Triumph and Tragedy (The Second World War) (77 page)

At Alexandria I went on board H.M.S.
Aurora.
I had taken no part in the discussions between the President and the Middle East sovereigns who had been invited to meet him, King Farouk, Haile Selassie, and Ibn Saud. These conversations had taken place on board the
Quincy,
which had been anchored in the Bitter Lake. Later that morning the American cruiser steamed into Alexandria harbour, and shortly before noon I went on board for what was to be my last talk with the President. We gathered afterwards in his cabin for an informal family luncheon. I was accompanied

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by Sarah and Randolph, and Mr. Roosevelt’s daughter, Mrs. Boettiger, joined us, together with Harry Hopkins and Mr. Winant. The President seemed placid and frail. I felt that he had a slender contact with life. I was not to see him again. We bade affectionate farewells. That afternoon the Presidential party sailed for home.

After the departure of our American friends I had arranged a meeting with Ibn Saud. He had been transported to the conference with the President in the American destroyer
Murphy,
and travelled with all the splendour of an Eastern potentate, with an entourage of some fifty persons, including two sons, his Prime Minister, his Astrologer, and flocks of sheep to be killed according to Moslem rites. On February 17 his reception was organised at the Hôtel du Lac at Fayum oasis, from which we had temporarily removed all the residents. A number of social problems arose. I had been told that neither smoking nor alcoholic beverages were allowed in the Royal Presence. As I was the host at luncheon I raised the matter at once, and said to the interpreter that if it was the religion of His Majesty to deprive himself of smoking and alcohol I must point out that my rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after, and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them. The King graciously accepted the position.

His own cup-bearer from Mecca offered me a glass of water from its sacred well, the most delicious that I had ever tasted.

It had been indicated to me beforehand that there would be an interchange of presents during the course of our meeting. I had therefore made what I thought were Triumph and Tragedy

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adequate arrangements. “Tommy” Thompson bought for me in Cairo for about a hundred pounds, at the Government’s expense, a little case of very choice perfumes, which I presented. We were all given jewelled swords, diamond-hilted, and other splendid gifts. Sarah had an enormous portmanteau which Ibn Saud had provided for

“your womenfolk.” It appeared that we were rather outclassed in gifts, so I told the King, “What we bring are but tokens. His Majesty’s Government have decided to present you with the finest motor-car in the world, with every comfort for peace and every security against hostile action.” This was later done.

King Ibn Saud made a striking impression. My admiration for him was deep, because of his unfailing loyalty to us. He was always at his best in the darkest hours. He was now over seventy, but had lost none of his warrior vigour. He still lived the existence of a patriarchal king of the Arabian desert, with his forty living sons and the seventy ladies of his harem, and three of the four official wives, as prescribed by the Prophet, one vacancy being kept.

We returned from Fayum to Cairo, stopping on the way at the British Ambassador’s desert house, where we had tea. I stayed for a few days at the Casey villa, and had interviews both with King Farouk and the President of Syria, at which we talked of the recent difficulties in the Middle East, many of which still continue. Sarah meanwhile unpacked the portmanteau which Ibn Saud had given her. It contained many splendid and beautiful Arab robes and several vessels of rare and delicious perfumes. At the bottom were half a dozen cardboard boxes of different sizes. One of these contained a diamond with the valuation £1200

attached. There were a number of other gems, and several necklaces of Red Sea pearls. Anthony had a similar set of presents, though in his case the diamond was adjusted to

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his rank. When eventually I reported on these matters to the Cabinet we told them that of course we should not keep for ourselves any of the valuables. In fact the Treasury, to whom they were given, almost paid with them for the motor-car which I had taken it upon myself to present to Ibn Saud.

On February 19 I flew back to England. Northolt was fogbound, and our plane was diverted to Lyneham. I drove on to London by car, stopping at Reading to join my wife, who had come to meet me.

At noon on February 27 I asked the House of Commons to approve the results of the Crimea Conference. I said:
I am anxious that all parties should be united in this
new instrument, so that these supreme affairs shall be,
in Mr. Gladstone’s words, “high and dry above the ebb
and flow of party politics”…. The Crimea Conference
leaves the Allies more closely united than before, both
in the military and in the political sphere. Let Germany
ever recognise that it is futile to hope for division among
the Allies and that nothing can avert her utter defeat.

