The Second World War - Volume III The Grand Alliance

The Grand Alliance

The Second World War [3]

Winston Churchill

Mariner Books (1954)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Tags: World War II, General, Historical, Churchill; Winston, Biography

Autobiography, Military, History, World War; 1939-1945, World War;

1939-1945 - Campaigns - Africa; North, World War; 1939-1945 -

Diplomatic history, Africa; North, Campaigns, Non-Fiction, War, World

War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Eastern Front, Eastern Front, Africa;

East, World War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Atlantic Ocean, World War;

1939-1945 - Campaigns - Africa; East

World War IIttt Generalttt Historicalttt Churchill; Winstonttt Biography

Autobiographyttt Militaryttt Historyttt World War; 1939-1945ttt World

War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Africa; Northttt World War; 1939-1945 -

Diplomatic historyttt Africa; Northttt Campaignsttt Non-Fictionttt

Warttt World War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Eastern Frontttt Eastern

Frontttt Africa; Eastttt World War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Atlantic

Oceanttt World War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Africa; Eastttt

The Grand Alliance describes the end of an extraordinary period in British

military history in which that country stood virtually alone against the German

onslaught. Two crucial events bring about the end of Britains̓ isolation and prove

to be key turning points in the war against Hitler. The first is Hitlers̓ well￾documented decision to attack the Soviet Union, opening up a battle front in the

East. The second event is the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of the

United States into the war.

THE GRAND ALLIANCE

WINSTON CHURCHILL

The Grand Alliance

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Copyright

The Grand Alliance

Copyright © 1948 by Winston Churchill Cover art and eForeword to the

electronic edition copyright © 2002 by RosettaBooks, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any

manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief

quotations embodied in critical ayrticles and reviews.

For information address [email protected] First electronic edition

published 2002 by RosettaBooks LLC, New York.

ISBN 0-7953-0612-1

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Contents

eForeword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Book One:

Germany Drives East

1: The Desert and the Balkans

2: The Widening War

3: Blitz and Anti-Blitz, 1941: Hess

4: The Mediterranean War

5: Conquest of the Italian Empire

6: Decision to Aid Greece

7: The Battle of the Atlantic, 1941 The Western Approaches 8: The Battle of the

Atlantic, 1941 The American Intervention 9: Yugoslavia

10: The Japanese Envoy

11: The Desert Flank: Rommel: Tobruk

12: The Greek Campaign

13: Tripoli and “Tiger”

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14: The Revolt in Iraq

15: Crete: The Advent

16: Crete: The Battle

17: The Fate of the “Bismarck”

18: Syria

19: General Wavell’s Final Effort: “Battleaxe”

20: The Soviet Nemesis

Book Two:

War Comes to America

1: Our Soviet Ally

2: An African Pause: Tobruk

3: My Meeting with Roosevelt

4: The Atlantic Charter

5: Aid to Russia

6: Persia and the Middle East Summer and Autumn, 1941

7: The Mounting Strength of Britain Autumn, 1941

8: Closer Contacts with Russia Autumn and Winter, 1941

9: The Path Ahead

10: Operation “Crusader” Ashore, Aloft, and Afloat 11: Japan 12: Pearl

Harbour!

13: A Voyage Amid World War

14: Proposed Plan and Sequence of the War 15: Washington and Ottawa

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16: Anglo-American Accords

17: Return to Storm

Appendices

Notes

About the Author

About this Title

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Maps and Diagrams

The Advance from Tobruk

The Campaign in East Africa

The Battle of the Atlantic: Merchant Ships Sunk by U-Boats in the Atlantic

Phase I. From the Outbreak of War to the Invasion of Norway, September 3,

1939, to April 9, 1940

Phase II. The Western Approaches, April 10, 1940, to March 17, 1941

Phase III. The Ocean up to the Entry of the United States into the War, March

18, 1941, to December 6, 1941

The Balkans

Rommel’s Counter-Offensive, April, 1941

The German Invasion of Greece

Habbaniya-Falluja

Syria and Iraq

Crete and the Aegean

The Chase of the Bismarck

Map 1: Situation at 6.00 a.m. May 24

Map 2: Situation at 3.06 a.m. May 25

Map 3: Situation at 10.30 a.m. May 26

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Plan 1: Situation at 9.00 a.m. May 26

Plan 2: Situation at 8.48 a.m. May 27

Plan 3: Situation at 10.15 a.m. May 27

The Syrian Campaign

Diagram to Illustrate Operation “Battleaxe”

The German Attack on Russia

Operations in Persia

The Mediterranean Area, June 21, 1941

Enemy Dispositions November 18 Opening Phase, November 18-19

First Battle of Sidi Rezegh

Rommel’s Raid November 24–28 Second Battle of Sidi Rezegh, November 29–

30

The South China Sea

Malaya

Cyrenaica

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eForeword

One of the most fascinating works of history ever written, Winston Churchill’s

monumental The Second World War is a six-volume account of the struggle of

the Allied powers in Europe against Germany and the Axis. Told through the

eyes of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, The Second World War is also

the story of one nation’s singular, heroic role in the fight against tyranny. Pride

and patriotism are evident everywhere in Churchill’s dramatic account and for

good reason. Having learned a lesson at Munich that they would never forget,

the British refused to make peace with Hitler, defying him even after France had

fallen and after it seemed as though the Nazis were unstoppable.

