David Cameron criticised over World War II history slip


David Cameron has been criticised after mistakenly saying the UK was the "junior partner" in the allied World War II fight against Germany in 1940.

He made the historical slip, neglecting the fact that the US had yet to enter the war, on the second day of his first trip to the US as prime minister.

Labour's David Miliband called it a "slight", while a veterans' group said it could "alienate" former troops.

No 10 said Mr Cameron had not meant to belittle the efforts of British troops.

Mr Cameron referred to the situation in 1940 during an interview with Sky News in which he was asked about the changing nature of the "special relationship" with the US and his meeting with President Obama on Tuesday.

'High regard'

"I think it is important in life to speak as it is and the fact is that we are a very effective partner of the US but we are the junior partner," he said.

"We were the junior partner in 1940 when we were fighting the Nazis."

However, the US officially declared war on Germany on 11 December 1941, shortly after Hitler launched hostilities against the US and four days after the Pearl Harbour attacks which drew the US into conflict against Japan.

The US had been supplying the UK with war materials for the previous nine months.

Asked about his remarks, No 10 said Mr Cameron had been referring to the "current relationship between the UK and the US".

"He holds the armed forces in a very high regard," a spokeswoman said.

'Stood alone'

Mr Miliband, the shadow foreign secretary, said the prime minister's comments had been misguided.

He said: "1940 was our finest hour. Millions of Britons stood up and gave their lives to defeat fascism.

"We were not a junior partner. We stood alone against the Nazis. How can a British prime minister who bangs on about British history get that so wrong? It is a slight, not a slip."

Terry Burton, president of the Association for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said Mr Cameron's comments were "rather inappropriate".

"It is going to alienate a lot of veterans. He should consider his words more carefully. The UK had been fighting the war a long time before Pearl Harbour," he said.

Before leaving Washington DC for New York, Mr Cameron laid a wreath at the US military's Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

BBC News - David Cameron criticised over World War II history slip

Quote:

Mr Cameron referred to the situation in 1940 during an interview with Sky News in which he was asked about the changing nature of the "special relationship" with the US and his meeting with President Obama on Tuesday.

Don't worry, it never changes.



I've never been entirely able to work out why otherwise sane PMs go all gooey in the presence of an American. I like to imagine them landing at Heathrow thinking "Oh my God, what have I done?!"

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There are instincts for the whole dominance/submission complex, aren't there?

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Really, the Meeja are doing everyone a disfavour with this trivia junk.

If David Cameron told The Times that he and his family had cornflakes for breakfast today and a little later Samantha Cameron told The Guardian they'd had porridge, commotion in the media would suggest that the government was in dire risk of collapse.

Welcome to a society where the voting population is devoid of brains.

You can see where he's coming from, though. In the 'war effort' department, Britain was minor as compared to the US, who was minor as compared to the USSR. It doesn't have to be about time.

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Absolutely. All through 1941 the Brits just sat around doing nothing. It was loads of fun.

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1940 was the Battle of Britain. It really is quite foolish to have forgotten such a significant and definitional event on the national history. Plus, if the RAF had defeated and a German invasion had gone ahead, it would be difficult to see later US intervention actually happening.

While Cameron is wrong, you also have to admit that British tend to overdo their 1940 achievement. "A small island which alone manage to stave off the evil Nazi juggernaught".

Well, hmmm, yeah, sure: A small island ... + the "greatest empire the world has seen" + the American's financial and material support.

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Originally Posted by Gilles de Rais

While Cameron is wrong, you also have to admit that British tend to overdo their 1940 achievement. "A small island which alone manage to stave off the evil Nazi juggernaught". Well, hmmm, yeah, sure: A small island ... + the "greatest empire the world has seen" + the American's financial and material support.

Britain wasn't getting much financial and material support in 1940. Hitler had decided to invade and ordered Goering to take care of the RAF because he needed to have total domination of the skies for Operation Sea Lion to have any chance of success.

The RAF fighters were Mostly British but included pilots from the dominions and from Poland and Czechoslovakia and a few other countries. They held The Luftwaffe at bay, thanks mostly to early radar, and Goering failed to gain control of the skies and Hitler called the whole thing off.

American financial aid came later on in the war, in the build up to the invasion of Normandy. I dunno if the British got much help in North Africa but I doubt it.

Originally Posted by bateman

Britain wasn't getting much financial and material support in 1940. Hitler had decided to invade and ordered Goering to take care of the RAF because he needed to have total domination of the skies for Operation Sea Lion to have any chance of success. The RAF fighters were Mostly British but included pilots from the dominions and from Poland and Czechoslovakia and a few other countries. They held The Luftwaffe at bay, thanks mostly to early radar, and Goering failed to gain control of the skies and Hitler called the whole thing off. American financial aid came later on in the war, in the build up to the invasion of Normandy. I dunno if the British got much help in North Africa but I doubt it.

Britain got crucial support in N.Africa, including a big shipment of tanks at a time when we were very short of them.

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