The Grand Alliance (95 page)

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siege in the capital and issued an Order of the Day,

“Moscow will be defended to the last.” His commands were faithfully obeyed. Although Guderian’s armoured group from Orel advanced as far as Tula, although Moscow was now three parts surrounded and there was some air bombardment, the end of October brought a marked stiffening in Russian resistance and a definite check to the German advance.

I continued to sustain our Ambassador in his many trials and hardships and his lonely, uphill task.

Prime Minister to Sir

28 Oct. 41

Stafford

Cripps

(Kuibyshev)

I fully sympathise with you in your difficult position,
and also with Russia in her agony. They certainly have
no right to reproach us. They brought their own fate
upon themselves when, by their pact with Ribbentrop,
they let Hitler loose on Poland and so started the war.

They cut themselves off from an effective second front
when they let the French Army be destroyed. If prior to
June 22 they had consulted with us beforehand, many
arrangements could have been made to bring earlier
the great help we are now sending them in munitions.

We did not however know till Hitler attacked them
whether they would fight, or what side they would be
on. We were left alone for a whole year while every
Communist in England, under orders from Moscow, did
his best to hamper our war effort. If we had been
invaded and destroyed in July or August, 1941, or
starved out this year in the Battle of the Atlantic, they
would have remained utterly indifferent. If they had
moved when the Balkans were attacked, much might
have been done, but they left it all to Hitler to choose
his moment and his foes. That a Government with this
record should accuse us of trying to make conquests in
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Africa or gain advantages in Persia at their expense or
being willing to “fight to the last Russian soldier” leaves
me quite cold. If they harbour suspicions of us, it is only
because of the guilt and self-reproach in their own
hearts.

2. We have acted with absolute honesty. We have
done our very best to help them at the cost of
deranging all our plans for rearmament and exposing
ourselves to heavy risks when the spring invasion
season comes. We will do anything more in our power
that is sensible, but it would be silly to send two or three
British or British-Indian divisions into the heart of Russia
to be surrounded and cut to pieces as a symbolic
sacrifice. Russia has never been short of man-power,
and has now millions of trained soldiers for whom
modern equipment is required. That modern equipment
we are sending, and shall send to the utmost limit of the
ports and communications.

3. Meanwhile we shall presently be fighting
ourselves as the result of long-prepared plans, which it
would be madness to upset. We have offered to relieve
the five Russian divisions in Northern Persia which can
be done with Indian troops fitted to maintain internal
order but not equipped to face Germans. I am sorry that
Molotov rejects the idea of our sending modest forces
to the Caucasus. We are doing all we can to keep
Turkey a friendly neutral and prevent her being tempted
by German promises of territorial gain at Russia’s
expense. Naturally we do not expect gratitude from
men undergoing such frightful bludgeonings and
fighting so bravely, but neither need we be disturbed by
their reproaches. There is of course no need for you to
rub all these salt truths into the Russian wounds, but I
count upon you to do your utmost to convince Russians
of the loyalty, integrity, and courage of the British nation.

4. I do not think it would be any use for you and
McFarland [head of our military mission to Russia] to fly
home now. I could only repeat what I have said here,
and I hope I shall never be called upon to argue the
case in public. I am sure your duty is to remain with
these people in their ordeal, from which it is by no
means certain that they will not emerge victorious. Any

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day now Hitler may call a halt in the East and turn his
forces against us.

Here we may for the present leave the unfolding of the Hitler-Stalin drama. Winter now casts its shield before the Russian armies.

My wife felt very deeply that our inability to give Russia any military help disturbed and distressed the nation increasingly as the months went by and the German armies surged across the steppes. I told her that a Second Front was out of the question and that all that could be done for a long time would be the sending of supplies of all kinds on a large scale. Mr. Eden and I encouraged her to explore the possibility of obtaining funds by voluntary subscription for medical aid. This had already been begun by the British Red Cross and St. John’s, and my wife was invited by the joint organisation to head the Appeal for “Aid to Russia.” At the end of October, under their auspices, she issued her first appeal:

There is no one in this country whose heart has not been deeply stirred by the appalling drama now going on in Russia. We are amazed at the power of the Russian defence and at the skill with which it is conducted. We have been moved to profound admiration for the valour, the tenacity, and the patriotic self-sacrifice of the Russian people. And above all, perhaps, we have been shaken with horror and pity at the vast scale of human suffering.

. . . . . . . . . .

