When Britain Saved the West: The Story of 1940

by Robin Prior

From the comfortable distance of seven decades, it is quite easy to view the victory of the Allies over Hitler’s Germany as inevitable. But in 1940 Great Britain’s defeat loomed perilously close, and no other nation stepped up to confront the Nazi threat. In this cogently argued book, Robin Prior delves into the documents of the time—war diaries, combat reports, Home Security’s daily files, and much more—to uncover how Britain endured a year of menacing crises.   The book reassesses key events of 1940—crises that were recognized as such at the time and others not fully appreciated. Prior examines Neville Chamberlain’s government, Churchill’s opponents, the collapse of France, the Battle of Britain, and the Blitz. He looks critically at the position of the United States before Pearl Harbor, and at Roosevelt’s response to the crisis. Prior concludes that the nation was saved through a combination of political leadership, British Expeditionary Force determination and skill, Royal Air Force and Navy efforts to return soldiers to the homeland, and the determination of the people to fight on “in spite of all terror.” As eloquent as it is controversial, this book exposes the full import of events in 1940, when Britain fought alone and Western civilization hung in the balance.

Genres: History, World War II, Military History, Nonfiction, War, France, Aviation

498 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 26, 2015

About the author

Robin Prior was born in rural South Australia and has been a farmer, shopkeeper, librarian and an academic. He was educated at Kapunda High School and at the University of Adelaide where he obtained a degree in 1972, an honours degree in 1974 and a PhD in 1979 (all in Arts/History).

Reviews

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stimulating myth busting re-assessment of the dark days of 1940.

Robin Prior reassesses the key events of 1940 providing an alternative view of the UK’s “Finest Hour”.

He re-examines the key decisions that made Churchill Prime Minister instead of arch appeaser Lord Halifax as well dismissing several popular stories. For example he argues that the German bombing of London was always planned and not triggered as a result of RAF raids on Berlin.

Prior also details how some of Churchill’s decisions could have resulted in defeat. Well known is Dowding’s defiance of Churchill’s orders to send further RAF squadrons to France, but lesser known is Gort’s key decision to disobey and order the retreat of the BEF to the coast.

The author has created a fascinating book, written in an easily read style packed with facts, stats and some great stories behind the headlines that most World War 2 history buffs will know.

How many people know that the UK offered full political, economic, and military union with France well before the advent of the EU?

Some will find it controversial and may disagree with his interpretations, but you cannot deny Prior’s book is certainly intellectually stimulating and highlights the thin thread that prevented Nazi domination of Western civilisation during the Summer of 1940.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, this book has excellent maps, which is a welcome change from some of my recent reads.

It starts a bit slow as it goes over the period under Chamberlain until Churchill takes control in May of 1940, but it picks up dramatically as the traumatic events of 'the year alone' proceed. We are familiar with the historical events of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, of course, but the author does a fine job explaining what the Germans did wrong in their aerial efforts to force Britain to seek peace.

The Battle of Britain was a great victory for Britain, but it was just the beginning of more fighting and sacrifice. The last chapters deal with the efforts of Churchill to convince the U.S. that this was a fight for the future of the world, not just any one nation. Unfortunately, it took the great blunders on the part of Japan and Germany to bring about the final victory--four years later.

This book is a detailed look at what must have been a terrifying year; a year that could have ended in tragedy for Britain, but instead stands as a monument to the courage and steadfastness of the British people, nation, and their allies.

[Julian Douglass · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should have either been a military history or general history, but not both. While Mr. Prior does a good job setting the stage and busting tons of myth's, the military parts of the book are too long and really don't seem to add to the main part of the story. If this was just about the military tactics, I would understand the point to do a play-by-play account of the war, but this was supposed to be a general history on how Britain held back the Nazi invasion in 1940 to set them up for wining the war overall. Still a good book, just a little to heavy on the military tactics.

[Terri Wangard · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1940, Great Britain’s defeat by Nazi Germany came perilously close. No one else stepped up to confront the Nazi threat. This is the theme of Robin Prior’s When Britain Saved the West. I discovered I didn’t know much about Britain’s (and France’s) experiences in the early years of war. Here is what made an impression on me.

