Finest Years

by Max Hastings

  Albania: Italians withdraw to from Greece, 118; Resistance movement, 462; rejects return of King Zog, 515; communist partisans seize control after liberation, 524

  Albery, Sir Irving, 13

  Alexander, Albert Victor (later Earl), 10, 19, 105

  Alexander, Gen. Sir Harold (later 1st Earl, of Tunis: on reasons for weak army leadership, 265; public knowledge of, 307; reluctance to express view of course of war, 308; appointed C.in C. Middle East, 320; and prospective North African offensive, 332; signals from WSC on impending Eighth Army offensive, 337; reputation after Alamein, 341; on US incompetence in North Africa, 351; on Allied North African campaign, 370; relations with WSC, 375; commands in Sicily campaign, 382, 389; given command in Mediterranean, 438, 530; proposed for British commander on D-Day, 438; and campaign in Italy, 440, 481, 489; and Anzio stalemate, 441, 443; WSC maintains confidence in, 443; urges restraint on Italian partisans, 465; entertains WSC in Italy, 507; on British forces in post-liber-ation Greece, 531, 533, 537; at Athens conference with WSC, 537–8; WSC proposes to replace Tedder as Deputy Supreme Commander, 558; on troops’ reluctance to engage Tito’s communists, 573; instructed to expel Yugoslav partisans from Trieste, 580; at Potsdam conference, 584; WSC grows impatient with, 596

  Algeria: WSC visits, 380

  Allied Control Commission in Germany, 551

  Alsace-Lorraine, 500

  Amery, Julian, 311

  Amery, Leo: diary, xx; scepticism over WSC’s powers and roles, 4; accepts WSC’s leadership qualities, 10; serves under WSC, 11; on prospective French defeat, 48; contrasts WSC and Lloyd George, 90; and campaign in Greece, 119; revulsion towards Russia as ally, 154; and WSC’s not mentioning visiting Canada, 228; and WSC’s apathy towards Bengal famine, 236; on WSC’s hostility to Indian independence, 255; 1922 Committee member complains to, 272; and WSC’s reaction to criticism, 309; on dealing with WSC, 335; favours Wavell as super-chief of staff, 335; on Alamein, 339; on WSC’s handling of debate on Town and Country Planning Bill, 422; complains of disorganised cabinet meetings, 508

  Anders, Gen. Wladyslaw, 328, 517, 556

  Anderson, Sir John: in war cabinet, 140; qualities, 273–4; on recall of Beaverbrook, 395; and development of atom bomb, 445, 587

  Anderson, Gen. Sir Kenneth, 351

  Annan, Noel, Baron, 463–4

  Anvil, Operation see Dragoon, Operation

  Anzio: landings and stalemate, 438, 440–3, 479; Allied breakout, 481

  Arcadia (US-British summit, December 1941), 219,

  226, 229 Archangel, 331, 372

  Arctic (PQ) convoys, 251, 323, 325, 330, 337

  Ardennes: German advance in (1940), 5, 13

  Army & Navy Club, London, 260

  Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA), 208

  Army and Navy Journal (USA), 549

  Arnhem, battle of, 442, 514

  Arnold, Gen. Henry (‘Hap’): at Placentia Bay meeting, 194–5; WSC criticises, 495; on bombing of Dresden, 562

  Arnold, Thomas, 474

  Ashford, Pam, 238, 262

  Astier de la Vigerie, Emmanuel d’, 458

  Athens: WSC visits (December 1944), xxii, 534–40; WSC revisits (February 1945), 554–5

  Atlantic, Battle of the: conduct of, 113, 119, 171, 199, 206, 367; shipping losses in, 138, 188, 202, 244, 337, 372; RAF denies use of heavy aircraft for, 149; US escorts in, 197, 199, 220; merchant ship crossing times, 241; and air cover, 250

