62 Chamberlain's old friend in Cape Town, Abe Bailey, wrote to him twice in the first part of 1940 in extravagant praise of Smuts, 'he has proved the saviour of South Africa—goodness only knows what would have happened here'. The answer to his question would come some years later following the war's end. Sir Abe Bailey to Chamberlain, 3 February 1940, Neville Chamberlain Papers (University of Birmingham), NC7/11/33/15; ibid., Sir Abe Bailey to Chamberlain, 1 April
1940, NC7/11/33/16.
63 H. V. Hodson, 'British Foreign Policy and the Dominions', Foreign Affairs (Vol. 17; July 1939), pp. 753-63; H. V. Hodson, 'Collective Security and Empire Defence', United Empire (Vol. 30; 1939), pp. 745-7; Eric Siepmann, 'The Neutrality of South Africa', The Nineteenth Century (September 1939), pp. 279-94; Duncan Hall, 'The British Commonwealth of Nations at War' in Duncan Hall and Elliot, The British Commonwealth at War, pp. 19-27; ibid., Lucretia Ilsley, 'The Union of South
Africa in the War', pp. 426-32; Geoffrey Cox, 'The Commonwealth' in Arnold Toynbee and Veronica Toynbee (eds), Survey of International Affairs 1939-1946: The Initial Triumph of the Axis (London, 1958), pp. 300-3; Ovendale, The English Speaking Alliance, p. 5; Ovendale, 'Britain, the Dominions and the Coming of the Second World War, 1933-9' in Wolfgang J. Mommsen and Lothar Kettenacker (eds), The Fascist Challenge and the Policy of Appeasement (London, 1983), p. 335.
64 Nicholas Mansergh, Problems ofExternalPolicy, 1931-39 (London, 1952), p. 379; Andrew Stewart, '"The Liquidator": Sir Harry Batterbee and the British Wartime High Commission in New Zealand' in Chris Baxter and Andrew Stewart (eds), Diplomats at War (Leiden, 2008), pp. 171-94; Inskip to Chamberlain, 1 September 1939, PREM1/300; Lewis Gann, 'South Africa and the Third Reich', The International History Review (Vol. 14; 1992), p. 518.
65 W. G. Stevens, 'Recall Without Repining', W. G. Stevens Papers (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington), 84-006-2/3, p. 147.
66 'Diary of a Crisis: Sunday, 3rd September 1939', Batterbee Papers, Box 9/5.
Notes to Chapter 3: Controlling the Alliance
1 D. C. Watt, How War Came (London, 1989) pp. 601-4; Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement, pp. 337-42.
2 Holland, The Commonwealth Alliance, pp. 198-199; Diary, 17 January 1939, Inskip Papers INKP1/2; Inskip to Simon, 31 January 1939, Sir John Simon Papers (Bodleian Library, Oxford), Box 85; publicly it was understood that Inskip had been made the scapegoat for increasing dissatisfaction over government policies. Privately though it appears that much of the reason for his demotion was because he had come to believe that war was now certain to happen, leaving him at odds with Chamberlain; Sean Greenwood, 'Caligula's Horse Revisited: Sir Thomas Inskip as Minister for the Coordination of Defence, 1936-1939', Journal of Strategic Studies, (Vol. 17, No. 2; June 1994), pp. 17-38; 'Cato', Guilty Men (London, 1940), p. 79.
3 Earl of Avon, The Eden Memoirs: Vol. 3, The Reckoning (London, 1965), pp. 62-8; V. Rothwell, Anthony Eden: A Political Biography (London, 1992), p. 51; David Carlton, Anthony Eden: A Biography (London, 1981), pp. 151-3.
4 War Cabinet 7(39), 12 September 1939, CAB65/1 (hereafter 'WCM'); Yates to Tucker, 3 September 1939, PREM1/384; he exercised this right a total of 27 times during his period at the DO.
