The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

The raging fires from the bombs in London serve as guides for further bombers during the successive nights of September 8-11. Churchill visits the bombed-out parts of the city and raises Londoners’ morale with his presence and words. Beaverbrook inaugurates a new method of storing aircraft and dispersing manufacturing centers so as to protect them from German bombs. In Berlin, Rudolf Hess continues to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Britain. Anxious to help the war effort, Mary Churchill moves to Chequers to work for the Women’s Voluntary Service.

On Churchill’s orders, more anti-aircraft guns are brought into London—even though he knows that they rarely actually bring down aircraft—and the sound of their shooting heartens the population. The RAF hits Berlin with “the severest bombing yet” (224). 

Londoners are severely sleep-deprived during the Blitz and struggle to sleep wherever and however they can. Some stay in their homes, other in specially built shelters near or under their home, and some in the London Underground. Lindemann describes the desire for “a safe and quiet night” as “a very formidable discontent” among the population (226). Meanwhile, citizens brace for another probable weekend of bombings from September 14. Prompted by Lindemann, Churchill looks into the potentialities of deep underground shelters, including one for government ministers.

Many parents in London and throughout England evacuate their children on a ship departing from Liverpool and bound for Canada. However, it is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, killing 265 people, including 70 of the 90 children on board (228). 

Mary celebrates her 18th birthday at Chequers surrounded by family, friends, and gifts. Churchill visits the Fighter Command operations center at Uxbridge, where he follows the progress of the air battle by means of a light board showing the positions of various squadrons. 

Goring and the Germans consider their losses in the air battle “shocking and humiliating” (234). One Luftwaffe official ascribes the failure to loss of nerve and lack of discipline in the flyers. Meanwhile, Goebbels must quell the public outcry caused by the Luftwaffe’s bombing of Buckingham Palace. He proposes to justify the attack by demonstrating that there were munitions stored in the palace or nearby. If no such military targets can be found, then they must invent one. 

Working for the Women’s Voluntary Service, Mary faces the reality of the war for the first time. The WVS provides homes for people fleeing London or asks local residents to take them in. Meanwhile, at Chequers, Pamela Churchill prepares to have her baby with her doctor and Clementine in attendance. John Colville, returning to London, notes in his diary the mingled beauty and terror, “splendor” and “vileness,” of nighttime London during the Blitz. 

England’s mail censors intercept a letter from Hess to the Scottish Duke of Hamilton, signed only “A.” They turn it over to Britain’s counterintelligence agency. 

Although it claims to be after only “targets of military significance” in London (240), the Luftwaffe is in fact targeting the civilian population openly using “parachute mines,” bombs that drift wherever the wind carries them. Londoners adjust to the rigors of life during the Blitz, including rationing, concentrating all their activities in the daytime, and finding safe shelter during the night—in Underground stations, in hotel lobbies, or wherever. Because of his high standing, Churchill finds ways of getting around the rationing. 

The Nazis are stunned at their losses in the air battle against Britain and perplexed at England’s resilience and refusal to surrender. Discontent is growing among the German people because of the continuing war, especially with winter in sight. Meanwhile, Japan officially joins the Axis Powers in the war.

Churchill’s aides are worried about his “disregard for his own safety” and his vulnerability to attack (255). Chequers is considered a prime target for the Luftwaffe, and efforts are made to camouflage it. To avert danger, Churchill decides to spend his weekends at the country estate of a friend, Conservative parliament member Ronald Tree.

Churchill’s reinstatement of Operation Menace (the failed seizure of Dakar in West Africa by British and Free French soldiers) provokes criticism of him and his government, which worries his family. At Chequers, Pamela Churchill gives birth to a son: Winston Churchill Jr. Randolph Churchill, still irresponsible and unfaithful to his wife (he is carrying on an extramarital affair in London while his son is being born) is sworn in as a member of parliament. 

