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By Root 968 0

of the Kremlin? Stalin shuffled among the tables, as was his habit, clinking glasses and making jokes, leaving Churchill often lonely and perforce silent in his own place. When the Soviet warlord sat down once more, the prime minister said: “You know, I was not friendly to you644 after the last war. Have you forgiven me?” His host responded: “All that is in the past. It is not for me to forgive. It is for God to forgive.” This literal translation obscures the proverbial meaning of the Russian phrase, probably missed by Churchill: “I will never forgive.” The British delegation found it droll that Stalin, of all people, so often invoked the Deity, a habit he acquired as a young seminarian. He said of Torch: “May God prosper this undertaking.”645 The most notable success of the evening was a speech by Wavell in Russian.

Even the Soviets were impressed by the quantities of alcohol consumed by both their own leader and Churchill. One guest, unfamiliar with the prime minister’s usual diction, wrote afterwards: “His speech was slurred as though his mouth was full of porridge.” The Russians decided that Churchill must be perpetrating some shocking indiscretion when they saw Brooke tugging insistently at his sleeve, in a fashion no man would have dared do to Stalin. After the prime minister left the dining room, Stalin noticed that Alexander Golovanov, who commanded the Soviet air force’s long-range bombers, was staring at him in some alarm. “Don’t be afraid,”646 said the Soviet leader, with unaccustomed docility. “I am not going to drink Russia away.” He lapsed into silence for a few moments, then said, “When great affairs of state are at stake, alcohol tastes like water and one’s head is always clear.” Golovanov noted with respect that Stalin walked from the room steadily and unhurriedly.

Churchill left the banquet in sullen mood, deploring alike the food, his hosts’ manners and the uncongenial setting. The next morning, a meeting between Brooke, Wavell and Stalin’s senior officers proved abortive when the Russians flatly refused to disclose any details of their operations in the Caucasus, saying that they were authorised to discuss only the Second Front. The sole Soviet weapons system that inspired British enthusiasm was the Katyusha multiple rocket launcher, of which the visitors requested technical details. These were never forthcoming.

On Saturday, Churchill and his colleagues entered the big Kremlin conference room overlooking the Moskva River with considerable apprehension. The prime minister told Stalin that he had considered it his duty to inform him personally of the Second Front decision. Exchanges between the two sides were more fluent, because Churchill had now enlisted the services of Major Birse, a bilingual member of Britain’s military aid mission. Stalin suddenly seemed more emollient. “Obviously there are differences between us,” he said, “but … the fact that the meeting has taken place, that personal contact has been established … is very valuable.” After more than an hour of talks, as they rose from the table Stalin suddenly, and apparently spontaneously, invited Churchill for drinks in his private apartment. There they adjourned for a further six hours of informal conversation, during which the prime minister believed that a better rapport was established. Stalin suggested a British landing in northern Norway, a proposal which Churchill could endorse with unfeigned enthusiasm. The Russian said that it would be helpful for Britain to dispatch trucks rather than tanks to the Red Army, though this request reflected ignorance of British military vehicle weaknesses. A suckling pig was brought in, which Stalin addressed avidly, and his guests sampled politely. A draft communiqué was agreed upon. At 2:30 a.m., Churchill parted from his host, with protestations of goodwill on both sides.

Back at his villa forty-five minutes later, the prime minister found that the Polish general Wladyslaw Anders had been awaiting him for many hours. “Ah! My poor Anders,” said Churchill. “I have been detained by M. Stalin and now