Amery, Leo 2, 3, 125–6
Antwerp 45, 138
Asquith, Herbert 41, 44, 47
Attlee, Clement 4–5, 20, 69, 81–2, 105–6, 108, 203, 205, 224, 238, 246
Austria, German annexation 96
Baldwin, Stanley 53, 55, 56, 58, 90, 161
Balfour, Arthur 38
Bangalore 32
Bastianini, Giuseppe 183–4, 222, 264
Beaverbrook, Max Aitken, 1st Baron 17, 74, 141
Belgium 49, 201–2
Armistice 216–17, 218–19
Belgian Army 201, 202, 218, 219, 220
First World War 49; Churchill and Antwerp 45
German 1940 invasion of 67–8, 73–4
Berkley, Claude 161, 195–6
Billotte, Gaston-Henri 167, 168, 169
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen 262
Boers
Boer War 16, 35, 37
POW camp 36, 127
Bolshevism 50
Bonham-Carter, Violet 37
Boulogne 168, 171, 172, 174, 181, 182
Braithwaite, Gurney 172
Bridges, Sir Edward 106, 107–8, 188, 189, 203, 207, 211, 212
British Army
4th Queen’s Own Hussars 30, 32, 48, 69
BEF 74, 75, 155, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173–4, 175, 179, 180, 186, 216, 217, 220–21;
Calais garrison not evacuated 196–7;
Dunkirk evacuation 194–7, 210, 219, 236–53
planes 147
Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons 88
Scots Guards 42
Browning, Robert 127
Butler, R. A. ‘Rab’ 13–14, 80
Cadogan, Sir Alexander 19, 181, 188, 203, 214, 215, 239
Calais 167, 168, 171, 175, 177–9, 182
BEF garrison not evacuated 196–7
Campbell, Sir Ronald 246–7
Cannadine, David 256, 262
Chamberlain, Joseph 38
Chamberlain, Neville ix, 59, 60, 61, 75–6, 83–4, 191, 192–3, 203, 224, 238
appeasement policy 3–5, 62, 93, 95–7, 100; see also
Munich Agreement; ‘Peace in our time!’ 3, 71, 98
and Churchill: Churchill’s letters 80–81, 105, 115–16; Churchill’s loyalty and consideration 9–10, 20, 116; as PM 105, 106, 108, 111, 116, 173, 192, 209, 231
‘Conduct of the War’ debate 3–8
diary entries x, 188, 189, 209, 264
and Halifax see Halifax,
Edward Wood, 1st Earl of: and Chamberlain
and Hitler 3–4, 5, 61–2, 83–4, 191 see also Munich Agreement
as House of Commons leader 81
Munich Agreement 5, 62, 98
reluctance under pressure to stand down 1–5, 69, 70–73
resignation 20–21, 73
Channon, Sir Henry (‘Chips’) 9, 10–11, 87, 107, 120, 124, 250
Chartwell 52–3, 55, 112, 113, 154
Churchill, Clementine Spencer, née Hozier 39–40, 48, 49–50, 78, 154, 240
birth of Diana 40
birth of Marigold 50
birth of Mary 52
birth of Randolph 43
birth of Sarah 45
and death of Marigold 51
Churchill, Diana 40
Churchill, Jack Spencer 25
Churchill, Jeanette (Jennie), Lady Randolph Churchill, née Jerome 25
Churchill, John Spencer 241
Churchill, Marigold 50, 51
Churchill, Mary see Soames, Mary, née Churchill
Churchill, Lord Randolph 15, 25–6, 89
death 30, 34
letter to Winston about
Sandhurst 28–9
marriage 25
oratory 26
syphilis 26
Churchill, Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer 43, 67, 69
Churchill, Sarah 45
Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer
and Amery 27–8
appendicitis 52
and Belgium 201–2, 216–17, 218–19
birth 24–5
and the Boer War 16, 35, 37; as prisoner of war 35, 127
and Bolshevism 50
Calais garrison non-evacuation 196–7
and Chamberlain see Chamberlain, Neville: and Churchill
as Chancellor of Exchequer 53–5
Conservative to Liberal switch (1904) 9, 37–8
and Cuban War of Independence 31–2
death of daughter, Marigold 51
Dundee election successes 40, 41
and Dunkirk evacuation 194–7, 236–53
education 27–8;
self-education in India 33, 126
elected 1900 as Conservative MP 36
Epping seat 53, 55
as First Lord of the Admiralty 8, 9, 44–5; mistakes during Great War 15, 44–8, 261–2; and RN reforms 42–3
