21. Kennedy remained in London during the early stages of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz
When the Germans began bombing British airfields, and later cities during the Battle of Britain, Kennedy sent back to his superiors in Washington increasingly pessimistic reports of the British resistance. At the same time, Roosevelt was receiving reports from special missions he dispatched to Britain, as well as from Churchill, which encouraged the president to provide aid to the British. In a letter to his son John, written in September, 1940 in London, Kennedy described the ease with which German bombers arrived from their bases in France, and hinted that they could increase the bombing at will. He hinted that only the belief in American aid was keeping Britain in the war.
The father also told the son that the British people were not being told the truth about the progress of the war. “There is no question but what they are covering up a great deal in the English press”, he wrote, adding that much was being censored entirely. “It is things like that which give me great doubts as to the complete reliability of the reports out of here”, he added. Kennedy acknowledged to his son that he didn’t think German reports were completely reliable either, and the same doubts expressed to his son in a private letter were readily apparent in his official reports and communications with the State Department.