by John Kelly
abdication crisis, 11, 139
Abyssinian campaign, 222
Addison, Paul, 144, 244
Admiralty, 14, 82, 107, 121, 212, 258
Alexander as First Lord of, 221
Churchill as First Lord of, 36, 75, 91, 93, 97, 99, 111, 120, 126
Dunkirk statistics, 261
Norwegian campaign and, 94–95, 98
operations center in Dover, 260
See also Royal Navy
Admiralty House, 146, 201, 202, 203, 206, 214, 231–32
Air Ministry, 82, 217, 310
airpower, 18, 19
atomic bomb and, 9n
Britain’s short-term survival and, 217
British aircraft production, 11–12, 18, 19, 278
British airpower vs. Luftwaffe, 117
British government report predicting casualties from, 9, 9n
Churchill’s apocalyptic vision, 162
Churchill’s assessment of Britain’s strength, 217–18
fable of the elephant and the whale, 277, 310
Germany’s invasion of Poland and, 33
Germany’s strength, 198, 217–18
“Hitler weather,” 33
London as bombing target, 39
Norwegian campaign and, 107
rearmament debate and, 9–10
vision for use in war, 9
See also Luftwaffe; Royal Air Force
Alba, Duke of, 255
Aldridge, James, 69–70
Alexander, A. V., 112, 221
Alexander, Harold, 273, 275
Algeria, 224
Royal Navy attack on French at Mers-el-Kébir, 301–4
Allied Army, 3, 42–43
German destruction of, 284
trapped in the north of France, 159, 166
Allied Expeditionary Force to Finland, 75, 81
Allied Supreme Council
Anglo-French relations and, 180–82, 238
decision to send troops to Finland, 70
Norwegian campaign and, 88, 86
no-separate-peace pledge, 87, 88, 187, 188, 288–90
Operation Wilfred (Allied mining of Norwegian waters), 88
Royal Marine (Allied mining of German waters), 88, 89
summit, May 16, 1940 (Quai d’Orsay), 158–60
summit, May 31, 1940 (Paris), 262–66, 270–71
summit, June 11, 1940 (Briare), 280–86
summit, June 13, 1940 (Tours), 286, 287–90
war aims of, 86
Allingham, Margery, 21–22, 29–30, 102, 178–79, 191, 229, 246, 255, 274, 320
All Party Group, 44, 90
Amery, Leo, 14
as Chamberlain critic and opposition leader, 38, 90, 110, 112, 132
in India Office, 145
relationship with Churchill, 120–21
Whitsun speech (“In the Name of God, go”), 120, 121–23, 124
Andover air base, 315
Anglo-American relations, 50, 117, 298–300, 343n. See also Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
Anglo-French Committee, 51
Anglo-French relations, 180–82, 238, 258, 262–66, 270–71, 273, 281–86, 287, 288–90. See also Daladier, Édouard; Reynaud, Paul
Anti-Comintern Pact, 15
appeasement, 37, 143, 331n
Ambassador Joseph Kennedy and, 48
Chamberlain and, 19, 21, 22–24, 27, 43, 108, 131
the king and, 131
Ardennes region, 66, 133–34, 151–52
Armentières, France, 190, 226–27
armored warfare
Allied units, 151, 183
Belgian equipment, 233
de Gaulle as proponent of, 53
German divisions, 42, 65, 140, 151, 157, 171
See also Panzer divisions
Ashford, England, 245
Asquith, Herbert H., 126, 144
Astor, Nancy, 113
Astor, Waldorf, 113
Attlee, Clement, 119
Churchill as PM and, 138
in Churchill’s war cabinet (as lord of the privy seal), 146, 206, 208, 232, 249–50, 262
as Labour leader, 38, 110–11, 115, 119, 124, 131, 132, 134
ousting of Chamberlain and, 134
Whitsun debate and, 119
Auchinleck, Claude, 101–2
Australia
Japanese threat to, 18, 19
losses at Gallipoli, 4, 11
National Prayer Day, 196
negotiated peace settlement and, 221
Sudeten crisis and, 23
Austria, 19, 20
the Anschluss, May 1938, 20
Baldwin, Stanley, 19
attributes of, 10