Further resistance will only be the cause of needless
suffering. The Allies are resolved that Germany shall be
totally disarmed, that Nazism and militarism in Germany
shall be destroyed, that war criminals shall be justly and
swiftly punished, that all German industry capable of
military production shall be eliminated or controlled, and
that Germany shall make compensation in kind to the
utmost of her ability for damage done to Allied nations.

On the other hand, it is not the purpose of the Allies to
destroy the people of Germany, or leave them without
the necessary means of subsistence. Our policy is not
revenge; it is to take such measures as may be
necessary to secure the future peace and safety of the
world. There will be a place one day for Germans in the
comity of nations, but only when all traces of Nazism
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and militarism have been effectively and finally
extirpated.

Poland was the issue which disturbed the House.

The three Powers are agreed that acceptance by
the Poles of the provisions on the eastern frontiers,
and, so far as can now be ascertained, on the western
frontiers, is an essential condition of the establishment
and future welfare and security of a strong, independent, homogeneous Polish State…. But even more
important than the frontiers of Poland, within the limits
now disclosed, is the freedom of Poland. The home of
the Poles is settled. Are they to be masters in their own
house? Are they to be free, as we in Britain and the
United States or France are free? Are their sovereignty
and their independence to be untrammelled, or are they
to become a mere projection of the Soviet State, forced
against their will by an armed minority to adopt a
Communist or totalitarian system? I am putting the case
in all its bluntness. It is a touchstone far more sensitive
and vital than the drawing of frontier lines. Where does
Poland stand? Where do we all stand on this?

Most solemn declarations have been made by
Marshal Stalin and the Soviet Union that the sovereign
independence of Poland is to be maintained, and this
decision is now joined in both by Great Britain and the
United States. Here also the World Organisation will in
due course assume a measure of responsibility. The
Poles will have their future in their own hands, with the
single limitation that they must honestly follow, in
harmony with their Allies, a policy friendly to Russia.

That is surely reasonable….

The agreement provides for consultations, with a
view to the establishment in Poland of a new Polish
Provisional Government of National Unity, with which
the three major Powers can all enter into diplomatic
relations, instead of some recognising one Polish
Government and the rest another…. His Majesty’s
Government intend to do all in their power to ensure
that … representative Poles of all democratic parties

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are given full freedom to come and make their views
known.

I felt bound to proclaim my confidence in Soviet good faith in the hope of procuring it. In this I was encouraged by Stalin’s behaviour about Greece.

The impression I brought back from the Crimea, and
from all my other contacts, is that Marshal Stalin and
the Soviet leaders wish to live in honourable friendship
and equality with the Western democracies. I feel also
that their word is their bond. I know of no Government
which stands to its obligations, even in its own despite,
more solidly than the Russian Soviet Government. I
decline absolutely to embark here on a discussion
about Russian good faith. It is quite evident that these
matters touch the whole future of the world. Sombre
indeed would be the fortunes of mankind if some awful
schism arose between the Western democracies and
the Russian Soviet Union.

I continued:

We are now entering a world of imponderables, and
at every stage occasions for self-questioning arise. It is
a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the
chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

I trust the House will feel that hope has been
powerfully strengthened by our meeting in the Crimea.

The ties that bind the three Great Powers together and
their mutual comprehension of each other have grown.

The United States has entered deeply and constructive-ly into the life and salvation of Europe. We have all
three set our hands to far-reaching engagements at
once practical and solemn.

The general reaction of the House was unqualified support for the attitude we had taken at the Crimea Conference.

There was however intense moral feeling about our Triumph and Tragedy

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obligations to the Poles, who had suffered so much at German hands and on whose behalf as a last resort we had gone to war. A group of about thirty Members felt so strongly on this matter that some of them spoke in opposition to the motion which I had moved. There was a sense of anguish lest we should have to face the enslavement of a heroic nation. Mr. Eden supported me. In the division on the second day we had an overwhelming majority, but twenty-five Members, most of them Conservatives, voted against the Government, and in addition eleven members of the Government abstained. Mr.