Pamela’s marriage to Randolph grows increasingly strained as the latter continues his drinking and irresponsible spending. While Randolph leaves for Scotland to train as a commando, Pamela moves into a rectory house in the country, where she lives with Randolph’s sister and a nanny to take care of the baby. She is happy to be living in her own home at last.

The Luftwaffe strikes at the heart of the British government offices at Whitehall. A bomb falls close to Downing Street while Churchill and guests are dining there, destroying windows, the kitchen, and a sitting room. Bombs also hit the Treasury building and a club popular with members of Churchill’s government. Churchill and his colleagues retreat to Chequers for safety. Colville has a narrow brush with a bomb attack while returning to Downing Street. 

America’s possible involvement in the war proves a contentious issue in that country’s presidential election. The Republican candidate, Wendell Willkie, takes an isolationist line; Roosevelt promises that he will not send America’s young men into war unless the US is attacked. Roosevelt holds only a narrow lead over Willkie.

To avoid an alliance between England, the United States, and Russia that might prove dangerous to Germany, Hitler decides to invade Russia. He also orders Goring to step up the air attacks against Britain in the hopes of bringing that country to its knees. Goring selects a code name for the first attack: “Moonlight Sonata.”

From the BBC radio studio at the Cabinet War Rooms, Churchill delivers an address, in English and French, to the people of France to encourage them to stand firm against the Germans and to assure them that England is on their side. The BBC broadcasts prove popular among the German people, prompting Goebbels to declare listening to them “an act of serious sabotage” (279). This comment, however, only makes Germans listen to them more. 

Roosevelt is reelected, to the jubilation of British leaders and the public. Churchill cautiously courts Roosevelt’s interest in the war, hoping to bring him in. Despite interdepartmental squabbling, the RAF’s radar and meaconing (disrupting German navigational beams) succeed in capturing a crew of German Luftwaffe who crash land on the English coast. They turn out to be members of a secretive unit of beam experts, much coveted by the British air intelligence agency.

British intelligence agents gather details about the impending Luftwaffe attack. A “chilling” conversation between two captured Germans recorded by a secret microphone suggests that the Luftwaffe are planning to bomb Coventry and Birmingham. Another “special source” indicates that the Germans are planning a “gigantic raid” code-named Moonlight Sonata and possibly directed by Goring himself, with London as the target. The British plan a counter-operation, Cold Water, to thwart the attack by a “massive RAF strike” in Germany and by disrupting German navigational beams (286). Meanwhile, former prime minister Neville Chamberlain dies and is given a funeral service in a partially bombed Westminster Abbey. Churchill and Halifax serve as pallbearers.

On the afternoon of November 14, RAF radar detects Luftwaffe incoming from the French coast to begin the raid. The bombers carry incendiary canisters “to illuminate the target for the bombers that soon would follow” (289). Some Luftwaffe fly over London in an effort to fool the British into thinking the capital is the target of the raid. In fact, the target is Coventry, a hundred miles north. 

Over 11 hours that Thursday night, the Luftwaffe heavily bomb the city of Coventry; 568 civilians are killed, 865 are seriously wounded, and the medieval cathedral is destroyed along with over 2,000 other buildings. The RAF deters some of the bombers but is unable to bring down any planes.

The city is forced to hold mass burials because of the sheer volume of dead bodies, many of them mangled and impossible to identify. The king visits Coventry the following Saturday to offer solidarity and condolences. The RAF makes “Coventry Thursday” the “standard by which to estimate the total of deaths likely to occur during its own raids on German towns” (298). 

Colville tries to decide whom he is truly in love with: Gay Margesson or Audrey Paget. Pamela Churchill is having trouble paying for expenses and writes to Randolph for help. Churchill’s grandson Winston is christened at a small church near Chequers. Churchill is moved by the occasion. Beaverbrook again resigns, citing his asthma and interdepartmental conflicts. Churchill once again refuses the resignation. 

England’s financial crisis prompts Churchill to write to Roosevelt once again requesting aid. This time he emphasizes that his country is running out of money to pay for the aid. Roosevelt receives the letter while taking time off on a navy cruiser. Upon reading it and mulling it over, he is struck with an idea.

