1 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:56,000 On the 10th May, 1940, as German forces drove into France, Belgium and Holland, 2 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,700 Churchill became Prime Minister. He was 65. 3 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:08,000 I speak to you for the first time as Prime Minister, in a solemn hour for the life of our country, 4 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:14,700 of our Allies, and above all, of the cause of freedom. 5 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:19,500 A tremendous battle is raging in France and Flanders. 6 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:27,260 The Germans, by a remarkable combination of air bombing and heavily-armoured tanks... 7 00:01:27,260 --> 00:01:32,100 Within two weeks of his becoming Prime Minister, 8 00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:37,060 the German Army had smashed through the Allied defences in France, 9 00:01:37,060 --> 00:01:42,580 who were in full retreat before the German Blitzkrieg. 10 00:01:42,580 --> 00:01:45,780 There was no question of surrender. 11 00:01:45,780 --> 00:01:49,460 Arm yourselves and be ye men of valour 12 00:01:49,460 --> 00:01:52,940 and be in readiness for conflict. 13 00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:59,540 It is better to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation. 14 00:01:59,540 --> 00:02:05,060 It was as if he had been waiting for this moment all his life, 15 00:02:05,060 --> 00:02:10,700 and as if we had been waiting all OUR lives for him to come forward. 16 00:02:10,700 --> 00:02:14,660 When you're up against the threat of defeat, 17 00:02:14,660 --> 00:02:18,340 and when you are standing alone, 18 00:02:18,340 --> 00:02:22,340 then you have to have someone like Churchill, 19 00:02:22,340 --> 00:02:26,780 who isn't rational, isn't weighing the chances soberly, 20 00:02:26,780 --> 00:02:36,060 but who is giving rein to his romantic fantasy life in his speeches, 21 00:02:36,060 --> 00:02:41,940 who rallies people into becoming heroes and working twice as hard. 22 00:02:41,940 --> 00:02:46,140 CHEERING 23 00:02:46,140 --> 00:02:53,420 'Now at last the gloves are off. We must return ten blows for every one we get. 24 00:02:53,420 --> 00:02:57,140 'The Allied war machine rolls on...' 25 00:02:57,140 --> 00:03:01,340 When Mr Churchill took over in May 1940, 26 00:03:01,340 --> 00:03:04,420 the whole place exploded. 27 00:03:04,420 --> 00:03:09,460 It was as if a current of high voltage electricity was let loose, 28 00:03:09,460 --> 00:03:17,060 not only in Number 10 itself, but throughout the fusty corridors of Whitehall. 29 00:03:17,060 --> 00:03:24,540 And we heard that Civil Servants - elderly Civil Servants - were seen running along the corridors. 30 00:03:24,540 --> 00:03:32,020 The even tone of our life was entirely upset by this tornado which appeared on the horizon. 31 00:03:32,020 --> 00:03:38,540 But it was frightfully exciting, because the country was at war. 32 00:03:38,540 --> 00:03:43,860 He introduced stickers saying, "Action this day", 33 00:03:43,860 --> 00:03:50,940 or, when requesting information from Heads of Department or Ministries, 34 00:03:50,940 --> 00:03:55,660 he would put "Report to me" on one side of the page. 35 00:03:55,660 --> 00:04:02,780 For those who worked personally for him, night duty meant just that. 36 00:04:02,780 --> 00:04:08,180 I never remember being released to get to bed before 1 am 37 00:04:08,180 --> 00:04:11,420 and it was more often 2 to 3 am. 38 00:04:11,420 --> 00:04:16,300 In six months of Churchill there were five years of change. 39 00:04:16,300 --> 00:04:20,980 It was quite remarkable. He cut through all the red tape. 40 00:04:20,980 --> 00:04:25,020 He put Beaverbrook into aircraft production 41 00:04:25,020 --> 00:04:32,340 and in a very short time, Beaverbrook had doubled the number of aircraft being produced, 42 00:04:32,340 --> 00:04:35,660 simply by cutting through red tape. 43 00:04:35,660 --> 00:04:42,940 Churchill now had to guide Britain through its greatest military disaster. 44 00:04:42,940 --> 00:04:49,460 In May, 1940, the British and French Armies were trapped at Dunkirk. 45 00:04:49,460 --> 00:04:58,220 We have before us a grievous ordeal. We have before us many long months of struggle and of suffering. 46 00:04:58,220 --> 00:05:06,860 You ask what is our policy. It is to wage war by sea, land and air with all our might, 47 00:05:06,860 --> 00:05:11,580 to wage war against a monstrous tyranny 48 00:05:11,580 --> 00:05:18,700 never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. 49 00:05:18,700 --> 00:05:23,740 That is our policy. You ask what is our aim. 50 00:05:23,740 --> 00:05:29,220 I answer, "Victory! Victory at all costs!" 51 00:05:30,940 --> 00:05:36,740 More than 300,000 British and French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk. 52 00:05:36,740 --> 00:05:43,660 It was a miracle. But Churchill knew wars were not won by evacuations. 53 00:05:43,660 --> 00:05:49,380 Sometimes he'd put his head in his hands and hardly eat. 54 00:05:49,380 --> 00:05:59,300 And...er, then suddenly he'd say, "This is one of the hardest times." 55 00:05:59,660 --> 00:06:05,700 I mean, he reflected everything that was going on. 56 00:06:05,700 --> 00:06:14,340 And there were some VERY bad times. Some worse times than most of the normal people KNEW about. 57 00:06:14,340 --> 00:06:20,620 We are told that Herr Hitler has a plan for invading Britain. 58 00:06:20,620 --> 00:06:24,740 We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. 59 00:06:24,740 --> 00:06:34,260 We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds, in the fields and in the streets. 60 00:06:34,260 --> 00:06:38,420 We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. 61 00:06:38,420 --> 00:06:43,500 I mean, the whole situation was so desperate and so emotional. 62 00:06:43,500 --> 00:06:50,500 There could have been a wave of panic and despair, but he was like a rock 63 00:06:50,500 --> 00:06:56,700 with his great speeches in the House - "We will NEVER surrender." 64 00:06:56,700 --> 00:06:59,540 We shall defend our island, 65 00:06:59,540 --> 00:07:07,580 and with the British Empire around us, we shall fight on, unconquerable, 66 00:07:07,580 --> 00:07:15,100 until the curse of Hitler is lifted from the brows of men. 67 00:07:15,100 --> 00:07:22,220 I can tell you that every man there, they rose in spirits. You could almost measure it. 68 00:07:22,220 --> 00:07:29,860 We would have beaten the Nazis off with broom handles, such was the magic effect of Churchill. 69 00:07:38,260 --> 00:07:46,300 In France the situation was critical. With the French Army collapsing, a desperate appeal was made 70 00:07:46,300 --> 00:07:49,060 by the French PM, Paul Reynaud. 71 00:07:49,060 --> 00:07:52,900 At 7.30 am I telephoned Churchill. 