The Grand Alliance (137 page)

So far I have been critical of plan, and while admiring
broadmindedness of offer have expressed anxiety
about effects on American opinion. Chiefs of Staff have
been studying matter all day, and tonight I will send you
my considered advice after receiving their views.

3. I leave tomorrow afternoon for Ottawa, staying
two clear days and addressing Canadian Parliament on
Tuesday; then back here for another three or four days,
as there is so much to settle. We are making great
exertions to find shipping necessary for the various
troop movements required. My kindest regards to all
colleagues. It is a great comfort to act on such a sure
foundation.

Before I could receive any considered advice from home it was necessary to meet the urgent wishes of the President and General Marshall. Events were moving too fast for lengthy discussions across the Atlantic. I passed the 28th in conference with the President and in drafting with my staff the series of telegrams which follow, and tell the tale in carefully weighed words.

Prime

Minister

to

29 Dec. 41

Lord Privy Seal

I have agreed with President, subject to Cabinet
approval, that we should accept his proposals, most
strongly endorsed by General Marshall:
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(a) That unity of command shall be established in
Southwestern Pacific. Boundaries are not yet finally
settled, but presume they would include Malay Peninsula, including Burmese front, to Philippine Islands, and
southward to necessary supply bases, principally Fort
Darwin, and supply line in Northern Australia.

(b) That General Wavell should be appointed
Commander-in-Chief, or if preferred Supreme Commander, of all United States, British, British Empire, and
Dutch forces of land, sea, and air who may be assigned
by Governments concerned to that theatre.

(c) General Wavell, whose headquarters should in
first instance be established at Surabaya, would have
American officer as Deputy Commander-in-Chief. It
seems probable General Brett would be chosen.

(d) That American, British, Australian, and Dutch
naval forces in the theatre should be placed under the
command of American admiral, in accordance with
general principle set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b).

(e) It is intended General Wavell should have a Staff
in the South Pacific portion, as Foch’s High Control
Staff was to the great Staffs of British and French
Armies in France. He would receive his orders from an
appropriate joint body, who will be responsible to me as
Minister of Defence and to President of the United
States, who is also Commander-in-Chief of all United
States forces.

(f) Principal commanders comprised in General
Wavell’s sphere will be Commander-in-Chief Burma,
Commander-in-Chief Singapore and Malaya, Commander-in-Chief Netherlands East Indies, Commander-in-Chief Philippines, and Commander-in-Chief of Southern
Communications via South Pacific and North Australia.

(g) India, for which an acting Commander-in-Chief
will have to be appointed, and Australia, who will have
their own Commander-in-Chief, will be outside General
Wavell’s sphere, except as above mentioned, and are
two great bases through which men and material from
Great Britain and Middle East on the one hand and the
United States on the other can be moved into the
fighting zone.

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824

(h) United States Navy will remain responsible for
the whole Pacific Ocean east of Philippine Islands and
Australasia, including United States approaches to
Australasia.

(i) A letter of instruction is being drafted for Supreme
Commander safeguarding the necessary residuary
interests of various Governments involved and prescrib-ing in major outline his tasks. This draft will reach you
shortly.

2. I have not attempted to argue case for and
against our accepting this broadminded and selfless
American proposal, of merits of which as a war-winner I
have become convinced. Action is urgent, and may
perhaps have to be taken even before my returning
from Canada on January 1. Australia, New Zealand,
and Dutch will of course have to be consulted, but this
should not be done until I have been instructed by
hearing views of War Cabinet. Meanwhile staff here will
be working upon details on assumption that all
consents will be obtained.

Prime

Minister

to

29 Dec. 41

Lord Privy Seal

Things have moved very quickly. The President has
obtained the agreement of the American War and Navy
Departments to the arrangement proposed in my last
telegram, and the Chiefs of Staff Committee have
endorsed it. I therefore anxiously await your approval.

The President will address the Dutch the moment I tell
him you agree. Foreign Office should follow suit.

You should also dispatch the following telegram to
General Wavell. Staffs here are working on details both
by themselves and with Americans. Position of Duff
Cooper’s mission requires to be reviewed, and in any
case must not complicate these larger solutions. Please
give me your ideas.

I must rely on you to keep the King informed at
every angle and obtain his approval.

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825

The offer which I had to make to General Wavell was certainly one which only the highest sense of duty could induce him to accept. It was almost certain that he would have to bear a load of defeat in a scene of confusion.

