Governor General the Lord Tweedsmuir died in February 1940, while still viceroy, and so the uncle of George VI, the Earl of Athlone, was appointed to the post, requiring him and his wife, Princess Alice, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and Athlone's Aide-de-Camp, Alastair Windsor, Earl of Macduff, the grandson of previous governor general Prince Arthur, to make the trans-oceanic journey in the midst of the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic. The Governor General and Princess Alice became supporters of the Canadian war effort; Alice was appointed Honorary Commandant of a number of women's military services, such as the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service and the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division, while Athlone travelled extensively throughout the country in an effor to spread the message that King George VI was dedicated to fighting totalitarianism. The royal couple hosted the Quebec Conferences in 1943 and 1944 wherein American president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Canadian prime minister Mackenzie King, and British prime minister Winston Churchill decided the strategies of the western allies that would lead to victory over Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945.