ST HOUR - Winston Churchill

Transcription

ST HOUR
Autumn 1997 • Number 96
furchill Center and International Churchill Societies
THE
THE
CHURCHILL
INTERNATIONAL
CENTER
CHURCHILL
SOCIETIES
AUSTRALIA • CANADA • UNITED KINGDOM • UNITED STATES
PATRON: THE LADY SOAMES, D. B. E.
The Churchill Center is an international non-profit organization which encourages study of the life and thought of Winston S.
Churchill; fosters research about his speeches, writings and deeds; advances knowledge of his example as a statesman; and, by programmes of teaching and publishing, imparts that learning to men, women and young people around the world. The Center also
sponsors Finest Hour, special publications, international conferences and tours. The Center was created by the International
Churchill Societies, founded in 1968 to preserve interest in and knowledge of the life, philosophy and heritage of the
Rt. Hon. Sir Winston S. Churchill, which are independent affiliates of the Center. Website: www:winstonchurchill.org.
THE CHURCHILL CENTER
A non-profit corporation, IRS No. 02-0482584
TRUSTEES
The Hon. Celia Sandys,
Fred Farrow, George A. Lewis,
Ambassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr.,
The Hon. Caspar W. Weinberger
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
(1996-1997)
William C. Ives, Richard M. Langworth,
Parker H. Lee III, Dr. John H. Mather,
Dr. Cyril Mazansky, James W. Muller,
John G. Plumpton, Douglas S. Russell,
Jacqueline Dean Witter
OFFICERS
Richard M. Langworth, President
181 Burrage Road, Hopkinton NH 03229
Tel. (603) 746-4433, Fax. (603) 746-4260
Email: [email protected]
William C. Ives, Vice President
77 W. Wacker Dr., 43rd fir., Chicago IL 60601
Tel. (312) 845-5798, Fax. (312) 845-5828
Parker H. Lee, III, Executive Director
117 Hance Road, Fair Haven NJ 07704
Tel. (888) WSC-1874, Fax. (908) 758-9350
ACADEMIC ADVISORS
Professor James W. Muller, Chairman
University of Alaska, Anchorage
1518 Airport Hts. Dr., Anchorage AK 99508
Tel. (907) 786-4740 Fax. (907) 786-4647
The Churchill Center, continued
ICS Canada, continued
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
Derek Brownleader, 1847 Stonewood Dr.,
Baton Rouge LA 70816. Tel. (504) 752-3313
John G. Plumpton, Executive Secretary
130 Collingsbrook Blvd,
Agincourt Ont. M1W 1M7
Tel. (416) 497-5349 Fax. (416) 395-4587
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Garnet R. Barber, Colin D. Clark,
Max L. Kleinman, James F. Lane,
Richard M. Langworth, Parker H. Lee III,
Michael W. Michelson, Alex M. Worth, Jr.
Consultant: Anthony Gilles
l.C.S. REPRESENTATIVES
Garnet R. Barber, ICS Canada
Nigel Knocker, ICS United Kingdom
ONLINE COMMITTEE
Homepage: www.winstonchurchill.org
Listserv: [email protected]
John Plumpton, Editor, [email protected]
Moderator: [email protected]
Books and FH: [email protected]
Associates: Bev Carr, [email protected],
Ian Langworth, [email protected]
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
John H. Mather, Douglas S. Russell,
Parker H. Lee, III
CHURCHILL STORES
(Back Issues and Sales Department)
Gail Greenly
PO Box 96, Contoocook NH 03229
Tel. (603) 746-3452 Fax (603) 746-6963
COUNCIL OF CHURCHILL
ORGANIZATIONS
Ambassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr., Chairman
208 S. LaSalle St., Chicago IL 60604
Tel. (800) 621-1917, Fax. (312) 726-9474
Prof. Paul Addison,
University of Edinburgh
Dr. Larry P. Arnn, President,
The Claremont Institute
ICS AUSTRALIA
Prof. Kirk Emmert, Kenyon College
Prof. Barry M. Gough,
Subscriptions and renewals: Robin Linke,
181 Jersey Street, Wembley, WA 6014
Wilfrid Laurier University
Prof. Warren F. Kimball, Rutgers University
ACT Representative: David Widdowson
Prof. Patrick J.C. Powers,
167 Chuculba Crescent, Giralang, ACT 2617
Southern New England School of Law
Prof. Paul A. Rahe, University ofTulsa
ICS CANADA
Prof. John A. Ramsden,
Revenue Canada No. 0732701-21-13
Queen Mary &Westfield College, Univ. of London
Ambassador Kenneth W. Taylor, Hon. Chairman
Sir Martin Gilbert, Merton College, Oxford
Dr. Jeffrey Wallin, President,
The American Academy for Liberal Education Garnet R. Barber, President
4 Snowshoe Cres., Thornhill, Ont. L3T 4M6
Prof. Manfred Weidhorn,
Tel. (905) 881-8550
Yeshiva University
Jeanette Webber, Membership Secretary
3256 Rymal Road, Mississauga Ont. L4Y 3C1
Tel. (905) 279-5169
Bill Milligan, Treasurer
54 Sir Galahad Place, Markham Ont. L3P 3S5
The Other Club of Ontario
Bernard Webber, President
3256 Rymal Rd., Mississauga, Ont. L4Y 3C1
Churchill Society of Vancouver (Affiliated)
Leslie A. Strike, President
701-1565 Esquimalt Av.,
W.Vancouver BC V7V 1R4
ICS UNITED KINGDOM
Charity Registered in England No. 800030
Nigel Knocker, Chairman
PO Box 1267, Melksham, Wilts. SN12 6GQ
Tel. & Fax. (01380) 828609
TRUSTEES
The Hon. Celia Sandys (Chairman);
The Duke of Marlborough, JP, DL;
David Boler; David J. Porter;
Richard G. G. Haslam-Hopwood;
Geoffrey Wheeler
COMMITTEE
Paul H. Courteney, John Glanvill Smith,
Joan Harris, Timothy Hicks, Michael Kelion,
Nigel Knocker, Fred Lockwood,
Dominic Walters, Wylma Wayne
ICS UNITED STATES, INC.
'
A non-profit corporation, IRS No. 02-0365444
Ambassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
208 South LaSalle Street, Chicago IL 60604
Tel. (800) 621-1917
TRUSTEES
Richard M. Langworth; George A. LewisWendy Russell Reves; The Hon. Celia '
Sandys; The Lady Soames, DBE;
The Hon. Caspar W. Weinberger
CONTENTS
FINEST HOUR
Autumn 1997
Journal of The Churchill Center and Societies
Number 96
5 Winston Churchill's Life of Marlborough
28 Churchill and Music
Fifteen scholars from Britain, Canada and the United
States convene at Blenheim to consider what Leo
Strauss called "the greatest historical work written in
our century" in the Third Churchill Center Symposium
No musician and nearly tone-deaf, the Great Man
nevertheless had his preferences: the simple songs
were best, and the old songs were best of all
14 The Dream in Ontario
BOOKS, ARTS & CURIOSITIES:
34 Two of the best specialized Churchill studies have
just been published, says Richard M. Langworth:
Martin Gilbert's Churchill-Reves Correspondence and
David Stafford's Churchill and Secret Service.... Woods
Fourteenth International Churchill Conference
Niagara Falls and Toronto, 15-19 October 1997
by John G. Plumpton, photographs by Jonah Triebwasser
19 Your Invitation to the Ninth Churchill Tour
An assortment of Churchill associations: Blenheim,
the Lake District, Edinburgh; and Robert Hardy's
Yorkshire: May 14th-26th, 1998
21 The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
Vintage Aircraft Commemorate "The Few"
by Douglas J. Hall
24 From the Canon: "Man Overboard!"
by Winston S. Churchill, 1899
26 The Memoirs of U. S. Grant and W. S. Churchill
by Manfred Weidhorn
4
7
13
20
23
32
37
42
44
45
46
47
48
Corner asks: What do readers think are the best books
about Churchill? Thirty nominees are considered ...
Alexander Justice appreciates A. P. Herbert's classic,
Independent Member.... Douglas Hall takes the Churchill
Commemoratives Calendar into the 1965 Memorials.
41 The Royal Air Force
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
A unique living memorial to Sir Winston
by Sir Henry Beverley
Did Churchill Read Grant's Memoirs?
by Jill Kendall
47 Moments in Time
A chance photograph leads us to the recollection of a
powerful Churchill speech from 1936
photo courtesy Dorothy Jones
Cover: A portrait of Winston Churchill
circa 1942, given by the artist, Adrian Hill,
to an auction in aid of the Red Cross. Born in
1895, Adrian Hill was official war artist on
the Western Front 1917-19 and published
many books on art including The Pleasures
of Painting (1952). He lived for some years
in Midhurst, Sussex. Published by kind permission of Peter Johnson, a Churchill Center
founding member. The original may be
viewed at Ackermann & Johnson Ltd., 27
Lowndes Street, London SW1X 9HY,
telephone (0171) 235-6464.
Amid These Storms
International Datelines
Riddles, Mysteries, Enigmas
www.winstonchurchill.org
Wit & Wisdom
Action This Day
Woods Corner
Churchill in Stamps
Despatch Box
Recipes From No. 10
Churchilltrivia
Ampersand
Immortal Words
FINEST HOUR 9 6 / 3
AMID THESE STORMS
I
FINEST H O U R
ISSN 0882-3715
www.winstonchurchill.org
Barbara F. Langworth, Publisher
Richard M Langworth, Editor
Post Office Box 385
Hopkinton, New Hampshire
03229 USA Tel. (603) 746-4433
Senior Editors
John G. Plumpton
130 Collingsbrook Blvd.
Agincourt, Ontario
M1W 1M7 Canada
Ron Cynewulf Robbins
198 St. Charles St.
Victoria, BC, V8S 3M7 Canada
News Editor
John Frost
8 Monks Ave, New Barnet,
Herts. EN5 1D8 England
Features Editor
Douglas J. Hall
183A Somerby Hill, Grantham
Lines. NG31 7HA England
Editorial Assistant
Gail Greenly
Contributors
Sir Martin Gilbert, United Kingdom
George Richard, Australia
James W. Muller, United States
David Boler, United Kingdom
Wm. John Shepherd, United States
Curt Zoller, United States
Dr. John Mather, United States
FINEST HOUR is published quarterly for
The Churchill Center and the International
Churchill Societies, which offer several levels
of support in their respective currencies.
Membership applications and changes of
address should be sent to the appropriate
national offices on page 2. Permission to
mail at non-profit rates in the USA granted
by the US Postal Service, Concord, NH,
Permit no. 1524. Copyright 1997. All rights
reserved. Designed and produced for The
Churchill Center by Dragonwyck Publishing
Inc. Production by New England Foil
Stamping Inc. Printed by Reprographics Inc.
Made in U.S.A.
've recently heard some "terminological inexactitudes" about the Churchill Societies
versus The Churchill Center which I'd like to allay in my space here.
The most amazing was a remark at the Conference in Toronto, while we were
explaining the purposes of The Churchill Center: "This is the end of the Churchill
Societies." No, this is the salvation of the Churchill Societies.
After the 1995 Boston conference an ICS director, Cyril Mazansky, brought us
down to earth by demanding "strategic planning." Many resisted. We had just held
our greatest conference ever; membership was at record levels; who needed strategic planning? He kept at us, however, and eventually, a meeting was devoted to
the subject. We asked each director what he or she saw for ICS ten or twenty years
on. With only one exception, each predicted a winding down of membership and
activities, as those who remember Churchill from their own lives pass on.
Now we could have said, "So what?" We could have gone on enjoying ourselves
with no thought of the future, never addressing the question as to whether there is
something about our movement worth leaving for those who come after us. We did
not. We rejected that course as short-sighted and, ultimately, fatal.
What then could we do—we in ICS—to "keep the memory green and the record
accurate," not just in our time, but for all time? The answer was The Churchill
Center, which focuses on young people. Who else do you focus on, if you want an
idea to live? It only takes a few to keep the flame alive. Look at ICS.
It was soon clear that The Churchill Center idea had incredible appeal. Many
look upon ICS as a source of pleasure and knowledge, a spawner of friendships.
But none think of it as something with which to impress Winston Churchill's legacy indelibly on the twenty-first century. People previously content to pay only
their modest annual ICS subscription were suddenly stirred up—inspired—by an
opportunity to share in Churchill's immortality. In 1995,1 thought we'd be lucky
to secure 200 Founding Members; we secured 600. In 1997,1 had doubts about our
endowment campaign; with the help of just twenty people before it even formally
started, we were halfway toward our first million dollars.
The traditional package of publications and activities the Societies have
always provided are here to stay. With the help of The Churchill Center, all the
things you have come to enjoy in ICS are guaranteed to last forever. Finest Hour is
not "going to disappear"; as the Center's journal as well as the Society's, it will
probably get larger. Though we have found some interesting professors to advise
and speak to us, our Board remains a layman's Board. We are not going to spend
oodles of time fund-raising; if anything, we will be doing less of it because once
endowed, we won't be so desperate to make ends meet. International Churchill
Conferences are not going to change, but let me tell you something: the people able
to run them on a volunteer basis are disappearing. John Plumpton, Barbara
Langworth, David Boler and Randy Barber, who with their friends ran the 199497 conferences we so enjoyed, are declared retired. If we want to hold a conference
in Phoenix, or Miami, or Edinburgh, or Seattle, or Quebec, ICS does not have the
volunteer infrastructure to do it. Amply endowed, The Churchill Center will have
staff members to help in this area.
That is why I am so excited about The Churchill Center—why I and others,
and maybe you already, have backed it by becoming Churchill Center Associates.
It would be inconceivable that I, having founded ICS and enjoyed its activities and
camaraderie for thirty years, could now wish to destroy it. More than anything
else we've done, The Churchill Center offers us the opportunity to build on what
we enjoy about ICS—to ensure that it never dies.
I plan to be around The Churchill Center and International Churchill Societies
for quite awhile before I shuffle off. I expect most reading these words have the
same intentions. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties. Let us thank God
that we have the opportunity to play such a role in perpetuating the legacy of that
unique spirit; and to be able to do so with all the conviviality and fun we have
come to expect from the International Churchill Societies.
RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
FINEST HOUR 96/4
The Churchill Center Report: Autumn-Winter 199?
The Churchill Center was founded by the International Churchill Societies to encourage study of the life and thought of Sir
Winston Churchill; to foster research about his speeches, writings and deeds; to advance knowledge of his example as a statesman; and, by programs of teaching and publishing, to impart that learning to men, women and young people around the
world. Programs include courses, symposia, libraries, an annual Churchill Lecture, visiting professorships, seminars, publishing
subventions, fellowships, internet website and ICS activities including Finest Hour and other ICS events.
"Winston Churchill s Lire or Maryborough"
Third Churchill Symposium, Blenheim, May 14-17th
O
ur third and most ambitious academic symposium
takes as its subject Winston Churchill's life of John
Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough, the man he considered the paramount founder of modern Britain.
Churchill's preference for political and military history,
written from the standpoint of biography, over economic
and social history, is out of fashion. Although often called
Churchill's most impressive work, Marlborough has fallen
into neglect among both academic
and general readers and is not currently in print. Scholarly opinions
are mixed, ranging from Leo
Strauss's claim that the book is "the
greatest historical work written in
our century, an inexhaustible mine
of political wisdom and understanding," to the view that it is no
more than hagiography or special
pleading.
We aim to rescue Marlborough
from oblivion by bringing together
academic experts on many aspects
of this monumental work, from
Britain's relations with its allies in
the age of Marlborough to the originality of
Marlborough's military art, from Churchill's treatment of
Macaulay and other historians to what he learned from
reflecting on his distinguished forebear about how to
defeat Hitler, from Marlborough's part in the Glorious
Revolution and the making of modern Britain to his deft
but not unerring management of parliamentary politics in
the age of Queen Anne. Our concern is both John
Churchill and Winston Churchill, rather than either one
to the exclusion of the other.
Given the magnitude of the subject, and to produce a
comprehensive book, we have invited fifteen scholars to
write papers, several more than for previous symposia.
The Duke of Marlborough has made the facilities available, and our Patron Lady Soames will be present.
Presiding as Symposiarch is Dr. Piers Brendon, Keeper,
Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College,
Cambridge. Symposiasts include Robert Eden (Hillsdale
College, Michigan), Kirk Emmert (Kenyon College,
Ohio), Morton J. Frisch (Northern Illinois University,
Illinois), Sir Martin Gilbert (Merton College, Oxford), J.
R. Jones (University of East Anglia, Norwich), John H.
Mather, MD (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine), James
W. Muller (University of Alaska
Anchorage), Paul A. Rahe
(University of Tulsa), W. A. Speck
(University of Leeds), David
Stafford (University of Edinburgh),
Geoffrey Treasure (Herefordshire),
Stephen Saunders Webb (Syracuse
University), Melissa Lane (King's
College, Oxford) and Barry Gough
(Wilfrid Laurier University).
Symposiasts will arrive at
Wroxton College, where they will
be accommodated, for an orientation meeting followed by a participants' dinner on May 14th. Actual
sessions will occur at the SpencerChurchill Conference Room at Blenheim in the morning
and afternoon on May 15th and 16th. A dinner to mark
the occasion occurs at the Orangery, Blenheim, on the
16th, attended by Lady Soames and other members of the
Churchill family. The papers produced will later be published as a book, made available to scholars, and be represented in abstract on the Churchill Center website.
Because of limited capacity at both the Conference
Room and the Orangery, British founding members of
The Churchill Center are being invited to the Friday sessions and members of the 9th Churchill Tour to Saturday
sessions and the Blenheim dinner; tickets to the dinner
will also be available to Britons through Nigel Knocker,
chairman, ICS United Kingdom.
address on page 2 >>
FINEST HOUR 9 6 / 5
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, GOVERNORS,
UK & CANADA REPRESENTATIVES MEET
The Churchill Center Governors' Annual General
Meeting at the Army & Navy Club, Washington on 1415 November, was augmented for the first time by representatives of the International Churchill Societies of
Canada (Randy Barber) and the UK (Nigel Knocker).
Paul Robinson, chairman of Trustees of ICS United
States, also attended. The Center is most grateful to the
directors of ICS Canada and UK for sending their
President and Chairman respectively to our meetings and
hope that they will continue to lend their counsel and
advice, which were instrumental in discussing the international programs and activities of the Center and ICS.
At this meeting, The Churchill Center set its 1998
budget (about $400,000), re-elected William Ives and
John Plumpton as Governors for 1998-2000, appointed a
nominating committee to fill open seats, appointed three
British scholars, Sir Martin Gilbert, Paul Addison and
John A. Ramsden, to the Academic Advisory Board, discussed 1998-99 ICS and CC activities, set dates for board
meetings (see below), readopted scholarships for an"
American and Canadian student at the Centre for Second
World War Studies, University of Edinburgh; adopted
• guidelines for Center Trustees and Center publishing
activities, and distributed project proposals by Glynne
Jenkins, Michael McRobbie and John H. Mather for consideration in the Spring.
THE
ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN BEGINS
Meeting on November 13-14th the Development
Committee and Governors formally launched the
Endowment Campaign, which is in full flood as you read
this. Intrinsic to this effort are the Gregory Peck video and
a fascinating new Prospectus on Giving, listing the many
ways in which you can benefit yourself and your heirs
while aiding the Center and becoming a Churchill Center
Associate. If you are interested in the Associates Program,
and have not yet been contacted by one of our Governors
or committee members, please telephone Parker H. Lee
III, toll-free at 888-WSC-1874.
CHURCHILL AS PEACEMAKER LAUNCHED
In Washington August 29th, the Center launched its
first book developed out of a symposium, which is now
available through the New Book Service. Churchill as
Peacemaker, edited by James W Muller, challenges the
conventional view of Churchill as a Man of War, bringing
together ten readable essays by scholars from Britain,
South Africa and the United States, most of them based
on papers delivered at the First Churchill Symposium in
1994. Covering conflict from Queen Victoria's "little
wars" to the Cold War, the book provides a fascinating,
hitherto unavailable examination of Churchill's successes
and failures as a peacemaker. Churchill as Peacemaker is
available for $50 (+$5 shipping), a $10 discount, from the
New Book Service, c/o the Editor, Finest Hour.
CHURCHILL
CALENDAR
Local event organizers are welcome to send entries for this calendar; owing to our quarterly schedule, however, we need copy at least three months in advance.
1998
5 January: "Painting as a Pastime" reception with David Coombs hosted by ICS, UK, Sotheby's, 34-35 New Bond St., London
5-17 January: "Painting as a Pastime" Exhibition of Churchill Paintings, Sotheby's, 34-35 New Bond Street, London
6-7 March: Churchill Center Board of Governors Spring Meeting, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
26 April: ICS United Kingdom Annual General Meeting, RAF Museum, Hendon
10 May (tentative): Launch of A Connoisseur's Guide to the Books of Winston Churchill, Brassey's (UK) Ltd.
14-17 May: Third Churchill Center Symposium, "Winston Churchill's Life of Marlboro ugh," Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
14-26 May: Ninth International Churchill Tour: Blenheim, Lake District, Edinburgh, Scottish Lowlands, Yorkshire
15 June: International Churchill Society Thirtieth Anniversary (founded at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, 1968)
2 September: Battle of Omdurman Centenary Dinner, Boston, Massachusetts
September (tentative): Churchill Center Panel, American Political Science Convention, Boston, Massachusetts
25-26 September: Churchill Center Board of Governors Annual General Meeting, Washington, D.C.
5-8 November: 15th International Churchill Conference & First Annual Churchill Lecture, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia
30 November: Sir Winston Churchill's 124th Birthday
1999
Sprine- Student Seminar . Summer or Autumn: Sixteenth International Churchill Conference ... South Africa Tour
V
h
'
2000
14-17 September: Seventeenth International Churchill Conference, Anchorage, Alaska
2001
14 February- Centenary of Churchill's Entry into Parliament
Autumn: Eighteenth International Churchill Conference
2003
Twentieth International Churchill Conference and 50th Anniversary of the Bermuda Conference, Hamilton, Bermuda
FINEST HOUR 9 6 / 6
INTERNATIONAL
DATELINES
QUOTE OF THE SEASON
"Everyone will agree [on] the importance of keeping pledges and
not turning back from a course upon which you have
embarked....There are a great many districts and municipalities in
Palestine at the present time where the Arabs have been quite
incapable of affording elements out of which local institutions
could be made. Why cannot you continue your educative process a
little longer?....When you have come to the point of Arab municipalities conducting their affairs with anything like the progressive
vigour that is shown by the Jewish community, and when you have
come to the point of the whole principle of local government having
been implemented by the good will and activities of the population,
your case will be enormously stronger for a forward movement."
Ataturk's supporters (who have
their own home page) are said to be
stuffing Time's ballot box. We doubt it.