“Peace in our time,” Chamberlain announced. He’d do anything to avoid war, even hand Britain over to Hitler.

I’d heard the prime minister gave away Czechoslovakia because Britain wasn’t ready for war. He was bargaining for time to build up his military.

Not quite. Chamberlain had vetoed equipping the army and demanded cutbacks. He was quite comfortable giving the army the role of imperial policing, and lacking any influence in world matters.
Despite knowing of the widespread massacre in Poland, all Chamberlain would do was drop leaflets over Germany. By doing so, he believed they’d win the war by spring of 1940. The Germans, he thought, were depressed by Hitler’s bullying and once they read his leaflets, they’d throw out the Nazis.

Both Chamberlain and his Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax thought negotiations with Hitler were possible, and they wanted to discuss terms for European equilibrium. Neither realized how out-of-step they were with the British people.

Churchill understood any peace with Nazi Germany would not be worth having. He would rather go down fighting than be enslaved by Germany.
The British Expeditionary Force went to France with so many unknown. They were subject to clumsy French command structure, poor planning in deployment, no radar, and no knowledge of the capabilities of the armies on their flanks. One bright spot: not all their equipment was inferior to the Germans’.

When the BEF evacuated through Dunkirk, the Germans showed a lack of coordination and energy in stopping them. Two weeks of hard campaigning through the Low Countries and France had worn them down.

France kept asking the British to send them planes. They actually had more, but because of ineptitude, disorganization, and defeatism, they sent more than twenty squadrons to North Africa. Petain told Prime Minister Reynaud if no more British help was forthcoming, he should hand power over to Petain and he’d make peace. Churchill went so far as to suggest Britain and France unite in one country. The French weren’t interested. Most Vichy government members looked forward to an imminent British collapse. Both wanted the U.S. to bail them out.

Germany’s failure to capture the BEF, failure to subdue the RAF, and their inferiority at sea led to the cancellation of their plan to invade Britain. Instead, they attacked the British people in the Battle of Britain. By bombing the civilian population, Hitler believed morale would plummet and the terrified, cowed population would demand peace terms. The Germans could win the victory without an invasion.
They began with a first phase of reconnaissance flights to test the RAF’s strength. The RAF used this time to hone their skills. Poor intelligence told the Germans they had finished off the RAF fighters. Herman Goering was an ineffective Luftwaffe leader. He had no grasp of details and spent too much time maintaining his position in the Nazi hierarchy.

London was bombed for 56 consecutive days. No country had ever been subjected to the level of aerial bombardment as Britain. Despite 13,000 killed, 18,000 severely wounded, 24,000 fires started, 40,000 homes destroyed or damaged per week, the vast majority of Londoners went unscathed. London was too big a target to destroy.

The Luftwaffe was never developed into a strategic weapon. It had too few planes and they carried inadequate bomb loads.

Churchill promised his countrymen that Germany would receive a greater measure of destruction. The Germans complain about the Allied indiscriminate bombing of Germany, but they ignore their own actions toward other countries.

Churchill continually pressed President Roosevelt for aid, hoping the United States would enter the war. Roosevelt made pretty speeches, but nothing happened. He claimed the Congress or the American people didn’t want to become involved with war. He was willing to risk a Nazified Europe. His cabinet members pressured him to do something, and the American people grew discontent with his lack of leadership. Ironically, Hitler helped Britain by declaring war on the U.S. after Pearl Harbor, believing the U.S. would declare war on Germany when Roosevelt had no such plan.

The popular view of one-mindedness between Churchill and Roosevelt was created by Churchill when he wrote during the years of the Cold War. Such a view was good for morale. His constant theme during World War II was Britain was fighting by themselves, but not for themselves alone.

Britain and France wanted the U.S. to bail them out after they allowed themselves to be militarily and politically unable to deal with Germany. Had they remained vigilant in the 1930s and paid attention to what their neighbor was up to, could the war have been avoided?

