by John Kelly
Churchill’s final order, 190
evacuation from Dunkirk, 271–72, 272n
Gracie Fields, 261
Grant, Cary, 192
Great Depression
Britain and, 8, 18
end of post–World War One era and, 8
Wall Street crash, October 29, 1929, 7
Great Dictator, The (film), 73–74
Green, Muriel, 163
Greenwood, Arthur, 38, 110–11, 115, 132, 134, 138, 203, 231, 248
famous speech, 38
as minister without portfolio, 146
Grenfell, David, 45
Groscurth, Helmut, 68
Guinness, Honor, 36
Haig, Sir Douglas, 3
Halder, Franz, 66, 67–68
Halifax, Lord Edward, 24, 26, 86, 166
Allied summit, June 13, 1940, 287
Anglo-Italian talks, 184–85
appearance, 31, 32–33
cabinet meeting, September 1, 1939, 30–32
Churchill as PM and, 136–37
as Churchill’s foreign secretary, 146, 259
compromise by, 277
efforts to save the peace (1939), 34, 326n
Germany’s invasion of Poland and, 33, 34
Hitler meeting (1937), 19–20
negotiated settlement and, 31, 167–68, 183–85, 197, 198, 222, 244, 259, 326n
Norwegian campaign and, 98
policy differences with Churchill, 229–30, 231, 247, 304–6
as prospective PM, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136
refusal to be wartime PM, 135–36, 143
removed from Churchill cabinet, 305–6
“Reynaud plan” and, 202–4, 247–49
Salisbury and, 110
unsent cable to Roosevelt, 184
on war as “a mistake,” 75
Hammerstein, Oscar, 291
Hampden, John, 122
Hankey, Lord, 146, 167
disposal of French assets memo, 281, 286
Harker, Nancy, 274
Harvey, Oliver, 183
Hawkinge air base, England, 316–17, 318
Hazebrouck, 240
Henderson, Sir Neville, 40
Henry IV (Shakespeare), 14
Héring, Pierre, 157
Herriot, Édouard, 89, 157
Hill, Christopher, 205
Hitchcock, Alfred, 192
Hitler, Adolf, 7, 19
appearance, 25, 74, 91
appraisal of Chamberlain, 17
attempted coups against, 68
Battle of Britain and, 308, 310
British perception of, 163–64
Chamberlain meets with (September 1938), 22–23
eastern empire sought, 308
expectation of British negotiated armistice, 308
French surrender at Compiègne, 293–94
“general time” concept, 65, 66
Halifax meets with (1937), 19–20
Lloyd George and, 43
meeting with Welles, 73–74
Munich Conference and, 25
Mussolini and, 71
offensive against Holland and Belgium, 151–52
offensive war plan (Case Yellow), 64–68
office of, 65
orders to Toma to halt Panzer advance, 185–86
peace offer to Britain, July 19, 1940, 312
peace speech, October 6, 1939, 45–46, 54
Reichstag speech, March 7, 1936, 12–13
rise to power, 8
Rome-Berlin Axis formed, 15
secret directive: Fall Weserubung, 74
Stalin signs nonaggression pact with, 27, 29
Sudetenland and, 22
Hoare, Sam, 46, 60, 116–17, 128, 143, 166
as ambassador to Spain, 146
Hoenmanns, Major Erich, 63–64, 69
Holland
German invasion of, 107, 116–17, 128, 140–42, 151
German plan to occupy, 66
Home Office, 214, 311
Hore-Belisha, Leslie, 37, 46
House, Edward, 71
House of Commons. See Parliament
Hugo, Victor, 149, 335n
Hungary, 22
Imperial General Staff, 253
Dill as CIGS, 240, 253, 262, 285, 309
Ironside as chief, 87
Indian Army, 51
“In Westminster Abbey” (Betjeman), 200–201
Ironside, Edmund, 87, 96, 142–43, 162–63, 166, 174, 211, 217, 309
BEF in Belgium and, 170–71, 253
evacuating the BEF from Belgium, 175–76
in northern France, Gort’s headquarters, 172
Norway expedition and, 98–100
Ismay, Hastings “Pug,” 24, 95, 158, 162, 263, 282, 287, 310, 312
Battle of Britain and, 318–19
list of American aircraft and munitions, 298, 343n
