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It is fifty years siniç the death of
1874-1965
hurchill was no angel power to all those who were suc- After the military debacle of Dun-
- displays of supreme cessful and dismiss all those who kirk in the spring of 1940, it see-
wisdom were intersper- were not. Nothing was too large med certain that Hitler would in-
C sed with outbursts of or too small for his attention. He vade England, but first the German
childish petulance, nasty remarks, would stimulate all aspects of his Luftwaffe had to gain mastery of the
overbearing manners, tempestuous civilian and military administration skies. At the height of "The Battle of
moods and unsocial working hours. with explosive energy in a series Britain", the Luftwaffe was targe-
However, bad news brought out the of penetrating memoranda which ting airfields and aircraft factories
best in him - disasters inspired him were known as "little prayers" - in an attempt to destroy the Royal
to greatness. "Pray tell me ... action this day" Air Force (RAF). Fortunately for
- dictated to a secretary from his the British, Goering, the comman-
During the Second World War, four-poster bed with its flowery der of the Luftwaffe, kept switching
Churchill guided the United chintz hangings, while chewing his main attack while his aircraft
Kingdom with a few simple prin- on a cigar and sipping a glass of were suffering unsustainable losses.
ciples: the entire nation would pro- whisky and soda. He would inter- After a German bomber acciden-
secute the war as one body; anyone rogate his service chiefs in depth tally dropped its bombs on London,
who would share the burden was about their intentions, but never go Churchill ordered the RAF to drop
an ally - even the communists. He against their collective judgement. bombs on Berlin. In retaliation,
also knew that there was no way the He enjoyed sweeping power, while Goering now told the Luftwaffe to
British would survive without the holding himself responsible to abandon the British airfields and
support of the United States of Parliament, whose support became turn its attention to large cities.
America. Churchill would delegate a further source of strength. The urban centres of the United
44 Culture