Anybody smart enough to run a
sophisticated website can create a program that repeatedly dials-in Time's
"top 100" ballot and Votes Kemal. It
will be fun to see how Time handles the
snafu. Meanwhile, keep voting! Every
time you're on the web, visit Time's
page (www.time.com) and vote "Winston Churchill" in the "warriors and
statesmen" category. Remember, even
though your Texas grandfather died in
1906, he voted for Lyndon Johnson for
Congress in 1948.
CHURCHILL, HOUSE OV COMMONS, 24 MARCH 1936
A LATE ISSUE
Readers will remark the lateness of
this issue, caused by a tremendous
press of work occasioned by unexpected administrative matters over the last
eight months and The Churchill Center's endowment campaign, which has
now begun in earnest. Despite the
delay, readers with Internet access have
been able to access most departments
and some feature articles weeks ago on
our website (www.winstonchurchill.
org). To regain schedule, we will turn
out three issues between now and May,
and somehow work in the 1994-95 Proceedings, which are equally, and sorely,
behind schedule. Our apologies for
these delays. —RML
LONDON PAINTINGS EXHIBIT
1998— The 50th anniversary of Churchill's election as an Honorary Academician Extraordinary by
the Royal Academy, and the book pub-
the exhibition has the support of Lady
Soames, who with other members of
the Churchill family will lend examples
of his work. The National Trust is loaning pictures and other items from the
Studio at Chartwell. Lady Soames will
be writing the Foreword to the catalogue and at her request the exhibition
is in aid of the Churchill Graves Trust at
Bladon, now undergoing restoration.
The exhibit is the idea of its organiser, Sotheby's director Hugo Swire.
David Coombs, author of Churchill: His
Paintings, is the exhibition's consultant.
This preliminary information comes
from Mr. Coombs at The Red House,
Portsmouth Road, Milford, Godalming,
Surrey GU8 5HJ. (See also "Local and
National" news for the ICS/UK reception at this event.)
JANUARY 5-ITTH,
lication of Painting as a Pastime, will be
commemorated by an exhibition at
Sotheby's, 34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA (tel. 0171-493-8080). The
dates are to be confirmed.
For the first time, Churchill's pictures will be hung with those of artists
he admired, such as Manet, Monet,
Cezanne, Matisse and in particular Sargent, whose work he copied; and those
of his artist friends and mentors such as
Sir John Lavery, Walter Sickert, Sir
William Nicholson, Paul Maze and the
sculptor Oscar Nemon.
Containing more than 100 pictures,
VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 19TH—Time magazine is running a poll for great people,
hyper-linked off its internet home page
(www.time.com). As of today there is a
near-dead heat for "warriors and statesmen" between Mustafa Kemal Atarurk
710,640^39%) and Winston Churchill
660,193 (36%). Nobody else is over 5%.
Curiouser and curiouser: the founder
of modern Turkey also leads in every
other category! Ataturk is first among
"entertainers and artists," "scientists
and healers," "builders and titans" and
"heroes and adventurers." Clearly,
Ataturkites have jiggered Time's attempt
to let the world decide the Man/Person/Humanoid of the Century.
FINEST HOUR 9 6 / 7
TOP EUROPEAN, ANYWAY
LONDON, JULY 17TH— Ataturk notwithstanding, an international panel of intellectuals has voted Churchill the most
outstanding European of the 20th Century in a survey for the first edition of
Europe Quarterly, a new social and cultural magazine. Churchill bested politicians, scientists and artists from twentyfour countries. Second in the voting
was Albert Einstein, followed by Drs.
Francis Crick and James Watson, who
discovered the structure of DNA. -From
the Chicago Tribune courtesy Joe Just.
PRIDE OF PLACE
PARIS, SEPTEMBER 21ST—
France will honour Sir Winston with a statue on its
most famous and prestigious avenue.
An imposing three-metre bronze of
WSC in wartime naval
attire by Jean Cardot,
president of the
French art institution,
the Academie des
Beaux Arts, will be
unveiled next spring,
looking across to the
Arc de Triomphe at
the head of the
Champs Elysees. Hundreds of tourists go
there each day to pay
tribute to fallen heroes
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It
will not be France's first memorial to
Churchill. In the Riviera town of Mougins stands a huge bronze hand raised in
a V-sign.
CONTINUED OVERLEAF >»
INTERNATIONAL DATELINES
UNSORDID CORRECTION
Notable Churchillians: Randy Barber
W
ill the real Randy Barber or Winston
Churchill please stand up?
This is the teasing question
Garnet R. (Randy) Barber is
asked when he poses beside a
picture or sculpture of his
hero, Winston Churchill.
Randy himself jokes that neither he nor WSC ever met a
™
.
^
carbohydrate they didn't like!
Randy honours the Churchill legacy the same way he does everything else: with
great energy. He is the President oflCS Canada and chaired the recent conference in
Toronto; he is active in the Other Club of Ontario and represents ICS Canada at board
meetings of The Churchill Center. He will play a key role in the Churchill Center fundraising campaign in Canada.
Like Churchill, Randy's interests are eclectic. Naturally, like all Churchillians, he
collects and reads books, books, books; but he also has an astonishing collection of barber
memorabilia (no pun intended): razors, shaving mugs, strops, etc. One of his prize possessions is an 1875 solid oak barber's chair which sits prominently in his living room. He
also has an abiding interest in Arthur Conan Doyle and Doyle's fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes.
He shares Churchill's fondness for scotch and, typical of Randy, he organizes annual
nosings of single malts with friends. Although he has Churchill's affection for brandy, he
indulges in another specialty, liqueurs from around the world, the more unusual the better. The contents of his liquor cabinet, which sit proudly with his barber's chair, must be
unique in the world. He has also been known to smoke a cigar after dinner.
Although he is a proud Canadian of English stock (his grandfather fought in the
same area of South Africa as Churchill) Randy is a student of the American Civil War
and eagerly seeks out aficionados to learn of their interests. His professional background
is just as varied. Many years ago he was manager of the rock group "Ocean," whose hit,
"Put Your Hand in the Hand" was a million-seller. He worked with band booking agencies and, at one time, booked entertainment for Holiday Inns across Canada. One singer
he booked was the Norwegian Nightingale, now his wife Solveig. Many of us saw her
unforgettable performances at Banff and Toronto.
When Randy is not indulging his hobbies he spends twenty-five hours a day with
another love of his life, politics. He is a former Vice-President of the Ontario Progressive
Conservative (Tory) Party, active in his local constituency and a City Councillor in
Markham, Ontario, just outside Toronto. He combines a political life with a strong social
commitment in support of many charities including Diabetes and Arthritis Associations,
and many cultural groups including community theatres and museums. He is an active
fund-raiser for his political and charitable organizations.
He is presently Vice-Chairman of the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission,
which licenses all establishments and organizations regarding alcohol and gambling.
Randy's loyalties would have been sorely tested by Winston and Randolph Churchill
when they visited Ontario in 1929, and circumvented our prohibition laws by carrying
their refreshment around in hidden flasks.
The real Randy would be pleased to stand up: if you can catch up to him!
—John Plumpton (primary sources provided by Solveig Barber)
FINEST HOUR 9 6 / 8
WASHINGTON, JUNE 8TH— Geneva Over-
holster reports in The Washington Post
that Churchill Center member and 1995
Conference speaker Professor Arthur
M. Schlesinger, Jr. has struck a blow for
accuracy. In a letter to The New York
Times, Schlesinger reminds us that what
Churchill called "the most unsordid act
in the history of any nation" was LendLease, not the Marshall Plan. Nevertheless, reports Overholster, the Marshall
Plan non-quote "ricocheted back and
forth across the Atlantic, appearing in
The Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman, the
Associated Press, Reuters, Agence
France Press, CNN, ABC and NPR."
Her own paper used it on May 25th, the
Times on the 27th. Times editorial writer
Karl Meyer tracked the error down, and
found it had come from Sketches from
Life, a 1960 book by former Secretary of
State Dean Acheson. (The exact quote,
from WSC's 17 April 1945 Commons
speech on the death of Roosevelt, was:
"...the extraordinary measure of assistance called Lend-Lease, which will
stand forth as the most unselfish and
unsordid financial act of any country in
all history.")
TWIN PEAKS
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 9TH— In t h e 7 5 t h
anniversary issue of Foreign Affairs various luminaries, including Francis
Fukuyama and Eliot Cohen, are asked
to list the finest books of the last seventy-five years. Fukuyama mentions
Churchill's The Second World War; Eliot
Cohen mentions Marlborough: His Life
and Times; and Stanley Hoffmann lamely defends his preference for De
Gaulle's War Memoirs over the Churchill option. Has anybody ever got all
the way through De Gaulle's memoirs?
Fukuyama (author of The End of
History and The Last Man) wrote the
review: "Although it produced many
more casualties than the First World
War, World War II retained a moral
meaning as a titanic struggle of good
against evil. And in the struggle, no figure was grander or more heroic than
Churchill. His personal account of the
interwar years, when he braved ridicule
and isolation for standing up to the conciliatory consensus seeking to appease
him, to his embarrassment, as if he ing, who never sought advantage
had been Isaiah."
from his family background. He was
A great light has been extin- deeply loyal to his friends, abhorred
guished in the world of academia. We gossip or prurient interest. He was
passionate about flying, and lately
are all the poorer for it.
-Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, Ottawa, Ontario computers, learning to write his own
programmes. He also loved poetry,
especially Kipling and Milton.
JULIAN SANDYS, R.I.P.
SHACKLEFORD, SURREY, SEPTEMBER 19TH—
Julian Sandys will be rememThe father of four and brother to bered for the good humour and
Edwina and Celia Sandys has died cheerfulness he brought to life, even
aged 60. The three primary strands of
throughout his illness, behaving
his life were politics, law and family. always with stoical decorum. He saw
ISAIAH BERLIN, R.I.P.
That he should have been keenly his struggle in military terms, telling
LONDON, NOVEMBER 5TH— Sir Isaiah
Berlin, the renowned philosopher and interested in politics was inevitable, a friend, "I regard this as a war, not a
nice scientific experiment." Apart
historian, has died at 88. Born in given the fact that he was the son of
Latvia, Sir Isaiah moved to Britain Lord Duncan-Sandys and grandson from the continuing love and support
with his family in 1919. A lecturer, of Sir Winston Churchill. At the age of his family, he was sustained by his
professor and college president at of eight he stood at his grandfather's firmly held Christian convictions
Oxford, he is credited with establish- side while WSC addressed the crowd which meant a great deal to him. He
ing the academic disciplines of intel- on VE-Day. Sandys also named the is survived by his children and his
lectual history and political theory. It locomotive "Winston Churchill" wife, Elizabeth Martin.
is no hackneyed trope of speech to which would later carry his grandfasay that he was one of the greatest ther to his final resting place.
KAY HALLE, R.I.P.
Educated at Sunningdale and WASHINGTON, AUGUST 7TH— K a y H a l l e ,
thinkers of our time. A notable admirer of Churchill, Berlin wrote Mr. Eton, Sandys remained with the 4th who has died aged 93, was a glamChurchill in 1940, published as a book Hussars as a territorial army reservist orous Cleveland department store
in 1964 and regarded by some as the his entire life. He even tried to sign heiress who cut a swath through the
up for the Falklands War and was 20th century, befriending and befinest essay on Churchill.
witching luminaries and serving as a
Berlin's admiration was repaid by disappointed to be deemed too old.
Following
a
year
at
the
Univerperceptive gadfly in politics, society
WSC. In The Fringes of Power, Sir John
sity
of
Melbourne,
Sandys
completed
and the arts. During a remarkable life
Colville recounts an amusing incident
his
Bar
examinations
and
contested
in newspaper reporting and radio
in 1944: "Lunched at No. 10 with the
unsuccessfully
the
rock
solid
Labour
interviewing,
she formed enduring
PM and Mrs. Churchill. The other
constituency
of
Ashfield
at
the
1959
relationships
with
George Gershwin,
guests [included] Mr. Irving Berlin
General
Election.
He
was
then
called
Randolph
Churchill,
Averell Harri(the American song writer and proto
the
Bar
as
a
member
of
the
Inner
man,
Joseph
P.
Kennedy,
Walter
ducer)....After lunch the PM foreTemple,
and
was
appointed
Queen's
Lippmann,
Buckminster
Fuller
and
stalled Irving Berlin asking leading
Counsel
in
1982.
In
recent
years
he
scores
of
other
diverse
figures.
Miss
questions by himself addressing them
Halle demonstrated such a flair for
to his potential interlocutor (e.g. became involved in a number of
diverse
business
ventures,
but
most
friendship and a knack for bringing
"When do you think the war will end,
important
to
him
was
his
family,
to
people together that it is a wonder
Mr. Berlin?" This I thought was ingewhich
he
was
devoted.
she found time for anything else.
nious technique It later transpired
In
everything
he
did,
Sandys's
A tall, slender, blonde beauty
that the reason why Mr. Irving Berlin
had been bidden to lunch was a whole approach was notable for its who kept her youthful good looks
comic misunderstanding. There are careful preparation and thorough- well beyond middle age, she had a
sprightly, if somewhat over vivid, ness. While at Eton, Churchill wrote list of sixty-four men who proposed
political summaries telegraphed to him urging that he keep an eye on to her, including Randolph Churchill,
home every week from the Washing- history, "because a knowledge of the who fell in love with her on a 1931
ton Embassy. The PM, inquiring who past is the only way of helping us lecture tour and remained devoted to
wrote them, had been told by me, make guesses at the future." It was her for life. One of the few people to
'Mr. Isaiah Berlin, Fellow of All Souls advice Sandys took to heart and he have been a close personal friend of
and Tutor of New College.' When was frequently to be found in conver- both Franklin Roosevelt and Winston
Irving Berlin came over here to enter- sation drawing attention to the value Churchill, she visited Chartwell often.
Keeping her journalistic instincts
tain the troops with his songs, the PM of the long term perspective.
Throughout his life he was essen- sharp, she made notes of what she
confused him with Isaiah and invited
him to lunch—and conversed with tially a private person, shy and carCONTINUED OVERLEAF >»
Twin Peaks, continued...
Germany, makes edifying reading for
any contemporary politician who is
tempted to look first to opinion polls
for guidance on serious matters of
foreign policy. Like other great memoir writers, Churchill has a fine eye
for details of character among the
giants (and numerous dwarves) with
whom he dealt."
—Paul Rahe, John Plumpton
FINEST HOUR 96/9
heard, and ultimately published the
outstanding quote reference Irrepressible
Churchill (1966), followed by a more
scholarly work, Winston Churchill on
America and Britain (1970). She was also
instrumental in behind-the-scenes
efforts that brought Sir Winston his
honorary American citizenship, awarded by President Kennedy in 1963.
Halle (pronounced "Hal'-ee") was
the daughter of a wealthy German Jewish merchant and an Irish-Catholic
working girl, whose father co-founded
Halle Brothers department store in
Cleveland. She grew up in an ecumenical, intellectually charged atmosphere
that left her without prejudice or pretension and with an eclectic range of
interests. After one boring year at Smith
she took New York by storm, captivating Gershwin and making her apartment a mecca of the Roaring Twenties.
The Churchill Societies hoped to
bring Miss Halle to one of their Washington events and made strong efforts
to have her as a guest at the 1993 conference. But age and frailty had taken
their toll and common friends advised
us to desist. We missed a chance to
honor a kind and great lady, who
played a minor but not insignificant
role in the Churchill saga.
-Adapted from an obituary by Robert
McG. Thomas, Jr. in The New York Times
DOUBLE TAKE
LONDON— American sculptor Lawrence
Holofcener's double statue of Roosevelt
and Churchill in New Bond Street has
become a favourite photo opportunity
since it was unveiled by HRH Princess
Margaret on 2 May 1995. The life-size
bronze figures are seated at either end
of an ordinary park bench with sufficient space between for passers-by to
pause for a rest and, as likely as not,
have their photos taken. The patina has
already been rubbed from the adjacent
knees of both statues by folk eager to be
pictured with the great. The manager of
the watchmaker's shop overlooking the
scene reports that, while American visitors are well to the fore, they appear to
be outnumbered by Japanese! -DJH
PORTRAIT OF CHURCHILL
"Churchill at Four," the earliest known
portrait of Sir Winston (cover, Finest
Hour 88) is for sale. The portrait is from
the estate of the niece of Thomas
Walden, valet to both WSC and his
father. Friend of The Churchill Center
Jeanette Gabriel (see her article in FH
95) has been commissioned as agent for
the sale of this painting, and offers to
donate half of her commission to The
Churchill Center. Anyone interested
should contact Mrs. Gabriel in California at (213) 272-4547, fax (310) 271-1854.
NOTHING NEW
LONDON, MAY 25TH— The sale of the
Robert Hastings Churchill collection
produced a minor uproar over a letter in
the collection attacking Churchill for
deserting his mates by escaping singlehandedly from the Pretoria prison camp
in 1900. Various academics were
brought forth by The Times to cluck softly over this latest manifestation of feet of
clay. James Muller, Churchill Center
Academic Chairman, writes: "The
charges that Churchill acted dishonorably are old chestnuts that were well
aired in the press early in this century,
provoked various libel suits, all of which
Churchill won, and have been carefully
investigated and disposed of both by the
official biographer and others. But it is
interesting that they should have been
turned into news again in the late 1990s,
and that professors should have been
found to take them as seriously as if they
were fresh new allegations. I guess there
is nothing new under the sun."
ERRATA & CORRIGENDA, FH 95
Page 6: Douglas Russell notes that
we misquoted Churchill: the correct
quote is "We shape our buildings and
afterwards our buildings shape us."
(Complete Speeches, Vol. VII, p6869).
Page 14: Our notice regarding "a
series of summer dinner proposals"
incorrectly credits them to the Other
Club of Toronto. In fact, these summer
dinners were an initiative of the Churchill Society for the Advancement of
Parliamentary Democracy and had no
connection with the Other Club or ICS,
Canada. Our apologies to the CSAPD.
Page 40: In Chris Bell's review of
the Churchill-Conover Correspondence
appears the sentence: "There remains
a vast amount of material written by
Churchill which has never before been
published, and still more which has
been published and is now all but forgotten, none of which is viable for
commercial publishers." Mr. Bell
wishes us to stipulate that words beginning with "none" were the editor's
and do not represent his opinion. 1
confess I thought this statement so
universally accepted as to be axiomatic. I only wish there were publishers ready and willing to publish
the many Churchill works we have
been laboring to interest them in for
years. If there were, our job would be
much easier. —Editor
Just: "Churchill's smoking accessories
pop up at auctions with regularity ... and
high prices. In 1995, a signed wooden
cigar box with one of Churchill's cigars
sold for £3400 ($8300) and in March 1996
an 18 karat gold cigar case with two
cigars fetched £3795 ($8500)."
Finest Hour's Utter Excess Award
goes to the buyer of seven Churchill letters "devoid of blood, sweat, tears or
much interest at all," according to reporter Laura Stewart, at an average of
£1728 each. Miss Stewart adds: "This
BIG TOBACCO
raises a maths problem. How much
LONDON, JULY 17TH— For only £4830 should the nation have paid for the
($7700) a Sotheby's buyer claimed a 1,500,000 letters and speeches it got from
cigar case which Churchill carried to the Churchill's heirs in 1995? At this price,
trenches in France during the First £2.59 billion. A reminder: the nation (via
World War, inscribed "Lt. Col. W. S. Lord Rothschild's Heritage Lottery
Churchill" on one side and "61 R. S. Fund) gave £12.5 million. Screams at this
Fusiliers 1916" on the other, notes the outrageous sum were heard loud and
July issue of Cigar Insider, courtesy of Joe wide. It looks rather good now." Yep.
FINEST HOUR 9 6 / 1 0
Local and National Events
ICS, U.K.
The 1997 Annual General Meeting
held at Chartwell on 6th July elected a
new Committee and a new chairman,
Nigel Knocker; in order to comply with
the Charities Act 1993, Nigel and Tim
Hicks are also Trustees (ex-officio). All
details on this plus a change in calling
for subs on a standing order/direct
debit basis have been circulated.
In London on January 5th, ICS/
UK hosts a reception at Sotheby's, 34/
35 New Bond Street, between 6.30 and
8.30 PM in conjunction with the exhibition "Painting as a Pastime" (see page
7). The speaker will be David Coombs,
author of Churchill: His Paintings.
Details had been circulated to UK
members by the time this appears.
The 1998 Annual General Meeting
will be held at the RAF Museum, Hendon, on 26 April. Cost per person, to
include entrance to museum, a guided
tour and coffee, is £10 per head. Further
details will be circulated to ICS/UK
members nearer the time.
British Founding Members of The
Churchill Center are being invited to
the Blenheim symposium on Friday
May 15th and the dinner at the
Orangery, Blenheim on Saturday evening May 16th. Cost for the symposium,
including lunch, is £35 and the dinner
£95.
BLADON, OXON.
O C T
15TH —
Trustees
of
the
Churchill
Grave
Trust,
established in 1995
by members of Sir
Winston's family, have commenced a
major programme of restoration of the
Churchill gravesites in Bladon Churchyard, to be complete by the end of
April. The graves will be closed to the
public during the winter months.
The object is to address the problems that have arisen in the years since
Sir Winston's death. First, it is necessary
to stabilise the ground around the
graves, since they are slowly but perceptibly moving down the slight incline
where they rest. The ground is to be terraced to prevent further movement.
When Churchill took the decision
to be buried at Bladon, none could foresee the extent to which the grave would
become a place of pilgrimage. Not only
has this given rise to traffic and parking
problems, but, especially when two or
three coachloads of visitors arrive
simultaneously, the narrow concrete
path to the graves is sorely inadequate.
This has led in recent years to the whole
area having an unkempt and unloved
appearance, especially in wet weather.
The eminent architect William
Bertram has produced a design that
deals with these problems and which
will greatly enhance the appearance of
Sir Winston and Lady Churchill's grave
and those immediately adjacent, while
making it possible for visitors to walk
round the graves on broad stone paths,
on which will be set some stone and
wooden benches. Bertram's design received the approval of Bladon Parish
Council and members of the Churchill
family and former staff. The necessary
Faculty from the Diocese of Oxford, required before works could commence,
has also been obtained.
A contract has recently been
agreed with Joslins, the Royal Warrantholder stonemasons, in the sum of
£350,000, which includes replacing the
concrete path running through the
churchyard with a wider one (suitable
for wheelchairs) of York Stone. The
funding is being provided by members
of Sir Winston's immediate family, and
family friends who wish to be associated with the project.
The long-term purpose of the
Trust is to ensure that the Churchill
grave, its immediate surroundings, and
the Bladon churchyard as a whole are
maintained to a suitably high standard
in perpetuity.
Plans may be viewed at the
Church Room, Bladon, by prior
arrangement with The Revd. Roger
Humphreys, telephone (01993) 811415.
Further information about the plans is
available from William Bertram, telephone (01761) 471100.
DETROIT
APRIL 23RD—Detroit members have
met regularly thanks the enthusiastic
efforts of Gary and Bev Bonine. On St.
