated as an offense of genocidal magnitude.
Facing the Dictator: Stalin, 1946; Hitler, 1938
02
Feb
2023
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
The 1946 Churchill-Stalin exchange was remarkably similar to Churchill’s with Hitler eight years earlier: “I am surprised that the head of a great State should set himself to attack British members of Parliament who hold no official position and who are not even the leaders of parties.” Martin Gilbert’s official biography informs our knowledge Churchill’s consistency.
Dudgeon or Duty? Churchill’s Absence from the Roosevelt Funeral
30
Oct
2022
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
Churchill is not here to recall in his thoughts. There is no doubt he was faced with one of the statesman’s painful decisions. There was, after all, a World War going on, but the Allies were closing on Berlin. The end might come any day. Yet there is no doubt about his bereavement.
Clementine Churchill’s Only Book: “My Visit to Russia,” 1945
23
Dec
2021
Dinner on the Night That Changed Everything, 7 December 1941
08
Oct
2021
1
Ghost in the Attic (1): Churchill, the Soviets and the Special Relationship
27
May
2021
By WARREN F. KIMBALL
Did Churchill turn somersaults over the Soviets? Yes and with good reason. We understand events better through good historians, and hindsight.
Templer, Kennedy, and the Origin of Churchill’s “Wrung like a Chicken”
24
May
2021
1
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
Joseph Kennedy or the French generals? The origins of a famous oratorical flourish, on how Britain turned out to be one tough chicken.
Churchill in 1943 on National Health Insurance and Taxation
30
Nov
2020
1
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
Churchill believed medical advances were “the inheritance of all,” and advocated insurance against illness; he was also mindful of its cost to taxpayers.
Churchill on the V1: “Mass Effects Overwhelm Detached Sentiment”
27
Oct
2020
Elizabeth Layton in “Darkest Hour”: The Annexe and War Rooms
24
Aug
2020
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
Questions on the role of secretary Elizabeth Layton in the 2017 film, and the Annexe where Churchill really ran the wartime government.
Did Churchill Order the “Little Ships” to Rescue Soldiers at Dunkirk?
06
Dec
2019
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
It was not a broadcast appeal to the nation. Nothing so vague as that for Winston S. Churchill. It was his order to the Admiralty on 20 May 1940. The Admiralty then formed the Small Vessels Pool, in which private owners registered their craft for the mission and were given routes and charts.