The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (63 page)

“a draught of life”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:331.

“Our blessings from the whole”
:
Ibid., 332.

“Papa not at
all
well”
:
Diary, March 9, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers.

“The evening remains”
:
Alanbrooke,
War Diaries,
145.

“To bed at the record hour”
:
Colville,
Fringes of Power,
1:433.

“Luckily PM decided”
:
Alanbrooke,
War Diaries,
144–45.

“There will be worse”
:
Fred Taylor,
Goebbels Diaries,
262.

“There was very high gambling”
:
Waugh,
Diaries,
493.

“Poor Pamela will have to”
:
Smith,
Reflected Glory,
75.

“Anyway,” he concluded
:
Interview Transcripts, July 1991, Biographies File, Pamela Harriman Papers.

“I mean, that was the first”
:
Ibid.

“I won’t advance Randolph”
:
Ibid.

“Not as glamorous”
:
Clarissa Eden,
Clarissa Eden,
58.

“She combined a canny eye”
:
Ibid., 59.

“because I couldn’t really tell Clemmie”
:
Interview Transcripts, July 1991, Biographies File, Pamela Harriman Papers.

The list was like something
:
“Atlantic Clipper Passenger List,” New York–Lisbon, March 10–12, 1941, “Harriman Mission,” Chronological File, W. Averell Harriman Papers; Harriman,
Special Envoy to Churchill and Stalin,
19.

Anyone who peeked
:
“World War II Diary,” 2, Meiklejohn Papers.

“Mr. Harriman in a rash moment”
:
Meiklejohn to Samuel H. Wiley, April 16, 1941, “Family Papers,” W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“We were prepared”
:
Martin,
Downing Street,
42.

“Our fliers are talking of”
:
Fred Taylor,
Goebbels Diaries,
268.

“I was surprised to see”
:
Harriman,
Special Envoy to Churchill and Stalin,
21.

“You shall be informed”
:
Ibid., 22.

“The weekend was thrilling”
:
Diary, “Monday & Tuesday,” March 17–18, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers.

“Will have to move out”
:
“World War II Diary,” 10, Meiklejohn Papers.

“Most impressive thing”
:
Ibid., 12.

“Mr. Harriman achieves”
:
Meiklejohn to Knight Woolley, May 21, 1941, Public Service, Chronological File, W. Averell Harriman Papers. Harriman also was subject to episodes of dyspepsia, an arcane term for heartburn and indigestion.

“Young man,” Churchill said
:
Niven,
Moon’s a Balloon,
242.

“a meal and a laugh”
:
Niven to Harriman, March 16, 1941, “Harriman Mission,” Chronological File, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“Mr. Harriman was too cagey”
:
Christiansen to Harriman, March 19, 1941, “Harriman Mission,” Chronological File, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“Of course,” Owen wrote
:
Owen to Harriman, March 19, 1941, “Harriman Mission,” Chronological File, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“For g. sake tell your father”
:
Kathleen Harriman to Marie Harriman, March 19 [n.d., but likely 1942], Correspondence, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“the strides which”
:
Anthony Biddle to Franklin Roosevelt, April 26, 1941. FDR/Diplo.

“A fantastic climb”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:369.

“the mortuary men”
:
“Air Raid Casualties,” April 3, 1941, Metropolitan Police Report, MEPO 2/6580.

“Dearest,” she wrote
:
“ ‘Dearest, I Feel Certain I Am Going Mad Again’: The Suicide Note of Virginia Woolf,”
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment
16, no. 4 (July 2020),
www.cambridge.org/​core/​journals/​advances-in-psychiatric-treatment/​article/​dearest-i-feel-certain-i-am-going-mad-again-the-suicide-note-of-virginia-woolf/​8E400FB1AB0EEA2C2A61946475CB7FA3
.

While flying over Chequers
:
C. R. Thompson to Hastings Ismay, March 26, 1941, Protection of Chequers, pt. 3, WO 199/303, UKARCH.

“A sleeping bag”
:
“Your Anderson Shelter This Winter,” PREM 3/27, UKARCH.

“If we can’t be safe”
:
Memorandum, “Yesterday evening…,” May 1, 1941, PREM 3/27, UKARCH.

“good looking in rather”
:
Diary, March 28, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers.

“He’s marvelous”
:
Ibid.

The secretary had brought
:
“World War II Diary,” 15, Meiklejohn Papers.

“I saw the best-looking man”
:
Interview Transcripts, July 1991, Biographies File, Pamela Harriman Papers.

“Minister of Midnight”
:
Channon,
“Chips,”
385.

“Yesterday was a grand day”
:
Gilbert,
Finest Hour,
1048.

“has spent much of the weekend pacing”
:
Colville,
Fringes of Power,
1:440.

“All day we felt jubilant”
:
Diary, March 30, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers.

“Snow—sleet—cold”
:
These various diary entries can be found at the indicated dates in Mary’s diary. Mary Churchill Papers.

