Such was the scene when on January 17, 1942, I landed at Plymouth; and here the tale of this volume begins.

Again it is told from the standpoint of the British Prime Minister, with special responsibility, as Minister of Defence, for military affairs. Again I rely upon the series of my directives, telegrams, and minutes, which owe their importance and interest to the moment in which they were written, and which I could not write in better words now.

These original documents were dictated by me as events broke upon us. As they are my own composition, written at the time, it is by these that I prefer to be judged. It would be easier to produce a series of afterthoughts when the answers to all the riddles were known, but I must leave this The Hinge of Fate

12

to the historians who will in due course be able to pronounce their considered judgments.

I have called this volume The Hinge of Fate because in it we turn from almost uninterrupted disaster to almost unbroken success. For the first six months of this story all went ill; for the last six months everything went well. And this agreeable change continued to the end of the struggle.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL

Chartwell,

Westerham,

Kent

September 1, 1950

The Hinge of Fate

13

Acknowledgments

I MUST AGAIN ACKNOWLEDGE the assistance of those who helped me with the previous volumes, namely, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pownall, Commodore G. R. G. Allen, Colonel F. W. Deakin, and Sir Edward Marsh, Mr. Denis Kelly, and Mr. C. C. Wood. I have also to thank the very large number of others who have kindly read these pages and commented upon them.

Lord Ismay has continued to give me his aid, as have my other friends.

I record my obligation to His Majesty’s Government for permission to reproduce the text of certain official documents of which the Crown Copyright is legally vested in the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery Office. At the request of His Majesty’s Government, on security grounds I have paraphrased some of the telegrams published in this volume. These changes have not altered in any way the sense or substance of the telegrams.

I wish to acknowledge my debt to Captain Samuel Eliot Morison, U.S.N.R., whose books on naval operations give a clear presentation of the actions of the United States Fleet.

I am indebted to the Roosevelt Trust for the use they have permitted of the President’s telegrams quoted here, and also to others who have allowed their private letters to be published.

The Hinge of Fate

14

Moral of the Work

In War: Resolution

In Defeat: Defiance

In Victory: Magnanimity

In Peace: Good Will

The Hinge of Fate

15

Theme of the Volume

How the power of the

Grand Alliance

became preponderant

The Hinge of Fate

16

Book One

The Onslaught of Japan

The Hinge of Fate

17

1

Australasian Anxieties

The New Shape of the War — Assurance of Final Victory — Anglo-American Nakedness in the Pacific — Potential Impact of Japan upon Australia and New Zealand — My Correspondence with Mr. Curtin — His Appeal to President Roosevelt — Mr. Bowden’s Reports of the Peril of Singapore — Mr.