Churchill wartime government

In one line: From 10 May 1940 to 26 July 1945 Winston Churchill headed the United Kingdom's wartime government, a coalition of Conservative, Labour and Liberal ministers until 23 May 1945 and a Conservative caretaker government until the election result of July 1945, which fought the Second World War, ran censorship and information policy under emergency powers, conducted open and secret propaganda abroad, and governed a colonial empire that included India.

The leader and the people under the leader

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  Winston Churchill

  Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister of Defence · 1940 to 1945

  Winston Churchill: Read more

  Head of government from 10 May 1940, first of a coalition and from 23 May 1945 of a Conservative caretaker government, and Minister of Defence directing the Chiefs of Staff, until he resigned on 26 July 1945 after the general election count.

  In their words

  “You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.”

  “The British Broadcasting Corporation give, I believe, considerable latitude to expressions of opinion which are not injurious to the war effort, and I should be very sorry to think that Ministers were in any way to be held responsible for all statements by the B.B.C.”

  “'In war-time,' I said, 'truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.'”

  “We will endeavour as far as we can to advance the principle of equal rights of civilised men irrespective of colour. We will encourage as far as may be in our power a careful, patient discrimination between different classes of coloured men. We will not—at least I will pledge myself—hesitate to speak out when necessary if any plain case of cruelty or exploitation of the native for the sordid profit of the white man can be proved.”

  “The unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the Feeble-Minded and Insane classes, coupled as it is with a steady restriction among all the thrifty, energetic and superior stocks, constitutes a national and race danger which it is impossible to exaggerate. I am convinced that the multiplication of the Feeble-Minded, which is proceeding now at an artificial rate, unchecked by any of the old restraints of nature, and actually fostered by civilised conditions, is a terrible danger to the race.”

  “The British Navy is to us a necessity and, from some points of view, the German Navy is to them more in the nature of a luxury. Our naval power involves British existence. It is existence to us; it is expansion to them.”

  All 27 quotes from Winston Churchill, and 5 often attributed but not verified

  In the archive: Britain's Ministry of Information and Political Warfare Executive: posters at home, black radio abroad

War Cabinet and ministers

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  Clement Attlee

  Lord Privy Seal; from 1942 Deputy Prime Minister; from 1943 also Lord President of the Council · 1940 to 1945

  Clement Attlee: Read more

  Leader of the Labour Party and a member of the five-man War Cabinet from May 1940, who deputised for Churchill from February 1942 and became Prime Minister on 26 July 1945.

  In their words

  “I believe that at this critical time the vast majority of the people of this country will willingly give their services to the country, and will do all that is asked of them. We introduce this Bill not because we have any doubt of the willingness of the people, but because in a difficult emergency like this there must be the necessary power in the Government.”

  “Some establishments will be controlled altogether right away. Others may be controlled later. They will, in effect, be working on Government account. Wages and profits will be under Government control. The Excess Profits Tax will be at the rate of 100 per cent. There will be no profit out of the national emergency. Other establishments may be ordered to carry on and they may perhaps be ordered to carry on at a loss, but there must be power to carry on essential services and if people are put in a position where they are making a loss, they must have adequate remuneration in order to do their job effectively. The essential thing is that over a wide field—how wide one cannot say at the moment—industry will be carried on for the community in fact, and not for private profit.”

  “I am not aware of that statement, and I should have thought that everybody realised that no convention made with the present rulers of Germany would be acceptable.”

  All 6 quotes from Clement Attlee, and 1 often attributed but not verified

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  Anthony Eden

  Secretary of State for War; from December 1940 Foreign Secretary · 1940 to 1945

  Anthony Eden: Read more

  Held the War Office from May to December 1940, then the Foreign Office until July 1945, and led the House of Commons from November 1942; the Foreign Secretary was one of the three ministers to whom the Political Warfare Executive answered.