in First World War 15, 16, 44–8, 49, 261–2
and France 139–40, 141–2, 150–54, 156–61, 165–87, 191–2, 194–7, 232, 236–53, 263–4
and Free Trade 37
front-line journalism 35
and Gallipoli 15, 45–8, 261–2
and the German invasion of Low Countries 69, 70
habits and tastes 33, 111–15;
drinking habits 24, 114
and Halifax see Halifax, Edward Wood, 1st Earl of: and Churchill
and Hitler see Hitler, Adolf: and Churchill
as Home Secretary 41; and the Siege of Sidney Street 41–2; and the Tonypandy riots 41
in India 32–3, 126
and Indian Home Rule 15, 55–6
and Ireland 15
letters: to Chamberlain 80–81, 105, 115–16; to Clementine 39; to colleagues, warning about Germany 58; to Halifax 81; to Mussolini 148–9; to Lady Randolph 33; to Reith 110; to Roosevelt 146
Manchester North West election failure 40
marriage to Clementine Hozier 39–40 see also Churchill, Clementine Spencer, née Hozier
military credentials: with 4th Queen’s Own Hussars 30, 32, 48; wartime experience 16, 44–8
and Mussolini ix, 139, 144, 145, 148–9, 179–81, 183–5, 187, 190–93, 203–5, 209, 222–5, 264
and the Norway campaign 8
painting 53, 55
personality 23–4
premiership appointment 79; and first meetings with ministers 105–8, 110–11; and maiden speech 119–33
premiership candidacy 14–21, 77–9
premiership style 109–16
as President of the Board of Trade 38
public support 115, 133, 137
reading matter 27
reputation: Clementine’s campaigning for 49; with Dundee election success 40; as emotional 31; over Gallipoli 47–8; as Home Secretary 42; as a joke figure 9, 42, 114; and premiership suitability 15–16; as a warmonger 15, 59, 71
and Roosevelt 133, 145–7, 154, 166–7, 194
at Sandhurst 28–30
as Secretary of State for the Colonies 50–51
as Secretary of State for War 50
self-doubt 15–16, 24, 197, 262
sense of destiny 21
speeches: broadcast 19 May 1940 155–61; on cost of appeasement 61; fermenting 10; ‘fight them on the beaches’ xi, 251–5, 257; first political speech 34; House of Commons speech 28 May 1940 220–21, 227–9; maiden speech as PM 119–33; on military spending 37; models for xi, 247; oratory and rhetoric vii, xi–xii, 126–33, 161, 229, 247–8, 251–7; pre-war warnings concerning Germany 44, 57–8, 59, 61, 71; response to Munich Agreement 62–4; stage directions 251–2; thought process operating through speech 247
as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies 38
War Cabinet meetings ix–x, 46, 69–70, 74–6, 137–40, 142–5, 149–50, 151–2, 153–4, 155, 165–6, 170–71, 173–4, 183–7, 188–93, 194–5, 236–9, 241–2, 247, 248; 27 May 1940 meeting 201–14; 28 May 1940 meeting 221–5, 230–31
‘wilderness’ years 15, 56, 90
writings: Daily Graphic despatches 32; Daily Telegraph reports 34;
The G
athering Storm 19, 82, 84–5;
Harrovian articles 27;
History of the English-Speaking Peoples 131;
London to Ladysmith via Pretoria 127;
memoirs 60–61, 230, 231–2;
My Early Life 25, 26, 31, 33, 37;
Pioneer reports 34; rallying memo of 29 May 1940 to Cabinet 235–6; for Saturday Evening Post 127–8; Savrola 34; ‘The Scaffolding of Rhetoric’ 132, 256; The Story of the Malakand Field Force 34; Their Finest Hour 230; The World Crisis 128
Cicero 126, 247
Clemenceau, Georges 255
coalminers 41
Colville, John ‘Jock’ 5, 11, 77, 111, 113, 124, 126, 141, 154, 168, 169–70, 173, 215, 218, 240, 248
Conservative Party 9, 11, 12, 25, 34, 36, 41, 53, 54, 55, 76, 79–80, 108, 214
Cooper, Duff 217–18, 220, 249
Cromwell, Oliver 2
Cuban War of Independence 31–2
Czechoslovakia 61–2, 63–4, 97
Sudetenland 61–2, 96, 98
Daily Express 182
