FINEST
HOUR
First Quarter 1994
Number 82
Journal of the International Churchill Societies • Australia • Canada • New Zealand • UK • USA
CONTENTS;
FINEST HOUR
1st Quarter 1994
Journal of the International Churchill Societies
Number 82
10 1993 International Churchill Conference
by Richard M. Langworth
28 How Healthy Was Churchill?
Seven honorary members, seven ambassadors, seven
academic papers, 150 students, 300 delegates, made
our 25th Anniversary a "Grand Climacteric"
Aside from Lord Moran's book, there is not much
published medical evidence, but certainly room for
a book on the subject, if more details can be unearthed.
19 1994 International Churchill Conference
30 The Finest Hour Reader Survey
by John H. Mather, M.D.
by John G. Plumpton
by Barbara F. Langworth
A warm welcome awaits you in the Canadian Rockies
September 23rd through 26th: Save the Dates!
Ten percent of the Friends of the Societies responded to
last year's opinion survey. Their prime message is to
work harder on chapters, but they tell us much else too.
20 Great Contemporaries: Reith of the BBC
by Ron Cynewulf Robbins
"That Wuthering Height," said Churchill of his
Broadcasting House nemesis, the towering Scot who
dominated British radio in its most crucial years.
And of WSC Reith wrote, "I absolutely hate him."
Book Reviews
Aegean Adventures by Michael Woodbine Parish
Winston Churchill, Architect of Peace by Steven Lambakis
38 "History with its Flickering Lamp"
by Richard M. Langworth
40 Statesmanship in a Grave New World
24 A Patient Shrug:
The Art of Churchill's Correspondence With Stalin
by Douglas Peine
Churchill, whom revisionists call an egotist, wrote letters to Stalin devoid of egocentricity: a selfless effort of
which lesser men would not have been capable.
by Patrick J. C. Powers
42 Lord Randolph Churchill's Generosity
by courtesy of Peregrine S. Churchill
From the papers of Sir Winston's father,
a heartwarming example of Churchillian generosity.
I
4
5
9
34
35
36
38
43
46
47
48
Amid These Storms
International Datelines
Wit and Wisdom
Action This Day
Riddles, Mysteries, Enigmas
Churchill in Stamps
Book Reviews
Despatch Box
Churchilltrivia
Announcements
Immortal Words
Cover: "Winnie" by Nibs, in Vanity Fair
for 8 March 1911, from the collection of
Dr. Robert K. Moxon, Columbia, South
Carolina., (Dr. Moxon also contributed
the 1900 Vanity Fair caricature on the
cover of issue #69.) This is believed to be
the rarer of the two. Prints on heavy
paper with white borders are available
from ICS Stores (address opposite) for
US$25, £18, or the equivalent. Sales
assist the work of the Societies.
FINEST HOUR 82 / 3
AMID THESE STORMS
FINEST H O U R
ISSN 0882-3715
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
H. Ashley Redburn, OBE
Rosemere, Hollands Mead
Overmoigne, Dorchester,
Dorset DT2 8HX UK
News Editor
John Frost
8 Monks Ave, New Barnet,
Herts. EN5 1D8 UK
Contributors
Martin Gilbert, United Kingdom
George Richard, Australia
Stanley Smith, United States
Ron Cynewulf Robbins, Canada
James W. Muller, United States
Douglas J. Hall, United Kingdom
James Bell, Greece
FINEST HOUR is published
quarterly for Friends of 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 1994. All rights
reserved. Designed and produced
for ICS United States by Dragonwyck Publishing Inc. Printed by
' Morgan Press Inc. Made in U.S.A.
W
HEN Dr. Watson told Sherlock Holmes the world was round, Holmes
replied that he would try to forget that, since the mind was not infinitely
expandable and such information was extraneous to his requirements. I
think about this whenever I am told about the "Information Superhighway" coming my way over the modem line: wonderful on-line computer services bolting me
into everything from the latest Wall Street tick to the number of Burmese in
Afghanistan and the entire editorial content of Time, all flashed onto my computer
screen in exchange for a few button presses and a phone call. As Holmes said
recently, (he's 156 now, feeding on Royal Jelly at his retirement bee farm in the
Sussex Downs): "Alas no one has yet invented Homo sapiens 1.1: we are still fiddling about with the same clunky 1.0 model we've had since Adam and Eve."
Whether Homo sapiens 1.0 is capable of assimilating one thousandth of the
"Information Superhighway" without becoming a hopeless computer junkie is an
open question. Nevertheless, as Churchill said in his first trial run on television:
"Even though we have to descend to this level, we always have to keep pace with
modern improvements." So I ask the advice of readersIt is suggested that ICS institute a "Churchill Information Service" through
a popular medium like Prodigy, posting, say, synopses of articles in Finest Hour on
hot topics, academic papers or speeches to ICS, inviting rapidfire electronic exchanges of opinions and dialogue (and, in the process, getting more people to become Friends of ICS). One expert even visualizes a question-answer session with a
prominent historian, using the system's "e-mail" feature.
Do you subscribe to an on-line service? Which one and why? Would such
a Churchill service be useful to you? Give me some examples. I am very interested,
although I notice that everybody urging this wants me to be the "system operator."
That makes sense, since I have so much time on my hands...
• A REPORTER named Burns was talking the othvr night about the UN's "inspection mission" to Sarajevo last year. Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Co. arrived at the
airport, were driven through the streets in bullet-proof limousines, had an elaborate lunch while blocks away people were starving, drove back to the airport,
where guards protected their luxury jet, and flew home, to abhor the ongoing horror but do nothing. Which reminded me of Churchill, Greece and December 1944.
Similar situation: civil war had made Athens a killing field. Churchill sent
troops, telling his generals to "hold and dominate Athens...withbloodshed if necessary." Then he flew in personally, stationing himself in HMS Ajax off Piraeus, the
harbor for Athens, chortling "Missed again!" when ELAS rebel gunners sent shells
hurtling toward the ship. He drove in an armored car to meet the opposing sides
with bullets flying, asking Jock Colville if he had a pistol—"I certainly had my
own." He parleyed in an unheated room lit by hurricane lamps, reminded both
sides of Greece's fame and majesty. Peace followed in his wake. Quite a contrast.