blamed for Germany’s air superiority, 12
building of fighter planes and, 11–12
on Churchill, 11
indolence of, 10
public reaction to Rhineland coup and, 13–14
rearmament debate, 10, 11–12
Balkans, 16
Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania), 57
Bardoux, Achille, 156, 181
Barratt, Arthur, 285
Baruch, Bernard, 59
Bastianini, Giuseppe, 62, 108, 184–85, 197, 204, 222, 255
Baudouin, Paul, 159, 162, 189, 225, 287, 288
BBC, 235–36, 306
Beauvior, Simone de, 82
Beaverbrook, Lord, 28, 128, 287
Belgian High Command, 64, 150
Belgium, 66
capitulation of, 231
casualties, 233–34
German forces sighted, 133–34
German invasion of, 140–42, 157–58, 197
German occupation of, 15
German offensive plan (Case Yellow) found, 63–64, 69
Hoemanns’s plane crash in, 63–64
Maginot Line and, 53
neutrality of, 96, 150
Pact of Locarno, 7, 14
prewar population of, 7
Rhineland coup and, 14–15
surrender, 216, 217
surrender of Belgian Army, 233–35
in World War I, 3
World War I burial sites in, 151
See also Ardennes region
Benjamin, René, 79
Berle, Adolf, 165
Berlin, Isaiah, 320
Bernays, Rob, 24
Bessborough, Lord, 45
Betjeman, John, 200–201
Bevin, Ernest, 146
blackout, 59, 61
censorship as, 62
dangers of, 61
London, 32
Paris, 82, 161
Blanchard, Georges, 182, 238, 265
Blitz, 111, 321
Bois, Elie, 79, 82, 139
Bolton, England, 295
Bonham Carter, Violet Asquith, 126
Bonnet, Georges, 21, 33–34, 54, 75
Britain declares war and, 40
Boothby, Robert, 13, 133, 134
on declaring war, 41
Boothe, Clare (Clare Boothe Luce), 59, 79, 103, 139, 150, 181, 214, 225, 254–55
Borrow, George, 212
Boston Globe, 303
Boulogne, France, 173, 178
Bracken, Brendan, 142
Brauchitsch, Walther von, 65, 66, 67–68
Brenner Pass conference, 76
Briare, France, 280, 282
Bridges, Edward, 206
Britain
air defenses, 30, 32, 39, 307, 317
airpower fears, 9, 9n
anti-American feeling, 164
antiappeasement movement, 13, 14, 26, 35, 114–15, 133
antiwar factions, 8, 13–14, 18, 23, 27–28, 45, 62, 114–15, 166–67, 306
appeasement supporters, 19, 21, 22–24, 27, 37, 43, 108, 131, 143, 331n
Battle of, 261, 277, 278, 292, 307–10, 313–19, 321
bombing of, 177, 296, 297, 310, 311, 313–15, 321
censorship in, 62, 210
conscription, 192
declaration of war on Germany, 40–41
decline of power
(1937), 17–18
defense spending/war budget, 11–12, 28, 42, 51, 90
emotional and physical geography of war, 213–14
evacuations to the countryside, 30, 61, 178
fads, late 1920s, 7
fighting the war alone, 176, 207, 214, 217, 276, 283, 287, 304
film stars in Hollywood, 192
first warning about new European war, 8
four factors for survival of, 177–78
German invasion threat, 163, 192, 261–62, 274–75, 298, 308–10
German mining of the Thames and Tyne rivers, 107
German opposition (to Hitler) in contact with, 68
Great Depression and, 8, 18
Hitler’s peace offer, July 19, 1940, and public response, 312
home front defense, 308–9, 310
images of national glory, 250
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 7
Luftwaffe Adler Tag (Eagle Day) attack, August 13, 1940, 313–15
Luftwaffe attack, August 15, 1940, 316–19
Luftwaffe attacks on Dover Straits, 307
military budget cuts and, 51
military strength (1939–40), 42
military weakness and, 18
mood of, pre– and post–World War I, 5–6
morale in, 62, 162–63, 178–79, 210, 213–14, 235, 248–49, 254–55, 296, 297, 298, 303, 311–12, 316, 319, 321, 344n (see also Allingham, Margery; Mass Observation; Ministry of Information; Pratt, Jane)