George's day last April they gathered at
the Dearborn Inn, where Dr. Robert
Eden and his wife Anne joined us from
Hillsdale College, where he is Professor
of History and Political Science. Eden's
topic was Churchill's The Second World
War, and how much of it applies to us
today. "These books by Churchill guided the Allies and provided a framework in dealing with the Communist
expansion during 1945-48," he said.
"The old conservative helped New
Deal liberals become Cold War liberals
with a clear conscience.... Churchill
crafted his volume to be read on several
levels, where he intentionally and precisely raised questions that revisionists
say he tried to suppress."
Gary Bonine commented:
"Churchill was the only primary leader
of World War II to write of those
momentous times. Thus there was great
public interest in what he wrote. His
thoughts didn't end with VE or VJ Day.
Instead, he used this unique opportunity to shape public opinion on postwar
issues. These volumes are his most
important writing in the postwar era.
He made them readable, for he had a
great deal to say."
AUGUST 21ST— Detroiters met
again to welcome John Plumpton,
Finest Hour senior editor and a governor of The Churchill Center, to speak
about the then-upcoming Toronto Conference and Churchill in Canada. John
accompanied us to Windsor to a Boer
War monument, mentioning that there
are many of these all over Canada. It is
hoped that a joint Michigan-Ontario
event will come off in the future.
Readers in or near Detroit are urged
to contact Gary Bonine for news of
upcoming meetings at 9000 E. Jefferson,
Apt. 28-6, Detroit Ml 48214 (tel. 313823-2951).
WASHINGTON
JULY 27TH— The Washington Society for
Churchill held its fourth annual picnic
at the home of Craig and Lorraine
Horn in nearby Laurel, Maryland. A
warm but bright and sunny summer
afternoon enhanced the gracious hospitality of the hosts. The evening program featured Dr. Steven Hayward,
author of Churchill on Leadership (reviewed in FH 95). As Vice President
for Research at the Pacific Research
Institute for Public Policy, a San
Francisco think tank, he has written
on a wide range of public policy, economic, and legal topics.
Dr. Hayward came to write his
book when he realized that Churchill,
along with Lincoln, was often quoted
or featured in management seminars.
Lincoln was the subject of a book on
leadership but Hayward was surprised to find no comparable volume
on Churchill. He emphasized
Churchill's ability to make decisions,
believing that even a wrong decision,
in a time of crisis, was better than no
decision at all. He added that
Churchill, for all his famous meddling
in the trivia of government, placed
great emphasis on finding the right
person and giving that person authority to accomplish the task.
Dr. John Mather reported on
progress of The Churchill Center. The
entourage completed the evening
with coffee and dessert around the
Horn's vintage 1948 Wurlitzer and
remarkable Civil War collection.
—Ron Helgemo
The Washington Society meets regularly. Contact director Ron Helgemo at
12009 Taliesin Ct., Apt 13, Reston VA
20190 (tel. 703-476-4693).
DALLAS
28TH— Forty were present at
a dinner meeting at the City Cafe,
Dallas, with Larry Arnn, President of
the Claremont Institute as guest
speaker. His topic was "Churchill on
How to Organize the World." Arnn
held the audience's attention with his
presentation, which included statements such as: "The three most important men of the last three centuries
SEPTEMBER
were George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln and Winston Churchill. ...The
three most important sources of law
were Magna Carta, the Declaration of
Independence and English Common
Law. ...Although a monarchist,
Churchill admired the democratic society which resulted from the Declaration of Independence."
Dr. Arnn recommended that his
audience read selected chapters of
Marlborough which focus on John
Churchill's skill and prowess as a general. He made reference to Winston
Churchill's enlightened attitude
towards native soldiers during the
Boer War, and traced back, through
several Churchill speeches from 1916
onwards, WSC's belief in America's
greatness. Sir Winston held this belief
until his death and never failed to
consider America's position when
dealing with world powers.
Present was Tom West, Professor
of Politics at the University of Dallas,
who had proposed Dr. Arnn as a
speaker and is author of Vindicating
the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and
Justice in the Origins of America.
Dinner arrangements for the
September 28 meeting were made by
Barbara Willette. The City Cafe, noted
for its cuisine and fine wines, proved
an agreeable setting. Several potential
members were introduced; an opportunity for current and potential members to get to know each other was
provided in the social hour which preceded the dinner.
Reves to inscribe. Richard Langworth,
President of The Churchill Center,
was present to! introduce Wendy and
to brief members on the Churchill
Associates program with its accompanying endowment campaign.
For latest Hews on North Texas
activities please contact Nathan or Selma
Hughes, 1117 Shady glen Circle,
Richardson TX 75081-3720 (tel. 214-2353208).
CLEVELAND
20TH— Former Secretary of
Defense Caspar W. Weinberger addressed members of ICS, The
Churchill Center and friends of Forbes
magazine at a special dinner held just
after the International Churchill
Conference at Toronto. Secretary
Weinberger gave his views of current
world affairs and spoke warmly of Sir
Winston, The Churchill Center and
International Churchill Societies. This
combined dinner was organized by
the magazine's Christopher Forbes
and the co-directors of ICS/Ohio,
Messrs. Donald Jakeway and Michael
McMenamin. A generous contribution
to The Churchill Center's Endowment Campaign also resulted, including $5000 from Forbes and a donation
of $50 for each of their clients attending by Michael McMenamin's law
firm, Walter & Haverfield. (Photos
and a further account are forthcoming-)
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER 16TH— Northern Ohio Friends
NOVEMBER 30TH—
As this issue goes to
press, Wendy Russell Reves, a Texas
native, was guest of honor at a special
reception to celebrate Sir Winston
Churchill's 123rd Birthday. Mrs.
Reves, who with her late husband
Emery often hosted Sir Winston at
their South of France villa after his
retirement as Prime Minister. Wendy
planned to recall her warm and vivid
memories of the Great Man and the
close attachment between him and
Emery Reves. We were able also to
provide copies of the Churchill-Reves
Correspondence, just published by the
University of Texas (review in this
issue) for guests to purchase and Mrs.
of ICS met at the Greenbrier Suite in
Terminal Tower for a slide presentation, "Winston Churchill and His
Paintings," by Carol Breckenridge.
18TH— Yet again at the same
venue, Kevin Callahan discussed "The
Less Widely Known Examples of
Churchill's Wit and Humor."
NOVEMBER
For details on Ohio activities contact
the nearest of the following: Michael
McMenamin, 1300 Terminal Tower,
Cleveland 44113 (tel. 216-781-1212);
Donald jakeway, Ohio Department of
Development, 77 S. High Street,
Columbus OH 43216 (tel. 614-644-0247).
Send your questions (and answers) to the Editor
Riddles, Mysteries, Enigmas
ddenda:
k.Cats:
Anent the
question on
Churchill's
cats, this space
last issue, several readers
have reminded
us of "Nelson,"
a small black
cat at the
Admiralty.
Gen. Spears in
Ac
Assignment to
Catastrophe
(London:1954,
Vol. H, Chapter
8) wrote that
Nelson "constantly focused Winston's indulgent
attention by its outrageously feline
behaviour, as a very spoilt cat will....I,
who had begun by thinking a good terrier would have been a welcome addition to the party, ended by feeling quite
kindly towards Nelson."
We didn't include Nelson because
he was on the Admiralty staff, not part
of Churchill's personal entourage. The
PM once remarked that Nelson was
doing more for the war effort than
some humans, "by serving as a Prime
Ministerial hot water bottle, thus helping to conserve fuel and power." RML
\A member of The Churchill Center is
writing a book and wishes attribution
of mis Churchill quote: "The truth cannot
be seen, perceived, understood, and not be
believed." If anyone can confirm, please contact the editor or Mr. George Cowburn 439
Plaza Dr 3-36, Vestal NY 13850-3661.
When was Churchill elected a Fellow
of the Royal Society (FRS)?
Q
A
In 1941. This was not exceptional;
a quick trawl through Who's Who
shows that several serving Prime Ministers were honoured including Baldwin (1927), MacDonald (1930), Cham-
berlain (1938), Attlee (1948), Macmillan
(1962), Wilson (1963), Thatcher (1983).
-Alan Kucia, Churchill Archives Centre,
Cambridge <[email protected]>
Q
Various wartime films show Churchill
wearing a variety of military uniforms. Which were he entitled to wear and
why? -Bill Casey, Host of ILink Military
<[email protected]>
A
Churchill in WW2 commonly
wore several uniforms: 1) Honorary Air Commodore, RAF (as in the
painting by Douglas Chandor, now at
the Natl Portrait Gallery, Washington);
2) Honorary Colonel, Fifth (Cinque
Ports) Battalion (Territorial Army),
Royal Sussex Regiment; 3) Elder Brother of Trinity House (naval uniform:
double-breasted, brass buttoned jacket
and military cap with a small round
insignia, worn at his meeting with Roosevelt at Argentia, August 1941).
The last mentioned is the "undress"
uniform of an Elder Brother of Trinity
House, which exercises general authority over lighthouses, lightships and aids
to navigation, controls pilotage in England, Wales and the Channel Islands,
and is advisory to Scotland and Ireland
in these matters. Its origins are lost in
antiquity but certainly go back to King
Alfred. Henry VIII gave Trinity House
its first charter. Membership is divided
into "Younger" (master mariners) and
"Elder" brothers. Elders are divided into
"actives" (Masters of long experience,
usually employees of Trinity House)
and "honoraries" (invariably members
of royalty or very distinguished politicians; Churchill was one of the latter).
As a Privy Councillor from 1907, he
was also entitled to appropriate court
dress uniform, and another uniform of
that ilk after being appointed Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports in September 1941. After April 1953, of course, he
was also entitled to the elaborate court
plumage of a Knight of the Garter,
which he wore at the Coronation.The
cover of Finest Hour #84 shows WSC in
his army uniform; the cover of FH #87
is the proof for Chandor's painting.
Q
I recently purchased a book called
Richard Carvel, by Winston
Churchill, published by The Macmillan
Company 1899.1 noticed that it wasn't on
your list. Was there another such writer?
A
The American novelist Winston
Churchill, a distant relation, was
so prominent around the turn of the
century that Winston Spencer Churchill
introduced himself and promised to
use his middle name to distinguish
himself from the better-known American. The amusing correspondence
between them ("Mr. Winston Churchill
to Mr. Winston Churchill") appears in
the English Churchill's autobiography,
My Early Life. Churchill the American
was a minor politician who once held a
seat in the New Hampshire legislature,
causing the English Churchill, who
"planned to become Prime Minister," to
muse on the droll possibility of the
American becoming President of the
United States at the same time. The two
met in Boston during the English
Churchill's lecture tour in 1901, where
the American threw a dinner for him.
Great camaraderie prevailed and both
agreed there would be no more confusion, but the English Churchill got the
bill. ...The American published numerous novels: Richard Carvel, The Crisis,
The Inside of the Cup, A Modern Chronicle,
The Crossing, Coniston, Mr. Crewe's
Career, and a non-fiction work, A Traveler in Wartime. Winston Spencer Churchill published only one novel, Savrola.
When was the last time a British regiment went into battle wearing kilts?
Q
A
The kilt was taken out of battle
service in 1940, considered unsuitable for mechanized warfare, and suspended from service dress until after
the war, exceptions being pipers and
drummers. However, Churchill gave
permission for the Liverpool Scottish to
readopt the Forbes tartan and they
were the last British unit to go into battle kilted, as part of a raiding force on St
Nazaire in March 1942. -Frazer Keith,
Cleethorpes, Lines, via John Frost
M
Tl
H
REAM IN ONT.
l^Jkurcli
Nia
JU
R
15-19 OctoW 1997
TEXT BY JOHN G.
A
LTHOUGH Winston Churchill did not
visit Toronto often, his two visits were
not without fanfare. In 1900 he threatened to quit his lecture series across Canada
and the United States because of a dispute with
his agent, Major Pond, whom he called "a vulgar
Yankee impresario." His Toronto lecture, at historic Massey Hall, was so popular that it was
repeated a week later and he gave complimentary tickets to all veterans of the Boer War (saving
each of them 25 cents). In 1929 he spoke in the
newly-opened Royal York Hotel (in the very
room of our Friday evening dinner), drawing a
lunch-time audience of over 3,000 people.
The ICS Conference in Toronto drew equal
publicity. The Toronto Star featured the story of
Churchill the Artist: "Blood, toil, tears...and
art." Two Canadian TV networks, CBC Newsworld and Global TV, featured the conference
and CBC Radio One's "This Morning," which
covers all of Canada, featured interviews with
organizers, presenters and a number of students who attended, thanks to the sponsorship
of Churchill Center and Society members.
Toronto, Ontario is now the financial, cultural, and some would say the real political capital, of Canada. It has the relationship to
Ottawa that New York City has to Washington.
This was not always the case. In the early years
of the 20th century it was a provincial, staid
Anglo-Saxon city with little influence beyond its
own immediate area. That is perhaps why it
was not often visited by Winston Churchill, who
usually came to Ottawa and, twice during the
war, to Quebec City.
Toronto has, however, been a growing influence within the International Churchill
Societies, particularly ICS Canada. Its
metropolitan area is the home of Randy and
Solveig Barber, (Randy is President of ICS
Canada); Bernie and Jeanette Webber (Bernie is
President of the Other Club of Ontario); this
writer, a former President, now Executive
Secretary and a Governor of the Churchill
Center; and his wife Ruth. We six, along with
Glynne Jenkins, another Torontonian when not
in England, and his wife Bev, organized the
1994 Conference in Calgary and Banff.
The Barbers, Webbers and Plumptons
brought Churchill Society and Center members
to their home city with the aid of Henry
Rodrigues, Charles Anderson, John Hewson,
Bill and Marjorie Williams, Brian Winter, David
Harlton, Peter Smith, Bill Milligan, and and our
editor, Richard Langworth, President of The
Churchill Center. Together we hosted over 200
Churchillians from Canada, the United States
and the United Kingdom at the Fourteenth International Churchill Conference. They comprised, in Randy Barber's words, "The Dream
Team," because Churchill's short story, The
Dream, was the theme of our gathering on the
shores of Lake Ontario. We also wish to thank
Gail Greenly and her daughter, who drove all
the way from New Hampshire, bringing with
them a wide assortment of "Churchill Stores."
The weather was spectacular as Canadians
showed off their beautiful city and its environs.
The Conference began with a journey to the
neighbouring city of Waterloo, Ontario, and the
first Canadian Churchill Lecture, sponsored by
Wilfrid Laurier University. Professor Barry
Gough, a Churchill Center Academic Advisor
and Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier
University, introduced Professor David Stafford
of the University of Edinburgh, who presented
the fascinating story on which he elaborates in
his new book, Churchill and Secret Service. It
was a homecoming for Professor Stafford,who
had lived in Canada twenty-three years before
returning home to Great Britain.
continued on page 16...
Left: Celia Sandys gave an admirable reading of her grandfather's The Dream. Centre: President Randy Barber of ICS, Canada
was Conference Chairman. Right: Floral tribute at the Nemon statue in Toronto City Hall Park by Nigel Knocker (Chairman, ICS
UK), Richard Langworth (President, Churchill Center), Celia Sandys, Randy Barber and Paul Robinson (Chairman, ICS USA).
Above left: The Blenheim Award goes to George Lewis for seventeen years' faithful service as ICS/USA treasurer, dating back to
the time when we had $389.64 in the treasury and a printer's bill coming in for $517.90. Above right: Friday night was ultraformal, with the head table piped in to dinner. Below left: Beverly Carr, the real person behind our website, aka
[email protected], demonstrates the Churchill Home Page. Below right: some of our sponsored student delegates.
T
he next day, after an opportunity to
explore the city on our own, two busloads
set out to follow Churchill's paths through
the "Golden Horseshoe" to Niagara Falls. He
had visited the Falls in 1900, 1929 and 1943,
pointing out on one of his later trips, "the principle remains the same: the water keeps flowing
over." We saw it flow in daylight, and in glorious
colour illuminated by giant spotlights at night
from our dining room in the Skylon Tower.
On Friday, David Stafford again spoke on
the forthcoming (2001) Oxford Companion to
Winston Churchill, which he is co-producing
with his colleague, Paul Addison. Professor
Addison had accepted our invitation to join us
at the Conference but ill-health prevented his
attendance. He was honoured, in absentia, for
his contributions to Churchill scholarship with
the Third Farrow Award for Excellence in
Churchill Studies, joining previous recipients
James Muller and Sir Martin Gilbert.
Next, Professor John Ramsden explored Sir
Winston's honorary United States Citizenship,
research undertaken with the help of the
Kennedy Library, one of our calls at the 1995
Boston Conference. The Library had recently
obtained the papers of Kay Halle, the lady who
spearheaded this honour for Churchill.
Ramsden's lecture was so riveting that many
present asked that we consider publishing it as
a pamphlet; one way or the other, we will get it
into print!
Hugh Segal, former chief of staff to
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, after
much good-natured bantering with ICS Canada
President Barber, presented a Canadian perspective on "Churchill as a Moderate Conservative." Hugh is used to the ready quips by
political wags, and one of his countrymen commented, "In Canada, we call them Red Tories
but it may not sell elsewhere." The editor of
Finest Hour, one of the six people in New Jersey
to vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964, thought
Hugh made a good case for the proposition that
extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no
vice....
Each Conference presents an academic
panel discussion on a Churchill book. This year
the focus was on India, a collection of speeches
published in 1931 and never reprinted until the
1990s. These speeches are often cited as equal
or greater in oratorical quality than the ones
Churchill uttered in the Second World War,
although the message was more debatable.
Chaired by James Muller, the participants were
Professors Kirk Emmert, Cliff Orwin and Barry
Gough. After the panel we introduced James
Muller as the editor of a collection of papers
from The Churchill Center's first symposium:
Churchill as Peacemaker, just published by
Cambridge University Press (and available
through the Finest Hour New Book Service).
Our Friday evening black-tie dinner, hosted
by Henry Rodrigues of ICS Canada, featured a
poignant reading by Celia Sandys of her grandfather's short, sad story The Dream, with Sal
Asaro's painting projected on a large screen
behind her. (For those who don't have it, The
Dream is available for US $15 from Churchill
Stores.) Celia's reading enthralled and moved
her audience, who gave her a standing ovation.
Honorary member Robert Hardy, the acclaimed
British actor who has so memorably portrayed
Churchill in stage and screen, had been scheduled to perform the reading, but a health problem prevented his attendance. He sent an audio
introduction of his good friend Celia, providing
us with a humourous account of his battle with
his health—and his doctor.
When deserved, the Blenheim Award is presented for notable service to the Churchill
Societies and/or the Memory of Sir Winston.
This year it was presented to retiring ICS/USA
treasurer George Lewis by retiring ICS/USA
president Richard Langworth: "$389.64—that
was the level of our exchequer when George
Lewis took over upon the death of Dalton
Newfield in 1982. Although it has grown somewhat since, what has never changed is George's
dedication to the cause, his steadfast loyalty
through good times and bad, his sharing in our
many triumphs, his shrugging off our few
tragedies. Nobody deserves it more."
On Saturday, Richard and Parker Lee presented current plans for the Churchill Center,
Washington, DC including the new Associates
program, which will be in full swing by the time
you read this, and answered questions from the
audience. They were particularly grateful for a
solid expression of support by Janet Daniels,
part of the record British delegation, from
Middlesex, England: "I think you all deserve our
thanks and a round of applause for this brilliant
concept." Thank-you, Janet.
This was followed by three excellent visual
concluded on page 18...
Above left: David Stafford, autographing Churchill and Secret Service, is now working on the Oxford Companion to Winston Churchill.
Above right: Dr. John Mather on WSC's granitic constitution. Below left: John Ramsden, introduced by Paul Robinson (right) gave
a brilliant account of Churchill's honorary U.S. citizenship. Below centre: "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez,"a magnificent set of lungs,
Saturday night. Below right: India discussants James Muller & Kirk Emmert (standing), Cliff Orwin and Barry Gough (sitting).
Below left: Hizzoner Brian Winter supervises the auction of a Pan painting print, which was won by John Mather. Held by many
to be the ideal portrait of the wartime Prime Minister, this painting was issued in limited edition and is now very collectible.
Below right: Gail Greenly (right) toted her Churchill Stores all the way from New Hampshire, and didn't bring enough!
presentations: Celia Sandys gave an illustrated
lecture on Churchill's paintings, using slides she
had prepared for a Japanese exhibition. Dr.
John Mather, an authority on Churchill's
health, told the inspiring story of how a remarkable man overcame many health problems. (He
is working on a book on the subject.) Glynne
Jenkins, of ICS Canada and ICS/UK, displayed
his remarkable knowledge of "Churchill and the
Movies": how WSC was portrayed, and how
important films were to him. Glynne's presentation was interrupted by a video breakdown but
the next morning he presented an outstanding
and little-known interview with Martin Gilbert,
made by TV Ontario.
T
hose who attended the 1994 Conference in
Calgary will recall the memorable performance by Solveig Barber on songs of
World War II. This time we saw the entire show,
"Hits of the Blitz," in the historic Imperial Room
of the Royal York Hotel. It was a great reenactment of a WW2 radio show (but we saw them in
full uniform as if they were on TV). The audience's favourite performer was Norway's gift to
Canada, our own Solveig, particularly her rendition of "When the Lights Go on Again, All Over
the World."
At the closing breakfast Sunday morning
Richard Langworth and I presented a crystal
paperweight to Beverly Carr in recognition for
her work on the Churchill Home Page
(www.winstonchurchill.org). The night before,
Randy Barber had paid particular thanks to
Jeanette Webber for her efforts as Membership
Secretary and as the Registrar and Treasurer of
the Conference. They, like George Lewis, represent the many unsung heroes and heroines of
our Societies who are so critical to their success.
The Conference closed on Sunday morning
when we were all piped to Toronto City Hall for
the laying of a floral tribute at the Oscar Nemon
statue of Sir Winston by ICS Canada President
Randy Barber, Churchill Center President
Richard Langworth, ICS/UK Chairman Nigel
Knocker, and Churchill Center Trustees Celia
Sandys and Paul Robinson. Our hosts were
Bernie Webber and Charles Anderson of the
Other Club of Toronto, who then passed the
torch to our American cousins and invited
everyone to join us in Williamsburg, Virginia on
November 5-8th, 1998. Another memorable
Churchill Conference was history.
Canadian Churchillians remember that
Churchill saw Canada as "the linchpin of the
English-speaking world." That linchpin is no
longer needed, but Canada still stands as a
proud partner in "keeping the memory green
and the record accurate."
$
--5B6 -LI
Above: John Plumpton digs out John Mather's name for the
drawing; Celia Sandys, Bernie Webber at the podium. Below:
Fred Farrow and family were the largest single delegation.
Word to the Wise: Book Williamsburg Now!
Excellent rates are available for the 1998 Churchill
Conference at Colonial Williamsburg, 5-8 November
(you need to stay the nights of the 5th-7th minimum).
The best rooms go fast, so we advise you to call now—
you can always cancel later. These low rates also
apply three days before and after our conference, if
you wish more time to explore and enjoy the unique
restored Colonial Capital and surrounding area.