  Atlantic Charter, 197–9, 253

  Atlantic Committee (British cabinet), 187

  Atlantic Wall: constructed, 95, 397; breached on D-Day, 488

  atom bomb, 585–7

  Attlee, Clement (later 1st Earl): qualities, 10; supports WSC’s decision to fight on, 30, 37; and WSC’s proposed union with France, 55; on WSC’s search for action, 114; in war cabinet, 140; Beaverbrook disparages, 145; asked not to cut rations, 217; gives information to Dominions, 220; letter from WSC in Washington, 223; differences with Cripps, 243; criticises area bombing, 249; administrative efficiency on home front, 272; loyalty to WSC, 272–3; on Anderson, 274; welcomes US plan for second front, 285; presides at cabinet meetings, 302; WSC cables from Moscow, 325–6; messages from WSC in Casablanca, 353, 356; on US reverse in North Africa, 371; WSC cables from Washington (May 1943), 379; reports WSC’s late visit to Moscow, 520; criticises WSC for behaviour at cabinet meetings, 545; and end of coalition government, 577; accompanies WSC to Potsdam conference, 584–5; election victory and premiership (1945), 589–90

  Auchinleck, Gen. Sir Claude: replaces Wavell as C.in

  C. Middle East, 139; postpones offensive in North Africa, 161; on need for US troops, 195; launches offensive, 209–10, 215; WSC requests transfer of troops to Far East, 222; failure in Western Desert, 259, 311, 316–17, 339; WSC orders to hold Tobruk, 297; dismissed, 318; defends line at Alamein, 338; wounded by WSC, 343; advises restraint on civilian population, 454

  Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, 501

  Australia: troops in Middle East, 33, 122; troops in Crete, 136; troops defend Tobruk, 149, 162; excluded from Allied war council, 220; delays conscription, 235; uncertain relations with Britain, 235, 350–1; invasion fears, 236, 350; army division ordered home from North Africa, 350; casualties at Alamein, 351; troops in New Guinea, 369; and offensive against Japanese through Borneo, 477

  Badoglio, Marshal Pietro, 386, 507

  Baldwin, Stanley, 1st Earl: on WSC as potential war leader, 3; WSC acknowledges good wishes, 44; ironworks factory bombed, 66; premiership, 104

  Balkans: Nazi mass killings in, 387; operations in, 426, 428; Resistance movements, 451, 461–2; SOE operations in, 459; British prestige declines, 473; Soviet post-war interest in, 515–16, 545; German withdrawal and post-war settlement, 523–4

  Baltic States, 256, 289

  Barbarossa, Operation, 150–2

  Barclay, George, 80

  Barnett, Correlli, 337

  Barry, Col. Dick, 472

  Baruch, Bernard, 227

  Bataan peninsula, 240

  Battleaxe, Operation, 138

  Beaumont, Joan, 290

  Beaverbrook, William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron: serves under WSC, 11; relations with WSC, 17, 82–3, 88, 145, 193, 202, 227, 288, 315, 395–6; travels to Tours with WSC, 48–9; and WSC’s belief in bombing campaign, 74–5; heads aircraft production, 82–3, 108; pessimism, 111; Pownall disparages, 140; in war cabinet, 140; character and unpopularity, 145; and German invasion of Russia, 153; supports aid to Russia, 163, 165–6, 226; on delegation to Russia, 164–5; advocates second front, 165, 288; as chairman of Allied Supplies Executive, 166; accompanies WSC to Washington, 217, 226–7; Morgenthau dislikes, 229; offers resignation, 236; resigns, 242; complains of ‘three profs’, 275; praises Russia on visit to New York, 287–8; Molotov meets, 289; reaction to Dieppe raid, 333; on WSC as ‘bent man’, 335; letter to Luce on British uncertainties over Italian campaign, 382; recalled to cabinet as lord privy seal, 395; tables Lords motion calling for second front, 395; helps Randolph Churchill pay debts, 396; at cabinet meetings, 545; congratulates WSC on Yalta meeting, 555; and Conservative defeat in 1945 election, 589

  Bedford, Hastings William Sackville Russell, 12th Duke of (earlier Marquess of Tavistock), 27

  Belgium: Germans overrun, 5, 7–8, 11, 20, 25; surrenders, 36; lends gold to Britain, 173; Resistance movement, 453; left-wing demands at liberation, 523–5, 531

