All language subtitles for W.C.W.S01E04.Deliverance.1080p.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

Narrator: May, 1940.

Darkness had
descended upon the world.

Germany and her allies

controlled large
swathes of Europe.

Japan had invaded China

and was looking to
expand her empire further.

Britain and empire
were under threat.

But if anybody
likes to play rough,

we can play rough, too.

Narrator: In this
fractured world,

Winston Churchill
became prime minister

of the United Kingdom.

He did so with a clear goal,

victory.

Now we are at war.

And we are going to make war.

Until the other side
have had enough of it.

Narrator: This is the story

of the man who led
britain and her empire

through one of the
darkest moments

in its history.

This is Winston Churchill's war.

In 1944 and 45,

Churchill continued
to embrace his role

as a wartime leader.

He travelled to meet British
and commonwealth troops

on the ground,

as well as commanders
and allied leaders.

He presented and pursued
his views on strategy.

But destiny was shifting.

Britain, the empire and
the world was changing.

Britain was no longer the
centre of the European war effort.

And Churchill had to
submit to the influence

of more powerful allies.

By war's end,

the people of britain
were no longer looking

for a wartime prime minister.

But rather a leader

to guide them into
a prosperous peace.

[Gentle piano music]

In January 1944,

even as the allies
began to prepare

for an amphibious
landing in France...

..Churchill remained committed
to his soft underbelly strategy

and its focus on
the mediterranean.

Churchill had hoped to
take complete control of Italy

and deliver other
strategic gains,

including drawing enemy troops

away from the Soviet
union and France.

[Intense string music]

But the campaign in
Italy was proving difficult

and costly.

Churchill: We now hold one
third of the mainland of Italy.

Our progress has not
been as rapid or decisive

as we had hoped.

I do not doubt that
we shall be Victor

and that Rome will be rescued.

Narrator: The allies
were struggling

to crack the German
defences at the Gustav line...

..And make the all-important
breakthrough to Rome.

The Gustav line stretched
to 160km across Italy,

from the mouth of
the garigliano river,

through cassino,

to the mouth of
the sangro river.

Cassino and the liri valley

provided potential openings

in the defences.

But the Germans knew this

and had heavily fortified
this section of the line.

- Between September 1943
when the allies invade Italy

and the start of 1944,

the Germans build
a line of defences

across the lower part of Italy,
north of Naples, south of Rome,

and one of their key
points on that line

is the fortified hill
of monte cassino.

Narrator: In late January 1944,

the allies attempted to
make a breakthrough,

launching an amphibious
landing at anzio.

The landing began with promise,

but soon, the allied
troops found themselves

precariously defending
the beach head,

against significant
German reinforcements.

- Churchill said that he'd
hope to land a wildcat

on the shores of Italy,

but instead there
was a large whale

flopping about with
its tail in the water.

Churchill later made an aside

and said that the campaign
had certainly not gone

according to how
he had envisaged.

And that in his lifetime,

he couldn't afford
two suvla bays,

which was a reference to
his failed gallipoli adventure

of the first world war.

Narrator: Allied
incursions on land

didn't fare much better.

Four major attacks were
launched at monte cassino

between January and may,

meeting stubborn resistance.

- Churchill had talked about
the soft underbelly of Europe.

Well, it turned out
not to be so soft.

And one of its hardest
points was monte cassino

and the valleys and hills that
the allies had to break through

if they were to advance on Rome.

Atop monte cassino

stood a historic
benedictine monastery.

British intelligence
mistakenly reported

that it was occupied
by the Germans,

and on 15 February,

allied air forces were ordered
to bomb the monastery,

leaving it in ruins.

The irony of the
battle of monte cassino

and the continued
fighting in Italy

was that it delivered
the one thing

Churchill was trying
to avoid in France.

A stalemate.

Over a period of five months,

the allies struggled
to make any headway.

The allies won
through at cassino

by sheer bloody determination,

by making one
attack after another,

and eventually
getting a strategy

to break through that blockage,

partly because of
the landing at anzio.

Narrator: After fierce fighting,

the allied troops eventually
broke through the Gustav line

and on June 4, 1944, took Rome.

But the campaign
in Italy dragged on,

even as the final, frantic
preparations were being made

for d-day.

[Gentle music]

In may 1944, back in england,

Churchill met with leaders

of the British
commonwealth dominions.