# STAMPS were the reason ICS was founded, yet stamps are the least popular
subjects we cover in these pages (see charts, Reader Survey article); so I offer a
brief defense of stamps, both Churchill and "C-R" (Churchill-related). Unless you
are a philatelist, may I suggest not looking upon these as postage stamps but as
illustrations, which add to our understanding of Churchill and his era. Especially
good, I thought, was the late Dalton Newfield's stamp-studded accounts of
Churchill's 1895 visit to Cuba (FH #77 pp26-7) and of how the battleship Goeben
(pictured on a Turkish stamp) altered the course of World War I (FH #78, pp32-3).
Give the stamps a try. They may redeem themselves!
RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
The editor's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Churchill Societies or their Trustees.
4/FINESTHOUR 82
-; • £ : INTERNATIONAL.OTEONES,:
Quote of the Season
If Europe is to be saved from infinite misery, and indeed from final doom, there must
be an act of faith in the European family and an act of oblivion against all the crimes and follies of
the past. [Tlren] the wrongs and injuries which have been inflicted will liave been washed away
on all sides by the miseries which have been endured. Is there any need for further floods of
agony? Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable? Let there be justice, mercy
and freedom. The peoples have only to will it, and all will achieve their hearts' desire."
-WSC, ZURICH UNIVERSITY, 19 SEPTEMBER 1946
duce a noteworthy variation on our fortyfirst commemorative cover, marking the
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Teheran Conference. Using the same ICS envelope
which we issued as-standard at Churchill,
Scotland and Accord, New York, we
managed to get a handful of covers
through the Teheran postal service!
to prove what the Center can do, and
how much it is needed. Tickets will cost
little if anything, but are limited by capacity (120). Details shortly. If you think you
may like to attend this event, please drop
a postcard to the editor.
Lady Maclean and Sir Fitzroy enjoy a glass of
Pol Roger Churchill cuvee: there's more to come.
LADY SOAMES, ROY JENKINS, SIR
FITZROY MACLEAN, AND THE
LAST CALL FOR SCOTLAND
LONDON, FEBRUARY 23RD— Sir Winston's
daughter and Patron of the Societies Lady
Soames has notified us of her intention to
join our dinner for the Rt Hon Lord Jenkins at the Caledonian Hotel, Edinburgh
May 21st, during our 1994 tour of Scotland May 19th-29th. On the 28th we will
dine at the Mi cleans' Creggans Inn in
Argyll and present Sir Fitzroy with the
ICS Blenheim Award (see last issue p27.)
There are still some seats available on this
tour: see page 47 for details. If you wish
to attend the Edinburgh dinner only, this
too can be arranged. Please contact the
editor (address and phone opposite).
CHURCHILL SYMPOSIUM 28-9, OCT.
WASHINGTON, DC, USA— The Churchill
Center for the Study of Statecraft
announces its first annual Symposium, to
be held in cooperation with the Woodrow
Wilson Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution on Friday-Saturday
October 28-29th next. A field of distinguished Churchill scholars, critics as well
as praisers, is being invited to deliver
from six to ten new academic papers
which will, God willing, be transcribed,
published, taped, videographed and
downloaded for further perusal. This is
the first formal academic event sponsored
by the Churchill Center, and is designed
HERITAGE FUND A SUCCESS
WESTHELD, NJ, USA, MARCH 1ST— Close to
$15,000 was raised for ICS United States
in the first annual giving program, fifty
percent more than our goal, despite a
mailing too late for most donations to be
deducted from 1993 income taxes. The
Heritage Fund was designed to help
finance three ICS special publications in
1994: a booklet describing the ConoverChurchilJ correspondence recently donated to the Society; the 1992-93 Proceedings
book, and A Connoisseur's Guide to the
Books of Sir Winston Churchill, by the editor. It is will also bring us closer to a modern reprint of the two-volume River War,
out of print since 1902.
We sincerely thank our many supporters, w h o will be acknowledged next
issue. We want particularly to thank our
major contributors. The Chartwell Associates (named in honor of Sir Winston's
home, designed to support ICS publications): Fred Farrow; Ambassador Paul H.
Robinson, Jr.; Peter J. Travers. The Dalton
Newfield Advocates (named in honor of
the President of ICS 1970-75, w h o s e
vision and leadership led to its successful
campaign to republish out-of-print
Churchill books and the 1940-65 document volumes of the Official Biography):
Jane Fraser, William C. Ives, Parker H.
Lee III, Michael W. Michelson and the
Master Charitable Foundation HI.
COVER #41 POSTED AT TEHERAN
DESPITE "PECULIAR LOOKS"
TEHERAN, IRAN, NOVEMBER 30TH— In a
combined operation that would do justice
to Lord Mountbarten, Gerald Lovell of
Silverstone, Northants., England; covers
manager Dave Marcus of Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA; and the staff of the British
Embassy in Teheran combined to pro-
Above: British Charge a"Affaires Jeffrey James,
Mr & h/irs Carl Hogstrom (Finnish and
American), His Excellency Sergei Tretjakov,
Russian Ambassador, Teheran, 30 November.
Note Soviet & Russian Republic flags. Below:
the cover postmarked Churchill, Scotland.
TEHERAN CONFERENCE
\OVEHBEM U-DECEMMSK^IS '
"Bio TH«I«" j\e*a w W«. hw
HIGH POINTOFALUED
WARTIME COOPERATION
The result (it won't reproduce) is a
pink Iranian meter cancel dated 30.11.93,
postmarked on the very day of the
anniversary. Producing such an object in
the Islamic Republic was unlikely but,
says personal assistant to the Charge
d'Affaires Marilynn McLaren, "we managed to do it — with some very peculiar
looks at the post office." We are trying to
determine the fairest way of parceling out
these special covers (keep reading).
The project began a year ago when
Gerald Lovell learned that the British
Embassy held a dinner party every year
on WSC's birthday to mark the Teheran
Conference, and undertook to make the
necessary connections for a commemorative cover. This year the Residence where
Churchill hosted Roosevelt and Stalin
was under renovation, so a reception was
held at the Russian Embassy instead. The
Russians managed to find not only the
only American flag still in one piece in
Iran, but a live American (wife of a
Finnish diplomat) to celebrate with
British and Russian officials. The accompanying photo reveals another notewor-
FINEST HOUR 82 / 5
International Datelines...
thy fact: the only occasion we know of with
both the old Soviet flag and the flag of the Russian Republic side by side. What a coup —
er, achievement! Hats off to Messrs. Lovell
and Marcus for conceiving of the most
imaginative ICS cover since Dave Druckman postmarked cover #24 at six towns
along WSC's Boer War escape route in
South Africa back in 1984, and the British
Embassy for their help.