Standard Rooms: Williamsburg Lodge
Main/East/South Wing $147 Tazewell/West Wing $183
Luxury Rooms: Williamsburg Inn
Main Building $325, Providence Wing $220
Economy Rooms: The Woodlands, Williamsburg
Guest Room $95, Suite $105
For all rerservations call 1-800-HJSTORY
You are Invited to Join
The Ninth Churchill Tour
A memorable assortment of Churchill associations in
Blenheim, The Cotswolds, The Lake District,
Edinburgh and Scottish Lowlands; and
Touring Yorkshire with Robert Hardy
Thursday May 14th-Tuesday May 26th, 1998
Recent Churchill Tours have been fully
subscribed months before departure, and
we already have some twenty bookings
from members of past tours who wish
to come. Capacity is 55, so please let
us hear from you so that we may send
Registration materials. Telephone (603)
746-4433, Fax (603) 746-4260. Email:
[email protected].
The Itinerary (subject to alteration)
• Thurs 14 May: We gather at the
White House Hotel, London for a
welcoming dinner and overnight.
• Fri 15 May: Oxford via Bladon,
for a flower-laying at the newly
restored Churchill gravesites and a
meandering through Cotswold lanes
and villages in the Heart of England.
• Sat 16 May: You have an option
of attending the sessions of the
Marlborough Symposium (see page
5); visiting Blenheim and Woodstock;
and /or an Oxford walkabout with a
city guide. Dinner with symposiasts
and Lady Soames at the Orangery,
Blenheim Palace. (What, another
Blenheim dinner?!)
• Sun 17 through Tues 19 May:
England's Lake District; overnights at
the 16th century Swan Hotel, Grasmere, a short walk from Wordsworth's cottage. Enroute we will visit
Oldham, WSC's first constituency.
In the Lake District we will visit
Sedbergh, Brendan Bracken's public
school with its many Churchill associations; Ayra Force, the beautiful
waterfall near Ullswater; enjoy a boat
cruise on one of the lakes; and hear
two speakers at dinners: Robert
Somervell, grandson of the man who
taught Churchill English at Harrow;
and Charles Lysacht, biographer of
The Old Library, University of Edinburgh, where
Churchill received his honorary degree, part of
our environs on 21 May.
Brendan Bracken. There will also be
free time for personal enjoyment of
this unique and charming area.
• Weds 20 May: To Edinburgh,
stopping enroute at Dalmeny House,
where Churchill often visited his
friend Lord Rosebery. A traditional
Scottish banquet in the evening.
• Thurs 21 May: A free day in
Edinburgh to explore historic sites
along the Royal Mile and to shop on
Prince's Street. The evening is very
special: Robert Hardy will redeliver
Churchill's Rectorial Address of 1931
(appropriately on Scottish devolution!) in McEwan Hall, where it was
originally given, followed by a suitable dinner in University precincts.
• Fri 22 May: Leaving Edinburgh
with Robert Hardy aboard, we visit
two important houses: Archerfield,
where Asquith offered Churchill the
Admiralty in 1911; and Lennoxlove,
home of the Duke of Hamilton, where
Rudolf Hess landed in May 1941 in a
vain attempt to do a deal with Britain.
• Sat/Sun 23-24 May: Robert
Hardy is our guide as we motor slowly through Yorkshire, stopping frequently at the places he grew to love
while playing Siegfried Farnon in the
famous series, "All Creatures Great
and Small." We end this two-day tour
in York, where we will finish at the
famous Minster and a banquet for our
friend and guide.
• Monday 25 May: Return and
overnight at the White House Hotel,
London, with a departure banquet
and a well-known guest.
• Tuesday 26 May: The tour ends
after breakfast.
The Price and What It Includes
Cost is $3485 per person (single
occupancy surcharge $700) including
all transportation, hotels, gratuities,
entry fees, and all meals (full English
breakfasts, wine at banquets) except a
few lunches where the party is not
together: expertise of tour leaders
(Barbara and Richard Langworth,
Garry Clark), local guides, speakers
and Mr. Hardy's services. Also
included are a welcome packet, tour
bulletins, reading lists and maps.
What is Not Included:
Passport fees, beverage bills
(excluding wine at banquets), room
and valet service, any expenses we
incur in making individual arrangements, and other items not specifically included. Airfare to London
and airport transfers are also not
included. This allows you to fly
from anywhere, capitalize on frequent flyer mileage or to extend your
visit. There is little cost penalty since
group flight discounts are now
insignificant.
Reserve Now...
We hate to repeat ourselves, but
please book your seats now. In 1996
we were sold out with a waiting list
15-deep. Contact Barbara Langworth,
181 Burrage Road, Hopkinton NH
03229 USA, tel. (603) 746-4433.
M>
http: //www.winstonchurchill.org
CHURCHILL ONLINE
The Churchill Home Page and Listserv Idinston
THE CHURCHILL WEBSITE:
Aim your web browser at the above
www address and the Churchill Page
should appear. Click on any of the red
buttons to be led to the latest Churchill
Center - Churchill Society information.
The "Finest Hour" button produces the
earliest publication of the next issue. If
you experience any difficulty please email John Plumpton:
[email protected]
LISTSERV "WINSTON":
Subscribe free to the Churchill Internet
community: send the E-mail message
"SUBSCRIBE WINSTON" to:
Listserv® vm.marist.edu —you'll
receive confirmation and may then
send and receive all messages to the
Churchill Online community by Emailing to: [email protected].
edu. In case of problems, E-mail
[email protected]
OUR PATRON SURFS
LONDON, NOVEMBER 9TH—
A delegation bearing computer gear
paid a visit to our Patron today. John
Plumpton, David Boler and Mark
Weber were there to show Lady
Soames what we have wrought on the Churchill Home
Page. Mark writes: "When we arrived, she thought we
were bringing in a TV. In about ten minutes she figured
it out. She thought the Churchill Home Page was very
good and quickly grasped the idea of links and other
uses. She was soon exploring the Royal Family site and
the list of Churchill-related charities on the Charities
Commission site. It didn't take her long to catch on!"
We are delighted to have been able to demonstrate the
joys of the Internet to our Patron.
CHURCHILLTRIVIA ONLINE
From: [email protected] (John Plumpton)
As impressed as I am by the knowledge of our
listserv subscribers, we now have something online
which may test the best of you. In FH #58 Barbara
Langworth began the column "Churchilltrivia." Now
continued by Curt Zoller, it contains about 800 questions divided into six subjects: Contemporaries,
Literary, Personal, Statesmanship, War and
Miscellaneous. Test yourself, test your friends! Just visit
www.winstonchurchill.org. Select FAQ's and then
Churchilltrivia. You can choose any category—questions are at the top, scroll down for the answers.
But no cheating—have fun!
WWW .WINSTONCHURCHILL.ORG
Of all the publications of The Churchill Center and
Societies, the most current and the most comprehensive
is our internet website, the "Winston Churchill Home
Page," www.winstonchurchill.org. The accompanying
photo of our website main page
shows a "button" for each of the
twelve main areas of our site and
there are many, many sub-areas within each main one. In addition, we
have LISTSERV WINSTON, a
"usenet" which provides electronic communication
between everyone on the internet (see e-mail messages
in "Despatch Box"). The purpose of this column is to
keep readers apprised of the constant changes taking
place in our cyberspace address. In each issue we will
visit a "button" or two.
• CHURCHILL CENTER - As well as outlining the
purposes of The Churchill Center, this section provides
the latest information on CC events and lists of the
names of our invaluable supporters (what a great way
to have your support of Churchill announced to the
world). All details on Churchill Center and Society calendars are posted and changed as plans evolve. Find
out what happened at our most recent events and what
is upcoming. We also keep all the back reports online so
you can check out any event ever held by CC or ICS.
• FAQ's - Do you have questions about Churchill?
Send them to us and if we think they are of general
interest they, and the answers, may be posted under
FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions). If we don't know
the answer we will send it to our knowledgeable members on Winston Listserv, who are seldom stumped!
Pay us a visit—or as we say in cyberspace, hit us.
Next issue we will tell you where some of our "hits" are
coming from (ending with a preposition— up with
which you shall have to put).
-John Plumpton, Website Editor, ([email protected]);
Beverly Can, Associate ([email protected]);
Ian Langworth, Assistant ([email protected]);
Jonah Triebwasser, ([email protected]);
Richard Langworth, FH Editor([email protected]).
$
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
Every year, one hundred Churchill Fellows from the United Kingdom spend, on
average, eight weeks studying or researching their Fellowship projects from
Greenland to New Zealand to Central Asia, up to forty of them in the United
States, through this living memorial to Sir Winston Churchill.
By Sir Henry Beverley
I
n the United Kingdom, in addition to
the statue in Parliament Square,
Winston Churchill has two national
memorials: Churchill College Cambridge and the Winston Churchill
Memorial Trust. To say this, of course, is
to neglect his wonderful writing, his
paintings, his recorded oratory and
above all these his immeasurable contribution to the survival of freedom.
On his death in 1965, steps were
being taken to raise funds for a national
memorial to Sir Winston. Field Marshal
Alexander headed the appeal, the objectives of which were much debated. Lord
Alexander and his supporters rested
their case on the visit to Sir Winston in
1958 by Edward Houghton, Jr., the then
President of the English Speaking Union
of the United States, who first suggested
a memorial foundation with an educational theme. Others wanted a monument of a more physical nature—but
these abounded, and the creation of a
living memorial won the day.
To quote Field Marshal The Earl
Alexander of Tunis on launching the
national appeal: "The awards will be
available to any man or woman in any
walk of life and will not be confined to
students or scholars in accredited institutions but will be open equally to those
whose contribution to the community,
and also to their trade, industry, profession, business or calling would be increased through personal overseas travel and study."
There was an immediate and generous response to the appeal from a nation
grateful for Sir Winston's inspiration
and leadership. Thus the fund, raised by
subscription but augmented by a generous Government donation at the instigation of the then-Prime Minster, Harold
Wilson, was created to enable British
Citizens to conduct projects overseas
and, in the process, learn about the life,
Tom Brock is head of Special
Initiatives for British "Waterways. He
spent six weeks studying waterway
regeneration in the eastern United
States on a Churchill Fellowship.
Jenny Turtill visited artists and
designers in America for her
Fellowship. She is a jeweller and tutor
in multi-media 3D design courses.
Nick Danziger followed the Old Silk
Route to Central Asia, writing about
his journey in Danziger's Travels.
work and people of other countries.
Norman Brook, the former Secretary
of the Cabinet, a staunch friend of Sir
Winston and a much-respected servant
of the country, established the Board of
Trustees. Viscount de LTsle and Dudley
(one of only two people to be made a
Knight of the Garter and receive the
Victoria Cross) was also co-opted to set
up the Council, who would administer
the scheme. Today, under the chairmanship of Lady Soames, the Trustees mainly concern themselves with the financial
well-being of the Trust and safeguarding
the ethos. The Trustees include: Lord
Carrington, Winston S. Churchill, Caspar
W. Weinberger and Sir Winston's private
secretary over the last thirteen years of
his life, Anthony Montague Browne.
The Council of the Trust which is
chaired by Ian Beer CBE, a distinguished
educationalist and international sportsman, consists of men and women representing a balance of expertise across the
spectrum of occupations and interests.
Since 1966 when the first awards
were made, there have been 3200
Fellowships awarded from about 90,000
applicants; the Trust aims to award 100
Fellowships a year after a stringent
selection process, including interviews.
Each year the Council of the Trust
selects different categories within which
applicants may propose specific study
projects of their own choice. The broad
groupings from which the annual categories are chosen by the Council are:
Agriculture and Horticulture; Animal
Welfare; Business, Industry and Commerce; Arts and Crafts; Conservation
and the Environment; Education and
Training; the Professions and Public
Services; Medical and Health; Sport;
Recreation and Adventure; Open and
General Subjects; the Citizen and Society
and Science and Technology, as well as
certain Designated Awards.
Churchill Memorial Trust, continued...
I
n the choice of the annual categories and in the final
selection of Fellows, the Council is alert to the original intentions of the Trust that awards should be
made to men and women from all walks of life. A certain priority will always be accorded to those to whom
an award represents "The Chance of a Lifetime/' and
who have the requisite character, enterprise, and personality, especially with regard to their worth as
"ambassadors" representing their country and travelling in the name of Sir Winston. On average,
Fellowships last eight weeks and the average grant is
currently £5550 ($8800). For the 1997 awards, the average age was 38, and the balance between men and
women was equal. To illustrate some of this year's projects in the United States alone:
• Sam Eastop (38), from London, is studying
strategies for managing Internet technology changes
within educational workplaces.
• Harriet Festing (31), from Kent, is visiting
Farmers Markets to learn about their role in small-scale
rural businesses.
• Juliet Grace (29), from South Yorkshire, visits
various National Parks to appreciate the legislative
implications of countryside access for disabled people.
• Peter French (41), a police officer from Essex, is
interested in the inter-agency approach to coping with
drug abuse and young offenders.
Fellows are expected to disseminate the results of
their projects and, to concentrate minds, the Trust
insists (as part of the initial "contract") on a written
report on each Fellowship, to be submitted within six
months of return from overseas. Submission of the
report is an essential requirement for the award of the
silver Churchill Medallion—and, thus, attendance at
the biennial Medallion Ceremony in London's prestigious Guildhall. Fellows are encouraged to distribute
their reports to interested parties, and to give talks or
lectures, write articles and/or, in some cases, publish
books.
Not widely known is the fact that Fellows of the
Memorial Trust have twice linked up with Members of
the International Churchill Society. This occurred on on
two of the biannual Churchill Tours, once in Australia
in 1991, and again in England in 1992.
Whilst one might think at first that members of the
Churchill Center and Societies would have little in common with the varied disciplines represented by
Churchill Fellows, such was anything but the case!
Churchill Center and Society members are widely read
and tend have broad interests, and the relationship is
very natural.
"Think for a moment of Sir Winston's
own early travels; think of the immeasurable value his enlarged experience
was to him and, later, to us. I can
imagine no memorial more suitable
than the gift of similar opportunities
to those of a like spirit; opportunities
which they will enjoy and use in the
name of Winston Churchill."
—THE EARL ALEXANDER OF TUNIS
D
uring the 1992 tour, the ICS party met with
Churchill Fellows for a lunch at the Marlborough Arms in Woodstock. Many present remember a young thatcher, whose Fellowship took him
to the United States to teach and describe his ancient
craft. It transpired that he had appeared on public television in a programme which many present had seen. It
was fascinating to meet a man who knew so much
about the traditional English skill of thatching and had
studied the Seminole Indian techniques.
Likewise in 1991, the Australian branch of the
Memorial Trust brought the visiting ICS members
together with Fellows who talked about their experiences to an enthralled audience. One of these was a
physicist who had studied the radiocarbon dating techniques used on the famous Shroud of Turin. Another
Fellow was headed for the United States, to learn the
marketing of dairy products, which he hoped to apply
in Japan, where dairy products are a relatively
unknown commodity. In all these cases the mutual link
was, of course, Sir Winston Churchill.
The Trust seeks to keep Fellows in close touch
with the Trust after their Fellowships—not least,
because they represent the very best form of publicity:
the satisfied customer! There are fifteen regional
Associations of Churchill Fellows, who organise meetings and social functions as well as publicising the
Trust in their localities. The Trust actively supports the
Associations, and provides some annual financial support. To keep all Fellows in touch with the Trust,
whether active in an Association or not, a Newsletter is
produced "in house" twice a year.
Further information about current programmes of
the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust is available from
its offices at 15 Queen's Gate Terrace, London SW7 5PR,
telephone (0171) 584-9315, Fax (0171) 581-0410, or email to [email protected].
M>
Sir Henry Beverley is Director General of the Winston
Churchill Memorial Trust.
LITERALLY LOUSY
In 1947 the Minister of Fuel and
Power, Hugh Gaitskell, later Attlee's
successor as Labour Party leader,
advocated saving energy by taking
fewer baths: "Personally, I have never
had a great many baths myself, and I
can assure those who are in the habit
of having a great many that it does
not make a great difference to their
health if they have less...."
Churchill, a renowned bather,
responded: "When Ministers of the
Crown speak like this on behalf of
HM Government, the Prime Minister
and his friends have no need to wonder why they are getting increasingly
into bad odour. I have even asked
myself, when meditating upon these
points, whether you, Mr. Speaker,
would admit the word 'lousy' as a
Parliamentary expression in referring
to the Administration, provided, of
course, it was not intended in a contemptuous sense but purely as one of
factual narration."
-House of Commons, 28Oct47,
Debate on the Address, published in
Europe Unite (London:Cassell, Boston:
HM Co., 1950), page 179.
COMBINED LIBATION
Dennis Horsfield, a neighbour
here in Emsworth, Hampshire,
worked at Chartwell after the war, for
a company engaged
in laying tarmac
paths. On several
occasions Churchill
would walk down
from the house to see
how the work was
progressing, and
doubtless sometimes
to give advice! He
always brought with
him a glass of whisky
and after a chat
would frequently
leave his unfinished
drink on a nearby
wall. Denis, never
appreciating waste,
would always drain
the glass. On a later
occasion, Churchill paid a routine
visit to overlook the work, but this
time he wasn't carrying his usual
drink. No doubt with a twinkle in his
eye, he said to Denis, "Have you seen
our glass?"
—L. L. Thomas, Emsworth, Hants., UK
CHURCHILL ON MUSSOLINI
"A crafty, coldblooded, black-hearted Italian who sought
to gain an Empire on
the cheap by stabbing
France in the back."
* sf *
"This whipped jackal, Mussolini, who
to save his skin has made Italy a vassal state of Hitler's empire, goes frisking up to the side of the German tiger
with yelps not only of appetite—that
could be understood—but even of triumph...This absurd imposter!"
—London, 27 April 1941
***
"The organ-grinder has got a pretty
firm hold of the monkey's collar."
***
"The Italian miscalculator
thought he saw his chance of a cheap
and easy triumph and rich plunder
for no fighting. He struck at the back
of a dying France and at what he
believed was a doomed Britain."
"...On deaf ears and a stony
heart fell the wise, far-seeing appeals
of the American Press. The hyena in
his nature broke all bounds of decency. Today his empire is gone."
Editor's note: This collection appeared in
Lilliput, a Reader's Digest-h'fce monthly
published by Pocket Publications Ltd.,
London, Volume 12 No. 3 for March
1943. Alongside were ranged some quotes
by Mussolini on himself ("I shall die a
natural death..! recognise no one superior to myself.") We have attributed one of
the Churchill quotes and would appreciate help in attributing the others.
FAVORITE QUOTES
From Listserv Winston (see p20)
My favorite quote compresses an
incredible amount of thought into
amazingly few words, something I
feel Churchill was very good at
doing. In commenting in Parliament
about the wartime excesses of the
British Army in Africa, he said, "I am
afraid that long after we have gone,
they will have forgotten our
proverbs, but will remember our
maxims."
—Chuck Duffy, Portland, Oregon
What about: "Nothing is more exhilarating than to be shot at without
result." This truly reflects Churchill's
ability to "go on to the end."
—Kevin A. Kelly, East Lansing, Mich.
My favorite is one I use at the end of
my E-mail messages, helping to promote Churchill awareness in my business associates: "Live dangerously,
dread naught, all will be well." This
has been a byword for me, having
survived fourteen years of rampant
and ruthless corporate downsizing; I
still anticipate the "all will be well"
part! I have used the quote for years,
and although I have a pretty complete collection of Churchill's writings, I cannot find where I originally
got it. Does anybody recognize the
source?
—Gregory B. Smith, Phoenix, Ariz.
$
sing the first verse of "The Rowdy
Dowdy Boys." The measured pulsations of the screw were a subdued
but additional accompaniment. The
man knew the song. It had been the
rage at all the music halls when he
had started for India seven years be-
FROM THE CANON
Man Overboard!
An Episode of the Red Sea
BY WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, 1899
ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRY AUSTIN
I
T was a little after half-past nine
when the man fell overboard.
The mail steamer was hurrying
through the Red Sea in the hope of
making up the time which the currents of the Indian Ocean had
stolen. The night was clear, though
the moon was hidden behind
clouds. The warm air was laden
with moisture. The still surface of
the waters was only broken by the
movement of the great ship, from
whose quarter the long, slanting
undulations struck out, like the
feathers from an arrow shaft, and
in whose wake the froth and air
bubbles churned up by the propeller trailed in a narrowing line to
the darkness of the horizon.
There was a concert on board.
All the passengers were glad to
break the monotony of the voyage,
and gathered around the piano in
the companion-house. The decks
were deserted. The man had been
listening to the music and joining
in the songs. But the room was hot,
and he came out to smoke a
cigarette and enjoy a breath of the
wind which the speedy passage of
the liner created, it was the only
wind in the Red Sea that night.
The accommodation-ladder had
not been unshipped since leaving
Aden, and the man walked out on
to the platform, as on to a balcony.
He leaned his back against the rail
and blew a puff of smoke into the
air reflectively. The piano struck up
a lively tune, and a voice began to
©Winston S. Churchill; reprinted by
kind permission.
fore.
It reminded
him of the
biilliant and
busy streets he
had not seen for so
long, but was soon to see
again. He was just going to
join in the chorus, when the railing, which had been insecurely fastened, gave way suddenly with a snap, and
he fell backwards into the warm water of the
sea amid a great splash.
F
OR a moment he was physically too much astonished to
think. Then he realised that he
must shout. He began to do this
even before he rose to the surface.
He achieved a hoarse, inarticulate,
half-choked scream. A startled
brain suggested the word "Help!"
and he bawled this out lustily and
with frantic effort six or seven times
without stopping. Then he listened.
"Hi! hi! clear the way
For the Rowdy Dowdy Boys."
The chorus floated back to him
across the smooth water, for the
ship had already passed completely
by. And as he heard the music a
long stab of terror drove through
his heart. The possibility that he
would not be picked up dawned for
the first time on his consciousness.
The chorus started again —
"Then — I —say — boys,
Who's for a jolly spree?
Rum — turn — tiddley — um.
Who'll have a drink with me?"
"Help! help! help!" shrieked the
man, in desperate fear.
"Fond of a glass now and then
Fond of a row or noise:
Hi! hi! clear the way
For the Rowdy Dowdy Boys!"
The last words drawled out faint
and fainter. The vessel was steaming fast. The beginning of the second verse was confused and broken
by the ever-growing distance. The
dark outline of the great hull was
getting blurred. The stern light
dwindled.
Then he set out to swim after it
with furious energy, pausing every
dozen strokes to shout long wild
shouts. The disturbed waters of the
sea began to settle again to their
rest. The widening undulations became ripples. The aerated confusion
of the screw fizzed itself upwards
and out. The noise of motion, the
sounds of life and music died away.
The liner was but a single fading light on the blackness of the
waters and a dark shadow against
the paler sky.
.. the stern
light be-
At
**
•-•
length full
realisation came
to the man, and he stopped swimming. He was alone — abandoned.
With the understanding his brain
reeled. He began again to swim,
only now instead of shouting he
prayed — mad, incoherent prayers,
the words stumbling into one
another.