Their broad support
and enthusiasm

further reinforced
Churchill's view

of the strong bonds of empire.

But the commonwealth
leaders also recognised the value

of other rising powers,

particularly the United States.

- At the beginning of the war,

Churchill stood at
the head of a nation

as powerful as any other.

Now, of course,
British power grew

between 1940 to 1945,

but Soviet power, and,
above all, us power,

grew very much faster.

So, United Kingdom goes
from head of an empire

to being a power that
is essentially subservient

in critical ways.

The key parts of the empire,

Australia, New
Zealand and Canada,

in many ways now
have stronger relations

with the United States

than they do with
the United Kingdom.

Narrator: The increasing
number of us troops

and equipment in britain

also made Churchill
acutely aware

of britain's dwindling influence
in the European theatre.

- The American arrival
was fairly protracted.

But it was gradual, and
Churchill's consciousness

that britain's role in the war

was increasingly that of

playing second
fiddle to the Americans

grew and grew.

Churchill began
to feel humiliated

by his dependence
on the Americans

and the fact that
he was ultimately

going to have to
dance to their tune.

Narrator: Throughout the war,

Churchill's focus had
been firmly fixed on Europe

and the mediterranean.

But over in the
Asia-pacific region,

Churchill had a
vested personal interest

in both Burma and India.

In 1885, when
Winston was still a boy,

his father, lord
Randolph Churchill,

a secretary of state for India,

had annexed Burma
for the British empire.

Burma was significant
for two key reasons.

For the Burma road,

which had been used as
a supply route to China,

and Burma's proximity to India.

The threat of a
Japanese invasion,

sparking an insurrection
against the British raj,

would have been deeply
concerning to Churchill,

who had argued strongly
against Indian independence

in the years before the war.

He did not want to cede
control of India to Japan

or to the Indian people.

Churchill: The more we can
fight and engage the Japanese,

and especially wear
down their airpower,

the greater the
diversion we make

from the pacific theatre.

And the more help we give

to the operation of
the United States.

Admiral mountbatten
had infused the spirits

of energy and confidence

into the heavy forces
gathered to recover Burma.

And by that means,

to defend the frontiers of India
and reopen the road to China.

Narrator: In may 1944,

the Burma campaign
reached a climax,

with 60,000 British and
commonwealth troops

surrounded on the imphal plane

by a force of over
70,000 Japanese.

The commonwealth
troops held out,

eventually pushing the
Japanese back and into retreat,

turning the tide of
the Burma campaign.

As the allied troops fought
their way toward rangoon,

Churchill's attention again
turned to the war in Europe.

In June 1944,

the time for operation
overlord had finally arrived.

After years of debate,

and Churchill's
numerous objections

and peripheral campaigns,

the allies were about to launch
the second front in France,

which Stalin had
long called for.

On its outcome depended
the fate of the entire war.

Churchill: The hour
of our greatest effort

and action is approaching.

We march with Valiant allies

who count on us as
we count on them.

The flashing eyes
of all our soldiers,

sailors and airmen

must be fixed upon
the enemy on their front.

And when the signal is given,

the whole circle
of avenging nations

will hurl themselves
upon the foe,

and batter out life of
the cruellest tyranny

which has ever sought to
bar the progress of mankind.

Narrator: If successful,

overlord and the
campaign that followed

would mean the
liberation of France

and the chance to strike at
the heart of Nazi Germany.

- Overlord offered Hitler

his last just credible
opportunity of the war

to turn the tide
against the allies.

He had a scenario,

not a very convincing
one, but just possible,

whereby if he could throw
the allies back into the sea

when they invaded,

then he could shift all
these important forces,

above all, the panzer divisions,
back to the eastern front,

smash the Russians,

and then come and
deal with the Americans,

the British, at leisure.

Narrator: As d-day approached,

Churchill remained concerned

about the potential
for disaster.

And he was not alone.

Field marshal sir Alan Brooke,

chief of the imperial
general staff,

confided in his diary
that he thought it might be,

"the most ghastly
disaster of the whole war."

- Although all logic
said that the allies,

with an overwhelming superiority
of armour, ships, aircraft,

were overwhelmingly
likely to get ashore

and be able to stay there,

if they failed,

the consequences
would be disastrous.

I mean, the blow
to the credibility

of president Roosevelt and
Churchill as prime minister

would have been overwhelming.

