Churchill's Bomb

by Graham Farmelo

  British Broadcasting Corporation: WSC broadcasts on, 40, 148–9, 176, 263; restriction on broadcast of H-bomb debate, 428

  Brook, Norman (later Baron Normanbrook), 340, 414, 425

  Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA, 416

  Browne, Anthony Montague, 446, 451, 454

  Brundrett, Frederick, 91

  Bundy, Harvey, 231

  Bush, Vannevar (‘Van’): background and personality, 133, 225; influence on Roosevelt, 133–4; chairs National Defense Research Committee, 134–5, 173–4, 224–5; initially favours US-British cooperation on Bomb project, 186, 194, 199, 204; sets up Uranium Committee, 197; discusses MAUD report with Roosevelt, 198; reserve over secrets, 198; and Roosevelt’s approval to build bomb, 207; and Roosevelt’s agreement with WSC, 209; on limited British capabilities, 218; limits US collaboration with British, 223–4, 226–8; on WSC’s egotism, 224; aims for US monopoly in nuclear development, 226; relations with Roosevelt, 228; in London for meeting with WSC and Cabinet, 230–2, 235; jointly drafts paper for consideration at Quebec conference, 236, 240; negotiates deal on uranium with British, 267; Roosevelt confers with, 272–3; agrees to use of Bomb against Japan, 288; witnesses first testing of Bomb, 289; post-war nuclear policy, 322; helps to revoke British veto in Quebec Agreement, 326; urges greater arms control, 398; receives Atomic Powers Award, 440; C.P. Snow on, 453

  Butler, Richard Austen (Rab), 161, 383, 402, 409, 416, 428

  Byrnes, James, 322, 324

  Cairncross, John, 302

  Calder Hall, Cumbria, 396

  Calder, Ritchie, 57

  Cambridge see Cavendish Laboratory; Churchill College; Corpus Christi College; Gonville and Caius College; Trinity College

  Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), 442

  Camrose, William Ewert Berry, 1st Viscount, 331–2, 340

  Canada: Halban’s reactor project transferred to, 214; US limits nuclear cooperation, 218–9, 222–3, 226–8; WSC makes official visit to (1943), 242; nuclear facility developed, 276–7; see also Chalk River; Quebec conference; King, Mackenzie

  Čapek, Karel: RUR (play), 42–3

  Capenhurst, Cheshire, 393

  Carlyle, Thomas, 16

  Carnegie Institution, 133–4, 225, 228

  Carr, Sir Emsley, 87–8

  Casablanca conference (1943), 227

  Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, 50–1, 59

  cavity magnetron, 140, 165

  cell phones, see mobile phones

  CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), 415–16

  Chadwick, Aileen, Lady, 119–20, 246, 275–6, 283

  Chadwick, Sir James: discovery of the neutron, 53–4; and Rutherford’s early thinking about nuclear chain reactions, 76; background and career, 119–21; and possibility of making a nuclear weapon, 119, 121–2, 125–6; qualities and character, 122; and Frisch-Peierls proposal, 144; excellent experimental physicist, 157; seeks to persuade Lindemann of need for nuclear bomb, 167; works in USA, 174–5, 241; writes final MAUD committee report, 177, 179, 183–4; daughters evacuated to Canada, 179, 275–6; on inevitability of nuclear bomb, 179; initial caution over collaboration with USA, 182, 186; good relations with Lindemann, 183–4; encourages cooperation with US scientists, 184–5, 250; and transfer of MAUD committee to ICI, 200–1; absent from Akers’ visit to USA, 213–14; on use of plutonium, 213; demoralised by lack of US cooperation, 219; and threat of German nuclear development, 221; visits US, August 1943, 241; meets Bohr on escape to England, 246; replaces Akers in USA, 249–50; and Groves’s authority, 252; at Site Y, 257, 280–1; early belief in British capacity to develop Bomb, 273–4; as leader of British scientists on Manhattan Project, 275; persuades Americans to support nuclear facility in Canada, 276–7; financial position, 277; complains of British government indifference, 278; and Rotblat’s unease over building Bomb, 282; moves to Washington, 283; on British post-war nuclear initiatives, 284–5; and French scientists’ requests for patent rights, 284; knighthood, 284; learns of Roosevelt’s death, 286; not consulted over use of Bomb, 288; witnesses first test of Bomb, 288–90; on British contribution to Bomb, 312, 440; resents Blackett’s appointment as nuclear adviser, 313; Oliphant passes on Blackett’s critical comments to, 315; sends advice to Attlee, 318; shuns Atomic Scientists’ Association, 319; on US exclusion of British scientists, 322; opinion of Cockcroft, 411; and location of CERN, 416; later career and retirement, 437–8; on Bohr’s meeting with WSC (1944), 438; Groves praises, 440; receives Atomic Powers Award, 440