Churchill remained unbowed throughout, as did the people of Britain in whose

determination and courage he placed his confidence.

Patriotic as Churchill was, he managed to maintain a balanced impartiality in his

description of the war. What is perhaps most interesting, and what lends the

work its tension and emotion, is Churchill’s inclusion of a significant amount of

primary material. We hear his retrospective analysis of the war, to be sure, but

we are also presented with memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams that

give a day-by-day account of the reactions-both mistaken and justified-to the

unfolding drama. Strategies and counterstrategies develop to respond to Hitler’s

ruthless conquest of Europe, his planned invasion of England, and The Grand

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his treacherous assault on Russia. It is a mesmerizing account of the crucial

decisions that have to be made with imperfect knowledge and an awareness that

the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

The Grand Alliance, the third volume of this work, describes the end of an

extraordinary period in British military history in which that country stood

virtually alone against the German onslaught. Two crucial events bring about the

end of Britain’s isolation and prove key turning points in the war against Hitler.

The first is Hitler’s well-documented decision to attack the Soviet Union,

opening up a battle front in the East. Stalin, who a few months earlier had been

making plans with Hitler to carve up the British Empire between them, now

finds himself looking to the British for support and entreating Churchill to open

up a second front in France. Churchill includes the fascinating correspondence

between himself and the Russian leader.

The second event is the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United

States into the war. U.S. support had long been seen as crucial to the British war

effort, and Churchill documents his efforts to draw the Americans to the aid of

their allies across the ocean, including his direct correspondence with President

Roosevelt. The attack on Pearl Harbor, of course, changes everything, and soon

after the British began coordinate their efforts against Nazi Germany with the

cooperation of the United States. The Grand Alliance is formed.

Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 due in no small part to this

awe-inspiring work.

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Preface

THIS VOLUME, like the others, claims only to be a contribution to the history

of the Second World War. The tale is told from the standpoint of the British

Prime Minister, with special responsibility as Minister of Defence for military

affairs. As these came directly to some extent into my hands, British operations

are narrated in their scope and in some detail. At the same time it would be

impossible to describe the struggles of our Allies except as a background.

To do full justice these must be left to their own historians, or to later and more

general British accounts. While recognising the impossibility of preserving

proportion, I have tried to place our own story in its true setting.

The main thread is again the series of my directives, telegrams, and minutes

upon the daily conduct of the war and of British affairs. These are all original

documents composed by me as events unfolded. They therefore constitute a

more authentic record and give, I believe, a better impression of what happened

and how it seemed at the time than any account which I could write now that the

course of events is known. Although they contain expressions of opinion and

forecasts which did not come true, it is by them as a whole that I wish my own

share in the conflict to be judged. Only in this way can the reader understand the

actual problems we had to face as defined by the knowledge then in our

possession.

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Space would not allow, nor indeed in many cases have I the right, to print the

replies, which very often took the form of lengthy departmental memoranda. I

have therefore been careful to avoid, so far as I can, throwing blame on

individuals. Where possible I have endeavoured to give a summary of replies to

telegrams. In the main however the documents which are printed tell the tale.

We are again dealing with war on the giant scale, and the battle on the Russian

front involved as many divisions on both sides as were engaged in the Battle of

France. At every point along a far longer front the great masses engaged, with

slaughter incomparable to anything which occurred elsewhere during the war. I

cannot attempt to do more than refer to the struggle between the German and the

Russian Armies as the background of the actions of Britain and the Western

Allies. The Russian epic of 1941

and 1942 deserves a detailed and dispassionate study and record in the English

language. Even though no facilities for foreigners to narrate the Russian agony

and glory might be accorded, the effort should be made. Nor should this impulse

be chilled by the fact that the Soviet Government have already claimed all the

honour for themselves.

Hitler’s invasion of Russia brought to an end the period of almost exactly a year

during which Great Britain and her Empire stood alone, undismayed, and

growing continually in strength. Six months later the United States, violently

assaulted by Japan, became our ally for all purposes. The ground for our united

action had been prepared beforehand by my correspondence with President

Roosevelt, and it was possible to forecast not only the form of our operations but

also their sequence. The effective combination of the whole English-speaking

world in the waging of war and the The Grand Alliance 13

creation of the Grand Alliance form the conclusion to this part of my account.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL

CHARTWELL

January 1, 1950

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