Hitler and his equally ill concealed glee at the German victories of 1939-1940. Rothermere's pro-Nazi views made him extremely unpopular after war had been declared, and in the winter of 1939-1940, he left Britain, never to return. Beaverbrook as Minister of Aircraft Production arranged for Rothermere to be given the task of inspecting the aircraft industry of Canada and the United States, but this was a merely a sop to his ego. Adding to his unpopularity was that Hohenlohe in an act of spite introduced as evidence in the lawsuit in the fall of 1939 several of Rothermere's pro-Nazi letters to her. To defend his reputation, Rothermere had Brooks and Ward-Price ghost-write a book Warnings and Predications defending his views towards Hungary and Germany. Aware of his unpopularity, Rothermere was a deeply depressed man in his last days. His grandchildren who met him in a hotel in Quebec City in May 1940 recalled that Rothermere had told them that he was convinced that Nazi Germany was destined to win the war, and that he felt that Churchill who just became prime minister on 10 May 1940 was foolish in not seeking peace. Rothermere spent his last days attempting to retroactively erase his history of pro-Nazi views. To recover from stress, Rothermere went on holiday to Bermuda, where he died in 1940. A fictional version of Lord Rothermere appears in Dennis Wheatley's 1934 novel Black August about an attempted Communist takeover of Britain, under the name of "Lord Badgerlake" (mere is another word for lake). Badgerlake supports a paramilitary force called the "Greyshirts", which backs the government during the uprising. Any connection with Fascism is disclaimed, and the novel does not end with a dictatorship. (In fact, the new Government repeals the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act in order to guarantee the liberty of the subject.) Family Lord Rothermere married Lilian Share, daughter of George Wade Share, on 4 July 1893. They had three sons, the two elder of whom were killed in the First World War: Captain Harold Alfred Vyvyan St George Harmsworth MC (2 August 1894 – 12 February 1918), died of wounds, aged 23, after serving with the 2nd Bn. Irish Guards in France. A week after his death he was awarded the Military Cross. He is buried in Hampstead Cemetery. Lieutenant Vere Sidney Tudor Harmsworth (25 September 1895 – 13 November 1916), killed in action during