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CHURCHILL’S WAR MINISTRY: PORTFOLIO GUIDE
Minister for Defence
[Note that while Mr. Churchill personally assumed this office on his appointment as Prime
Minister, in this committee, this Ministry will be under the charge of the earlier Minister for
Coordination of Defence, Lord Ernle Chatfield.]
The post of Minister of Defence was responsible for co-ordination of defence and security
and involved coordination of the three services- the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air
Force. The Ministry of Defence focused on the protection of the security, independence and
interests of Britain, internally as well as abroad. The main aim was to ensure that the armed
forces had the training, equipment and support necessary for their work, and that they kept
within budget.
Its main military tasks were:
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defending the UK and its overseas territories
providing strategic intelligence
supporting civil emergency organisations in times of crisis
defending our interests by projecting power strategically and through expeditionary
interventions
Admiral of the Fleet, The Right Honourable Alfred Ernle Montacute Chatfield, First Baron
Chatfield, was an officer of the Royal Navy during the First World War. He served as First Sea
Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 1933 to 1938 and started the critical buildup of the
Navy as the military and naval threat from Germany emerged. In 1939 Chatfield urged an
increase in munition production and despite having no political background was appointed
as Minister for Coordination of Defence. Prime Minister Churchill has requested him to hold
the portfolio of Minister of Defence till such time as he deems fit.
1
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is
responsible for all economic and financial matters, equivalent to the role of Minister of
Finance in other nations. The office-holder controls Her Majesty’s Treasury. The Treasury's
main jobs were to finance the war with as little inflation as possible, to conduct external
financial policy so as to secure overseas supplies on the best possible terms, and to take part
in planning for the post-war period.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the government’s chief financial minister. The Chancellor
is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing. The
Chancellor controls all spending made by government departments. The Chancellor’s
responsibilities cover fiscal policy (including the presenting of the annual Budget) as well as
monetary policy (setting inflation targets).
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. He qualified as a solicitor,
and successfully specialised in industrial insurance. Eventually, he became a member of the
London County Council and then a Member of Parliament.
Wood served as junior minister to Neville Chamberlain at the Ministry of Health,
establishing a close personal and political alliance. His first cabinet post was that of
Postmaster General. As Secretary of State for Air in the months before the Second World
War he oversaw a huge increase in the production of warplanes to bring Britain up to parity
with Germany. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, Wood was made
Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which post he adopted policies advocated by John Maynard
Keynes, changing the role of HM Treasury from custodian of government income and
expenditure to steering the entire British economy.
2
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is primarily in charge of relations with foreign
countries and the overseas territories in addition to the promotion of British interests
abroad. The Foreign Secretary also has responsibility for the Secret Intelligence Service
(MI6) and the Government Communications Headquarters (known as the Government Code
and Cypher School (GC&CS) at that time), which are directly accountable to this person.
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (also known as Lord Irwin and as
Viscount Halifax) assumed the office of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on 21 February
1938. Prior to this, he held several senior ministerial posts, most notably those of Viceroy of
India from 1925 to 1931 during which he was best known for his involvement in the Simon
Commission Report, Nehru Report and the Round Table Conferences, and of Secretary of
State for War in 1935. He is regarded as one of the architects of the policy of appeasement
prior to the Second World War which is the primary reason for the tension between himself
and Churchill. However, it was during the Munich crisis that Halifax began to take a stronger
line than Chamberlain against further concessions to Germany. Halifax then set his face
firmly towards a policy of deterrence based on increased rearmament, including the
reintroduction of conscription; strengthening of alliances and economic support to Eastern
Europe; and a firmer line towards Germany, Italy and Japan.
Halifax worked steadily to assemble a stronger British position, pushing Chamberlain to take
economic steps to underpin British interests in Eastern Europe and prevent additional
military supplies from reaching Germany. In particular, it was Halifax's immediate granting
of a guarantee to Poland on 31 March 1939 – triggered by alarming intelligence of German
preparations – that set a firm trigger for war should Germany ignore this signal that, in
Halifax's words, there would be "no more Munichs".
However, relations between him and Churchill were still tense. He believed that a peace
settlement should be made with Hitler while Churchill disagreed because Hitler was unlikely
to honour such a settlement. This culminated in what is popularly called the 1940 War
Cabinet Crisis with both trying to win over the Cabinet members to their viewpoints.