  Bellamy, Chris, 167

  Bellenger, Capt. Frederick, 62

  Belsey, Elizabeth, 135, 155, 304–5, 396

  Beria, Lavrenti P., 63, 321–2, 557

  Beria, Sergo, 432–4, 550, 588

  Berlin: bombed, 97, 424; Red Army advances on, 558–9, 565; WSC visits, 584

  Berlin, Sir Isaiah, 34, 76, 509, 591

  Bernays, Rob, xxiii

  Bevan, Aneurin: challenges WSC in Commons, 62, 309, 343–4, 529; praises WSC’s welcome of Russia as ally, 154; and Cripps, 243; votes against Regulation 1AA (on unofficial strikes), 280; prejudices on British
imperialist attitudes, 316; on WSC’s claiming credit for victories, 343; on WSC’s reluctance to address domestic issues, 422; on prospects in 1945 general election, 579

  Beveridge, Sir William, 238; Report (1942), 254

  Bevin, Ernest: qualities, 10, 273; and proposed union of Ireland, 72; popular image, 111; and public disappointment at inertia in war, 112; Pownall disparages, 140; in war cabinet, 140; on failing aircraft productivity, 276; left-wing attacks on, 281; regulates unofficial strikes, 281; demands a victory, 302; rallies workers, 399–400; confronts WSC over Woolton’s future, 423; discusses maintaining coalition government with Eden, 486

  Bevir, Tony, 144

  Billancourt, France: Renault factory bombed, 247

  Birkenhead, F.E. Smith, 1st Earl of, 193, 202

  Birse, Maj. (interpreter), 327

  Bizerta, 376

  Black, Rosemary, 302

  Bletchley Park: decrypts Ultra signals, 84–5; intercepts U-boat signals, 158, 337; secrecy over, 159; WSC visits and authorises more resources, 204; see also Ultra

  Blunt, Anthony, 321

  Blunt, Maggie Joy, 305, 334

  Bock, Field Marshal Fedor von, 58

  Bohlen, Charles, 224, 434

  Bonham Carter, Lady Violet, 238, 371

  Borneo, 477

  Borrow, George, 30

  Boulogne: evacuated, 24

  Bracken, Brendan (later Viscount): serves under WSC, 11; relations with WSC, 17, 145–6; appointed to Privy Council, 44; qualities and character, 145–6; meets Hopkins, 180, 181; welcomes Winant as US ambassador, 185; WSC criticises Time magazine to, 295; on battle of Alamein, 337, 339; letter from Jack Jones, 399; disparages Hopkins, 513; at cabinet meetings, 545; and Conservative defeat in 1945 election, 589

  Bridges, Sir Edward, xviii, 11, 17, 144

  Britain: early military defeats, xvi-xvii; German air threat to, 13; and German invasion threat, 18, 24, 30, 67–9, 73–4, 81, 87, 94–7, 100–1, 103, 123–4, 207, 217; ruling classes’ defeatism, 27, 33; casualties in France (1940), 53n, 58; military weakness after fall of France, 57; scepticism about victory in summer 1940, 61–2; US views on, 64–5, 184, 258, 298–9, 361; available military equipment in June 1940, 66; bombed by Luftwaffe, 73, 78–80, 97–9, 107; US aid for, 73, 170–2, 183–4; financial difficulties, 86, 172–4, 548, 585; casualties from air attacks, 97, 137, 480; life and conditions in, 107–8; nature of war cabinet, 140; aid to Russia, 150, 158, 160, 165–7, 480; colonial policy, 151; view of Soviet Union, 151, 154–5, 159–60, 167–8, 304, 306, 332, 346, 370, 382, 445–6, 576; fear of airborne attack, 158; Arctic convoys to Russia, 166, 251, 290, 323, 330, 337, 352, 358, 372; popular exasperation at military inaction, 168, 335; casualties, 169; shortage of supplies and equipment, 170; assets sold in USA, 173; anti-Americanism in, 174–7, 189, 214–15, 370–2, 482; import requirements, 220; underestimates US leadership and capabilities, 226; apathy and discontent in, 253; aircraft design and development, 269–70; domestic administration, 272–3; regulations and restrictions, 275–6; class tensions and industrial unrest, 276–82; scientific innovations, 276; incomes and earnings, 277; health standards, 279–80; treaty of alliance with Russia (1942), 291–3; army strength and deployment (mid–1942), 294; meagreness of public information, 307; preponderance of forces over US in North Africa, 358; forces concentrated for invasion of France, 358; troop deployment, 368; effect of blackout on morale, 371; impedes US plans for early D-Day, 385–6, 388, 391, 396; leftwing hostility to conduct of war, 396–7; special forces and commandos, 404; by-election results (1944), 443–4; total war casualties, 450; industrial disputes, 476; low morale before D-Day, 476; miners’ strikes (1943), 399; (1944), 476; working relations with Americans, 482–3; army weakness compared with USA, 484; post-war world position, 519–20; weakness compared with USA, 519; differences with USA over post-liberation policies, 540–2; manpower problems, 546; coalition government dissolved, 577; general election (1945), 577–9, 584, 589; denied credit for atom bomb development, 587; produces few outstanding military commanders, 595