5 'Relative strengths of each of the Dominion Armed forces at the outbreak of war, September 1939', prepared by Miss Y. Streatfield, n.d. (1945?), CAB101/275; Cox, 'The Commonwealth' in Toynbee and Toynbee (eds), The Initial Triumph of the Axis, pp. 304-6.
6 R. G. Neale (ed.), Documents on Australian Foreign Policy, 1937-49, Vol. 2,1939 (Canberra, 1976), p. 232 (hereafter 'DAFP'); 'Action taken by the Dominions', 6 September 1939, WP(R)(39)5, CAB67/1; Campbell to DO, 20 September 1939, DO35/1003/3/1/2; Whiskard to DO, 12 September 1939, DO35/1003/3/2/3.
7 'Canadian Cooperation-Report by Chiefs of Staff Committee', 4 September 1939, WP(39)4, CAB66/1.
8 The Land Forces Committee consisted of Hoare, Chatfield, Burgin, Churchill and Hore-Belisha, CAB65/1, 23(39), 22 September 1939; J. R. M. Butler, Grand Strategy: Vol. 2 (London, 1957), p. 32.
9 'An Australian Army of 100,000', Daily Telegraph, 20 September 1939; Most Secret Cablegram, 8 September 1939, DAFP, p. 249.
10 'Action taken by the Dominions', WP(R)(39)50, 17 October 1939, CAB68; there were 6,600 troops earmarked in the first instance but it was later confirmed that the intention was to send an expeditionary force of a fully equipped division to any theatre within eight months, the British identifying France, Burma, India, Singapore or Fiji as the best locations. The New Zealand Navy's assets were placed under the Admiralty's command and RNZAF personnel in Britain were permitted to serve in the RAF adding 500 to its numbers with an order for 30 Wellington bombers also being waived; Fraser to Jordan, 3 October 1939 (National Archives, Wellington) EA1 63/2/2 pt.1; W. David McIntyre, New Zealand Prepares for War (Canterbury, 1988), pp. 337-54.
11 WCM(39)50, 19 October 1939, CAB65/1; WCM(39)75-78, 8-10 November 1939, CAB65/2; telegram from R. Campbell, 25 November 1939, CAB21/952; Michael Dockrill, 'The Foreign Office and France During the Phoney War, September 1939-May 1940' in M. L. Dockrill and B. McKercher (eds), Diplomacy and World Power, Studies in British Foreign Policy 1890-1950 (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 181, 192; the fact that these divisions would require armament from British supplies has added credence to the argument that the Dominions were a burden on Britain. This was the case at this stage of the war but the long-term benefits of the Dominions' support were plainly considerable; G. C. Peden, 'The Burden of Imperial Defence and the Continental Commitment Reconsidered', The Historical Journal (Vol. 27, No. 2; 1984), pp. 405-23; Michael Howard, The Continental Commitment (London, 1972), pp. 123-49.
12 Bewley to Machtig, 26 October 1939, CAB21/490.
13 Price to Dykes, 25 October 1939, CAB21/677; ibid., Antrobus to Porter, 25 October 1939; General Smuts had suggested that a total of two army divisions and fourteen air force squadrons be raised and trained for service in Northern or Eastern Africa.
14 Andrew Stewart, 'The British Government and the 1939 Negotiations for the Empire Air Training Plan', The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs (Vol. 377; October 2004), pp. 739-54; Cecil Edwards, Bruce of Melbourne: Man of Two Worlds (London, 1965), pp. 277-80; Butler, Grand Strategy, pp. 39-40; William Stevenson, The Origins of the British Commonwealth Air Training Scheme from 1923 to December 1939 (University of London, 1981) unpublished manuscript; F. J. Hatch, The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, 1939-45 (Ottawa, 1983), pp. 1-12; W. A. B. Douglas, The Creation of a National Air Force: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Vol. 2 (Ottawa, 1986), pp. 200-4.