3
Minister of Supply
The Ministry of Supply was a formed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three
British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. The Ministry of Supply also took
over all army research establishments in 1939. The Ministry of Supply was responsible for
building and running the Royal Ordnance Factories which produced explosives and
propellants; filled ammunition; and constructed guns and rifles. The Ministry was also
responsible for the supply of tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles; however, these
were mostly designed and built by private arms companies, such as William Beardmore and
Company and Vickers.
The Ministry of Supply also arranged for the construction of a large number of Agency
Factories which were run on its behalf by private companies, such as Nobel Industries. The
Ministry of Supply was also responsible for the labour force of these factories. From the
beginning of WWII the army research establishments were put under the control of the
Ministry of Supply. It was through the MoS that the essential connections were made
between military requirements and the scientists and engineers of the civil service, industry,
and academia (many academics were recruited into the civil service on a temporary basis).
Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, was a British Labour politician who
was appointed the first Minister of Supply under Churchill. Morrison oversaw Labour's
nationalisation programme. Morrison developed his social views from his work in local
politics, and always emphasised the importance of public works to deal with
unemployment. His strained relations with Attlee were primarily caused by his defeat in the
election for the leadership of the Labour Party.
4
Minister of War Production
[Note that while the Ministry of War Production was created in 1942, for the purpose of this
committee, it shall be deemed to have been created by Prime Minister Churchill on the day
committee commences.]
The Ministry of War Production was a British government department created to fill a gap in
the machinery of government between the Ministry of Supply, Ministry of Aircraft
Production and Admiralty on the one hand, responsible for supply to the Armed Forces and
the Ministry of Labour and National Service on the other, which was responsible for the
distribution of labour between civilian occupations, war industry and the Armed Forces. It
was a critical part of the British administrative organisation for coordinating the war effort.
As military needs both grew and changed in emphasis, a close and continuous link between
strategy and production was needed, and the new Ministry supplied it. Negotiations with
other countries regarding the flow of munitions were in the hands of Minister of War
Production who could speak for the three Services and three supply departments. In
addition, the Ministry was able to provide a unified direction for a number of essential
administrative activities which no single supply department could run alone: allocation of
machine tools, regional organisation and exceptional claims to labour.
Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos, entered Parliament as Conservative Member of
Parliament for Aldershot in a wartime by-election in 1940 and was sworn of the Privy
Council the same year. He will act as the Minister of Production in this committee. He was
criticised by many for being the managing director of British Metal Corporation, at a time
when it was a major shareholder in "Metallgesellschaft A.G." a German Industrial giant
which financed Hitler's Nazi party.
5
Lord President of the Council
Privy Counsellors are members of the monarch's own Council: the 'Privy Council'..
Membership includes all members of the Cabinet, past and present, the Speaker, the
leaders of all major political parties, Archbishops and various senior judges as well as other
senior public figures. Their role is to advise the King in carrying out his duties as Monarch.
The Lord President of the Council is a member of the cabinet and is in command of the
Office of the Privy Council. The Lord President is in charge of the Privy Council Office and is
responsible for overseeing its work.
Arthur Neville Chamberlain is a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. His premiership was dominated by his
policy of appeasement toward the increasingly aggressive Germany, and his actions at
Munich were widely popular among Britons at the time. When Hitler continued his
aggression, Chamberlain pledged Britain to defend Poland's independence if the latter were
attacked, an alliance that brought Britain into war when Germany attacked Poland in 1939.
Churchill was the most high profile critic of the prime minister's appeasement policies,
marked by Britain's extraordinary and devastating security concessions to Hitler. Churchill
was particularly outraged by what he saw as the prime minister's purposeful obstruction of
British rearmament in the face of the manifest threat from Germany. On 7 May 1940,
Chamberlain won the vote of confidence in the House of Commons but it was clear he had
lost the confidence of his colleagues in the Conservative Party. After failing to form a
national coalition government, Chamberlain had no option but to resign.
There were now two Tory candidates for prime minister: Lord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary,
and Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Halifax, who was Chamberlain’s
preferred choice and the 'Establishment' candidate, turned down the offer to become prime
minister. Halifax probably believed he could restrain Churchill more effectively by serving
under him rather than as his leader.
Chamberlain resigned the premiership on 10 May 1940 but continues to be a part of the
Cabinet, now under Churchill, as Lord President of the Council.
