Empire Lost - Andrew Stewart [55]
In the first instance this meant trying to obtain an agreement from Churchill to provide reinforcements for the Far East, but he was to make little progress. At the end of August 1941 Canberra had been told that the authorities in London were finally thinking that they would be able to station a naval unit in the Indian Ocean. Curtin had been pleased to hear this news, and he pressed his British counterpart to make good on some of his earlier more grandiose promises, urging that a modern ship be included in this proposed force. Churchill agreed to this, despite the opposition of his most senior naval advisors, and towards the end of October 1941 the authorities in Canberra were informed that the battle cruiser Repulse would be joined by the Royal Navy's latest battleship, the Prince of Wales.61 Page's insistence that more should be done, at the same time drew the response that while Britain was 'resolute to help Australia if she were menaced', Japan was considered to be unlikely to invade. With his access to MAGIC intelligence decrypts, Roosevelt had known since July 1941 of the adoption of a dual policy by the Japanese Imperial Cabinet. This called for negotiations in the first instance and military action if they failed. The discussions between the two sides had subsequently proven lacklustre, at least in part because of America's decision to implement a total oil embargo as 'punishment' for the Japanese invasion of southern Indochina. This economic policy had been resolutely supported by Churchill who maintained the role of interested bystander throughout the negotiations. Believing that Japan was 'likely to pursue a policy of pinpricks' but not 'embark on total war', since late 1940 Whitehall had effectively restricted itself to sending vague warnings to the government in Tokyo. Once more the Dominions were not always fully informed, specifically when these were to be issued, despite the DO's complaints that this left their governments feeling that they were being forced into policies to which they had no input.62
With the alliance still beset by uncertainties, the relationship between the secretary of state and the prime minister showed little sign of improvement. Cranborne still believed not enough information was being supplied and increasingly he was of the view that the point had been reached where the DO was no longer able to function effectively. The most serious problem was the degree to which he was still being excluded from meetings, most significantly those of the War Cabinet and Chiefs of Staff Committees, as a result of which he continued to have little knowledge of the general war situation. This position was known to the London-based high commissioners who bypassed him more and more and went to other sources which talked 'more freely'. This made the Dominions secretary's position 'a farce', one which could only be remedied if he were given a free hand to pass information on as he saw fit using his discretion not to discuss operational matters or any other inappropriate issues. These comments were confirmed by Waterson in a private assessment of the British Commonwealth's position in the war sent to Smuts. In this the British War Cabinet was said to be an ineffective gathering, 'something approaching a cabinet of one who meets his colleagues twice a week and informs them of what is to be done'.