Image of the Month

Behind the scenes images from one of the key moments of the Second World War. In August 1941 Winston Churchill crossed the Atlantic in the battleship the Prince of Wales to meet President Roosevelt in Placentia Bay, off Newfoundland. The two leaders met to discuss their war aims and visions for a post-war world, which were expressed in the Atlantic Charter, as " ... common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for a better future for the world."

While these elevated discussions were going on, President Roosevelt sent over boatloads of small white boxes to the Prince of Wales and her destroyer escort. As Churchill's wife Clementine later noted in her photograph album, "The President of the USA sent to each member of the crew of the British ships, a box containing 4 tins of cigarettes, fruit & half a pound of cheese".

The Atlantic Conference was not in itself a great success, as Churchill's main aim was to bring America into the war, and this was not to happen until December, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; however, the conference did strengthen the ties between the allies, as shown by this small but significant boatload of little boxes.