6
Minister Without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a minister who does not govern a particular ministry or
a government minister with no specific responsibilities. In the case of Churchill's War
Cabinet, the Minister without Portfolio was Arthur Greenwood who served from 11th May
1940 to 22nd February, 1942. He was a prominent member of the British Labour Party and a
noteworthy advocate of the British resistance to Nazi aggression. He entered the House of
Commons in 1922. His demand that Great Britain should intervene without hesitation in the
war at hand influenced Chamberlain's subsequent reversal of the Policy of Appeasement
towards Germany. Greenwood was a major architect of the National Health Service, and the
National Insurance Scheme through his chairmanship of the Cabinet Social Service
Committee. The mandate and scope of the Ministry has expanded and continues to expand
since its creation in the 1900's. Arthur Greenwood was charged with the study of
reconstruction and post-war planning. Some of his responsibilities included:
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The organization of incidental activities of the Prime Minister, especially as they
relate to local government and international matters;
Handling matters emanating from statutory and non-statutory commissions as well
as matters before the Prime Minister from Non-governmental organizations;
Liaising with the other political parties and advising the Prime Minister on multiparty interactions;
Assist any Minister or Ministers having responsibilities for any department or other
portion of public service;
Advising the Prime Minister on issues including economic and military strategy.
All in all, his main duty was to remain flexible and conciliatory in his contribution to the
decisions taken by the Cabinet. His contributions include deliberations on Coal supply and
distribution, Workmen's Compensation and Supplementary Allowances Bill, Production
Council and Economy Policy, War Supplies, Export Trade, Mobilisation of resources,
improving the British Purchasing Commission in North America. Until the end of World War
II, Greenwood also performed the function of a Leader of Opposition. He emerged as one of
Churchill's strongest and most vocal supporters.
7
Lord Privy Seal
[Note that while Sir Stafford Cripps originally took office in 1942, Clement Attlee has had the
post of Deputy Prime Minister appointed to him by Prime Minister Churchill, so Sir Cripps
will be carrying out the duties of Lord Privy Seal.]
Lord Privy Seal is a senior position upon the Privy Council of the King of England, as shown in
The Tudors during the reign of King Henry VIII. The Lord Privy Seal is subordinate to the
President of the Privy Council and the Lord Chancellor, and his role is mainly ceremonial, but
nonetheless, the position has great advantage; as the bearer of the King's personal Seal, he
has almost unlimited access to the King and his council's documents, and enormous
personal access to the monarch himself, allowing him to give the King influential advice. The
holder often acts as a minister without portfolio (one who does not have departmental
responsibilities) and is able to undertake investigations and projects when needed by the
Cabinet or Prime Minister. He is usually given special functions by the Prime Minister. In this
committee, the Privy Seal shall communicate decisions of the committee to the King and
vice-versa. He shall represent the views of His Majesty, King George VI, as requested by the
Prime Minister.
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour politician who will act as Lord Privy Seal as
appointed by Prime Minister Churchill. In 1932 he helped found and became the leader of
the Socialist League, which was composed largely of intellectuals and teachers from the
Independent Labour Party who rejected its decision to disaffiliate from Labour. Cripps was
an early advocate of a United Front against the rising threat of fascism and he opposed an
appeasement policy towards Nazi Germany.
8
Secretary of State for India
The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the
political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of Aden, British India and
Burma. The post was created in 1858 when the East India Company's rule in Bengal ended
and British India was brought under the direct administration of the government in London,
beginning the official colonial period under the British Empire. The Secretary of State for
India headed the India Office which was a British government department created in 1858
to oversee the administration, through a Viceroy and other officials, of the Provinces of
British India. The Secretary of State for India was assisted by a statutory body of advisers,
the Council of India, and headed a staff of civil servants organised into a system of
departments largely taken over from the East India Company and Board of Control
establishments. The Secretary of State for India inherited all the executive functions
previously carried out by the Company, and all the powers of 'superintendence, direction
and control' over the British provincial administrations in South Asia previously exercised by
the Board of Control.