72 00:07:52,900 --> 00:07:59,980 I woke him up. I told him, "We have lost the battle. We are beaten." 73 00:07:59,980 --> 00:08:05,140 He seemed so astonished, I repeated, "We are beaten. We lost the battle." 74 00:08:05,140 --> 00:08:08,260 "Impossible!" he said. 75 00:08:08,260 --> 00:08:14,580 Churchill flew to France. If France surrendered, Britain would stand alone. 76 00:08:14,580 --> 00:08:21,740 His destination was a crisis meeting of the French War Cabinet. 77 00:08:21,740 --> 00:08:26,580 He made a dramatic, personal attempt to keep France in the war. 78 00:08:26,580 --> 00:08:31,260 When Churchill arrived, the German Army was poised to enter Paris. 79 00:08:31,260 --> 00:08:35,940 The French Government had retreated to this small chateau. 80 00:08:35,940 --> 00:08:43,060 Churchill needed to know that France would fight on, and above all, would fight for Paris. 81 00:08:43,060 --> 00:08:49,380 But General Weygand had already ordered Paris to be abandoned. 82 00:08:49,380 --> 00:08:57,660 Seeking to stiffen French resolve and knowing that several of the Ministers wanted France to fight on, 83 00:08:57,660 --> 00:09:02,220 Churchill asked, "Where are the French Reserves?" 84 00:09:02,220 --> 00:09:07,140 To which Weygand answered, "There are NO Reserves." 85 00:09:07,140 --> 00:09:11,660 To fight on, Reynaud needed more British planes. 86 00:09:11,660 --> 00:09:17,660 But they would be needed to defend Britain if France were to fall. 87 00:09:17,660 --> 00:09:22,700 Churchill had told the French that even if France capitulated, 88 00:09:22,700 --> 00:09:26,900 Britain would fight on until victory was secured. 89 00:09:26,900 --> 00:09:31,580 As he left, he knew that those in charge of France's destiny 90 00:09:31,580 --> 00:09:35,260 had lost the will to fight. 91 00:09:35,260 --> 00:09:38,820 France was very important for him. 92 00:09:38,820 --> 00:09:43,780 So to speak, he could be considered as a lover of France. 93 00:09:43,780 --> 00:09:47,060 And France betrayed him, 94 00:09:47,060 --> 00:09:54,140 as a girl who leaves a man drops him abruptly without explanation 95 00:09:54,140 --> 00:09:54,380 and at a moment which was absolutely unexpected. without explanation 96 00:09:54,380 --> 00:10:00,020 and at a moment which was absolutely unexpected. 97 00:10:00,020 --> 00:10:04,740 He had his head buried in his hands saying, "Poor France!" 98 00:10:10,780 --> 00:10:15,460 On the 14th June, 1940, German forces entered Paris. 99 00:10:15,460 --> 00:10:20,940 A week later, France sought an armistice with Germany. 100 00:10:20,940 --> 00:10:24,340 The Battle of France is over. 101 00:10:24,340 --> 00:10:30,460 The whole fury and might of the enemy must soon be turned on us. 102 00:10:30,460 --> 00:10:35,420 Hitler knows he has to break us in this island or lose the war. 103 00:10:35,420 --> 00:10:40,580 If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be freed 104 00:10:40,580 --> 00:10:44,900 and the life of the world may move forward 105 00:10:44,900 --> 00:10:50,460 into broad sunlit uplands. But if we fail, 106 00:10:50,460 --> 00:10:54,660 then the whole world, including the United States, 107 00:10:54,660 --> 00:10:59,860 including all that we have known and cared for, 108 00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:05,020 will sink into the abyss of a new dark age 109 00:11:05,020 --> 00:11:13,300 made more sinister and perhaps more protracted by the likes of perverted science. 110 00:11:13,300 --> 00:11:18,220 Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duty. 111 00:11:19,340 --> 00:11:22,420 So bear ourselves, 112 00:11:22,420 --> 00:11:30,420 that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, 113 00:11:30,420 --> 00:11:35,500 men will still say, "This was their finest hour." 114 00:11:35,500 --> 00:11:41,020 Churchill expected a German assault to come at any time. 115 00:11:41,020 --> 00:11:46,260 He had spent ten years in vain urging a greater rearmament. 116 00:11:46,260 --> 00:11:50,340 Now he awaited the invasion of an ill-defended Britain. 117 00:11:50,340 --> 00:11:55,020 We had no guns, no rifles. We had one Lee Enfield rifle 118 00:11:55,020 --> 00:12:02,420 which we were allowed to take on the range to fire only two bullets, because there wasn't enough. 119 00:12:02,420 --> 00:12:11,060 So we trained with broom handles. If Hitler had known, he should have come straight away, you know. 120 00:12:11,060 --> 00:12:18,580 I remember once when there was talk of an invasion and all the barriers were going up around the coast 121 00:12:18,580 --> 00:12:23,220 and talk of children being sent overseas, 122 00:12:23,220 --> 00:12:27,780 I can remember him one night at the dinner table saying, 123 00:12:27,780 --> 00:12:31,860 "You can each take a dead German with you." 124 00:12:31,860 --> 00:12:37,140 And I said, "Papa, I don't know how to shoot. I haven't got a gun." 125 00:12:37,140 --> 00:12:43,980 He looked at me very severely and said, "You can use a carving knife." 126 00:12:43,980 --> 00:12:50,260 To those in Britain who talked of surrender, Churchill said, 127 00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:56,300 "Let it end when each one of us lies choking in his own blood." 128 00:12:56,300 --> 00:13:03,860 He ordered the French warships in N Africa to surrender to the British or to sail to neutral ports. 129 00:13:03,860 --> 00:13:10,580 He could not risk the Germans using the French Navy against Britain. 130 00:13:10,580 --> 00:13:19,100 His ultimatum was refused. On 3rd July, 1940, the Royal Navy opened fire on its ally's warships. 131 00:13:23,540 --> 00:13:29,020 Over 1,200 French sailors were killed by British guns. 132 00:13:29,020 --> 00:13:34,500 SPEAKS IN FRENCH 133 00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:53,260 This ruthless decision to sink the French warships was the hardest Churchill had to take during the war. 134 00:13:53,260 --> 00:13:59,100 Churchill realised that many countries, notably the US, 135 00:13:59,100 --> 00:14:05,060 believed Britain could not carry on alone after France's collapse 136 00:14:05,060 --> 00:14:10,300 and he was determined to show that the opposite was the case. 137 00:14:10,300 --> 00:14:15,380 Six months later, he told President Roosevelt's emissary 138 00:14:15,380 --> 00:14:20,460 that Oran was the turning point in our fortunes. 139 00:14:20,460 --> 00:14:26,380 It showed the world that we were sincere and determined 140 00:14:26,380 --> 00:14:30,580 in our intention to carry on the war. 141 00:14:30,580 --> 00:14:36,500 We cannot tell when they will try to come. 142 00:14:36,500 --> 00:14:41,020 We cannot be sure that they will try at all. 143 00:14:41,020 --> 00:14:48,260 But no-one should blind himself to the fact that a heavy full-scale invasion 144 00:14:48,260 --> 00:14:54,660 is being prepared with all the usual German thoroughness and method, 145 00:14:54,660 --> 00:14:58,660 or that it may be launched at any time now, 146 00:14:58,660 --> 00:15:05,660 upon England, upon Scotland, or upon Ireland, or upon all three. 