Moscow Conference (1942)

On July 30, 1942, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden passed a message to Prime Minister Winston Churchill from the British Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, The ambassador suggested it would be advantageous that Churchill and Soviet leader Stalin should meet. Eden noted in his diary, 'Took the telegram round to Winston...and he jumped at it'. Churchill proposed to Stalin travelling via Cairo to meet him at Astrakhan 'or similar convenient meeting place'. Stalin replied with a formal invitation to meet but stated that Moscow was the only suitable place. This was due to neither himself or his senior staff feeling able to leave the capital during the period of 'intense struggle'. Eden expressed concerns for the health of the Prime Minister. When told by Eden of the Prime Minister's plans Oliver Harvey wrote, 'But what gallantry of the old gentleman, setting off at 65 across Africa in the heat of mid-summer!' Arriving at Gibraltar at dawn, they spent the day there before travelling on to Cairo. Churchill's wife Clementine who had watched his departure, later wrote to her husband, Churchill arrived in Egypt on 4 August, where he stayed at the British Embassy in Cairo. While in Egypt he took the decision to relieve Claude Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief. The command split, creating Near East and Middle East commands. Auchinleck was to be replaced by Harold Alexander as C-in-C Near East. Lieutenant-General William Gott was to become commander of the Eighth Army. When he was killed, the decision was made to appoint Bernard Montgomery. While in Egypt he inspected troops and positions before departing for Tehran after midnight on 10 August. After meetings in the city, the journey was continued to Moscow on August 12. The party arrived at 17.00 the same day after a 10 and a half hour flight. == Moscow ==

12 August The British delegation led by Churchill and Cardogan was met by Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and Chief of Staff, Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov. Upon arrival Churchill and American representative Averell Harriman inspected an honour guard. Churchill then addressed the assembly saying, State Villa No. 7 was allocated to Churchill while Harriman stayed at the US Embassy. Of the villa, Churchill wrote, 'Everything was prepared with totalitarian lavishness'. He was supplied with an aide-de-camp and 'a number of veteran servants in white jackets and beaming smiles'. This was due to the aeroplane carrying the rest of the delegation having to return to Tehran because of a technical fault. Once Churchill had completed his explanation of the Operation Torch and the strategy to open up the Mediterranean, Stalin said, "May God help this enterprise to succeed". The minutes record that at this point Stalin's 'interest was now at a high pitch'. Born in St. Petersburg to British parents in 1891, Birse had native fluency in Russian which came from his schooling in the country. This was contrary to the practice of other British families there who sent their children to Britain for their education. He joined the British Military Mission in Russia in 1917 as an interpreter. Following the Bolshevik Revolution he moved to Britain and worked for a bank. This saw him sent to Poland and Italy where he learned those languages too. He returned to the military with the outbreak of war and was sent to Russia following the German invasion. The Soviet leader then went to an adjoining room to receive reports from the front. When he returned at around 2.30 the final communiqué had been agreed and Churchill took his leave. He had a 30 minutes drive to the villa, General Anders to meet and a 'splitting headache, which for me [Churchill] was very unusual'. After this there was the long drive back to the airport for his return to the UK. ==Dramatisation of events==

Howard Brenton's dramatisation of the 1942 Moscow Conference, Churchill in Moscow, premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre in London during February-March 2025. Roger Allam and Peter Forbes played Churchill and Stalin. The other non-fictional characters were portrayed by Alan Cox (Archie Clark Kerr), Julius D'Silva (Molotov), and Tamara Greatrex (Svetlana Stalin). ==See also==