Prime

Minister

to

29 Dec. 41

Lord Privy Seal

Pray send following to General Wavell when Cabinet
have approved general policy:

The President and his military and naval advisers
have impressed upon me the urgent need for unified
command in Southwest Pacific, and it is unanimously
desired, pressed particularly by President and General
Marshall, that you should become Supreme Commander of Allied forces by land, air, and sea assigned to
that theatre. The letter of instructions referred to is
being drafted, the terms of which will be issued shortly.

While I hope these terms will set your mind at ease on
the various unprecedented points involved, I should of
course be ready to receive your observations upon
them.

2. I feel sure you will value the confidence which is
shown in you, and I request you to take up your task
forthwith. Matters are so urgent that details which are
being studied by the Chiefs of Staff Committee must
not delay the public announcement, which must be
made, at least, Thursday, January 1.

3. You are the only man who has the experience of
handling so many different theatres at once, and you
know we shall back you up and see you have fair play.

Everyone knows how dark and difficult the situation is.

President will announce that your appointment has
been made by his desire.

4. Pray let me know your ideas as to Staff, which will
be essentially a front Staff rather than an actual handling body. If you like to take Pownall as your Chief of
Staff, Percival might discharge the duties of Singapore
and Malaya Commander.

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826

On December 27 I had sent the following telegram to Mr Attlee:

Prime

Minister

to

27 Dec. 41

Lord Privy Seal

Thank you so much for agreeing to lengthen my stay.

On Tuesday, December 30, I am addressing the
Canadian House of Commons. Utterly impossible to lay
another egg [i.e. deliver a speech in the House of
Commons] so early as the New Year.

I travelled by the night train of December 28/29 to Ottawa, to stay with Lord Athlone, the Governor-General. On the 29th I attended a meeting of the Canadian War Cabinet.

Thereafter Mr. Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister, introduced me to the leaders of the Conservative Opposition, and left me with them. These gentlemen were unsurpassed in loyalty and resolution, but at the same time they were rueful not to have the honour of waging the war themselves, and at having to listen to so many of the sentiments which they had championed all their lives expressed by their Liberal opponents.

On the 30th I spoke to the Canadian Parliament. The preparation of my two trans-Atlantic speeches, transmitted all over the world, amid all the flow of executive work, which never stopped, was an extremely hard exertion. Delivery is no serious burden to a hard-bitten politician, but choosing what to say and what not to say in such an electric atmosphere is anxious and harassing. I did my best. The most successful point in the Canadian speech was about the Vichy Government, with whom Canada was still in relations.

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Mr. Churchill’s Speech

30, 1941

to

the

Canadian

Parliament, Dec.

It was their duty [in 1940] and it was also their
interest to go to North Africa, where they would have
been at the head of the French Empire. In Africa, with
our aid, they would have had overwhelming sea power.

They would have had the recognition of the United
States, and the use of all the gold they had lodged
beyond the seas. If they had done this, Italy might have
been driven out of the war before the end of 1940, and
France would have held her place as a nation in the
councils of the Allies and at the conference table of the
victors. But their generals misled them. When I warned
them that Britain would fight on alone whatever they
did, their generals told their Prime Minister and his
divided Cabinet, “In three weeks England will have her
neck wrung like a chicken.” Some chicken! Some neck!

This went very well. I quoted, to introduce a retrospect, Sir Harry Lauder’s song of the last war which began:
If we all look back on the history of the past
We can just tell where we are.

The words, “that grand old comedian,” were on my notes.

On the way down I thought of the word “minstrel.” What an improvement! I rejoice to know that he was listening and was delighted at the reference. I am so glad I found the right word for one who, by his inspiring songs and valiant life, has rendered measureless service to the Scottish race and to the British Empire.

At the end of the speech I ventured to attempt a forecast of the war future:

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We may observe three main periods or phases of the struggle that lies before us. First there is the period of consolidation, of combination, and of final preparation. In this period, which will certainly be marked by much heavy fighting, we shall still be gathering our strength, resisting the assaults of the enemy, and acquiring the necessary overwhelming air superiority and shipping tonnage to give our armies the power to traverse, in whatever numbers may be necessary, the seas and oceans which, except in the case of Russia, separate us from our foes. It is only when the vast shipbuilding programme on which the United States has already made so much progress, and which you are powerfully aiding, comes into full flood that we shall be able to bring the whole force of our manhood and of our modern scientific equipment to bear upon the enemy. How long this period will last depends upon the vehemence of the effort put into production in all our war industries and shipyards.