Finest Years (91 page)

Read Finest Years Online

Authors: Max Hastings

Tags: #Non-Fiction

France, Anatole, 593

Franco, Gen. Francisco, 70

Frankfurter, Felix, 184, 300

Franks (Lee's British driver), 189

Fraser, Admiral Sir Bruce, 250, 319

Free French (and Free France): in Britain, 56; failure to take Dakar, 70; seize Newfoundland islands, 227–8; fight against Axis powers, 365

Freeman, Air Marshal Sir Wilfred, 83, 194, 208

French, David, 369

French army: Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (FFI), 460, 472

French fleet: fear of use by Germans, 45, 69; Britain requests delivery to British ports, 54; bombarded by British at Mers-el-Kebir, 69–70 VESSELS:
Jean-Bart
(battleship), 220;
Milan
(destroyer), 56;
Richelieu
(battleship), 220

Freyburg, Maj.Gen. Bernard (
later
1st Baron), commands in Crete, 133–5, 365

Gallipoli campaign (1915), 2, 8

Gamelin, Gen. Maurice, 5, 24

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma), 255

Garcia, Clive, 310

Gardiner, A.G., 9, 593

Gaulle, Gen. Charles de: on WSC's demeanour in France, 46; WSC admires resolution, 48–9; invited to lunch with WSC and Eden, 54; broadcasts to France from London, 56; WSC endorses as leader of Free French, 75; on Pearl Harbor, 214; on Roosevelt, 224; on Darlan, 347; stormy relations with WSC, 347–8, 356–7; character, 349; and Giraud, 349; meets Giraud at Casablanca conference, 356, 359; recognised in North Africa, 365; US distaste for, 365, 446, 479; exasperates WSC, 446–7; urges restraint on Resistance activists, 453; attracts few followers, 454; instructions to Resistance groups, 458; expels SOE personnel from France, 473; animosity towards Britain, 486; returns to England for D-Day, 486; declines to meet WSC in Algiers, 505; returns to France as
de facto
ruler, 505, 513, 523; WSC dismisses wish to attend Yalta conference, 543

Gazala, 318

George II, King of Greece, 463–4, 469, 526, 531, 533, 538–9

George VI, King: WSC reports to, 24, 242; opposes Beaverbrook's appointment to cabinet, 82; regular meetings with WSC, 86; message from Roosevelt, 179; welcomes Winant as US ambassador, 185; on WSC's official burdens, 257; WSC sees on return from Tehran conference, 439; dissuades WSC from witnessing D-Day landings, 485

German army

Afrika Korps: advance in Libya, 130; Hitler reinforces, 252, 345; superior weapons and tactics, 264, 268, 317–18; repulsed at Alam Halfa, 335; supply ships attacked, 336

German navy

U-boats: campaign in Atlantic, 113, 199, 215, 367; signals intercepted, 158; attack arctic convoys, 241; and Coastal Command, 250; tracked by Ultra, 337

VESSELS:
Bismarck
(battleship), 138, 171, 192, 195;
Gneisenau
(battlecruiser), 237;
Scharnhorst
(battlecruiser), 237;
Tirpitz
(battleship), 192, 205, 245

Germany: advance in West, 5–8, 13, 17–19, 21, 23–4; air threat to Britain, 13; as invasion threat to England (Operation ‘Sealion'), 18, 24, 30–1, 67–9, 73–4, 81, 87, 94–7, 100–1, 123–4, 207, 217; occupies Paris, 51; press comments on WSC, 77–8; signals decoded, 84–5; bombing campaign against, 97, 113, 246–51, 324, 334, 358, 368, 424–6, 558–64; prospective attack against Russia, 103; invades Russia, 149–50, 152; non-aggression pact with Russia (1939), 151; advance in Russia, 169; declares war on USA, 215–16; given priority as war aim, 220–1, 354; military culture and efficiency, 264–5, 270; superiority of armour and weapons, 268; losses at Stalingrad, 344; unconditional surrender demand on, 360; Soviet predominance in defeat of, 362; surrender of Sixth Army at Stalingrad, 365; resists Allied advance in Italy, 390–2, 427, 442–3, 481, 494; retreat before Russians, 403; counters and suppresses Resistance fighters, 453–6, 464; introduces forced labour throughout Europe, 457; secret weapons deployed against Britain, 479, 490; anti-Hitler faction in, 499–500; continuing resistance after D-Day, 499; post-war settlement discussed at Quebec, 511–12; Morgenthau proposes pastoralising, 512; division and reparations agreed at Yalta, 551, 553; civilian casualties from bombing, 563; surrenders, 569;
see also
Luftwaffe