Robin Prior’s When Britain Saved the West is full of information that debunks popular myths, such as Germany bombed London because the British bombed Berlin. It is highly detailed, sometimes too much. So many names are served up during the British Parliamentary debates on what to do, reading is bogged down. Also in detailing all the units and their roles in the Dunkirk evacuation. Despite this, When Britain Saved the West is a fascinating book that sheds new light on World War II.

I discovered I didn’t know much about Britain’s (and France’s) experiences in the early years of war. Here is what made an impression on me.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great consolidated view of the obstacles and turning points for Great Britain during the early years of World War II. The author covers the rise of the Churchill government, the fighting in France, Dunkirk (several chapters), The Battle of Britain, the Blitz, and aid from the US. The material on the Battle of Britain and the Blitz was my favorite -- it was concise and clearly laid out.

I thought the author understated American contributions to Britain's war economy in 1940. The US is portrayed as greedy and opportunistic for the cash-and-carry and lend-lease programs. But that's a minor gripe and didn't detract from enjoying the book.

[Stanley Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read, Prior does an excellent job describing the Dunkirk rescue and the Battle of Britain, but does not include much on other battles the British fought. These battles also contributed to Hitler's defeat...

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read a book that focuses on Franklin Roosevelt and his part in WWII and the lead up, but my impression has always been that he would have like to have gotten into the war sooner to help out Britain in the fight against Nazism. Toward the end of this book, the author shows reasons indicating that, to the contrary, everything FDR did; from his rousing anti-Nazi speeches with no follow up to his almost worthless "help" to Britain in the form of a bunch of decrepit destroyers, and the lend lease program that ended up being no more than a drop in the bucket of what Britain really needed to prosecute the war; was designed to keep the USA out of the war. I fact, the author is highly doubtful that the US would have joined the war against Germany if Der Fuhrer had not declared war on the US on 12 December, 1941.

However, the part mentioned above comes near the end. Most of the book is a history of the major events of 1940 that the author believes were the major decisive moments when the war could have been lost if things had gone differently. He goes into more numerical specifics about the battle of Britain, and the London Blitz than I have read in any other history I have read about those times.

After finishing this book, I had an even greater desire than I have ever had to visit the UK and experience the country and the culture.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review originally posted at http://www.literaryweek.com

As a keen historian I'm always on the lookout for new historical non-fiction, and so when given the opportunity to review this book I grabbed it with both hands. Prior really focuses on the British perspective of World War Two in this book, something that some may see as a negative. The book largely ignores the wider context of what is happening in 1940 - however this results in a very focused read. The book is largely based on detailed fact, and makes good use of evidence, but there is little in the way of personal viewpoint from the author. If you are looking for a book purely focused on the British perspective of 1940, i.e. for research purposes, and for a book full of fact and statistics then this is the perfect book for you. Otherwise, I'd give it a miss.

[Charles Inglin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read. It's interesting how much Britain's survival depended on Churchill's resolve to fight to the finish and how he countered the appeasement faction centered on Chamberlain and Lord Halifax. Also interesting is how much Britain benefited from the Germans' mistakes, particularly their changes in focus which dispersed their power and prevented them from landing a number of potentially crippling blows.

[Mike Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read. This is accessible even to those without a great knowledge of the period and very well written.
I particularly enjoyed the very useful maps which made the rather complex story of the BEF in France and Belgium before Dunkirk easier to understand. They are clear and there are enough of them to make things clear.
Robin makes his views clear, based on an analysis of sound and up-to-date evidence.
Thank goodness for Churchill and the British people who DID save the West in 1940.

[Steve Switzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking book full of hard facts ... how many planes we lost in france and how many we sent.
How badly equipped were we in july 1940 - No vagueness here.
Chilling account of how FDR would have let us fight alone but thanks to the only leader stupid enough to declare war on the US we were ok .. up till then the yanks had been sending destroyers to collect our gold and weaken us for further in defiance of his own hawks .
Still hitler declared war and saved us in spite of FDR

[Simon Alford · Rating 5 out of 5]

FDR saw matters as Fortress America. Churchill as the fight for Western Civilization. A corrective to those Americans who think they won it all on their own. The USA didn't even declare war on Germany, they waited for Hitler to do so, but that was a year away.

[Karen Lee-Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good over view, analysis on the weaker side!