Friends of ICS on the regular covers
mailing list received the standard-postmark covers automatically. Others may
order one while the supply lasts for $3
from ICS Stores, address on page 2.
(Note: covers are free, but you must ask
to be put on the list; to do so, write David
Marcus, 3048 Van Buskirk Circle, Las
Vegas NV 89121, or telephone 702-4340181. Our next cover will mark the 50th
Anniversary of WSC's return to France,
12 June 1944, six days after D-Day.)
Parceling out the eight covers postmarked Teheran is problematic. For the
nonce, we have decided not to charge
money. Instead, send us something publishable for these pages on Churchill or
Churchill-philately. You might write a
story-in-stamps (as on pages 36-37), or
some other squib of research or general
interest; even an amusing letter saying
why you simply cannot live without a
Teheran Conference cover postmarked at
Teheran. The first eight people who send
acceptable written contributions will get
the cover free. If we receive fewer than
eight requests (which we highly doubt),
we will keep the remaining covers for the
archives. Write 'Teheran Cover," c/o the
editor, address on page 4.
Winston Hum lull
The Other Club's handsome announcement.
ances, which ranges from California to
the UK. Even the weather cooperated,
wanning up to a balmy 20F, so you only
needed a windbreaker.
impressive display and mean so much
more to visitors than a list of titles."
The UK and USA Societies have gone
to work on a representative collection. To
complete the set quickly at minimal
expense, we propose to provide mainly
"first edition lookalikes" (usually later
impressions published just after the
firsts), which we will wrap in colour replicas of the original jackets. This will protect
the books and give them a bright "period" appearance. Colour photocopying is
now very good, much cheaper than original jackets; also, no harm is done if they
fade from sun or electric light. The major
problem is pre-1920 titles, which are not
cheap even as reprints, and jackets for
some are not even known. However,
there are ways around this: we may start
with modern reprints for such titles as the
Malakand. If you would like to donate a
book to Chartwell for this display, please
let the editor know. Donors will be
named in exhibition literature.
HUMES ON LECTURE CIRCUIT
PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 12TH— James C.
Humes, author, presidential speechwriter
and communications advisor to major
corporations, was the speaker at the organizational meeting of ICS Pennsylvania
tonight, discussing his new book, The Wit
and Wisdom of Winston Churchill (Collins).
Humes is also addressing ICS meetings in
New York City (21 March), Washington
(14 April), and Omaha (23 April), and
will be in Dallas 14 May to speak to the
English-Speaking Union, where ICS may
also be represented. Friends of ICS within
chapter areas have been advised automatically. For information, call your local
chapter (page 2) or call Humes at (215)
735-0640.
CHURCHILL THE PAINTER
TORONTO, JANUARY 22ND— Merry Alberigi
made the ultimate sacrifice of leaving California for Toronto during the worst January within anyone's memory, to present
her slide lecture on Churchill and his
paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario
today. A sell-out crowd was present at
the event, hosted by The Other Club of
Toronto, a chapter of ICS, Canada.
"Everyone was so pleased with this look
at Churchill's avocation and peaceful pastime that we want to put it on again,"
says ICS, Canada's John Plumpton—so
Merry will address an even larger audience in Alberta, during the 1994 International Conference (see page 19). The True
North is now added to her list of appear-
6/FINEST HOUR 82
BOOKS FOR CHARTWELL
WESTERHAM, KENT, APRIL 2ND— For 1994,
Sir Winston's home has a fine new exhibition relating his life story, in the old
kitchen area formerly occupied by the gift
shop (now separate). Designed by a crack
National Trust team aided by Lady
Soames, the exhibit concentrates particularly on the years after 1922, when WSC
acquired Chartwell. "One of the aspects
we want to emphasize is WSC's prolific
literary output," writes administrator
Jean Broome, who does us the honour of
asking if ICS could create a display of Sir
Winston's books (nearly fifty titles, over
sixty volumes) for this new exhibition.
"They would certainly make a very
LE GENERAL ET LE POL ROGER
LONDON, JUNE 1993 — Pol Roger was served
at the unveiling of the statue of General
de Gaulle, outside his wartime HQ, 4
Carlton Gardens, erected through an
Appeal inspired and led by Lady Soames.
.Three months later, our Patron was guest
of honour at a dinner at the British
Embassy in Paris, attended by Adm.
Philippe de Gaulle, son of the General,
and some of the most historical names of
France, from Rhan to Rothshild. Fittingly,
the toasts were drunk in Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1985.
ERRATA, FH #81
A line was dropped on p24 right column: Chamacyparis lawsoniana would be
happy growing in a large tub on a sunny
terrace with regular watering and feeding with liquid fertiliser—not "growing
in a liquid fertiliser" as stated. If you followed #81's instructions you are guilty,
in Sir Winston's word, of arboritide!
ICS/UKA.G.M.
WESTERHAM, KENT, APRIL 16TH — UK
Friends of the Society should mark this
date for the Annual General Meeting of
ICS United Kingdom, to be held at
Chartwell, where the year's programme
and other business will be discussed. UK
Friends will receive special invitations.
Others may write to chairman David
Porter (address, page 2).
JOHN FROST'S FRONT PAGES
NEW BARNET, HERTS., JANUARY 20TH — Finest
Hour news editor John Frost has published two books, each with 200 reproductions from his famous newspaper collection, samplings of the world press during World War II. They cover respectively
1939-41 and 1942-45. Copies are available
in North America from Historical Briefs
Inc., PO Box 629, Verplanck NY 10596 for
US$39.50 postpaid (add 6.75% sales tax if
you live in New York State). In the UK,
contact Mr. Frost at 8 Monks Avenue,
New Barnet, Herts. EN51D8.
PERSON OF THE CENTURY \
ANAHEIM, CALIF., USA — Friend o| ICS
Andrew J. Guilford, President of1 the
Orange County Bar Association, recently
added to the case for Churchill as "Person
of the Century." Appalled by the "Person
of the Century" balloting at Disneyland,
where such nominees as Mark Spitz were
among the alternatives, Guilford wrote in
the Orange County Lawyer: "His extraordinary impact upon history...make Winston
ChurchiO the clear choice. Long ago he
was named Time's Man of the Half Century, and he remains unsurpassed. His
courage, charisma, eloquence and charac-
ter saved England and may have saved
democracy...The man responsible for the
development of the tank [well, not really,
but he influenced it -Ed.] also 'mobilized
the English language and sent it into battle' [John F. Kennedy] with power
unmatched by any English orator this
century except Martin Luther King...I'm
going to Disneyland to vote early and
vote often."