  Chadwick daughter, Joanna Batterham, 245

  chain reaction, nuclear – basic idea, 76, 101, 129

  Chalk River, near Ottawa, Canada, 277, 374

  Chalmers, Thomas, 77

  Chamberlain, Austen, 82

  Chamberlain, Neville: succeeds Baldwin as Prime Minister, 87; includes WSC in War Cabinet (1939), 105, 110; declares war on Germany, 110; attacked over Norway compaign, 143; resigns from premiership, 144, 147; advises WSC to improve quality of scientific advice in Whitehall, 170

  Chaplin, Charles, 328

  Chartwell, Kent, 36, 40, 44–6, 340

  chemical and biological warfare, 30–1, 41, 269

  Cherwell, Viscount see Lindemann, Frederick

  Chicago Sun (newspaper), 336

  Chicago, University of: first nuclear reactor built, 215–16

  China: People’s Republic formed by Mao, 350, 385; Treaty of Friendship with Soviet Russia (1950), 350

  Christina O (yacht), 453

  Christmas Island, Pacific, 441

  Churchill, Clementine, Lady (née Hozier; ‘Clemmie’): marriage to WSC, 20; home at Chartwell, 36; on WSC’s American ‘half’, 39; holidays alone, 40; on WSC’s journalistic writings, 41; affection for Lindemann, 44; warns WSC against overbearing manner, 153; lunches with Conant, 174; agrees with Attlee’s criticism of WSC, 295; advises WSC to give more time to Party, 342; weekend stays at Chequers and Chartwell, 383; has Sutherland portrait of WSC destroyed, 418; witnesses WSC’s Commons speech in H-bomb debate, 429; in Sicily with WSC, 446; avoids vacationing on Riviera, 447

  Churchill College, Cambridge: established, 451–2

  Churchill, Randolph (WSC’s son): behaviour, 40; and WSC’s defeat in 1945 election, 304

