Channels, Spring 2019

Page 26 Lanning • The Long Defeat Namsos and Andalsnes prevented the landing at these small fishing-ports of any large reinforcements, even of the artillery and of the many supplies for the infantry we had already landed . . . There was no means by which their air superiority could have been overcome.41 Churchill had been vindicated, and those Members of Parliament who had been derisive of him for so long now had to accept the reality of their mistake. The loss of confidence in Chamberlain and Labour’s unwillingness to join a coalition with the Conservative PM made way for Churchill, who would form a National Coalition. Being the only one detached enough from party politics, Churchill fit the bill for a wartime leader who would inspire national unity. It seemed that even the political isolation he had endured during much of the thirties turned out to be by design as well. For not but a few weeks would pass from Churchill’s accession before Britain found herself alone with her cause “upon the edge of a knife.”42 Someone once rejected by Parliament as an “alarm-monger and scaremonger” was now duly embraced by British people, who recognized the need to put aside petty political squabbles in favor of collective security.43 Fulfilling their duty by rallying around King and country and staying true to each other was the message Britons heard from their new and determined leader. Still, while the people were inspired to new heights by Churchill’s hope-filled messages, he had to convince a distrusting Parliament to unite around his leadership. Nonetheless, even they would come under the persuasion of Churchill’s stirring words, and some measure of magnanimity from Churchill helped too. He kept his focus on the task at hand. Avoiding the arguments of previous years, Churchill soon maintained, was critical to their survival: “If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.”44 It was not only the dire circumstances that compelled Churchill to express magnanimity and withhold criticism of past failures. He needed to gain the trust and support of many more Conservatives as the party was still under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain. The National Coalition that Churchill swiftly formed in the first few days enabled his Government to manage policy with a freer hand. With nearly every elected party represented, Parliament more or less aligned itself with the Government, assured by the oversight taking place within by corresponding party members and its feeling of greater access to the central levers of power. Even so, the rivalries of a three-party administration would naturally be a concern of Churchill’s, but for now the turn of events had everyone in agreement with the Government’s policy of forming a coalition “representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion.”45 Though publicly Churchill conveyed confidence and hope, privately he confronted the grave realities of the coming days, telling General Ismay: “Poor people, poor people. They trust me, and I can give them nothing but disaster for quite a long time.”46 When Churchill made this remark, he 41 Ibid., 285. 42 Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, 348. 43 Gilbert, Churchill: A Life, 544 and 606. 44 Guedalla, Mr. Churchill, 303. 45 “The Knives Come out of the Cabinet in Churchill’s Wartime Government,” The Spectator, March 25, 2015, accessed March 31, 2018, https://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/03/the-knives-come-out-of-the-cabinet- in-churchills-wartime-government/ ; “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat,” The International Churchill Society, October 27, 2017, accessed March 31, 2018, https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the- finest-hour/blood-toil-tears-and-sweat-2/ . 46 Ibid.