We have only one question: Why is
this being decided by ... Disneyland?
REMEMBERING "THE FEW"
EMSWORTH, HANTS, UK, SEPTEMBER 24TH—
Former ICS/UK chairman Tom Thomas
sends us photos
of a wood carving, found on a
recent visit to
St. Luke's parish church in
Whyteleafe, Surrey:
another
proof that WSC's
words are everywhere. Writes
Thomas: "In the cemetery to the church
are the graves of a number of air pilots
and crew who were killed at Kenley,
including at least one German pilot.
Whyteleafe can't be more than 1 1 / 2
miles from Kenley and is on the Godstone Road, near Purley."
CHURCHILL SITES INFO NEEDED
IOWA CJTY, 1A., USA, FEBRUARY 7TH - D o u g l a s
Russell, author of The Orders, Decorations
and Medals of Sir Winston Churchill (ICS,
1990) is at work on a new book about
Young Winston's military career. Information is needed from anyone who has
visited Churchill sites in India, the Sudan,
Cuba and South Africa. He would be
pleased to hear from anyone willing to
share their observations, photos,maps,
publications or souvenirs. Write PO Box
2416, Iowa City, LA 52244 or telephone
(319) 351-5610 (office) or 337-4408 (home).
NEW CHURCHILL STAMPS
As promised last issue, we list new
Churchill stamps since 1990 (there may
be others; readers please advise). Numbers are Scott (#) and Stanley Gibbons
(sg). Celwyn Ball of Riverdale, NB, Canada has now completed and is checking
proofs of a new ICS Churchill Stamp
Checklist, to be published next year. -RML
Antigua. 1990: #1380-88, souv. sheets #138990 WW2 Anniversary. Includes WSC & Roose-
velt at Casablanca (#1383). 1990: #1484 de
Gaulle Centenary souv. sheet, WSC & deG.
Barbuda. 1990: de Gaulle Centenary overprinted "Barbuda."
Barbuda Mail. 1990: de Gaulle Centenary
overprinted "Barbuda Mail."
Cayman Islands. 1990: #622-23 Queen Mother, $1 showing King and Queen with WSC.
Congo Republic. 1991: #930-37 Celebrities,
one showing WSC (#936).
Easdale Island (Local). 1990: Human Rights
Leaders. A £5 single in gold foil showing WSC,
Kennedy & John Paul II. Varieties: same stamp
in silver foil; singles faintly perforated "specimen" and numbered on back, gold and silver
foil; imperf mini-sheets on white and black
card, gold and silver foil; mini-sheets 'ascribed
"Pope John Paul II African Visit."
The Gambia. October 1993: #1389 ;-d Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 40th Anniversary.
Mini-sheet of eight stamps to four designs,
printed se-tenant with central gutter; #1389c
(8D) show WSC in First Lord's uniform circa
1946, not at Coronation — a gaffe by some
designer. Also a 20D souvenir sheet.
Gibraltar. 1993: Anniversaries. Set of four
values, the 49p value commemorating 50th
anniversary of Churchill's visit to Gibraltar.
Sheets include gutter pairs.
Guinea. 1990: de Gaulle Centenary. The
souvenir sheet (de Gaulle broadcasting) portrays de Gaulle, his son Philippe and WSC
with a WW2 montage.
Guyana. 1990: #807-11 Locomotives. One
show locomotive "Sir Winston Churchill"
(#810). 1990: de Gaulle Centenary souvenir
sheet has background showing deG, WSC,
Free French Cross. Varieties: imperf. 1992:
Word Thematic Exh. silver foil, embossed
heads of WSC, etc. Varieties: souv. sheets on
white card and on city background scene; all
types issued on gold foil; all found embossed
"specimen". 1993(7): Orchids (8). Mini-sheets
of ten inscribed "World Personalities-Fighters
for Peace-Human Rights overprinted in black.
"Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965" is one of ten
FINEST HOUR 82/7
names. Varieties: red & inverted overprints in
black &red,all of the above imperf. 1993(?):
Orchids. Souvenir sheet, $600, overprinted in
black "In memoriam Sir Winston S. Churchill
1874-1965 ... 50th Anniversary World War II."
Varieties: red overprint. 26 July 1993: #2676a-l
Famous People. One of two mini-sheets of nine
$100 values; lower right stamp is WSC.
Isle of Man. 5 September 1990: #432-35
Churchill Death 25th Anniversary. Set of four
showing WSC in various poses with various
WW2 backdrops. 4 January 1993: #531-550 Ship
Definitives, with 4p showing training schooner
"Sir Winston Churchill (#533). Also: a 4p post
office stamp card no. 11, booklet pane of 4; boat
is pictured on presentation pack for the set.
Malagasy Republic 1990: de Gaulle Centenary. Three souvenir sheets; one has background showing WSC and de Gaulle in 1944
Armistice Day parade, Paris.
Maldive Islands. 1990: #1431-40 WW2
Anniversary. One shows WSC, Stalin & Truman
at Potsdam (#1439). #1506-13, souv. sheets
#1514-15 Anniversaries. #1512 i shows WSC.
Marshall Islands. 10 May 1990: #259
Anniversary of WSC Prime Minister. Single 45c
value. 1993: Casablanca Conference. A 29c value
showing artwork of Roosevelt and Churchill
and map showing invasion of Sicily. Note:
numerous Marshall Islands WW2 commemoratives beginning 1989 have a Churchill speech
printed on the selvage. See FH #77, pp 18-19.
Mongolia. 22 May 1992: #2066 People and
Events. A 30L souvenir sheet shows Mother
Teresa, Nobel Prize winner, and lists Churchill
among other Nobel winners on sheet border.
Varieties: gold inscription and border imperf in
presentation card.
Niger. 1991: WW2 Anniversary. Two values.
The 250f shows WSC, Eisenhower, Montgomery. Varieties: imperf and part of souvenir
sheet and mini-sheet
Niuafo'ou. 1992: Pacific War Anniversary.
Twelve values, each 42c showing newspaper
headlines, including Churchill's warning to
Japanese. Varieties: "specimen" overprint;
imperf proof sheets printed in black & white.