telegraph to Churchill in Hindustani, 161
Italy
Allied strategy against, 266
attacks on British ships in the Mediterranean, 19
desire for war, 71
diplomatic visits (1936), 16
entering war, 108, 209–10, 221, 223, 224, 266, 280
evacuation of British nationals, 261
Italian-German Treaty, 76, 183
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 7
neutrality of, 41
neutrality pledge sought by France, 201–4
Pact of Locarno, 7
RAF bombing of, 282, 286
in World War I, 3
See also Mussolini, Benito
Jaffre, André, 302
Japan
Anti-Comintern Pact, 15
infringements on British concessions in China, 19
invasion of Manchuria, 1931, 7–8
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 7
neutrality of, 41
World Disarmament Conference walkout, 8
in World War I, 3
Jefferis, Millis, 107
Jenneney, Jules, 75
Johnson, Donald, 296
Johnson, Hiram, 71
Jones, Tom, 114
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 7, 8
Kemsley, Lord, 60–61
Kennedy, Joseph, US ambassador to Britain, 31, 47–49, 128, 131, 155, 281
appeasement policy, 48
British compromise peace and, 299
cable to Roosevelt, May 27, 1940, 232
Churchill’s request to borrow US ships and, 154–55
Churchill undermined with Roosevelt by, 165
Clare Boothe and, 59
defeatism of, 48–49, 165, 312
France’s fall and, 166
Mers-el-Kébir undermines influence on Roosevelt, 303
Roosevelt and, 165
self-promotion by, 47–48
Kent, England, 308, 310
Keyes, Sir Roger, 119–20, 217
Keynes, John Maynard, 7
King, Cecil, 112
King, Mackenzie, 22–23, 220
Kitchener, Horatio Herbert, 3
Koestler, Arthur, 274
Kordt, Theo, 31, 326n
Kris, Ernst, 320
Labour Party, 90, 131
anti-Churchill sentiment in, 132
antiwar position and, 14, 27
Bournemouth conference, 134–35, 141
Chamberlain confidence vote and, 124, 126, 132, 134
Chamberlain not supported by, 142, 143
Churchill as PM and, 138
Churchill’s appointments from, 146
East Fulham by-election on disarmament platform, 8
Greenwood’s speech for war, 38
Tonypandy, 132, 138
Last, Nella, 144, 275
“Last Time I Saw Paris, The” (song), 139, 291
Laval, Pierre, 54, 75, 89
Lavelle, Major, 197
Law, Dick, 92
League of Nations, 7
Germany and Japan walk out, 8
Rhineland coup and, 15
Lebrun, Albert, 74–75, 187
Lee, Raymond, 312–13
Left Book Club, 115
Lelong, Albert, 272–73
Leopold, King of Belgium, 150, 217, 233, 235, 237, 259
Liberal Party, 126
Liddell Hart, Basil, 112–13, 167
Life magazine, 65
Lille, France, 238–39, 252–53
Limoges, France, 237
Lindbergh, Charles, 49
Lloyd George, David, 28, 42–46, 62–63, 123, 126, 189
ambitions to be PM, 243, 306
Chamberlain and, 243–44
as Chamberlain’s primary critic, 43
Churchill’s meetings with, 241–44
compromise by, 277
on Hitler, 43
memorandum of May 1940, 242, 242n
negotiated peace settlement and, 44–46, 112–13, 134, 167, 243, 243n, 244, 306
posed as Chamberlain successor, 112–14
Whitsun debate, 125
London
air defenses, 30, 32, 39, 248
Cenotaph (empty tomb) in, 4, 201
Finsbury Square, 105
first air raid alert, 40–41
German air attacks on, September 9 and September 15, 1940, 319
morale in, 162–63, 190–92, 195, 210, 319
National Prayer Day in, May 26, 1940, 196–97, 199–201
preparation for war, 30, 39–40, 199
public fear, 255
relocations and evacuations, 30, 61, 178
Victory Day Parade (1919), 1–4
warning about German air strikes, 39
war rumors, 255
Londonderry, Lord, 28, 45
London Evening Standard, 28
London Illustrated News, Never Again and, 7
