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Never Surrender

Page 37

by John Kelly


  urging for a British expeditionary force, 8–9

  warning about world war, 21

  China, 19

  Churchill, Clementine, 104, 170, 214

  Churchill, Johnny, 214–15

  Churchill, Randolph, 141

  Churchill, Winston, 164, 185

  accolades for, 36

  alcohol and charges of drunkenness, 75, 155, 165

  Allied summit, May 16, 1940 (Quai d’Orsay), 158–60

  Allied summit, May 31, 1940 (Paris), 262–66, 270–71

  Allied summit, June 11, 1940 (Briare), 281–86

  Allied summit, June 13, 1940 (Tours), 286, 287–90

  Amery and, 120–21

  anger at France over response to invasion of Poland, 34–35

  Anglo-Italian talks, 184, 185

  antiappeasement movement and, 13, 14

  Baldwin’s appraisal of, 11

  Battle of Britain and, 318–19

  becomes PM, 136–38, 143

  brief to House of Commons on Norway loss, 97

  Britain unites under, 306

  cabinet appointments, 145–46

  Calais defeat and, 212

  Chamberlain’s allies mount whispering campaign against, 111, 132

  Chamberlain’s resignation and, 133

  at Chequers (country residence), 300

  copy of German armistice terms obtained by, 300–301

  courage of, 312

  criticisms of, 35–36, 144, 145

  defensive strategies, 251

  domestic life and Chartwell, 170

  Dunkirk and, 170–71, 175, 190, 214–15, 276–77

  “Finest Hour” speech, 292–93, 297

  as First Lord of the Admiralty, 36, 75, 91, 93, 97, 99, 111, 120, 126

  focus on airpower by, 9, 19

  French air support needs and, 153–54, 161–62, 164

  on the French Army, 52

  French assets, Hankey’s memo on steps to take upon France’s collapse, 281, 286

  on French defeat, 164

  French navy, sinking or disabling after French defeat, 301–4

  Gallipoli and, 10–11, 35, 100

  genius as leader, 246

  German invasion of Holland and, 128

  gold standard return and, 35–36

  Halifax removed from war cabinet, 305–6

  as head of the Military Coordination Committee, 91, 99–100

  on human brain’s capacity to “register catastrophe,” 189

  insightfulness on German threat, 35

  Isaiah Berlin on, 320–21

  Ismay as chief military adviser, 158

  Kennedy and, 154–55

  the king and, 131, 132, 137–38, 175

  leadership of, 319–20

  Lloyd George and, 241–44

  on morale, 253

  Mussolini and, 183, 209–10

  nadir of political career, 10–11

  National Prayer Day and, 200

  “never surrender” speech, 276

  new national narrative shaped by, 193, 319–20, 321

  Norwegian campaign and, 98–99, 104, 107, 119, 120, 125

  opinions about, 11, 144–45

  opposition to Indian reform, 35

  personality and character, 35–36, 133, 144, 155, 162, 225

  policy differences with Halifax, 229–30, 231, 247, 304–6

  public support, 146–47

  radio address, first as PM, 171–72, 336n

  radio address, March 30, 1940, 89

  rearmament debate, 10

  refusal to negotiate or surrender, 251–52

  requests for US aid, 155, 164–65, 205, 219

  resolve of, 254

  Reynaud calls about German advance, 153–54, 156

  Reynaud-Daladier feud and, 89

  Reynaud meeting with, May 26, 1940, 201–2

  “Reynaud plan” and, 202–4

  as “rogue elephant,” 146

  self image, 144

  “so much owed by so many to so few” phrase, 319

  speech of June 21, 1940, secret session of Parliament, 297, 300

  speech to House of Commons, July 4, 1940, 304

  supporters of, for Prime Minister, 35, 111–12, 133, 134, 135, 142

  support for Edward VIII, 11

  surprise of, outer cabinet meeting, May 28, 1940, 250–51

  Tonypandy and, 132, 138

  vision of German enslavement of British, 265

  war cabinet meeting, May 26, 1940, 196–99

  war cabinet meeting, May 27, 1940, 216–21

  war cabinet meeting of May 28, 1940, 239–41, 246, 247–49

  warnings about Rhineland coup by, 13

  war policy (victory at all costs), 128, 147, 165–66, 197–98, 205, 220–21, 220n, 229–30, 252, 276, 283, 287, 304

  war policy opponents, 166–68, 229–30 (see also Halifax, Lord Edward)

