Stephen E. Ambrose Quote

• While Rommel was going to see Hitler to beg for more tanks and a tighter command structure, Eisenhower was visited by Churchill, who was coming to the supreme commander to beg a favor. He wanted to go along on the invasion, on HMS Belfast. (Of course, no one likes to be shot at, Eisenhower later remarked, but I must say that more people wanted in than wanted out on this one.) As Eisenhower related the story, I told him he couldn’t do it. I was in command of this operation and I wasn’t going to risk losing him. He was worth too much to the Allied cause. He thought a moment and said, ‘You have the operational command of all forces, but you are not responsible administratively for the makeup of the crews.’ And I said, ‘Yes, that’s right.’ He said, ‘Well, then I can sign on as a member of the crew of one of His Majesty’s ships, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ I said, ‘That’s correct. But, Prime Minister, you will make my burden a lot heavier if you do it.’  Churchill said he was going to do it anyway. Eisenhower had his chief of staff, General Smith, call King George VI to explain the problem. The king told Smith, You boys leave Winston to me. He called Churchill to say, Well, as long as you feel that it is desirable to go along, I think it is my duty to go along with you. Churchill gave up.