The Churchill War Papers At The Admiralty September 1939 May 1940

Forms part of the official biography of Winston Churchill, consisting of eight narrative volumes and twenty-three planned document volumes. Drawn from Churchill's personal papers and other archives, the document volumes contain materials referenced in the narrative, including top secret telegrams, private letters and diaries from family, friends, and opponents.

"The three newest volumes of The Churchill Documents cover the start of World War II. As with previous volumes, they collect a remarkably wide range of archives too voluminous to include in Randolph S. Churchill and Sir Martin Gilbert's multivolume biography of Winston Churchill"--Bloomsbury Collections.

The Admiralty papers contain correspondence, minutes, and War Cabinet papers created or accumulated as a result of WSC's activities as First Lord of the Admiralty, a position held from 3 September 1939 to 10 May 1940 when he became Prime Minister. The material contains correspondence with senior Admiralty figures, politicians including Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, public and foreign figures including Edward, Duke of Windsor [earlier Edward, Prince of Wales and Edward VIII], and WSC's Personal Assistant Professor F A Lindemann [later 1st Lord Cherwell] on subjects including naval strategy and engagements, armament production, merchant shipping, and more general political considerations. The file of Secret and Personal correspondence [CHAR 19/2A-C] is an original file recovered from the Admiralty Private Office in 1946. It contains some material not confined to the departmental limits of the Admiralty.

A comprehensive, chronologically arranged account of the two-month campaignEmbraces viewpoints of all the combatants: British, French, German, Norwegian and PolishMany first-hand accounts, previously unpublished or not in general circulation Ostensibly fought for control of Swedish iron ore to Germany, the Norwegian campaign made an important but largely overlooked contribution to the conduct of the Second World War. It convincingly proved the supremacy of air power in modern warfare and, particularly, the vulnerability of land and sea forces to sustained undefended air assault. It was the first conflict in which one side, the Germans, used all three arms of their forces in integrated combined assault – Blitzkreig – and in which parachute and glider-borne troops were used to secure airfields and strategic targets. In contrast, the Allies tried to conduct the campaign on land, with an overreliance on infantrymen and inadequate air support. Norway 1940: Chronicle of a Chaotic Campaign deals with the strategic and political imperatives in an integrated and comprehensive manner, as well as operations, in a complex and rapidly changing two-month campaign. While other books on the campaign have tended to focus on a limited perspective, such as naval operations or the higher levels of political decision-making with no combatant or personal perspective, this book makes much use of many previously unpublished contemporary writings and eyewitness accounts of the people involved in the Norwegian campaign. 32 black-and-white photographs

The meticulously researched account of the defence of Malta and its role, importance and contribution to the Allied effort during WW2.

"This volume starts with the outbreak of war in September 1939 and ends with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In it, Martin Gilbert reveals not only how each decision was reached, but what influences lay behind it, whether of individuals or of information reaching Churchill from the most secret source of British Intelligence. Drawing on a remarkable diversity of material, including the War Cabinet and other Government records, as well as Churchill's own archive, the diaries and letters of his private secretariat, and the recollections of those who worked most closely with him, Martin Gilbert reveals the full extent of Churchill's personal contribution to every aspect of the struggle. On the day Hitler invaded Poland, Churchill, aged sixty-four, had been out of office for ten years. Two days later, on 3 September 1939, he became First Lord of the Admiralty, in charge of British naval policy and at the center of war direction. On 10 May 1940 he became Prime Minister, leading his nation during a time of grave danger and setbacks. His first year and a half as Prime Minister included the Dunkirk evacuation, the fall of France, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the Battle of the Atlantic, the struggle in the Western Desert, and Hitler's invasion of Russia. By the end of 1940, Britain under Churchill's leadership had survived the onslaught and was making plans to continue the war against an enemy of unlimited ambition and ferocious will. One of Churchill's inner circle said: "We who worked with Churchill every day of the war still saw at most a quarter of his daily tasks and worries." Martin Gilbert has pieced together the whole, setting in context much hitherto scattered and secret evidence, in order to give an intimate and fascinating account of the architect of Britain's 'finest hour'"--Bloomsbury collection.