Daily Graphic 32
Daily Mail 182
Daily Telegraph 34, 133
Daladier, Édouard 152–3
Dalton, Hugh 7, 227, 248, 250
Davies, Clement 3
de Gaulle, Charles 151
Defence Committee 74, 137, 177, 216, 242, 263
Dill, Sir John 106, 150, 239
Donne, John 127
Dorman-Smith, Sir Reginald 97
Dowding, Sir Hugh 219
Dunkirk 155, 168, 169, 171, 177, 183, 201, 217, 219, 236, 241
evacuation (Operation Dynamo) 194–7, 210, 219, 236–53
Eden, Anthony 17, 20, 60, 82, 91, 93, 96, 141, 161, 170, 178, 197, 238, 239
Edward VII
Churchill’s oath of fealty to 36
as Prince of Wales 25
Edward VIII 59
elections, general see General Elections
Enchantress, HMS 43
Epping 53, 55
Evening Standard 133, 182
Everest, Elizabeth 25, 30–31
First World War
Britain’s declaration of war 44
Churchill in 15, 16, 44–8, 49, 261–2
Gallipoli campaign 15, 45–8, 261–2
Fisher, Sir John 46, 47
France 141–2, 150–54, 156–61, 232 see also Boulogne; Calais; Dunkirk; Paris
French Army 138, 140, 157, 166, 167, 168–9, 170, 171, 186, 249
German invasion of 138, 140, 142, 149–50, 156–61, 165–87, 191–2, 228
and Italy 221–5
Free Trade 37
French, Sir John 49
Gallipoli campaign 15, 45–8, 261–2
Gandhi, Mahatma 89
Gandhi–Irwin Pact 90
Garibaldi, Giuseppe 127
Gemmell, Chips 112
General Elections
1910 elections 40, 41
1922 election 52
1929 election 55
1935 election 91
General Strike 54–5
George V 41
George VI 14, 76–7, 78–9, 109, 138, 174, 248
Germany
Churchill’s pre-war warnings about 44, 57–8, 59, 61, 71
and First World War see First World War
Luftwaffe 68, 168, 171, 175, 185, 236, 249
naval expansion/rearmament 43, 44, 58
Poland invaded by 12, 64
in Second World War see Second World War
and the Treaties of Versailles and Locarno 91
Gibraltar ix, x, 186, 188, 192, 209
Gilbert, Martin 48, 58, 97, 173, 189, 225
Gilliatt, Elizabeth 113
Goebbels, Josephs 114
Gold Standard 54
Göring, Hermann 93, 95
Gort, John Vereker, 6th Viscount 75, 169, 170, 173, 174, 175, 202, 217, 236–9, 240, 241, 244
Great War see First World War
Greenwood, Arthur 4, 20, 69, 81–2, 105–6, 108, 191, 192–3, 203, 205, 224
Grey, Sir Edward 44
Guthrie, Tyrone 156
Halifax, Charles Wood, 1st Viscount 89
Halifax, Edward Wood, 1st Earl of ix, 60, 76, 85, 87–101, 108, 138–9, 140, 143, 144–5, 175–6, 179–80, 201, 203, 218, 236, 237, 248
appeasement policy 16, 72, 93–7, 139, 144, 171–2, 179–81, 183–5, 187, 190–93, 203–15, 221–5
and Chamberlain 12–14, 18–20, 60, 93, 99–100, 111, 207, 211, 224–5; as possible successor 12–14, 18–20, 76–7
and Churchill 14, 18–20, 60–61, 81, 88–9, 100–101; letter to Halifax 81; and Mussolini, Italy and peace talks 139, 144, 171–2, 179–81, 183–5, 187, 190–93, 203–15, 221–5, 260, 264; as PM 105–7, 110–11, 139, 144–5, 179–81, 183–5, 186–7, 188–93, 221–5, 231, 237–8, 246–7, 260; resignation threats 213–14, 215, 225, 229, 231, 260, 261
Foreign Secretary appointment 96
and Hitler see Hitler, Adolf: and Halifax
and Morrison 6
Peer/Commons conflict 12, 19
as Secretary of State for War 90–91
as Viceroy of India 56, 89–90; Gandhi–Irwin Pact 90
Hankey, Maurice, 1st Baron 115
Harrovian 27
Harrow 27–8
Hitchens Christopher 260
Hitler, Adolf
British invasion plans/possibility 222, 249, 254
and Chamberlain 3–4, 5, 61–2, 83–4, 191 see also Munich Agreement
and Churchill: and Mussolini ix, 190, 192–3; peace deal possibilities ix–x, 187–9, 191, 205–15, 259–65
claim to be guardian of Europe 58
and Halifax 16, 60, 72, 91–2, 93–6, 98–100, 187, 190–93, 205, 222–5
and Mussolini 192–3, 203–5, 222–5, 264
preparations for war 21, 58
speeches 132