Ghormley, Rear-Admiral Robert, 108

Gibraltar, 66

Gibson, Wing-Commander Guy, 387–8

Gide, André, 453

Gildea, Robert, 453 Giraud, Gen. Henri, 348–9, 356, 359, 365

Gloucester, Prince Henry, Duke of, 309, 335

Goebbels, Joseph, 68, 247, 512

Goering, Hermann, 40, 80, 99, 102

Golovanov, Alexander, 327

Gordon, John, 265–6, 287

Gort, Gen. John Vereker, 6th Viscount: qualities, 14; campaign as BEF commander, 19, 21, 25; and expected French counter-attack, 24; on evacuation from Dunkirk, 36; instructed to fight on, 38; plans to hold Dunkirk perimeter, 39; ordered to quit Dunkirk, 42; dispatch on 1940 campaign in France, 208; as governor of Malta, 427

Gott, Lt.Gen. William (‘Strafer'), 319–20, 366

Graziani, Marshal Rodolfo, 118

Greece: WSC visits (December 1944), xxii, 534–40; Italians invade, 118–19; British intervention and campaign in, 119–20, 124–6, 128–9; Germans invade and occupy, 124, 130, 133; British evacuate, 133; US-British disagreements over, 430; Resistance movement, 461, 463–4; internal dissensions, 462–3; German reprisals, 464–5; communist hostility to WSC, 469; troops and sailors in Egypt mutiny, 479–80; post-liberation settlement, 493, 507, 515–16, 524; British troops in after German withdrawal, 514; post-liberation civil disorder, 524–34, 539–41; opts for regency, 538

Green, Corp. Geoffrey, 192, 197

Green, Muriel, 27

Green, Yolande, 107

Greene, Major A.P., 532–3

Greenwood, Arthur, 10, 30, 37, 140, 145

Gretton, Col. John, 13

Griffiths, Eaton, 83

Griffiths, James, 241

Grigg, Sir James, 126–7

Gubbins, Maj.Gen. Colin, 471–2

Guderian, Gen. Heinz, 5

Guns of Navarone, The
(film), 401

Gunther, John, 482

Gusev, Feodor, 398–9, 580–3

Gustav V Adolf, King of Sweden: mediation offer to Britain and Germany, 78

Hachmeister, Louise, 296

Hackett, Walter, 7

Haig, Field Marshal Douglas, 1st Earl, 261

Halifax, Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of: and WSC's appointment as prime minister, 2–3, 8; career and experience, 10; proposes Italian mediation with Hitler, 26, 28, 33, 36; threatens resignation, 33; suggests direct call upon USA, 37; opposes sending more forces to France, 43; travels to Tours with WSC, 48–9; recommends Menzies as head of Intelligence, 85; Lothian advocates negotiations to, 105; as prospective Tory leader, 106; as ambassador in Washington, 126, 174, 178, 191, 232, 295; attitude to Americans, 174; on WSC's visit to Washington, 224; on Conservative blindness to social welfare, 282; Beaverbrook meets in USA, 288; unpopularity in USA, 300; fears US demands for Lend-Lease repayments, 377; Hopkins confides in, 513; on US view of British actions in Greece, 531

Hammond, Nick, 464

Hankey, Maurice Pascal Alers, 1st Baron: disparages WSC's war cabinet, 11, 17; on Lords' ‘Fifth Column', 27; criticises WSC, 133, 242; on German military superiority, 133; opposes aiding Stalin, 163; criticises Beaverbrook, 166; and proposed dismissal of Tedder, 208; dismissed, 242; and Cairncross, 320–1