National Prayer Day, 196, 199–201
negotiated peace settlement and, 45–46, 54, 69, 72, 112, 166–67, 183, 197, 296, 304–5
new national narrative, 193, 319–20, 321
newspaper lists of the dead and missing, 192
Norway loss as morale blow, 97–98, 102
Norwegian campaign, 98–102
no-separate-peace pledge, 87, 88, 187, 188, 288–90
Pact of Locarno, 7
Peace Ballot of 1934–35, 11
“People’s War,” 311, 319, 344n
Poland and, pledge of support to, 27, 31, 34, 88
post–Munich Conference disillusionment, 26
postwar economy and prestige loss, 242n
preparation for war, 24, 30, 32, 274–75
prewar population of, 7
public favoring talks with Germany, 331n
public opinion of Hitler, 98
public opinion turns toward antiappeasement, 26
public’s reaction to impending war, 21–22
reaction to French surrender, 295–96
rearmament and, 9–10, 18, 19, 41–42, 83, 125, 207, 248
resolve of, 304, 312
“surplus women,” 5, 114
unemployment, 7, 8, 55, 90
United States aid given to, 298–99, 343n
United States and, 50, 117, 298–300, 343n
United States support needed, 177, 178
war aims of, 85, 128
war as pointless (1940), 82–83
war with Italy, 280
winter of 1939–40, 59–60, 61–62, 114
World War I, death toll, 3–4
worries about financial and social collapse, 46, 56
See also Chamberlain, Neville; Churchill, Winston
British air defenses, 30, 32, 39
Chain Home radar system, 307, 317
British Army
accounts of the Norwegian campaign, 106–7
attack on Trondheim, 146th and 148th Brigades, 100–101, 106, 116
Home Forces, 251, 253–54, 308, 309
Light Brigade, 241, 250
size of (1939–40), 51, 83, 310
See also British Expeditionary Force (BEF)
British dominions
appeasement approved of by, 22–23
Churchill cable to, May 27, 1940, 254
isolationism of, 18
Japanese threat to, 18
mobilization of, 178
National Prayer Day, 196
negotiated peace settlement and, 46
reassurance of, 220–21, 220n
See also Australia; Canada; New Zealand; South Africa
British Empire
economic burdens of, 17–18
German threat to, 130
“hot winds of nationalism” and, 18
Lloyd George memo on, 242, 242n
loss of prestige of, 131
mobilization of, 178
National Prayer Day, 196
See also specific countries
British Expeditionary Force (BEF), 3, 8, 42–43, 59
as antiquated, 189
Calais fight and surrender, 210–12
capitulation of Belgium and, 231
at Cassel, 240–41, 241n
Churchill prepares to evacuate from Europe, 164, 236
defense of Belgium, 149–51
Dunkirk and, 102, 169–70, 173, 175, 238–40, 244–46, 251, 260
Gamelin’s Dyle plan and German trap, 149–53, 159, 166, 170, 173
loss of equipment and weaponry at Dunkirk, 265
rebuilding of, 265, 285
Second Corps, 150–51
See also Dunkirk
British High Command, 181
meeting in Cassel, May 27, 1940, 227, 240
British intelligence services, 41, 281
Home Intelligence, 163, 191, 296, 303, 312, 314, 316, 318, 319, 344n
See also Ministry of Information
British Union of Fascists, 8, 106
British war posters and pamphlets, 60, 61
Brittain, Vera, 30, 61–62, 141, 178, 199
Brogan, Denis, 15
Brooke, Alan, 150, 189–90, 228, 309, 312
Brooke, Rupert, 4
Bruce, Stanley, 220–21, 220n, 230
Bullitt, William, 54
Butler, J. R. M., 70
Butler, Rab, 36, 48, 75, 135, 138, 145, 304–5
Cadogan, Alexander, 23, 33, 166, 174, 231, 260, 287, 305
Calais, France, 175–76, 178, 180, 210–12, 215, 217, 251, 317
Caldecote, Viscount, 221
