The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

Colville, ‘who referred to our tremendous air efforts in the first battle as
“tardy, inadequate but nevertheless of some value”.’ This revealed one of
the persistent inconsistencies of the French: blaming the British for
deserting them but then criticizing them for their negligible contribution.
British condemnation of the French for letting everyone down was equally
vociferous; Churchill was amongst a minority who had a good word to say
about them. Bad feeling between the two countries was mounting and these
tensions were not just amongst the High Command. British prisoners had
been attacked by French POWs for their ‘desertion’ at Dunkirk so that the
Germans had to keep them separated.
On 10 June, Mussolini finally entered the war against the Allies, much to
everyone’s wrath, including Hitler’s. The Führer had already told Mussolini
that he did not want him coming in just yet. After all, Germany had done
quite well enough without the Italians and he did not want them trying to
cash in on easy booty now that France and Britain were on their knees. ‘It is
embarrassingly opportunistic,’ noted Gerhard Engel from Hitler’s
headquarters, ‘first of all they are too cowardly to fight with us and now
they cannot join us fast enough to get their share of the swag.’ Hitler had
muttered that from now on he would have to be far more cautious in his
dealings with the Italians. It was not exactly a cosy start to their military
alliance.
But while Mussolini’s timing was undoubtedly opportunistic, Italy’s
entry into the war created another massive headache for Britain and her
interests in the Mediterranean and Middle East at a time when she least
needed it. Indeed, barely had the declaration of war been made than Italian
bombers were over the key British naval port of Malta, which had been left
horribly under-defended. Italian troops were not considered any great threat
but the Italian navy was; the British Mediterranean Fleet would be
stretched. Rather than resenting Mussolini’s opportunism – and, in any case,
Hitler was strong enough to limit Italian involvement in the spoils of war –
he should have welcomed such a strategically placed ally, however late her
entry into the fray.
Jock Colville had to wake Churchill from his afternoon nap to tell him
of the Italian declaration. It was not at all unexpected, but with the news
that the French Government had now abandoned Paris, it put the Prime
Minister in a foul mood. ‘People who go to Italy to look at ruins,’ he