Timeline of the first prime ministership of Winston Churchill

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See also: Winston Churchill and Timeline of World War II

The following is a timeline of the first prime ministership of Winston Churchill, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. 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 1940-1 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.

After the Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, Churchill became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. He would go on to be re-elected as Prime Minister in 1951.

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The Right Honourable
Sir Winston Churchill
KG OM CH TD DL FRS RA
Sir Winston S Churchill.jpg
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955
Monarch
Deputy Anthony Eden
Preceded by Clement Attlee
Succeeded by Anthony Eden
In office
10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945
Monarch George VI
Deputy Clement Attlee
Preceded by Neville Chamberlain
Succeeded by Clement Attlee
Leader of the Opposition
In office
26 July 1945 – 26 October 1951
Monarch George VI
Prime Minister Clement Attlee
Preceded by Clement Attlee
Succeeded by Clement Attlee
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
9 November 1940 – 6 April 1955
Preceded by Neville Chamberlain
Succeeded by Anthony Eden
Minister of Defence
In office
28 October 1951 – 1 March 1952
Preceded by Emanuel Shinwell
Succeeded by The Earl Alexander of Tunis
In office
10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945
Preceded by The Lord Chatfield
Succeeded by Clement Attlee
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
3 September 1939 – 11 May 1940
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by The Earl Stanhope
Succeeded by A. V. Alexander
In office
24 October 1911 – 25 May 1915
Prime Minister H. H. Asquith
Preceded by Reginald McKenna
Succeeded by Arthur Balfour
Member of Parliament
for Woodford
In office
5 July 1945 – 15 October 1964
Preceded by Constituency created
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
(Replaced by Wanstead and Woodford)
Member of Parliament
for Epping
In office
29 October 1924 – 5 July 1945
Preceded by Sir Leonard Lyle
Succeeded by Leah Manning
Signature

1940

April

  • April 3, 1940 (1940-04-03): 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

  • May 10, 1940 (1940-05-10): Germany invades Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
    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.    [1]
  • May 11, 1940 (1940-05-11): Churchill offers the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, who is now living in the Netherlands, asylum in the United Kingdom; he declines.
  • May 13, 1940 (1940-05-13): 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.
  • May 14, 1940 (1940-05-14): The creation of the Local Defence Volunteers (the Home Guard) is announced by the new Secretary of State for War Anthony 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.
  • May 16, 1940 (1940-05-16): Churchill visits Paris and hears that the French war is as good as over
  • May 30, 1940 (1940-05-30): Crucial British Cabinet meeting: Churchill wins a vote on continuing the war, in spite of vigorous arguments by Lord Halifax and Chamberlain.

August

  • August 20, 1940 (1940-08-20): Italy announces a blockade of British ports in the Mediterranean area.
Churchill's speech "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" speech delivered to the House of Commons
  • August 25, 1940 (1940-08-25): Churchill orders the bombing of Berlin in retaliation for the previous night's bombing of Cripplegate.

October

  • October 9, 1940 (1940-10-09): Neville Chamberlain resigns from the House of Commons for health reasons; Winston Churchill is elected head of the Conservative Party.

November

  • November 16, 1940 (1940-11-16): Churchill orders some British troops in North Africa to be sent to Greece, despite concerns by his military

1941

February

  • February 9, 1941 (1941-02-09): 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

  • April 23, 1941 (1941-04-23): Greek government is evacuated to Crete, which Churchill is determined to defend.

June

  • June 1, 1940 (1940-06-01): The evacuation of Allied forces from Crete ends; over 17,000 are captured by German forces
  • June 18, 1940 (1940-06-18): Churchill gives his famous "finest hour" speech to the House of Commons
  • June 22, 1940 (1940-06-22): Germany invasion of Russia begins, as Operation Barbarossa

July

  • July 19, 1941 (1941-07-19): 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

  • December 7, 1941 (1941-12-07): Japan attacks the US Navy base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Churchill was with the President's special envoy, Averell Harriman, and the U.S. Ambassador to Britain, John Gilbert Winant, when he received the news over the telephone from President Roosevelt.[2]
  • December 8, 1941 (1941-12-08): Japan invades Hong Kong, Malaya and the Philippines within the same week, beginning December 8th.[3]
  • December 26, 1942 (1942-12-26): Churchill makes his first address to a joint session of the United States Congress [2]
  • December 26, 1942 (1942-12-26): The evening after speaking to Congress, Churchill suffers a mild heart attack. [2]

1942

February

  • February 15, 1942 (1942-02-15): The Commonwealth forces at Singapore surrender to the Japanese

April

  • April 14, 1942 (1942-04-14): Winston 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.
  • April 20, 1942 (1942-04-20): General Dobbie, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Malta, sends a message to Winston Churchill 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

  • May 9, 1942 (1942-05-09): On the night of 8/9 May 1942, 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.
  • May 10, 1942 (1942-05-10): 10: 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.
  • May 17, 1942 (1942-05-17): 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.
  • May 19, 1942 (1942-05-19): 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.
  • May 21, 1942 (1942-05-21): In discussions with Winston 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

  • June 14, 1942 (1942-06-14): 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 is 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.
  • June 15, 1942 (1942-06-15): 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."
  • June 16, 1942 (1942-06-16): 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.
  • June 18, 1942 (1942-06-18): Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for meetings with Roosevelt.

July

  • July 2, 1942 (1942-07-02): Churchill survives a censure motion in the House of Commons.

August

  • July 12, 1942 (1942-07-12): At a conference in Moscow, Churchill informs Stalin that there will not be a "second front" in 1942.
  • July 13, 1942 (1942-07-13): 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

  • November 10, 1942 (1942-11-10): 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

  • December 17, 1942 (1942-12-17): 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.[4]

1943

January

May

July

  • July 25, 1943 (1943-07-25): Benito Mussolini, which leads to the formation of a new government in Italy.

August

October

November

The Tehran conference (28 Nov 1943):Left to right: General Secretary of the Communist Party Joseph Stalin, President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom .

1944

February

June

  • June 6, 1944 (1944-06-06): 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

  • April 20, 1945 (1945-04-20): Allied troops reach Paris.

September

  • September 12, 1944 (1944-09-12): The Second Quebec Conference (codenamed "Octagon") begins: Roosevelt and Churchill discuss military cooperation in the Pacific and the future of Germany.[9]

October

December

  • December 3, 1944 (1944-12-03): 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’"
  • December 16, 1944 (1944-12-16): Battle of the Bulge begins.
  • December 28, 1944 (1944-12-28): :28: Churchill and his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden are in Athens in an attempt to reconcile the warring factions.

1945

February

April

  • April 16, 1945 (1945-04-16): The Soviets overtake Berlin.
  • April 30, 1945 (1945-04-30): Hitler commits suicide.

May

  • May 7, 1945 (1945-05-07): Germany surrenders to the western Allies.

July

August

  • August 6, 1945 (1945-08-06): The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
  • August 8, 1945 (1945-08-08): The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.
  • August 9, 1945 (1945-08-09): Japan agrees in principle to unconditional surrender. [11]

September

  • September 2, 1945 (1945-09-02): Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II [11]

References

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