Leopold Charles Maurice, usually known as Leo Amery, was a British Conservative Party
politician and journalist, noted for his interest in military preparedness, India, and the British
Empire. He was appointed by Churchill as the Secretary of State for India in May 1940. In the
debates on the need for an increased effort to rearm British forces, Amery tended to focus
on army affairs and he was a driving force behind the creation of the Army League, a
pressure group designed to keep the needs of the British Army before the public. In the
1930s, Amery, along with Winston Churchill, was a bitter critic of the appeasement of
Germany, often openly attacking his own party. Being a former Colonial and Dominions
Secretary, he was very aware of the views of the dominions and strongly opposed giving
Germany back her colonies. During the war Amery was Secretary of State for India, despite
the fact that Churchill and Amery had long disagreed on the fate of India. He was continually
frustrated by Churchill's intransigence, and believed that Churchill knew nothing of the
Indian problem. He strongly supported the evolution of the dominions into independent
nations bound to Britain by ties of kinship, trade, defence, and a common pride in the
Empire. He also supported the gradual evolution of the colonies, particularly India, to the
same status.
9
Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service
More commonly referred to as MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) is the UK's external
espionage agency, with a focus on protecting the UK's interests overseas. In addition to
intelligence gathering, one of the roles of the SIS is to carry out covert operations against
threats to the UK's national security. Before WW2, MI6 had developed a unit known as
section D for carrying out covert / paramilitary operations overseas. During World War 2, on
the orders of Winston Churchill, section D was amalgamated with similar units in other
organizations to form the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The SOE caused havoc behind
German lines, organizing resistance, gathering intelligence and performing sabotage
operations.
During the Second World War the human intelligence work of the service was
overshadowed by several other initiatives:
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The cryptanalytic effort undertaken by the Government Code and Cypher School
(GC&CS), the bureau responsible for interception and decryption of foreign
communications at Bletchley Park.
The extensive "double-cross" system run by MI5 to feed misleading intelligence to
the Germans
Imagery intelligence activities conducted by the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance
Unit
Major General Sir Stewart Graham Menzies, was appointed Chief of MI6 (SIS) in 1939.
Following the end of the war, Menzies entered MI6 (also known as SIS). He was a member
of the British delegation to the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference. In 1939, when Admiral
Sinclair died, Menzies was appointed Chief of SIS. He expanded wartime intelligence and
counterintelligence departments and supervised codebreaking efforts at Bletchley Park,
overseeing the work of cryptanalyst and mathematician Alan Turing.
10
Minister of Information
Formed on September 4th 1939, the day after Britain's declaration of war, the Ministry of
Information (MOI) was the central government department responsible for publicity and
propaganda in the Second World War. The initial functions of the MOI were threefold: news
and press censorship; home publicity; and overseas publicity in Allied and neutral countries.
The Ministry’s function was ‘To promote the national case to the public at home and abroad
in time of war’ by issuing ‘National Propaganda’ and controlling news and information.
These functions were matched by a responsibility for monitoring public opinion through a
network of Regional Information Offices. Responsibility for publicity in enemy territories
was organized by Department EH (later part of the Special Operations Executive). Their work
reflected an increasing concern that a future war would exert huge strain on the civilian
population and a belief that government propaganda would be needed to maintain morale.
Nazi advances in Western Europe encouraged the Ministry of Information (MOI) to
increasingly focus on domestic propaganda after May 1940. A Home Publicity Emergency
Committee was set up to issue public instructions about air raids, parachute raids and what
to do in the event of an invasion. Concurrent campaigns extolled the public to ‘Avoid
Rumour’ and join a ‘Silent Column’ so that they would avoid passing information to spies.
However, as the situation stabilized, these campaigns were increasingly criticized for
treating the public with contempt.
Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, was a British Conservative Party politician who
was appointed as Minister of Information. Neville Chamberlain’s resignation and
replacement by Winston Churchill on 10 May 1940 resulted in Reith’s sacking and the
appointment of Duff Cooper. Cooper was closely allied to Churchill and had openly criticised
the previous government’s approach. The most public critic of the Prime Minister of the day
Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy inside the Cabinet, he famously resigned the day
after the 1938 Munich Agreement made with Adolf Hitler. On doing so he said, "War with
honour or peace with dishonour," he might have been persuaded to accept, "but war with
dishonour--that was too much."
11
Chief of the Air Staff
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's aerial warfare force. The RAF underwent
rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War. Under the British
Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth
countries trained and formed "Article XV squadrons" for service with RAF formations. At the
outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the first-line strength of the RAF in the United
Kingdom was about 2,000 aircraft. During the war it is to be responsible for the aerial
defence of Great Britain, a possible strategic bombing campaign against Germany and
tactical support to the British Army around the world.
