Babij, Orest, 4
Backhouse, Sir Roger, 144
bacteriological weapons, 109, 234n, 262
see also biological weapons
Baghdad Pact, 274, 323, 324, 325
balance of payments, 8, 9, 10, 97, 346
pre-1914, 33–4
in First World War, 75–6, 78
in 1930s, 133, 136
post-1945, 245, 247, 248, 251, 255, 259,
273, 302–3, 304–5, 308, 343
balance of power, 15, 17, 157, 229
Balderston, Theo, 73
Baldwin, Stanley, 99, 102, 105, 108, 112,
151
committee on air disarmament, 108, 112
Balfour, A. J., 19, 27, 36, 42, 54
Ball, Simon, 264, 267
balloons, 30, 31
Bank of England, 33–4, 73–4, 135, 304
Bank rate, 34, 74, 253
Barnett, Correlli, 2–3, 7, 67–8, 104, 115,
145, 187, 188, 191, 227, 349, 350
‘baroque arsenal’, 8, 346
Battle, Fairey, 114, 116, 162, 170
battle-cruisers, 22–3, 25, 78–9, 79–80
battleships
and aircraft carriers 4, 179, 241
cost, 5, 39, 118, 140, 241
inter-war, 117–18
post-1945, 241–2, 292, 293–4, 345
pre-1914 developments, 22–6
see also capital ships; dreadnoughts;
pre-dreadnoughts; ‘Queen Elizabeth’
and ‘Royal Sovereign’ classes
Baylis, John, 230, 272, 322, 328–9
Beatty, Admiral David, 78–9, 107
Beaverbrook, Lord, 173, 189–90, 197
BEF
(pre-1914), 29, 40, 46
(1914–18), 51, 53, 87, 91, 95
(1939–40), 174, 200, 203, 204, 205
see also Field Force
Belgium, 49, 91, 155 , 203, 204
Berlin, 66, 171, 206, 208
Bernal, J. D., 210
Bevin, Ernest
as foreign secretary, 229–30, 231, 247,
261
as minister of labour, 168, 190–1
biological weapons, 263
see also bacteriological weapons
Birch, Nigel, 285, 310
Bishop, Frederick, 327
Bismarck, 122, 177, 178, 179
Black, Nicholas, 85
Blackburn Aircraft Ltd, 175, 176
Blake, HMS, 5
Blenheim, Bristol, 114, 116, 170, 173
Ble
´
riot, Louis, 31
blockade, 10, 11–12, 349
pre-1914 planning, 1, 44–6
First World War, 77, 78, 80–1, 82, 83
impact, 83–4, 95, 96
and war plans in 1930s, 146, 154, 162,
199
Second World War, 199, 207, 208, 216,
217, 228
Blue Danube, 279–80, 281
Blue Steel, 281, 288, 289, 290, 324
Blue Streak, 289, 295, 319, 325, 345
Blue Water, 296, 326
Board of Trade, 11, 14, 21, 81, 84, 106,
143, 190, 233, 254, 258
Boer War, 17, 27, 29, 40, 59
Bofors gun, 7
Bomber Command, 345
and Battle of Atlantic, 209
cross-Channel attacks on France, 205, 223
post-1945, 238, 264, 265, 267, 318, 322,
329
size, 210, 217, 218, 228
and strategic air offensive against
Germany, 203, 204, 208, 209–10,
210–11, 217, 221, 225
tactics, 169–70, 171–2, 174
unready in 1939, 159–60, 161
see also area bombing; bombers;
nuclear deterrent; strategic bombing;
V-bombers
bombers, 65, 110, 237
American, 110, 171, 197–8, 235, 236,
238, 264, 269, 289, 317
British, 66, 108–9, 113–14, 160, 169,
170–1, 238
fear of, 108, 109, 151, 162
German, 65, 110, 113
power-operated turrets, 113
pre-war expansion schemes, 159
production, 185–6
Soviet, 237
see also knock-out blow; strategic
bombing; V-bombers
bomber versus battleship controversy, 115,
118–20, 179
Bonar Law, Andrew, 52, 105, 118
Bond, Brian, 104, 349
borrowing for defence, 36, 131, 132, 136
see also deficit finance
Boyle, Sir Dermot, 286, 324
Index 369