Lothian, Lord, 298
Luftwaffe (German Air Force), 9n, 33, 63, 65, 66, 281
Adler Tag (Eagle Day) attack on Britain, August 13, 1940, 313–15
attack on Britain, August 15, 1940, 316–19
attacks on Dover Straits, 307
bombing of Britain, 296, 297, 310, 313–19
bombing of mental hospital in Armentières, 190
Dorniers, 314–15
Dunkirk and, 245, 270, 271, 275–76, 278
incendiaries used against Armentières, 226–27
Junkers 87 dive bombers, 307, 316
Luftflotte 5, 317
Messerschmitt 109s, 311, 316
Messerschmitt 110s, 311, 314
offensive against Holland and Belgium, 140, 150, 151, 169
superiority of numbers, 217–18
Luxembourg, 140
Lynn, Vera, 60
Mackesy, General, 98, 101
Macmillan, Harold, 14, 127, 146
Maisky, Ivan, 255
Mallet, Victor, 305
Malta, 185, 208, 300
Manchester Guardian, 91, 106, 107, 115, 116, 119
Manchuria, 7–8
Mandel, Georges, 54, 55, 89, 263
Margesson, David, 38–39, 115–16, 120, 124, 127, 137
Marshall, George, 299
Martlesham Heath air base, 318
Mass Observation (social research company), 82–83, 97, 102, 143, 331n, 340n
on antiwar factions, 167
criticism of French, 181
invasion threat and, 274
morale report, August 20, 1940, 319
morale report, early June 1940, 248–49
morale report, June 1, 1940, 193
morale report, May 24, 1940, 178
morale report, May 25, 1940, 191
morale report, May 29, 1940, 254
morale report, May 31, 1940, 267
Political Crisis, 129
on public mood, 1940, 163–64
Maxton, Annie, 167
Menzies, Robert, 221
Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria
Churchill on, 304
French dead, 302
impact of British attack, 303
influence on Roosevelt, 303–4
Royal Navy attack on French ships, 301–4
Metcalfe, Lady Alexandra, 126
Middleton, Drew, 151
Milland, Ray, 192
Ministry of Information, 311
Home Intelligence, 163, 191, 296, 303, 312, 314, 316, 318, 319, 344n
Mitford, Nancy, 129
Monzie, Anatole de, 157
Morrison, Herbert, 124
Mosley, Oswald, 8, 106, 196, 251
Munich Conference, 24–25, 46
Murrow, Edward R., 190–91, 255
Mussolini, Benito, 7
appearance, 72–73
Chamberlain and, 17
character of, 221
Ciano as son-in-law, 222
Hitler’s influence on, 71
“Italian proposal” on Poland, 31, 32, 33–34, 37
Italy entering the war and, 108, 209, 221, 223, 224
Munich Conference and, 25
neutrality pledge sought from, 201–9, 223–24, 238
office of, 72
as peacemaker, 32, 73, 183–84, 221, 326n
pledge to march with Germany, 76
rebuff of Churchill and Roosevelt, 209
Rome-Berlin Axis formed, 15
Roosevelt plan presented to, 222–23
Welles’s visits to, 72–73, 76
Narvik. See Norway
National Prayer Day, May 26, 1940, 196, 199–201
Nazism, 8, 53
Neave, Airey, 211
Never Again policy, 130, 167
Chamberlain as hero and, 25–26
faltering of, prediction, 15
international order inspired by, 7
military budget cuts and, 18
News Chronicle poll, 27
no British soldiers on European soil and, 9
Newall, Cyril, 98, 154, 200, 204, 218, 219, 261
newsreels
Chamberlain depicted in, 17, 91
diplomatic visit, as staple of, 15–16
Hitler depicted in, 91
New Yorker magazine, 55, 191
New York Times, 71, 303
New Zealand
Japan threat to, 18, 19
losses at Gallipoli, 4, 11
National Prayer Day, 196
Sudeten crisis and, 23
Nicolson, Claude, 175, 210, 211
Nicolson, Harold, 97, 110, 111, 124, 125–26, 129–30, 132, 142, 146, 214
suicide pact with wife, 195
Nieuport, France, 233, 234
Noble, Mrs. Robert, 191
Norman, Montagu, 28, 167
North, Frederick Lord, 44
Norway, 72
