Allen Packwood, the director of the Churchill Archives Centre, recently published How Churchill Waged War: The Most Challenging Decisions of the Second World War. With his unrivaled knowledge of the Churchill papers, he has written a perceptive and penetrating study of Churchill’s decision-making during the war. Allen was interviewed about his new book by this blog.
1) How Churchill Waged War reflects extensive use of primary document collections. Please describe the papers and documents you used in the research for the book.
Naturally, I made extensive use of the Churchill Papers collection: the personal archive of Sir Winston Churchill, comprised in some one million items contained in over two thousand boxes. But I also used many of the Churchill Archives Centre’s related collections: the archives of those who worked with, for and sometimes against Sir Winston. This was also an opportunity for me to explore the contents of other repositories, and in particular to come to grips with the wealth of Churchill material at the UK National Archives.
2) Under Churchill’s leadership, British political, military, and diplomatic decision-making during the Second World War was far more professional than in the Great War. How did Churchill approach his role at the top of the British government?
He approached it with a determination to play a hands- on Chief Executive role. By making himself Minister of Defence, as well as Prime Minister, he ensured that the military Chiefs of Staff were reporting directly to him, and, by combining the political support apparatus of No.10 Downing Street with the War Cabinet secretariat and his own special advisers, he created a powerful central apparatus for delivering his policy of ‘Action This Day’. However, he was also astute enough to realize that he was running a coalition government and needed to take his political colleagues with him in the big decisions, especially as he initially lacked his own powerbase in Westminster.
3) What were Churchill’s most important qualities and shortcomings as a war leader?
He was a combustible mix of energy, determination and eloquence that did not always make him a congenial colleague. He also had a tendency to try and micro manage his military commanders, but he refused to countenance defeat and worked tirelessly to build and maintain the Allied coalition against fascism.
4) Chapter six of the book, “Leadership or Interference,” discusses Churchill’s dismissal of General Auchinleck in 1942. Why did Churchill remove Auchinleck from command?
Churchill believed in taking the fight to the enemy and had come to believe that Auchinleck was too cautious and poor in choosing his subordinates. With the British having been defeated in Norway, France, Greece, Singapore and Hong Kong, he badly needed a victory and doubted Auchinleck’s ability to deliver it. At that moment, in the summer of 1942, he was also desperate to show the Americans and the Russians that Britain could and would fight in the Mediterranean, and to resist what he saw as their premature calls for a Second Front in NW Europe.
5) Over the period of late 1941 and early 1942, the British suffered a series of military disasters and embarrassments (Singapore, Channel Dash). How did Churchill survive the defeats and retain office as prime minister?
He faced two votes of no confidence in the House of Commons in 1942, and though these were easily defeated, they were a sign of growing discontent, which also began to manifest itself in the British press. Churchill showed himself adept at managing parliament, and ultimately restructured his government to head off some of the criticism, bowing to pressure to create a Minister of Production and bringing one of his main rivals, Stafford Cripps, into the War Cabinet. Of course, he famously quipped that there was only one thing worse than having allies!
6) The 1945 election was a severe defeat for Churchill and the Conservatives. Why did Churchill fight the election so aggressively?
Clementine felt that he should have retired while at the height of his fame, but Winston said he was not ready to be put on a pedestal. Once in the campaign, he chose not to sit above the fray but instead to attack his former Labour Party colleagues. He may have been exhausted and preoccupied with the forthcoming Potsdam conference, but this was also a manifestation of his nature – he was a fighter and could not resist going on the offensive.
7) Two of Churchill’s lesser cabinet colleagues during the Second World War were Leo Amery and Duff Cooper. What was Churchill’s relationship with Amery and Cooper?
Churchill had known Amery since Harrow School, where he had famously pushed him into the swimming lake. They had served together as journalists in the Boer War. Similarly, Duff Cooper was someone Churchill had known for much of his political career, and whose resignation over Chamberlain’s Munich policy he had admired. These were friends but often critical ones and also political rivals.
8) How ultimately did Churchill wage the Second World War?
He waged it constantly, tirelessly and often from a position of weakness. He did so by focusing on a policy of victory: by fighting one battle at a time and by doing what seemed best in the moment, regardless of potential future consequences.
9) Are you currently working on another Churchill project?
I would love to write something on how Churchill and Attlee made peace, which has a nice double meaning! But, for the moment at least, my responsibilities as Director of the Churchill Archives Centre must come first.