Winston Churchill

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Francis Neilson: The First Revisionist Stanley Smith Examines the Neilson Case Against WSC and The Hinge of Fate. IN The Hinge of Fate, the fourth volume of his war memoirs, Winston Churchill narrates the events of 1942, the most terrible year of the war, and the most successful efforts following the victory of El Alamein. The first half of the book focuses on the powerful sweep of Japanese forces through British and European possessions in the Far East. Rommel's counterattack in the North African desert, and the political repercussions from the military disasters, are also described. The second half of the book tells of the hammering out of a unified Allied strategy and the liberation of North Africa. In his review of the work, Francis Neilson, in now familiar style, claps hand to brow, wonders how the Alliance ever managed to survive under such incompetent leadership, and puts the Allies on the same moral level with the Axis. It is an unusual pleasure to see Neilson "give the devil his due" in his introductory section by complimenting Churchill on his enormous literary output, his personal courage, and his tenacity of purpose. Even in his first paragraph, however, he commits what may be called Neilson's Fundamental Fallacy, because it recurs so often, He scolds Churchill for not rendering a complete history of the period despite Churchill's description of his memoirs not as history, but as "a contribution to history." Many of Neilson's criticisms throughout his series of reviews are made irrelevant at best by this error, though naturally he does not hesitate to refer the reader to his own book to "fill in the yawning gaps." Neilson's discussion of Churchill's moral dilemma on the questions of Soviet occupation of the Baltic states contains a number of pertinent truisms, but it goes too far in implying that Churchill cast aside moral inhibitions upon the declaration of war. The higher moral cause was that of defeating Nazi Germany, and when occasionally Churchill's wishes on that effort had to accommodate hard necessity, such as accommodation did not reflect on his moral sense. Neilson's section of Pantelleria and North Africa smacks strongly of the armchair strategist, enjoying 20/20 hindsight. Had the capture — and continued control — of the island been as simple and decisive as he intimates, it undoubtedly would have been done. But circumstance, and the deliberations of those in positions of responsibility, determined a different course of action. From the standpoint of the time, igniting Allied resistance in the Balkans was strategically much more promising than taking Pantelleria. Churchill had long been intrigued by the possibility of reaching Nazi central Europe through the Balkans. Things often go wrong in war, and the Greek and Balkan campaigns went wrong in the face of overwhelming PART FOUR OF A SERIES 24 force. The subsequent weakening of Mediterranean forces was the price of the gamble. Churchill and Neilson agree that Churchill should have been better informed, by one means or another, on the state of the military defenses at Singapore. Neilson lays much of the blame on Churchill's supposed attempts to control every aspect of the fighting. While it is well known that the British have traditionally kept their commanders on a much shorter leash than have the Americans, an inspection of the messages exchanged during the crisis of Singapore shows that any claim that Churchill tried to control every detail is false. It is incidentally amusing to see Neilson the correspondent reciting war maxims to a man of Churchill's experience. The attack on Pearl Harbor did indeed complicate Imperial relations, particularly with Australia. Curtin was then personally and politically distasteful to Churchill, which did not ease official relations. The correspondence between the two reprinted in the book shows excellent examples of cold fury in language that is sometimes diplomatic, often blunt. In an extreme and ridiculous section, Neilson labels as "aggression" the liberation of North Africa and denies any distinction between the Nazi conquest of central Europe and the breaking of the Nazi