Suddenly a distant light seemed
to flicker and brighten. A surge of
joy and hope rushed through his
mind. They were going to stop — to
turn the ship and come back. And
with the hope came gratitude. His
prayer was answered. Broken words
of thanksgiving rose to his lips. He
stopped and stared after the light —
his soul in his eyes. As he watched
it, it grew gradually but steadily
smaller. Then the man knew that his
fate was certain. Despair succeeded
hope. Gratitude gave place to
curses. Beating the water with his
arms, he raved impotently. Foul
oaths burst from him, as broken as
his prayers — and as unheeded.
The fit of passion passed, hurried
by increasing fatigue. He became
silent — silent as was the sea, for
even the ripples were subsiding into
the glassy smoothness of the surface.
He swam on mechanically along the
track of the ship, sobbing quietly to
himself, in the misery of fear. And
the stern light became a tiny speck,
yellower but scarcely bigger than
some of the stars, which here and
there shone between the clouds.
Nearly twenty minutes passed,
and the man's fatigue began to
change to exhaustion. The overpowering sense of the inevitable pressed
upon him. With the weariness came
a strange comfort. He need not swim
all the long way to Suez. There was
another course. He would die. He
would resign his existence since he
was thus abandoned. He threw up
his hands impulsively and sank.
Down, down he went through the
warm water. The physical death
took hold of him and he began to
drown. The pain of that savage grip
recalled his anger. He fought with it
furiously. Striking out with arms
and legs he sought to get back to the
air. it was a hard struggle, but he escaped victorious and gasping to the
surface. Despair awaited him. Feebly
splashing with his hands he moaned
in bitter misery — "I can't — I must.
O God! let me die."
The moon, then in her third quarter, pushed out from behind the
concealing clouds and shed a pale,
soft glitter upon the sea. Upright in
the water, fifty yards away, was a
black triangular object. It was a fin.
It approached him slowly.
His last appeal had been heard. $
Notes on the
Memoirs
of
U. S. Grant
and
W. S. Churchill
Separated by several wars and decades, shared experiences produced
remarkable similarities in the writings of two men. Did Churchill,
an aficionado of the American Civil War, read Grant's Personal Memoirs?
BY MANFRED WEIDHORN
A
READER of the Personal Memoirs of President
Ulysses S. Grant periodically is haunted by a
sense of deja vu. Certain sentences and ideas
are all too familiar. It soon becomes apparent that the
echoes one hears are of the utterances of more recent
times, those of Winston S. Churchill.
Both men, holding prominent positions during
major wars, were tempted to give an overview of the
war, even while scruples forced them to confess that,
as mere mortals, they would only be giving one facet of
the tale. Hence Grant says, "I am not pretending to give
full details of all the battles fought but the portion that I
saw),"1 and Churchill hangs the chronicle of great,
events "upon the thread of the personal experience of
an individual ... I am telling my own tale." Again: "I
shall only summarize the course of the battle so far as
may be necessary to explain my own experiences ... I
propose to describe exactly what happened to me: what
I saw and what I felt."2
As participants at high levels, they mainly did the
fighting not from trenches or behind the barrels of guns
but via letters and memoranda. These can be dramatic
and revealing. Churchill's technique is to reprint lavishly those letters and memoranda which give a sense
of the stresses of the period being described. Grant does
so only occasionally (and, like Churchill, reprints
mainly his own, rarely anyone else's), but he gives a
Dr. Weidhorn is Guterman Professor of English Literature
at Yeshiva University, New York, and an academic advisor to
The Churchill Center.
Churchillian justification: "I quote this letter because it
gives the reader a full knowledge of the events of that
period." Or again: "I cannot tell the provision I had
already made to cooperate with Sherman ... better than
by giving my reply to this letter."3 Churchill's version
is that his memoranda "composed ... under the stress
of events and with the knowledge available at the
moment will... give a current account of those tremendous events as they were viewed at the time" and
"constitute a more authentic record and give ... a better
impression of what happened and how it seemed at
the time than any account which I could write now."4
Both men's varied experience of war gave them a curious God's eye view of things. In A Roving Commission,
Churchill in effect speaks for both men when he comments on the change of perspective wrought by the
passage of time. Battles and troop movements that
seemed impressive and challenging at the time of occurrence turn, with the advent years later of a vastly
larger war, insignificant. For Grant, the Mexican-American War came to seem child's play after the experience
of the "most stupendous war ever known"5 — the Civil
War — even as for Churchill, the Frontier Wars, especially the Boer War, underwent the same shrinkage
next to World War I. So we hear Grant say, "In view of
the immense bodies of men moved on the same day
over narrow roads, through dense forests and across
large streams, in our late war, it seems strange now that
a body of less than three thousand men should have
been broken into four columns, separated by a day's
FINEST HOUR 96 / 26
march."6 Compare this with Churchill:
Yet there was to come a day when a Cavalry Captain —
Haig by name — who drilled with us in the Long Valley
this spring was to feel himself stinted because in a most
important battle, he could marshal no more than forty
British Divisions together with the First American Army
Corps — in all a bare six hundred thousand men. ... But
the South African War was to attain dimensions which
fully satisfied the needs of our small army. And after that
the deluge was still to come! ... Everything depends upon
the scale of events. We young men who lay down to sleep
that night within three miles of 60,000 well-armed Dervishes ... may be pardoned if we thought we were at grips
with real war.7
In either case, a wry, ironic smile graces the lips of a
narrator who looks back to the naivete of his earlier
self.
What wartime overseer eager for results has not
found himself needing to prod generals who seem to be
overly cautious — or, to be fair, who have a better
grasp of forbidding frontline conditions? Both men
record the fact that they had to push reluctant generals
into combat. Grant: "Attack Hood at once and wait no
longer for a remnant of your cavalry. There is great
danger of delay resulting in a campaign back to the
Ohio River." Two days later: "Why not attack at once?
... Now is one of the finest opportunities ever presented
of destroying one of the three armies of the enemy ...
Use the means at your command, and you can do this
and cause a rejoicing that will resound from one end of
the land to the other."8
Churchill similarly had to push hard, especially
Wavell and Auchinleck in North Africa: "It seems most
desirable to chop the German advance against Cyrenaica. Any rebuff to the Germans would have farreaching prestige effects. ... If we do not use the lull accorded us by the German entanglement in Russia, ...
the opportunity may never recur. ... By waiting until
you have an extra brigade you may well find you have
to face an extra division on."9
The charge of warmonger that haunted Churchill
was generated in part by his oft iterated position that
the quest for peace requires arming for war. Grant espoused a similar position, in similar words: "To maintain peace in the future it is necessary to be prepared
for war."10 Compare Churchill before World War I: A
powerful British Navy was "the one great balancing
force which we can contribute to our own safety and
the peace of the world." And after World War II:
"Peace is our aim, and strength is the only way of getting it. We need not be deterred by the taunt that we
are trying to have it both ways at once. Indeed it is only
by having it both ways at once that we shall have a
chance of getting anything at all.""
Sometimes wars, both men believed, are better than
the alternative. Grant: "Wars are not always evils
unmixed with some good." Churchill: "War, the hardest of all teachers, is the only one to whom attention is
paid."12
Grant's book contains two passages on how the
American armies, consisting of citizens of a democracy,
are fiercer than the old monarchical ones: Sherman had
"sixty thousand as good soldiers as ever trod the earth;
better than any European soldiers, because they not
only worked like a machine but the machine thought.
European armies know very little what they are fighting for, and care less." Again: European soldiers "are
not very intelligent and have very little interest in the
contest. ...Our armies were composed of men who were
able to read, men who knew what they were fighting
for."13 So too Churchill, in warning about the widespread feeling at the dawn of the century that there
would be no more wars among Europeans, argued that
the wars of the future would actually be worse because
of the morale and motivation of the citizen soldiers:
"Democracy is more vindictive than cabinets. The wars
of the peoples will be more terrible than those of
kings."14
How then does one account for these fascinating parallels? Did Churchill read the Personal Memoirs which
ex-President U.S. Grant published in 1885-86? As an
aficionado of the American Civil War, was Churchill
likely to have overlooked one of the best and bestknown books written by a major participant in a major
recent war, perhaps the first modern war? And was he
then influenced by the book?
On the other hand, one must beware of over-interpreting. Different men in different times and places
may independently arrive at similar thoughts in similar
circumstances.
END NOTES
1. U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs (New York: Dover, 1995),
p. 46.
2. W. S. Churchill, The World Crisis, 6 vols. (New York:
Scribner's, 1923-31), 3:xi; 1:49; The Second World War, 6 vols.
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1948-53), pp. l:iii; A Roving
Commission: My Early Life (New York: Scribner's, 1930,1941),
pp. 186,189.
3. Grant, pp. 384,397.
4. The Second World War, l:iii; 3:v.
5. Grant, p. 61.
6. Grant, p. 28.
7. A Roving Commission, pp. 66, 75,180-81.
8. Grant, pp. 388-89.
9. The Second World War, 3:204,403,414.
10. Grant, p. 460.
11. Gilbert Martin, Churchill: A Life (New York: Henry
Holt, 1991), pp. 256,923.
12. Grant, p. 461; Manfred Weidhorn, A Harmony of Interests (Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1992.), p. 72. »
Weidhorn end notes, continued...
13. Grant, pp. 376,454.
14. W. S. Churchill, Mr. Brodrick's Army (London:
Humphreys, 1903, rep. 1977), p. 23. Sometimes one even runs
across a similar ironic observation. Take the case of a general
leading a force into combat and having a view of the
prospects that is at odds with the view held by the authorities
on his own side or on the other side. Grant: "I, as well as the
authorities in Washington, was still in a great state of anxiety
for Burnside's safety. Burnside himself, I believe, was the only
one who did not share in this anxiety" (249). Churchill: "Our
anxieties about the Italian invasion of Egypt were, it now appears, far surpassed by those of Marshal Graziani, who commanded it" (SWW 2:469). One also runs across in Grant a possible seedling of a famous phrase: "It indicated to them that
they had passed through the 'beginning of the end' in the battle just fought."(314). There is even a curious tripartite connection involving Lee, Grant, and Churchill. In his History of
the English Speaking Peoples, Churchill quoted the famous remark by Lee: "It is well that war is horrible — we would
grow too fond of it." Yet Grant made a similar observation on
a battle scene: "The sight was magnificent, but terrible"(181).
Churchill and Music
No musician
and nearly
tone-deaf,
the Great Man
nevertheless had
his preferences:
the simple songs
were best, and
the old songs
were best of all.
BY JILL KENDALL
A
S a musician, I believe that
there is music in every
great life, and I have found
that Winston Churchill was definitely no exception. There was
music with him from his youth,
during the wars, and still with him
at the time of his death.
His musical connection actually
began before Winston was even
thought of. Jenny Jerome's father
started the New York Opera, and
Jenny herself became a remarkable
concert pianist. As a young boy,
Winston's beloved nurse, Mrs. Everest, would teach him little songs
which he learned very quickly.
When he started at Harrow, he
was ready to try his hand at something new. But, though his mother
was a talented musician, he didn't
inherit her gift, and his attempts to
learn the violin and the piano were
unsuccessful. He switched to
—by Illinjuiorth.
Illingworth in The Daily Mail, 28 January 1942; the PM was facing a Vote of Confidence
singing and in a letter to his mother
said, "I rank as one of the most
prominent trebles and am in what is
called the nucleus of the choir ... Of
course I am so young that my voice
has not yet broke and as trebles are
rare I am one of the few." After a
year or two, Lord Randolph told
Winston that he thought singing
was a waste of time, so, Winston left
the choir and started drawing.
A school event that made a big
impression on young Winston was a
lecture one Saturday about the
phonograph, a predecessor to the
tape recorder that made what were
then called "talking records." Winston wrote, "it was very amusing,
[the instructor] astonished all soberminded people by singing into the
phonograph:
John Brown's Body lies-A
Mouldering in the grave
And his soul goes marching on
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
and the phonograph spoke it back
in a voice that was clearly audible in
the Speech Room." The aspect of
school he remembered with the
most pleasure were the Harrow
songs: "They have an incomparable
book of school songs," he wrote his
parents. "At intervals we used to
gather in the Speech Room or even
in our own Houses, and sing these
splendid and famous choruses."
When Churchill entered Sandhurst he had less time for music, but
it happened to be the inspiration for
his first public speech. In 1894, a
woman named Mrs. Ormiston
Chant started a movement trying to
shut down London's Empire Music
Hall. She believed they "catered to
people who had a small proportion
of brains." She was challenged by a
young army cadet who would come
up from Sandhurst twice a month to
visit London music halls. Churchill
soon joined a movement called The
Entertainments Protection League,
which, including himself, had two
members. Mrs. Chant had caused
authorities to erect a screen of canvas between the promenade and the
bars. Soon after, Churchill and his
friends visited the Empire and started poking their walking sticks
through the canvas. Suddenly, the
entire crowd of two or three hundred people tore the barricades
down and marched around Leicester Square waving pieces of the
screen. Winston then mounted the
debris and made his first speech:
"You have seen us tear down
these barricades tonight. See that
you pull down those who are responsible for them at the coming
election!"
Of course, we all know that
Churchill was speaking entirely in
defense of the wonderful music that
was played at these halls! ...
In Sarah Churchill's book, A
Thread in the Tapestry, she recalled
her father teaching her his favorite
music hall songs, and, when they
were alone, how she would coax
him to sing
I wanted to get married
Like a lot of foolish men.
Found a girl, got engaged,
Got married there and then.
But after it was over
I'd got taken down a peg,
Her hair, her eyes, her teeth
Were false
And she'd a wooden leg.
But I can't change it,
I can't change it,
It was a great surprise to me
Haifa woman and half a tree
but I'll chop her up for firewood
in the sweet by and by.
There were many other verses, but
this was his favorite. Sarah also remembered him standing on the
pavement waiting for his car to arrive, singing another music hall favorite to the doorman:
I've been to the North Pole,
I've been to the South Pole,
The East Pole, the West Pole,
And every other kind of pole,
The Barber's Pole,
The greasy Pole,
And now I'm fairly up the Pole,
Since I got the sack
From the Hotel Metropole.
Fresh out of Sandhurst Churchill
went on to report about and fight in
Britain's colonial wars. After his escape from a Boer prison in South
Africa, public interest in him was
overwhelming. Eleven Conservative
constituencies wanted him for their
candidate; he went straight to
Oldham, where he received a warm
welcome. A band played, "See the
Conquering Hero Comes" as he entered the town. He addressed a full
house at the Theater Royal, talking
of his escape and hiding in a coal
mine, where an Oldham man, Dan
Dewsnap, secreted him from his
pursuers. Mr. Dewsnap's wife happened to be in the gallery. She
stood, took a bow, Winston bowed
back and was cheered to the rafters.
A chorus of mill girls stood and
sang:
You've heard of Winston Churchill;
This is all I need to say—
He's the latest and the greatest
Correspondent of the day I
In 1910 when Churchill was
Home Secretary, he proposed that
lectures and concerts should be
given in every prison. Most of his
critics said that he was making
prison life too comfortable.
I didn't find many specific references to Churchill and music for the
next thirty years, but in 1940, when
his Secretary of State for India, a
Governor of the Harrow School,
told Churchill about the "anxiety of
the school" to see the Prime Minister, "even if for only half an hour or
so," he replied he would only go to
listen to the school songs, which he
said "stood by him throughout his
life." He especially requested
"When Raleigh Rose."
Churchill's private secretary,
John Colville, recalled an incident
soon afterward, when the PM received a telegram from Roosevelt: "I
took it upstairs to the Prime Minister who was in his bath, with the
door wide open, and singing "St.
Joles" at the top of his voice. After
reading the telegram (still in the
bath) and giving instructions about
it, he continued cheerfully with "St.
Joles" and proceeded to tell me
what an inspiration the Harrow
songs had been to him throughout
his life."
When a date for the songs was finally decided upon Harrow's Headmaster had only one day's notice.
He asked the Director of Music to
compose an additional verse to "Stet
Fortuna Domus" in honor of the
visit. The songs took place in the
Speech Room. They began with
"Stet Fortuna Domus" with the addition of the new verse.
At his second visit to "Songs" in
1941, Churchill thought the words,
"No less we praise in darker days",
should be changed to "No less we
praise in sterner days." The new
phrase was immediately adopted,
and Churchill sang lustily, remembering most of the words without
referring to the song book.
Before the singing of "Forty Years
On," which ultimately would contain two verses especially added for
him, Churchill unexpectedly rose,
and after prolonged applause,
started to speak. He spoke about
how as a boy he was thrilled by the
Harrow songs. He felt they were one
of the school's greatest treasures,
passing from one generation to
another, and talked of his bright
hopes for the future.
»
Harrow Songs:
The Churchill Verses
STET FORTUNA DOMUS
Nor less we praise in sterner days
The leader of our nation,
And CHURCHILL'S name
shall win acclaim
From each new generation.
While in this fight to guard the Right
Our country you defend, Sir
Here grim and gay we mean to stay,
And stick it to the end, Sir
DONORUM DEI
Churchill with flourish
of sabre and brush and pen
Rode gallantly forth
on his way to be leader of men;
The last of seven who lived on the Hill
Waiting the call to serve the nation,
And nursed by the dreams tlmt still
Their ancient end fulfill—
Of God's good gifts
the faithful dispensation.
THE SILVER ARROW
The flame that woke
when Churchill spoke
Blazes forth in the darkness still;
We do not forget: they are needed yet—
Loyal spirit and strength and skill.
But today will be heard
no wavering word
No cloud of care be seen:
Each heart rejoice, ring out each voice
In gladness, "God save the Queen!"
FORTY YEARS ON
Sixty years on, though in time
growing older,
Younger at heart you return to the Hill:
You who in days of defeat ever bolder
Led us to Victory, serve Britain still.
Still there are bases
to guard or beleaguer,
Still must the battle for Freedom be won:
Long may you fight, Sir,
who fearless and eager
Look back to-day more than sixty years on.
Blazoned in honour! For each generation
You kindled courage to stand and to stay;
You lead our fathers to fight for the nation,
Called "Follow up"
and yourself showed the way
We who were born
in the calm after thunder
Cherish our freedom to think and to do;
If in our turn we forgetfully wonder,
Yet we'll remember we owe it to you.
He ended his speech by asking
the School to sing two more of his
favorites, "Giants" and "Boy." After
the request for "Giants," Leo
Amery, a Harrow old boy and a
member of Churchill's Party, turned
to someone and said, "Loathsome
Argentia, 10 August 1941: "I chose the hymns myself ... It was a great hour to live."
song. I was always put on to sing
it." Throughout most of the songs,
and sometimes while singing,
Churchill wept copiously. He
returned for "Songs" almost every
year until his health would no
longer allow it.
In 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill
met at the Atlantic Conference
aboard H.M.S. Prince of Wales. Later,
Churchill wrote about a church service held on her quarterdeck: "I
chose the hymns myself. 'For Those
in Peril on the Sea' and 'Onward
Christian Soldiers.' We ended with
'O God, Our Help in Ages Past'
which Macaulay reminds us the
Ironsides had chanted as they bore
John Hampden's body to the grave.
Every word seemed to stir the heart.
It was a great hour to live. Nearly
half of those who sang were soon to
die." The Prince of Wales was sunk
by the Japanese shortly after Japan
entered the war.
During Churchill's visit to
Moscow in 1944, he and Stalin spent
an evening at the Bolshoi Theater.
There was a composite program,
including ballet and opera. The part
Churchill liked the most was the
singing and dancing of the Red
Army Choir.
As a powerful and persuasive
speaker, Churchill often used music
to make a point or give an example.
One of my favorite examples of this
occurred in a speech after songs at
Harrow in 1945:
"When I entered the room, one
thing struck me, and that was
Where is the kettle-drum? which
has a most keen fascination for me,
and I have always felt it. I am not at
all musically gifted; I cannot understand any music that hasn't got a
tune. But I have always been very
much attracted by the kettle-drum.
Again and again I thought if I could
only get hold of those sticks! I must
have a go one of these fine evenings!
However, there must have been
some protesting interest which inspired the authorities in those days,
and I was never allowed to have my
opportunity.
"So I gave up that ambition and
transferred my aspirations to another part of the orchestra. I thought if I
cannot have the kettle-drum
I might try to be the conductor,
there is a great deal in the gestures
at any rate: they are those which
occur most readily to a politician. At
any rate it always seemed to me that
that was the part in the orchestra I
could play best, always excepting
the kettle-drum.
"That could not be arranged either, while I was at Harrow, but
eventually, and after a great deal of
perseverance, I rose to be the conductor of quite a considerable band.
It was a very large band, and it
played with very strange and
formidable instruments, and the
roar and thunder of its music
resounded throughout the world.
We played all sorts of tunes, and
we finished up the concert, Sir, with
'Rule Britannia' and 'God Save the
King.'"
Another instance of Churchill
using music in his speeches was
when he was Leader of the Opposition after World War II. The only
thing more obnoxious to him than
the Socialists' political planning
was their jargon. The poor were
called "lower income disadvantaged" and the word for "house"
became "local accommodation
unit." He said in the House of
Commons: "Now we will have to
change that old favourite song
'Home, Sweet, Home' to say 'Local
Accommodation Unit, Sweet Local
Accommodation Unit — there's no
place like Local Accommodation
Unit.'"
In 1953, when Churchill became
a Knight of the Garter, his nephew
Zel in 77K Daily Mirror, 11 October
1944, as Churchill and Stalin had an
unusually cordial meeting in Moscow.
John Spencer-Churchill wrote a
coronation march for the occasion.
The song was written in the style of
the Harrow songs, of which
Churchill was always so fond.
Sometimes a holiday would
bring music into Churchill's life.
After Christmas dinner, it was time
for the traditional Christmas SingAlong. Churchill supposedly "sang
heartily, if not always in tune," and
when a Viennese waltz was played
he would "dance a remarkably
frisky measure in the middle of the
room." In fact, one of the best
Christmas presents he ever received
was a record set of the complete
works of Gilbert and Sullivan from
his daughter, Mary Soames.
Many interesting stories about
music in Churchill's life were
shared with me by his former bodguard, the late Eddie Murray. For
instance, Churchill could not stand
anyone to be whistling near him.
Also, sometimes after dinner, if he
was alone, he would get his valet to
put on records of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, or songs from the
First World War. Sometimes when
approaching Hyde Park Gate, he
would begin to sing songs like
"We're here, because we're here,
because we're here," and "We're
soldiers of the
Queen, my lads,"
One
evening
after dinner, Sir
Winston was descending
the
staircase with his
son-in-law
Christopher
Soames, singing
a Gilbert and
Sullivan tune,
when he stopped,
and said, "That's
not right, I'll
have to start
again." He continued to sing
until he reached
the bottom of the stairs. He then
turned to Eddie and said, "I
thought that was very good, my
dear Murray!"
