Winston, Sir Churchill, The Hinge of Fate: The Second World War, Volume 4: Bantam Books (Mm), 1950), 317

Author’s note: Earlier that spring, the issue before the Allies was a cross-channel invasion planned for 1943. WSC’s comment quoted above regarding the plan of attack came ahead of the Second Washington Conference, in talks with General Marshall and Harry Hopkins in London. In Chapter 22 of The Hinge of Fate, Churchill appears to give a secondary role to the “American authorities” and their (Stimson and Marshall) demands that a decision be reached on war plans. “Another matter lay heavy on my mind,” WSC writes. That was “Tube Alloys,” the British euphemism for atomic weapons. In retrospect this appears a logical concern for the Prime Minister. In historical terms, however, “Tube Alloys” completely glosses the larger concerns looming over the summit:  a massive German summer offensive against Russia, secretary Molotov’s recent visits to London and Washington, the potential for Stalin to reach a separate peace (recall the Molotov-Rippentrop pact), and the catastrophe looming for Britain just days away in the deserts of North Africa, the imminent fall of Tobruk. Later entries will dissect the time line of events leading up to what may be viewed as Churchill’s dissembling at the summer summit.