Winston Churchill

Early in the war Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, faced with grievous losses in the great encirclements of 1941, was agitating for a second front in continental Europe. The war in North Africa was not enough.

With the attack on the United States Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941, Japan had brought the most powerful nation on earth into the war on the side of the Allies.

The deteriorating situation in France left the British Expeditionary Force seriously compromised. French General Maxime Weygand”s plan to create a defensive line on the Somme was impossible; The Germans, using superior tactics and communications but not equipment, had high morale and were advancing faster than the French high Command could draw up defensive plans.

A common language, history, and culture bound the United States and the United Kingdom closer together than any other nation. Helping to cement that friendship was the close relationship of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and UK Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill.

As the Battle of France progressed, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill asked fighter command for more aircraft to send to the continent. Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, recognizing that nothing could be done for France, refused.