The Will to Fight
Jennifer Wilding

It is a given that a demoralized army cannot fight effectively, good leadership is essential. Good leadership at home is essential too, lest the Army lose its perspective. Civilians play an enormous role in a war, they must supply and support the military and be willing to fight alongside those in uniform, both logistically and in determination to win.

Nowhere was this more important than in Britain during the Second World War. Prior to Pearl Harbor American involvement in the war was both silent and minimal. Great Britain was on her own fighting the Nazis. London was being blitzed, supplies were short and the nation was still recovering from the enormous political scandal of the King's abdication. The new King and Queen were largely unknown quantities and the Prime Minister, Churchill, not as popular as he eventually would be. It was hard to see where the leadership, and will to fight would come from.

Militarily and politically it came from Winston Churchill, moral fiber came from the Royal Family. The new King, George VI, had always been eclipsed by his older brother, the former King Edward VIII. He was a very private person, who did not shine in the limelight he was forced into by his brother. Nor did he aspire to shine. He was happy with his wife, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. However, when he ascended the throne, and his nation was at war he became a force to reckoned with. In large part this was due to his wife, Queen Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born August 4, 1900, and was already a veteran of one world war when the second broke out. Her family home, Glamis Castle in Scotland, had been a hospital during the first war, and she had done active nursing duty for the soldiers who were sent there. It was then that she learned the importance of morale and how to foster it, a skill which she maintained all her life.

Many Britons and Europeans evacuated to foreign countries, notably Canada. The King and Queen were adamant in their refusal to go. Perforce, the Princesses stayed too. They continued to live at Buckingham Palace, in the heart of London, even after it sustained nine direct hits during the Blitz. There was a bomb shelter in the basement, where the King and Winston Churchill were often forced to hold their meetings when the raids were at their most intense. After each raid the King and Queen would tour the bombed out areas, sharing the danger and distributing aid. The Queen was frequently to be found handing out food and blankets, she raided the storehouses at royal residences to provide furniture and, on one memorable occasion, coaxed a terrified dog out of the rubble when its mistress could not. With each visit her popularity soared.

These visits were not confined to London. She traveled all over the country to bring whatever aid and comfort she could.

It seems odd to see photographs of a woman in good clothes, gloves, hat and expensive jewelry picking her way though the rubble of a bomb site, visiting people who had lost everything. However, there were sound political reasons behind it. The Queen maintained that if the people were coming to see her they would dress in their best therefore, she should do likewise. Too, as long as she looked regal, it sent a clear message to the people that things were not as black as they seemed. She never wore dark colors, always carried her gas mask with her, and observed the wartime limitations on style. It was widely known that her clothing was cut down for her daughters and the rationing that everyone else endured was also observed at Buckingham Palace. Each member of the Royal Family had their own ration book. When Eleanor Roosevelt visited she was amused to see wartime rations being served on gold plates. (She was not quite as amused by the rationing of heat and hot water, she was glad to get home to Washington in order to get warm again.)

Determination to go down fighting also prompted pistol shooting lessons in the gardens at Buckingham Palace.

The will to fight was not Elizabeth's only asset. She was acutely aware of the danger Hitler presented long before the War began and was one of the few highly placed individuals to ever read Mein Kampf in its entirety. She sent marked passages to various ministers in 1939, recommending they read it.

A visit to Canada and the United States in 1939 had unexpected bonuses for Winston Churchill. Although the US was determined to stay out of the coming conflict it was willing to provide Britain with certain war materials in the Lend-Lease program. It is largely due to Elizabeth that this program came into being. Without Lend-Lease it is not likely that the British could have lasted until the Americans were finally dragged into the war. Without the King and Queen it is not likely that the British would have had the will to fight that enabled them to win the war.

Hitler was well aware of Queen Elizabeth's influence in the war effort. There is very strong evidence to show that he had planned to use the former King Edward to manipulate the Royal Family and sap the British will to fight in the first year of the war. Elizabeth's uncompromising attitude towards Edward derailed this plan and continued to be a problem for Hitler. She was too good at her job and was the dominant force in Royal decision making regarding the renegade Royal. It was Elizabeth's continuing efforts to foster the British will to fight that awarded her Hitler's description as "The most dangerous woman in Europe", perhaps the highest accolade she has ever received.