  In their words

  “Yes, Sir, I regret to have to inform the House that reliable reports have recently reached His Majesty's Government regarding the barbarous and inhuman treatment to which Jews are being subjected in. German-occupied Europe. They Have in particular received a note from the Polish Government, which was also communicated to other United Nations and which has received wide publicity in the Press. His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have as a result been in consultation with the United States and Soviet Governments and with the other Allied Governments directly concerned, and I should like to take this opportunity to communicate to the House the text of the following declaration which is being made public to-day at this hour in London, Moscow and Washington:”

  “The attention of the Governments of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxemberg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Yugoslavia, and of the French National Committee has been drawn to numerous reports from Europe that the German authorities, not content with denying to persons of Jewish race in all the territories over which their barbarous rule has been extended the most elementary human rights, are now carrying into effect Hitler's oft repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe. From all the occupied countries Jews are being transported, in conditions of appalling horror and brutality, to Eastern Europe. In Poland, which has been made the principal Nazi slaughterhouse, the ghettoes established by the German invaders are being systematically emptied of all Jews except a few highly skilled workers required for war industries. None of those taken away are ever heard of again. The able-bodied are slowly worked to death in labour camps. The infirm are left to die of exposure and starvation or are deliberately massacred in mass executions. The number of victims of these bloody cruelties is reckoned in many hundreds of thousands of entirely innocent men, women and children.
  
  The above mentioned Governments and the French National Committee condemn in the strongest possible terms this bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination. They declare that such events can only strengthen the resolve of all freedom loving peoples to overthrow the barbarous Hitlerite tyranny. They re-affirm their solemn resolution to ensure that those responsible for these crimes shall not escape retribution, and to press on with the necessary practical measures to this end.”

  “I would remind my hon. Friends of the statement made in the House by the Deputy Prime Minister on 19th January. The only truly effective means of succouring the tortured Jewish, and, I may add, the other suffering peoples of Europe, lies in an Allied victory. In devoting all their energies and resources to this end, the Governments and peoples of the United Nations are, therefore, seeking to bring relief to all the oppressed. As regards such measures of relief and rescue as may be immediately practicable, the House will recall the proposals announced by my right hon. and gallant Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies in respect of Palestine. These will be put into operation as rapidly as facilities can be arranged. In addition to this a considerable number of refugees of Allied nationalities have arrived and continue to arrive in this country. As regards international action, I am not yet able to say when I shall be in a position to make a statement. I do not think that Dr. Nansen's appointment by the League of Nations, which was made some considerable time after the last war, affords any useful precedent for dealing with the difficulties experienced in war-time.”

  All 7 quotes from Anthony Eden, and 1 often attributed but not verified

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  Ernest Bevin

  Minister of Labour and National Service · 1940 to 1945

  Ernest Bevin: Read more

  Directed the allocation and call-up of civilian labour from May 1940 and issued the Order of July 1940 that made strikes illegal; he had led the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 and entered Parliament in June 1940.

  In their words

  “I would like to say that, after all, I regard a married woman as playing just as great a part as a citizen as if she were in any other avocation. We have had a system which has never paid her for her services, I admit, but, on the other hand, as a trade union official, I argued for years when I had to calculate wages and payments in industry that industry has had the services not only of men but of women, who kept the men fit to work, a service for which they had never been paid in the whole of their lives. I say that quite advisedly, but it does not mean that the State must not recognise the important work as a citizen that the wife is doing. I cannot, however, deal with that in this Bill. I yield to none, not even the most extreme feminists, with regard to the work I have done for women in this country through the trade union effort, in lifting them out of the sordid sweated industries on to a better basis; it is work on which I look back with pride. That was at a time when we did not get very much assistance. Therefore, I am sure there will be no dispute about the fact that we do not propose to enrol married women or women with children of their own.”

  “My object has been to devise a scheme that will be recognised as fair and which would not place the duty upon the officials of my Department of selecting according to merit or suitability. I therefore propose to resort to the most impartial method of all, that of the ballot. A draw will be made from time to time of one or more of the figures from 0 to 9 and those men whose National Service Registration Certificate numbers happen to end with the figure or figures thus drawn by ballot will be transferred to coalmining.”

  “Yes, I am entitled to direct anybody anywhere, including the right hon. Member.”

  All 6 quotes from Ernest Bevin

• HM

  Herbert Morrison

  Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security · 1940 to 1945

  Herbert Morrison: Read more

  Held both offices from October 1940 to May 1945, directed civil defence and the fire and air-raid services, signed detention orders under Defence Regulation 18B, and suspended the Daily Worker on 21 January 1941 under Defence Regulation 2D.

  In their words

  “This action has been taken not because of any recent change or development in the character of these publications, nor because of the appearance therein of some particular article or articles, but because it is and has been for a long period the settled and continuous policy of these papers to try to create in their readers a state of mind in which they will refrain from co-operating in the national war effort and may become ready to hinder that effort. It is my firm conviction that freedom of the Press should be maintained even at the risk that it may sometimes be abused. If in newspapers which share the national determination to win the war there is occasionally published matter which, though not intended to be harmful to the national interest, may nevertheless have a prejudicial effect, I recognise that the inestimable advantage of maintaining a free Press far outweighs the risks which such freedom may sometimes entail.”

