Thomas Graham’s Diary – 20th August 1939

A small but important entry in Thomas’s diary marks the news that a non-aggression pact with between Russian and Germany had been concluded. The pact wouldn’t officially be announced until 23rd August and we will focus on Thomas’s reaction to this in the next diary entry.

Thomas is clearly unhappy with the role Liberal leader Sir Archibald Sinclair was playing during the current tensions. He describes him as an ‘unimaginable ASS’ and had affection for Stalin.

Archibald Sinclair was the leader of the Liberal Party from 1935-1945. He was definitively anti-appeasement whereas Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was fighting for appeasement. Thomas’s diary entries have shown that he did not want another war and so heavily disagreed with the actions of Sinclair.

Thomas now views war as a certainty and finishes the entry by remarking that he ‘hoped to be dead like dear old Ginger before this ghastly thing happened’.

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