147 00:15:05,660 --> 00:15:15,260 If this invasion is going to be tried at all, it does not seem that it can be long delayed. 148 00:15:28,100 --> 00:15:32,140 The first stage of Hitler's plan to invade Britain 149 00:15:32,140 --> 00:15:37,260 was to win air supremacy so his army could cross the Channel unchallenged. 150 00:15:37,260 --> 00:15:45,780 During August, hundreds of German aircraft launched daily raids on Britain's ports and airfields. 151 00:15:45,780 --> 00:15:49,380 The Battle of Britain had begun. 152 00:15:53,500 --> 00:16:01,380 Britain's fate now lay in the hands of a few hundred pilots. Many had learned to fly for fun. 153 00:16:01,380 --> 00:16:06,660 Now they were taking on the full might of the German Airforce. 154 00:16:06,660 --> 00:16:12,940 He said, "There is a time to live and there is a time to die." 155 00:16:17,460 --> 00:16:23,180 He was referring to the pilots. Winston related to young people, 156 00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:32,180 and he was terribly conscious that he was the person instigating them going to their death, possibly. 157 00:16:32,180 --> 00:16:37,580 And I think this bothered him enormously. 158 00:16:37,580 --> 00:16:45,420 By September, over half of Britain's pilots had been shot down and many killed. 159 00:16:45,420 --> 00:16:54,620 On one occasion, Churchill could see that EVERY squadron was in the air. But he refused to be downhearted. 160 00:16:54,620 --> 00:17:01,140 Never despair, but certainly...gloom 161 00:17:01,140 --> 00:17:05,740 when the news was very bad, the loss of lives awful. 162 00:17:05,740 --> 00:17:10,060 And my father, of course, 163 00:17:10,060 --> 00:17:16,260 understood what each loss meant in relation to our actual strength. 164 00:17:16,260 --> 00:17:22,180 All our hearts go out to the fighter pilots 165 00:17:22,180 --> 00:17:27,740 whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes every day. 166 00:17:27,740 --> 00:17:37,260 Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. 167 00:17:37,260 --> 00:17:42,180 Hitler lost the battle against Britain's airfields. 168 00:17:42,180 --> 00:17:49,300 Now he sent bombers over Britain's cities. When the raids took place over London, 169 00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:55,740 Churchill stayed in the capital, often watching from the roof. 170 00:17:55,740 --> 00:18:00,620 I remember on one occasion it was very lively around St James' Park, 171 00:18:00,620 --> 00:18:05,500 and he said, "Are you frightened, Miss Holmes?" 172 00:18:05,500 --> 00:18:09,580 And I said, "No, I'm not frightened." 173 00:18:09,580 --> 00:18:14,460 It was impossible to be frightened in his presence. 174 00:18:14,460 --> 00:18:23,300 As more and more German bombs fell on London, Churchill and his close advisors had to move underground. 175 00:18:23,300 --> 00:18:31,860 Here they worked in cramped conditions, often hearing the thud of bombs falling on London above. 176 00:18:31,860 --> 00:18:35,980 Churchill had a study. This was his bed. 177 00:18:35,980 --> 00:18:43,700 To this room, British Intelligence brought the news of Germany's most secret invasion plans. 178 00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:49,380 Behind this curtain was a map on which were marked 179 00:18:49,380 --> 00:18:54,260 the most vulnerable points of Britain's sea defences. 180 00:18:54,260 --> 00:18:58,500 Churchill alone knew the extent of the dangers, 181 00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:05,260 yet the public looked to him for reassurance Britain would not fall. 182 00:19:05,260 --> 00:19:11,740 The British nation is stirred and moved as it never has been 183 00:19:11,740 --> 00:19:16,420 at any time in its long, eventful history. 184 00:19:16,420 --> 00:19:22,500 And it is no trope of speech to say that they mean to conquer or to die. 185 00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:31,020 What a triumph the life of these battered cities is, over the worst that fire and bombs can do. 186 00:19:31,020 --> 00:19:35,620 'He scarcely stopped in his journey through cheering crowds...' 187 00:19:35,620 --> 00:19:41,780 By the end of December, 1940, London had been severely damaged. 188 00:19:41,780 --> 00:19:46,460 In five months, 22,000 civilians had been killed. 189 00:19:46,460 --> 00:19:49,700 In the outer suburbs somewhere, 190 00:19:49,700 --> 00:19:54,180 in a rather poor region of London, little shops and things, 191 00:19:54,180 --> 00:19:59,060 there was a long queue of people outside a shop. 192 00:19:59,060 --> 00:20:06,620 So he instantly told his driver to stop and told his detective to go and see what it was about. 193 00:20:06,620 --> 00:20:12,060 Queues of anything in conditions like that are a danger signal. 194 00:20:12,060 --> 00:20:19,140 Serious shortages may herald discontent and he always wanted to be sure on that. 195 00:20:19,140 --> 00:20:24,860 So the detective went off to investigate and he came back 196 00:20:24,860 --> 00:20:28,900 and Churchill said, "What are they queuing for?" 197 00:20:28,900 --> 00:20:34,620 "Birdseed, sir." And Winston almost... Well, he DID. He cried. 198 00:20:34,620 --> 00:20:43,260 The thought of the wretched people queuing in the dusk, the raids just beginning, for their canaries. 199 00:20:43,260 --> 00:20:49,740 I think it was part of his quality that he wasn't ashamed of emotion. 200 00:20:51,940 --> 00:21:01,380 The people of Britain, they wouldn't have shown that heroism and stamina if they thought they'd a weak leader 201 00:21:01,380 --> 00:21:07,500 that was waiting to sell them down the river. 202 00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:11,740 And Churchill epitomised that fighting spirit. 203 00:21:11,740 --> 00:21:15,380 You had a feeling that if you were in those blitzes, 204 00:21:15,380 --> 00:21:21,620 that as you walked around the bomb-racked streets, 205 00:21:21,620 --> 00:21:28,060 you could run into Winston Churchill because he was in touch. 206 00:21:28,060 --> 00:21:33,900 He would go out and see for himself, he would share risks and danger. 207 00:21:33,900 --> 00:21:41,020 And he completely created the will of the British people 208 00:21:41,020 --> 00:21:46,100 to fight at whatever the cost 209 00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:52,620 to the very end. Surrender seemed inconceivable. 210 00:21:52,620 --> 00:21:57,660 And you need that, when you're all in the front line, as we were then. 211 00:21:57,660 --> 00:22:05,020 We ask no favours of the enemy. We seek from them no compunction. 212 00:22:05,020 --> 00:22:09,020 On the contrary. 