“a place to be held”
:
Gilbert,
Finest Hour,
1055.

“Let me have meanwhile”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:460.

“I am told”
:
Ibid.

In a gloomy speech
:
Ibid., 470. For the speech, see ibid., 461–70.

“The House is sad”
:
Nicolson,
War Years,
162.

“the extent to which”
:
Harriman to Roosevelt, April 10, 1941, “Harriman Mission,” Chronological File, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“If one could really completely”
:
Diary, April 9, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers.

“You know Duncan”
:
Winston Churchill to Randolph Churchill, June 8, 1941, CHAR 1/362, Winston Churchill Papers.

“The devastation in parts of the town”
:
Diary, April 11, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers.

“The firing of the rockets”
:
Colville,
Fringes of Power,
1:443.

“Rather strained pale faces”
:
Diary, April 12, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers; Soames,
Daughter’s Tale,
193.

“Yes, sir!” the desk manager said
:
Thompson,
Assignment,
215–16.

“He has the root”
:
Diary, April 12, 1941, Mary Churchill Papers.

“What did you say?”
:
“War Reminiscences,” 12, Oct. 13, 1953, Memoirs, Harriman Recollections, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“It was quite extraordinary”
:
Soames,
Daughter’s Tale,
193.

“Many of those here today”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:480.

“They have such confidence”
:
“War Reminiscences,” 12, Oct. 13, 1953, Memoirs, Harriman Recollections, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“will favorably affect”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:486n1.

“Deeply grateful for”
:
Ibid., 486.

“That’s what I hope”
:
Colville,
Fringes of Power,
1:444.

“whatever happens we do”
:
Clementine Churchill to Harriman, April 15, 1941, “Harriman Mission,” Chronological File, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“Thrilled,” he telegraphed
:
Averell Harriman to Kathleen Harriman, April 15, 1941, W. Averell Harriman Papers.

“We’re all dying to know”
:
Smith,
Reflected Glory,
90.

Gloom settled over meetings
:
As Alexander Cadogan noted in a series of diary entries, beginning April 7, 1941: “V. gloomy.” “Altogether gloomy.” “Rather gloomy.” Cadogan,
Diaries,
370.

“Churchill should be pilloried”
:
Boelcke,
Secret Conferences of Dr. Goebbels,
143.

“Hitler was outraged”
:
Below,
At Hitler’s Side,
93; Fred Taylor,
Goebbels Diaries,
311.

“I set special importance”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:502.

eleven thousand tons of cheese
:
Roosevelt to Cordell Hull, April 16, 1941, FDR/Conf.

“Standing on the roof”
:
Greene,
Ways of Escape,
112.

“I had quite a disagreeable walk”
:
Colville,
Fringes of Power,
1:445.

“More scary than actual explosions”
:
“World War II Diary,” 23, Meiklejohn Papers.

“All this time”
:
Lee,
London Observer,
244.

Nine blocks away
:
In
Life of the Party,
Christopher Ogden relies on, and amplifies, Pamela’s own recollections to place this dinner in the Dorchester apartment of Lady Emerald Cunard, a celebrated London hostess (118–20). During this period, however, Lady Cunard was not in England. Sally Bedell Smith, in
Reflected Glory,
offers a more convincing account (84–85). See also Anne Chisholm’s
Nancy Cunard,
which puts Cunard on an island in the Caribbean at the time the dinner party took place (159, 261). It should be noted, however, that the end result was the same.

“Well, would you”
:
Interview Transcripts, July 1991, Biographies File, Pamela Harriman Papers.

“A big bombing raid”
:
Smith,
Reflected Glory,
85.

“London looks bleary-eyed”
:
Colville,
Fringes of Power,
1:445.

“Needless to say”
:
Smith,
Reflected Glory,
85.

The RAF “Egglayers”
:
Lindemann to Churchill, April 17, 1941, F132/24, Lindemann Papers.

He was told, however
:
Colville,
Fringes of Power,
1:449.

“For the first time since war”
:
Ibid., 472.

“The effect is devastating”
:
Fred Taylor,
Goebbels Diaries,
332.

“He is said to be”
:
Ibid., 331.

“What a glorious spring day”
:
Ibid., 335.

“That’s all we’re really good at!”
:
Cadogan,
Diaries,
374.

“I have come back”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:548.

“His statement that morale”
:
Toye,
Roar of the Lion,
95.

In a “
M
OST
S
ECRET
” directive
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:556.

“The failure to win”
:
Ibid., 577.

“The battle over intervention”
:
Fred Taylor,
Goebbels Diaries,
337.

“Their great fear”
:
Ibid., 340.

“My dear Excellency”
:
Gilbert,
War Papers,
3:577.

“In a later letter to Hitler”
:
Quoted in Stafford,
Flight from Reality,
142; “Studies in Broadcast Propaganda, No. 29, Rudolf Hess, BBC,” INF 1/912, UKARCH.