The following is a timeline of the first prime ministership of Winston Churchill, who was the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the bulk of World War II. His speeches and radio broadcasts helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult days of 1940-1 when the British Commonwealth and Empire stood almost alone in its active opposition to
Nazi Germany. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured.
After the
Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, Churchill became
Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. He would go on to be re-elected as Prime Minister in 1951.
April 3, 1940 (1940-04-03): The Ministerial Defence Committee, with the First Lord of the Admiralty (Winston Churchill) as its chair, replaces
Lord Chatfield's ministerial position of Minister for Coordination of Defence.
May 11, 1940 (1940-05-11): Churchill offers the former Kaiser
Wilhelm II, who is now living in the Netherlands, asylum in the United Kingdom; he declines.
May 14, 1940 (1940-05-14): The creation of the
Local Defence Volunteers (the Home Guard) is announced by the new
Secretary of State for WarAnthony Eden. It is mostly composed of the elderly and retired. Churchill asks President
Roosevelt and Canada for aid in these dark days. Outlines of the new British coalition, which includes Labour, Liberal, and Conservative members, is made public.
May 16, 1940 (1940-05-16): Churchill visits Paris and hears that the French war is as good as over
May 30, 1940 (1940-05-30): Crucial British Cabinet meeting: Churchill wins a vote on continuing the war, in spite of vigorous arguments by
Lord Halifax and Chamberlain.
August
August 20, 1940 (1940-08-20): Italy announces a blockade of British ports in the Mediterranean area.
August 25, 1940 (1940-08-25): Churchill orders the bombing of Berlin in retaliation for the previous night's bombing of
Cripplegate.
October
October 9, 1940 (1940-10-09): Neville Chamberlain resigns from the House of Commons for health reasons; Winston Churchill is elected head of the Conservative Party.
November
November 16, 1940 (1940-11-16): Churchill orders some British troops in North Africa to be sent to Greece, despite concerns by his military
1941
February
February 9, 1941 (1941-02-09): British forces reach
El Agheila,
Cyrenaica. British battleships shell
Genoa and British aircraft attack
Livorno. Churchill again pleads with the US: "give us the tools."
April
April 23, 1941 (1941-04-23): Greek government is evacuated to Crete, which Churchill is determined to defend.
June
June 22, 1940 (1940-06-22): Germany invasion of Russia begins, as
Operation Barbarossa
July
July 19, 1941 (1941-07-19): The "
V-sign", displayed most notably by Churchill, is unofficially adopted as the Allied signal, along with the motif of
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
December 7, 1941 (1941-12-07): Japan attacks the US Navy base of
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Within the next week, Japan also invades the Philippines, Burma, and Hong Kon.[2]
1942
April
April 14, 1942 (1942-04-14): Winston Churchill, concerned that the situation in Malta will cause the Axis forces in North Africa to be better supplied than British forces, sends a telegram to
Sir Stafford Cripps in Cairo, asking him to pressure
General Auchinleck to take offensive action before this can occur.
April 20, 1942 (1942-04-20): General Dobbie, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of
Malta, sends a message to
Winston Churchill saying "it is obvious that the very worst may happen if we cannot replenish our vital needs, especially flour and ammunition, and that very soon...." Churchill concludes from this and other "disturbing news" that Dobbie is not capable enough for such an important job, and decides to replace him with
Lord Gort.
May
May 9, 1942 (1942-05-09): On the night of 8/9 May 1942, gunners of the
Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebelled. Their mutiny was crushed and three of them were executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War. USS Wasp and HMS Eagle deliver a second contingent of Spitfires to Malta in
Operation Bowery. A few days later, a grateful Churchill will signal Wasp "Who says a Wasp can't sting twice?" These aircraft, employed more aggressively than those previously delivered, turn the tide in the skies over Malta during the next few days, and the Axis is forced to abandon daylight bombing. This is a major turning point in the Siege, and thus in the North African Campaign, although the approaches to the island remain subject to deadly and accurate Axis air attack, preventing efficient re-supply of the island.
May 10, 1942 (1942-05-10): 10: Churchill, growing ever more frustrated with
General Auchinleck's inactivity, finally sends him a telegram with a clear order; attack in time to cover for the Harpoon/Vigorous convoys to Malta during the dark of the moon in early June. This places Auchinleck in the position of complying or resigning. Auchinleck does not immediately reply, leaving Churchill, CIGS, and the War Cabinet in a state of suspense.
May 17, 1942 (1942-05-17): It has been a week since Churchill sent his ultimatum to
General Auchinleck, and he has not yet received a reply. He sends a terse follow-up: "It is necessary for me to have some account of your general intentions in light of our recent telegrams." Again there is no immediate reply.
May 19, 1942 (1942-05-19): General Auchinleck at last replies to Churchill's somewhat urgent telegram of the 10th, saying he will have an attack ready by the sailing of the Harpoon/Vigorous convoys for Malta.
May 21, 1942 (1942-05-21): In discussions with Winston Churchill and
Anthony Eden, Molotov continues to press Soviet demands for territorial acquisitions made during the run-up to war, including the Baltic states, Eastern Poland, and Bessarabia. Churchill cannot or will not agree to these demands, and the talks become deadlocked.