15 WCM(39)49, 10 October 1939, CAB65/1.
16 Halifax had informed Eden of a report he had from the Washington Embassy of comments by Herridge, the Canadian minister in Washington. 'Everything [in Canada] had become rather drab. Volunteers had been told they were not immediately required, no stirring appeal had been made to deeper Canadian feeling that wished to be convinced that it was engaged upon a holy war. Herridge told me that the Canadian contribution to the Air Force made little popular appeal. The great majority of his friends would prefer conscription'; Report no. W15706/10478/68, 30 October 1939, FO371/23966.
17 WCM(39)58, 24 October 1939, CAB65/1.
18 Pearson, Through Diplomacy to Politics, p. 140.
19 WCM(39)68, 2 November 1939, CAB65/2.
20 Sir Llewellyn Woodward, British Foreign Policy in the Second World War, Vol. 1 (London, 1970), pp. 20-2.
21 WCM(39)68, 2 November 1939, CAB65/2; French tension over Britain's contribution was still increasing as witnessed in the tone of the telegrams being despatched by Ronald Campbell, the British ambassador in Paris, 'the French estimate that the French Empire is bearing a burden of war expenditure equal to that of the British Empire although it is only one third as wealthy ... the fear persists that Great Britain will insist upon a peace which will contain what France would not consider adequate political and military guarantees against any fu
rther threat', Campbell to FO, 25 November 1939, CAB21/952.
22 Report no. F11951/4108/23, 18 November 1939, FO371/23572; Cavendish Bentinck, reading the relevant telegrams in the FO, complained that, 'the Australians remain terrified of the Japanese, refuse to give any undertakings as regards an expeditionary force, and are concentrating to an excessive extent on home defence'; Report no. W14977/14472/68, 18 October 1939, FO371/23967.
23 Dominion High Commissioners Wartime Meeting (69), 22 November 1939, DO121/6 (hereafter 'HCWM'); High Commissioner, Canberra to DO (No. 301), 24 November 1939, FO371/23967.
24 As he wrote to his sister, 'As you know, I have always been more afraid of a peace offer than of an air raid, but I did feel that if Hitler made it himself it would almost certainly be in such a form as to be plainly acceptable', Chamberlain to Ida, 10 October 1939; cited in Iain Macleod, Neville
Chamberlain (London, 1961); Christopher Hill, Cabinet Decisions on Foreign Policy (London, 1991), pp. 100-45.
25 'Views of the Dominions', The Times, 9 October 1939.
26 WCM(39)43, 10 October 1939, CAB65/1; ibid., WCM(39)46, 13 October 1939; HCWM(29), 10 October 1939, DO121/6; Diary, Wednesday 11 October 1939, Lord Avon Papers (University of Birmingham), AP20/1/19.
27 Mansergh, The Commonwealth and the Nations (London, 1948), pp. 32-46.
28 MacDonald, 'Interview to the Oxford Colonial Records Project' (Rhodes House Library), p. 1.
29 Minutes by Lord Halifax and Cadogan, 11 February 1939, FO372/3315; Hankinson to Harvey,
28 March 1939, FO800/310.
30 Minute by Hadow, 12 September 1939, FO371/23966; Hankinson to Jebb, 7 September 1939, DO35/548D/3/128.
31 Notes by Norman Archer, 29 May 1962, Avon Papers, 27/1.
32 Diary, 14 September 1939, Lester Pearson Papers (Library and Archives Canada), MG 26, N8; the majority of the information comes from Norman Archer who worked as Eden's secretary and helped him with the relevant section of his memoirs. As a young naval officer he had served with the Russian fleet during the First World War and entered the DO as part of the post-war reconstruction stream. In his post-war correspondence with his former boss he refers to 'personal and secret letters which you used to write to Mr Chamberlain on matters arising out of the high commissioners meetings' but it has proven impossible to trace copies of these; Archer to Eden,
29 May 1962, Avon Papers, 27/1/62A.
33 Telegram to Dominion governments, 7 September 1939, DO35/548D; HCWM, 8 September 1939, DO121/6.
34 WP(G)(39)10, 14 October 1939, point 3, CAB21/874.
35 The Committee also agreed that the Dominions should not be invited to attend meetings of the Supreme War Council, restricting discussion to just themselves and the French. For a description of the War Council see Butler, Grand Strategy, p. 9.