  Britain, Battle of (1940), 59, 79–81, 85, 97–9

  British Army: inaction, 114; WSC on limited role of, 115–16; based in Britain, 156; equipment shortages, 156; US low estimate of, 229; feeble performance, 240, 259–64; regimental system, 263–4; corrupt and indulgent practices, 264–5; leadership weaknesses, 264–7; inadequate armour and weaponry, 268–9; artillery excellence, 269; qualities of ordinary soldiers, 270–1; reputation after successes in North Africa, 341, 353; caution, 346; avoids heavy land battles, 369; Long Range Desert Group, 404, 407, 410, 415, 417; casualties in post-liberation Greece, 533; see also British Expeditionary Force Armies:

  First Army: in North African landings, 351

  Eighth Army: under Ritchie, 210; defeats, 262, 334; and recovery of disabled vehicles, 264; poor air support, 269; inactivity, 302; Montgomery appointed to command, 320; offensive under Montgomery, 336; advance in North Africa, 344–5, 352–3; WSC addresses at Castel Benito, 365; lands in Italy, 391

  British Empire: defeats, 234; WSC’s attitude to, 235–6, 597

  British Expeditionary Force: and German advance, 14, 16; prospective withdrawal, 17, 24–5; reinforcements withheld, 18; evacuates Arras, 19; attempts common front with French, 20–1; isolated, 22; evacuation from continent, 26, 30, 36–44, 67; proposed reconstitution in N.W. France, 38, 43, 45; equipment, 58