RcuVi.jj. 1991: #9101-08, souv. sheet #9109
Nobel Prize Winners, with one depicting WSC
and the Nobel Prize for Literature (#9105).
St Vincent 1990: #1550-52, souv. sheet #1553
de Gaulle Centenary, with one value depicting
Churchill (#1551).
Sierra Leone. 27 April 1990: #1193, sg M/S
1447b Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet souvenir
sheet contains Churchill's "The Few" quote
from August 1940.
Solomon Islands. 1990: #543-47 Queen Mother. Set of two, the 12c showing the then-Queen
with WSC, V-E Day 1945 (#543).
Tanzania. 1992: #824a-j WW2 Anniversary
mini-sheet of ten, center picture of HMS Exeter;
one stamp shows WSC's notes on declaration of
war on Japan (#824b).
Uganda. 1990: #781 Queen Mother souvenir
sheet depicts WSC and others in World War II.
United States. 3 September 1991: #2559a-j
World War II Anniversary. Set of ten printed setenant with map of "world at war." #2559d
shows WSC, Roosevelt at Argentia, 1941.
8/FINEST HOUR 82
Vanuatu. 1990: #530a-f de Gaulle Centenary.
Set of eight plus non-denominational label
issued in se-tenant sheetlets of nine. The 55c
value shows Roosevelt, de Gaulle and WSC at
Casablanca (#530e).
DAN CLARK, R.I.P.
LANETT, GA., USA, JANUARY 23RD — Robert
Dan Clark, 70, a stalwart Friend of ICS
United States, died today, leaving his wife
Joyce and five sons. A graduate of the University of Alabama, he retired as director
of office services for WestPoint Pepperell's
Corporate Office after forty-six years of
service. In World War II he served in the
U.S. Army Air Corps, flying fifty-one combat missions and receiving two Purple
Hearts and five Air Medals. A friend to
many in ICS, Dan and Joyce participated in
one of the Churchill tours and were strong
supporters of ICS programs. Our sincere
condolences to Joyce and the Clark family;
our grief, though not as great as theirs, is
deeply felt. RML
HELP TURN REEL FILM TO VIDEO
BATON ROUGE, LA., MARCH 1ST — ICS/USA
secretary Derek Brownleader has two
8mm films, "Champion of Freedom" and
"Sir Winston Churchill." The editor has a
16mm reel by the British Ministry of Information entitled "The Unrelenting Struggle." We seek a Friend of ICS who might
be willing to convert these to videocassertes, which we would then seek permission to duplicate and sell.If anyone can
help, please contact Derek Brownleader,
1847 Stonewood Drive, Baton Rouge LA
70816, telephone (504) 752-3313.
"YOUNG WINSTON" IN BRONZE
WORCESTER, UK/NOVEMBER 1ST — Sculptor
Sandy O'Connor has created a fine life size
bust of Churchill: not as most others have
portrayed him, at 60+ years of age, but in
his twenties, when he was fighting Boers
and Pathans, making a name in Parliament
and writing five books about his adventures. The Duke and Duchess of Marlbor-
ough allowed O'Connor to research at
Blenheim. Ten life size bronze busts will be
produced. Mr. O'Connor has offered ICS a
discount price of £2200, £600 less than regular'price, of which 10% will be donated to
the Churchill Society of the orderer. Anyone interested may write the editor.
"IN THE ENGLISH MANNER LTD.":
A STATEMENT BY ICS/USA
In April 1993 we learned of a "Churchill
tour" being offered to the University of
California Berkeley Alumni Association by
"In the English Manner Ltd." — appositely
located in Wales. To our amazement, this
was a close copy of the ICS 1992 Churchill
tour. "In the English Manner" not only
duplicated most of the itinerary; they plagiarized word-for-word descriptions of our
tour from Finest Hour #76. With no
advance notice, they offered as guides or
speakers many persons, such as Martin
Gilbert, Sandhurst and RAF Uxbridge personnel, who had assisted our tour as a
kindness. Without seeking clearance, they
named as destinations many non-public
places, such as St. George's School, Seven
Stones, and two military installations
which were opened to us as a courtesy.
ICS United States Inc. took legal advice
and acquainted principals with the situation. In a 27 May letter from Sarah JonesLloyd of "In the English Manner Ltd.," the
firm promised to reword their itinerary.
They also made belated attempts to square
themselves with people and venues which
they had ad vertised, whose reactions had
ranged from anger to incredulity. However, as of late 1993 their tour was still being
promoted in the Berkeley Alumni travel
bulletin (at $5595, twice the price of the ICS
event they were copying). We urge members of the Berkeley Alumni to protest.
ICS United States Inc. sent its file on this
matter to the British Tourist Authority in
London and, having received Ms. JonesLloyd's u n d e r t a k i n g to reword her
itinerary, took no further action. There is
no copyright to a tour itinerary. Indeed we
have often assisted other worthy organisations plan Churchill tours. Our objection is
to patently rude and unethical behavior.
Finally: "li\ the English Manner,"
through their US sales agent, stated at one
point that their tour was "designed by a
member of ICS/UK." Her statement was
denied by Jones-Lloyd. We trust that this,
like their published itinerary, was merely a
case of unbridled promotion, since we certainly believe this firm deserves no help
from the Friends of ICS.
RICHARD M. LANGWORTH, PRESIDENT
In the book field, nothing is more popular than Churchillian quotes. Sprinkling tliem into
BY THE WAY...
"International Datelines," as we've done recently, isn't as effective as a separate column,
which commences herewith. I shall concentrate on the lesser known quotes, or well- Each "Wit and Wisdom" column will conclude
with a "By the Way" contribution by James
known ones which have been misquoted in popular books. -Editor
Bell, an English friend of ICS living in Eretria,
Greece. If you have an anecdote to share with
Mr. Bell, write him at "Apollo," Eretria, Evia,
Greece 34008.
CHAMPAGNE
"A single glass of Champagne imparts a
feeling of exhilaration. The nerves are
braced, the imagination is agreeably
stirred, the wits become more nimble. A
bottle produces a contrary effect." (My
Early Life). Now, let's get a few things
straight: WSC's favorite Champagne —
always capitalized when it's French, and
genuine — was Pol Roger (no hyphen,
pronounced "pol ro-zhay"), produced by
his friend Madame Odette Pol-Roger (with
hyphen). His favorite vintage was the '47,
which he hoped would be available until
he died. There were still 2,000 bottles when
ICS visited the delightful Pol-Roger family
in Epernay in 1989, but only 1,980 when
we left.
AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION
"As I took my leave I said I was going back
to London to speak at the English-Speaking Union and asked if he had any message for them. 'Yes,' he said, Tell them you
bring them messages from an EnglishSpeaking Union.' (Adlai Stevenson, in a
eulogy to Sir Winston, 28 January 1965.)
"GIVE ME A PIG!"
"Dogs look up to you, cats look down on
you — give me a pig! He looks you straight
in the eye and treats you as an equal." This
quote is often bowdlerized. With slight
variations (this version is Lady Soames's) it
was frequently said to friends and family,
as WSC scratched the back of a pig in the
sty at Chartwell Farm.
CLEAN MISS
Quoted correctly by President Reagan after
the attempt on his life, but not often prop
erly attributed: "Nothing is more exhilarating as to be shot at without result." (WSC
in recalling his 21st birthday in Cuba,
where he first heard bullets whistle by.)
CONFLICT
"Centuries ago words were written to be a
call and a spur to the faithful guardians of
truth and justice: 'Arm yourselves, and be
ye men of valour, and be in readiness for
the conflict; for it is better for us to perish
in battle than to look upon the outrage of
our nation and our altar. As the Will of
God is in Heaven, even so let it be.'"
(Broadcast, London, 19 May 1940)
Unwrapping a fresh Havana, Yalta, 14 Feb. 1945.
CIGAR AFICIONADO
"Smoking cigars is like falling in love: first
you are attracted to its shape; you stay
with it for its flavour; and you must always
remember never, never, let the flame go
out." (Good advice, but his cigars were
always going out, and being relit, with a
candle, not a match. He thought Havanas
by far the best; his favorite commercial
brand was Romeo y Julieta. Alas this writer can neither abide nor afford Havanas,
and must get by with Dominicans and
Jamaicans.)
"ST. WINSTON"
Even his most devoted admirers may
find it difficult to think of WSC as a saint.
Yet,together with Victor Hugo, Sun Yatsen and Louis Pasteur, he is revered as
such by the Cao Dai sect of Buddhism.
Meaning "High Altar" or "Supreme
Palace," Cao Dai arose in 1919, from a
seance communication received by Ngo
Van Chieu, an administrator for the French
in Cochin, China. In 1926 it was formally
organized by a wealthy Vietnamese, Le
Van Trung. Cao Dai seeks to adopt whatever seems best in other religions, teaching
that God communicates directly through
trance to certain devotees. Like the Roman
Catholic Church it has a Pope, who lives in
a village outside Tah Ninh city, near
Saigon. An ornate cathedral was built there
in 1937 at the foot of a high mountain. In
addition to Catholicism and Buddhism, the
sect combines elements of Confucianism,
Taoism and the traditional cults of spirits
and ancestors. It also revived the Buddhist
rules regarding vegetarianism and attitudes towards animals. With such a
breadth of belief it has continued to have
wide appeal, and is thought to have well in
excess of two million adherents.
-James Bell
WERE HUNS LIKE DOGS OR SHEEP?
"The Hun is either at your throat or at your
feet." (I believe this was said — please correct me — to Jock Colville. But when?)
A related line line is by Lord Mountbatten in his 1966 speech to the Edmonton
Churchill Society (perhaps the greatest
speech ever about Sir Winston, available
from ICS Stores): A colleague remarked,
"The Germans are just like sheep." WSC
replied, "Ah, but they are far worse than
that: they are carnivorous sheep!"
HORSES
"Don't give your son money; as far as you
can afford it, give him horses. No one ever
came to grief through riding horses ....
Unless, of course, they break their necks.
Which, taken at a gallop, is a very good
death to die."
(My Early Life: A Roving Commission)
ICS New Zealand (see last issue, page 5) is organized with Capt. Winston G. Churchill, USCG
(ret.) and Gordon H.J. Hogg in charge. Best wishes and thanks for your efforts on behalf of ICS.
FINEST HOUR 82 / 9
1993 International
Churchill Conference
Seven honorary members, seven ambassadors, seven
academic papers, 150 students, 300 delegates, made
the 25th Anniversary Conference a "Grand Climacteric.
BY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH • PHOTOS BY MICHAEL CARPENTER
T
he first
Together, they
Churchill
all managed the
Confermost ambitious,
ence was held in
event-studded
timetable in our
Fulton, Missouri
twenty-fiveten years ago,
year history.
with a total
We are espeattendance of
cially
grateful to
five. From 1984
our
two chief
through 1992
dinner
speakers,
conferences were
Winston
S.
held in Toronto,
Churchill
MP
Boston
and Jack Kemp;
Vancouver,
Ambassador
Dallas, Bretton
John
Loeb, Jr. of
Woods, London,
the
Winston
San Francisco,
Churchill FounAustralia, and
dation; seven
Honored guests on Sunday November 7th. L-R: Secretary Jack F. Kemp,
Surrey England,
serving
or reWinston S. Churchill MP, Minnie Churchill, Ambassador Paul and Martha Robinson.
none approachtired Ambassaing the 500 attendees we racked
PARTICIPANTS at the 1993 dors representing New Zealand,
up at Washington's Mayflower
Conference mysteriously Great Britain and the United
defied Washington's un- States; and honorary members
Hotel last November. We can only
written Law of Conferences: the who gave us the pleasure of their
give a taste of that conference here:
size of the audience is inversely company: Winston Churchill,
it featured more honorary members
proportional to time elapsed. Martin Gilbert, James Humes,
than ever before assembled in one
Starting Thursday night, when the Gen. Colin Powell, Amb. Paul
place, thirty-five speakers in more
British Embassy held a reception Robinson, Lady Thatcher and
than a score of special sessions,
for major donors and supporters Secretary Caspar Weinberger.
emotional moments at the Navy
with a surprise guest named
Chapel, Holocaust Museum and
Everyone seemed surprisingly
Margaret
Thatcher, the event last- cheerful, considering that John
Lincoln Memorial, as well as rich
ed four days: a long time, to be Charmley's End of Glory was high
conversation at meals, in the halls
sure, but not too long to involve on the New York Times bestseller
and after hours. We will be refive hundred people representing list and the wire services were full
printing all major speeches in the
all countries where ICS is formal- of speculation whether just1992-1993 Proceedings. Recly organized. Tremendous credit released British wartime archives
ordings of speeches at the event
belongs to conference chair- would prove Churchill knew in
are available from ICS Stores. For
woman Merry Alberigi and the advance of the attack on Pearl
now, we report on the conference
talented
, , , .committee listed
,, at the Harbor (they didn't, and we could
and highlight of some of the
end of this report, notably the ICS h a v e t o l d t h e m ) « A s }
remarks.
as
Pi
e e
!Ron2 Helgemo
! ! ? ?
