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ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 38 | April 1999


The collections

Churchill at war

'We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.'

_Winston Churchill, Hansard 4 June 1940, col. 796

Robert Menzies and Winston Churchill
Photograph of Robert Menzies and Winston Churchill at No. 10 Downing Street, 1941

The National Library has recently purchased a major microfilm collection entitled Churchill at War: The Prime Minister's Office Papers 1940_1945. This unique archival resource illuminates the period of Britain's darkest days and its greatest triumph, when the inspirational wartime leader, Sir Winston Churchill, succeeded in sustaining British resistance to the German onslaught and supervised the ultimate defeat of Mussolini and Hitler in World War 2.

This collection, on 330 microfilm reels, encompasses the complete files of Public Record Office classes PREM 3 and PREM 4, including recently released material, some of which was only opened in 1997.

The Operational Papers (PREM 3), reflecting the activities of the Prime Minister in his role as Minister of Defence, relate to the conduct of World War 2, and were kept in the War Cabinet Office close to the subterranean War Room. The papers detail a wide range of international wartime activities—from military operations in Africa to Germany's unconditional surrender, events in the Balkans and the Australian war effort. They also include a medical report and interview with Hitler's deputy Rudolph Hess, who flew a German fighter plane to Scotland on a `peace' mission in May 1941.

The Confidential Papers (PREM 4) were kept at No. 10 Downing Street and detail a plethora of wartime activities and policies concerning issues on the home front. At the height of the war, in a radio broadcast on 21 March 1943, Churchill maintained, `There is no finer investment in any community than putting milk into babies'. The PREM 4 papers cover finance, foreign relations (including the visit of foreign dignitaries and politicians to England during the war), government departments, home and imperial issues (including post-war control of the colonies).

Churchill made it a clear rule that `all directions emanating from me are made in writing.' As a result, this complete record of World War 2 from Churchill's perspective offers a unique insight into national and international strategy and military tactics. Particularly notable are the personal minutes and telegrams to Allied and Commonwealth government leaders, such as Australia's then Prime Minister, Robert Menzies.

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au

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