213 00:22:09,020 --> 00:22:16,500 If tonight the people of London were asked to cast their votes 214 00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:21,860 as to whether convention should be entered into to stop the bombing, 215 00:22:21,860 --> 00:22:29,860 an overwhelming majority would cry, "No, we will mete out to the Germans the measure 216 00:22:29,860 --> 00:22:36,660 and more than the measure they have meted out to us. APPLAUSE 217 00:22:36,660 --> 00:22:45,740 We will have no truce or parley with you or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. 218 00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:48,900 HEAR-HEAR ! 219 00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:54,940 You do your worst and we will do our best. 220 00:22:56,980 --> 00:23:00,620 Throughout these critical times, 221 00:23:00,620 --> 00:23:06,100 Churchill was supported by his wife, Clementine. 222 00:23:06,100 --> 00:23:12,700 The marriage of Clementine and Winston Churchill was remarkable. 223 00:23:12,700 --> 00:23:20,980 The tender love between them for a young girl to observe was most interesting 224 00:23:20,980 --> 00:23:28,100 and a great example of the wisdom that if you love somebody, lose no opportunity to express it. 225 00:23:28,100 --> 00:23:35,180 And this they did verbally, and when apart, nurtured in tender notes. 226 00:23:35,180 --> 00:23:41,020 They had this amusing side that he would sign his letters with a pig 227 00:23:41,020 --> 00:23:47,380 and she would sign hers with a cat. It was a lovely relationship. 228 00:23:47,380 --> 00:23:52,660 This does not mean to say that they agreed on everything. Far from it! 229 00:23:52,660 --> 00:23:56,700 I don't think I'd quite describe it as contented, 230 00:23:56,700 --> 00:24:01,380 because they naturally had arguments and so on. 231 00:24:01,380 --> 00:24:08,100 I think one of my first impressions was that they were both selfish, 232 00:24:08,100 --> 00:24:12,380 but perhaps they had to be. They absolutely matched. 233 00:24:12,380 --> 00:24:17,780 They could talk, and obviously they were very much in love. 234 00:24:17,780 --> 00:24:26,380 They were tremendous companions. She was an educated woman. She wasn't just beautiful. 235 00:24:26,380 --> 00:24:32,020 He liked beautiful women, but they had to have a brain as well. 236 00:24:32,020 --> 00:24:36,780 She could match him in conversation and in every way. 237 00:24:36,780 --> 00:24:44,380 I think it was very important to have Clemmie there, who didn't believe in flattery. 238 00:24:44,380 --> 00:24:52,380 You know, there was a wonderful letter that she wrote to him at one point during the war 239 00:24:52,380 --> 00:24:57,380 saying that he was being very rude and objectionable to all his staff. 240 00:24:57,380 --> 00:25:05,020 They were all very unhappy and he should know about it and shape up. 241 00:25:05,020 --> 00:25:11,860 Churchill's rough, sarcastic manner worsened as the bombing intensified 242 00:25:11,860 --> 00:25:15,940 and the burdens on him grew almost to breaking point. 243 00:25:15,940 --> 00:25:21,420 These were hard times and the stress was beginning to tell. 244 00:25:21,420 --> 00:25:29,340 He could get into a rage. Once he threw his telephone on the floor because somebody had annoyed him. 245 00:25:29,340 --> 00:25:36,460 It broke. And when he'd recovered a bit, he said, "Don't tell them how it happened!" 246 00:25:36,460 --> 00:25:42,540 I'd been warned that he would not be pleased to see a new face. 247 00:25:42,540 --> 00:25:48,620 And this evening, it was in the study at the annexe. 248 00:25:48,620 --> 00:25:51,700 I went in for dictation 249 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:56,340 and he gave me a sharp look as I went in but said nothing. 250 00:25:56,340 --> 00:26:03,300 When I started typing, I found that somebody had left the typewriter at single spacing 251 00:26:03,300 --> 00:26:09,700 when we all knew it had to be done in double spacing at all times. 252 00:26:09,700 --> 00:26:13,780 I didn't know what to do, so I just carried on. 253 00:26:13,780 --> 00:26:20,740 Presently he came behind to see how I was getting on and he exploded like a rocket. 254 00:26:20,740 --> 00:26:28,900 I heard him say to his Ministers at the other end of the study, "The mug! Idiot! Bloody fool!" 255 00:26:28,900 --> 00:26:35,940 He sent me out and sent for someone "who could do his work right for the first time." 256 00:26:35,940 --> 00:26:41,660 It was a sin to ask him to repeat anything, 257 00:26:41,660 --> 00:26:45,900 because it upset his train of thought. 258 00:26:45,900 --> 00:26:50,180 I did a lot of work straight onto the typewriter, 259 00:26:50,180 --> 00:26:55,260 and I learned from experience that if you didn't hear a word, 260 00:26:55,260 --> 00:27:00,500 you couldn't say, "Prime Minister, I didn't hear." 261 00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:07,420 You'd just leave, you hoped, a sufficient blank to put in a missing word when it was finished. 262 00:27:07,420 --> 00:27:13,620 Then he would, not very happily, tell you which words you missed. 263 00:27:13,620 --> 00:27:16,780 Then you tried to squeeze them in. 264 00:27:16,780 --> 00:27:21,660 In public, Churchill spoke of victory, 265 00:27:21,660 --> 00:27:26,780 but he knew that Britain could win only if America entered the war. 266 00:27:26,780 --> 00:27:36,300 Roosevelt had assured America it would remain neutral. Churchill had to persuade him otherwise. 267 00:27:36,300 --> 00:27:41,980 Before war broke out, Roosevelt was seen as an isolationist. 268 00:27:41,980 --> 00:27:46,060 He was not a supporter, he was not pro-Nazi, 269 00:27:46,060 --> 00:27:53,100 but he was all for the US keeping out of any European problem, regardless of what it was. 270 00:27:53,100 --> 00:28:00,060 And he was slowly won over and brought over, for the most part, by Churchill. 271 00:28:00,060 --> 00:28:06,980 Churchill decided to appeal directly to the American people. 272 00:28:06,980 --> 00:28:13,820 Every month that passes adds to the perils of the journey that must be made. 273 00:28:13,820 --> 00:28:17,820 United we stand. Divided we fall. 274 00:28:17,820 --> 00:28:25,260 When Churchill made speeches that were obviously designed to bring America into the war, 275 00:28:25,260 --> 00:28:29,300 I just wished he'd shut up and go away. 276 00:28:29,300 --> 00:28:35,180 At the time I felt it was not helpful to what was going on. 277 00:28:35,180 --> 00:28:41,220 I felt there was trouble ahead for the US and the rest of the world. 278 00:28:41,220 --> 00:28:50,260 There were many Americans who were very distrustful of British imperialism, 279 00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:54,540 particularly as represented by Winston Churchill. 280 00:28:54,540 --> 00:29:02,660 He was an old-fashioned man who, some of us thought, was not a real democrat at heart. 281 00:29:02,660 --> 00:29:10,820 The British had maintained their colonies for years and Churchill was loath to give them up. 282 00:29:10,820 --> 00:29:14,860 The British colonies proved a vital bargaining point. 