Campbell, Ronald, 95, 157, 237, 287
Campinchi, César, 188
Canada
isolationism of, 18
losses at Passchendaele, 4
National Prayer Day, 196
Sudeten crisis and, 23
US pressure on, 270
Canadian High Commission, 255–56
Cassel, France, 227, 240
BEF defense of, 240–41, 241n
Chamberlain, Austen, 16
Chamberlain, Hilda, 17, 20, 92, 104
Chamberlain, Ida, 17, 22
Chamberlain, Joe, 16, 120, 123
Chamberlain, Neville, 209
Allied summit, March 28, 1940, 87–88
announcing abandonment of Trondheim, 102
appearance, 17, 91
appeasement policy, 19, 21, 22–24
belief in a short war, 47
British malaise and, 82
cabinet meeting, September 1, 1939, 30–32
cabinet reshuffle, April 3, 1940, 91
calls for unseating of, 90, 92, 104, 110, 121–24, 126, 129
Churchill appointment to the Admiralty, 36
Churchill as challenger, 111–12
Churchill as PM and, 145
in Churchill’s war cabinet, 146, 230, 248, 259
Churchill war cabinet meeting, May 27, 1940, 218–19
confidence vote on, 124–25
criticisms of, 42–43, 90–92
declaration of war, 40
defeatism of, 166
desire to delay war, 24, 83–84
ego and vanity of, 17, 24
fall of, 108–28
foreign policy of, 19
the French and, 85–86
German Anschluss, reaction to, 20
German coup attempts and, 68
on German occupation of Norway, 96–97
Germany’s invasion of Poland and, 30–31, 37
“gravest possible conditions” statemen
t, 30, 326n
guarantee to Poland, 27, 88
hailed as hero, 25–26
Hitler and, 17
Hitler meets with, at Berchtesgaden, September 1938, 22–23
Hitler peace offer, October 12, 1939, rejection of, 66
indecision of, 31–32
invasion threat and, 309
“Iron Man defense” of, 124, 132
Kennedy and, 47, 48
the king and, 46, 129, 130, 131
Lloyd George and, 243
on Lloyd George’s evisceration in the House of Commons, 45
military budget cuts and, 18
“missed the bus” phrase and, 92, 118, 123, 126, 127
Munich Conference and, 24–25
Mussolini and, 17
“In the Name of God, go” phrase and, 123, 126
negotiated peace settlement and, 46–47, 198
Norwegian campaign and, 98, 117
opinions about, 16–17, 129
“peace in our time,” 25, 30, 68
pessimism and morale, 254
political climb of, 16
political family of, 16
popularity of, 90, 104, 129
RAF squadrons pledged to France by, 160–61
rearmament plan, 83–84
resignation, 136–37, 142–43
Reynaud and, 87–88
Reynaud’s three-point plan memo and, 83–84
Roosevelt and, 72
speech to House of Commons after invasion of Poland, 37–38
study group on French surrender, 176
Sudeten crisis and, 22–24
terminal cancer of, 198
United States and, 50
war leadership of, 31, 42, 91
warning sent to Germany, 31–32
war plan of, 41–42, 47, 85–86, 88
war policy and, 85, 167
Welles’s meeting with, 75
Whitsun debate, 115, 117–19, 128
Channon, Henry, 36–37, 38, 141
appearance, 36
as Chamberlain supporter, 37, 38–39, 117, 123, 125, 145, 259
on Churchill, 111–12
egotism of, 36
on London in May 1940, 110
pessimism of, 253
on Whitsun debate, 118
Chaplin, Charlie, 73–74
“Charge of the Light Brigade” (Tennyson), 241
Charmley, John, 250
Chiefs of Staff, 83–84
British Strategy in a Certain Eventuality, 176–78, 183, 197, 204, 217, 277
British Strategy in the Near Future, 197, 204–5, 217, 277
first warning about new European war, 8
importance of airpower, 277
memorandum of 1937, 18
Norwegian expedition and, 100
pessimism and morale, 253
Review of the Strategical Situation on the Assumption That Germany Has Decided to Seek a Decision in 1940, 108, 116
