Letter from Churchill to Bonar Law

Extract from letter from Churchill to Bonar Law (leader of the Conservative Party), 21 May 1915, justifying his role as First Lord of the Admiralty.
Reference: Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/52/83-6. Crown copyright.

“The rule to follow is what is best calculated to beat the enemy, and not what is most likely to please the newspapers. The question of the Dardanelles operations and my differences with Fisher ought to be settled by people who know the facts and not by those who cannot know them. Now you and your friends, except Mr Balfour, do not know the facts . . . I have always been supported by high professional advice; but partly through circumstances and partly no doubt through my own methods and inclinations, an exceptional burden has been borne by me.”