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) is the professional head of the Royal Air Force and a member
of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Air Force Board. In consultation with the
Secretary for Dominion Affairs, a massive expansion program was started to include the
training of British aircrews in British Commonwealth countries under the British
Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and the secondment of many whole squadrons, and tens
of thousands of individual personnel, from Commonwealth air forces.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Cyril Louis Norton Newall, 1st Baron Newall was a senior
officer of the British Army and Royal Air Force. He commanded units of the Royal Flying
Corps and Royal Air Force in the First World War, and served as Chief of the Air Staff during
the first years of the Second World War. He supported sharp increases in aircraft
production, including double-shift working and duplication of factories, and pushed for the
creation of a dedicated organisation to repair and refit damaged aircraft. He supported
expenditure on the new, heavily armed, Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, essential to re-equip
Fighter Command. On 1 September 1937, Newall was appointed as Chief of the Air Staff, the
military head of the RAF.
12
Admiral of the Fleet
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's principal naval warfare force. Following victory
in the First World War, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the
onset of the Second World War it was still the largest in the world.
International tensions increased in the mid-1930s and the Second London Naval Treaty of
1935 failed to halt the development of a naval arms race. The re-armament of the Royal
Navy was well under way by this point; the Royal Navy had begun construction of new
battleships and its first full-sized purpose-built aircraft carriers. In addition to new
construction, several existing old battleships (whose gun power offset to a significant extent
the weakly armed new battleships), battlecruisers and heavy cruisers were reconstructed,
and anti-aircraft weaponry reinforced, while new technologies, such as ASDIC, Huff-Duff and
hydrophones, were developed.
At the start of Second World War in 1939, the Royal Navy was still the largest in the world,
consisting of 20 battleships and battlecruisers, seven aircraft carriers, 89 cruisers, 236
destroyers, 45 escort and patrol vessels, and 65 submarines. At the start of World War II,
Britain's global commitments were reflected in the Navy's deployment. Its first task
remained the protection of trade, since Britain was heavily dependent upon imports of food
and raw materials, and the global empire was also interdependent. The navy's assets were
allocated between various Fleets and Stations.
Admiral of the Fleet is the highest rank of the British Royal Navy. Admiral of the Fleet Sir
Charles Morton Forbes was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War seeing
action in the Dardanelles Campaign and at the Battle of Jutland and, as captain of a cruiser,
was present at the surrender of the German fleet. During the Second World War he served
initially as Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, however, his fleet suffered heavy losses. He
was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 8 May 1940.
13
Chief of the Imperial General Staff
The British Army is the United Kingdom's principal land warfare force. The force is being
administered by the War Office from London. The pre-war British Army was trained and
equipped to be a small mechanized professional army. Its main function was to garrison the
British Empire. It became evident during the war that its initial structure and manpower was
woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for a war with multiple enemies on multiple fronts.
The army, an all volunteer force until 1939, was small in comparison to its enemies at the
start of the war in 1939. It introduced limited conscription in early 1939 and full conscription
shortly after the declaration of war with Germany. With the expansion of the British Army to
fight a world war, new armies were formed, and eventually army groups were created to
control even larger formations. In command of these new armies, eight men would be
promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. The army commanders not only had to manage the
new armies, but also a new type of soldier in formations like the Special Air Service, Army
Commandos and the Parachute Regiment.
The doctrine of the British Army in 1938 was for Army Tank Brigades, attached as Corps
troops, to work alongside the Infantry divisions and break into the enemy defensive
positions. The Mobile Division, supported Territorial Army Motor divisions each of two
motorised infantry brigades supported by two artillery regiments but no tanks, was to then
to create a breakthrough. In May 1940, the armoured brigades became homogeneous and
were reorganised; all now would contain 10 cruisers within the brigade headquarters, while
the regimental headquarters would have four cruisers. Each regimental headquarters would
control a headquarters squadron and three sabre squadrons; each of which consisted of a
squadron headquarters, with two cruisers and two close support tanks, and four troops
each comprising three cruisers. In total, each regiment would consist of 46 cruisers and 8
close support tanks, 31 officers and 546 other ranks, with the brigade being able to muster
166 tanks.