June
June 14, 1942 (1942-06-14): At the
Gazala Line, the British position has become untenable, and General Auchinleck authorizes General Ritchie to make a concerted withdrawal from forward positions along the line. 1st South African Division is able to withdraw along the coastal road, but the road cannot accommodate all the troops at once, and this route is in any event is under threat of being cut by
Rommel's forces; so troops including 50th Division must first breakout to the southwest, through the area occupied by Italian X Corps, and then turn east to rejoin 8th Army. This somewhat daring operation is concluded successfully. The RAF forces available, although outnumbered, make a valiant effort to cover the retreat. Churchill sends
Auchinleck a telegram beginning, 'To what position does Ritchie want to withdraw the Gazala troops? Presume there is no question in any case of giving up Tobruk.' The convoy 'Vigorous', en route to Malta, sights a large Italian naval squadron headed toward it. 'Harpoon' comes under attack for the first time; 'Vigorous' has been under air attack almost since leaving port.
June 15, 1942 (1942-06-15): General Auchinleck sends Churchill a reply to the latter's telegram of the 14th, saying in part, "...I have no intention whatever of giving up Tobruk."
June 16, 1942 (1942-06-16): Churchill, about to leave for America, takes the unusual step of sending a letter to HRM George VI, advising him to make Anthony Eden Prime Minister should Churchill not survive the journey.
June 18, 1942 (1942-06-18): Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for meetings with Roosevelt.
July
July 2, 1942 (1942-07-02): Churchill survives a censure motion in the House of Commons.
August
July 12, 1942 (1942-07-12): At a conference in Moscow, Churchill informs
Stalin that there will not be a "second front" in 1942.
July 13, 1942 (1942-07-13): General Bernard Montgomery appointed commander of British Eighth Army in North Africa; Churchill is anxious to see more offensive action on the part of the British.
November
November 10, 1942 (1942-11-10): Montgomery begins a major British offensive beginning at Sollum on the Libya/Egypt border. The British reach
Bardia on the 11th,
Tobruk on the 12th, and
Benghazi on the 18th. Lieutenant
General Montgomery is knighted and made a full General. Churchill speaks: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
December
December 17, 1942 (1942-12-17): From the floor of the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden reads what is known as the
Joint Declaration by Members of the United Nations, in which the Allies denounce the German extermination of Jews. A copy of the declaration appears on the front pages of newspapers around the world.[3]
1943
January
January 14, 1943 (1943-01-14): The
Casablanca Conference of Allied leaders begins.
Winston Churchill and
Franklin D. Roosevelt discuss the eventual invasion of mainland Europe, the impending invasion of Sicily and Italy, and the wisdom of the principle of "unconditional surrender".
May
May 12, 1943 (1943-05-12): The
Trident Conference begins in
Washington, D.C. with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill taking part. The discussions are mostly on future strategy.[4][5]
May 19, 1943 (1943-05-19): Winston Churchill addresses a joint session of the
U.S. Congress. He praises the partnership of the two Allies.[5]
July
July 25, 1943 (1943-07-25): Benito Mussolini, which leads to the formation of a new government in Italy.
November 27, 1943 (1943-11-27): The Cairo Conference ("Sextant") ends; Roosevelt, Churchill, and
Chiang Kai-shek complete the
Cairo Declaration, which deals with the overall strategic plan against Japan.
November 28, 1943 (1943-11-28): The
Tehran Conference . US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and Soviet Leader
Joseph Stalin meet in
Tehran to discuss war strategy; (on November 30 they establish an agreement concerning a planned June 1944 invasion of Europe codenamed
Operation Overlord). Stalin at last has the promise he has been waiting for.
June 6, 1944 (1944-06-06): British and US troops land at Normandy in France, initiating a
Second Front against Germany. Codenamed
Operation Overlord, the day is also known as D-Day.
August
April 20, 1945 (1945-04-20): Allied troops reach Paris.
September
September 12, 1944 (1944-09-12): The
Second Quebec Conference (codenamed "Octagon") begins: Roosevelt and Churchill discuss military cooperation in the Pacific and the future of Germany.[8]
October
October 9, 1944 (1944-10-09): The
Moscow Conference (1944) begins: Churchill and
Stalin discuss spheres of influence in the postwar Balkans.
December
December 3, 1944 (1944-12-03): The British army and the police shot unarmed protesters in Athens, the crowd carried Greek, American, British and Soviet flags, and chanted: "Viva Churchill, Viva Roosevelt, Viva Stalin’"
August 6, 1945 (1945-08-06): The United States drops an atomic bomb on
Hiroshima.
August 8, 1945 (1945-08-08): The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.
August 9, 1945 (1945-08-09): Japan agrees in principle to unconditional surrender.[10]
September
September 2, 1945 (1945-09-02): Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II[10]
References
^Keegan, John (1994). The Times Atlas of the Second World War. London. pp. 16–17. {{
cite book}}: |work= ignored (
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