! byby Charmley continues to write unandLJohn Mather.
truths, I think we're all right," said
10/FINEST HOUR 82
one historian of a slightly less re- Europe.
tians, Jews, and agnostics singing
visionist bent. I replied that if
There was business aplenty, the old hymn lustily together. Two
Charmley didn't exist we would and not enough time for it, veterans of USS Augusta and HMS
have to invent him, since skewer- though nobody was complaining Prince of Wales read the lessons.
ing him was good exercise.
— too much fun, learning and After an interval came "For Those
Speaking of historians, as op- comradeship going on outside the in Peril on the Sea" and "Eternal
posed to gossip-mongers, ICS meeting rooms. The board of di- Father Strong to Save." It was too
scheduled three academic sessions rectors completed their agenda; much. I had to sit down, recalling
which produced no fewer than also, the President of ICS/USA Sir Winston's words: "I chose the
seven new papers on Churchill — received an ovation by commenc- hymns myself. Every word
pro and con. The cons were War- ing the general meeting: "mem- seemed to stir the heart. It was a
ren Kimball of Rutgers, editor of bership is increasing, the treasury great hour to live. Nearly half
the seminal Churchill-Roosevelt adequate, chapters multiplying those who sang were soon to die."
Here in WashCorrespondence,
ington
fifty-two
who thinks FDR
years later, inwas the pragmavoking those
tist and WSC the
words again, one
dreamer, not the
could believe
other way round;
that there is
and Manfred
hope yet.
Weidhorn of
An
important
Yeshiva Unireason for optiversity, who
mism was the
dwelled on
140
young peo"misjudging
ple who athistory" and the
tended
some
accidents of
phase
of
the
consame: what if
ference, espeReagan had been
cially our five
President when
student speakAmerican hosers, led by the
tages were taken
riveting James
in Iran, and
' Milner from the
Carter came in to
University of
fix things in
British Ambassador Renwick invited hon. members to the Embassy November 5th:
Toronto (sponGen. Colin L. Powell, Lady Thatcher, Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger.
1980? —what if
sored by ICS,
Churchill had
Canada) and 14-year-old Caitlin
mobilized the fleet in 1914 and and publications proliferating— Murphy from Massachusetts.
there was no war? Among the end of reports." Treasurer George Each was asked to say what a
positivists were Larry Arnn, sum- Lewis received a Salisbury paint- famous Churchill quote meant to
marizing his conclusions on ing (cover, FH 71) for his twelve them. I decided they'd thought
Charmley (published in full last years of devoted service. With more about it than I had. Each
issue); Patrick Powers, who business done, Cyril Mazansky was followed by a brilliant, entireexplained why Great Contem- educated us on Churchill-era ciga- ly unrehearsed commentary on
poraries is worth reading; and Ray rette cards, and Frederick Woods their delivery by moderator Jamie
Callahan and Eliot Cohetei, who was on hand to discuss plans for a Humes—the best public speaking
new edition of his bibliography.
discussed WSC and the military.
I have ever seen him deliver,
The most emotional event was which is saying something.
A final academic paper came
after our tour of the U.S. Holo- Sunday morning's reenactment, at
Another panel convened three
caust Memorial Museum, where the Navy Chapel, of services
Martin Gilbert arrived to speak, as aboard HMS Prince of Wales with Ambassadors and one Head of
both a Jew and Churchill's bio- Roosevelt and Churchill in 1941. Chancery^ (New Zealand to the
grapher. Much new inforrfTalion Readers included two navy veter- USA, USA to Denmark, USA to,
came to light, not the least of ans present on that occasion, one Canada, UK to USA) to discuss the
which was how the holocaust per- American (from USS Augusta), Anglo-American "Special Relasonally touched ICS director Cyril one British (one of the few sur- tionship" — is it still valid in the
Mazansky, who had made all the vivors when Prince of Wales was 1990s? The consensus was that it
still had its place. New Zealand,
arrangements at the museum, and sunk off Singapore in 1941).
introduced Gilbert with words
I entered the chapel late as the said its Ambassador Denis Mcthat gave sad new emphasis to congregation struck up "Onward Lean, "must be more cognizant of
what we know about Nazi Christian Soldiers," finding Chris- Asia than in the past, but we thrive
FINEST HOUR 82/11
On Sunday, Navy Chapel reenacted 1941 FDR-WSC Services aboard Prince of Wales; Jim Muller spoke, Alan Keyes sang, at Lincoln Memorial Monday evening.
mation she had wrought in British
life and prosperity, a change for
the better that anyone with eyes
can see.
Winston was introduced that
evening by one of my favorite
ladies, the Honorable Celia Sandys,
his cousin and WSC's granddaughter, who amused us with a
story. Standing in one of those receiving lines where, as you come
forward, a magisterial butler announces your name out loud, a
friend of Winston's told the butler
that his name was George Wash-
on free trade worldwide, we
speak your language, share your
democratic traditions." Margaret
Thatcher Thursday night had set
down the basic precept: "Law,
language, literature and a zest for
freedom—these are what we share.
These will never divide us."
Having long fantasized about
being able to follow Winston
Churchill around Washington, I
did just that one afternoon, when
our guests, Winston and Minnie
Churchill, took a small party to
lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant. I had wanted to ask Winston
what he and Lady Thatcher had
talked about Thursday at the
British Embassy, knowing that he
had left the shadow cabinet before
she was elected on a matter of
principle. "It was very cordial,"
he said. "This is what one does
outside the Chamber: we nod and
smile pleasantly." Political debate
is the nature of his business, but
there was no doubt where Winston
stood on Lady Thatcher during
his keynote address Saturday
night: he mentioned the transfor-
factotum duly announced to the
assembly. Then it was Winston's
turn, and of course he had to tell
the man to announce "Winston
Churchill." I made a note to remember this if I'm ever in a receiving line ahead of WSC, MR
I was also pleased to see Winston join in the general merriment
when, after Robert Hopkins' recollection of his father Harry (President Roosevelt's trusted confidante), Jamie Humes ventured an
imitation. Knowing that Chur-
chillian mimicry is never part of
ICS conferences, Jamie asked me
tenuously, "Could I do Roosevelt?" Knowing what was coming
I said, "sure." Humes then told
Robert Hopkins how his father
and FDR had listened to one of
Churchill's fighting speeches over
the wireless, and how FDR
snapped off the set, leaned back in
his wheelchair and mused: "Waal,
Harry, as long as that old bahstahd's in chaage, Britain will
never surrendah—it's not like
throwing money down a rathole,
like Frawnce..." The audience
roared. It was just right for the
occasion, with the son of Harry
Hopkins and the grandson of Sir
Winston present.
