Sir Robert Rhodes James saw 1939 as the year that ended Churchill’s “Study in Failure” and heralded his sequel, “A Study in Success.” On 5 November 1939 near Avesnes, France, WSC meets British Expeditionary Force Commander Field Marshal John Gort. Lt.-Gen. Henry Pownall, Chief of Staff, who would later assist WSC in writing his war memoirs, is at right. (Imperial War Museum, public domain)