The Road to Gomorrah analyses some of the difficult decisions that Churchill had to make during the second world war. Churchill understood that Britain needed allies to prevail in a long war against Germany, so after Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941, Churchill aligned Britain with the Soviet Union. Until the Allies were ready to launch an invasion on the European mainland, Churchill had to do everything he could to make sure the Soviets kept fighting on the Eastern Front.
The American government played their part by turning the United States into the “arsenal of democracy.” After Harry Hopkins met with Stalin in July 1941, the Americans sent vast amounts of materiel to the Soviets via the Arctic Convoys.
When Churchill visited Moscow in August 1942, he told Stalin that he intended to use Bomber Command to attack Germany’s cities. The British were already committed to an area bombing campaign against Germany. On the evening of 24th July 1943, almost eight hundred heavy bombers took to the skies and headed east, across the North Sea.