The Chief of the Imperial General Staff is the professional head of the British army. Field
Marshal Sir John Greer Dill, GCB, CMG, DSO (25 December 1881 – 4 November 1944) was a
British commander in the First and Second World Wars. In May 1940 he was appointed the
Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
14
Minister of War Transport
[Note that while this Ministry was originally created in 1941, for the purpose of this
committee, it shall be taken to have been formed in May 1940 under the orders of Prime
Minister Churchill.]
The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed
early in World War II to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by
merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport, bringing responsibility for
both shipping and land transport to a single department, and easing problems of coordination of transport in wartime.The jurisdiction of the MoWT covered all forms of
transportation and it inherited numerous and varied responsibilities from its parent
organisations. From the Ministry of Shipping these included:
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Coal Division, ensured the provision of bunkering facilities at home and abroad for
the use of controlled merchant shipping.
Foreign Shipping Relations Division, responsible for negotiations for the use of
foreign ships and policy towards foreign and neutral shipping.
Sea Transport Division, responsible for all merchant shipping requirements of the
armed forces, which gave it control of troop ships, supply ships, hospital ships, Fleet
Auxiliaries.
Shipping Operations Control Division, responsible for the acquisition and chartering
of Allied and neutral vessels and the associated Shipping Agreements between the
British and foreign Governments. The division was also responsible for co-ordination
with the United States War Shipping Administration to allow the UK and US
authorities to provide the most effective use of their shipping resources in the
transportation of goods, raw materials, and war materiel to the front line
Her Majesty's Coastguard was under the control of the Admiralty from May 1940,
but was placed under MoWT control in October 1945.
Frederick James Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers, was a British industrialist and public
servant. He served as an adviser to the Ministry of Shipping from 1914 to 1918 and He
served as an adviser to the Ministry of Shipping from 1914 to 1918 and was appointed
Minister of War Transport in May 1940.
15
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
The position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affair was a British cabinet level position
created in 1925 to deal with British relations with the Dominions - Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, and the Irish Free State. This post was frequently held by the same
person who held the office of Secretary of State for the Colonies, as it will be in this
committee as decided upon by Prime Minister Churchill.
The dominions provided assistance to the UK in many ways that proved fundamental to
British strategy, especially in bolstering British maritime power. The most crucial support
was provided by Canada in the North Atlantic who helped maintain the link between North
America and the UK, which was essential to both British survival and the capacity to
maintain offensives. The Dominions contributed in finances as well as in human resources to
the war efforts and this was coordinated by the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in
conjunction with the heads of the Armed Forces.
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, was an English Conservative politician who was
appointed Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in September 1939. Eden earned a
worldwide reputation as an opponent of appeasement, a "Man of Peace", and a skilled
diplomat. After fighting in the First World War, where he reached the rank of major, Eden
entered Parliament in 1923 as a Conservative. In 1935, he became the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, but resigned in 1938, ostensibly due to his due to his opposition to
Chamberlain’s appeasement of Mussolini. With the outbreak of war in 1939, he returned to
the cabinet as Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.
16
Deputy Prime Minister
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior member of the Cabinet of the
United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position,
existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices to
give seniority to a particular Cabinet Minister. The British deputy prime minister possesses
no special constitutional powers as such, though they will always have particular
responsibilities in government. In practice, the designation of someone to the role of
Deputy Prime Minister may provide additional practical status within cabinet, enabling the
exercise of de facto, if not de jure, power. The Deputy Prime Minister usually deputises for
the Prime Minister at official functions.
Prime Minister Churchill has given Clement Attlee the responsibility of putting constitutional
or political reforms into place to aid the war efforts. He has also entrusted Attlee with the
task of relaying such information as decided by the Prime Minister to the British people in
order to ensure the upkeep of morale as well as continued communication between the
government and the people.
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee was a British Labour Party politician who assumed
the post of Lord Privy Seal in May 1940. In 1931, after the Labour Party had suffered a heavy
election defeat, he was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Four years later, he
became the Leader of the Labour Party after the resignation of George Lansbury. At first
advocating pacifism and appeasement, he later reversed this policy and by 1938 became a
strong critic of Neville Chamberlain's attempts to appease Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
He subsequently took Labour into the wartime coalition government formed by Winston
Churchill in 1940. Attlee supported Churchill in his continuation of Britain's resistance after
the French capitulation in 1940, and proved a loyal ally to Churchill throughout the conflict;
when the War Cabinet had voted on whether to negotiate peace terms, Attlee—along with
fellow Labour minister Arthur Greenwood—voted in favour of fighting, giving Churchill the
majority he needed to continue the war.
