WORLD WAR II DIARY
with good reason. His mother, Jennie Jerome, had been Brooklyn born and bred, making Winston half American by blood. While Churchill deeply appreciated America’s vast material support in the days prior to Pearl Harbor, he longed for her help, alongside Britain, on the battlefield. In his later years, he reflected on his feelings upon hearing the news of America’s entry into the war. “I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.”
Almost immediately after Pearl Harbor, Churchill communicated with President Roosevelt his desire to come to America, at the earliest possible date, to iron out plans for the grand alliance of America and Great Britain. Roosevelt tried to put Churchill off initially. The fact is that America wasn’t quite ready yet to enter in to such specific planning. Her leadership needed a bit more time to formulate their own ideas and plans, among themselves. So, attempting to hide his real reason for desiring delay, FDR protested by saying that the trip was too dangerous. The ever daring Churchill, now 67 years old, promptly dismissed Roosevelt’s objection regarding safety. The urgent need, he pleaded, far outweighed the risk involved. The President relented, and on December 13, 1941, a gray, windy Saturday morning, Churchill set sail from Gourock, Scotland for the United States. It was only six days since Pearl Harbor. The trip was undertaken with the utmost secrecy, on both sides of the Atlantic. Even First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who would actually be hosting the English Prime Minister in the White House, did not know what was taking place until a few hours before Churchill’s arrival. She was furious.
Churchill and a sizable entourage of military leaders, assistants and clerks got underway on the British battleship HMS Duke of York for the perilous ten day journey across the Atlantic, along with an escort of destroyers. The sea was inhospitable from the start, as huge 40 foot waves were soon battering the vessels. The rough seas, however, were definitely not the greatest concern. These waters were teeming with prowling German U- boats, deadly submarines that would sink almost 4000 Allied ships at a cost of over 70,000 lives by war’s end. A grateful group of Englishmen landed at Hampton Roads, Virginia on December 22, and Churchill was immediately whisked away by plane to Washington, D. C. His visit would last a full three weeks. He and Roosevelt, along with their advisors and military leaders, would lay the groundwork for a unified effort that would result in the end of the war and ultimate victory, some 3½ long, hard years later. Along the way, they would forge one of the greatest friendships among two heads of state in the annals of world history.
Those three weeks were unquestionably momentous days. But something in addition to organizing for war was taking place during those days, something not necessarily planned, but nevertheless very real. The enthusiasm, optimism, courage and determination of Winston Churchill were encouraging and inspiring the American people! While all the news seemed bad and the road ahead appeared dark and foreboding, this same man who had so effectively rallied his own people with powerful, genuine words and action, was now doing the same in America. The great leader was having a profoundly reassuring and energizing impact upon Americans, just when they needed it most. In a press conference with President Roosevelt the day after his arrival, he had spoken with heartfelt gratitude of his country’s new alliance with America. “I can’t describe the feelings of relief with which I find…. the United States and Great Britain standing side by side. It is incredible to anyone who has lived through the lonely months of 1940. It is incredible. Thank God!”
The next day, on Christmas Eve, Churchill accompanied Roosevelt to the lighting of the National Christmas tree on the south lawn of the White House. Both FDR and the Prime Minister addressed the 20,000 who had gathered there, as well as the nation and the world by radio. The President went first and was followed by his British guest. Churchill spoke from the heart. “I spend this anniversary and festival far from my country, far from my family, yet I cannot truthfully say that I feel far from home.” He then movingly spoke of the “kindliness” of the welcome he had received in America. Despite the deadly world struggle in progress, he appealed to parents, just for this night, to “make for the children an evening of happiness in a world of storm.” He ended his brief remarks with an emotional plea, “Let us grown- ups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures, before we turn again to the stern task and the formidable years that lie before us, resolved that, by our sacrifice and daring, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied their right to live in a free and decent world. And so, in God’s mercy, a happy Christmas to you all.”
FDR and Churchill attended church together on Christmas morning, where the Prime Minister heard the song “O Little Town of Bethlehem” for the very first time. On the next day, Churchill addressed a joint session of the U. S. Congress. He spoke of how being “welcomed in your midst….makes this experience one of the most moving and thrilling in my life.” He reflected on “memorable days” and told of the “Olympian fortitude” he had already observed in America. He warned of a long war, but countered with the rallying cry, “we are doing the noblest work in the world, not only defending our hearths and homes, but the cause of freedom in every land.” Expressing dependence upon God, he added, “The task which has been set before us is not above our strength… not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our cause, and an unconquerable willpower, salvation will not be denied us. In the words of the Psalmist: ‘ He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.’” Before concluding and receiving a lengthy, thunderous ovation, he ended the address on another spiritual note. “I will say that he must indeed have a blind soul who cannot see that some great purpose and design is being worked out here below, of which we have the honor of being the faithful servants.”
Churchill and company departed the States on their return trip to England on January 14, 1942, this time by air instead of sea. Not until Churchill’s death 24 years later did his personal physician, who had actually accompanied him to America, reveal that the Prime Minister had returned to his White House bedroom on the night of the speech before Congress and suffered a heart attack. It was decided at that time not to make the attack public, but rather to press on in the fight against evil tyranny, exactly what one would have expected from Winston Spencer Churchill… 75 years ago.