  as wartime leader, 135–36, 144

  Welles’s meeting with, 75–76

  Weygand and Weygand plan, 174–75

  Whitsun debate and Chamberlain confidence vote, 115, 117, 119–20, 125–26

  wit at Baldwin’s expense, 12

  Ciano, Count Galeazzo, 31, 33–34, 209, 222, 261, 326n

  French ambassador visits, 223–24

  US ambassador visits, 222–23

  Civil Nursing Reserve, 235

  Clemenceau, Georges, 74, 84, 225, 290

  Cocteau, Jean, 36

  Collective Security policy, 7, 8

  Rhineland coup and, 13

  Collier, Richard, 314–15

  Colville, John, 96, 107, 112, 123, 145, 161, 216, 231–32

  communism, 8, 27, 53, 130

  Compiègne, France, 293

  Conservative Party

  anti-Chamberlain sentiment, 124–25

  anti-Churchill campaign, 111

  anticommunism of, 27

  Baldwin as leader of, 10

  Chamberlain as leader of, 145

  Chamberlain “missed the bus” speech, 92

  Chamberlain’s fall and, 111, 126–27, 131–32

  Churchill as PM and, 145, 147

  Churchill cabinet appointments from, 146

  loss of East Fulham by-election, 9

  Margesson as chief whip, 39, 115–16, 120, 127

  “respectable tendency” in, 145

  Whitsun debate and, 111, 115, 117–28

  See also Chamberlain, Neville; Halifax, Lord Edward

  Corbin, Charles, 35

  Cork, Lord, 98, 101

  Croatia, 16

  Cromwell, Oliver, 122, 123

  Croydon, England, 318

  Crussol, Marquise de, 79–80, 89, 96

  Czechoslovakia, 20

  attack on, 22

  Britain’s promised defense of, 21

  German occupation of, 26–27

  Little Entente, 16, 21

  Sudetenland and, 19, 23–24

  Daily Express, 28, 97, 115, 146, 192

  editorial about Belgian surrender, 236

  headlines, May 25, 1940, 180

  “Jane,” girl spy cartoon, 179

  Daily Mail, 28, 97, 107, 113, 115, 146, 192

  Daily Mirror, 28

  Belgium’s surrender in, 235

  “Jane,” girl spy cartoon, 235

  Daily Telegraph, 280

  Daladier, Édouard, 25, 33, 54, 55, 81, 86, 87, 138, 139, 140, 164

  Allied summit, May 16, 1940 (Quai d’Orsay), 158–59

  Churchill pledges RAF squadrons to France, 161–62

  Churchill’s anger at, 35

  feud with Reynaud, 89, 95–96

  on George VI, 130

  German approach to Paris and, 157

  loss of premiership, 82

  lover, Marquise de Crussol, 80, 89

  as minister of defense, 89

  Mussolini neutrality pledge sought, 261

  negotiated peace settlement and, 75

  as “wobbly” on response to invasion of Poland, 34

  Dalton, Hugh, 14, 90, 132, 142,
250–51

  as minister of economic warfare, 146

  Danzig, Poland, 19, 20

  Darkness at Noon (Koestler), 274

  Davidson, Lord, 145

  Davies, Clement, 90, 110, 115, 121, 122, 128, 133, 134

  Davies, Lord, 189

  December Club, 13, 14

  Deere, Alan, 261

  de Gaulle, Charles, 53, 283–84, 287, 290

  Denmark

  German invasion of, 95

  German occupation of, 74

  Der Sturmer magazine, 234

  Detling air base, England, 315

  Dill, Sir John, 217, 240, 253–54, 262–63, 272, 282, 285, 309

  disarmament policy, 7, 8

  World Disarmament Conference, 7, 8

  Donner, Patrick, 145

  Douglas-Home, Alec, 22, 111, 142

  Dover, England, 212, 214, 244, 256, 257, 260, 308, 313

  Dover Straits, 306, 307

  German invasion threat and, 310

  as Hellfire Corner, 307

  Dowding, Sir Hugh “Stuffy,” 240, 278–79, 310, 315, 316

  Duff Cooper, Alfred, 14, 27–28, 45, 112, 132, 133

  in Ministry of Information, 145–46

  Dugdale, Nancy, 111, 145

  Dunkirk, 102, 169, 170, 171, 225, 233

  abandoned British equipment, 228–29

  BEF brigade at Cassel and, 240–41, 241n

  call for small boats, 260–61

  casualties, 270, 271, 274

  Churchill’s famous speech on, 276

  Churchill’s nephew and, 214–15

  end of evacuation, 272–73, 275

  evacuation of the BEF (Operation Dynamo), 212, 238–40, 244–46, 251, 260, 261, 264, 269–70, 273, 275