  “Any step which has even the appearance of a departure from our traditional policy of allowing freedom for the expression of minority opinions must be a matter for regret. The policy of the Government is to make the minimum use, even in time of war, of methods of repression, and to confine such action to those forces, all of them agents or allies of reaction, which would consciously or unconsciously place impediments in the way of our war effort and thus help the enemy.”

  “I do not want to suppress opinion for the sake of suppressing it, but it is my duty to take any action necessary for the furtherance of the security of the country and the success of the war. My hon. Friend must take it from me that I shall do anything necessary for that purpose.”

  All 7 quotes from Herbert Morrison

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  Lord Beaverbrook (Max Aitken)

  Minister of Aircraft Production; later Minister of Supply; from 1943 Lord Privy Seal · 1940 to 1942 and 1943 to 1945

  Lord Beaverbrook (Max Aitken): Read more

  Owner of the Daily Express, Sunday Express and Evening Standard, who held cabinet posts from 14 May 1940 to February 1942 and as Lord Privy Seal from September 1943 to May 1945.

  In their words

  “Now, if I may say so, I am no Communist; I am a Capitalist. I do not favour a sharing of wealth, I want only a sharing of opportunity.”

  “Now there is another story being put about—the danger of Communism in Europe. This is another form of enemy propaganda which is being very widely disseminated. I ask those who take note of it: What is Communism now? Anyway it is certainly not what Communism was in 1917—very far from it.”

  “The fact that help from the West was coming was used by Stalin to the fullest possible extent in sustaining, supporting and uplifting the soldiers who were required to go into battle. That was Russia in 1941, with Stalin convincing his people that help was coming, convincing them of the supplies at his command from the United States and from Britain.”

  All 5 quotes from Lord Beaverbrook (Max Aitken), and 2 often attributed but not verified

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  Leo Amery

  Secretary of State for India and Burma · 1940 to 1945

  Leo Amery: Read more

  Answerable to Parliament for the government of India and Burma through the Viceroy, including the Cripps mission of 1942, the Quit India movement and the Bengal famine of 1943.

  In their words

  “Somehow or other we must get into the Government men who can match our enemies in fighting spirit, in daring, in resolution and in thirst for victory.”

  “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.”

  “I have received no such representations. Mr. Nehru is permitted to correspond with his family on family matters. I am not prepared to disclose his present whereabouts.”

  All 7 quotes from Leo Amery, and 2 often attributed but not verified

Armed forces chiefs

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  Alan Brooke

  Chief of the Imperial General Staff; Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee · 1941 to 1946

  Alan Brooke: Read more

  Headed the army from December 1941 and, from March 1942, chaired the Chiefs of Staff Committee, which advised Churchill as Minister of Defence on strategy.

  In their words

  “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.”

  “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.”

  “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.”

  All 7 quotes from Alan Brooke

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  Charles Portal

  Chief of the Air Staff · 1940 to 1945

  Charles Portal: Read more

  Headed the Royal Air Force from 25 October 1940; the Air Ministry directive of 14 February 1942 named the morale of enemy civilians, especially industrial workers, as the aim of Bomber Command's area attacks, and RAF aircraft dropped leaflets written by the Political Warfare Executive.

  In their words

  “I agree with Lord Trenchard's main thesis that the most vulnerable point in the German nation at war is the morale of her civilian population under air attack, and that until this morale has been broken it will not be possible to launch an army on the mainland of Europe with any prospect of success.”

  “I also agree that to exploit this weakness the main weight of our air attack should be directed against objectives in Germany, so situated that bombs which miss their target will directly affect the morale of the German civilian population.”

  “The morale effect of bombing depends largely on the enemy's knowledge of our ability to inflict very severe material damage. Small scale raids will therefore be of little value unless there are also many heavy raids. Furthermore morale is apt to recover quickly and the maximum effect can only be achieved by repeated attacks on the same place.”

  All 5 quotes from Charles Portal, and 1 often attributed but not verified

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  Andrew Cunningham

  First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff · 1943 to 1946

  Andrew Cunningham: Read more

  Succeeded Dudley Pound as head of the Royal Navy in October 1943 after commanding the Mediterranean Fleet from 1939 to 1942, and sat on the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

  In their words

  “It takes the Navy three years to build a new ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation [i.e., rescue] will continue.”

