Blitzkrieg by Lloyd Clark

Author:Lloyd Clark [Clark, Lloyd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780802190345
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2016-04-14T04:00:00+00:00

As Churchill flew back to England, he began to discuss with his colleagues the options that Britain had available to assist the French and, of course, the British Expeditionary Force. Should more troops be sent across the Channel, and what about more aircraft? But there was also an understanding that the primary role of the government was the defence of its own people – a responsibility not lost on Reynaud and Gamelin – and that, in the final analysis, Churchill had to ensure that if France fell, he had the necessary assets to protect the British mainland. Being able to continue the fight was essential, and the French government recognized this as well because they had already taken steps to ensure that, if and when the Germans arrived in the capital, they would find no official documents and that the vital organs of government had moved out of harm’s way.

It was a lonely and anxious Reynaud who wondered how much longer he would continue to attract the support required to prolong his leadership of a nation in such peril. The French prime minister had attempted to assert his authority but found that his ability to do so was consistently undermined by fickle colleagues and fast-moving events. In no area was this truer than in his attempt to maintain calm in Paris. On the afternoon of 16 May, he said in the Chamber:

There are absolutely absurd rumours going round. People are saying that the government wanted to leave Paris; this is not true! People are saying that the enemy has new irresistible weapons when our aviators are covering themselves in glory, and our tanks outclass those of the Germans in the same category.3

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