Table Of ContentA BANTAM WARBOOK ^
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AS THEY BATTLED
TO WIN WORLD WAR IIJHIS WAS
THEIR FINEST HOUR.
AN ACCOUNTOFTHE
-^. EVENTS UPON WHICH THE
BBC-LE VIEN TV
PLAY BY IAN CURTEIS
WAS BASED.
. .
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AUG 1 1
"WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER!"
"The Battle of France is over. The Battle of
Britain is about to begin. . . . The whole fury and
might of the enemy must very soon be turned on
us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us
in theisland orlosethewar. . .
"You ask, what is our policy? I will say; it is to
wage war by sea, land and air . . . to wage war
against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in
the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime.
. . . You ask, whatis our aim? I can answer in one
word: Victory.
.
"We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall
fightwith growingconfidence andgrowing strength
in the air; we shall defend our island, whatever
the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall
fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight
inthe hills; we shallnever surrender. . .'*
—
T—HE— BANTAM WAR BOOK SERIES
i» - — *
Thisisaseries ofbooks about aworld onfire.
These carefully chosen volumes cover the full dra-
matic sweep of World War II. Many are eyewitness
accounts by the men who fought in this global con-
flictinwhichthefutureofthecivilized world hung in*
balance. Fighter pilots, tank commanders and infan-
try commanders, among others, recount exploits of
individual courage in the midst of the large-scale ter-
rors ofwar. They present portraits of brave men and
true stories of gallantry and cowardice in action,
moving sagas of survival and tragedies of untimely
death. Some of the stories are told from the enemy
viewpoint to give the reader an immediate sense of
the incrediblelife and death struggle of both sides of
the battle.
Through these books We begin to discover what it
was like to be there, aparticipant in an epic war for
freedom.
Each ofthebooksinthe BantamWar Book series
contains adramaticcolorpaintingandillustrations
specially commissioned for each title to give the
reader a deeper understanding of the roles played
by the men and machines of World War II.
CHURCHILL AND
THE GENERALS
BY BARRIE PITT
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
JACK LE VIEN
An account ofthe events
uponwhich theBBC-Le Vien TV play
by Ian Curteis,
CHURCHILL AND THE GENERALS,
was based.
i^
i
CHURCHILLAND THE GENERALS
A GinigerBookpublishedby the
K. S. Giniger Company,Inc., New York,
A Bantam Book / March 1981
Drawingsby TomBeecham, GregBeecham andStephen Bach,
Maps by Alan McKnight.
Allrightsreserved.
Copyright© 1981 byBarriePitt &JohnD. LeVien,
Coverart copyright ©1981 byBantam Books, Inc.
Thisbook may notbe reproducedin whole or in part, by
mimeograph oranyothermeans, withoutpermission.
Forinformation address: BantamBooks,Inc.
ISBN 0-553-1461(>-€
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
Bantam Booksure published by Bantam Books, Inc. Its trade-
mark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and the por-
trayal ofa bantam, isRegistered in U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam
Books, Inc.. 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103.
PRINTEDIN THEUNITEDSTATES OFAMERICA
0987654321
FOREWORD
This bookhad its genesis in the autumn of 1976 when Cedric
Messina, a senior television producer at the BBC, conceived
the unique idea of a TV drama based on the fascinating re-
lationships between Winston Churchill and the British and
American Generals of World War II. The BBC invited me to
act as co-producer because, although an American, I had pro-
duced a number of films, television series and TV specials
based on Sir Winston's writings with his direct consent and
encouragement.
Ian Curteis, one of Britain's foremost television dramatists,
was assigned to prepare the screenplay. Alan Gibson, a Cana-
dian, brought his considerable experience to bear on the com-
plex task of direction. We were especially fortunate that the
BBC appointed as their producer Alan Shallcross, a talented
TV veteran. His was the manmioth task of marshalling and
deploying a team at times over 300 strong.
After 3 years of intense effort, the program was first tele-
vised on the BBC in September 1979 to great critical and
public acclaim. At this writing, it is being sponsored on U.S.
commercial television by Mobil on the Mobil Showcase Net-
work and is being telecast world-wide in English and foreign-
language versions.
With a cast of 16 principal actors, led by—Timothy West as
Churchill, the program runs almost 3 hours at the time of its
making, the longest singletelevisionplay ever presented.
Because television is such a transitory medium and because
of the success of the program, we commissioned Barrie Pitt,
whose chronicling of historic events has brought excitement
and enlightenment to millions, to prepare this book based on
the same theme.
Vl FOREWORD
THE THEME
On 10th May, 1940, whenWinston Churchill became Prime
Minister and took over control of Britain's war effort, he in-
herited few practical military plans, little strategy, a strained
exchequer, some untried generals, and a German offensive
that would soon isolate his country. His first grim duty was to
preside overthe greatestBritish defeatinhistory and it seemed
impossible that he could stop the victorious German army
from sweeping across the Channel and overwhelming his be-
loved, beleaguered island.
During ayear of mortal perilwhile England stood alone, he
appointed key men to the command of the forces upon which
the Free World's survival depended. Men like Wavell, Au-
chinleck, Slim, Montgomery, Alanbrooke, Alexander, were
raised to the—highest command, with Churchill himself as
Generalissimo "to wage war," as he said, "against a mon-
strous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable cata-
logue of human crime.'*
This is the story of his relationships with these remarkable
men and theAmerican Generals who followed them. Goading
them, driving, bullying and inspiring them, he stood behind
them, ordering, whipping, urging on; sometimes impossible,
totally ignoring convenient facts, at other times brilliant or
cunning, his was the force, whichthrough them began to stem
the German tide.
With his personal relish for action he would appear in the
field in the strangest uniforms, urging strategies upon his gen-
erals which were as likely to be impractical as to be briUiant.
With the certain knowledgethat only with himself at the helm
could Britain win the war, he could ruthlessly sack Wavell or
Auchinleck and ride the storm which followed.
It is the story of an erratic, impossible, very English, in-
stinctive genius, pitted against the superb craftmanship of his
generals; a story as full of rich humor as it is of cataclysmic
events. The focus of this human drama is the sometimes con-
flicting, sometimes harmonious relations that influenced the
destiny ofmankind in the supreme crisis of its hfe.
Although the turning pointinthe strugglewas Russia's entry
into the war, not until the might and fury of the United States
made itself felt, as "the united, irresistible forces of outraged
FOREWORD VU
civilization came to bear upon the criminal," did victory be-
come certain.
From the moment such giants as George Marshall and
Dwight Eisenhower appeared on the world stage, the pattern
of co—mmand changed. Between the Allied Generals and Chur-
chil—l himself half American, as he was so fond of pointing
out an entirely new and less intense relationship developed,
based on mutual respect and affection. This Grand Alliance,
fighting in defense ofall that is sacred to man, saved the world
from the pestilence of Nazi barbarianism and laid the founda-
tions of Anglo-American unity on which the survival of the
FreeWorld depended.
London: Jack Le Vien
January 1981
