Winston churchill biography prime minister dates

For the general history, see Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II.

The following is a timeline of the first premiership of Winston Churchill, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from to and again from to 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 –41 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.^[1]

After the Conservative Party lost the election, Churchill became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. He would go on to be re-elected as Prime Minister in

April

• 3&#;April&#;&#;(): 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

• 10&#;May&#;&#;(): Germany invades Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
  Following the Norway Debate, Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom upon the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.
  The United Kingdom invades Iceland.
  Belgium declares a state of emergency.
  Churchill is called on to form a wartime coalition government.^[2]
• 11&#;May&#;&#;(): Churchill offers the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, who is now living in the Netherlands, asylum in the United Kingdom; he declines.
• 13&#;May&#;&#;(): Dutch government-in-exile established in London.
  Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees to asylum in the United Kingdom.
  Churchill's "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech in Commons.
• 14&#;May&#;&#;(): 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.
• 16&#;May&#;&#;(): Churchill visits Paris and hears that the French war is as good as over.
• 30&#;May&#;&#;(): Crucial British Cabinet meeting: Churchill wins a vote on continuing the war, in spite of vigorous arguments by Lord Halifax and Chamberlain.

June

• 4&#;June&#;&#;(): Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" speech to the House of Commons.
• 18&#;June&#;&#;(): Churchill gives his famous "finest hour" speech to the House of Commons.

August

• 20&#;August&#;&#;(): Italy announces a blockade of British ports in the Mediterranean area.
• 20&#;August&#;&#;(): Churchill's speech "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" delivered to the House of Commons.
• 25&#;August&#;&#;(): Churchill orders the bombing of Berlin in retaliation for the previous night's bombing of Cripplegate.

October

• 9&#;October&#;&#;(): Neville Chamberlain resigns from the House of Commons for health reasons; Winston Churchill is elected head of the Conservative Party.

November

• 16&#;November&#;&#;(): Churchill orders some British troops in North Africa to be sent to Greece, despite concerns by his military.

February

• 9&#;February&#;&#;(): 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

• 23&#;April&#;&#;(): Greek government is evacuated to Crete, which Churchill is determined to defend.

June

• 1&#;June&#;&#;(): The evacuation of Allied forces from Crete ends; over 17, are captured by German forces.
• 22&#;June&#;&#;(): Germany invasion of Russia begins, as Operation Barbarossa.

July

• 19&#;July&#;&#;(): The "V-sign", displayed most notably by Churchill, is unofficially adopted as the Allied signal, along with the motif of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

August

December

• 7&#;December&#;&#;(): Japan attacks the US Navy base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Churchill was with the President's special envoy, Averell Harriman, and the US Ambassador to Britain, John Gilbert Winant, when he received the news over the telephone from President Roosevelt.^[3]
• 8 December With the hope of using Irish ports for counter submarine operations, Churchill sends a telegram to the Irish Prime Minister in which he obliquely offers Irish unity: "Now is your chance. Now or never! A nation once again! I will meet you wherever you wish." No meeting took place between the two prime ministers and there is no record of a response from the Irish Prime Minister Éamon de Valera.^[4]
• 8&#;December&#;&#;(): Japan attacks Hong Kong, Malaya and the Philippines in a simultaneous attack with Pearl Harbor but is counted a day later due to the International Date Line.^[5]
• 26&#;December&#;&#;(): Churchill makes his first address to a joint session of the United States Congress.^[3]
• 26&#;December&#;&#;(): The evening after speaking to Congress, Churchill suffers a mild heart attack.^[3]

February

• 15&#;February&#;&#;(): The Commonwealth forces at Singapore surrender to the Japanese.

April

• 14&#;April&#;&#;(): 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.
• 20&#;April&#;&#;(): General Dobbie, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Malta, sends a message to the PM 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

• 9&#;May&#;&#;(): On the night of 8–9 May , 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.
• 10&#;May&#;&#;(): 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.
• 17&#;May&#;&#;(): 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.
• 19&#;May&#;&#;(): 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.
• 21&#;May&#;&#;(): In discussions with 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

• 14&#;June&#;&#;(): 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 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.
• 15&#;June&#;&#;(): 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."
• 16&#;June&#;&#;(): 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.
• 18&#;June&#;&#;(): Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for meetings with Roosevelt.

July

• 2&#;July&#;&#;(): Churchill survives a censure motion in the House of Commons.

August

• 12&#;August&#;&#;(): At a conference in Moscow, Churchill informs Stalin that there will not be a "second front" in
• 13&#;August&#;&#;(): 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

• 10&#;November&#;&#;(): 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

• 17&#;December&#;&#;(): 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.^[6]

January

• 14&#;January&#;&#;(): The Casablanca Conference of Allied leaders begins. 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

July

• 25&#;July&#;&#;(): Benito Mussolini is removed from office; it leads to the formation of a new government in Italy.

August

October

November

• 16&#;November&#;&#;(): American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway.
• 22&#;November&#;&#;(): The Cairo Conference: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and ROC leader Chiang Kai-shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan.
• 27&#;November&#;&#;(): The Cairo Conference ("Sextant") ends; Roosevelt, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek complete the Cairo Declaration, which deals with the overall strategic plan against Japan.
• 28&#;November&#;&#;(): 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 30 November they establish an agreement concerning a planned June invasion of Europe codenamed Operation Overlord). Stalin at last has the promise he has been waiting for.

February

• 10&#;February&#;&#;(): Churchill urges Harold Alexander to order the Anzio generals to show more aggression.^[10]

June

• 6&#;June&#;&#;(): 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

• 20&#;August&#;&#;(): Allied troops reach Paris.

September

• 12&#;September&#;&#;(): The Second Quebec Conference (codenamed "Octagon") begins: Roosevelt and Churchill discuss military cooperation in the Pacific and the future of Germany.^[11]

October

December

• 3&#;December&#;&#;(): 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."
• 16&#;December&#;&#;(): Battle of the Bulge begins.
• 28&#;December&#;&#;(): Churchill and his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden are in Athens in an attempt to reconcile the warring factions.

February

April

• 12&#;April&#;&#;(): US President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies, and is succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.
• 16&#;April&#;&#;(): The Soviets overtake Berlin.
• 30&#;April&#;&#;(): Hitler commits suicide, is succeeded by Karl Dönitz.

May

• 7&#;May&#;&#;(): Germany surrenders to the western Allies.
• 23 May Wartime coalition ends. Start of brief caretaker government.

June

• 5 June The longest parliament of the 20th century is dissolved.

July

See also

References

Further reading

• Addison, Paul. The road to British politics and the Second World War (; 2nd ed. ), a standard scholarly history of wartime politics.
• Addison, Paul. Churchill on the Home Front, – () ch 10–
• Crowcroft, Robert. "‘Making a Reality of Collective Responsibility’: The Lord President's Committee, Coalition and the British State at War, –" Contemporary British History (): – online
• Pelling, Henry. "The general election reconsidered." Historical Journal () 23(2) pp: – online
• Smart, Nick. British strategy and politics during the phony war: before the balloon went up (Greenwood, ).
• Todman, David. Britain's War: – (vol 1, Oxford UP, ); pp; comprehensive coverage of home front, military, and diplomatic developments; Excerpt