17. Back in their islands, the British took stock of their position. They were led by a new Prime Minister and Government, for Mr. Churchill had taken over from Mr. Chamberlain in May. The confidence that was felt in this new leadership was a vital and indispensable factor in enabling Britain to survive the crisis that was now upon her. The conversion of British industry to war production was still in its early stages, and while much had been produced most of that much had been lost in France and Belgium. She had her air force, whose potentialities were as yet not fully realized, supported as it was by the new mysteries of radiolocation. She had her Navy, the armed support of the Commonwealth, and the ready goodwill of the U.S.A, and the non-fascist world. She had also the help of those gallant forces from Poland, Norway, France, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, the Netherlands and other invaded countries who were organizing on her shores. To assist in the Battle of the Atlantic, she had the numerous merchant ships at sea in May and June 1940, or gallantly brought over by their crews from the ports of her occupied Allies.
18. These resources were few enough against Germany alone, but they had to meet yet another enemy. Mussolini had chosen the moment of the fall of France to enter the war at the side of his Axis partner in the hope of completing his long-intended domination of the Mediterranean and its lands. The danger had been foreseen and fairly easily discounted while the French fleet, bases and possessions were to be counted upon for the defence of the western Mediterranean. Now the British in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean were threatened with being cut off entirely, and indeed for over two years their positions were reached only by the 12,200 miles of the route round the Cape of Good Hope and through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
19. The outlook was black, the resources few, but among the latter must be reckoned an intangible one that was nevertheless of immense value. The sense of danger, of unity, and of solitude in a great task—“ the last nation . . . left in arms against the foe ’’—together induced an extraordinary mood of exaltation which more than anything else gave the power to succeed.
20. First and most vital necessity was the preparation for the Battle of Britain which must inevitably follow the Battle of France. The Channel ports were in enemy hands. The airfields of northern France might be expected soon to send bombers to the assault; the Channel, a formidable
tank trap, as a French general wistfully described it, could not easily be commanded by naval forces against superior air power. The threat was as obvious as it was immediate, but the answer was less apparent.