Among the supplies we have already sent to Russia are 53 emergency operating outfits, 30 blood-transfusion sets, 70,000 surgical needles of various kinds, and 1,000,000 tablets of M. and B. 693. This drug is the wonderful new antiseptic which has revolu-The Grand Alliance

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tionised the treatment of many diseases caused by germs. In addition to these, we have sent half a ton of phenacetin and about seven tons of absorbent cotton-wool. And this is of course only a beginning.

. . . . . . . . .

We have declared our aim to be £1,000,000, and we have made a good start. Already the fund totals

£370,000, and it is only twelve days old. Our gracious and beloved King and Queen, in sending a further

£3000 to the Red Cross last week, expressed a wish that £1000 of their joint gift should be allocated to the Aid to Russia Fund. They have set a characteristic example.

Much depends upon employers, and I would like to say this: wherever the employer provides the facilities to get the fund started, the workers come gladly with their weekly pennies. Thus, from the King and Queen to the humblest wage-earner and cottage-dweller, we can all take part in this message of good-will and compassion. Between the cottage and the palace, between those who can spare only pennies and a great imaginative benefactor like Lord Nuffield – who can send a cheque for £50,000 – there are millions of people who would like to share in this tribute to the Russian people.

A generous response was at once forthcoming. For the next four years she devoted herself to this task with enthusiasm and responsibility. In all nearly eight million pounds were collected by the contributions of rich and poor alike. Many wealthy people made munificent donations, but the bulk of the money came from the weekly subscriptions of the mass of the nation. Thus through the powerful organisation of the Red Cross and St. John’s and in spite of heavy losses in the Arctic convoys, medical and surgical supplies and all kinds of comforts and special appliances found their way in unbroken flow through the icy and deadly seas to the valiant Russian armies and people.

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6

Persia and the Middle East

Summer and Autumn, 1941

Anglo-Soviet Requirements from Persia — Need
for Joint Action — General Wavell’s Strong View

— Mr. Eden’s Minute of July
22
— My Caution
and Inquiries — Report of the Lord President’s
Committee — Decision to Act with Russia —

Opposing Forces — The Fighting Begins — The
Shah Submits — Conditions Imposed on the
Persian Government — Abdication of the Shah
and Accession of His Young Son — Anglo-Soviet
Accords — Development of the New Supply
Route to Russia — Convoys to Malta — The
German View of Mediterranean Fighting — Need,
for Surface Forces at Malta — Birth of “Force K”

— Design for a Mobile Reserve — I Appeal to
President Roosevelt — American Transports for
Two British Divisions — The President’s Prompt
Response — His Aid in the Atlantic — Growing
Strength of the Army of the Nile — Anxieties of the
Chiefs of Staff — My Note of September
18
—

Priority for the Desert Battle — My Telegram to
General Smuts of September
20
— My Note on
Battle Tactics — Restoration of Artillery — Guns
versus Tanks — “Flak” Protection for Ground
Troops — Relations of Army and Air Commanders
in Battle.

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T
HE NEED to pass munitions and supplies of all kinds to the Soviet Government and the extreme difficulties of the Arctic route, together with future strategic possibilities, made it eminently desirable to open the fullest communication with Russia through Persia. The Persian oilfields were a prime war factor. An active and numerous German mission had installed itself in Teheran, and German prestige stood high. The suppression of the revolt in Iraq and the Anglo-French occupation of Syria, achieved as they were by narrow margins, blotted out Hitler’s Oriental plan. We welcomed the opportunity of joining hands with the Russians and proposed to them a joint campaign. I was not without some anxiety about embarking on a Persian war, but the arguments for it were compulsive. I was very glad that General Wavell should be in India to direct the military movements.

On July 11, 1941, the Chiefs of Staff were asked by a Cabinet Committee to consider the desirability of joint military action in conjunction with the Russians in Persia in the event of the Persian Government refusing to expel the German community at present employed in that country.

On July 18 they recommended that we should adopt a firm attitude in dealing with the Persian Government. This view was also strongly held by General Wavell, who had telegraphed the War Office July 10 in the following terms:
General

Wavell

to

10 July 41

War Office

The complaisant attitude it is proposed to adopt over
Iran appears to me incomprehensible. It is essential to
the defence of India that Germans should be cleared
out of Iran now. Failure to do so will lead to a repetition
of events which in Iraq were only just countered in time.

It is essential we should join hands with Russia through
Iran, and if the present Government is not willing to
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