  Churchill, Sarah (WSC’s daughter), 46

  Churchill, Sir Winston Spencer: Commons speech on hydrogen bomb (1 March, 1955), 3–6, 9–10, 429–31; obsession with H-bomb, 3–6, 9, 408–9, 423–4, 427; Bohr meets, 7, 261–2, 264–5, 281, 288, 438–9, 454; myopia over Manhattan Project, 7; and arms race, 8–9; relations with H. G. Wells, 15, 18–20, 25–7, 89, 117, 301, 455–6; joins Liberal Party, 20; marriage, 20; activities in First World War, 24–5; takes up painting, 25, 36, 297, 334, 358, 446; first allusion to atomic bombs, 27, 31; returns to Conservative Party, 27; friendship with Lindemann begins, 29; on chemical warfare, 30–1, 269; as Chancellor of Exchequer (1926), 32; schooling, 32–3; in India, 33–5; reading, 34–5, 435; religious indifference, 35; life at Chartwell, 36, 40, 44–6; on atomic theory, 37–8, 344; loses office (1929), 38; lecture tour of USA (1929), 39; literary and journalistic activities, 40–4, 87–9, 92–3, 117, 332, 341, 358; radio broadcasts, 40, 145, 148–9; Rutherford meets, 56; in Nicolson’s Public Faces, 59; chairs Lindemann’s talk on 1932 discoveries, 61–4; early view of Hitler, 67; meets Einstein, 70; on threat of air attacks on Britain, 81; argues to improve British aerial defences, 82; reverence for scientists, 82–3; supports Lindemann’s membership of Air Defence Research Committee, 85; apparent ignorance of basic science, 85; Baldwin excludes from Cabinet, 86–7; supports Edward VIII in Abdication crisis, 86; earnings, 87–8; Wells dedicates Star Begotten to, 89–90; warns of German threat, 90, 92; appearance in his sixties, 91; as First Lord of Admiralty in Chamberlain’s War Cabinet, 105, 110, 113; daily routine, 113–14, 383; and Lindemann’s doubts over possibility of nuclear weapons, 113; fondness for gadgets and inventions, 115, 151, 159, 221; demands regular statistical information, 116; on Roosevelt’s economic policy in the thirties
, 131; and Norway campaign, 143; succeeds to premiership (1940), 145–7; reservations about his leadership, 149; aims to bring USA into war, 152, 170, 172–3; refuses peace negotiations with Germans, 152; reluctance to share new military technology with USA, 152, 195, 204; manner and behaviour in early summer of 1940, 153–4; appoints Tizard to head mission to USA, 164; speech defying German bombing raids, 166; watches bombing of London, 168; popularity, 169; speechmaking, 169; sets up Scientific Advisory Committee, 170–1; disappointment at US support for Britain, 172; Conant meets, 174; gramophone-listening, 174, 304, 447; admitted as Fellow of Royal Society, 175; film-watching, 175; promises aid to Soviet Union in war, 176; decision on building nuclear weapon, 177; first wartime meeting with Roosevelt (1941), 177, 189; Lindemann informs of MAUD report recommendations, 188–9; approves development of nuclear weapon, 189–90; secrecy over building of Bomb, 191; message from Roosevelt proposing cooperation on nuclear project, 194–5, 199, 202–3; and US entry into war, 204; attachment to Empire, 20, 33, 37, 63, 205, 242, 264, 332, 426–7; heart trouble, 205; qualities compared with FDR’s, 205–6; visits USA after Pearl Harbor, 205; Hankey advises on bacteriological warfare, 207; revisits USA (June 1942), 208; told of Tobruk surrender, 210; wins votes of confidence (January 1942), 207; (July 1942), 210; agrees to merge Tube Alloys with US project, 215; Hill criticises for inept use of technical experts, 219; agrees to carpet-bombing of Germany, 220; demands respect and submission from experts, 220; as bystander on Tube Alloys project, 221; and US exclusion of Britain from nuclear weapon development, 227, 234; attacks Bush for limiting cooperation, 230, 235; makes four-point proposal to Bush, 232; meets Roosevelt in Quebec (1943), 233, 237, 239; Lindemann briefs on US exclusion of Britain from Bomb project, 234–5; meets Stalin for first time, 238; defers to Roosevelt, 239; and Quebec Agreement with Roosevelt on US-British cooperation, 239–44, 266–7, 316; agrees to second front (invasion of France), 240, 264; concessions on Bomb agreement with USA, 240–1; speech in Boston on Anglo-US unity, 242–3; difficulties with Stalin, 243–4; initial unawareness of geopolitical implications of Bomb, 244; opposes giving Soviet Russia access to nuclear secrets, 259–60, 271–2; on use of nuclear weapon, 259–60; unwilling to consider unorthodox views on nuclear policy, 261; ageing and ailments, 263–4, 383–4, 389; at Teheran conference, 263–4; meeting with Bohr, 1944, 261–2, 265–6, 281; and German V1 and V2 weapons, 268–9; visits Normandy bridgehead, 268; considers using biological and chemical weapons, 269; signs ‘Declaration of Trust’ on nuclear weapons, 269; at second Quebec conference with Roosevelt (1944), 270–1; Oliphant criticises, 285, 436; at Potsdam conference, 292, 294, 297–9, 303; on first use of Bomb, 292; absent from Roosevelt’s funeral, 294–5; calls General Election (1945), 295–7; proposes attack on Soviet Russia (Operation UNTHINKABLE), 295, 303; forbids scientists’ visit to USSR, 296; informed of success of Bomb test, 298, 300; defeated in 1945 election, 303–4; agrees to use of Bomb on Japan, 304; music, tastes in, 304, 447, 455; on dropping of Bomb, 304–5, 310, 337–8; moves into Claridge’s Hotel, 305; supports building of British nuclear weapons, 318; hostility to Soviet expansionism, 331–2, 335–7; depression, 332; cites Quebec Agreement in plea to Truman, 334; ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in USA, 335–6; conditionally advocates a nuclear strike on USSR (1947), 339; war memoirs, 339–42, 362, 404; drafts account of Bomb project, 343–4; and Soviet acquisition of nuclear weapon, 345; in General Election (1950), 351, 353–4; favours discussion with Soviet Union on nuclear policy, 355; speech on nuclear policy (February 1950), 355; honoured in Parliament, 356; visit to Denmark (1950), 358–60; Commons speech on use of Bomb, 360; complains about delay in delivery of first British Bomb, 331, 355, 370–1; General Election campaign and victory (1951), 373, 375; beginning of second premiership (1951), 379–80, 383; aims to restore Anglo-US relations, 380; denies then approves Lindemann’s request for nuclear test, 381–2; amazed by Attlee’s concealment of cost of first British Bomb, 382; visits Truman in Washington (January 1952), 383–7; differences with Lindemann, 387, 389–90; enquires about manufacturing H-bomb, 390; hopes for supply of nuclear weapons from USA, 390; mission for nuclear agreement and détente with Soviet Union, 400–2, 407, 424, 427; proposes ‘Big Three’ summits, 400, 424; suffers serious stroke, 402; attends Bermuda summit (1953), 404–7; wins Nobel Prize for literature, 404; defers leaving office, 407; reads Cole’s speech on effect of H-bomb, 408; Cockcroft lunches with, 410, 417–19; and establishment of CERN, 417; sits for Sutherland portrait, 418; on Eisenhower’s defence policy, 419; visits Aldermaston, 419, 451; visits Harwell, 419–21; Cabinet members demand resignation date from, 422; political achievements in second premiership, 422; decline as international figure, 423; and Cabinet opposition to building of H-bomb, 425–6; declines Eisenhower’s suggestion to renounce colonialism, 426; stands down (April 1955), 432; Tizard’s assessment of WSC’s contribution to science, 444; on destructive humanity, 338, 430, 446, 456; Lindemann urges to encourage technical and engineering training, 446, 451; retains Commons seat, 446; effective retirement and vacations on Riviera, 447; attends Lindemann’s funeral, 449–50; pessimism about fate of world, 450, 457; final visit to USA (1963), 453; made honorary citizen of USA, 454; retires from Commons (1964), 454; final stroke, death and funeral, 455

  Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford: Lindemann at, 65; Szilárd applies to, 78

  Claridge’s Hotel, London, 173, 231, 305

  Clark, Elizabeth, Lady, 402

  Clarke, Campbell, 220

  Closing the Ring (WSC), 363

  Cockcroft, (Sir) John: WSC discusses bomb with, 9–10; artificially splits atomic nuclei, 55–8; Lindemann criticises, 63; works on radar, 125; and Frisch-Peierls memo on building bomb, 143; on government incompetence in scientific management, 145; on G. P. Thomson, Blackett and Chadwick, 157; doubts harnessing of nuclear energy in war, 165–6; with Tizard’s mission to USA, 165–7; favours collaboration with USA, 182; on Oliphant’s outspokenness, 196; on Bush’s status, 224; heads Canadian nuclear project, 277, 411; discusses British post-war nuclear initiatives, 284; on Cabinet committee for development of nuclear weapons, 318; revoking of British veto in Quebec Agreement, 326; WSC congratulates on success of nuclear test, 392; relations with Hinton, 395, 412; at New York conference with Hinton and Lindemann, 397; advises WSC and government on H-bomb, 409–10, 414–15, 425; lunches with WSC, 410, 417–19; qualities and character, 410–13; shares Nobel Prize with Walton, 410; heads Harwell nuclear research establishment, 411–16, 420; views on use of Bomb, 413–14; supports establishment of CERN, 415–16; discusses future with Oliphant, 436; in Gowing-Arnold account of nuclear projects, 441; membership of Pugwash, 443; as first Master of Churchill College, Cambridge, 452