17
Minister of Economic Warfare
The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during
the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive. The
Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation which, following Cabinet
approval, was officially formed by Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, to conduct
espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, and to
aid local resistance movements. It was initially also involved in the formation of the Auxiliary
Units, a top secret "stay-behind" resistance organisation which would have been activated
in the event of a German invasion of Britain. The organization of SOE continually evolved
and changed during the war. Initially, it consisted of three broad departments: SO1, which
dealt with propaganda; SO2 (Operations); and SO3 (Research).
There was also tension between SOE and SIS (the MI6), which the Foreign Office controlled.
Where SIS preferred placid conditions in which it could gather intelligence and work through
influential persons or authorities, SOE was intended to create unrest and turbulence, and
often backed anti-establishment organisations, such as the Communists, in several
countries. At one stage, SIS actively hindered SOE's attempts to infiltrate agents into enemyoccupied France. Most of the resistance networks which SOE formed or liaised with were
controlled by radio directly from Britain or one of SOE's subsidiary headquarters.
Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton, was a British Labour Party economist and
politician, who was appointed as Minister for Economic Warfare in 1940. Widely respected
for his intellectual achievements in economics, he rose in the Labour Party's ranks, with the
election in 1925 to the shadow cabinet and, with strong union backing, to the Labour Party
national executive committee (NEC). He gained foreign policy experience as under-secretary
at the Foreign Office, 1929-31. Turning his attention to the looming crisis in Europe, he
became the Labour Party's spokesman on foreign policy in Parliament. Aided by union votes,
Dalton moved the party from semi-pacifism to a policy of armed deterrence and rejection of
appeasement. He was a bitter enemy of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and rejected a
coalition government led by him. He had expressed his acceptance of a government led by
Churchill and was given the post of Minister for Economic Warfare.
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Home Secretary
The Home Secretary is one of the United Kingdom's four Great Offices of State. As minister
in charge of the Home Office, the Home Secretary is responsible for the internal affairs of
England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole of the UK.
The remit of the Home Office also includes policing in England and Wales and matters of
national security, as the Security Service, MI5, is directly accountable to the Home
Secretary. The Home Secretary is also the minister responsible for prisons and probation in
England. The Home Office covers policing, immigration and citizenship, internal security as
well as the criminal justice system.
John Anderson, 1st Viscount is a British civil servant and politician. He was appointed to the
Colonial Office in 1905. Anderson headed the Civil Service staff of the new Ministry of
Shipping in 1917. Later, he served as Under-Secretary for Ireland, and became Permanent
Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office in 1922. He was posted as Governor of Bengal
from 1932 to 1937. In early 1938, Anderson was elected to the House of Commons as a
National Independent Member of Parliament, a non-party supporter of the National
Government.
In October that year he entered Neville Chamberlain's Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal. In that
capacity, he was put in charge of air raid preparations. He initiated the development of a
kind of air-raid shelter named the “Anderson shelter”. After the outbreak of war in 1939,
Anderson returned to hold the joint portfolio of Home Secretary and Minister of Home
Security, a position he will retain in Prime Minister Churchill’s cabinet. He also retains
responsibility for civil defence.
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Minister Resident in the Middle East
[Note that while Richard Casey originally took office in 1942, Oliver Lyttelton will be
functioning as the Minister for War Production and hence Richard Casey will be required to
carry out the duties of this post.]
A Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in
another country. The Minister Resident in the Middle East carries out his functions through
a small office in Cairo and the Middle East War Council and its sub-committees. It is
responsible for the co-ordination of defence and economic policy in the area.
The Minister’s main function is to ensure a successful conduct of the operations in the
Middle East by relieving the Commanders-in-Chief as far as possible of extraneous
responsibilities; giving the Commanders-in-Chief political guidance and settling promptly
matters within the policy of His Majesty's Government, more particularly where several
local authorities or Departments were concerned; keeping the War Cabinet and Ministers
generally informed of what was happening in his sphere.
