At the outbreak of the Second World War Churchill–after a brief offer by Chamberlain to appoint him as a minister without portfolio–was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and a member of the War Cabinet, just as he was in the first part of the First World War. According to myth, the Navy sent out: “Winston’s back!”

In this job he proved to be one of the highest-profile ministers during the so-called “Phony War”, when the only noticeable action was at sea. Churchill advocated the pre-emptive occupation of the neutral Norwegian iron-ore port of Narvik and the iron mines in Kiruna, Sweden, early in the War. However, Chamberlain and the rest of the War Cabinet disagreed, and the operation was delayed until the German invasion of Norway, which was successful despite British efforts.