Allied Operation Wilfred and, 88
Bergen, 95
Chamberlain blamed for defeat, 117
German coastal activity, 261–62
German invasion, 93–96
German occupation of, 74, 95
German offensive plan, 89
Luftwaffe based in, 317
Narvik, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101–2, 135, 264
Narvik evacuation, 264
Oslo, 94, 95
Parliamentary debate on the Norwegian campaign (Whitsun debate), 106, 117, 120
Royal Navy mining of waters, 93
Stavanger, 94, 95
Trondheim, 94, 95, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103–4, 106, 107, 116
no-separate-peace pledge, 87, 88, 187, 188, 288–90
Old Contemptibles, 105–6, 114
Olivier, Laurence, 52, 192
“Omens of 1936” (Brogan), 15
Orwell, George, 45, 255
Oster, Hans, 68
Oxford Union, 8
pacificism, 167, 196
debate by London group, 56
foundational text of, 30
Peace Ballot of 1934–35, 11
post–World War I, 26
support for Lloyd George and, 45, 62
waning of, August 1939, 27
Pact of Locarno, 7, 8
Boothby’s warning to the House of Commons on Rhineland coup, 13
Germany renounces, 13
P
anter Downes, Mollie, 191
Panzer divisions, 33
advance to Paris, 156, 224, 279
Allied counteroffensive, 174
on the Channel, 173, 185–86, 234, 240
offensive against Holland and Belgium, 151, 152
in sight of Dunkirk, 185–86, 190
Paresci, Signore, 183–84, 185
Paris
ability to live in the moment, 155–56
air defenses, 54, 181
anti-British sentiment, 55
atmosphere in, 1939, 54
evacuating, 159, 161
French government abandons, 280
German approach, 156, 161, 180, 259, 273, 279, 285
as German city, 291–92
May 1940, 139
mood of, May 25, 1940, 181–82
Parliament
Chamberlain confidence vote, 110, 115, 124, 126
Chamberlain “missed the bus,” 118, 123, 126, 127
Chamberlain speech after invasion of Poland, 37–38
Churchill’s argument for remaining in the war (“defense of the world” speech), 246
Churchill’s “Finest Hour” speech, 292–93, 297
Churchill speech, July 4, 1940, 303
Churchill speech, June 21, 1940, secret session, 297
“division,” 126
Greenwood’s historic speech, 38
House of Commons, decisions about war and peace and, 137
Lloyd George’s speech advocating negotiated settlement with Germany, 44–45
reaction to invasion of Poland, 37
session of May 28, 1940, and Belgian surrender, 237
Strangers’ Gallery, 121, 124
warnings to about Rhineland coup, 13
Whitsun debate, 110, 112, 113, 114, 117–28
Patterson, William, 189
Peace Pledge Union, 196
Peck, John, 126
Peirse, Richard, 218
Pétain, Philippe, 173, 188, 189, 225, 263, 265, 266, 271, 279, 285, 288, 301
defeatism of, 286–87
as premier of France, 291
seeks armistice with Germany, 291
Philby, Kim, 149n
Phillips, Admiral, 98
Phillips, William, 222–23
Phipps, Sir Eric, 33, 326n
“phony war,” 58, 61, 71
Picasso, Pablo, 155
Pile, Frederick, 315
Pleven, René, 291
Poland
Allied pledge of support against Hitler, 27, 31, 34, 88
Czechoslovakia and, 22
fall of, 44, 64
German air strikes against, 33
German troops in, 65–66
Germany invades, 30
Italian proposal and, 31, 32, 33–34, 37
Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland, 48
Poncet, André François, 201, 223
Portes, Comtesse Hélène de, 79–81, 87, 89, 96, 181, 225, 280, 287, 290
Pound, Dudley, 75, 98, 200, 254, 261–62, 301
Pownall, Henry, 86, 169, 170, 227
Pratt, Jane, 234–35, 340n
prayer for England at Gibraltar, 212
Priestley, J. B., 260–61
Prioux, General, 239
propaganda, 41, 47, 85
British war posters and pamphlets, 60, 61