Harriman, Averell: accompanies delegation to Russia, 164–5; WSC's relations with, 178; mission to Britain, 185, 187–8; and US aid to Britain, 186; convinced of US entering war, 187; at Placentia Bay, 196; writes to WSC on British inaction, 206; and Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 212; on Roosevelt's international ideas, 231; reports Skelton's pessimistic views to Roosevelt, 243; joins WSC on visit to Moscow, 315, 320, 325, 328–9; on easy living in Cairo, 316; on de Gaulle and Giraud, 348; on US readiness to disparage British, 357; on WSC's distress at Roosevelt's insisting on unconditional surrender, 360; on Roosevelt's indifference to East European question, 434; affair with Pamela Churchill, 510; as ambassador in Moscow, 515

Harriman, Kathleen, 187–8

Harris, Air Marshal Sir Arthur: on dealing with Americans, 175–6; as C.in C. Bomber Command, 247, 251, 561; relations with WSC, 248–9; on Guy Gibson's trip to Canada with WSC, 388; diverts bombing campaign to Berlin, 424–5; on effects of bombing offensive, 425; opposes SOE, 457

Hart, (Sir) Basil Liddell: on German strategy in Belgium, 5; on WSC's new war cabinet, 11; urges negotiated peace, 111; on WSC's Anzio plan, 441

Harvey, (Sir) Oliver (
later
Baron): pessimism, 123; on government hostility to Russia, 168; on Halifax's ambassadorship in USA, 175; on ailing WSC, 236; believes WSC jealous of Stalin's military successes, 240; on Roosevelt's willingness to sacrifice men in second front, 292; on WSC's vist to Middle East, 315; on Lampson, 316; on army caution, 346; on assassination of Darlan, 349; compares Russia's successes with British inaction, 382; and WSC's dismissal of Stimson's proposal to advance D-Day, 385; on Hitler bomb plot, 500; on WSC's visit to Italy, 508; on WSC's growing attention to foreign affairs, 546; on WSC's 1945 election campaign, 579

Harwood, Admiral Sir Henry, 319

Hassett, William, 225, 298, 393

Headlam, Cuthbert, 11, 76, 154, 175, 276, 280, 310, 371, 444, 520

Hemingway, Ernest, 488

Henderson, G.F.R.: biography of Stonewall Jackson, 115

Hennessy, Patrick, 83

Henry V
(film of Shakespeare play), 499

Hess, Rudolf, 82, 137

Heydrich, Heinrich: assassinated, 455

Hichens, Lt. Robert, 39, 60–1, 97

Hill, A.V., 249

Hill, Kathleen, 119, 203

Himmler, Heinrich, 565

Hiss, Alger, 321

Hitler, Adolf: indifference to suffering, xxiii; and German advance in West, 5, 8, 15; and attack on Norway, 9; withholds forces at Dunkirk, 40; orders air campaign against Britain, 78; publicly offers choice of peace or suffering to Britain, 78; and proposed invasion of Britain, 100–1; declares no interest in Africa, 124; invasion of Russia, 150–1, 156; neglects attacks on Britain, 157; and attack on Stalingrad, 324; reinforces North Africa after Allied successes, 345, 351; WSC refuses to negotiate with, 359–60; Italian defence strategy, 392, 494; responds to British operations in Aegean, 407; congratulates commanders for Aegean success, 417; bomb plot against (20 July 1944), 499–500; compared with WSC, 594

Hoare, Sir Samuel (
later
Viscount Templewood), 17, 82, 145

Hobart, Maj.-Gen. Percy, 83

Hodgson, Vere: on effect of WSC's broadcasts, 76, 124; on Crete campaign, 134; view of Russia, 155; on WSC's American characteristics, 178; on Hopkins's broadcast, 183; on announcement of Atlantic Charter, 199; on Pearl Harbor, 214; on bombing offensive against Germany, 248; on fall of Tobruk, 303; on victories in North Africa, 343

