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Six Minutes in May

Page 53

by Nicholas Shakespeare


  91 I regard the war, CA Amel 2/1/31 1940

  92 Feverishly did the Whips, Nicolson, Montreal Standard

  93 it was our duty, Williams, 112

  94 The fact is … heard? CA HLSM, 1/1/6

  95 only found a man, CA HLSM, 4/1/4

  96 a drastic reconstruction, BL Add Ms 89013/2/1/9

  97 I told him … night, ibid.

  98 and to vote, Macmillan, 61

  99 We knew that, ibid., 59

  100 to save him, Spears, 122

  101 He is like, Bernays, 122

  102 Why not? … angry with me, Macmillan, 61

  103 was aggravated by, CA GBR/0014/MCHL

  104 to trail a veil, Spears, 138

  105 Papa rose to, Soames, A Daughter’s Tale, 139

  106 The House was tense, Nicolson, Montreal Standard

  107 was in a most uncertain, Soames, A Daughter’s Tale, 202

  108 I can see him, CA HLSM 4/1/4

  109 one of his greatest, ibid.

  110 the least impressive, Foot, Guardian, 8/5/1965

  111 How much of, Channon, 246

  112 He said not, Nicolson, Montreal Standard

  113 Defending Chamberlain, Maisky diary, 8/5/1940

  114 a couple of, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 422

  115 My interjection caused, Shinwell in Charles Eade, Churchill by his Contemporaries, 125

  116 rather the worse, Channon, 246

  117 unfortunate brawl, Bonham Carter, Champion Redoubtable, 210

  118 It was enough, Eade, 125

  119 a good deal, Dalton, Fateful Years, 306

  120 baying like hounds, Chair, Die? I Thought I’d Laugh, 151

  121 A storm of interruptions, CA GBR/0014/MCHL

  122 like bedlam, Channon, 246

  17 THE DIVISION

  1 The scene in the House, Patrick Donner, Crusade, 273

  2 great tensity in, Nicolson, 79

  3 at one moment, BOD MS Eng hist 497, Wallace diary

  4 All seemed to think, Colville, Fringes of Power, 119

  5 May I ask … and you, Chair, Die? I Thought I’d Laugh, 151

  6 intriguing and enjoying, Channon, 246

  7 Dieu! Que les femmes, CA GBR/0014/MCHL

  8 It was not easy, David Profumo, Bringing the House down, 77

  9 and everybody felt, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 422

  10 to show courage, Spears, 129

  11 as if they were, Foot, Guardian, 8/5/1965

  12 What should … life, CA HLSM 4/1/4

  13 I wish I could …, CA HLSM 1/1/6

  14 unquestionably the most, Foot, 178

  15 pleasure and surprise, Francis Williams, A Prime Minister Remembers, 32

  16 Shifty eyes and blushes, Blythe, 276

  17 a young officer, Cooper, 279

  18 How many of … instead, Dalton, Fateful Years, 306

  19 I came … machine gun, ibid., 308

  20 looked triumphant … Opposition Lobby, Channon, 247

  21 A quick look, Spears, 128

  22 It was very … kindness, ibid., 129

  23 My heart snapped, Channon, 247

  24 buzzed like a disturbed, Maisky, 275

  25 to be vibrating, Spears, 129

  26 We are all right, Channon, 247

  27 I don’t think anyone, AM diary, 8/5/1940

  28 The Government’s majority … howl, Nicolson, Montreal Standard

  29 It took five, Wedgwood, 244

  30 Triumphant roars, Maisky, 275

  31 The cries of “Go, go”, AM diary, 8/5/1940

  32 Then followed a scene, Bonham Carter, Champion Redoubtable, 211

  33 We ought to sing, Wedgwood, 244

  34 as neither of us, Macmillan, 62

  35 scene of disgusting, Reith, 249

  36 quite unable to, BOD MS Eng hist 497, Wallace diary

  37 white as chalk, Maisky, 275

  38 for a moment, Boothby, I Fight to Live, 218

  39 We stood up, Reith, 249

  40 Neville Chamberlain … erect, Nicolson, Montreal Standard

  41 was a very, NC Diary Letters, vol. 4, 528

  18 A TERRIFIC BUZZ

  1 It is not a principle, Thorpe, Uncrowned Prime Ministers, 237

  2 the maelstrom of war, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 385

  3 every shallow … power, Daily Worker, 10/5/1940

  4 the green-eyed jungle, Thorpe, 237

  5 terrific buzz, Dalton, War Diary, 342

  6 Well, I expect, Roberts, Churchill: Embattled Hero, 8

  7 And I tell you, Tim Renton, Chief Whip, 267

