Mrs. Miniver (character) President Franklin D. Roosevelt credited it for hastening America's involvement in the war. Winston Churchill is said to have claimed that it had done more for the Allied cause than a flotilla of battleships. Churchill is further quoted by Bernard Wasserstein in his book, "Barbarism and Civilization," as saying that the book (and later the film) was worth "six divisions of war effort." In 1942, when the film came out, Roosevelt ordered it rushed to theaters. The film adaptation of "Mrs. Miniver" was produced by MGM in 1942 with Greer Garson in the leading role and William Wyler directing. Under
SS Empire Miniver with scrap iron, sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 28 June for Halifax. After arriving there on 2 July, "West Cobalt" sailed the next day in Convoy HX-55 for Liverpool. On the night of 15/16 July, "West Cobalt" dropped astern of the convoy and was last sighted at 01:00 by British merchant ship "Loch Don". "West Cobalt" continued on, however, and reached Liverpool independently on 18 July. Soon transferred to the Ministry of War Transport, the newly renamed ship, now named "Empire Miniver", was assigned to Andrew Weir & Co. of London for operation. She sailed from Liverpool in her