In his autobiography Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Zhukov (1985, pp. 450-51), Zhukov refers to the above dinner: "Shortly before his departure from Potsdam Churchill gave a reception at his villa ... The first to speak at dinner was President Truman. Noting the outstanding contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of Nazi Germany, Truman offered the first toast to ... Stalin. Stalin, in turn, offered a toast to Winston Churchill ... Quite unexpectedly, Churchill offered a toast to me. I had no option but to toast him in reply. In thanking Churchill for his kindness I automatically addressed him as 'Comrade'. I caught the look of amazement on Molotov's face and was confused for a moment. But I quickly recovered and offered a toast to the comrades-in-arms, our Allies ... The following day when I was in Stalin's apartment, he and all others present kidded at my having so quickly acquired Winston Churchill as a 'comrade.'" This makes interesting comparison with Lord Moran's memory of the occasion: "At the end of dinner I noticed Stalin on his feet with a menu in his hand, collecting signatures. Winston growled, 'This means signing twenty-eight menus,' but for some reason all these hardened, sophisticated, wandering men began to take their menus round, and the P.M. himself sent Sawyers round with his. There was a shortage of fountain pens, and the consequent borrowing and general movement seemed to break the ice of formality and to generate a very friendly spirit" (Lord Moran Winston Churchill. The Struggle for Survival 1940-1965 (1966, p. 282).

Also present at the dinner were Sir Edward Bridges, Army General A.J. Antonov, Field-Marshal the Honble. Sir Harold Alexander, Major A. Birse, Charles E. Bohlen, Clement R. Attlee, Commander C.R. Thompson, Marshal of Aviation F. Ya. Falalev, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Portal, Mr. V.N. Pavlov, His Excellency Mr. V. M. Molotov, the Rt. Honble. Anthony Eden, Admiral of the Fleet N.G. Kousnetsov and Lord Moran. Three days later on the 26th July 1945, Churchill was voted out of office.

General Georgi Zhukov (1896-1974) joined the Red Army in 1918 as a junior officer, and became the outstanding Soviet general of World War II. He directed the first major Soviet success in the defence of Moscow, turned the German tide at the Battle of Stalingrad, lifted the siege of Leningrad, and finally led the Russian advance from Warsaw to Berlin which led to its fall in May 1945. However, after the war, his immense professional prestige and grass-roots popularity provoked Stalin's resentment, and he was relegated to a series of secondary commands until rehabilitated by Kruschev who made him Minister of Defence in 1955. Earlier this year a statue of General Zhukov was unveiled in Red Square.