  8 like a traitor … life, CA HLSM 4/1/4

  9 was still planning, Cuthbert Headlam, Diaries, 190

  10 muddled all his, King, 37

  11 so bad, Bonham Carter, Champion Redoubtable, 210

  12 I suppose he, Daily Herald, 10/5/1940

  13 That is not only, Samuel Hoare, Nine Troubled Years, 431

  14 Chamberlain is done for, Maisky, 275

  15 I remember David, CA MRSN 2/1, Colville to J. E. B. Hill 7/11/1978

  16 I was not surprised, Hoare, Nine Troubled Years, 431

  17 It did not take me, NC Diary Letters, vol. 4, 529

  18 always hideously, BI EH diary, 8/3/1940

  19 he felt he could … through, Churchill, Gathering Storm, 661

  20 Winston cheers up Neville, CA Amel 8/76, LA to EH, 28/12/1954

  21 were fairly satisfied, Colville, Fringes of Power, 119

  22 he must be sustained, Churchill, Their Finest Hour, 15

  23 This has been … deserts us, Churchill, Gathering Storm, 661

  24 Winston had apparently, BOD MSS Simon diary 11

  25 and I left him, Churchill, Gathering Storm, 661

  26 No one has yet, CRL NC 18/2/1161–68

  27 do not appear to, BOD MS Eng hist 497, Wallace diary

  28 But what are, Cadogan, 277

  29 might step in, Roberts, Churchill: Embattled Hero, 5

  30 Anderson might be PM, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 476

  31 the Conservative party, Maisky, 108

  32 Churchill, apparently, ibid., 239

  33 who had … Chuchill, William Gallacher, Last Memoirs, 273

  34 had never forgotten, Shinwell, Conflict Without Malice, 149

  35 the grim … Strike, Addison, 76

  36 many of them, P. F. Clarke, The Cripps Version, 172

  37 Along the stone, Shinwell, 148

  38 our people like, Gilbert, Wilderness Years, 11

  39 did not have much, PA HRS/1

  40 very undesirable, Rhodes James, George VI, 188

  41 Churchill has energy, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 391

  42 however much people, BI EH diary, 18/3/1940

  43 whether Churchill could, Harvey, 326

  44 In House of Commons, Bruce Lockhart, 48

  45 Churchill is undermined, Nicolson, 75

  46 so abundantly right, Wheeler-Bennett, George VI, 441

  47 so many and such, Cooper, 256

  48 The constant agitation, CRL NC 13/17, ND to NC 11/5/1940

  49 WC is really, Crathorne papers, ND to TD 12/5/1940

  50 howled and hooted … Commons, Gallacher, Rolling of the Thunder, 214

  51 Not a single one, Andrew Roberts interview with author

  52 that a great section, Bonham Carter, Champion Redoubtable, 224

  53 He was widely, Blake & Louis, 264

  54 no “serious politician”, S. J. D. Green, 259

  55 They both said, Charles Mersey, A Picture of Life, 334

  56 that Halifax should, Nicolson, Diaries and Letters 1930–1939, 393

  57 Well, there is always, Sylvester, 235

  58 Lady Astor immediately, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 422

  59 On the whole … dinner, BI EH diary, 8/5/1940

  60 popped backwards … St Paul’s, AM diary, 8/5/1940

  61 very sharp … was bad, BI EH diary, 8/5/1940

  62 amazed at the, AM diary, 8/5/1940

  63 What the solution, B
I EH diary, 8/5/1940

  64 no other choice, Birkenhead, Halifax, 453

  65 such long crime, Dalton, Fateful Years, 307

  66 If I was asked … Churchill, ibid., 307

  67 agrees with my, ibid., 308

  68 to talk to Halifax, Butler, Art of the Possible, 83

  69 was the personal, Douglas-Home, The Way the Wind Blows, 75

  70 Winston could not, Eric Estorick, Stafford Cripps, 234

  71 stupefied … Prime Minister!, Amery, Diaries, vol. 2, 73

  72 very heavily loaded, PA BBK/G/11/11

  73 would not accept, CA Amel 8/76 EE-E to LA, 14/1/1955

  74 that he would, Hodgson, 11

  75 I told him, BI EH diary, 9/5/1940

  76 mystery, romance, adventure, Lord Halifax’s Ghost Book, 4

  77 mystical, Christian, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 384

  78 snapshot photograph … each day!, BI EH to AM, 30/5/1941

  79 jealous for her, Hodgson, 149

  80 I can’t believe, Bonham Carter, Champion Redoubtable, 224

  81 He would have been, AM diary, 10/5/1940