283 00:29:14,860 --> 00:29:20,900 In return for providing America with bases in the British W Indies, 284 00:29:20,900 --> 00:29:24,740 Roosevelt gave Britain 50 old destroyers. 285 00:29:24,740 --> 00:29:29,820 Churchill knew that he needed the destroyers for our survival. 286 00:29:29,820 --> 00:29:34,780 He was quite keen to involve the Americans as far as possible, 287 00:29:34,780 --> 00:29:40,820 and anything that brought them nearer to the war was advantageous. 288 00:29:46,860 --> 00:29:53,380 Under Lend-Lease, American supplies would come on a pay later basis. 289 00:29:53,380 --> 00:29:56,540 This was a generous gesture. 290 00:29:56,540 --> 00:30:04,620 Churchill called it, "The most unsordid act in the history of any nation." 291 00:30:04,620 --> 00:30:09,260 Britain was still bracing itself for a German invasion 292 00:30:09,260 --> 00:30:15,940 when in June 1941, Hitler attacked Russia. From secret intelligence, 293 00:30:15,940 --> 00:30:22,100 Churchill had been able to warn Stalin of Hitler's impending attack. 294 00:30:22,100 --> 00:30:28,020 SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN 295 00:30:41,060 --> 00:30:45,020 Churchill was never a real friend of Russia. 296 00:30:45,020 --> 00:30:52,340 He knew Russia was now needed because it was fighting the enemy threatening Britain. 297 00:30:52,340 --> 00:31:00,460 It was a great relief for him when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. Then he knew Britain would survive. 298 00:31:00,460 --> 00:31:08,740 It was a political gesture when he immediately pronounced his speech next day after the invasion. 299 00:31:08,740 --> 00:31:15,980 Any man or state who fights against Nazism will have our aid. 300 00:31:15,980 --> 00:31:24,220 It follows, therefore, that we shall give whatever help we can to Russia and the Russian people. 301 00:31:24,220 --> 00:31:30,460 The Communist state Churchill had wished to strangle was now an ally. 302 00:31:30,460 --> 00:31:39,060 But as Hitler swept through Russia, Churchill feared German world domination could become a reality. 303 00:31:39,060 --> 00:31:46,460 Of that summer Churchill wrote, "Normally I wake up buoyant to face the new day. 304 00:31:46,460 --> 00:31:50,780 "Then I awoke with dread in my heart." 305 00:31:50,780 --> 00:31:54,300 He had to bring America into the war. 306 00:31:54,300 --> 00:32:01,340 In August, 1941, he crossed the Atlantic for his first meeting with President Roosevelt. 307 00:32:04,180 --> 00:32:08,260 Churchill was going to come aboard, 308 00:32:08,260 --> 00:32:15,820 and he was coming aboard from the Prince of Wales, which had just anchored. 309 00:32:15,820 --> 00:32:25,140 And Father was standing at the... I was holding his arm to steady him. 310 00:32:25,140 --> 00:32:33,980 And he was getting ready at the head of the gangplank for the Prime Minister to come aboard. 311 00:32:33,980 --> 00:32:37,420 Well, the PM came aboard 312 00:32:37,420 --> 00:32:45,900 and advanced towards my father with his hands out. It was a most moving experience. 313 00:32:45,900 --> 00:32:54,700 It was just like they were old, old friends who hadn't seen each other for quite a while. 314 00:32:54,700 --> 00:32:58,740 It was the beginning of a very close relationship. 315 00:32:58,740 --> 00:33:04,740 One could tell whenever the PM referred to President Roosevelt, 316 00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:08,660 as he would in messages to London and so forth, 317 00:33:08,660 --> 00:33:16,780 that there was this tremendous confidence, relief, and already a sincere friendship. 318 00:33:16,780 --> 00:33:23,020 As a result of Churchill's urging and arguments with Chiefs of Staff, 319 00:33:23,020 --> 00:33:28,700 Roosevelt agreed to send more arms to Britain and aid to Russia. 320 00:33:28,700 --> 00:33:31,780 But despite the friendliness, 321 00:33:31,780 --> 00:33:40,460 "not a single US officer" one of Churchill's staff recorded, "showed any keenness to join us in the war." 322 00:33:46,180 --> 00:33:49,340 All of the crews of both vessels 323 00:33:49,340 --> 00:33:56,900 were gathered together on the Prince of Wales. The service was held on the fantail. 324 00:33:56,900 --> 00:34:05,740 The President and Prime Minister sat together with all their advisors ranged around them 325 00:34:05,740 --> 00:34:12,420 and the crew were perched all over the rest of the vessel. 326 00:34:12,420 --> 00:34:19,780 # Onward, Christian soldiers... # 327 00:34:19,780 --> 00:34:23,380 The Prime Minister chose the hymns 328 00:34:23,380 --> 00:34:27,380 and it was really most impressive. 329 00:34:27,380 --> 00:34:32,180 And I could see he was obviously visibly affected. 330 00:34:32,180 --> 00:34:36,420 He was a very kind-hearted, emotional man. 331 00:34:36,420 --> 00:34:40,620 # ..Marching as to war 332 00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:46,100 # With the cross of Jesus 333 00:34:46,100 --> 00:34:52,220 # Going on before. # 334 00:34:52,220 --> 00:34:56,140 You could see my father very, very moved. 335 00:34:56,140 --> 00:35:03,180 And while I couldn't see whether he was actually crying, I knew he was very close to it. 336 00:35:03,180 --> 00:35:08,860 I felt this was probably one of the great moments of history. 337 00:35:08,860 --> 00:35:12,900 After four days of talks here off Newfoundland, 338 00:35:12,900 --> 00:35:18,700 they signed the Atlantic Charter pledging to restore sovereignty 339 00:35:18,700 --> 00:35:22,100 to all states overrun by the Nazis. 340 00:35:22,100 --> 00:35:29,540 Churchill was disappointed, however, that America still had no intention of entering the war. 341 00:35:31,060 --> 00:35:39,100 In December, 1941, the Japanese struck the American fleet at Pearl Harbour. 342 00:35:39,100 --> 00:35:46,300 ROOSEVELT: Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, 343 00:35:46,300 --> 00:35:51,260 a date which will live in infamy, 344 00:35:51,260 --> 00:35:58,220 the United States of America was deliberately attacked 345 00:35:58,220 --> 00:36:04,300 by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. 346 00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:10,060 To Churchill's amazement, Germany now declared war on America. 347 00:36:10,060 --> 00:36:16,340 America had at last become Britain's ally against Hitler. 348 00:36:16,340 --> 00:36:23,660 "I went to bed," he later wrote, "and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful." 349 00:36:23,660 --> 00:36:29,420 Winston was delighted, because this meant the Americans were in the war. 350 00:36:29,420 --> 00:36:35,340 They wouldn't have come in for a long time without this event. 351 00:36:35,340 --> 00:36:39,700 Within a week of Pearl Harbour, 352 00:36:39,700 --> 00:36:47,300 Churchill left Britain for Washington. Britain and America were at war with Germany and Japan. 