Eisenhower would had
to have been sacked

as supreme commander,

and other supreme
commanders chosen.

There would have had to
have been other scapegoats.

Morale among the
American people,

the British people,

would have taken
the most terrible blow.

Narrator: Haunted by
failed amphibious operations

of the past,

Churchill retired the
evening before d-day,

burdened by fears.

He told Clementine that
by the time she woke,

20,000 men may have been killed.

The German offensive strategy
against the seaborne attack

lay in the Atlantic wall.

Fortified with mines
and barbed wire,

the wall had taken
years to construct.

Hitler was so invested
in the details of the wall,

he even designed
the bunker systems.

But as a defence, it
proved to be fatally flawed.

It was not defence in
depth, and it was static.

On the morning of 6 June 1944,

allied troops stormed
the beaches of normandy.

Strong currents swept
many landing craft off course,

and rough seas
hampered the troops

as they struggled ashore.

On the exposed beaches,

soldiers faced heavy fire
from the German defenders.

But by day's end,

the allies had broken
through the German lines

and were moving inland from
the precarious beachheads.

On 12 June,

eager to see the
results of the landings,

Churchill arrived in normandy,

just six days after d-day.

He was there again in July,

visiting the troops
and rallying morale.

Newscaster: The pm came
not only to congratulate

and cheer the men
of the allied armies,

but also to bring them the
good wishes and thanks

of all of us at home.

Before his trip to
the American sector,

he'd spent several days
with the British troops.

He went right up into caen,

and with generals
Montgomery and dempsey,

he drove across the river auge.

Two of the Bridges are
already named after him.

One's called Winston,
and the other, Churchill.

Narrator: In August,

Churchill reported the
successes of operation overlord

to the house of commons.

He praised eisenhower and
the American contribution,

but was also at pains
to make clear his view

that British forces had
contributed an equal effort.

That Churchill felt the
need to mention this

suggests he
recognised a critical shift

in the power relations.

In August 1944,

the allies broke out of
the normandy bridgehead

and advanced east.

As us troops drew
close to the city,

the French resistance in Paris
Rose up against the Germans.

On 24 August,

French and us forces
advanced into the city,

and Paris was
liberated on the 25th.

American newsreader: Paris
with all its legends of romance,

armoured equipment
on the champs-eélysées

with its famous rows
of Chestnut trees.

And then the place
De la concorde,

and the arc De triomphe,
symbol of the glory of Paris.

The angry crowds
have to be held back,

and the insolent Nazis
are not so insolent now.

They're scared.

By September 1944,

the allies had moved east
across France and Belgium,

and reached Germany's
western border.

But here, the allied
advance slowed to a halt

as the Germans
launched a counter attack

in the ardennes region.

As progress was being
made on the western front,

the red army had been
driving the wehrmacht

back on the eastern
front since the end of 1943.

By late 1944,

Soviet troops had advanced

hundreds of kilometres
across Eastern Europe,

and were on the verge of
moving into German home territory.

In January 1945,

the red army captured
the Polish city of Warsaw,

and by winter's end,

Soviet troops were
edging ever closer to Berlin.

Churchill was beginning to
worry about Soviet intentions

in eastern European
nations, especially in Poland.

In February 1945,

the big three came together
for the yalta conference.

With victory in
Europe on the horizon,

the fate of liberated nations

and the conditions to be
imposed upon a defeated Germany

became the key focus
of the conference.

Yalta was a difficult and
quarrelsome conference.

Churchill made it clear

that a free and
independent Poland

was essential to britain.

It was, he said, why
britain had gone to war.

And it was this issue

that Churchill felt
had contributed

to the breakdown
of the great alliance.

Stalin did make a commitment

to a free, independent
and powerful Poland.

But as with many
of Stalin's promises,

it proved a sham.

- By the time that the
yalta conference took place,

Stalin's cloven hoof was
beginning to show in Poland.

He had a long vendetta
against the Poles,

but he was extending
Russian influence

right into Western Europe.

And Churchill was
getting extremely anxious

about the situation in Poland.

Don't forget, britain
had entered the war

to preserve the integrity
of Poland against the Nazis.

Well, this clearly was
not going to happen.

So Churchill had
no real cards to play,

except trying to say,

"let's keep the
alliance together.

"Let's all be decent

2and preserve what
we're trying to fight for,"

which is to crush the
horror of Nazi Germany,

try and build a United
Nations and a civilised Europe.