  Cold War: named, 318; develops, 320, 327, 331; and WSC’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech, 335; WSC’s Zurich speech, 336; WSC on, 336–9, 355, 400, 404; WSC discusses with Truman, 384; WSC discusses with Eisenhower, 405–7

  Cole, Sterling, 407

  Collier’s magazine, 225

  Colville, Sir John (‘Jock’), 152, 168, 175–6, 304, 379, 389, 407–8, 446, 451

  Combined Policy Committee (US-British-Canadian), 237

  Conant, James: on delegation to WSC in London, 173–5, 182–3; as Bush’s deputy on Defense Research Committee, 174; Lindemann discusses nuclear research with, 182–3; Darwin discusses US-British collaboration with, 186; receives MAUD report from Thomson, 198; reserve over state secrets, 198; initially favours cooperation with British on nuclear project, 204; on limited British capabilities, 218; limits terms of collaboration with Anglo-Canadians, 222–4, 228; on negotiating with British non-scientists, 228; Anderson negotiates with in Washington, 236–7; presents honorary degree to WSC, 242; negotiates deal on uranium with British, 267; agrees to use of Bomb against Japan, 288; witnesses first testing of Bomb, 289; and US post-war nuclear policy, 322; urges greater arms control, 398; receives Atomic Powers Award, 440

  Conrad, Joseph, 21

  Conservative Party: antipathy to WSC, 40, 147; see also Genera
l Elections

  Coolidge, Calvin, 39

  Copenhagen: Institute for Theoretical Physics, 96, 97–8, 245, 249; University, 359

  Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

  Coward, Noël, 341, 447

  Cripps, Sir Stafford: as prospective Prime Minister, 208

  Crookshank, Harry, 425

  Crowther, James, 53

  Czechoslovakia: Hitler invades, 92, 102

  D-Day (1944) see France: Allied invasion

  Daily Express, 169

  Daily Telegraph, 64, 112–13, 331–2, 341, 455

  Dale, Sir Henry, 193, 262, 265, 288, 313, 315

  Dardanelles campaign (1915), 25

  Darwin, Charles: On the Origin of Species, 34

  Darwin, Charles (grandson), 186, 197

  Davies, Watson, 100

  Deakin, William, 340

  Declaration of Trust (on nuclear supplies): signed (1944), 269

  Defence, Ministry of: proposed transfer of nuclear project to, 387

  Delano, Frederic, 134

  Denmark: Germany occupies, 143; Nazis plan arrest of Jews, 245; WSC visits to receive awards, 358–60

  Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 50, 111, 121, 193, 199

  Dirac, Paul, 48

  Discovery (magazine), 109

  Dr Strangelove (film), 59, 450

  drones, WSC foresees, 31

  Dulles, John Foster, 402, 419

  Dunkirk, 148; evacuation (1940), 151–2

  Dyson, Freeman, 352

  Eden, Anthony: on WSC’s dealings with Roosevelt, 203; on WSC at Potsdam conference, 299; and WSC’s views on using Bomb, 339; and WSC’s views on Baruch Commission, 357; as WSC’s likely successor, 379; WSC dominates, 385; and WSC’s plan for rapprochement with Soviet Russia, 401; and WSC’s reluctance to leave office, 407; presses WSC to give date for resignation, 422, 425, 428; accompanies WSC to USA (1954), 424; awards Lindemann viscountcy, 448; resigns after Suez crisis, 449

  Einstein, Albert: Lindemann knows, 30, 65; on Bohr’s atomic theory, 38; and equation E=mc2, 49, 55, 98; on Rutherford, 60; theory of relativity, 66; visits England (1933), 69–70; doubts development of nuclear power, 71; emigrates to USA, 71; friendship with Szilárd, 72, 129; and development of US nuclear bomb, 129–30; meets Bohr at IAS, Princeton, 252–33; supports Bertrand Russell’s manifesto on world peace, 435, 443