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Churchill in WWII
Facing the Dictator: Stalin, 1946; Hitler, 1938
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
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
“My Visit to Russia” portrayed a devastated land, along with many vignettes of people determined to survive.
Dinner at Chequers on the Night That Changed Everything, 7 December 1941
Churchill’s war memoirs give only a partial account of the fateful dinner after which he “slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.”
Ghost in the Attic (1): Churchill, the Soviets and the Special Relationship
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”
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
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”
Churchill’s comments on the V1 reveal a rare quality: a genuine appreciation of enemy cleverness, albeit overwhelmed by “mass effects.”
Elizabeth Layton in “Darkest Hour”: The Annexe and War Rooms
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?
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.
What was the reason for Roosevelt’s antipathy toward de Gaulle?
De Gaulle annoyed Franklin Roosevelt even more than he did Churchill. Roosevelt deplored what he saw as a statist, a Bonapartist and an imperialist. His conclusions were not entirely accurate.
Who was BW?
“BW”—for Barbara Lutyens Wallace—lived a life of sacrifice notable even in that vanished, valiant generation, and provides some tips for Churchill researchers.