Narrator: As far as
Stalin was concerned,

Poland was central to the
security of the Soviet union.

It had proven to be a
corridor for attack on Russia,

and Stalin wanted to ensure
that it did not happen again.

It was becoming clear
that Stalin had aspirations

for Soviet expansion

that would not
be easily quashed.

The discussions
regarding Poland at yalta

were an example of
the fading influence

of the Democratic nations of
britain and the United States

against the rising
communist power

of the Soviet union.

- So, Stalin really

took the bull by the
horns, so to speak.

And placed Churchill
and Roosevelt

in a very difficult position,

and it's at this
point, after yalta,

that you start to see
Churchill in particular

getting more and more
upset about Poland,

Roosevelt firstly says,
"give it some time."

But eventually,
Roosevelt himself

comes around to the view

that Stalin's behaviour
is just beyond the pale.

And they start pressuring
Stalin to make some changes.

It's a sad story. There's
no question about it.

For the people of Poland,

the second world
war is a disaster.

Narrator: Another concern
for Churchill at yalta

was securing a
zone of occupation

for the French in a
post-war Germany.

This was something of
which Stalin in particular

saw no need.

- Initially, both
Stalin and Roosevelt

were kind of
sceptical about this.

One thing Stalin was
very concerned about

was he didn't want to
see the east defeated,

and what he
considered lesser powers

elevated to the point

where they could demand
reparations of economic systems

that he felt Russia
was entitled to.

Eventually, both
Stalin and Roosevelt

acquiesced in that decision.

Narrator: There were
toasts and dinners

and much talk of the
alliance of the great powers.

At one dinner, Churchill
declared that in Stalin,

britain had "a friend
whom we can trust."

But beneath the displays
of goodwill and friendship

was a much darker undercurrent.

The goals of the big three
were no longer aligned.

Not even those of
britain and america.

- By yalta,

the relationship between
Churchill and Roosevelt

had cooled considerably.

Churchill had more than a
year of being on the wrong end

of the strategic
decision-making process.

He had suffered criticism from
the American state department

about the British
expedition into Greece.

Roosevelt wasn't supporting
Churchill on issues like Poland.

Narrator: As it turned out,

they did not have
the opportunity

to rebuild the relationship.

On 13 April 1945,

Churchill reported news
of Roosevelt's death

to the house of commons.

Newscaster: President Roosevelt,

who had guided the United
States with so sure a touch,

who had symbolised to
other nations of the world

their hopes for the future,

died before victory
was achieved.

Narrator: Churchill called
for business in the house

to be suspended for the day.

But it was a
restrained statement

for someone so fond of
literary and rhetorical flourish.

His reaction to the
president's death

would puzzle historians
for many years to come.

- The reaction of Churchill
to the death of Roosevelt

was very muted.

Churchill declined to
go to Roosevelt's funeral.

In his history of the
second world war,

Churchill said
that Roosevelt was

perhaps the greatest
friend and the greatest ally

that britain had ever had.

So his decision to not
attend Roosevelt's funeral

is remarkable in that context.

Narrator: He
travelled far and wide

during the war,

even in britain's darkest hours.

Why, at this moment,

did he make the decision
to remain in britain?

Was it a sign of a
faltering relationship?

Perhaps he simply could
not face the funeral of a friend

and give full expression
to his grief in that moment.

Whatever the reason,

it meant a missed opportunity
to meet and create a bond

with Roosevelt's successor,
president Harry s Truman.

As the war continued,

and parts of Europe
were liberated,

Churchill feared the rapid
advance of the red army

would end in Soviet
domination for years to come.

- Churchill fought
very, very early on,

not just in terms
of winning the war,

but what the winning
of the war would mean

for post-war relationships,

post-war great
power relationships.

And he was extremely
apprehensive

about what Stalin might do,

particularly given his
incredibly brutal way

in which he conducted
himself during the war.

- It became clear that
the red army and Russia

was going to become
a dominant force

in Eastern Europe.

And what was particularly
painful to Churchill

was that they had no
observers, they had no diplomats,

not even free press in
these countries at the time.

So Churchill in an
early telegram to Truman

in may 1945

made a reference
to an iron curtain

having descended
upon Eastern Europe.

Narrator: As the red army
advanced through Germany,

Churchill strongly believed
American and British forces

should not concede
ground to the Soviets.

But his entreaties
fell on deaf ears.