In 1964, on Churchill's ninetieth
birthday, he watched a special program on BBC television called
"Ninety Years On," introduced by
Noel Coward, which incorporated
many of his favorite music hall
songs. It is erroneously reported
that Churchill planned his own funeral; however, he did make a few
requests. He wanted "as many
brass bands as possible."
Music cannot be said to have
been Churchill's chief love. But I believe a person as artistic, articulate,
and expressive as he was led a life
in which music had to play a part, if
only a small one. I have enjoyed the
search for information about music
in Churchill's life. Along the way, I
learned much about him that had
no connection to music.
$
Miss Kendall recently graduated
from Portage (Michigan) Central High
School with high honors, was awarded
the John Philip Sousa National Music
Award, and is majoring in Music History at Butler University in Indianapolis.
She is the granddaughter of Fred Farrow,
a Trustee of The Churchill Center. She
wishes to thank those people who
shared their memories or steered her to
books she needed to read: Richard
Langworth, Parker Lee, Dr. John
Mather, Detective Sergeant Murray,
Miss Grace Hamblin, Lady Soames, and
her grandfather, Fred Farrow.
ACTION THIS DAY BYJOHNG. PLUMFTON
eral election was called, to be fought on
party lines.
Churchill, who would have been in
the middle of all of this, missed much of
No seat, no appendix...
it. He was undergoing surgery for
appendicitis. Maurice Hankey's diary,
After rushing back to India,
as recorded by Martin Gilbert, tells this
Churchill waited impatiently for word
wonderful story: "On coming to from
from Sir Bindon Blood that the comhis anaesthetics Churchill immediately
mander of the Malakand Field Force
cried, 'Who has got in for Newport?
would appoint him to his headquarters
Give me a newspaper.' The doctor told
staff. On 22 August he received word
him he could not have it and must keep
that there was no room for him, but that
quiet. Shortly after, the doctor returned
he could join the expedition as a war
and found Winston unconscious again
correspondent: "Army Head Qrs make
with four or five newspapers lying on
all appointments except personal staff
the bed."
and are very jealous of their patronage. I
have hardly managed to get any of my
As soon as he could, Churchill
pals on my staff—though I have asked
wrote his Dundee constituency saying
for several. However if you were here I
he would stand as a Liberal and asked
think I could and certainly would if I
for their support against the Labour and
could, do a little jobbery on your
Communist candidates, hoping that the
account."
Conservatives would stay with him. He
would eventually have to face not only
From India Churchill wrote a series
Conservatives but also an anti-Coalition
of unsigned telegrams and letters for the
Asquith Liberal candidate.
Pioneer Mail. To identify them, Frederick
The Candidate, 1922
Appendicitis was a much more
Woods compiled a schedule of
Churchill's movements during the
The Coalition Government of Lloyd serious illness than it is today and
Malakand campaign. He notes that "the
George was coming apart. One critic Churchill had to fight the election from
stylistic evidence in their favour is also
said that it had "produced at the centre his bed in a nursing home. To represent
tolerably strong." WSC did not, Woods
an atmosphere more like an oriental him in his constituency he sent his wife,
however noted, write The Risings on the
court at which favourites struggled who took her seven-week old daughter
North-West Frontier. But Churchill did
unceasingly for position than anything Mary with her. The local press, no
write The War in the Indian Highlands by a seen in Britain for a century or more." friends of the Churchills, maliciously
Young Officer. Personally he wanted to
Another commented, "I never heard referred to Mary as Clementine's
sign them because it would advance his
principles or the welfare of the country "unbaptised infant."
political career. The first of fifteen artimentioned."
Clementine spoke at six meetings
cles was published in the Daily Telegraph
and
gallantly
faced hostile crowds, even
Tory leadership was severely dividon 6 October, the last on 6 December.
to
the
extent
of
having sneezing powder
ed on whether to continue supporting
They formed the basis for his first book,
break
up
one
meeting.
the Coalition. Austen Chamberlain and
The Story of the Malakand Field Force. He
Four days before the election,
Lord Birkenhead were solid supporters;
was paid five pounds per column.
Churchill
arrived at Dundee's Royal
Andrew Bonar Law and Stanley BaldHotel
and
prepared
to address a friendPrivately he wrote his mother
win were not.
ly
crowd
at
Caird
Hall.
Two days later
about his ambitions and experiences. He
Churchill's fellow Harrovian Leo
he
faced
a
much
less
friendly
group at
warned her that he had to take risks so
Avery invited all Tory MPs to meet at
Drill
Hall,
which
he
described
as folthat his behaviour would be noted and
the Carlton Club. He was responding to
lows:
"I
was
struck
by
the
looks
of
pasget him attached to Blood's staff. "I
backbench concerns about their election
sionate
hatred
on
the
faces
of
some
of
mean to play this game out and if I lose
prospects. Everyone was specifically
the
younger
men
and
women.
Indeed,
it is obvious that I never could have
watching the forthcoming by-election in
won any other. The unpleasant continNewport, where a Tory candidate was but for my helpless condition, I am sure
they would have attacked me." Clemengency is one which could have permarunning against the Coalition.
nent effects and would while leaving
The Tory victory in the by-election tine had earlier written her husband
me life—deprive me of all that makes
swung the Carlton Club MPs against that he should not be seen with a bodylife worth living."
the Coalition. Lloyd George resigned guard. "If you bring Sgt Thompson tell
and Bonar Law became Prime Minister him to conceal himself, tactfully as it
About conditions, he wrote: "No
upon his election as Tory leader. Parlia- would not do if the populace thought
ice—no soda—intense heat—but still a
ment was quickly dissolved and a gen- you were afraid of them."
delightful experience."
One hundred years ago:
Autumn 1897 • Age 23
Malakand Field Force....
Seventy-five years ago:
Churchill received less than fourteen percent of the total vote. He was
out of Parliament for the first time in
twenty-two years. He later told the King
that he had always held Dundee by
speeches and argument, which required
three weeks campaigning. He could not
do it in three days. (As he would later
say to Roosevelt about Yalta, "Even the
Almighty took seven.") Nationally,
Bonar Law's Tories won a commanding
majority in the Commons.
Churchill did not believe that his
political career was finished. When told
that his activity of writing a book about
the previous war was like "digging up a
cemetery" he replied: "Yes, but with a
resurrection." As the year ended,
Churchill was, in his own words, "without an office, without a seat, without a
party and without an appendix."
Fifty years ago:
"My dear Harry..."
With Truman at Fulton, the year before.
"My dear Harry" was the salutation of Churchill's letter to U.S. President Harry Truman, thanking him for
the Marshall Plan which was "saving
the world from Famine and War." In his
response, Truman made an interesting
observation about the Soviet Union
which "seem most ungrateful for the
contribution which your great country
and mine made to save them. I some-
times think perhaps we made a mistake—and then I remember Hitler. He
had no heart at all. I believe that Joe Stalin has one but the Polit Bureau [sic]
won't let him use it." Churchill shared
Truman's concerns. In an address
broadcast to America he said the Soviets
were directing an "unceasing stream of
abuse upon the Western World and
they have accompanied this virulent
propaganda by every action which
could prevent the world settling down
into a durable peace." To meet the
world's challenges he called for a "fraternal association" between the British
Empire and Commonwealth, the European Union and the United States, with
Britain serving as "the vital link
between them all."
Looking towards India he reminded people of his warnings in the early
1930s: "We are of course only at the
beginning of these horrors and
butcheries, perpetrated upon one another, men, women and children, with the
ferocity of cannibals, by races gifted
with capacities for the highest culture
and who had for generations dwelt side
by side in general peace under the
broad, tolerant and impartial rule of the
British Crown and Parliament." In
speaking to the Conservative Party Conference he forecast that "the consequences of Socialist spite, folly and blundering" would lead to a general election
for which the Tories must prepare.
At Chartwell he worked on his war
memoirs. His draft was challenged by
Henry Luce, who had agreed to publish
excerpts in Life magazine. Luce felt that
there were too many documents which
"mar the architectural sense" and too little "analytical insight." Churchill agreed
to make changes.
In November the Churchills attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to
Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, R.N. at
Westminster Abbey. Clementine made
some interesting observations about
other notables in attendance: "Smuts
[Prime Minister of South Africa]...really
cares for Winston and is a source of
strength and encouragement for him.
Mackenzie King [Prime Minister of
Canada] is unchanging as a Chinese
image, and General Marshall the hope
of Mankind."
One evening in late November,
Churchill was enjoying a quiet dinner
with his family when his daughter
Sarah pointed to an empty chair and
asked: "If you had the power to put
someone in that chair to join us now,
whom would you choose?" Sarah later
remembered that she expected her
father to name one of his heroes—Caesar, Napoleon or Marlborough. He took
only a moment to consider and then
said simply, "Oh, my father of course."
He had chosen his greatest hero of all.
Churchill went on to describe the
outline of an article which was to
become The Dream. "It was not clear
whether he was recalling a dream or
elaborating on some fanciful idea that
had struck him earlier," his son Randolph wrote, "but this was the genesis
of the story." (The Dream is available
from Churchill Stores).
Twenty-five years ago:
Autumn 1972
Lady Churchill in Paris...
Mary Soames wrote that a "faithful
and constant friend" of her mother's last
years was Edward Heath, then Prime
Minister. The year before he had invited
her to see the changes he was making at
Chequers. She approved of them. A fall
broke Lady Spencer-Churchill's hip but
she recovered. Her daughter Sarah
reported that "though frail, mother
remains independent and as bright and
witty as ever." Her holidays had been
Mediterranean cruises, but now she
rested by visiting Mary and her family
in Paris.
In Finest Hour, editor Dalton Newfield put out a call for a new editor so
that he could concentrate on his other
role as President of ICS. He was also
increasingly occupied by his abiding
love of books, and was founding the
Churchilliana Company to deal in them.
Several editors tried and failed to take
Dai's place. His eventual successor
would be his predecessor, Richard
Langworth.
Chartwell, open only six years, had
quickly achieved popularity. It was the
second most visited National Trust
property in England.
$
BOOKS, ARTS
& CURIOSITIES
Sales Department for the Production Chief
RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
I
n the interest of full disclosure, this
reviewer played a minor role in
implementing publication of this
book, for which he receives overgenerous thanks from Martin Gilbert in the
Acknowledgements.
I was pleased and touched to see
this chronicle of collaboration and
friendship appear, but I never expected
it would amount to much more than a
useful research tool. I was wrong. I see
why Wendy Reves and Martin Gilbert
were so keen to get it published.
The Churchill-Reves Correspondence
is simply marvelous. For anyone interested in Churchill, it shows how an
unknown Hungarian came to be his literary "diffuser" (or as Reves put it, "the
Sales Department" for Churchill the
"Production Chief"); how skillfully he
used Churchill's screed like a
palimpsest, spreading it to the far reaches of Europe, the Empire and North
America; how gradually Reves's outlets
closed as Hitler's power waxed and
neutral countries began to dread German anger; how Reves twice escaped
the Nazis; how he earned Churchill millions abroad for the war memoirs and
History of the English Speaking Peoples;
how Emery and Wendy became WSC's
hosts when kindly breezes brought the
aging statesman to the Riviera.
Reves started on a shoestring, selling Winston Churchill's pieces (most of
them readable today in Step by Step) for
little more than a pound or two each to
newspapers in poorer nations, gradually building an impressive business by
1939, producing £30,000 a year or so in
today's money. Churchill, remember,
was then politically very incorrect.
Reves got him on the front pages of thirty newspapers, 750 different outlets per
year, with fifteen to twenty million
Winston Churchill and Emery Reves:
Correspondence
WINSTON CHURCHILL
1937-1964, edited by
JJMLRY REVES
Sir Martin Gilbert.
Austin: University
L, of Texas Press, 398
pages, illustrated,
$39.95. New Book
Service price $32
(shipping $5 first
book, $1 each additional) do the Editor.
readers in twenty-five languages. (I
soon learned that Sapnis, the Churchill
Society's 1995 translation of The Dream
for President Ulmanis (FH 87, p27) was
not the first Latvian translation—Emery
Reves was publishing Churchill articles
in Latvian as early as 1937.)
Imre Revesz (his father had adapted the surname from Rosenbaum) was
born in Hungary in 1904, studied in
Berlin and earned a degree in economics
from Zurich University. In Berlin in the
late Twenties he organized Cooperation
Publishing, a unique organization. Its
goal was to make the thought of leading
European statesmen available to people
in other countries: Britons in Germany,
Frenchmen in Italy, and so on. Shunning Nazis, fascists and Communists,
Reves promoted democrats. Drummed
out of Germany with the clothes on his
back in 1933, Reves reestablished Cooperation in Paris, representing Britain's
leading political writers, Churchill,
Eden, Attlee and Herbert Samuel.
When France fell in 1940 he fled to
London, losing his fortune and his business, but not his determination. Anglicizing his name, he soon set up shop in
New York where, after the war, he was
again instrumental in placing
Churchill's writings. Without Emery
Reves, the canon would today be much
less widely known than it is.
A tenacious salesman and negotiator, Reves was gentle and generous
toward the British statesman he respected more than anyone in the world. In
the Thirties he waived commissions to
help Churchill place articles with foreign publishers WSC had contacted
before Reves's own involvement. He
was never put off by the gentleman/
player relationship that marked their
early encounters, when Churchill kept
him at arm's length despite his evident
talents. During the war the Prime Minister refused to grant Reves several favors
—probably it would have set bad precedent—and did not answer Reves's letters offering to help distribute Britain's
message of defiance to neutral countries.
Though he passed Reves's proposals to
Duff Cooper at the Propaganda Ministry, WSC carefully noted that he was
"not wedded" to them. In their letters
he is "Mr. Churchill" and the Hungarian is "Reves"—Sir Winston didn't call
him "Emery" until he began to holiday
at Reves's villa in 1956. Yet in a 1946
meeting, when Reves told him how his
mother had been cruelly murdered by
the Nazis, Churchill wept in bitter grief.
T
heir business relationship was of
a style many around Churchill
experienced. WSC expected his
familiars to be on call constantly, convenient or not. They repaid him with
devotion. The most dramatic account in
this book, in fact, starts with a perplexed
Reves trying desperately to meet
Churchill's order, on one day's notice,
that he drop everything and sail with
Lord Camrose to America to negotiate
book and serial rights to The Second
World War.
Emery Reves is in Paris when the
command arrives, out of the blue: sail
with Camrose from Southampton at
1PM tomorrow, and stop at Chartwell
for a briefing. Le Bourget is fogged in—
no commercial flights. "Can't you get a
private plane?" Churchill says impatiently. Emery finds a rickety two-seater
where he sits in dread for twenty minutes, until the pilot is denied a take-off
"because my motor gives off sparks."
Tenaciously, he finally gets to Croydon
the next morning, too late to stop at
Chartwell, but Churchill sends a car that
speeds him to Southampton. He thinks
he'll miss the boat—but like Phileas
Fogg he gains an unexpected hour,
because Britain has just set its clocks
back! The old Churchill luck.
Reves is the last passenger on the
sold-out maiden voyage of the Queen
Elizabeth, in a cabin Churchill has procured by importuning Cunard's chairman. He looks up Lord Camrose—who
has no idea what Emery is there for!
Reves cables Churchill to please
explain. Churchill replies: "I am sure
you will do an excellent job, but you
must be very confidential and you must
realize that you do not actually represent me." In other words: #X*X@%!!
Such confusing orders would flummox lesser men. But by the end of the
voyage, Emery has made friends with
Camrose and they split the workload:
his Lordship will deal with newspapers,
Emery ("unofficially") with magazines.
Reves also acts as confidant, helping to
steer negotiations away from the bad
deals and toward the best one: Henry
Luce of Life, whom Camrose doesn't
want to see because Luce hasn't replied
to his letter.
L
earning that Luce is in New York,
Emery rings his friend, the redoubtable Claire, Luce's wife.
"Harry" is in bed, exhausted after a
two-night flight from China. Telling
Claire his mission is urgent, Emery
rushes to a cab, presents himself at the
Waldorf Towers and asks her to Wake
Harry. An angry Luce appears in dressing gown: "You are the fifth or sixth or
seventh agent who comes to me saying
he represents Churchill—now who is
his representative?"
Emery is under orders to be very
confidential. "All I can tell you," he
says, is that in forty-eight hours [the
serialization of Churchill's war memoirs] will be decided. You can talk to me
today or tomorrow, but after tomorrow
you won't get it." Luce gets it—from
Lord Camrose, whom the faithful Reves
makes sign the contract as Churchill's
official representative.
Later Lord Camrose says, "They
made a very good offer....$l,400,000 for
the American serial and book rights."
Reves replies, "Lord Camrose—No!
The American serial rights—yes—but not
the book rights. You must stop it." Reves
has friends at Houghton Mifflin—and
they are good for a quarter million for
the book rights in addition to Luce's
$1.4 million.
Breathlessly we follow this tale of
derring-do, finally learning that neither
Camrose nor Reves charge Churchill for
his services, not even his expenses. "He
did it to get the British rights for the
Daily Telegraph and I did it to get the foreign rights for me," Emery recounts,
"but we both acted on principle." Reves
prospered on the usufruct he genuinely
earned, but I suspect he would have
done it all for next to nothing for his
hero, the Chief of Production.
One can learn a lot from this book,
guided by the perceptive and sensitive
Martin Gilbert, who always provides
just the right supporting documents:
Sarah Churchill's note, for example,
when her father is beset by critics of his
war memoirs, words many of us should
heed, this writer included: "Darling
Papa...Don't listen to too many critics—
Each critic criticises from a personal
angle. The work is yours—from deep
within you—and its success depends on
it flowing from you in an uninterrupted
stream." And from Emery himself,
reacting eloquently to the sudden end of
his brief intimacy with Churchill, comes
a piece of sound advice to anyone who,
lied about, is tempted to deal in lies:
"During my long life I developed
the capacity to end a big cry in laughter
and today I can only smile at the past
two years. How childish and unnecessary all those intrigues were, how easy it
would have been to maintain our beautiful relationship and to add to it anything that might have attracted
you....Should we not be able to defeat
the intrigues that so unnecessarily separated us, then I am anxious to preserve
the memories of our association during
the years 1955-58. After all, what does
one keep in life as time passes? A certain number of memories....I do not
know what memories you have of those
years, but mine are unforgettable."
It is a tribute to this book, and those
who saw it into print, that a memory of
two unforgettable spirits is so eloquently presented.
FINEST HOUR 96/35
An Antidote
to Fairytales
BY THE EDITOR
Churchill and Secret Service, by David
Stafford. Woodstock, New York:
The
Overlook
Press. Hardbound,
400 pages, 23
illus., regular price
$35. New Book
Service price $30.
Available
from
the Finest Hour
New Book Service, do the Editor; add for shipping (see
box on page 36).
T
here are enough Winston
Churchill spy books already in
print—both fictional and allegedly factual—that readers may wonder
why they need another one. The answer
is quickly demonstrated by David
Stafford's expert account of Churchill's
involvement with secret intelligence,
from the days of the 1914 Home Rule
debate to his last years of power, when
he sought unsuccessfully a modus vivendi with the Soviets. Stafford provides
three things hitherto lacking: a complete
account spanning Churchill's full career;
a parade of facts, which are a good antidote to fairytales; and, most important,
up-to-date research based on recently
released secret papers that earlier chroniclers could not access.
Stafford is too good an historian to
offer either an uncritical paean or a vitriolic polemic, nor does he hitch his
wagon to some preconceived, off-thewall thesis, like certain of his academic
contemporaries. "Undeniably there was
a darker side to Churchill's attraction for
the clandestine powers of the state," he
writes. "His exaggerated obsession with
German spies before the First World
War, fed by a xenophobic MI5, led him
to adopt measures that needlessly damaged the innocent...His overreaction to
Bolshevik intercepts after the Russian
Revolution even saw him resort to MI5
in what amounted to a personal vendetcontinued overleaf >»
The Finest Hour New Book Service is
operated at cost for the benefit of readers. We buy books in bulk and pass the
savings along. Order from the Editor
or Churchillbooks, PO Box 385, Hopkinton NH 03229 USA. Shipping: add
$5 for first book, $1 each additional.
Secret Service, continued...
ta against George Lansbury and to a
dangerously close alliance with elements in the secret services and elsewhere that wildly talked the language
of treason....His widely shared obsession with an internal Fifth Column, this
time fuelled by unexpected German victories in Europe, and lingering fears and
memories of Irish subversion at home,
again saw him opt for a drastic curtailment of civil liberties unwarranted by
the evidence." While recognizing
Churchill's hope to "set Europe ablaze"
with resistance movements through the
Special Operations Executive, Stafford
admits that SOE earned the enmity of
intelligence chief Stewart Menzies,
whom Churchill failed to consult when
he made Hugh Dalton SOE's head.
Yet Churchill had too much respect
for the British constitution to pursue
these paths to ugly conclusions, and we
must remember, Professor Stafford says,
that WSC's use of available secret service, seized upon like a life preserver
with Britain's back to the wall, did hasten the end of the war. Churchill also
"helped to create with Roosevelt the
transatlantic intelligence alliance that
formed a vital backbone of defence during the Cold War."
Graduate Churchillians will welcome Stafford's crisp dismissals of the
canards that continue to circulate
around Churchill today. One of the
most durable is the legend that the PM
"let Coventry burn" so as not to give
away Britain's Ultra intelligence
decrypts. In fact, Ultra had wrongly
concluded that the Coventry raid would
be over the capital; Churchill actually
interrupted a drive to safety in the country to await the London bombers that
never came.
Particularly satisfying is the refutation of considerable nonsense published
recently about the Rudolf Hess mission
in May 1941—fuelled, Stafford believes,
"by a delay in releasing the relevant
British files and Hess's 1987 suicide in
Berlin's Spandau Prison....The notion
that it was not Hess at all who flew to
Britain but a double belongs in the
realm of fantasy.
"Only slightly less fanciful is the
theory that his flight was plotted with
the active connivance of the Secret Intelligence Service and Stewart Menzies
himself." Churchill refused either to see
Hess or to bury news of his arrival—"a
strategy that, had Hess been part of an
Abwehr plot, would have badly backfired when leaked to the world."
Little escapes the author's perceptive research, including Sidney Reilly,
the alleged British agent made famous
some years ago by a swashbuckling film
called "Reilly, Ace of Spies." Reilly, like
Savinkov, was tempted back into Russia
by the Bolsheviks, who summarily shot
him in 1925. He knew and apparently
worshipped Churchill, whom he called
"the irrepressible Marlborough," and
they exchanged some secret letters. But
Churchill's interest was clinical, not
direct, and he quickly washed his hands
of Reilly. Stafford suggests Churchill
distanced himself so as to keep clear of
controversy surrounding the notorious
Zinoviev Letter, which may have influenced the 1924 election. Published by
the Daily Mail, undoubtedly with Reilly's connivance, it called for a Marxist
uprising in Britain led by the Communists and their Labour Party sympathizers. Churchill and the Tories made political hay out of the letter, which helped
Labour lose and returned Churchill to
power, but the idea that Churchill had
been part of this plot is a fabrication.
