ABSTRACT
Churchill was a Prime Minister who combined personal battlefield experience in Europe, Africa and Asia, two spells as First Lord of the Admiralty, and a lifelong interest in military history. Churchill's determination can also be seen in another controversial act, his dismissal of Wavell from command in the Middle East and North Africa in June 1941. The Prime Minister's system required not only intimate contact with the Chiefs of Staff but also a personal relationship with Commanders-in-Chief in the field. Field commanders in 1940-41 were subjected to a never-ending stream of memoranda, sometimes hourly. The efforts of the Royal Navy and of Fighter Command in the summer and autumn of 1940 enabled Britain to survive, but the prospect of 'large scale offensive amphibious operations' was whistling in the dark. The mixture of idealism and ruthlessness, of romanticism and realism which had informed Churchill's understanding of political power for decades is confirmed in these exchanges.