He carries out his functions by means of a small office, with a branch in Baghdad, and the
Middle Eastern War Council. Executive action is usually carried out by local British
representatives or by specially created bodies, such as the Middle East Supply Centre.
Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey was an Australian-born politician and diplomat.
In 1931 Casey was elected to the House of Representatives as the United Australia Party
(UAP) Member for the Geelong-based seat of Corio. Prime Minister Joseph Lyons appointed
him an assistant minister in 1933, and in 1935 he became Treasurer. In 1939 Robert Menzies
became Prime Minister for the first time. He moved Casey to the lesser portfolio of Supply
and Development. In 1940 Casey resigned from parliament when Menzies appointed him as
the first Australian Ambassador to the United States. On the request of Prime Minister
Churchill, Casey has been appointed as Minister Resident in the Middle East as a part of his
Cabinet.
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Minister of Labour and National Service
The Ministry of Labour was a British government department established by the New
Ministries and Secretaries Act 1916. After the New Ministries and Secretaries Act 1916 the
Ministry of Labour took over Board of Trade responsibilities for conciliation, labour
exchanges, labour and industrial relations and employment related statistics. Following the
First World War it supervised the demobilisation and resettlement of ex-servicemen. It took
over all Board of Education work relating to youth employment and responsibility for
training and employment of the disabled from the Ministry of Pensions. It also supervised
trade union regulations.
Under the Trade Boards Act 1918 the Ministry enforced the minimum wage, helped
establish joint industrial councils, and set up the Industrial Court in 1919 for arbitration of
industrial disputes. It proposed multiple Unemployment Insurance Acts amendments,
administered benefits through employment exchanges, employed the unemployed through
special works schemes and represented the UK at the International Labour Organisation
from 1919).
From 1939, the department was renamed the Ministry of Labour and National Service,
reflecting new duties under the National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. It allocated
people to work between the armed forces, civil defence and industry, and to administer the
Schedule of Reserved Occupations. The National Joint Advisory Council, comprising
employers' and workers' representatives, was consulted. It also coordinated work on
manpower statistics, intelligence, armed forces recruitment, civilian war work and training
and labour supply.
Ernest Bevin is a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour politician. He co-founded
and served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from
1922 to 1940 and as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government. He worked to
maximize the British labour supply, for both the armed services and domestic industrial
production, with a minimum of strikes and disruption
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Ambassadors
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a highest ranking diplomat who represents a
state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state, or to an international
organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or
appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The duties of an
ambassador include:
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Communicating British policy to the host state and vice-versa
Directing and coordinating all executive branch offices and personnel
Cooperating with the legislative and judicial branches so that foreign policy goals are
advanced; security is maintained; and executive, legislative, and judicial
responsibilities are carried out
Reviewing communications to or from mission elements
Taking direct responsibility for the security of the mission and protecting all
Government personnel on official duty and their dependents
1. Ambassador to the United States of America
Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marques of Lothian, was a British politician, diplomat and
newspaper editor. He was private secretary to Prime Minister David Lloyd George
between 1916 and 1921. He held a minor office from 1931 to 1932 in the National
Government headed by Ramsay Macdonald. From 1939 until his death in December 1940
he was Ambassador to the United States.
Kerr was a liberal, admiring Mohandas Gandhi and trying to be more progressive than
them on racial issues. He felt initial sympathy for Germany over the Treaty of Versailles,
so at first he favoured appeasement, stating in 1936, just after Germany reclaimed the
Rhineland, that he would support no sanctions to remove the Germans from 'their own
back garden'. However, he later changed his mind after Hitler's violation of the Munich
Agreement and occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Lothian is credited with
helping marshal American support for economic aid to the United Kingdom.
2. Ambassador to France
Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell is a British diplomat who held several important positions at
the Foreign Office including, from July 1939, that of British ambassador to France. Born in
London, the son of a diplomat of Scottish origin, Campbell was educated at Haileybury
and followed his father into the Diplomatic Service in 1907. He became private secretary
to the foreign secretary in 1919 and held the post until 1920. He then remained in the
Foreign Office in London, working in a variety of posts and reaching the rank of
counsellor in 1928. In 1929, he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary in Paris, frequently acting as chargé d’affaires in the ambassador’s
absence. Very patient, calm and precise, Campbell was considered by Prime Minister
Churchill to be the very epitome of the British diplomat.
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