Lord Lothian, Britain’s ambassador to the United States, dies of uremic poisoning at the age of 58. German bombs continue to fall over London, destroying part of Westminster palace, a favorite spot of Churchill’s.

In a strategy meeting, the British Air Ministry is unable to confirm how many aircraft the Luftwaffe possesses, nor how many the RAF is able to marshal in the near future. In addition, the department has lost records of over 3,000 planes it has produced. Churchill arranges a court trial to settle the matter. Churchill’s War Cabinet meets to consider new, more ruthless tactics in bombing targets in Germany so as to cripple the enemy. 

In December, Mass-Observation asks its diarists to express their feelings about the coming year, 1941. 

Back in Washington, Roosevelt announces at a press conference his idea for how to lend aid and supplies to Britain without a heavy cost to repay—an idea that historians will later judge “one of the most important developments of the war” (309). The idea is introduced by Congress as the Lend-Lease Act, which states that it is in the best interest of the United States to provide an ally with aid, regardless of whether it can pay back (310). The proposed bill meets with resistance from senators who believe it will drag America into the war. 

With Lord Lothian dead, Churchill must choose a new ambassador to the United States. He sends Beaverbrook to persuade Halifax to accept the post. Churchill is partly motivated by a desire that Halifax not succeed to his own position should he be deposed. Halifax says no, but Beaverbrook tells Churchill that he said yes.

The attacks on English cities like Coventry, Southampton, and Birmingham, compounded by blackouts and a harsh winter, are taking a heavy toll on the morale and mental and physical health of the citizens. The situation threatens to bring about “the wholesale collapse of national morale” and “so intensify public dismay as to threaten Churchill’s government” (313).

Clementine makes a tour of public shelters in London and, appalled by the living conditions there, recommends reforms to make them more sanitary and decent. Churchill makes these reforms a priority for the coming year. Halifax very reluctantly accepts the post of ambassador, knowing full well that he was cornered into the job by the machinations of Beaverbrook (“the Toad”). 

German leaders are perplexed at Churchill’s continued resilience in the face of the Luftwaffe attacks, with Goebbels writing in his diary, “When will that creature Churchill finally surrender?” (319). The RAF conducts raids in Italy and Germany, including Operation Abigail, a raid against Mannheim in retaliation for Coventry. Hitler issues “Case Barbarossa,” a directive that orders the invasion of Russia and details the occupation of various cities.

As minister of popular culture, Goebbels orders Christmas celebrations to be muted in keeping with the wartime mood. Hess sets out in a Messerschmitt aircraft to Scotland to meet with the Duke of Hamilton and negotiate a peace deal with England. However, three hours into the flight, his plane encounters technical trouble, and he has to go back. 

Britain’s Ministry of Information uses its Anti-Lies Bureau and Anti-Rumors Bureau to counter untruths spread in the public both by German propaganda and local misinformation. In this effort they are assisted by the Postal Censorship bureau. 

Churchill orders his staff to work through Christmas. They buy each other gifts, have parties, and try to spread good cheer despite the gloominess of the times. The entire Churchill family celebrates Christmas together at Chequers, to the special delight of Mary. 

The British admiralty conducts a test on Lindemann’s newly designed aerial mines, which involve small bombs carried aloft by balloons (330). They fail. More tests are done, and the RAF also works to improve its radar and beam-disrupting techniques. 

On December 29, Roosevelt gives his 16th Fireside Chat on the radio. Feeling more freedom to talk about the war with his reelection now accomplished, he names the Nazis for the first time and expresses the need of the democratic powers to defeat them. He also conveys confidence that the Axis powers will lose the war. Churchill applauds the speech but at the same time urges Roosevelt to take more concrete action to help Britain. That same night, the Luftwaffe launches one of its biggest raids thus far, against London’s financial district, destroying water mains and igniting a huge fire.