- Eisenhower had
adopted a strange view

that Berlin was no longer
a... A strategic objective.

The red army was steamrolling
its way across Eastern Europe.

It entered Austria

and Churchill believed
that the allies should occupy

as much of Germany as possible

to strengthen their
negotiations with the Russians.

Churchill believed that Berlin,

obviously as the
capital of Germany,

was a great political
and strategic prize

that he wanted to capture.

Narrator: With major
offensives underway

on both the eastern and
western fronts in early 1945,

Hitler was compelled to
split his remaining forces.

This movement of German troops

meant less resistance
for us and British forces

as they attempted
to cross the rhine river

and advance into
the heart of Germany.

On 23 march 1945,

us general patton's third army

was the first to
cross the rhine,

and shortly after,

British field marshal Montgomery
launched his own attack

across a nearly 50km front.

- The real genius is that
it happened so swiftly.

They managed to get
across the river in one night.

It cost lives, but it was
an enormous success,

an immediate success,

and it shows just how
much the balance had shifted

in the last months of the war.

The allies could do
anything they wanted,

and the Germans could do
almost nothing to stop them.

Narrator: In late march 1945,

Churchill suggested
to Montgomery

that together, they
crossed the rhine,

only days after the allied
crossing had taken place.

Finally, Churchill was where
he had most wanted to be.

Standing on
conquered German soil

at the head of
the road to Berlin.

The allied armies
raced eastwards.

Germany was all but beaten.

The aim now was to stop
the red army gaining territory.

The cold war was
beginning in earnest,

even before Berlin fell.

On April 11, 1945,

the American and British
forces were at the elbe river,

less than 100km from Berlin.

They were waiting for
the red army to meet them

to commence a final
pincer movement on Berlin.

- Berlin was the great
prize that both sides,

both the Soviet union and
the anglo-American forces,

wanted to capture Berlin.

There's something...
Something deeply psychological

in the idea of occupying
the enemy's capital.

The thing was, was that of
those two contending forces,

only the Soviet union was
prepared to put the losses in

to capturing it as
quickly as they did.

Narrator: By April 25,

Soviet forces had
surrounded Berlin.

And on April 30,

Hitler committed suicide
in his Berlin bunker.

Finally, Churchill
could deliver the speech

he must have longed
to give for many years.

He announced victory in
Europe to the British people.

Churchill: We may have
ourself a brief period of rejoicing.

The day is victory
in Europe day.

Newscaster: Britain
took his words to heart.

Never was there such a
day of genuine rejoicing.

[Cheering]

Narrator: Victory in
Europe was secured.

But Churchill's premiership

and the fate of
the British empire

was now hanging by a thread.

He had hoped that his
government coalition

would continue until the
war with Japan was won.

But by 1945,

the wartime parliament
had been in power

for close to 10 years,
twice the normal term.

The last election had
been held in 1935,

and since 1940,

Churchill had led
a wartime coalition.

In 1944, under pressure from
clement attlee's labour party,

Churchill had
committed to an election

when the war with
Germany was won.

With victory over
Germany secured,

Churchill began to
think it would be better

to extend the coalition
until Japan was beaten.

He put the proposition
to clement attlee,

who declined the offer.

The election would
go ahead as planned.

Churchill almost immediately
undermined his campaign

with the infamous
'gestapo' speech.

In his first election
broadcast in early June,

he targeted the
socialist principles

of the Soviets,

and what he considered
their socialist proxy in britain,

the labour party.

Churchill: No
socialist government

conducting the entire life
and industry of the country

could afford to allow

free, sharp or violently
worded expressions

of public discontent.

They would have to fall
back on some form of gestapo.

No doubt very humanely
directed in the first instance.

The combative tone

directed at labour members

he had treated as
colleagues during the war

was not well received.

By engaging the party politics,

he undermined his reputation

as a man who could unite
the nation in peacetime,

as well as in war.

For perhaps the first time

since he had become
prime minister,

Churchill had misjudged
the public mood.

The British people were
tired. They were weary of war.

And they were eager
for... For social reform.

Churchill was campaigning
on the basis of...

There were still
international tensions.

The war with Japan hadn't ended,

and Russia was emerging
as a threat in the future.

So Churchill basically was
promising more of the same.

On 21 June 1945,

Churchill delivered
his pitch to the nation.

- Five years ago,

I promised you blood,
toil, tears and sweat.

