Harry Truman's abrupt termination of Lend-Lease (TIME, Aug. 27) reverberated around the world. Most nations took it philosophically, but Britain was hurt and worried. The blow fell while Britain was tightening its belt against a winter of bleak prospects (see FOREIGN NEWS).
In the House of Commons, Prime Minister Clement Attlee, pale and plainly disquieted, officially broke the bad news, lamely admitted that Britain had not been prepared for it. Other Allied nations had seen it coming, but not Britain. It had come, the Prime Minister said, "without consultation and prior discussion."
To his rescue went Loyal Oppositionist Winston Churchill. He seconded the...
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