353 00:36:47,300 --> 00:36:53,780 Churchill and Roosevelt pledged that war and peace would be made together 354 00:36:53,780 --> 00:36:59,780 and Roosevelt agreed that the defeat of Germany must come before Japan's. 355 00:36:59,780 --> 00:37:07,300 Churchill worked day and night that Christmas on the most important speech of his life. 356 00:37:07,300 --> 00:37:13,700 He had to address Congress, still reluctant to enter a European war. 357 00:37:13,700 --> 00:37:23,540 The fact that my American forebears have for so many generations played their part in the life of the US, 358 00:37:23,540 --> 00:37:29,660 and that here I am, an Englishman, welcomed in your midst, 359 00:37:29,660 --> 00:37:38,140 makes this experience one of the most moving and thrilling in my life, 360 00:37:38,140 --> 00:37:44,900 which is already long and has not been entirely uneventful. 361 00:37:44,900 --> 00:37:50,380 By the way, I cannot help but reflect 362 00:37:50,380 --> 00:37:57,660 that if my father had been American and my mother British, instead of vice versa, 363 00:37:57,660 --> 00:38:04,180 I might have got here on my own! LAUGHTER 364 00:38:04,180 --> 00:38:11,780 I was deeply impressed, not only with the rolling cadences and the prose, but with the substance, 365 00:38:11,780 --> 00:38:15,780 and also with the joke, which amused Congress so much, 366 00:38:15,780 --> 00:38:22,860 about how he might have got there on his own if his parentage had been turned around. 367 00:38:22,860 --> 00:38:27,540 It was a talk that left a lasting impression on me. 368 00:38:27,540 --> 00:38:32,340 I am so glad to be able to place before you, 369 00:38:32,340 --> 00:38:37,500 members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, 370 00:38:37,500 --> 00:38:42,460 at this moment, when you are entering the war, 371 00:38:42,460 --> 00:38:47,420 the proof that with proper weapons and proper organisation 372 00:38:47,420 --> 00:38:52,500 we are able to beat the life out of the savage Nazis. 373 00:38:52,500 --> 00:38:57,540 APPLAUSE 374 00:38:57,540 --> 00:39:02,300 Lastly, if you will forgive me for saying it, 375 00:39:02,300 --> 00:39:09,700 to me the best tidings of all, the United States, united as never before, 376 00:39:09,700 --> 00:39:17,140 has drawn the sword for freedom and cast away the scabbard. APPLAUSE 377 00:39:17,140 --> 00:39:24,220 The substance of it was a message of hope, of the vital necessity of fighting the war. 378 00:39:24,220 --> 00:39:29,140 And for young soldiers who were just in the army 379 00:39:29,140 --> 00:39:38,460 and who were not really all that perhaps convinced that we actually had to fight, 380 00:39:38,460 --> 00:39:45,500 it was not only an enormous inspiration, but it was a very welcome lift, 381 00:39:45,500 --> 00:39:50,660 not just to the day but for most of the years of the war. 382 00:39:50,660 --> 00:39:58,780 But the pace and pressure of Churchill's visit to America now began to take its toll. 383 00:39:58,780 --> 00:40:05,300 Late one night, after more talks, Churchill felt the need for fresh air. 384 00:40:05,300 --> 00:40:11,140 Struggling to open a window, he collapsed. It was a heart attack. 385 00:40:11,140 --> 00:40:18,860 "You're not to tell me to rest," he told his doctor. "I can't. Nobody else can do this job. I must." 386 00:40:18,860 --> 00:40:28,380 At the very moment America entered the war, Britain could not be seen to have an invalid Prime Minister. 387 00:40:28,380 --> 00:40:32,460 The news of the illness had to be kept secret. 388 00:40:32,460 --> 00:40:37,340 Three days after his heart attack, the 67-year-old Prime Minister 389 00:40:37,340 --> 00:40:40,540 went by train to Canada. 390 00:40:40,540 --> 00:40:48,500 'When Mr Churchill went to Canada, what a reception he got on arrival in Ottawa!' 391 00:40:54,380 --> 00:40:58,060 It was like having a god come out. 392 00:40:58,060 --> 00:41:05,180 One realised why the Romans deified their successful generals and emperors. 393 00:41:05,180 --> 00:41:10,260 One of my duties was to take care of all the presents sent to him. 394 00:41:10,260 --> 00:41:14,260 Thousands of presents from all over Canada came - 395 00:41:14,260 --> 00:41:19,380 silk handkerchiefs embroidered with the hair of young women 396 00:41:19,380 --> 00:41:26,340 and cigars by the thousand. He wasn't allowed to smoke them for security reasons. 397 00:41:26,340 --> 00:41:29,700 We had to destroy them "by fire". 398 00:41:29,700 --> 00:41:35,020 'At Parliament House he made his second great overseas speech.' 399 00:41:35,020 --> 00:41:44,140 We have been concerting the united pacts and resolves of more than thirty states and nations 400 00:41:44,140 --> 00:41:48,860 to fight on in unity together 401 00:41:48,860 --> 00:41:57,860 without any thought except the total and final extirpation of the Hitler tyranny, 402 00:41:57,860 --> 00:42:05,580 of the Japanese frenzy and the Mussolini flop. LAUGHTER 403 00:42:05,580 --> 00:42:12,620 'Presently he referred to those black days in 1940 just before the fall of France.' 404 00:42:12,620 --> 00:42:19,500 When I warned them that Britain would fight on alone whatever they did, 405 00:42:19,500 --> 00:42:24,980 their general told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinet, 406 00:42:24,980 --> 00:42:32,060 "In three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken." 407 00:42:33,100 --> 00:42:39,740 Some chicken. LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE 408 00:42:39,740 --> 00:42:43,780 THEY DRUM THEIR APPRECIATION 409 00:42:43,780 --> 00:42:46,900 Some neck! 410 00:42:46,900 --> 00:42:51,820 From Canada, he went back to Washington. He was exhausted. 411 00:42:51,820 --> 00:42:55,700 The change in him was noticed immediately. 412 00:42:55,700 --> 00:42:59,500 He was NOT in very good shape. 413 00:42:59,500 --> 00:43:05,420 I was quite surprised at his wan expression, 414 00:43:05,420 --> 00:43:10,020 because he was quite a ruddy, round-faced individual. 415 00:43:10,020 --> 00:43:17,220 But he looked so terribly drawn that it was quite, quite noticeable. 416 00:43:17,220 --> 00:43:21,300 And also, he didn't seem to have the bounce. 417 00:43:21,300 --> 00:43:29,580 Despite his success in America, in Britain, Churchill's leadership was being questioned. 418 00:43:29,580 --> 00:43:35,220 In the Atlantic, Britain was losing over half its convoys. 419 00:43:35,220 --> 00:43:42,180 I don't think people ever really appreciated what a desperately close-run thing that was. 420 00:43:42,180 --> 00:43:46,060 The German Wolfpack submarines 421 00:43:46,060 --> 00:43:55,540 out in the Atlantic really were in serious danger of cutting our lifelines. It was desperate. 422 00:43:55,540 --> 00:44:01,500 The losses in merchant shipping simply could not have gone on. 423 00:44:01,500 --> 00:44:10,020 In N Africa, the British Army was in defeat. In the Far East, the Empire was overrun by the Japanese. 424 00:44:10,020 --> 00:44:18,100 The biggest blow came in February, 1942, when Singapore surrendered. 62,000 troops were captured. 