And your untiring response

brought us, in the end,

victory over Germany.

We have a terrific
task ahead of us.

We have a shattered
world around us.

And we must help to rebuild it.

Narrator: It was a warning
that more work lay ahead.

A call to action for still
more blood and sweat.

It wasn't what the
British people wanted.

- What the British
population wanted

was a reward for the
sacrifices they'd made,

no return to the frightful
conditions of the depression,

and the kinds of social policies

that Churchill himself
had championed

all those years ago
as a liberal minister

in the edwardian period.

Much of it had
taken place already,

but they wanted
the full welfare state.

And this, the attlee and
the socialist party promised.

Narrator: Attlee
spoke in his address

of the common ground
between the electorate

and the members of his party.

It is the glory of our movement

that men and women
in every rank of society

place human rights
and social justice

before their
individual interests.

Labour's appeal
is not to the lower,

but to the highest
instincts of the human race.

Narrator: He listed their
many different vocations

and varied class backgrounds.

He pitched them as
a party of the people,

looking forward to a just peace.

On 5 July, the electorate voted.

But they had to
wait until 26 July

for the results to be announced.

In the interim,

Churchill attended the
potsdam conference in Germany.

At Churchill's invitation,
clement attlee also attended.

Churchill wanted to ensure

that attlee was fully
briefed on matters

if the election fell his way.

Churchill walked
the streets of Berlin

and felt a sudden
surge of sympathy

for the people of Germany.

He visited the chancellery

and stepped into the
room in the air raid shelter

in which Hitler had
committed suicide.

Victory, in Europe at
least, had been achieved.

Now, the focus was
firmly on securing victory

over imperial Japan,
by any means necessary.

News of the successful
test detonation

of the first atomic bomb
in a desert in new Mexico

profoundly influenced
the discussions

at the potsdam conference.

Churchill was
unequivocal in his support

of the use of the atomic
weapon against Japan.

He had, in fact,
given his ascent

as British prime minister
to use it against Japan

15 days before the Trinity test.

Churchill had expected
the final effort against Japan

to be protracted
and bitterly fought.

The atomic bombs, in his
view, prevented further slaughter.

- The atomic bomb
seemed to offer a way out

of this military conundrum.

You could defeat
Japan in a stroke

without any need to
actually land on their beaches

and fight their way inland.

But there was a second element

to the dropping of
the atomic bomb,

and this was a
political element.

The war was clearly
coming to an end.

The situation between
britain, or the British empire,

Soviet Russia and the
United States was unclear.

By dropping the atomic bomb,

the United States sent
a very clear message

to Stalin and the Soviet union

that the United States
was in possession

of a new and terrible weapon,

and was prepared to
use it against its enemies.

That, the United States felt,

would serve as a marker
of any future conflict

between Russia and america.

Narrator: On the surface,

all appeared
congenial at potsdam.

But tensions pulled beneath,

as the war's end signalled
the decisive decline

of britain's influence

amid the rise of us
Soviet hegemony.

- The Soviet union that emerges
from the second world war

is not the same country
that went into that war.

In four years, the country
has been transformed.

Militarily, there's no question,

that at the
beginning of the war,

the red army was in disarray.

And yet in 1945,

there are 12 million
men in the red army.

It is without peer in the world
operationally and strategically.

The west recognises that
whatever disagreements

they may have with
the Soviet union,

they simply cannot
challenge the Soviet union,

at least initially,
without atomic weapons,

in a conventional contest.

Narrator: Potsdam would
be the last conference

in which the United
States and britain

would meet with
the Soviet union.

Victory in one war was near.

But a new cold war
was about to begin.

Back in the United
Kingdom, on 26 July 1945,

the results of the
election were announced.

The victory went
decisively to clement attlee

and the labour party.

Churchill tended his
resignation as prime minister

to the king that evening.

- Churchill said
that he won the race

but had then been
warned off the turf.

He was very upset about it.

Not altogether surprised.

He thought he was going to win,

and then he had a
terrible presentment

that he was going to
lose immediately before.

And after it, his
wife, Clementine,

said perhaps it was
a blessing in disguise,

to which he replied

that it was certainly
very effectively disguised.

It was a real slap in
the face after his victory

against this monstrous
tyranny of Hitler's.

Churchill lamented
privately to his son, Randolph,

that though the
electorate were grateful

for his efforts in war,

the election result made clear
they did not want him for peace.