  “Their Lordships may rest assured that determining factor in operating in Aegean is not fear of sustaining losses, but need to avoid loss which, without commensurate advantage to ourselves, will cripple Fleet out here.”

  “the Italian battle fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of the fortress of Malta”

  All 3 quotes from Andrew Cunningham

Information, censorship and political warfare

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  Duff Cooper

  Minister of Information · 1940 to 1941

  Duff Cooper: Read more

  Alfred Duff Cooper headed the Ministry of Information from 12 May 1940 to 20 July 1941, launched the Silent Column appeal in July 1940, and afterwards held the Duchy of Lancaster with a mission to the Far East.

  In their words

  “As this war becomes more intensified, as it does become from hour to hour, so are the duties of the Ministry of Information evermore important, because our duties are not only to present the news but also to guide as well as to inform opinion both at home and abroad.”

  “Of course, the Press are free to publish what they like, subject to the censorship which is under the control of the Ministry of Information. We are keeping in the closest touch with the Press, who are most anxious to collaborate and to give us all the assistance they can.”

  “The answers to the first two parts of the Question are in the affirmative. As regards the last part, I understand that a number of United States citizens of Italian origin have already voiced their criticism of the action of the Italian Government, but I do not think it would be desirable to enlist the services of United States citizens in the manner suggested.”

  “The reasons for holding the news of the bombing and sinking of the steamship "Lancastria" were the following. This ship was engaged on a military operation, and it was evident from the German wireless announcement that the enemy were totally unaware of the identity of the ship which had been sunk. Further, it is contrary to the general policy of His Majesty's Government to announce the loss of individual merchant ships. The number and the total tonnage of merchant ships lost is given in a weekly statement. The tonnage of the steamship "Lancastria" was included in the statement issued on 2nd July. This policy is well known, and I cannot, therefore, understand why on this occasion bewilderment should have been caused in Liverpool and shipping circles.”

  “This is not spying. This is a method which newspapers and commercial firms have been following in this country for the last 30 years in order to ascertain public opinion. There is nothing new about it, nor is it underhand or in any way connected with spying.”

  All 6 quotes from Duff Cooper, and 1 often attributed but not verified

  In the archive: Britain's Ministry of Information and Political Warfare Executive: posters at home, black radio abroad

• BB

  Brendan Bracken

  Minister of Information · 1941 to 1945

  Brendan Bracken: Read more

  Churchill's parliamentary private secretary in 1940 and 1941, he headed the Ministry of Information from 20 July 1941 until 25 May 1945, when he became First Lord of the Admiralty in the caretaker government.

  In their words

  “Security reasons prevent me from saying very much about the policy of the Political Warfare Executive, but in general its main tasks are to try to break down the morale of the enemy and to sustain the morale and resistance of our Allies in enemy-occupied countries.”

  “In view of the many demands for a policy of steady veracity in all our propaganda, I wish to assure the Committee that the Political Warfare Executive attach the greatest importance to giving facts whether they are pleasant or unpleasant. Obviously it is impossible to build up and hold a listener audience abroad without first establishing a reputation for honesty.”

  “The Ministry of Information has no power to stop films except on grounds of military security. If, however, the hon. Member will give me a list of the films he has in mind, I will have inquiries made about them.”

  “I do not think that it is in the public interest to discuss reasons for action taken by the Political Warfare Executive.”

  “No, Sir, I will do no such thing. The hon. Member has got hold of a secret document which was given him by somebody who has betrayed his public duty. If I were to publish ah the Regulations made by the censorship, I would give hon. Members more reading than the Beveridge Report supplies.”

  All 5 quotes from Brendan Bracken

  In the archive: Britain's Ministry of Information films and London Can Take It! (1940-1942)

• RB

  Robert Bruce Lockhart

  Chairman, later Director-General, of the Political Warfare Executive · 1941 to 1945

  Robert Bruce Lockhart: Read more

  A former diplomat and journalist who led the staff of the Political Warfare Executive, formed in August 1941, which set policy for the BBC's foreign-language services, wrote the RAF's leaflets and directed black propaganda until it was wound up in 1945.

  In their words

  “Physical separation, however, made effective control impossible, and the B.B.C. was able to assert a virtual independence. Chaos was therefore inevitable, and the three organisations were constantly at loggerheads. Indeed, during this period there was more political warfare on the home front than against the enemy.”

