The Second World War - Volume IV The Hingle of Fate

THE HINGE OF FATE

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Copyright

Copyright © 1950 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 articles and reviews.

For information address [email protected]

First electronic edition published 2002 by RosettaBooks

LLC, New York.

ISBN 0-7953-0622-9

The Hinge of Fate 2

The Hinge Of Fate

Contents

eForeword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Book One

The Onslaught of Japan

1: Australasian Anxieties

2: The Setback in the Desert

3: Penalties in Malaya

4: A Vote of Confidence

5: Cabinet Changes

6: The Fall of Singapore

7: The U-Boat Paradise

8: The Loss of the Dutch East Indies

9: The Invasion of Burma

10: Ceylon and the Bay of Bengal

11: The Shipping Stranglehold

12: India — The Cripps Mission

13: Madagascar

The Hinge of Fate 3

14: American Naval VictoriesThe Coral Sea and

Midway Island

15: The Arctic Convoys,1942

16: The Offensive in the Aether

17: Malta and the Desert

18: “Second Front Now!”April, 1942

19: The Molotov Visit

20: Strategic Natural Selection

21: Rommel Attacks

22: My Second Visit to Washington

23: The Vote of Censure

Book Two

Africa Redeemed

1: The Eighth Army at Bay

2: Decision for “Torch”

3: My Journey to Cairo:Changes in Command

4: Moscow: The First Meeting

5: Moscow:A Relationship Established

6: Return to Cairo

7: The Final Shaping of “Torch”

8: Suspense and Strain

9: Soviet “Thank You”

10: The Battle of Alamein

11: The Torch is Lit

12: The Darlan Episode

The Hinge of Fate 4

13: Problems of Victory

14: Our Need to Meet

15: The Casablanca Conference

16: Adana and Tripoli

17: Home to Trouble

18: Russia and the Western Allies

19: Victory in Tunis

20: My Third Visit to Washington

21: Problems of War and Peace

22: Italy the Goal

Appendices

Notes

About the Author

About this Title

The Hinge of Fate 5

Maps and Diagrams

Chart to Illustrate Mediterranean Campaigns, 1942

The Setback in the Desert, January, 1942

Malaya, Situation January 1, 1942

The Malayan Peninsula

Singapore Island

The U-Boats in American Waters December 7, 1941, to

July 31, 1942

The Atlantic, General Area of North Atlantic Convoys

Losses by U-Boat, January to July, 1942

The Crisis of Battle August 1, 1942, to May 21, 1943

The A.B.D.A. Area of Operations

Burma

The Indian Ocean

Madagascar

Pacific Theatre

Solomons — New Guinea

Track of P.Q.17

Russian Winter Offensives, January to March, 1942

Diagram 1. Enemy Plan for May 27–28

The Hinge of Fate 6

Diagram 2. The Battle for Tobruk

The Western Desert

Tobruk

The Action at Minqa Qaim

The Western Desert

The German Campaign in Russia, 1942

The Battle of Alam el Halfa

Russian Counter-attacks at Stalingrad

The Opposing Forces, October 23, 1942

The Plan of Attack

Battle of el Alamein. Northern Sector

“Supercharge”: The Break-through

Algiers — Tunis

The North Coast of Africa

The Front in Russia, April, 1942, to March, 1943

Tunisia

The Battle of Mareth

Tunis — The Last Phase May 6–12, 1943

The Hinge of Fate 7

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 Hinge of Fate 8

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 fourth volume in this work, The Hinge of Fate is, as its

name might suggest, the dramatic account of the Allies’

changing fortunes. By the end of the previous volume, The

Grand Alliance, the Russians and the Americans had both

entered the war on the side of the British, but Germany,

Italy and Japan continued pressing forward successfully

with their terrible onslaught. In the first half of The Hinge of

Fate, Churchill describes the fearful period in which the

Germans threaten to overwhelm the Red Army, Rommel

dominates the war in the desert, and Singapore falls to the

Japanese. In the span of just a few months, however, the

Allies begin to turn the tide, achieving decisive victories at

Midway and Guadalcanal, and repulsing the Germans at

Stalingrad. As their confidence builds, and they begin to

gain ground against the Axis powers, the Allies can begin to

see the end of this terrible conflict in sight.

Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 due in

no small part to this awe-inspiring work.

RosettaBooks is the leading publisher dedicated exclusively

to electronic editions of great works of fiction and non-fiction

that reflect our world. RosettaBooks is a committed e￾publisher, maximizing the resources of the Web in opening

a fresh dimension in the reading experience. In this

electronic reading environment, each RosettaBook will

enhance the experience through The RosettaBooks

Connection. This gateway instantly delivers to the reader

the opportunity to learn more about the title, the author, the

content and the context of each work, using the full

resources of the Web.

The Hinge of Fate 9

To experience The RosettaBooks Connection for The Hinge

of Fate:

www.RosettaBooks.com/TheHingeOfFate

The Hinge of Fate 10

Preface

INThe Gathering Storm, Their Finest Hour, and The Grand

Alliance I have described as I saw them the events leading

to the Second World War, the conquest of Europe by Nazi

Germany, the unflinching resistance of Britain alone until

the German attack on Russia and the Japanese assault

brought the Soviet Union and the United States to our side.

In Washington, at the turn of the year, President Roosevelt

and I, supported by our Chief Military and Naval Advisers,

proclaimed The Grand Alliance, and prescribed the main

strategy for the future conduct of the war. We had now to

face the onslaught of Japan.

Such was the scene when on January 17, 1942, I landed at

Plymouth; and here the tale of this volume begins.

Again it is told from the standpoint of the British Prime

Minister, with special responsibility, as Minister of Defence,

for military affairs. Again I rely upon the series of my

directives, telegrams, and minutes, which owe their

importance and interest to the moment in which they were

written, and which I could not write in better words now.

These original documents were dictated by me as events

broke upon us. As they are my own composition, written at

the time, it is by these that I prefer to be judged. It would be

easier to produce a series of afterthoughts when the

answers to all the riddles were known, but I must leave this

The Hinge of Fate 11

to the historians who will in due course be able to

pronounce their considered judgments.

I have called this volume The Hinge of Fate because in it

we turn from almost uninterrupted disaster to almost

unbroken success. For the first six months of this story all

went ill; for the last six months everything went well. And

this agreeable change continued to the end of the struggle.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL

Chartwell,

Westerham,

Kent

September 1, 1950

The Hinge of Fate 12

Acknowledgments

I MUST AGAIN ACKNOWLEDGE the assistance of those who

helped me with the previous volumes, namely, Lieutenant￾General Sir Henry Pownall, Commodore G. R. G. Allen,

Colonel F. W. Deakin, and Sir Edward Marsh, Mr. Denis

Kelly, and Mr. C. C. Wood. I have also to thank the very

large number of others who have kindly read these pages

and commented upon them.

Lord Ismay has continued to give me his aid, as have my

other friends.

I record my obligation to His Majesty’s Government for

permission to reproduce the text of certain official

documents of which the Crown Copyright is legally vested

in the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery Office. At the

request of His Majesty’s Government, on security grounds I

have paraphrased some of the telegrams published in this

volume. These changes have not altered in any way the

sense or substance of the telegrams.

I wish to acknowledge my debt to Captain Samuel Eliot

Morison, U.S.N.R., whose books on naval operations give a

clear presentation of the actions of the United States Fleet.

I am indebted to the Roosevelt Trust for the use they have

permitted of the President’s telegrams quoted here, and

also to others who have allowed their private letters to be

published.

The Hinge of Fate 13

Moral of the Work

In War: Resolution

In Defeat: Defiance

In Victory: Magnanimity

In Peace: Good Will

The Hinge of Fate 14