Eighty years ago Churchill finds an outlet for his energies

 

 Dozens of V-1s were air-launched from Heinkel He-111 bombers over the North Sea. They were targeted on Manchester but the most lethal strike was in Oldham where 27 people died. Elsewhere another 17 lost their lives. In military terms the Germans had doubled down on the already wasteful strategy of investing in flying bombs capable of no more than random and barely significant damage by commiting conventional aircraft desperately needed to support the gound campaign.

The British government leapt on the success of the German Ardennes offensive to announce a fresh injection of 250,000 front line soldiers into the army ahead of the invasion of Germany. The Labour ministers were bullied into accepting an extension of civilian call-up. Other men would be transferred from the Navy and RAF and support personnel would be combed out in the Army itself.

The German Ardennes offensive reach a high-water mark when it surrounded the US 101st Airborne Division at the important road junction of Bastogne. Under a flag of truce the Germans formally called on the Americans to surrender but the response of Brigadier General McAuliffe in temporary command of the division, was "aw nuts." After some discussion the one word reply was sent to the Germans as their formal response to the invitation.

Greece had descended into practical civil war with the British army fighting against the communist guerrillas in support of their enemies. The King of Greece was behaving shiftily and Anthony Eden, the Foreign Secretary could not break the logjam to create a solution acceptable to most parties. Churchill decided to take affairs into his own hands and flew to Athens on Christmas Day. Since D-Day he had become increasingly frustrated with the transfer of military strategy to the generals and the Americans; the burgeoning general election campaign in Britain fell short of a full outlet for his desire for action.