  “The new Government, overwhelmed with more serious problems, made a patchwork attempt to remedy this state of affairs. The Department for Enemy Propaganda was put under the control of Dr. Dalton, and Rex Leeper was appointed as the official in charge. The change was for the better, but it was only a half-measure. Dr. Dalton's main job was at the Ministry of Economic Warfare. Rex Leeper had also two jobs, for he remained as Head of the Political Intelligence Department. As far as policy was concerned, the Foreign Office had the last word on foreign propaganda. There was therefore duality of offices and of control from the start.”

  “But in that autumn of 1940 the propaganda situation was almost tragic. There was an abundance of real talent at Woburn but the inability of propaganda to disturb the tide of German military successes did not increase the department's prestige, although at that time the task was, in fact, hopeless. And when the raids came, the peaceful security of Bedfordshire invited criticism by Londoners. It was freely given, and Whitehall wits and even the Press made allusions to "Leeper's Sleepers".”

  All 5 quotes from Robert Bruce Lockhart

  In the archive: Britain's Ministry of Information and Political Warfare Executive: posters at home, black radio abroad

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  Sefton Delmer

  Head of the Political Warfare Executive's black radio and leaflet unit · 1941 to 1945

  Sefton Delmer: Read more

  A former Daily Express Berlin correspondent who ran the false-origin stations Gustav Siegfried Eins from 23 May 1941 and Soldatensender Calais from 14 November 1943 and the daily leaflet Nachrichten für die Truppe from April 1944, and described the work in Black Boomerang (1962).

  In their words

  “Dalton decided that we should reply in kind. The BBC of course, could not be entrusted with such an ungentlemanly task. So he decided that PID should launch a short wave station which would pretend to be operating from somewhere in Hitler's Europe. It would be "Black" ; that is to say it would be top secret and disavowable.”

  “I decided to use radio-pornography to catch their attention. My "Chef" ( Hitler was always called "Der Chef" by those in his inner circle so I decided to call my veteran hero "Der Chef") became a kind of radio Streicher, except that the victims of his pornographic tirades were Nazis, not Jews.”

  “I took an enormous amount of trouble over the Chef's erotica and devoted many hours of patient research to finding ever new forms sexual depravity to attribute to our victims in the Hitler machine.”

  All 5 quotes from Sefton Delmer, and 2 often attributed but not verified

  In the archive: Britain's Ministry of Information and Political Warfare Executive: posters at home, black radio abroad, Wartime radio voices: open and hidden broadcasts aimed at the enemy, 1939-1945

Intelligence and special operations

• SM

  Stewart Menzies

  Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") · 1939 to 1952

  Stewart Menzies: Read more

  Headed the Secret Intelligence Service from November 1939 and, through it, the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, whose decrypts he delivered to Churchill.

  In their words

  All 0 quotes from Stewart Menzies, and 3 often attributed but not verified

• HD

  Hugh Dalton

  Minister of Economic Warfare · 1940 to 1942

  Hugh Dalton: Read more

  Held the ministry from 15 May 1940 to 22 February 1942, was the minister responsible for the Special Operations Executive from its creation on 22 July 1940, and afterwards was President of the Board of Trade.

  In their words

  “The principal purpose of the Ministry of Economic Warfare is to deny to the enemy all goods and services, including foreign exchange, which may assist him in the conduct of the war. I cannot, therefore, give any such undertaking as the hon. Member desires.”

  “I share my hon. Friend's concern at the suffering of the Greek people under the enemy's yoke—suffering as bravely endured as it is wantonly imposed. But His Majesty's Government must continue to insist that both the legal and the moral responsibility for feeding the populations of enemy occupied territories rests upon the enemy, and that to relax the blockade of any part of enemy occupied Europe must strengthen the enemy and prolong the war. There are, according to the admissions of the German authorities themselves, large reserves of wheat and flour under their control, and part of these supplies could, if the Germans chose, be used to feed the Greeks.”

  “As there has been considerable misapprehension about this matter, I welcome this opportunity of making it clear that recent arrangements regarding Greece do not involve any departure from the general policy of His Majesty's Government. We do not allow foodstuffs to be shipped through the blockade, but subject to suitable conditions we have no objection to the purchase by our Allies of foodstuffs inside the blockade area for the relief of their peoples. These principles are, of course, impartially applied and certain other occupied territories have already benefited by their application. His Majesty's Government maintain their view that it is the responsibility of the enemy to feed the peoples he has enslaved, and they remain convinced that it would not be possible to allow foodstuffs to reach those territories through the blockade without defeating the objects of economic warfare.”

  All 5 quotes from Hugh Dalton, and 2 often attributed but not verified