Winston Churchill’s Life

Allen Packwood

Allen Packwood is the author of the recent book “How Churchill Waged War” and is the Director of the Churchill Archives. He was recently awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth.

In this interview, he discusses the Churchill Archives which holds the papers of Churchill. It also holds the papers of Margaret Tharcher, and other distinguished leaders.

The interview next turns to Churchill’s life and some of the strategic decisions he made in war. These included the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign of WW1, and his decision to aid Greece after the Germans attacked in WW2. Also discussed is the British strategy, used when fighting Napoleon, to try and avoid major military direct engagements on the Continent of Europe. This explained the reluctance of Churchill to agree to an invasion of occupied France, where an invader would face the full might of the German Army, despite pleas from Stalin to take the pressure off the Soviet Union after Hitler had invaded.