View source for 1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference

{{Use Australian English|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox summit meeting
| summit_name  = 1st Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
| other_titles = 
| image        = CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = 
| country      = {{UK}}
| dates        = {{nowrap|1 May 1944}}&ndash;<br />{{nowrap|16 May 1944}}
| venues       = 
| cities       = [[London]]
| participants = <!-- X (of members) -->
| heads_of_state_label = {{nowrap|Heads of Government}}
| heads_of_state = 6
| chairperson  = [[Winston Churchill]]<br>([[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]])
| follows      = [[1937 Imperial Conference]]
| precedes     = [[1946 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference|1946]] 
| website      = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| keypoints    = Supporting the [[Moscow Declaration]]<br>Coordination of war effort
}}
The '''1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference''' was the first [[Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference|Meeting]] of the [[List of Commonwealth Heads of Government|Heads of Government]] of the [[British Commonwealth]]. It was held in the [[United Kingdom]], between 1–16 May 1944, and was hosted by that country's [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], [[Winston Churchill]].

==The conference==
===Outline===
The conference was attended by the Prime Ministers of all of the [[Dominion]]s within the Commonwealth except Ireland and Newfoundland.  Attendees included Prime Minister [[John Curtin]] of Australia, Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] of Canada, Prime Minister [[Peter Fraser]] of [[New Zealand]] and Prime Minister [[Jan Smuts]] of [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]].  Also attending was Prime Minister [[Godfrey Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern|Sir Godfrey Huggins]] of the [[self-governing colony]] of [[Southern Rhodesia]], and representing [[British Raj|India]] was [[Hari Singh|The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir]]. Members of the [[Churchill war ministry|Churchill War Cabinet]] and the High Commissioners of the Dominions also attended.

Ireland did not participate although at the time the British Commonwealth still regarded Ireland as one of its members. Ireland had not participated in any equivalent conferences since 1932.

The British Commonwealth leaders agreed to support the [[Moscow Declaration]] and reached agreement regarding their respective roles in the overall [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] war effort.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ehrman |first= John |title= Grand Strategy Volume V, August 1943-September 1944 |year= 1956 |publisher=HMSO (British official history) |location= London |page= 332 }}</ref>

Prior to the conference, [[Robert McIntyre]] and [[Douglas Young (classicist)|Douglas Young]], the leaders of the [[Scottish National Party]], lobbied King, Fraser, Smuts, Huggins, and Curtin, asking them to raise the issue of [[Scottish independence]] at the conference and to invite [[Scotland]] to take part in it and all future Commonwealth Conferences. Curtin viewed it as an internal matter for the British government, King was sympathetic, and the remainder simply voiced their acknowledgement of the communiques.<ref>[[National Library of Scotland]], [[Edinburgh]]. Acc. 10090, Papers of Dr [[Robert McIntyre|Robert Douglas McIntyre]], MB ChB, DPH, Duniv, JP. File 19: Letters to Commonwealth Prime Ministers 1944, and argument with Douglas Young 1951. Accessed 06 August 2014.</ref>

