---
title: Alan Brooke
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/alan-brooke/
description: 7 verified quotes from Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (1941 to 1946), with sources.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: a Second World War naval-intelligence collage of a Pacific theatre map, aerial reconnaissance photographs and radar plots.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-wwii-pacific.jpg)

[Quotes](https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/) · United Kingdom

# Alan Brooke

![Alan Brooke at the Quebec Conference, September 1944](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/images/churchill-government/alan-brooke.jpg)

[Photo](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_and_Allied_leaders_at_international_conferences_-_NARA_-_292627.jpg): Unknown (US Army Signal Corps), Public domain (US federal government work)

Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (1941 to 1946) · United Kingdom

On the regime page: [Churchill wartime government](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/churchill-government/#alan-brooke)

7 quotes, oldest first. [Filter with other speakers](https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/#speaker=alan-brooke).

1. > “Usual briefing for the Cabinet at 6 p.m. where Winston was in an impossible mood with nothing but abuse about everything the Army was doing. Every commander from 'Jumbo' Wilson to last Company commander was useless, the organization was useless, the Americans hopeless, etc., etc. It was all I could do to contain my temper.” — February 28, 1944 · Diary · London Verified (secondary source) — Alan Brooke was Chief of the Imperial General Staff and chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. His wartime diary, kept for his wife, was published in edited form by Arthur Bryant in 1957 and 1959. The entry was written during the Anzio beachhead battle. — Arthur Bryant, Triumph in the West 1943-1946: based on the diaries and autobiographical notes of Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1959), p. 159 (diary entry for 28 February 1944) [Source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149994)
2. **Content note:** Report that famine-relief grain for India was refused. The words are shown as they were said or written. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) — > “The Prime Minister, on the other hand, remains as determined as ever to do Culverin and has got very little else as a plan to defeat Japan. It is almost impossible to get him to appreciate that by the time he is in a position to do Culverin at the present rate of advance the Americans may well be near Formosa or Luzon. The limitations of India as a base for large-scale operations he refuses to accept, and at the same time refuses Archie Wavell's requests for grain to avoid impending famine which might seriously affect India as a base.” — March 30, 1944 · Letter · London Verified (secondary source) — Alan Brooke was Chief of the Imperial General Staff and chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. His wartime diary, kept for his wife, was published in edited form by Arthur Bryant in 1957 and 1959. The letter is to Dill, who represented Britain on the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington, about British strategy against Japan. Culverin was a proposed operation against Sumatra. Wavell, the Viceroy, had asked for grain for India. — Arthur Bryant, Triumph in the West 1943-1946: based on the diaries and autobiographical notes of Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1959), p. 170, quoting Brooke's letter to Field Marshal Sir John Dill of 30 March 1944 [Source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149994)
3. > “Monty made excellent speech. Bertie Ramsay indifferent and overwhelmed by all his own difficulties. Spaatz read every word. Bert Harris told us how well he might have won the war if it had not been for the handicap imposed by the existence of the two other Services. Leigh-Mallory gave very clear description. Sholto Douglas seemed disappointed at the smallness of his task, and so was I.” — May 15, 1944 · Diary · London, St Paul's School Verified (secondary source) — Alan Brooke was Chief of the Imperial General Staff and chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. His wartime diary, kept for his wife, was published in edited form by Arthur Bryant in 1957 and 1959. The entry records the final presentation of the Overlord plans to the King, Churchill, Smuts and the Chiefs of Staff at St Paul's School, London. Spaatz, Harris, Leigh-Mallory and Douglas were the air commanders; Ramsay was the naval commander. — Arthur Bryant, Triumph in the West 1943-1946: based on the diaries and autobiographical notes of Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1959), p. 191 (diary entry for 15 May 1944) [Source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149994)
4. > “I think I was somewhat unkind to Bomber Harris, who had shown brilliant skill in the handling of the forces under his command and provided wonderful support during the operation. He had, however, such a conviction that bombers alone could win the war, if given a proper chance, that this conviction was always to the fore.” — May 15, 1944 · Book Verified (secondary source) — Brooke's later note, printed by Bryant, comments on his diary remark of 15 May 1944 about Arthur Harris, the head of Bomber Command, at the presentation of the D-Day plans at St Paul's School. — Arthur Bryant, Triumph in the West 1943-1946: based on the diaries and autobiographical notes of Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1959), p. 191, note (autobiographical note, written later) on the diary of May 1944 [Source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149994)
5. **Content note:** Account of talk of using atomic weapons to pressure the USSR. The words are shown as they were said or written. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) — > “At 1.30 p.m. we went round to lunch with the P.M. He had seen the American reports of results of the new 'Tube Alloys' secret explosive which had just been carried out in the States. He had absorbed all the minor American exaggerations and, as a result, was completely carried away. It was now no longer necessary for the Russians to come into the Japanese war; the new explosive alone was sufficient to settle the matter. Furthermore, we now had something in our hands which would redress the balance with the Russians. The secret of this explosive and the power to use it would completely alter the diplomatic equilibrium which was adrift since the defeat of Germany. Now we had a new value which redressed our position (pushing out his chin and scowling); now we could say, 'If you insist on doing this or that, well. . . . And then where are the Russians!'” — July 23, 1945 · Diary · Potsdam Verified (secondary source) — Alan Brooke was Chief of the Imperial General Staff and chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. His wartime diary, kept for his wife, was published in edited form by Arthur Bryant in 1957 and 1959. The entry is from the Potsdam Conference, a week after the first atomic test in New Mexico (16 July 1945). 'Tube Alloys' was the British code name for the atomic bomb project. Brooke describes Churchill's reaction at lunch. — Arthur Bryant, Triumph in the West 1943-1946: based on the diaries and autobiographical notes of Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1959), pp. 477-478 (diary entry for 23 July 1945) [Source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149994)
6. > “I tried to crush his over-optimism, based on the result of one experiment, and was asked with contempt what reason I had for minimizing the results of these discoveries. I was trying to dispel his dreams and as usual he did not like it.” — July 23, 1945 · Diary · Potsdam Verified (secondary source) — Alan Brooke was Chief of the Imperial General Staff and chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. His wartime diary, kept for his wife, was published in edited form by Arthur Bryant in 1957 and 1959. The sentences follow his account of lunch with Churchill at Potsdam. — Arthur Bryant, Triumph in the West 1943-1946: based on the diaries and autobiographical notes of Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1959), p. 478 (diary entry for 23 July 1945) [Source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149994)
7. **Content note:** Account of talk of using atomic weapons against Soviet cities. The words are shown as they were said or written. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) — > “It is interesting to note Winston's reactions and my counter-reactions to the Atomic Bomb news. Winston's appreciation of its value in the future international balance of power was far more accurate than mine. But what was worrying me was that, with his usual enthusiasm for anything new, he was letting himself be carried away by the very first and rather scanty reports of the first atomic explosion. He was already seeing himself capable of eliminating all the Russian centres of industry and population without taking into account any of the connected problems, such as delivery of the bomb, production of bombs, possibility of Russians also possessing such bombs, etc. He had at once painted a wonderful picture of himself as the sole possessor of these bombs and capable of dumping them where he wished, thus all-powerful and capable of dictating to Stalin!” — July 23, 1945 · Book Verified (secondary source) — A note written by Brooke after the war on the Potsdam lunch of 23 July 1945, printed by Bryant. It gives Brooke's later reading of Churchill's reaction to the first reports of the atomic test. — Arthur Bryant, Triumph in the West 1943-1946: based on the diaries and autobiographical notes of Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1959), p. 478, note (autobiographical note, written later) on the diary of 23 July 1945 [Source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149994)