Subjects include: visiting the naval base at Portsmouth [Hampshire] and Manchester [for Winston Churchill's speech at the Free Trade Hall], Jan 1940; the inspection of the officers and men of HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter [following the Battle of the River Plate], Feb 1940; MS's debut, Mar 1940; the launch of HMS Indomitable, Mar 1940; the debate on the Norwegian campaign, May 1940; [Arthur] Neville Chamberlain's resignation as Prime Minister; MS's anxiety over the situation in France and the evacuation of Dunkirk, May 1940; the fall of France, Jun 1940; an air raid alert in Downing Street, Jun 1940; the attack on the French fleet at Oran [Algeria], Jul 1940; visiting the Camell Laird shipyard, Liverpool, to launch HMS Gurkha, Jul 1940 [see also MCHL 6/1/3]; meeting Charles de Gaulle, Jul 1940; joining the WVS [c], Jul 1940; the Blitz, Sept 1940; reaction to the failure of the Anglo-French attack on Dakar [Senegal]; changes in the Cabinet, Oct 1940; Churchill's broadcast to France ["Dieu protège la France"], Oct 1940; victory in Sidi Barrani, Libya, Dec 1940.