  82 I can’t share, BI EH to BM, 13/5/1940

  83 We discussed the chances, AM diary, 8/5/1940

  84 We all made our, Bonham Carter, Champion Redoubtable, 211

  85 I told Attlee, Dalton, Fateful Years, 309

  86 awestruck … for Halifax, Dugdale, Baffy, 169

  87 Churchill had earlier, PA BBK/G/11/11

  88 It’s always a mistake, Dilks interview with author

  89 who always knows, BOD MSS Eng hist d.360, Crookshank diary, 4/1/1940

  90 completely unaware, Spears, 130

  91 it was unlikely, BL Add Ms 89013/2/1/9

  92 Discussing a possible, CA Amel 8/76, LA talk with BB 22/1/1955

  93 I do not believe … with him, CA Amel 8/76, Attlee to LA, 15/11/1954

  94 well scourged, Amery, Diaries, vol. 2, 595

  95 blew up, CA Amel 8/76, 22/1/1955

  96 word reached Brendan, Moran, 347

  97 Brendan was unreliable, Bruce Lockhart, 52

  98 fatal division, Channon, 249

  99 with Dawson’s own, Rowse, All Souls and Appeasment, 107

  100 fern-a-tic, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 477

  101 slant on the situation, ibid., 422

  102 The President told, ibid., 423

  103 A terrible world … for England, ibid., 423

  19 THE OBVIOUS MAN

  1 pit of the stomach, BI EH to AM, 25/5/1941

  2 Dalton said there, Birkenhead, 453

  3 who said that, Butler, Art of the Possible, 83

  4 never had a disagreement, Joseph Kennedy, Letters, 476

  5 I told him … Government, BI EH diary, 9/5/1940

  6 the many difficulties, AM diary, 9/5/1940

  7 You know my reasons, Blake & Louis, 273

  8 the difficult position, BI EH diary, 9/5/1940

  9 Edward did not, CRL Avon papers, AP20/1/20–20A

  10 the Labour Opposition, Ravensdale, 38

  11 the H of L problem, Thorpe, Uncrowned Prime Ministers, 153

  12 The principle that, Churchill, Great Contemporaries, 225

  13 No one objected, BOD MSS Macmillan c.874

  14 arguing that ex-hypothesi, BI EH diary, 9/5/1940

  15 very secret soundings, Self, Chamberlain, 408

  16 dis-peered, ibid., 408

  17 The only person, Rhodes James, George VI, 187

  18 abeyance … obvious man, Wheeler-Bennett, George VI, 444

  19 saw no objection, Birkenhead, 453

  20 In time of war, Dalton, War Diary, 342

  21 Edward, may I, Headlam, 125

  22 How wise and calm he is, Rhodes James, Victor Cazalet, 211

  23 but dragged there, Roberts, Holy Fox, 198

  24 not one to burn, Thompson, 150

  25 for me it never, Halifax, Fulness of Days, 101

  26 took the opportunity, ibid., 178

  27 as he invariably, CRL NC7/11/29/37

  28 What then … this be? BI EH to AM 26/1/1942

  29 no friend to unnecessary, Hodgson, 39

  30 He said he, Harvey, 100

  31 He was lazy … curtseyed to, Diana Holderness interview with author

  32 E. said that, CP diary, 8/3/1941

  33 No man climbs, Francis Williams, A Pattern of Rulers, 228

  34 A more ambitious man, Channon, 249

  35 dunghill, Michael Bloch, Closet Queens, 25

  36 I think you really, Hodgson, 69

  37 with the greatest … shot, Halifax, Fulness of Days, 195

  38 he felt he, Butler, 84

  39 really wanted the job, Miles Lampson, The Killearn diaries, 234

  40 and I understand, Davidson to Baldwin, 14/5/1940; in Sheila Lawlor, Churchill and the Politics of War, 31

  41 I think he will, Dugdale, Baffy, 169

  42 He thinks that, Ironside, 83

  43 Churchill needed, Butler, 84

  44 butt into … ever afterwards, BI EH diary, 30/4/1940

  45 different languages, CA GBR/0014/LWFD 2/2

  46 I have seldom met, BI EH diary, 11/5/1940

  47 Edward and Winston, AM diary, 11/12/1940

  48 Could that restraint … Minister, Butler, 84

  49 layman, Roberts, Holy Fox, 203

  50 I think he is not, Cadogan, 280

  51 and he would, BI EH diary, 25/2/1940

  52 cool altruism, Campbell-Johnson, 557

  53 W had better, Thorpe, 178

  54 My father put, Ravensdale, 38

  55 I simply … know, BI EH to AM 13/5/1940

  56 having cold feet … before!, Chamberlain, Norman Chamberlain, 107

  57 The conversation … broth again, BI EH diary, 9/5/1940

  58 he would like, ibid.

