Eighty years ago this week the last, tarnished titan of the Great War departs
David Lloyd George died at the age of 82. In December 1916 he had succeeded Herbert Asquith as prime minister and added much-needed resolve and determination to Britain's war effort, prefiguring Churchill's ascension in place of Neville Chamberlain in 1940 as a true war leader. His practical contribution to victory was less certain and he dissipated much of his standing in the devious and corrupt manoeuvrings of his post-war coalition government. Nonetheless Churchill would have brought him into government as an old ally, but Lloyd George saw a better chance to return to power as the head of government once Hitler had triumphed. In September 1936 Lloyd George had paid a high profile visit to Hitler, whom he praised extravagantly, in a move to establish himself as the British statesman who could build a friendly relationship with Nazi Germany. He had remained an MP almost to the last but his criticisms had dwindled into a minor irritant. Montgomery launched Operation Plunder ,...