425 00:44:21,340 --> 00:44:27,780 At home, people were becoming dispirited and resentful. 426 00:44:27,780 --> 00:44:30,860 Where was the promised victory? 427 00:44:30,860 --> 00:44:38,020 That summer, a Vote of Censure was brought against Churchill in the Commons. 428 00:44:38,020 --> 00:44:42,380 This was a very, very difficult period, 429 00:44:42,380 --> 00:44:49,820 and it was a period when also we felt that Winston was being criticised. 430 00:44:49,820 --> 00:44:58,540 And I remember going to the Commons to listen to one of his speeches, and being really quite worried. 431 00:44:58,540 --> 00:45:03,580 I don't think any of us thought that his reign as Prime Minister 432 00:45:03,580 --> 00:45:09,140 was as secure as when you read history it seemed to be. 433 00:45:09,140 --> 00:45:15,900 It was the only time in the whole war I saw him look REALLY anxious. 434 00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:20,900 because the only thing he feared in the world was Parliament. 435 00:45:20,900 --> 00:45:26,020 He was a good democrat. He knew it was a critical debate. 436 00:45:26,020 --> 00:45:33,940 Churchill won by a large majority, but an opinion poll showed half the country dissatisfied with the war. 437 00:45:33,940 --> 00:45:41,420 The end may be far off. We cannot tell. That depends upon the enemy. 438 00:45:41,420 --> 00:45:46,700 How long he will resist we cannot tell. 439 00:45:46,700 --> 00:45:52,980 How long that wicked man will torture and afflict the nations, 440 00:45:52,980 --> 00:46:01,460 how often and in what directions he will set his murder machine in motion, we cannot tell. 441 00:46:01,460 --> 00:46:09,660 The war situation worsened with every day. German forces were within a few miles of Moscow. 442 00:46:09,660 --> 00:46:18,620 Russia was bearing the brunt of Hitler's aggression and Churchill and Clementine urged public support. 443 00:46:18,620 --> 00:46:21,820 The people of Russia have set up 444 00:46:21,820 --> 00:46:29,980 a new standard of courage and of endurance in the terrible sufferings 445 00:46:29,980 --> 00:46:33,060 through which they are going. 446 00:46:33,060 --> 00:46:42,660 We must pray to God that we shall not be subjected to the same trials which they are undergoing, 447 00:46:42,660 --> 00:46:49,620 but if we are, we shall have a very great example to follow. 448 00:46:49,620 --> 00:46:55,380 In N Africa, the British Army had been thrown back to Alamein. 449 00:46:55,380 --> 00:47:01,820 Egypt and Suez were threatened. A young British officer in London 450 00:47:01,820 --> 00:47:08,660 asked to see Churchill to tell him the Desert Army had lost confidence in its commanders. 451 00:47:08,660 --> 00:47:13,220 Suddenly a call came through - Downing Street on the line. 452 00:47:13,220 --> 00:47:18,300 A senior official I was talking to thought it was for him. 453 00:47:18,300 --> 00:47:22,780 "Could Julian Amery come round to Number 10 at once?" 454 00:47:22,780 --> 00:47:31,460 I went round and found Churchill at the Cabinet table with Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of General Staff. 455 00:47:31,460 --> 00:47:34,500 Otherwise nobody. 456 00:47:34,500 --> 00:47:41,860 And he asked me about the situation. I explained that I thought the army was demoralised. 457 00:47:41,860 --> 00:47:48,860 Sir Alan Brooke looked pretty cross that a junior officer could express that sort of opinion. 458 00:47:48,860 --> 00:47:53,620 He tried to intervene, but Churchill shut him up. 459 00:47:53,620 --> 00:47:57,940 Churchill then said, "Is there anything we can do?" 460 00:47:57,940 --> 00:48:04,940 I said, "If you were to go out there yourself and show yourself to the army, 461 00:48:04,940 --> 00:48:07,740 "it may make all the difference." 462 00:48:07,740 --> 00:48:11,340 'The Premier paid a visit to...' 463 00:48:11,340 --> 00:48:18,260 In August, 1942, after nearly three years of war, Churchill needed a victory in the field. 464 00:48:18,260 --> 00:48:24,300 He flew to N Africa to visit the British Eighth Army. 465 00:48:24,300 --> 00:48:30,100 He arrived in a curious hat, rather like a tortoise on his head, 466 00:48:30,100 --> 00:48:34,540 and I imagined that he'd asked for this hat 467 00:48:34,540 --> 00:48:41,180 as a memory of his own time in India, because he had very sensitive skin. 468 00:48:41,180 --> 00:48:46,060 He sunburned very easily. So this enormous topi...! 469 00:48:46,060 --> 00:48:52,700 Anyway, he appeared and shuffled across the sand for introductions. 470 00:48:52,700 --> 00:49:01,300 Then after we'd shaken hands with this small man - a great surprise, that, 471 00:49:01,300 --> 00:49:05,540 because one held him in such respect. 472 00:49:05,540 --> 00:49:13,580 That he should be so tiny, although rather paunchy, was a great surprise. 473 00:49:15,700 --> 00:49:18,980 He loved being the man on the spot 474 00:49:18,980 --> 00:49:25,540 and he loved the smell of powder. He liked taking part in things. 475 00:49:25,540 --> 00:49:30,940 He'd visit the forward troops and if there were any guns about, 476 00:49:30,940 --> 00:49:37,340 he liked to fire them! He'd been a soldier in his day, 477 00:49:37,340 --> 00:49:43,860 and he now was an old war horse sniffing powder, I think. 478 00:49:43,860 --> 00:49:47,820 Churchill found the British troops in bad shape. 479 00:49:47,820 --> 00:49:52,940 "This splendid army," he wrote to Clementine, "is baffled by defeat. 480 00:49:52,940 --> 00:50:01,820 "There seem to be no plans for an offensive, no attacking zeal." Rommel seemed invincible. 481 00:50:01,820 --> 00:50:06,500 I remember him in his bedroom in Cairo 482 00:50:06,500 --> 00:50:15,020 with his dressing gown with dragons all over it and his little black velvet slippers, 483 00:50:15,020 --> 00:50:23,140 stamping up and down the room saying, "Rommel, Rommel! What else matters but beating Rommel?" 484 00:50:23,140 --> 00:50:27,580 In other words, his mind was entirely fixed 485 00:50:27,580 --> 00:50:30,660 on winning a battle in the desert. 486 00:50:30,660 --> 00:50:36,420 The British commander was General Auchinleck, the Auk. 487 00:50:36,420 --> 00:50:42,460 Senior officers told Churchill that Auchinleck should be replaced. 488 00:50:42,460 --> 00:50:48,820 He said to the Auk, "Well, General, what are you going to do?" 489 00:50:48,820 --> 00:50:56,420 and the Auk was very inarticulate and left the impression he wasn't clear what he was going to do. 490 00:50:56,420 --> 00:51:04,380 I remember Hugh Mainwaring and I walked away through the sand wondering who would replace the Auk. 491 00:51:04,380 --> 00:51:07,660 We said, "Who will we get now?" 492 00:51:07,660 --> 00:51:11,500 It was to be General Montgomery. 493 00:51:11,500 --> 00:51:19,820 Churchill told Clementine, "If he is disagreeable to his men, he is also disagreeable to the enemy." 494 00:51:19,820 --> 00:51:27,220 Churchill then flew eastward to Moscow for his first ever meeting with Stalin. 