war. Halifax wanted to sue for peace by asking Mussolini to broker a treaty between the British government and Hitler. Churchill wanted to continue the war. Attlee and Greenwood supported Churchill while Chamberlain, still the leader of the majority Conservative Parliamentary Party, remained neutral for several days until finally aligning himself with Churchill's resolve to fight on. 5 June 1940 to 30 April 1941 2 August 1940: Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, joined the war cabinet. 22 September 1940: resignation of Neville Chamberlain for health reasons (terminal colon cancer). 3 October 1940: Sir John Anderson succeeded Chamberlain as Lord President and joined the war cabinet. Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, also entered the war cabinet. Lord Halifax assumed the additional job of Leader of the House of Lords. 25 October 1940: Air Marshal Sir Cyril Newall was persuaded to take retirement and was replaced by Sir Charles Portal, who had been C-in-C of Bomber Command. 9 November 1940: death of Neville Chamberlain. 22 December 1940: Anthony Eden succeeded Lord Halifax as Foreign Secretary (Eden held the post until 26 July 1945) and joined the war cabinet as its eighth member. Halifax became Ambassador to the United States. His successor as Leader of the House of Lords was not in the war cabinet. 30 April 1941: Beaverbrook ceased to be Minister of Aircraft Production, but remained in the war cabinet as Minister of State (appointed 1 May 1941). His successor was not in the war cabinet. 1 May 1941 to 30 April 1942 29 June 1941: Beaverbrook became Minister of Supply, remaining in the war cabinet. Oliver Lyttelton entered the war cabinet as Minister-Resident for the Middle East. 25 December 1941: Sir John Dill was replaced as CIGS by Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke. Dill became Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission in Washington, DC. Brooke had been General Ironside's successor as C-in-C, Home Forces, since July 1940. 4 February 1942: Beaverbrook resigned from Supply and was appointed Minister of War Production; his successor as Minister of Supply was not in the war cabinet. 15 February 1942: Attlee relinquished the Lord Privy Seal to become Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, the first time this office was represented in the war cabinet. 19 February 1942: Attlee was appointed Deputy Prime Minister with general responsibility for domestic affairs. Beaverbrook again