Empire First: Churchill's War Against D-Day

by Graeme Bowman

Winston Churchill is usually portrayed as the great champion of democracy - the doughty bulldog who defied Hitler in 1940 and inspired the grand crusade of 1944. Empire First challenges this mythology by detailing Churchill’s efforts to sabotage Overlord in favor of a Mediterranean strategy which prioritized British oil and Empire interests. Bowman achieves this by starting his story in 1874-75 (with Churchill’s birth and British acquisition of Suez Canal shares) to reveal how Suez dominated British thinking for six decades prior to 1939 and shaped the PM's wartime priorities. This Mediterranean obsession inspired Churchill’s ‘soft underbelly’ strategy which presented heavily-mountained south-eastern Europe as an arena in which the Allies could win easy victories and generated friction with his American Allies who knew that landings in north-western Europe offered the surest means of beating Germany. Marshall and Roosevelt emerge as Empire First's real heroes, steering Churchill away from his Mediterranean fantasies towards reluctant acceptance of Overlord.

Empire First considers WWII within its true historical context as a massive game of ‘multi-dimensional chess’ featuring multiple players on both sides, pawns who frequently disobey orders and allies who - given half a chance - happily back-stab each other.
This is a book for history buffs who enjoy overturning orthodoxy and Bowman deploys 72pp of bibliography and reference to support his singular thesis. Empire First blends Churchill biography with WWII analysis and the decline of Britain’s Empire to offer three books in one. It dissects the major Allied military conferences in commendable detail and contains dedicated chapters on the Bombing of Germany, the Battle of the Atlantic and Churchill’s Japan strategy which - as with Europe - prioritized British imperial interests over efforts to secure victory. And Empire First reveals how Churchill’s Mediterranean obsession aggravated the tragedy of Bengal’s Famine.

519 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2022

About the author

Graeme Bowman was born in 1961 in Greenock, Scotland. His Dad worked in a sugar refinery while his Mum raised the family. Following a brief naval career, Graeme spent a decade in academia, culminating in a Doctorate from King’s College, Cambridge. Graeme’s thesis analysed Black Studies in Californian Public Higher Education, 1963-74 but the Degree Committee refused to accept it under its original title (‘Up Against The Wall, Motherf***er’) so Graeme submitted his work under a spectacularly boring title in protest. Underwhelmed by Oxbridge, Graeme spent a decade in broadcast/interactive media where his colleagues’ delusional narcissism inspired his subsequent career in mental health. Graeme’s passion for writing, history, truth-telling and iconoclasm illuminates Empire First.

Reviews

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got bogged down in the military material about half way through and began skimming.

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This is well worth reading. He takes apart Churchill through Churchill's own words and actions. My only qualm is that Bowman underestimates the very real importance of sticking to one's alliances and agreements (as the USA is about to discover) so I don't wholly agree with him over the Greece debacle, even while he's right that it undermined the efforts in Africa.

I think this is essential reading for the period.

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Boy was Churchill a nasty piece of work. I live in Perth, Scotland. There is a plaque to Field Marshall Archibald Wavell who was Viceroy of India during the British created famine. The plaque isn't about that but it should be, because Wavell fought Churchill over the decision to starve India to support the European war effort, and Wavell who forced the distribution of grain. Churchill despised him.

So always remember, when people say: 'they were different times, people thought differently', that Churchill's contemporaries and many of those closest to him thought he was a racist shit, a bigot, and an absolute liability as a war leader.

[Tom Baldwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The historian (I use the term with some reserve) Graeme Bowman’s claim that Winston Churchill opposed the D-Day landings (Operation Overlord) due to selfish imperial motives, preferring a Mediterranean strategy to protect the British Empire. This is not a new accusation and Bowman distorts evidence to support his case.

Bowman’s book:
• Misquotes and takes Churchill’s words out of context (e.g., race comments).
• Ignoring Churchill’s positive statements about equality.
• Including sensational but irrelevant personal details (e.g., his mother’s lovers, Churchill’s childhood).
• Making factual errors about Churchill’s career and abilities.

The accusations that Churchill resisted D-Day have been made since the 1940s by Communist and later historians; therefore Bowman’s claim of originality is false. In fact, extensive archival evidence shows Churchill:
• Advocated a cross-channel invasion (“lodgment on the continent”) from as early as 1941.
• Initiated key ideas like Mulberry Harbours.
• Delayed only to avoid a premature, disastrous landing (learning from Gallipoli).
• Consistently affirmed Overlord as the primary operation for 1944.

A key quotation Bowman uses to suggest Churchill felt D-Day was “forced upon” him is shown to be misinterpreted and out of context—Churchill was likely referring to the broader campaign in France, and even said “We have gone in wholeheartedly.”

Ultimately, Churchill did not oppose D-Day; rather, he helped make it possible through planning, resources, and strategic caution. Bowman’s argument is misleading, poorly evidenced, and part of a long line of already-debunked claims.

Churchill Project contains a detailed analysis and highlight of the issues in the book.

[Carnegie Mellon University Alumni Association]

Graeme C. Bowman (H&SS 84), author