===Participants===
====Ministers====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Nation
! Name
! Portfolio
|-
| rowspan=18|{{Country|United Kingdom}}  
| [[Winston Churchill]]
| [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] (Chairman)<ref>Churchill at the time was [[Minister of Defence (United Kingdom)|Minister of Defence]] and [[First Lord of the Treasury]]</ref>
|-
| [[Clement Attlee]]
| [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]]<ref>Attlee was at the time [[Lord President of the Council]]</ref>
|-
| [[Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook|The Lord Beaverbrook]]
| [[Lord Privy Seal]]
|-
| [[John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley|Sir John Anderson]]
| [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
|-
| [[Anthony Eden]]
| [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]]<ref>Eden was at the time [[Leader of the House of Commons]]</ref>
|-
| [[Herbert Morrison]]
| [[Home Secretary]]<ref>Morrison was at the time [[Ministry of Home Security|Minister of Home Security]]</ref>
|-
| [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury|The Viscount Cranborne]]
| [[Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs|Dominions Secretary]]
|-
| [[Oliver Stanley]]
| [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Colonial Secretary]]
|-
| [[Leo Amery]] 
| [[Secretary of State for India|India and Burma Secretary]]
|-
| [[P. J. Grigg|Sir Percy Grigg]]
| [[Secretary of State for War|War Secretary]]
|-
| [[A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough|A. V. Alexander]]
| [[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|First Lord of the Admiralty]]
|-
| [[Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso|Sir Archibald Sinclair, Bt]]
| [[Secretary of State for Air|Air Secretary]]
|-
| [[Stafford Cripps|Sir Stafford Cripps]]
| [[Minister of Aircraft Production]]
|-
| [[Brendan Bracken, 1st Viscount Bracken|Brendan Bracken]]
| [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Minister of Information]]
|-
| [[Ernest Bevin]]
| [[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour and National Service]]
|-
| [[Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos|Oliver Lyttelton]]
| [[Minister of Production]]
|-
| [[Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton|The Lord Woolton]]
| [[Minister of Reconstruction]]
|-
| [[Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell|The Lord Cherwell]]
| [[Paymaster General]]
|-
| rowspan=2|{{Country|Australia}} 
| [[John Curtin]]
| [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]]<ref>Curtin was at the time [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|Minister for Defence Coordination]]</ref>
|-
| [[Stanley Bruce]]
| [[List of High Commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner]]
|-
| rowspan=2|{{Country|Canada|1921}}  
| [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]]
| [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]]<ref>Mackenzie King was at the time [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada)|Secretary of State for External Affairs]] and [[President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada|President of the Privy Council]]</ref>
|-
| [[Vincent Massey]]
| [[High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner]]
|-
| rowspan=2|{{flagicon|British Raj}} [[British Raj|India]]
| [[Hari Singh]]
| The [[Maharaja]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]
|-
| [[Feroz Khan Noon|Sir Feroz Khan Noon]]
| Delegate  
|-
| rowspan=2|{{Country|New Zealand}} 
| [[Peter Fraser]]
| [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]]<ref>Fraser was at the time [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]</ref>
|-
| [[Bill Jordan (politician)|Bill Jordan]]
| [[List of high commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner]]
|-
| rowspan=2|{{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]]
| [[Jan Smuts]]
| [[Prime Minister of South Africa|Prime Minister]]<ref>Smuts was at the time [[Minister of International Relations and Cooperation|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] and [[Minister of Defence and Military Veterans|Minister of Defence]]</ref>
|-
| [[Deneys Reitz]]
| [[High Commission of South Africa, London|High Commissioner]]
|-
| {{Country|Southern Rhodesia}}
| [[Godfrey Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern|Sir Godfrey Huggins]]
| [[Prime Minister of Rhodesia|Prime Minister]]<ref>Huggins was also Minister for Native Affairs</ref>
|-
|}

====Military====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Service
! Head
! Name
|-
| Army
| [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Imperial General Staff]]
| [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|<small>Sir</small> Alan Brooke]]
|-
| Navy
| [[First Sea Lord]]
| [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] [[Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope|<small>Sir</small> Andrew Cunningham]]
|-
| RAF
| [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]]
| [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] [[Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford|<small>Sir</small> Charles Portal]]
|-
|}

* AUS General Sir [[Thomas Blamey]]
* UK [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-general]] Sir [[Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay|Hastings Ismay]]
* NZL [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-general]] [[Edward Puttick]]

====Diplomats and civil servants====
* AUS Sir [[Frederick Shedden]] Secretary, Department of Defence
* CAN [[Norman Robertson]]
* UK Sir John Stephenson 
* UK Sir [[Richard Hopkins (civil servant)|Richard Hopkins]] [[Permanent Secretary to the Treasury]]

== See also ==
* [[List of Allied World War II conferences]]

== References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings|state=expanded}}
{{Diplomatic history of World War II}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference,1944}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Diplomatic conferences in the United Kingdom, 20th-century diplomatic conferences, 1944 in international relations, 1944 in London, United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, 1944 conferences, World War II conferences, British Empire in World War II, United Kingdom in World War II, May 1944 events
|description=
}}

[[Category:Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings|1949]]
[[Category:Diplomatic conferences in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:20th-century diplomatic conferences]]
[[Category:1944 in international relations]]
[[Category:1944 in London]]
[[Category:United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations]]
[[Category:1944 conferences]]
[[Category:World War II conferences]]
[[Category:British Empire in World War II]]
[[Category:United Kingdom in World War II]]
[[Category:May 1944 events]]