We are also given the facts about
Desmond Morton's bitter estrangement
from Churchill during the war. Morton
had been one of WSC's chief informants
about German rearmament in the Thirties, but once Churchill was in power,
he inevitably began to deal with official
intelligence agencies. Morton was
increasingly left out when clandestine
matters were discussed. Churchill continued to express affection toward Morton, Stafford writes, but by 1946, when
WSC sent flowers to his hospitalized
friend, the estrangement was complete:
Morton thanked him by observing acidly, "Your intelligence service is clearly
working as efficiently as of old." Morton's irritation over being dropped surfaced again in the Sixties, when he was
the chief primary source, and a somewhat misleading one, for R. W. Thompson's quartet of light revisionist books
starting with The Yankee Marlborough.
David Stafford concludes: "Nothing was perfect in this construction and
Churchill revealed his personality
flaws....Yet the breadth of his vision, the
strength of his purpose, and the depth
of his experience in the world of intelligence was extraordinary and decisive.
Throughout his long political career he
had exhibited consistent support for
Britain's secret service. As Prime Minister in war and peace, he finally reaped
the reward."
Clementine:
Another View
STANLEY H. WINFIELD
Clementine Churchill: The Private Life
of a Public Figure, by Joan Hardwick.
London: John Murray Publishers Ltd.,
228pp, Mm., £22.
T
his profile of the life of Clementine Churchill emphasizes the
years of her marriage to Sir Winston. Much is made of the difficult relationship she had with her son, Randolph, and her dislike of so many of
Winston's friends and colleagues, with
whom he spent, in Clementine's view,
far too much time. Clementine is portrayed as a victim not only of
Churchill's legendary self-centredness,
but also of her uncaring parents, Col.
Henry and Lady Blanche Hozier, both
of whom are said to have led scandalous lives, having little time for their
children.
Ms. Hardwick's admiration for
Clementine's inner strength is apparent
in those pages dealing with women's
suffrage, which she championed,
despite what Hardwick describes as
Churchill's scorn for the movement. The
agonies she felt during Churchill's deep
depression following the disastrous
Dardanelles campaign are dealt with
sensitively.
The description of Clementine excitedly acquiring paints and oils for her
husband the moment he evinced an interest in painting is one of many such
lovely moments throughout the book,
where the author strikes a balance
WOODS
between sentimentality and the practicality of Clementine's character, not
allowing herself "to be sucked into the
vortex of Winston's depression." It
might be argued powerfully, however,
that his periods of depression are overstated.
&
CORNER
A BIBLIOPHILE'S COLUMN NAMED FOR THE LATE BIBLIOGRAPHER, FRED WOODS
MEMBER REVIEWS WANTED
T
homas H. Fairchild writes: "As I add
to my Churchill library, I wonder
what others think of the many new and
used Churchill books available. Would
"member book reviews" be a valuable
(and manageable) addition to Finest
Hour and our website? The reviewers
would not have to be "-professional" to be
helpful. On the contrary, I'd like to hear
what other seasoned students think about
the books in their collections.
W
e think this would be very useful. An ICS publication,
Churchill Bibliographic Data (available
for $10 from Churchill Stores, PO Box
96, Contoocook NH 03229), contains a
piece by the editor on the "thirty
best" books about Churchill: five each
of full biographies, biographies for
specific periods, specialized studies,
books by associates, documentaries
and critical works. I will scan this and
put it up in the website books section.
Beyond that, however, there is a
lot of untrod ground. Over 600 books
about Churchill have been published,
and while many of them were pure
hagiography or potboilers, there are
numerous gems worth your attention
—some of which still hold up in the
light of what we know now, decades
after they were published. Mary
Bromage's Churchill and Ireland (Univ.
of Notre Dame: 1964) is still, for
example, the best study of that relationship outside the official biogra-
phy. Seldon's Churchill's Indian
Summer (Hodder & Stoughton: 1984)
was, until Pelling's new book on the
subject, the only specialized study of
the second Premiership. Hyam's Elgin
and Churchill at the Colonial Office
(Macmillan: 1968) is by far the most
detailed on that relationship, although alas rare. Sydenham of
Combe, ed., The World Crisis: A Criticism (Hutchinson: 1928) captures
most of the critiques, valid and otherwise, of The World Crisis Volume III.
Gretton's Former Naval Person (Cassell
1968) and Roskill's Churchill and the
Admirals (Collins 1977) are good juxtapositions when considering the
pros and cons of WSC's stewardship
of the Admiralty in two world wars.
If readers care to send 500-word
reviews of older titles, we will be glad
to publish them in Finest Hour.
Illustrated Documentaries
1. A Churchill Family Album, Soames
2. Churchill Photographic Portrait, Gilbert
3. Churchill: His Life in Photographs,
Randolph Churchill & Gernsheim
4. WSC, A Cartoon Biography, Urquhart
5. Life & Times ofW.C, Thomson
Critical Works
1. A Study in Failure, Rhodes James
2. The Yankee Marlborough, Thompson
3. Churchill's Grand Alliance, Charmley
4. Churchill: Struggle for Survival, Moran
5. The Tragedy ofW. Churchill, Germains
Some new books might supersede
some of the above, two reviewed herein: Churchill and Secret Service and the
Churchill-Reves Correspondence; and one
to be reviewed next issue, Churchill as
Peacemaker (see page 6). Comments?
INDEPENDENT MEMBER
Here's a (short) example of the kind of
member review we'd like to receive...
L
ve just finished reading Independent
\Aember by A.P. Herbert. By vocation a novelist and humorist, Mr.
Herbert served in the Parliaments of
'35 and '45 as a member for Oxford
University.
This book describes his
THE THIRTY BEST (REVISED)
career
as
an
MP before, during and
From Churchill Bibliographic Data,
after
the
war.
In addition to interestwith modifications for books pubing
stories
about
the war as viewed
lished since, my current picks. -RML
from the Thames, where the riverloving Herbert served aboard his
Full Biographies
1. Winston S. Churchill, Gilbert/Churchill own craft, he describes his mission to
Newfoundland—the forgotten Dom2. The Last Lion (2 vols.), Manchester
inion?—and has many fine anecdotes
3. Churchill: Unruly Giant, Rose
about Churchill, with whom he had a
4. Churchill: A Life, Gilbert
longstanding
relationship.
5. Winston Churchill, Pelling
When Herbert volunteered for
the Navy in 1914, he found himself in
Biographies of Specific Periods
the new units being formed by
1. Churchill 1874-1922, Birkenhead
Churchill. He served in Antwerp and
2. Young Man in a Hurry, Morgan
3. The Age of Churchill, deMendelssohn in the Dardanelles, later defending
WSC on the Dardanelles record at
4. Winston Churchill, "Ephesian"
public meetings. His recollections of
5. Winston Spencer Churchill,
Maccallum-Scott (published 1905). Churchill, while not reaching the
detail found in Harold Nicolson's
memoirs, are generally more fun to
Specialized Studies
read, and no less warm. This book
1. Sword and Pen, Weidhorn
was most enjoyable reading and I rec2. Churchill in America, Pilpel
3. Churchill by his Contemporaries, Eade ommend it to anyone who is interest4. Churchill: His Life as a Painter, Soames ed in Churchill, Parliament or the
River Thames.—Alexander Justice M>
5. Churchill as Historian, Ashley
DOUGLAS
HALL'S
CHURCHILLIANA
Churchill Commemoratives Calendar Part 6:1965
LEFT: The
Spode covered
vase, 125
issued, one of
the most desirable large
memorial
pieces. RIGHT:
The Abbeydale covered
vase, erroneously described as a
"chalice," had
an edition of
only 250. At its
right is the first
toby, 1927.
C
hurchill's death was marked by
the production of three quite
superb ceramic pieces. Usually
wrongly described nowadays as urns or
chalices, they were offered by manufacturers as covered vases. The finest is
arguably the Spode covered vase in
maroon, royal blue and white with elaborate raised gilding. Churchill's portrait
is surrounded by the Garter and lions
rampant with his birth and death dates
and "In grateful remembrance" in
raised gold beneath, his dates as Prime
Minister and details of other offices
inscribed around the foot. The Spode
vase was issued in a limited edition of
125 at £125. A UK dealer offered one in
1989 at £1000, two more appeared in
American catalogues in 1991-92 at $2750
and $2500.
Thomas Goode marketed the
Abbey dale covered vase, 11 inches tall,
in cobalt blue, white, gold and raised
gold with lion head handles. Churchill's
portrait is surrounded by dates, family
crests and details of his offices and
awards. Goode's offered this vase in a
limited edition of 250 at £75. Two examples were sold in the UK in 1992-93 at
£475 and £600 but US catalogues during
the same period listed $3000 and $2250.
Coalport's memorial covered vase,
the tallest of the three at 12 inches, was
in a limited edition of 200 designed by
Francis Sinclair. Predominantly white
but with rich gilding, it had the
Churchill Coat of Arms flanked by two
small silhouette portraits on one side
and a view of Blenheim on the other.
Issued at £100, one was offered in the
UK in 1992 at £550, a year earlier in the
US at $1800.
Other ceramic issues included a
range from Wedgwood: a black basalt
bust, a portrait medallion in black and
white or blue and white, and a small
round sweet dish in the same colourways. Also from Wedgwood came the
not-too-successful Chartwell tankard in
blue, green and black.
Spode complemented their superb
covered vase with a very different, but
equally desirable and rather more
LEFT: Royal Brierley's engraved crystal goblet, #140 of
500, has added date 24 January 1965; thus copies without that date are much scarcer. BELOW: Loewental's
Victory medal with death date added; Spode's superb
Nemon bisque bust, backstamped "First Edition"; a 4"
Wedgwood jasper dish, which sold at £1.05!
affordable, white bisque porcelain bust
of Churchill. Just 61/2 inches tall and
signed by Oscar Nemon, it sold at 8
guineas (£8.40) and was recently seen
on the UK secondary market at £225!
Spode also reissued a small number of
their 1941 standing figure, 9 inches tall,
with colourway variations. The original
figures are rare (UK £500) and I have
never seen the reissue on the secondary
market.
Harleigh utilised the portrait transfer of Churchill, which had been commonplace on decorative tableware during the Fifties and early Sixties, in the
centre of a 9-inch diameter white bone
china plate, to which they added an
intricate design of gold within a wide
black rim as a modest but entirely
appropriate tribute.
Some of the best Churchill glassware appeared as memorial pieces. The
finest was the engraved crystal goblet
from Royal Brierley. Six inches tall, in a
limited edition of 500, it had in fact
appeared in 1964 to celebrate
Churchill's honorary citizenship of the
USA, but only a few examples had been
sold when he died. The engraver, Jon
Jones, added a further line recording the
death date and the goblet became a
memorial piece. Sold originally at 30
guineas (£31.50), it was recently seen in
the UK at £95-130 and in a US catalogue
at $650. A boxed pair of wine glasses
with Churchill's portrait etched in white
and engraved with his name and dates
were available at a more affordable 18s
6d (93p)!
The Sail Training Association
launched their 150-foot, 281-ton threemasted schooner Sir Winston Churchill
and models of the ship, either in brass
or as a glass ship-in-a-bottle, were available as more unusual memorial pieces.
Another unusual tribute came from
Brough, Nicholson & Hall of
Staffordshire in the form of a 4 1/2 x
3 1/2-inch black and white portrait of
Churchill woven in silk. The portraits
were sold mounted in a white card
listing the key dates and events in
Churchill's life.
The most widely available 1965
commemorative was the Churchill
Crown. Over 19 million were struck
by the Royal Mint—the first and only
British coin with the head of a subject
on the same coin as that of the
monarch. 39mm in diameter, weighing 28 grams, in cupro-nickel, the
coin displayed a head of Churchill by
Nemon, based on Nemon's bust at
Windsor Castle, on the reverse. The
coin was issued following a Royal
Proclamation dated 3 August 1965.
Lady Churchill started the coining
press in September; she was presented with the first coin struck, and distribution to the public began on 11
October.
Various special presentation
packs were available from different
banks, and there are many examples
of local silversmiths plating the coins
and mounting them into hallmarked
silver souvenirs of all kinds.
The government of Yemen
issued a slightly smaller Riyal coin in
silver, designed by Robert Cochet and
struck by the French Mint in Paris. It
is far less available than the British
crown: fewer than 6500 were minted.
The medallists were active.
Engstrom's Medallic Portraits of Sir
Winston Churchill mentions 98 memo-
rial medals from Canada, Great
Britain, Italy, the USA, Denmark,
Switzerland, South Africa, Australia
and (yes, even) Germany. Among the
best was a 102 x 90mm bronze plaque
designed by Dora de Pedery-Hunt in
Canada, showing the famous seated
rear view of the elderly Churchill
contemplating the lake at Chartwell.
Only eight were cast; one can be seen
at Longleat in the Churchill collection
of the Marquess of Bath.
The 1965 British commemorative
stamps were designed by David
Gentleman in 4d and Is 3d denominations, but were not universally
admired. They looked so much better
as replicas on 41x25mm solid gold
LEFT: An oddity from Wedgwood was the "Chartwell" tankard in blue and green with a eulogy and
description of Chartwell as an exceptionally long backstamp. RIGHT: A 9-inch diameter bone china plate.
The portrait transfer had been extensively used by many potteries through the Fifties. Harleigh added an
intricate lace-like decoration in gilt within a black border to produce a simple but effective memorial tribute.
idssHdUiicdasn
LEFT: Memorial issue teaspoons; those at left and centre are silver plated; the example on the right is
Birmingham hallmarked sterling silver with an enamelled portrait and an inscribed bowl. RIGHT: Brough,
Nicholson & Hall of Staffordshire (at that time the centre of the British silkmaking industry) produced this 4
1/2 x 3 1/2-inch silk portrait mounted on an "In Memoriam" card listing Churchill's achievements.
ingots struck by Johnson Mathey.
5000 numbered sets were made at £44
the set. Weighing 40 grams, the pair
have a 1994 bullion value of £352!
Paul Vincze, who died in 1994,
the refugee Hungarian who became a
British subject in 1948, was generally
recognised as one of the best medalmakers of the 20th century. He
designed a Churchill memorial medal
for the National Commemorative
Society of Philadelphia. Three were
cast in platinum; one was presented
to Lady Churchill, one to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and
one retained by the Society; another
5249 were issued in silver to Society
members.
A personal favorite among the
medals is the reissue of Loewental's
1945 Victory medal with the additional inscription "OB 24 Jan 1965." This
was struck by John Pinches in a
smaller size of 50mm, 700 in gold, 736
in silver and 1421 in bronze. The silver medals sold originally at £10 and
the bronze at £2—both have appreciated considerably over the years.
From Birmingham came a hallmarked sterling silver teaspoon with
a full colour enamel of Churchill on
the handle and the bowl inscribed
with his name and chief honours.
Silver-plated teaspoons in various
designs were also available. A 4 1 /2inch long silver-plated bookmark in a
profile of Churchill smoking a cigar
and grasping his lapels is marked
"Pattern 468300 Design 92817,"
maker unknown. Decca issued a
memorial LP record, "The Voice of
Winston Churchill," with extracts
from their 1964 12-LP boxed set; EMI,
in collaboration with the BBC, issued
the LP, "The State Funeral of Sir
Winston Churchill."
$
'.."• '"'«••,.<; •.- >v " • • • -"-T*/^*-.. : ^ ^ i S j j ^ & w £ }
T
he Battle of Britain took place
in the skies over southeast
England between July and
October 1940. The Roll of Honour in
the Battle of Britain Memorial Chapel
in Westminster Abbey lists the names
of 1503 Royal Air Force and Fleet Air
Arm personnel killed in the battle.
German records are far from complete but authoritative estimates put
the number of Luftwaffe airmen
killed in excess of 2600. The RAF lost
1017 aircraft. Luftwaffe losses have
been given as 1882 aircraft.
After the end of World War II,
the 15th of September 1945 was designated as the first "Battle of Britain
Day." Three hundred RAF fighter aircraft took part in a fly-past over central London and ninety RAF stations
were opened to the public (the first
time there had been any public access
since the 1939 Empire Air Day).
Thereafter, both the fly-past—always
led by the immortal Spitfire and
Mr. Hall is FH's Features Editor
Hurricane—and the open days be- these had dropped to just fifteen.
Aware that it was custodian of
came an annual event although the
priceless,
and hugely popular, pieces
number of participating aircraft and
of
national
heritage—and also aware
airfields was gradually reduced. In
that
a
single
example of each aircraft
1959 the Spitfire taking part in the flytype
provided
no cover at all against
past developed an engine fault and
any
kind
of
mishap—the
RAF set
had to make a forced landing on a
about
increasing
its
stock
of
airworcricket ground in Bromley. There was
thy
examples.
The
cost
of
restoring
an outcry with a vociferous public
safety lobby demanding that all historic aircraft featured high on the
flights by "ancient" single-engined political agenda during a period
aircraft over densely populated areas when defence expenditure was conshould be banned, countered by an stantly under scrutiny and the RAF
equally vehement group arguing that were able to make only slow and limthey should be continued. Neverthe- ited progress towards their objective.
By 1965, however, the Historic
less, after the September 1961 "Battle
Aircraft
Flight had been boosted to
of Britain Day" fly-past, the regular
four
Spitfires—but
still only the sinceremonial flight over central London
gle
Hurricane—and
was able to
was discontinued and the RAF withincrease
its
participation
in air disdrew its then only remaining airworplays
throughout
the
summer
thy Spitfire (PM 631) and Hurricane
months.
A
huge
bonus
arrived
in 1968
(LF 363) to form an Historic Aircraft
when
Harry
Saltzmam
and
Ben
Fisz
Flight based at Horsham St. Faith in
decided
to
make
their
epic
feature
Norfolk. The two aircraft continued
to make a limited number of appear- film, "Battle of Britain." The film
ances at RAF open days around the company paid handsomely to hire the
country but by 1963 the number of RAF's five airworthy aircraft and also
to restore several gate-guardian and
museum examples to flying condition. As a result the Flight secured an
additional Spitfire and the muchneeded second Hurricane. At around
the same time, a much-modified
Lancaster (PA 474), which had been
used by the Cranfield College of
Aeronautics, was withdrawn from
service and earmarked for static exhibition at the Royal Air Force Museum
at Hendon after restoration to a
World War II configuration. PA 474
had in fact missed the war, having
been built in mid-1945 and allocated
for the Far East "Tiger Force,"not participating in hostilities before VJ-Day.
The RAF argued that a more historic airframe—of which there were
several doing gate guardian duty—
would be more appropriate for the
RAF Museum and that PA 474 should
be maintained in flying condition
within the Historic Aircraft Flight.
This was a hugely popular move
amongst not only ex-members of
Bomber Command but with the
British public as a whole. Whilst losses of life and aircraft during the four
months of the Battle of Britain had
been sobering enough, they had
formed only the "end of the beginning" in the context of 56,000 British
and Commonwealth aircrew fatalities
and around 600,000 German lives lost
during the bomber offensive of the
following four and one-half years.
The Historic Aircraft Flight was
renamed the Battle of Britain
Memorial Flight in 1973, and moved
OPPOSITE: A Hurricane (top), the Lancaster and a Spitfire approaching Jersey Airport for the
Flight's annual display over the Channel Islands. BELOW: P 7350, oldest airworthy Spitfire,
entered service in August 1940 and fought with 266 and 603 Squadrons; she still carries patches over bullet holes sustained in combat. She was in the museum at RAF Colerne before being
made airworthy for the film "Battle of Britain," after which she was presented to the BBMF.
BOTTOM: Lancaster PA 474 flying over Lincoln Cathedral. The plane was adopted by Lincoln
and has since worn the city's crest on the port side of the forward fuselage. During 1995-96,
PA 474 was fitted with a brand new main spar which will extend her flying life well into the
next millennium. Photographs in this article are by courtesy of Lincolnshire's Lancaster
Association (Ltd.). A donation has been accepted by the Committee in lieu of copyright fees.
.Sk
into a purpose-built hangar at its current base, RAF Coningsby in
Lincolnshire, in 1976. Thus it celebrates this year twenty-one years of
settled existence. Its public esteem is
now surely such that it must be
untouchable by any politician seeking
to further reduce defence expenditure
for at least "a thousand years."
The present aircraft strength is
the Lancaster, four Spitfires, two
Hurricanes and a Dakota — the latter
having been acquired in 1993 to represent the important role of that type
during the latter half of World War II.
The BBMF's Dakota (ZA 947) is a
most appropriate example, having
previously served with the United
States Air Force, the Royal Canadian
Air Force and the Royal Aircraft
Establishment before coming to
Coningsby.
Aircrew doing a tour of duty
with the Battle of Britain Memorial
Flight are all volunteers — and there
is a long waiting list of aspirants!
Pilots, now used only to flying modern aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, have to do a course of training
to fly the historic "tail-draggers." A
venerable Chipmunk trainer is kept
by the Flight to provide "opposite
action" take-off and landing experience for the fighter pilots and the
Dakota serves in a similar role for the
Lancaster pilots. It simply would not
do for a "pilot-error" accident to
occur to any of these priceless aircraft. A twenty-strong support and
maintenance groundcrew, also volunteers, keeps the aircraft in immaculate
order. BBMF aircraft participated in
over 500 events during 1995, including the Lancaster dropping a million
poppies over The Mall on VJ-Day.
The Flight's hangar at Coningsby is open to the public on every
weekday; more aircraft can usually be
seen during the winter months. The
Visitor Centre, operated jointly by the
RAF and Lincolnshire County
Council, has a small but interesting
exhibition and well-stocked souvenir
shop dominated by a large portrait of
Sir Winston Churchill, above the quotation, "Never in the field of human
conflict was so much owed by so
many to so few."
gj
Churchill in Stamps:
Prime Minister Again
PiilME XIKIS !•£•'. AGAIK, l^'II
"'finally at 7 6 , Cnurchiil rtct'ivufj \hf ;Jei'Lni-.ive '.ccol.'s :e
his career: He wau rocalltri tc h'.'j, nation 1 *, nigh^bt ciTics.;
•cimc of pcacu. Ytu his terr. in office niic: Ic be .inticlir-fic
BY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
"'There was
no Buttle o:'
Britain
'about to
begin, ' only
the dull and
nagging cold
war, which
Churchill
set himself
tc mitigate.
Pages 247-252: A NEW ELIZABETHAN AGE
Catalogue numbers are Scott (#) and Stanley Gibbons (sg). A
slash mark (/) indicates a set with a common design from which
any value is usable. Cams and Minkus catalogue numbers are
sometimes used, and identified by name.
We are nearing the end of our philatelic biography—but rest assured, there is still much to come in the way of appendices and
addenda pages. Churchill commemorative stamps relating to the
postwar years are scarce, requiring the broad use of Churchill-related (CR) stamps to fill out a chronological biography.