  French and evacuation, 227, 238, 245, 258–59, 261, 264–65, 272–73, 275–76

  German airpower and, 245, 270, 271, 275–76, 278

  German approach, 234

  Gort and the BEF, 170, 171, 172–73, 183, 186, 204, 238–39, 240, 271–72, 272n

  London-Dover train and evacuees, 244–46, 256

  looting and lack of discipline in, 228

  memories by men there, 269–70

  number of men evacuated, 261, 264, 276

  Panzer advance on, 185–86, 190

  RAF and, 215, 245, 260, 261, 272, 275–76, 278

  retreat to the beaches of, 227–28

  road to, through Armentières, 226–27

  surrender of population, 216

  Eastchurch air base, England, 314, 315, 318

  economic blockade, 41, 42, 85

  Eden, Anthony, 51–52, 133, 143, 212, 271, 279

  Allied summit, June 11, 1940, and, 282, 285

  as foreign minister, 146

  Edward VIII of England, 11, 130

  Elizabeth, Queen Consort of George VI, 17, 130, 131, 132, 199

  Emery Evans, Paul, 13

  End of the Affair, The (Greene), 192

  English Channel, 18, 164, 257

  Battle of Britain fought above, 317–18

  English Voyages of the Sixteenth Century (Raleigh), 269

  Essex Newsman, 191

  Europe

  Britain’s concessions to Hitler, 20

  emergence from “brown fog” of despair, late 1920s, 7

  German offensive plan (Case Yellow), 66–67

  Hitler’s plans for conquest, 76

  Hitler’s Rhineland coup, 13, 15

  new warnings of war (1933), 8

  Pact of Locarno and borders of, 7, 13

  Siegfried Line, 20–21, 63

  Western Front, 47, 51–52, 58–59, 81–82

  See also specific countries

  Evening Express, 213–14

  Evening Standard, 163, 166

  “Faith” editorial, 166, 178

  “Prepare for the worst,” 178

  Farne Islands, England, 317

  Fascism, 8

  British Union of Fascists, Mosley and, 6, 106, 196, 250

  Fink, Johannes, 314–15

  Finland, 69–70

  Allied help for, 70–71, 72, 75

  casualties, 70

  Ousul, 69

  Soviet assault on the Karelian Isthmus, 57–58

  Suomussalmi, 69

  surrender of, 81

  as symbol of resistance, 58

  Fish, Hamilton, 300

  Flanner, Janet, 55

  Flynn, Errol, 192

  Foch, Ferdinand, 6, 138, 293

  Foot, Dingle, 126

  Forbes, Charles, 309–10

  France, 47

  antiwar factions, 33

  appeasement policy, 24

  Battle of, 171, 246, 283, 292

  Belgian refugees and, 237

  British army in, 51, 88

  British commitment to supply planes, curtailing of, 279

  cause of Finland and, 81

  Chamberlain’s placating of, 86

  Churchill’s elimination of French Navy, 301–4

  Clemenceau Doctrine, 74, 84

  collapse of, 176, 259, 281, 285

  compared to Germany, 53

  defeat of, 155, 159

  enters war, September 3, 1939, 41, 54

  evacuation of Strasbourg, 58–59

  Gamelin’s Dyle plan and defense of Belgium, 149–53, 159, 166, 170, 173

  German armistice sought, 33–34

  German bombing of Nancy, 141

  German invasion of, 156, 171, 173, 210–11, 273, 279, 280, 284

  German offensive plan for, 66

  importance to Britain, 51

  invasion of Poland, indecision about response, 32

  Little Entente, 16, 21

  lukewarm commitment to war, 53–54, 55

  Maginot Line, 51, 52–53, 58, 59, 171

  military superiority of, 52

  military weakness and, 43

  mobilization, 55

  Munich Conference and, 25

  news of Belgium’s capitulation and despair, 231

  Norwegian campaign, 102, 103–4

  no-separate-peace pledge, 87, 88, 187, 188, 288–90

  Pact of Locarno, 7

  panic in, 273–74

  Pétain and armistice, 225

  prewar population of, 7

  public antipathy for war, 54–55

  public despair, 254–55

  Reynaud-Daladier feud and, 89, 95–96

  Reynaud’s government collapses, 139–40

  Rhineland coup and, 14

  Somme–Aisne line, 259, 264, 265, 279

  surrender, June 18, 1940, 291, 293

  surrender of Belgian Army and, 237

  terms of armistice and, 300–301

  ultimatum given to Germany, 41

  war aims of, 84–85

  Welles’s visit to, 74–75

  in World War I, 3, 4 (see also World War I)

