HMS KELVIN – D-DAY + 6AN INTERESTING PAINTING IN THE MILITARY ART COLLECTIONOF THE DITSONG NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY
By: Allan Sinclair, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History
The military art collection of the DITSONG: National Museum of Military History features a watercolour entitled, HMS Kelvin – D-Day +6 by Francis Flint. This painting is significant as it depicts three important personalities from the Second World War (1939 – 1945): Sir Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom); Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke (Chief of the Imperial General Staff) and Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts (Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa). The artwork captures the moment of Churchill’s visit to Normandy on 12 June 1944, six days after the initial invasion took place on 6 June.
HMS Kelvin D-Day +6 by Francis Flint
(DNMMH Acq 19226).
It is understandable that Churchill and Brooke would embark on such a visit, but why would Smuts, the Prime Minister of a small Dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations, accompany them across the English Channel? After all, there was no official South African participation in the Allied landings in Normandy.
At the time, South Africa’s contribution to the war effort was relatively modest compared to the major Allied powers and other participating nations. However, Smuts had developed a substantial international reputation, beginning with his appointment to the Imperial War Cabinet during the First World War (1914-1918). He also played a leading role in shaping the Treaty of Versailles and the formation of the League of Nations at the war’s conclusion.
Smuts and Churchill’s first interaction was during the Anglo-Boer/South African War (1899-1902). At the time, Churchill, an officer and war correspondent for the British Army, was captured by the Boers and held as a prisoner of war in Pretoria, where Smuts interrogated him. At the conclusion of the war, and after Churchill had been appointed Under Secretary of State for the Colonies in the British Government, the two men successfully negotiated responsible self-government for the former Boer Republics.
This collaboration laid the foundation for a friendship between the two that would last for nearly half a century. As this relationship was fostered, Smuts came to wield a considerable influence over Churchill, a man known for his formidable personality, boundless confidence, and faith in his own destiny. Churchill would eventually regard Smuts not only as an equal, but in many ways as his superior.
After the outbreak of the war in 1939, Churchill frequently sought Smuts’ council during critical moments. A well-documented stream of lengthy two-way messages provides details of the interaction between them throughout the war. Churchill himself recorded how his confidant would fortify his conclusions by the “… massive judgement of Smuts”. Smuts made four separate trips to the United Kingdom during this time to meet with Churchill, and it was during his third visit in 1944 that the events depicted in the painting unfolded.
Smuts arrived in London on 21 April 1944 to attend the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference. At the time secret preparations for Operation Overlord, the Allied landings in Normandy, were about to reach a climax. At the conclusion of the conference, Churchill invited Smuts to remain in the United Kingdom for the period of the invasion. The invitation proved fortuitous as the South African was to play a central role as Churchill’s personal advisor. He applied all his political acumen to ensure that the British Prime Minister remained aligned not only with the wishes and objectives of those responsible for executing the operation but also with the wishes of King George VI.
Churchill had initially opposed the cross-channel operation and lamented the deferral of his own Mediterranean strategy. The Allied Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee called upon Smuts to use his considerable expertise to persuade Churchill to support the operation. Once he had achieved this, a further challenge was to curb Churchill’s persistent interference in nearly every aspect of the invasion plans. The Prime Minister demanded that he personally lead the troops across the Channel and be ashore with the assaulting forces. It eventually took an intervention from the King to insist that Churchill was too valuable to be risking his life on such a fool’s errant.
Churchill would eventually get his wish to go to Normandy once the initial landings had proved successful. On 12 June, he boarded the Royal Navy K-Class destroyer, HMS Kelvin, accompanied of course by Smuts and by Brooke. The painting by Flint vividly illustrates the three of them en route across the Channel. Brooke later recorded in his diary that they passed convoys of landing craft, minesweepers, parts of floating breakwater and piers etc., being towed out. They came into sight of the coast at Courseulles-sur-Mer at around 11:00. Everywhere they could see ships of all sizes and shapes. After passing a row of LSTs (Landing Ship Tanks), they finally arrived at a ‘Gooseberry’ – a row of ships sunk in a half crescent to create a makeshift harbour.
(http://ww2today.com/12-june-1944-churchill-makes-a-day-trip-to-normandy)
They were then transferred onto a DUKW (a six-wheeled amphibious vehicle) which carried them onto the beach, where they were met by General Sir Bernard Montgomery, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 21st Army Group tasked with the invasion. Afterward, they made their way by jeep to Montgomery’s headquarters near Bayeux. An incident, referenced in various sources, occurred later on that afternoon. While standing outside Montgomery’s HQ, Smuts apparently sniffed the air and stated that he could smell Germans in the vicinity. Two days later, two fully armed German paratroopers emerged from a nearby Rhododendron bush where they had been hiding after becoming separated from their unit. Had they chosen to open fire on Churchill and his party the course of the war might have been altered.
Upon completing the visit, the three men were taken back to the destroyer to begin their voyage home. At the time several ships were bombarding a German position, and according to Brooke, Churchill was keen to take a shot at the Germans himself. The Kelvin fired a few rounds, though it appears they had little or no effect on the German defences. Thereafter they commenced the journey back to the United Kingdom and arrived back in London shortly after 01:00.
The painting can therefore be considered compelling evidence of the close relationship between Smuts and Churchill, as well as the indispensable role Smuts played in the war effort. It was even proposed, but not formally approved, that Smuts should replace Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom if he were to die in office prior to the war being concluded. In any event it is well documented that Smuts never left Churchill’s side throughout this momentous episode of the war.
References
Publications
Beevor, A. D-Day the Battle For Normandy (London, Penguin, 2010)
Gilbert, M. Road To Victory, Winston S Churchill, 1941 – 1945 (London, Minerva, 1986)
Smuts, J C (Junior) Jan Christiaan Smuts (Cape Town, Cassell & Company, 1952)
Styen, R Churchill and Smuts: The Friendship (Johannesburg, Jonathan Ball, 2017)
Internet Sources
http://ww2today.com/12-june-1944-churchill-makes-a-day-trip-to-normandy