On 6 August 1945,

the United States
dropped the atom bomb

on the Japanese
city of Hiroshima.

Three days later,

a second atomic bomb
was dropped on Nagasaki.

On 15 August,

Japanese emperor hirohito
announced Japan's surrender

to allied forces.

Just three weeks after
Churchill's election defeat,

the war that had so
defined his premiership

was also drawing to a close.

Churchill remained in parliament
as leader of the opposition.

In line with his pre-war views,

he continued to oppose
Indian independence in 1947.

He also took opportunities
to accuse the government

of socialist mismanagement
of the economy.

Outside parliament, he
continued to pursue his goals

with the figure of a
person half his age.

- He was remarkably resilient.

Picked himself up, he went
off on a painting holiday,

he started writing his
books, he had initiatives.

And he had the prospect
of making millions

by writing his account
of the second world war.

So he was not without a task
or without a purpose in life.

Narrator: His series
of books on world war ii

was so influential

that he shaped the
narrative of that war

for decades to come.

It was not enough
to have led the nation

during the war.

He sought to guide
their understanding of it

into the future.

- He refused, as he said,

to be put out to pasture

like a bull whose greatest claim
to fame was his past prowess.

He wasn't going to do that.
He wanted to soldier on.

And he wanted, particularly,

to right what he took to
be a great electoral wrong

that had been conducted in 1945.

He wanted to win
at the polls again

and to become
prime minister again.

Narrator: In 1951, he
fulfilled his final ambition.

The conservatives
won the general election.

And Churchill was again
elected prime minister.

Until 1955, he led britain
against the perils of communism,

committing her to the korean war

in a vain bid to prevent
the rise of communism

in south east Asia.

To the end of
his political life,

he stuck doggedly
to his principles

and his belief in the importance
of britain's role in the world.

Churchill was a man determined
to continue living and leading,

with little regard for
frailty of health or age.

War had given him a purpose,

and after it was over,

he remarked to his physician
that he felt lonely without it.

On 24 January 1965,

at the age of 90,

sir Winston Churchill died.

His final journey,

which began with a
state funeral procession

to st Paul's cathedral,

matched the
grandeur and the status

he had achieved
as a wartime leader.

Newscaster: Not
since the last century

has the honour
of a state funeral

been accorded to a commoner.

But who more worthy
of it than this man,

who, more than any other,

helped to preserve this
century of the common man?

He it was who provided us
with an image of ourselves

as we would wish to be.

Winston Churchill served
his country and the world

as a champion of democracy.

Now the world
joins his countrymen

to pay homage at st Paul's.

Narrator: After the funeral,

the cortege continued
on the river thames.

And Churchill was buried
in a private ceremony

in the grounds of
st Martin in bladon,

next to his mother.

Churchill was a
man of many talents,

who lived up to his
self-appointed destiny.

The war made his reputation,

but it was his complexity

that makes him an
enduring figure of history.

- Churchill was a
very complex person.

On the one hand, he was a
great, ruthless military leader.

At the same time,
he was very creative,

passionate about what he did.

A writer, he was
a would-be artist.

He was also a very
loving, caring family man.

Narrator: Throughout the war,

Churchill never wavered in
pursuing his strategic visions.

His keen interest
in military matters

meant that he saw his role
as both military and political.

He worked and
travelled incessantly,

at hours friendly a few.

He indulged in food,
alcohol and cigars.

He frustrated
advisers and allies

as much as he charmed them.

- There was something
very endearing,

something charming,
something delightful,

something absolutely impossible
about Churchill's character.

I mean, it's very difficult to
withhold admiration for him.

Narrator: He had a
number of shortcomings.

But he was nonetheless a man
with insight that others lacked.

He recognised the rising threat
of Nazi Germany in the 1930s,

when so many others did not.

And he understood
from the outset

that britain could
not win the war alone.

In the dark days of 1940,

britain needed,
perhaps above all else,

a strong and determined leader.

A leader with unshakeable
confidence and self belief.

Who had resolutely
refused to accept defeat,

no matter what the cost.

With his gift for rhetoric,
and a forceful charisma,

matched by few
others in history...

..He made the people
of britain and empire

believe that victory
was possible.

Churchill did much
more in his life

than lead his nation
in a time of war.

But it was that
leadership and that war

which has ensured his
place in the history books.

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