36 WCM(39)17, 16 October 1939, CAB65/1; there were some reservations, most notably that meetings with the high commissioners should not take place very frequently 'in view of the heavy pressure on the members'.
37 Price to Barnard (Board of Trade), 14 October 1939, CAB104/247.
38 Thomas to Eden, 20 September 1939, CAB104/247; ibid., Graham (WO) to Jacob (Cabinet Secretariat), 16 September 1939.
39 Clark to DO (No. 162), 15 September 1939, CAB104/247.
40 Report no. W13797/9831/68, 20 September 1939, FO371/23963.
41 Minute by Hadow, 17 September 1939, FO371/23963; minute by Hadow, 12 September 1939, FO371/23966.
42 Minute by Cadogan, 27 September 1939, FO371/23963.
43 Barnard to Price, 17 September 1939, CAB104/247; Patrick Howarth, Intelligence Chief Extraordinary (London, 1986), p. 145.
44 Massey, What's Past is Prologue, pp. 297-98, 303-6; Garner cited in I. M. Cumpston, Lord Bruce of Melbourne (Melbourne, 1989), p. 159; Mansergh, The Commonwealth Experience, p. 283; Garner, The Commonwealth Office, p. 90; Holland, Britain and the Commonwealth Alliance, p. 204; Edwards, Bruce of Melbourne, pp. 277-80; Lorna Lloyd, Diplomacy with a Difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880-2006 (Leiden, 2007), pp. 63-74.
45 HCWM(2), 8 September 1939, DO121/6.
46 Eden attended all of them with the exception of six in November, when he was conducting the Dominion minister's meeting to France. Of the Dominion high commissioners, the two most regular attendees were Massey, the Canadian representative, and Bruce from Australia who missed only one meeting.
47 Diary, 29 October 1940, Sydney Waterson Papers (University of Cape Town).
48 HCWM(5), 12 September 1939, DO121/6—it was recorded the day after discussion; WCM(39)15, 14 September 1939, CAB65/1; Ismay to Simon, 15 September 1939, CAB104/247.
49 'Question by the Rt. Hon. Ellis-Smith to the Prime Minister', 21 September 1939, CAB21/874; the issue was also debated in the Dominions, Whiskard, high commissioner in Canberra, warned Whitehall that Menzies had told him, 'there was a growing opinion amongst his colleagues that the supply of information was very meagre ... things were happening and would happen which vitally concerned Australia but about which they knew nothing until afterwards'. Surprisingly Lester Pearson viewed them as 'admirable for information'; 'Wartime Inter-governmental Consultation and Communication', n.d. (1940?), Pearson Papers, MG26, Vol. 71.
50 Duncan Hall, 'The British Commonwealth of Nations at War' in Duncan Hall and Elliot, The British Commonwealth at War, pp. 29-32; W. David McIntyre, The Commonwealth of Nations: Origins and Impacts, 1869-1971 (London, 1977), p. 177; Madden and Darwin (eds), The Dominions and India since 1900, pp. 34-49; A. J. Stockwell, 'The War and the British Empire' in John Turner (ed.), Britain and the First World War (London, 1988), pp. 36-48; Beloff, Imperial Sunset, pp. 218-220; Maurice Hankey, The Supreme Command, 1914-18, Vol. 2 (London, 1961), pp. 657-63; Hall, Commonwealth, pp. 160-76.
51 Op. cit., Hall, pp. 21-5; Judd, Empire, pp. 214-25; Porter, The Lion's Share, pp. 134-40.
52 Holland, The Commonwealth Alliance, pp. 1-151, 167-209.
53 Diary, 21 September 1939, Mackenzie King Papers.
54 Wilson to Chamberlain, 12 September 1939, DO35/1003/3/16.
55 Minute by Cavendish Bentinck, 4 October 1939, FO371/23963; WP(G)(39)10, 14 September 1939, CAB21/874.
56 Bickersteth to Euan Wallace, 1 October 1939, Hankey Papers; Campbell to DO, 5 October 1939, FO371/23967; DO to High Commissioners in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, 4 October 1939, CAB21/489.