Hoare, Sir Samuel 6, 7, 67–8, 69, 70, 75, 96–7, 115
Holland
German invasion of 67–9, 73, 138, 143
surrender 143
Hozier, Blanche, Lady 38–9
Hozier, Clementine see Churchill, Clementine Spencer, née
Hozier Hussars, 4th Queen’s Own 30, 32, 69
India
Bangalore 32
Churchill in 32–3, 126
Home Rule and Churchill 15, 55–6
Round Table Conference 90
Inskip, Sir Thomas 96–7
Ireland 15
Ironside, Sir Edmund 16, 68, 75, 106, 108, 144, 149–50, 165, 167, 169, 170, 174, 177, 240
Irwin, Lord see Halifax, Edward Wood, 1st Earl of
Ismay, Hastings, 1st Baron 74, 106, 116, 141, 150, 151, 152, 165, 169–70, 177, 197, 203, 239, 242
Italy 138–9, 140–41, 143–4, 147–9, 171–2, 175–6, 179–81, 183–5, 187, 190–93, 203–5, 222–5, 236, 264
and France 221–5
Ive, Ruth 107–8
Jenkins, Roy 36, 43–4, 50, 56, 112–13
Kennedy, Joseph 98–9, 141, 143, 248
Keyes, Sir Roger 4, 201–2, 218
Keynes, John Maynard 54
Kitchener, Horatio Herbert, 1st Earl 35, 46
Kristallnacht 99
Labour Party 41, 75–6
Lawrence, T. E. 51
Leopold III of Belgium 201–2, 216
Liberal Party 9, 38, 40, 41, 44, 53
Livy 126
Lloyd George, David 7, 9, 38, 44, 50, 52, 88
Lloyd George, Margaret 8
Lorarno, Treaty of 91
Low, David 133
Luftwaffe 68, 168, 171, 175, 185, 236, 249
Luxembourg 68, 73
MacDonald, Malcolm 125–6
MacDonald, Ramsay 58, 91
Mahdist War 35
Malta ix, x, 186, 188, 192, 209, 263
Manchester, William 155–6
Manchester Guardian 181
Margesson, David 11, 18, 20, 141
Martin, John 250–51, 252
Metropolitan Police 42
Middle East
Conference 51
Military Coordination Committee 68
Morrison, Herbert 5–7
Munich Agreement 5, 62, 98
Munster, Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of 241
Mussolini, Benito ix, 59–60, 96, 139, 140, 143–4, 148–9, 171–2, 180–81, 190–93, 203–5, 209, 222–5, 236, 264
invasion of Abyssinia 59–60
National Government 6, 17, 20, 73, 75–6, 105, 108
Newall, Sir Cyril 75, 106
News of the World 181
Nicholson, Claude 175, 177–8, 196–7
Nicolson, Harold 124, 249–50
Norway
campaign 8
Debate 2–5
Onslow, Dorothy, Lady 88
Operation Dynamo 194–7, 210, 219, 236–53
oratory see rhetoric/oratory
Paris 68, 243–6
defence of 139–40, 141–2, 151–4
Peace Conference 88
Peel, Sir Sidney 39
People 182
‘Phoney War’ 11–12
Pioneer 34
Plutarch 132
Poland, German invasion of 12, 64, 100
Pound, Sir Dudley 106, 219
Prague 100
Profumo, John 11
Purnell, Sonia 112, 113
Ramsay, Bertram 195, 196, 219
Reith, Sir John 58, 109–10
Reynaud, Paul 139–40, 141–2, 150, 152, 167, 175, 179, 183, 186, 188, 203, 205–6, 222, 232, 240–41, 244–6
rhetoric/oratory vii, xi–xii, 126–33, 161, 229, 247–8, 251–7
Ribbentrop, Joachim von 96
Roberts, Andrew 12–13, 16, 76, 97–8, 101, 210, 215
Roosevelt, Franklin D. 146, 154, 176, 194, 204, 214, 221
and Churchill 133, 145–7, 154, 166–7
Roosevelt, Theodore 127
Royal Air Force 156, 185, 219, 244
Royal Navy 42–3
and Dunkirk 194–5
in First World War 44–5
planes 147
Russia 50
Sandhurst 28–30
Scots Guards 42
Second World War
1940’s worsening situation 137–61
Britain’s declaration of war 64
German annexation of Austria 96
German bombing campaigns 68, 74–5
German invasions 137, 138; Belgium 67–8, 73–4, 201–2, 216–17, 218–19, 220; France 138, 140, 142, 149–50, 156–61, 165–87, 191–2, 228 see also Boulogne; Calais; Dunkirk; Holland 67–9, 73, 138, 143; Luxembourg 68, 73; Poland 8, 64, 100; Sudetenland 98
Kristallnacht 99
Phoney War 11–12; Norway campaign 8
Sheldon, Michael 44
Sidney Street, Siege of 41–2
Simon, Sir John 6, 7, 44, 96–7, 99
Simpson, Wallis 59
Sinclair, Sir Archibald 82, 203, 204
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