  59 were to resign, BOD MSS Simon 12

  20 THE LIMPET

  1 Politics are an uncertain, Mersey, 432

  2 The sooner some, Headlam, 195

  3 complete non-cooperation, BOD MS Eng hist 497, Wallace diary

  4 come into the, BOD MSS Simon 12

  5 the Government would, Rhodes James, George VI, 190

  6 was telephoning personally, Dalton, Fateful Years, 308

  7 always trying, ibid., 309

  8 It has a great (footnote), BOD Greenwood MS Eng c 6262

  9 an old widow, John Bew, Citizen Clem, 241

  10 To me Chamberlain, Charles Lysaght, Brendan Bracken, 160

  11 Remember … never withdraw, Thorpe, Uncrowned Prime Ministers, 50

  12 fought like a tiger, D. R. Thorpe interview with author, 12/1/2015

  13 I think, with a majority, Channon, 247

  14 The only comment, CRL NC/18/2/1161–1198

  15 You are the only, CRL NC 13/17

  16 a grand National, CRL NC 13/17

  17 So far I have, CRL NC 13/17

  18 There is no member, CRL NC 13/17/106

  19 that Chamberlain must go, Nicolson, 81

  20 had nothing against, NC Diary Letters, vol. 4, 529

  21 SHEFFIELD STRONG, CRL NC 13/17

  22 with utmost … in mind, CRL NC 13/17

  23 At nine in the morning, Maisky, 275

  24 A fact that Amery, Rowse, 107

  25 was proposing … methods, Amery, Diaries, vol. 2, 612

  26 categorically refused, Maisky, 275

  27 If someone had come, Campbell-Johnson, 545

  28 the air was full of rumours, Colville, Fringes of Power, 120

  29 we had to wait, Cadogan, 280

  30 anything – even this, S. J. D. Green, 258

  31 was referring to me, Amery, Diaries, vol. 2, 580

  32 the turn of the wheel, CA Amel 8/76, HB to LA 5/10/1954

  33 What a grotesque person, CA GBR/0014/LWFD 2/2

  34 if he married a baroness, IR diary, 13/10/1939

  35 in a wonderful, King, 17

  36 My position is good, Crozier, 137

  37 Is there any MP, King, 15

  38
a clean sweep … all round, Amery, Diaries, vol. 2, 611

  39 He no doubt … possible, ibid., 611–612

  40 Curiously enough, ibid.

  41 for, like Churchill, Amery, My Political Life, vol. 3, 370

  42 both by experience, CA Amel 8/76, LA to HB 28/9/1954

  43 I got them to agree, Amery, Diaries, vol. 2, 612

  44 you would have stood, CA Amel 8/76

  45 who were quite prepared, Amery, Diaries, vol. 2, 612

  46 washout … to be, Crozier, 152

  47 and I was worried, Brian Patton, Tales from the Canadian Rockies, 228

  48 that the matter, CA Amel 8/76

  21 A GREAT TIDE FLOWING

  1 Who would have, Orwell, 346

  2 seldom-lit … good looks, CA GBR/0014/LWFD ‘Three Ministers’

  3 Eden is not made, Maisky, 92

  4 Eden is on the fringe, Channon, 242

  5 that Neville … take War, Eden diary, CRL AP20/1/20-20A

  6 My darling – try, Richard Hough, Winston and Clementine, 459

  7 I saw Churchill, Taylor, Beaverbrook, 409

  8 He would not stake, Anne Chisholm and Michael Davie, Beaverbrook, 374

  9 outlandish and potentially malign, Colville, The Churchillians, 42

  10 much argument, Taylor, 409

  11 Humble suggestions, CA Char 20/11/40-41

  12 I do not remember, Churchill, Gathering Storm, 522

  13 very summit … laughter, Spectator, 16/5/1940

  14 There is a great, At the Admiralty, 1265

  15 It can only be, CA Amel 8/76

  16 a general attack, BOD MS Eng hist 497, Wallace diary

  17 heavy business, At the Admiralty, 1262

  18 the type of danger, ibid., 1256

  19 that drivelling Corporal, Chair, Buried Pleasure, 254

  20 Narvik goes none, Ironside, 297

  21 of iron … to shift, Macclure, ‘Gladiators in Norway’

  22 as these were, At the Admiralty, 1257

  23 I formed the opinion, William Boyle, My Naval Life, 192

  24 A chicken-hearted, Cadogan, 272

  25 They had long, Churchill, Gathering Storm, 522

  26 the qualities of accessibility, Walker-Smith, 202

  27 What strikes me, R. J. Minney, Private papers of Hore-Belisha, 277

  28 colourful Kingsley Wood, Evelyn Waugh, Scoop; see also BOD MSS Dawson diary, 13/5/1940

  29 does not know, Gilbert, Wilderness Years, 146

  30 When one bundle failed (footnote), H. Wilson, A Prime Minister Remembers, 235

  31 general incompetence, Reith, Into the Wind, 379

  32 he has the air, Cadogan, 276

  33 one of those, Bonham Carter, Champion Redoubtable, 224

 

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