247
247. To illustrate the postwar period I tried to select Churchill
commemoratives showing an older Churchill, but only partly succeeded. Montserrat #312"(sg 345) shows a WW2 Churchill. But
The Gambia #308 (sg 322) is ideal for this page, its c. 1950s illustration accompanied by the caption, "'Winston the Prime Minister
Aged 79." Likewise, Cook Islands #418 (sg 507) uses a Karsh
portrait from 1954 against a Parliamentary backdrop. Germany
#574/7 (sg 928/31) and Australia #278 (sg 281) represent peace
and international understanding.
249. More Churchill-Queen associations are represented by Belize #363 (sg 396), showing the coronation procession; Maldives
1977 Coronation Silver Jubilee commemoratives, and Seychelles
#321 (sg 331) showing an approximate contemporary WSC.
(To be continued)
FINEST HOUR 96/42
*
i
Vi.ien G e o r g e ~/Z JluC, in 1 . ^ 2 , C h u r c h i l l *ms n o a r t b r o k e n , an>] i'or
a Urr.e ^ s a o c J a t r s tnoughl, him di.'TiJer.t -ibo^t E l i z a b e t h I I , '-.-.<•
tir?t W,"i.en-Scvercign s i n c e V i c t o r i a . He s o c n v,arrr.t'd to h e r ,
t-nough, a n ] c a b i n e L ^icrr.oers b e g a n to n o t i c e that hio weekly
•^uJiences at Iiuckinglv-.T. Fjlt.ce were beccr.ing l o n g e r and l o n g e r .
250. Bermuda #164/5 (sg 152/3), documenting the Three Power
Talks in 1953, has long been considered a Churchill "forerunner."
USA #1383 (sg 1371) shows Eisenhower. Penrhyn Island #71
(sg) Churchill.
252. Germany #982-85 (Minkus 1459-62) is ideal for our purpose
here, depicting Churchill with key United Europe statesmen:
Italy's Alcide de Gasperi, France's Robert Schuman and Germany's Konrad Adenauer. Anguilla#193 (sg 181) has a photo of
Churchill taken after his 1954 lunch with U.S. Secretary of State
Dulles (WSC: "Dull, Duller, Dulles!"), who is depicted on USA
#1172 (sg 1171).
•• r
During much
of this time
in office,
Jhurchill'c
IT;-1 j or goal
wzs international
underhanding.
248. Numerous Coronation Anniversaries have produced many
stamps with this subject, but Tristan da Cunha #197 (sg 194)
shows Churchill and Elizabeth II. Also appropriate is an Elizabeth
stamp from Fujiera's 1970 British History series, and British
Guiana #297/8 (sg 394/5), which juxtaposes WSC and the Queen,
flanking St. George's Cathedral in now-Guyana, the tallest
wooden building in the world.
251. The first "stamp" to depict Eisenhower and Churchill together was, I think, Uram al Qiwain Minkus 63 (sg 62). Bhutan's
1972 Famous Men series included Ike (Minkus 473) as well as
Churchill. Fujiera Minkus 73 (sg 73, pert' and imperf) shows the
1950s PM walking with the young Nicholas Soames.
"'It seemed,
during this
time, as his
wit crackle'i
across the
House of
Commons, that
Cnurchill
would defy
time. But not
even he could
do that.'1
'.*,• o C", whe na J
s u p p o r t e c enc
lost cause of
KdrtUrj VII I in
1936, siid In
'" T.iarik God •.vis wrong, Tnank
God 1 w£& •.-.rong.
We coulJn 1 t have
get a better
King, and ncv.1 we
have this « u e e n .
248.
Tnc Prime
Minister
ordered n large
blsw-up of hi"
favorite photo
of Her MaJesty,
and nung it
-ibove his bed.
''lie may well
have been Just
slightly in
lov" with her,1'
ijn ctscrvur
VALEDICTION
VALEDICTION
CHURCHILL AND EISENHOWER...
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
...were veteran warriors, old colleagues and friends. WSC felt
that he personally could make Ike understand his country's views
when others failed, but WSC--who might have made the difference-had retired by the time the Suez Crisis occurred in 1956.
"In our island...we have found out a very good plan. Here it is:
The Queen can do no wrong. Bad advisors can be changed as often
as the people like to use their rights for that purpose, A great
battle is won; crowds cheer the Queen. What goes wrong is carted
away with the politicians responsible."
— a t Westminster Hall, May 1953
Old
comrades
The
Coronation
coach
" I , whose youth
was passed in the
august, unchallenged and
tranquil glories
of the Victorian
era may well
feel a thrill in
invoicing once
more, the prayer
and anthem:
251.
With his
grandson,
Arthur Nicholas Winston
Soames, at
the christening of Jeremy
Soames, August 1952. At
extreme left
is F.M.
Viscount
Montgomery
of Alamein,
Jeremy1s
godfather.
"God Save
the Queen."
—June 1953
BERMUDA
TALKS
TOWARD .
LI.-CPL
Churchill had proposed a Jnion br.twnori ^ritc
19^-0, and spoke vaguely and wisti'ully :>.' u.c
States of Europe': after the war. Abov -11 i
that We;, t Germany be defended, t:iut .•. - _ 1 _- .r
When his old friend Eisenhower became President in 1953, Churchill
sought a new East-West dialogue and called for a summit meeting
of the Big Pour powers. Stalin's death, French election.., find a
stroke by Churchill prevented this. Instead WSC, Eisenhower, and
new French Premier Joseph Laniel, met at Bermuda in December.
For that reason
certainly it was
appropria te for
the Feder. .1
Republic to honor
Churchill on a
stamp, along with
Chancello r Konrad
Adenauer, de
Gasperi o f Italy,
and the reat \
French fo reign
minister nobert
Schuman.
This was the
first Allied
heads of state
meeting since
the war. But
since the USSR
had called for
a four-power
meeting on
Berlin and other
problems, the
Bermuda talks
were of little
consequence.
252.
But it was ironic
that Germany
should be the
first nation on
the continent of
Europe to
commemorate WSC.
Eisenhower
insisted that
the Russians
demonstrate
their good
intentions by
11
deeds, not
words/
After luncheon
with United
States Secretary
of State John
Foster Dulles,
Downing Street,
DESPATCH BOX
FROM SIR
MARTIN
GILBERT
I have recently read a note
appearing on
the Winston Listserv (Internet) about an
article regarding the pressure p u t by
Churchill on the American government to
suppress certain documents. W. J. Shepherd states: "The disturbing thing in this
article is that virtually n o n e of the
Churchill memos cited appear to come
from Gilbert but rather from the Beaverbrook Papers, which begs the question as
to whether Gilbert suppressed this in his
official biography."
Since the very first day on which I
began work on the Churchill biography in
1961, alongside his son Randolph, I have
never suppressed (nor did Randolph ever
suppress) a single d o c u m e n t or fact.
Indeed the whole enterprise, from the outset, was based on discovering documents
and bringing them to the light of day.
In my Volume VHI of the biography I
cited the documents from the Beaverbrook
papers because that is where I found
them. If I had found more on this subject
in the Churchill papers, or elsewhere, I
would have published it. One particular
interest is that this episode links up with
one about which I published material in
Volume V and its Companion Volumes,
Churchill's request that all potentially antiAmerican statements in The World Crisis
should be deleted in the serialisation by
The Times of London.
As W. J. Shepherd states, "Churchill
the politician always superseded Churchill
the historian"—except of course when
Churchill was writing history!
SIR MARTIN GILBERT, LONDON
THANKS, CRAIG
Please let me take this opportunity to
express my admiration for the work you
are doing to keep the legacy of Churchill
alive. I was at the Washington Conference
in 1993. At one discussion, a member of
the audience made a comment that could
have been construed as limiting the
Churchill legacy to certain groups of people. You immediately stood up and politely reminded everyone that Churchill's
work serves everyone. How very true!
CRAIG DE BERNARDS, GLENSIDE, PENNA.
RE "FRASIER"
I assume from your remarks ("Amid
These Storms," FH 95) that you have not
actually seen the programme "Frasier"
(not spelled "Fraser"). "Frasier" and
"Home Improvement" have little in common other than that their characters speak
English—although the elitist Frasier himself uses French and Latin phrases so frequently that even this can be argued. In
fact, "Frasier" is witty, smart, and unfailingly funny, and you done him wrong—
even if he does make occasional mistakes.
But no matter, I shall continue to look forward to FH every quarter. Keep up the
good work.
CHRIS DUNFORD <[email protected]>
THE
MONSTER
STATUE
Permit
me
respectfully to
disagree with
John Gallagher's
assessment of
the statue of Sir
Winston in Parliament Square
as "a monstrosity... [which] does
not conjure up the dynamics and vivaciousness of the great man, but instead
shows [a] stooped, infirm old man leaning
on his cane." (FH 95, Despatch Box, p. 25).
On the three occasions w h e n I h a v e
looked up, admiringly, at this great work
of art, it has spoken to me of "Churchill...
indomitable, even in old age!"
JONAH TRIEBWASSER, RED HOOK, N.Y.
ing that the sculptor himself had his doubts
about the work. Roberts-Jones (obituary,
Finest Hour 94 page 8) had nightmares of the
monolith coming to life and walking along
with its thundering footsteps echoing throughout Parliament Square. But the statue does
have some wonderful angles, especially from
behind with St. Stephen's Tower in the background—a very fine photo from this angle is
coming up on a FH cover. Judge for yourself.
WWW.WINSTONCHURCHILL.ORG
As of last year I have been on the
Internet. Our members would be surprised to see all there is in cyberspace
about Sir Winston. The Churchill Center
Home Page (www.winstonchurcliill.org)
is frequently updated with new information and facts. Another fine service is
"Listserv Winston," through which I
receive messages from the Finest Hour editors, professors, students, critics and
champions (see also page 20 -Ed.) One of
the subscribers sends a message to an
address ([email protected]) and it
is automatically sent to all members of the
service. I have received up to twenty messages a day. It is free, and supplies me
with all kinds of interesting Churchilliana.
Many times heated discussions erupt,
ranging from Churchill's opinions on the
Holocaust to his fantastic skills. Thanks!
BEV THOMAS
NEXT UP: FDR IN 1944
During the writing of my book on
Harry Hopkins I was concerned that I
would be able to do him justice. Your generous review in FH 93 makes it all worthwhile. It also has given me encouragement
to proceed with my next book, which will
focus on Franklin Roosevelt in 1944. There
will be at least a chapter on the FDRChurchill relationship at a time when
Roosevelt was not at his best because of
Editor's response: John Gallagher actually weariness and serious health problems. I
am most grateful for your kind words.
said much more—he really despises the
MATT WILLS, COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.
thing!—but we ran out of space. It is interest-
RIGHT: Anent Matt
Wills's letter (righthand
column), Douglas Hall
offers us this charming
little black and white
mug backstamped
"Ascot White Made in
England," dating probably from 1941: "The mug
shows little sign of use...
I suspect it has spent
most of its 50+ years
locked away. Very rare."
RECIPES FROM NO. 10
Edited and Annotated for the Modern Kitchen by Barbara R Langworth
C
hurchill's attachment to the creatures who inhabited Chartwell
and its farms was well known. The
most famous example involves a
goose which he refused to carve at a
family dinner. Handing over the
carving knife to his wife, Sir Winston
exclaimed, "You carve him, Clemmie,
he was a friend of mine."
Feathered animals were especially appreciated, particularly Chartwell's famous black swans. Walter
Graebner, Churchill's Life editor,
reports the great man's distress on
learning that one of them had fallen
victim to a marauding fox. When his
son-in-law, Christopher Soames,
reported that the mother swan had
died in defence of her cygnets, and
had given the fox a fight he would
long remember, Churchill declared,
"I knew she would." The cygnets
were removed that very day to the
safety of Regent's Park Zoo, and Sir
Winston commanded the construction of "a system of defence in depth"
to protect the pond from attack.
The master of Chartwell
undoubtedly fancied his smaller birds
too, but he was perhaps less unwilling to partake of the sumptuous
meals involving them which his
famous cook, Georgina Landemare,
occasionally offered, such as...
Coq au Vin
For six people...
1 plump chicken cut into 6 pieces
1/2 lb. of bacon cut into thick cubes
12 small onions (peeled)
12 small mushrooms
Butter for browning
Seasoning (salt & pepper)
2 tablespoons brandy
10 ounces Burgundy
Bouquet garni
3 tablespoons flour mixed with
2 tablespoons soft butter
Slices of lemon and fleurons of
pastry for garnishing
In a large skillet, brown the
bacon and
onions in the
butter. When a
golden colour,
add the chicken, bouquet
garni, mushrooms and seasoning. Cover
the pan and
cook quickly till
all is brown.
Remove lid,
take off the fat
and pour over
the brandy.
Flame the
brandy, add the
Burgundy,
cover and simmer for 3/4
hour or until
chicken is tender. Discard
bouquet garni.
RECIPES
FROM NO.10
GEORGINA 1. A N OEMARE
With an Introduction by Lady Churchill
Remove chicken to a serving platter, keep warm.
Add butter and flour mixture to
the skillet, stir until dissolved and
sauce thickens. Pour sauce over chicken; garnish with lemon and pastry.
Bouquet garni - Flavoring spices of
fresh or dried herbs. Make your own
by tying one tablespoon of dried
herbs in a double piece of cheese
cloth (this can also be found readymade), or tie fresh herbs together. I
used the white part of a leek, tarragon, basil, thyme, parsley, and bay
leaf tied between two pieces of celery.
Fleurons of pastry - Thaw one sheet
of puff pastry according to package
directions. Cut shapes with a cookie
(biscuit) cutter and bake at 350° for 15
minutes or until golden.
$
A staff benefit of this new
Finest Hour department
is serving as Official
Taster of the delights of
Chartwell's and Number
10's kitchen. In this case
the Taster recommends
Mrs. Landemare's Coq
au Vin, washed down
with a good sauvignon
blanc, enjoyed in the company of Andrea and Don
Feder.—RML
CHURCHILLTRIVIA
BY CURT ZOLLER
817. About which American Secretary
of State did Churchill comment: "He is
the only bull I know who carries his
own china closet with him"? (C)
818. Who wrote of Churchill " he is
brave, which is everything! Napoleonic
in audacity, Cromwellian in thoroughness."? (L)
819. In 1882 Prime Minister Gladstone
expressed a strong opinion about the
Churchills. What was it? (M)
820. Churchill knew a cat named after a
famous British hero. What was its
name? (P)
821. What was one of Churchill's primary reasons for joining the Liberal
Party in 1904? (S)
822. How did Churchill improve the
firepower of the five dreadnoughts for
the 1912 Naval program? (W)
823. Who replaced Lloyd George's second coalition Government as Prime
Minister? (C)
824. According to Maurice Ashley,
what was Churchill's opinion of
American vs. British editions of his
books? (L)
825. Who played Winston Churchill in
the film "The Wilderness Years"? (M)
826. Who was the sculptor of the statue
which stands at the British Embassy,
Washington, D.C.? (P)
827. Churchill commented "...There is
only one thing worse than fighting with
Allies
!" What is it? (S)
828. From 1901 to 1903 Churchill spoke
out strongly against proposed Army
reforms by Secretary of State for War St.
John Brodrick. What was Churchill's
reasoning? (W)
833. What were Churchill's comments
about Neville Chamberlain? (S)
834. Who was the British scientist
whom Churchill called "the man who
broke the bloody Beam"? (W)
835. What is the location of the bronze
statue of Churchill sculpted by Ivor
Roberts-Jones ? (C)
836. Of whom did Churchill comment:
"There for the grace of God goes God"?
(C)
837. Who inspired Churchill to write
the Life of Marlborough? (M)
838. Who said of Churchill: "When
Winston is right he is unique. When he
is wrong—Oh My God!"? (P)
839. What are the two main issues
Churchill devoted his energies to in the
final months as Prime Minister? (S)
840. When Gen. Eisenhower was under
considerable pressure from Churchill
to occupy Berlin before the Russians, he
wrote to Gen. Marshall: " I am the
first to admit that a war is waged in
pursuance of
". Can you complete
the quotation? (W)
Answers to last issue's questions:
(793) Churchill's comment "about compressing the largest amount of words
into the smallest amount of thought"
referred to Prime Minister Ramsay
MacDonald. (794) The Daily Graphic
paid him five guineas for each
letter written during the Cuban insurrection. (795) Charles Bedaux, a
naturalized American citizen, was contacted by the Germans to contact the
Duke of Windsor, but he declined
because he was no longer friendly with
the Windsors.
831. When and where did Sir Winston
Churchill's parents first meet? (M)
(796) "Barbara Frietchie" by John
Greenleaf Whittier was the poem
Churchill recited on the way to ShangriLa. (797) In his speech on 6 December
1950, when dedicating the Asquith
monument, Churchill said, " .... But I
must say that the statesmen whom I
saw in those days seemed to tower
above the general level in a most
impressive way. The tests were keener,
the standards were higher, and those
who surmounted them were men it was
a treat and honour to meet."
832. What was the name of Churchill's
last bodyguard? (P)
(798) Rear-Admiral John de Robeck
was promoted to head the Naval
829. Who painted the Churchill picture
which was hanging in Prime Minister
Thatcher's office while she was Prime
Minister? (C)
830. How long were the Churchills
married? (C)
force at the Dardanelles when ViceAdmiral Carden collapsed under the
strain. (799) Malcolm Muggeridge of
the Daily Telegraph said that "Churchill
is too rhetorical to be either a really
great writer or orator." (800) President
Roosevelt's letter introduced Wendell
L. Willkie and included the Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow poem:
"...Sail on, O Ship of State,
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
(801) The painting, "The Olive Tree"
was sold for £500. (802) Congress
made Churchill an Honorary American
Citizen in 1963. (803) Speaking at the
Lord Mayor's Luncheon, Mansion
House, London, on 10 November 1942,
Churchill said: "
I have not become
the King's First Minister in order
to preside over the liquidation of the
British Empire."
(804) The Spanish Cross of the Order of
Military Merit was granted to Churchill
on 6 December 1895 by Gen. Valdez,
Chief of the Spanish Army in Cuba.
(805) Manfred Weidhorn commented
on Churchill's Malakand Field Force in
his book Sword and Pen.
(806) Churchill was working on The
River War when he met the American,
Miss Christine Lewis. (807) Bezique
was Churchill's favorite card game.
(808) A. J. Campbell Colquhoun owned
Chartwell when Churchill bought it.
(809) Churchill made the comment in
his speech against the White Paper
which stipulated an end to Jewish
immigration to Palestine in five years
by a majority decision of the population. (810) Edward R. Morrow coined
the phrase, "to send the English language into battle."
(811) Churchill commented on
American insistence on the invasion of
Southern France in Triumph and
Tragedy, 1953. (812) He urged his
friends not to read Savrola, his only
novel. (813) When Churchill saw his
first American football game in early
1930 he said: "Actually it is somewhat
like rugby. But why do you have all
these committee meetings ?"
(814) John Winston Spencer Churchill,
7th Duke of Marlborough, was Winston
Churchill's paternal grandfather. (815)
"The high-roads of the future will be
clear" is part of the ending of the
"Sinews of Peace"speech, Fulton,
Missouri, 5 March 1946. (816) A.V.
Alexander became First Lord of the
Admiralty in the Churchill War Cabinet
on 11 May 1940.
$S
AMPERSAND
o incuts °innp"°
1 ime.
Dorothy Jones (Edenfield, Lancashire) sends us this photograph from
a friend's house clearance: "He doesn't
remember where it originated other
than the Evening Standard." But a date
on the back reads 23 June 1936, which
led us to the Complete Speeches. On that
date, Churchill was speaking in London
to the Central and Associated Chambers
of Agriculture. It is satisfying to find the
words that go with the photograph...
/ / T h a v e done my best to warn the
J-Government of the dangers which
from every side are gathering and
growing about our native land. Not
only is the growth of food in close proximity to the populations the highest
economy that can be achieved, but it is
also a very great security. The more
food we can grow the more solid will be
the foundations on which our very large
population reposes, and the less strain
there is on the Navy in time of war. I
believe the Navy at present is, and will
be for the next year, fully adequate to
any strain that might be cast on it. If
measures are taken now and pressed
forward, there is no reason why the
strength of the Navy should not be adequately maintained. But then there is
the complication of the attack by air on
our ports of entry as well as on the
approaches from the sea. That would
certainly impose a new strain on the
Navy and might require the use of the
westerly ports of the country to a very
much larger extent than has occurred
before. If that should occur no one can
doubt that the possession of large and
fertile home-grown resources of food
would be of inestimable assistance.
"....I am surprised as well as pained
to see the lack of comprehension that
exists throughout the country of the
dangerous position in which we are.
The Secretary of State for War is quite
right when he says that the condition of
Europe is far worse than it was in 1914.
But our own position is not nearly so
good as it was then. Our defences have
been neglected to an extent surprising
and astonishing, and even the novel
menace of the air did not exist to any
extent in 1914. Yet, when a Minister like
that, in one of the highest positions,
with all the secret information of the
Government at his disposal, makes a
statement so alarming, one is astonished
that the country does not rouse itself on
the matter, that it does not ask whether
it is true, or that it does not insist on
minor topics being laid aside and the
whole efforts and energies of the country concentrated on placing the country
in a position of security....Mr. Baldwin
said in the House of Commons last
week that he believed if this country
were threatened by any Power or combination of Powers, the people would
spring to arms like one man. But what
would happen if there were no arms for
them? If measures are not taken in time
there may not be even food to nourish
their bodies."
—Winston S. Churchill: His Complete
Speeches, Robert Rhodes James, ed.,
(New York: Bowker 1974), Vol. VI, pp
5773-74.
$
fo r
urcJaiJI
Tlie 1951 Campaign Pin
The Washington Society for Churchill
has issued this finely enameled replica of the
pin Churchill's supporters wore in the election
which made him Prime Minister again after six
years out of office. The craftsmanship is a significant improvement on the original, crisp,
clear and bright. US $10 or the equivalent postpaid. Order from WSC, c/o
Dr. John Mather, 12144 Long Ridge Lane, Bowie MD 20715 USA.
IMMORTAL WORDS
" I look forward confidently to tbe exploits of our figbter pilots — tbese splendid
men, tbis brilliant youtb — wbo will bave tbe glory of saving tbeir native land, tbeir
island borne, and all tbey love, from tbe most deadly of all attacks....tbe Battle of
France is over. I expect tbat tbe Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon tbis battle
depends tbe survival of Cbristian civilisation. Upon it depends our own Britisb life,
and tbe long continuity of our institutions and our Empire....Let us tberefore
brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves tbat, if tbe Britisb Empire and
its Commonwealtb last for a tbousand years, men will still say,
'Tbis was tbeir finest bour.' "
—Winston S. Churchill, House of Commons, 18 June 1940
FROM THE ROYAL AIR FORCE BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL FLIGHT
Hurricane PZ 865, "Last or tne Many," was tne final or 14,533 Hurricanes built by Hawkers.
Completed in 1944, she was retained by tbe manufacturers and used for communications and
testing before being presented to tbe BBMF in 1972.
Pbotograpb by courtesy of Lincolnshire's Lancaster Association (Ltd.) and
Douglas Hall, whose article appears (appropriately) on pages 40-41.

ST HOUR - Winston Churchill

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