Hogg, Quintin McGarel (
later
Baron Hailsham), 3

Holland: Germans overrun, 5, 7–8, 11; British financial support for, 50; refuses to sell gold for sterling, 173; Resistance movement, 453; SOE operations penetrated by Germans, 458

Holland, Sgt Jeffrey, 415–16

Hollis, Brig. Leslie, 142

Holmes, Marion, 485, 489, 542–3, 548

Hong Kong: Roosevelt proposes transfer to Chiang Kai-shek, 429

Hopkins, Harry: and WSC's intervention in Greece, 125; relationship with Roosevelt, 145, 179; unpopularity in USA, 145, 179–80; WSC's relations with, 178–83; as Roosevelt's personal emissary to Britain, 179–83; appearance and character, 180; favours support of Britain, 185; travels to WSC-Roosevelt meeting at Placentia Bay, 191–3; and British disappointment over Roosevelt's lack of commitment, 200; and Roosevelt's interest in authorship of WSC's speeches, 229; letter from Clementine Churchill, 242; bolsters WSC in Commons address, 257–8; mission to WSC to open second front, 283; British lack connection with, 295–6; visits WSC with Marshall and King, 311–12; talks to NKVD agent, 321; cable from WSC on delayed Sicilian landings, 370; on WSC's reactionary attitude to post-war situation, 393; and Roosevelt's proposal to transfer Hong Kong to Chiang Kai-shek, 429; at Tehran conference, 431; takes son to Cairo conference, 433; on talking to WSC, 485; and WSC's frustrated strategic proposals, 504; absence from second Quebec conference, 513; and WSC's regret at rift in relations with USA, 530; WSC complains to of Yalta location, 547

Horsfall, John, 38

Howard, Leslie, 380

Howard, Michael (historian), 184, 466, 499

Howarth, Bertram, 578

Howarth, Ellie, 579

Hoxha, Enver, 462

Hull, Cordell: advises Roosevelt, 50; on supply of US aid to Britain, 171; anger at Free French seizure of Newfoundland islands, 227–8; attends Quebec conference, 387; on French, 447; appalled at Morgenthau Plan, 512; and WSC's bilateral talks with Stalin, 515; Stettinius replaces, 627

Hungary: deportation of Jews, 501

Husky
, Operation, 370, 375, 384

Ickes, Harold, 182–3, 223

Imphal, 480

India: British policy on, 151, 299; famine in Bengal, 236; Cripps visits to discuss post-war independence, 254–5

Indian Army: deployment against Japanese, 369

Indian National Congress, 254, 256

Information, Ministry of, 16, 476

Iononu, Ismet, 364

Iran: oilfields, 117

Iraq: Britain seizes after attack on RAF base, 137–8

Irish Free State: denies support to Britain, 70–2; Britain proposes union with north, 71–3

Ironside, Gen. Sir Edmund (
later
1st Baron), 14, 19, 24–5, 73–4, 139

Ismay, Maj.Gen. Hastings (
later
Baron; ‘Pug'): on French weakness, 15; visits France with WSC, 16, 45, 47; and WSC's denying further RAF support for France, 20; meets Pétain, 41; advocates restraining British reinforcements in France, 50; and WSC's reactions to visiting Fighter Command Operations Room, 86–7; and WSC's delaying addressing ship's company, 90; status and relations with WSC, 143, 568; on WSC as ‘child of nature', 148; on delegation to Russia, 164; and WSC's calling for army action, 201; and dispatch of material to Far East, 217; moves to White's club, 260; admires WSC's resisting second front demands, 306; on WSC's arrival in Casablanca, 352; visits ailing WSC in Malta, 427; and Smuts's concern for WSC's health, 449; at Chequers, 450; and WSC's support for French Resistance, 471; on WSC's preference for big occasions, 508; on WSC's proposal to drive back Russians in Europe, 575; and WSC's respect for Commons, 592

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