grip in the French possessions. Few would deny that Vichy France was essentially a puppet state under Hitler, and yet Neilson takes the contrary for granted, not even condescending to argue the point. It hardly seems consistent, morever, to find Neilson in the very next section calling Allied dealings with Darlan "disgraceful." Apparently, as far as Neilson was concerned, to use force in possessions of Vichy France was a crime, but to act in cooperation with Vichy leaders, even to save many lives, was no better. The Allies, in his eyes, were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. In his final section, Neilson is wholly erroneous in declaring that "[t]he country was certainly not with [Churchill]" on the basis of some by-election results. He fails to make the enormously important distinction that most voters in 1945 made between Churchill the war leader and the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party was seen by many as the party of Munich and a failed past. Churchill, the man and leader, commanded wide support and remained enormously popular. Neilson's unhappiness at the dangers of the postwar world, as expressed in his concluding paragraphs, can be shared by many of us, and was shared by Churchill. The passage of more than 30 years without a general war since the review was written may, however, allow us more grounds for hope than either of them felt. •
Postcards, Cachets on Wartime Themes Some Examples From the Collection of L.L. Thomas, Surrey, UK H &PATH*OF*D UTY-- ISvTH K-WAY ABOVE: Churchill and Sir Edward Grey, a WW1 postcard in colour, printed in England, not posted, ABOVE RIGHT Peaslake, Surrey, with WSC insert and speech quotation, published by Photochrom, London and Tunbridge Wells "by permission of the Prime Minister." RIGHT: An all-purpose, elaborate Naval card by Bells of Westcliff, Essex, with space for the ship's name and engagements to be filled in; this example sent to a sailor's mother at Falmouth, Cornwall, franked by a l/2d George V definitive with wavy line postmark, stamped PASSED BY CENSOR on 20 September 1916. BELOW: Brown and white "Big Three" drawing, copyright R. Aboulafia, Jerusalem; the verse is from Ecclesiastes IV: 12. On reverse, a 3 mils Palestine stamp (Rachel's Tomb) postmarked Tel Aviv, 11 April 1945. The models for the busts were by M. Gur-Arieh. The "V" was, by that date, near fulfillment. H.M.S. MARYBOROUGH. The Battle of JUTLAND, CTlay 31, 1916. BELOW: Marshal of the RAF, Sir Arthur T. Harris, Bt. GCB, OBE, AFC, LLD died on 6 February 1984. Known as "Bomber," he was C-in-C of Bomber Command from February 1942 and instigated the 1000-bomber raid, but was much criticised for it later. RIGHT: "Bomber" Harris' signature on the RAF cover marking the 30th Anniversary of VJ-Day. Illustrated are aircraft which have been in service with 101 Squadron since 12 July 1917. The 8p Churchill Centenary stamp franks this interesting cover. Flown from RAF. Wadding ton Ir Mfrtftfrifi So^tlo corftpming Bombing and w^v$(j3tion 4E w*y^ 3*^fS tow Uvot ever Ww Uatttd Kingdom and Hank Sea. Tots! Flight Tims: 3 hrs 40 mine. C»pt»iti^ Fit. It R. M. AapiJisS Co-Pilot; Fg. Off, A.N; a^dt. ««. fUdw; FM, U F. J, £. Ctitctiiey Nav. Hoftet: Fit. U J. E. Cfark Ak StctrofiJc* Oftrew: Sqn. Idf. B. R. Dtsts
Page 2 and 3: NO. 59 • SPRING 1988 • ISSN 088
Page 4 and 5: ERRATA Issue 58, page 9, first foot
Page 6 and 7: INTERNATIONAL DATELINES, continued
Page 8 and 9: BICENTENNIAL PHILATELY: LEFT: Austr
Page 10 and 11: BY H. ASHLEY REDBURN, OBE A " most
Page 12 and 13: Menzies and Churchill. . . I do not
Page 14 and 15: was general respect and liking for
Page 16 and 17: Australia and use it as a base for
Page 18 and 19: UNITED KINOUOM AVON Combe Down/ Edm
Page 20 and 21: 15065 Natrons Hta./ Norman R. Hnsh
Page 22 and 23: Paintings: Banff's Bunkers An Amusi
Page 24 and 25: DALTON NEWFIELD "An essay into the
Page 26 and 27: Churchill in Stamps BY RICHARD M. L
Page 30 and 31: 100-75-50-25 YEARS AGO EDITED BY JO
Page 32 and 33: WENDY REVES ON FOREIGN EDITIONS As
Page 34 and 35: NEW MEMBERS, continued AUSTRALIA W.
Page 36: The continent of Australia is: •

Winston Churchill

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