57 'Meetings with Dominion Ministers', November 1939, CAB99/1; Garner, The Commonwealth Office, pp. 197-8; there were six Canadians, two each from Australia and New Zealand and a single South African.
58 'Minutes of First Meeting', 1 November 1939; ibid., 'Minutes of Eighth Meeting', 20 November
1939. One of the delegates described his experiences of the meetings: 'The British are a phlegmatic race . it might have been the meeting of some suburban county council discussing the rates', Reitz, No Outspan, p. 248.
59 Diary, 2 November 1939 in Nigel Nicolson (ed.), Harold Nicolson, Diaries and Letters 1939-45, (New York, 1967), p. 41.
60 'Questions relating to Canadian War Finance', 1 December 1939 CAB21/490; 'I wrote in my diary, "So now it's to be a fight between a monopoly seller in Canada and a monopoly buyer here. Bad business this in wartime. Both sides are to blame"', Pearson, p. 145; London's suspicions seem not to have been misplaced in light of the following: 'It is not always wrong to turn other person's misfortune to one's personal advantage. And by the same token, it is not wrong for Canadian enterprises to turn to profitable account their advantageous position and opportunity in respect of the current war . our enterprises would be blameworthy if they failed to use the present opportunity to sell, to the maximum of possibility all they can ... and to sell at prices established by the law of supply and demand', J. C. Kirkwood, 'The War and Business', The Quarterly Review of Commerce (No. VII; Autumn, 1939).
61 'A Discussion between the Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs and Bruce and Casey', 24 November 1939, CAB21/490.
62 Diary, 11
October 1939, Avon Papers.
63 'Debate on the Address', 30 November 1939, House of Commons Official Report (Vol. 355), pp. 405-8, 761-2, 1, 341-2.
64 Peake (FO News Department) to Eden, 1 February 1940, Avon Papers, AP20/8/286; 'Research Draft prepared by Mrs Agnew', August 1945, CAB102/33; Diary, 24 April 1940, Pearson Papers.
65 Minute by Dixon, 26 January 1940, FO371/25224; ibid., minutes by Bentinck, 12 and 26 January
1940.
66 Minute by Dixon, 21 February 1940, DO35/1003/3/4/32; minute by Dixon, 26 January 1940, FO371/25224; ibid., minute by Bentinck, 26 January 1940.
67 Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm (London, 1948), pp. 373, 569; S. Roskill, The Navy at War, 1939-1945 (London, 1960), pp. 59-61; William Manchester, Winston Churchill: The Caged Lion (London, 1988), p. 572; David Reynolds, 'Churchill in 1940: The Worst and Finest Hour' in Roger Blake and Wm. Roger Louis (eds), Churchill, (London, 1993) pp. 241-5; Churchill to Chamberlain, 25 December 1939, Neville Chamberlain Papers; Clive Ponting, Churchill (London, 1994), pp. 416-28; Richard Collier, The Years of Attrition (London, 1993), pp. 18-32, 34-48; Martin Gilbert, Finest Hour: Winston S. Churchill, 1939-1941 (London, 1983), pp. 127-284; David Irving, Churchill's War, Vol. 1 (Australia, 1987), pp. 205-54; Campbell to Machtig, 27 February 1940, DO35/1072/276/124; Whiskard to Eden, 22 February 1940, DO121/111.
68 HCWM, 22-29 February1940, DO121/7;'October 1939', Lord Bruce's War Papers (National Archives of Australia, Canberra) AA1969/275/1; DO Minute, 16 March 1940, DO35/1000/1/101.
69 Machtig to Eden, 2 April 1940, DO121/66; ibid., Chamberlain to Mackenzie King, 8 April 1940.
70 Earl of Avon, The Eden Memoirs, pp. 95-6.
Empire Lost: Britain, the Dominions and the Second World War Page 29