  See also specific generals and leaders

  Franco, Francisco, 16

  French Air Force, 164, 281

  French Army, 164

  as antiquated, 52, 183, 189

  Gamelin’s Dyle plan and German trap, 149–53, 159, 166, 169

  German advance and, 280, 284

  high praise for, 52

  Lille garrison, 238–39, 252–53

  on the Western Front, 52

  Weygand plan, 174–75, 181, 253

  French High Command at Vincennes, 51–52, 141, 151, 156, 173–74, 284

  meeting in Cassel, May 27, 1940, 227, 240

  French Ministry of War, 263

  French Navy, 258, 276

  Bretagne, 302, 303

  British attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Operation Catapult) and destruction of, 301–4

  Dunkerque, 303

  Provence, 303

  Strasbourg, 303

  French War Committee, 182, 186, 201, 259, 286, 287

  Fuller, Horace, 103

  Gallipoli, 4

  Churchill blamed for, 10–11, 36

  Gamelin, Maurice, 138–40, 141, 156, 158, 164

  Allied summit, May 16, 1940 (Qu
ai d’Orsay), 158–60

  Dyle plan and German trap, 149–50, 151, 152–53, 159

  Weygand replaces, 173

  Gardner, Charles, 306–7

  Gathering Storm, The (Churchill), 8, 104, 136

  Gensoul, Marcel-Bruno, 302

  Georges, Alphonse, 86, 153, 284

  George VI of England, 46, 48, 129–31, 132, 143, 199

  Churchill as PM and, 137–38, 175

  German Air Force. See Luftwaffe

  German Army (Heer), 34, 53, 58, 65, 84, 162, 170, 183, 189, 258, 292, 308

  objections to Case Yellow, 67

  Supreme Command, 67

  German Chancellery, 64–65

  German High Command, 64, 66, 185, 273

  German intelligence service (Abwehr), 68

  German Navy (Kriegsmarine), 65, 262

  German POWs, 257

  Germany

  aggression of, 27

  “Allies in both pockets” announcement, 252

  the Anschluss (May 1938), 20

  Anti-Comintern Pact, 15

  Battle of Britain, 307–10, 313–19

  Belgium and Holland invaded, 128, 140–42, 149–54, 157–58, 197

  Belgium surrenders, 216, 217, 233–35

  Berlin papers, on Dunkirk, 273

  Britain and France declare war on, September 3, 1939, 40–41

  British economic blockade of, 41–42

  Czechoslovakia occupied, March 1939, 26–27

  economy of, 42, 204, 280

  France invaded, 156, 173, 210–11, 273, 279, 285

  French armistice, terms of, 300–301

  French surrender, 291

  German opposition to Hitler, 68

  German-Soviet pact, 27, 29, 42

  Italian-German Treaty, 76, 183

  Kellogg-Briand Pact, 7

  march on Paris, 156

  military shortages, 65

  military strength, 1939–40, 42

  Norwegian invasion, 88–89, 93–96

  offensive plan (Case Yellow), 64–68, 69, 149–50

  Pact of Locarno, 7, 13

  Paris as German city, 291–92

  Poland invaded, 30, 33, 34

  population of, 53

  rearmament and defense spending, 8, 41–42

  Rhineland coup, 13, 15

  Rome-Berlin Axis, 15

  sadism and, 236

  steel production, 53, 65

  Sudetenland and, 19

  Treaty of Versailles violated, 13

  troop morale, 1940, 195

  war machine/industry, 58

  Welles’s visit to, 73

  West Wall (Siegfried Line), 20–21, 63

  World Disarmament Conference walkout, 8

  See also Hitler, Adolf

  Gestapo, Venlo incident, 68

  Gibraltar, 203, 208, 212, 224, 238, 300

  Gielgud, John, 167

  Gilbert, Martin, 250

  Giraudoux, Jean, 55

  Goebbels, Joseph, 308

  Gollancz, Victor, 115

  Gordt, Lord John, 59

  Göring, Hermann, 64–65, 313, 316

  Gort, Sir John, 170, 171, 172–73, 174, 181, 183, 186, 238–39, 240, 253, 265

 

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