495 00:51:31,860 --> 00:51:38,900 Nobody expected that Churchill would come out from the belly of the plane. 496 00:51:38,900 --> 00:51:42,780 It was from the door usually. 497 00:51:42,780 --> 00:51:49,900 We saw first his legs, then the upper part of his body, then finally came his head. 498 00:51:49,900 --> 00:51:55,820 Churchill brought bad news. It was like carrying ice to the North Pole. 499 00:51:55,820 --> 00:52:01,460 Churchill had come to Moscow to tell Stalin the brutal truth - 500 00:52:01,460 --> 00:52:09,820 Britain and the United States simply did not have the resources to launch an invasion of W Europe in 1942. 501 00:52:09,820 --> 00:52:16,900 With the German Army less than 100 miles from Moscow, and preparing a new offensive in the South, 502 00:52:16,900 --> 00:52:23,860 the Russians had their backs to the wall. Churchill feared a Soviet capitulation. 503 00:52:23,860 --> 00:52:28,300 When the two leaders met here in Stalin's study, 504 00:52:28,300 --> 00:52:35,340 Churchill knew that what he had to say could seriously threaten the fragile Alliance. 505 00:52:35,340 --> 00:52:42,700 Stalin demanded an Anglo-American invasion of Europe in 1942. 506 00:52:42,700 --> 00:52:48,820 Churchill explained the Western Allies did not have the resources. 507 00:52:48,820 --> 00:52:53,100 Of course it was a great discouragement for Stalin. 508 00:52:53,100 --> 00:52:57,180 So he said that he can't accept the decision. 509 00:52:57,180 --> 00:53:05,660 Then he said, "You British are afraid of fighting. You cannot win a war if you don't fight." 510 00:53:05,660 --> 00:53:10,740 Stalin was his usual gruff, ungrateful, rude self. 511 00:53:10,740 --> 00:53:15,820 He was complaining about no Second Front 512 00:53:15,820 --> 00:53:22,940 and never once showed any appreciation for the equipment England was shipping out there, 513 00:53:22,940 --> 00:53:30,420 or even said, "I'm sorry you've lost so many ships on the N Atlantic run to Russia." 514 00:53:30,420 --> 00:53:33,700 He made the most outrageous remarks 515 00:53:33,700 --> 00:53:40,780 such as, "If you fought the Germans a bit more, you wouldn't be so frightened of them." 516 00:53:40,780 --> 00:53:45,060 Well, you can imagine saying that to Churchill ! 517 00:53:45,060 --> 00:53:51,020 When he returned he was in a filthy mood. He never HAD cared for him. 518 00:53:51,020 --> 00:53:58,860 And he said to me, "Take a telegram to Mr Attlee". Mr Attlee was the Deputy Prime Minister. 519 00:53:58,860 --> 00:54:05,820 And he started saying in this telegram exactly what he thought of Stalin - 520 00:54:05,820 --> 00:54:08,820 "This rude, ungrateful man..." etc. 521 00:54:08,820 --> 00:54:12,940 And Clark Kerr, the Ambassador, said, 522 00:54:12,940 --> 00:54:20,620 "Prime Minister, this room will be bugged, like all the rooms in Moscow." 523 00:54:20,620 --> 00:54:26,380 I think he thought Winston would quieten down his criticism, 524 00:54:26,380 --> 00:54:30,540 but it had the exact opposite effect, knowing Winston. 525 00:54:30,540 --> 00:54:35,420 Then he REALLY said exactly what he thought about Stalin, 526 00:54:35,420 --> 00:54:39,460 and all I've said before about being ungrateful and rude. 527 00:54:39,460 --> 00:54:44,180 He said, "If this continues, we shall return to England." 528 00:54:44,180 --> 00:54:51,180 Anyhow, the next day, Winston had another meeting arranged with Stalin 529 00:54:51,180 --> 00:54:58,740 and the whole atmosphere had changed. He'd obviously had a transcript of this telegram, 530 00:54:58,740 --> 00:55:04,660 and obviously he didn't want the British Prime Minister to leave. 531 00:55:04,660 --> 00:55:07,740 It changed the whole atmosphere. 532 00:55:07,740 --> 00:55:13,780 Despite his disappointment, Stalin accepted Churchill's reasons as valid. 533 00:55:13,780 --> 00:55:17,060 Stalin was a pragmatic person. 534 00:55:17,060 --> 00:55:24,380 He couldn't force the British and Americans to change their mind and start the invasion. 535 00:55:24,380 --> 00:55:30,900 But on the other hand, he knew how important is the Alliance. 536 00:55:30,900 --> 00:55:38,420 The visit ended with a banquet. Toasts were drunk to the defeat of Hitler. 537 00:55:38,420 --> 00:55:45,300 Britain's substantial military aid to Russia would go on. The Alliance had held. 538 00:55:45,300 --> 00:55:49,220 On his way home, Churchill returned to the desert. 539 00:55:49,220 --> 00:55:55,260 There he greeted Montgomery, the new Commander of the 8th Army. 540 00:55:56,980 --> 00:56:04,420 He sensed that the arrival of Montgomery had made a real difference to the troops' morale. 541 00:56:04,420 --> 00:56:10,060 As he went about, he himself got cheered, naturally enough. 542 00:56:10,060 --> 00:56:16,820 Churchill then went away aware that the situation was in safe hands. 543 00:56:16,820 --> 00:56:23,260 I want to impress on everyone that the bad times are over. 544 00:56:23,260 --> 00:56:32,220 Our mandate from the PM is to destroy the Axis forces in N Africa. It can be done and it will be done. 545 00:56:32,220 --> 00:56:40,380 Montgomery had to wait for reinforcements and for confirmation the Germans were running out of fuel. 546 00:56:40,380 --> 00:56:45,460 Churchill fretted at any delay on the part of his commanders. 547 00:56:45,460 --> 00:56:49,500 Monty, like all generals, annoyed him at various times, 548 00:56:49,500 --> 00:56:54,740 because they didn't always do what he WANTED them to do. 549 00:56:54,740 --> 00:56:57,820 Monty wouldn't be pushed about. 550 00:56:57,820 --> 00:57:01,300 On October 23rd, 1942, 551 00:57:01,300 --> 00:57:08,940 launching the heaviest artillery barrage of the war, Montgomery struck at Alamein. 552 00:57:13,860 --> 00:57:19,780 After 12 days of battle, the Allied breakthrough came. 553 00:57:19,780 --> 00:57:24,820 Rommel's once invincible army was in full retreat. 554 00:57:28,220 --> 00:57:32,180 Hitler had ordered victory or death. 555 00:57:32,180 --> 00:57:40,100 Now 10,000 Germans and Italians were dead on the battlefield. A further 30,000 had surrendered. 556 00:57:40,100 --> 00:57:43,660 Here at last was Churchill's victory. 557 00:57:43,660 --> 00:57:49,660 We have victory. A remarkable and definite victory. 558 00:57:49,660 --> 00:57:58,980 A bright gleam has caught the helmets of our soldiers and warmed and cheered all our hearts. 559 00:57:58,980 --> 00:58:06,540 Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. 560 00:58:06,540 --> 00:58:11,460 But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. 561 00:58:11,460 --> 00:58:18,300 On Churchill's instructions, the church bells, silent since the war began, 562 00:58:18,300 --> 00:58:24,780 were rung throughout Britain. "Tonight there is sugar on the cake." 563 00:58:24,780 --> 00:58:33,140 The Battle of Alamein takes its place with the most famous victories in British history. 564 00:58:33,140 --> 00:58:37,340 Up till Alamein we survived. 565 00:58:37,340 --> 00:58:40,780 After Alamein we conquered.