  Brittorous, Brig. Ben, 414

  Brooke, Gen. Sir Alan (later 1st Viscount Alanbrooke): diary, xx, xxii; persuades WSC to withdraw British forces from N.W. France, xxi, 51–2; qualities and character, 14, 21; returns to France after evacuation, 43, 50–1; and WSC’s view of human nature, 57; succeeds Ironside as C.in C. Home Forces, 74; WSC’s apparent rudeness to, 89; on weak defences against prospective invasion, 96; witnesses WSC’s popularity, 98; on early defeats, 136; on role of Chiefs of Staff committee, 141; hostility to Sandys, 144–5; on training home-based army units, 156; resents Beaverbrook’s commitments to Russia, 165; succeeds Dill as CIGS, 210–12; relations with and view of WSC, 211, 252, 374, 380, 510, 521, 568–9, 593; on WSC’s temperament, 237; on army’s poor fighting, 239; at Casablanca conference, 259, 354–6; on poor army leadership, 265–6; and dismissal of Ritchie, 267; undervalues Lord Leathers, 275; meets Marshall urging second front, 283–4, 285; resists demands for early second front, 287, 312; quashes WSC’s plan to land in north Norway, 295; disbelieves German defence of Italy, 302; on ingratitude of Russians for aid, 304; meagre press coverage of, 307; criticises Julian Amery, 311; accompanies WSC to Middle East and Moscow, 315, 325–7, 329, 332; WSC proposes for command in Middle East, 318–19; recommends Montgomery to command Eighth Army, 320; on moments of doubt, 334; WSC complains to, 335; and conduct of battle of Alamein, 339; hopes for victory with success of Torch, 339; WSC congratulates after North African victories, 344; caution, 345, 350, 394; and WSC’s hopes for landing in Europe in 1943, 350; supports bombing campaign against Germany, 354; manner and abruptness, 356, 374; accompanies WSC to Turkey, 363–4; and employment of troops, 369; ignores events on Russian front, 373; at Washington Trident conference (1943), 378–9; accompanies WSC and Marshall to Algiers, 380; relief at Sicily success, 383; on American mistrust of British intentions over D-Day, 385; reservations over D-Day, 389, 393–4, 396; on Quebec conference, 391; denied command of Overlord, 393; deplores proliferation of commando units and special forces, 404; opposes operations in Aegean, 410–13; believes WSC unbalanced, 411; on US failure to support Dodecanese operation, 419; on WSC’s bedroom scene, 423; on Big Three at Tehran, 432; opposes WSC’s plans for Sumatra landing, 448; opposes further long flights for WSC, 450; dispute with WSC over Far East strategy, 477; tells Americans no invasion possible before 1945 or 1946, 478; US view of, 482; prevents WSC from witnessing D-Day landings, 485; hopes for WSC’s retirement, 490–1; on Morrison’s pessimism over V1 attacks, 490; caution over assault on Istria, 493; defends Montgomery against WSC’s criticism, 496; on WSC’s condition on way to second Quebec conference, 510; relief
at WSC’s abandoning Adriatic landing, 543; Marshall refuses to discuss strategy with, 547; preserves Allied unity, 549; watches Rhine crossing, 564; WSC toasts on VE-Day, 568; and WSC’s relations with Truman, 572; and WSC’s proposal to drive back Russians in Europe, 573; and WSC’s enthusiasm for atom bomb, 586; character and achievements, 595; WSC’s view of, 596

  Brooke, Benita, Lady, 211

  Bruce, Stanley, 32

  Bruneval, France: raided, 245

  Buccaneer, Operation, 426, 429

  Buckmaster, Col. Maurice, 458

  Bulgaria: joins Axis, 128

  Bulge, Battle of the, 540

  Burgess, Guy, 321

  Burma: Japanese invade, 219, 242, 251; US urge British action in, 354, 358, 480; shortage of landing craft for, 375; British campaign in, 376, 411, 430, 448, 481, 504, 514, 580; Chindit operations in, 387, 429; proposed British amphibious landing, 426, 429; WSC’s strategy for recapture, 477

  Burrows, Lt.Gen. Brocas, 332

  Butler, Richard Austen (later Baron): favours suing for peace, 37; introduces Education Act (1944), 508

  Butt, David, 246, 560

  Byng, Admiral John: executed (1757), 267 Byrd, Walter, 277

  Cadogan, Sir Alexander: on confusion in 1940 campaign, 24; on WSC’s temperament, 26, 33; on WSC’s fear of Japanese aggression, 189; at Placentia Bay meeting, 197; on US working methods, 225; on WSC’s low spirits, 244, 478–9; on army’s weak performance, 259; and WSC’s enthusiasm for Aegean operation, 410; on loss of Leros, 418; on Roosevelt’s acceptance of Stalin’s proposals at Tehran, 434; in Cairo with WSC, 436; and WSC’s misgivings over invasion of France, 478; and WSC’s handling of Greek crisis, 533

  Cairncross, John, 163, 320

  Cairo: wartime life in, 264, 316; WSC in, 316, 332, 363; WSC meets Roosevelt in before Tehran conference, 426, 428–31

  Calais, 25, 30

  Caliph, Operation, 471–2

  Campioni, Admiral Inigo, 405

  Camrose, William Ewert Berry, 1st Viscount, 202, 207, 570

  Canada: forces in France, 43, 45, 51; WSC addresses Parliament, 223, 228; delays conscription, 235