It was hard to follow Saturday
evening's black tie gala with Celia,
Winston and ICS/USA Chairman
Paul Robinson (who responded to
Winston's address), but we succeeded with Jack Kemp the next
evening, introduced by Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and responded to by Winston. The ex-Cabinet Secretary, who likes to say he
"President Lincoln said, "Right Makes
Might: That is the point, isn't it?"
Lady Thatcher accepts our last copy of The
Dream from Caspar Weinberger, Nov 5th.
MT, Richard & Ann Hazlett: "When you
won the third time ... that was something!"
12 /FINEST HOUR 82
ington. "George Washington," the
Led by Alan Keyes, "O Canada" was among five national anthems sung by Mary Lucas, Terry Leveck (USA), Diane and David Boler (UK).
is in his "Wilderness Years/' gave
a reasonably bipartisan speech,
with nary a suggestion that we
might see him in New Hampshire
in a couple of years for the firstin-the-nation Presidential primary. He could not, however, help
commenting briefly on the bookof-the-hour: "Charmley would
have us believe the British Empire
would have thrived under Hitler's
boot. That's not history ••— that's
nonsense."
Like the rest of us, Jack Kemp
was impressed by the bravura
performance of Ambassador Alan
Keyes, who once entertained
thoughts of being an opera singer.
Following an ICS conference tradition, Alan sang all five national
anthems of nations where ICS is
organized: "The Star Spangled
Banner," "God Save the Queen,"
"O Canada," "Advance Australia
Fair" and "God Defend New Zealand." And this was only the beginning, for he added a brilliant
encore Monday night: all sjx stanzas of Churchill's favoredv"Battle
Hymn of the Republic" at the LinBelow: Humes on Lincoln, Monday. Right:
McVey's Churchill at the British Embassy.
coin Memorial, where we marked
the 130th anniversary of the
Gettysburg Address.
Anything as complicated as this
event invites its share of snafus,
and all of us who served—from
Alan Fitch and Pat Peschko (who
ran ICS Stores at the cost of much
personal participation in events)
— to our splendid registration
people (who are listed anon) had
things we would have liked to do
over. Their professionalism, and
the gentleness of our guests, prevented any serious disappointments, but I must admit I sweated
hard at one point..
When conference cochair Senator Barbara Boxer couldn't come
to introduce Jack Kemp, I asked
Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick
and, though she kindly accepted, I
never got the message. Mrs. Kirkpatrick duly arrived and room was
joyously made, but I then had to
ask Humes to scrap his introduction of Jack Kemp and introduce
Jeane Kirkpatrick instead! He is a
pro and he did it, but he was still
thinking about his squandered
Kemp intro, and at the end of the
ceremonies he launched into it,
Mr. Kemp throwing up his hands
for time out, certain that he'd been
praised enough. Thus, when I rose
to present Merry Alberigi with the
Blenheim Award for five years of
outstanding service to ICS, I addressed the audience as "Fellow
democrats...I use that word in the
catholic sense, 'catholic' with a
lower-case 'c.'"
In case anyone hadn't got the
point (ICS is entirely non-partisan
and is composed of Democrats,
Republicans, NDPers, Labourites,
Liberals and the last two Tories in
Canada), I ventured the following
night to compare what Lincoln
said about foreign interventions
with what President Clinton said
just days before at the United
Nations. People thought I was trying to provide political balance—
true, but the comparisons are
close: read 'em. By the way, Bill
was invited, but sent us his regrets. When he reads our guest
list he'll think twice about missing
us next time.
&
WSC: "My grandfather would rejoice at the
fall of the Iron Curtain he warned about."
FINEST HOUR 8 2 / 1 3
"You've an Iraqi edition of Savrola? Mark
Weber, Avril Swan, Jim Johnson.
Right Makes Might
Margaret Thatcher: We meet tonight in the capital of the greatest
nation in the world and the leading
force for liberty and freedom, which
Winston recognized and always
emphasized across the years, and
may I say I thank Providence that
America had leaders like Ron
Reagan and Cap Weinberger, whose
policies were instrumental in the
collapse of the greatest threat to
freedom in history, and many lesser
threats as well.
I of course remember the Falklands, when many voices in this
country suggested that America must
not take sides in the conflict between "' . rfv and tyranny in which
Britain v.v •. ngaged. Cap Weinberger was not one of those voices.
He asked us, "What do you need?"
Powerful challenges continue to
face us, not the least of which is the
quite unacceptable tragedy of Bosnia. If you consider Abraham Lincoln's words of advice, I believe you
will conclude, as Winston concluded
in earlier context, that great nations
cannot remain indifferent to mas-
Mr. Bibliographer Woods with escorts
Barbara Lee, Alan Fitch, Pat Peschko.
California two-generation ICS friends
Raymond and Richard Lavine.
sive human tragedy. President Lincoln said, "Let us have faith that
right makes might; and in that faith
let us do our duty as we understand
it.
[To the Editor:] "I want you to
know how very honoured I feel to
receive the last copy of Winston
Churchill's The Dream, which was
published by the International
Churchill Society some years ago. It
completes my collection of his work
and is bound more beautifully than
any of the others. I read it in the
early hours of this morning and am
totally fascinated by the imagination of the story and how much it
reveals of Winston the man and the
son. It was a wonderful evening of
admirers of this great leader, made
even more memorable by your precious and thoughtful gift."
hind a noble cause. Imagine if there
had been no Churchill to rally the
British people and the West to defend the cause of freedom and defeat Nazism. Some modern writers
would have us believe the British
Empire would have thrived under
Hitler's boot. That's not history —
that's nonsense.
For Churchill, freedom was the
organizing principle of international affairs. It was also his lodestar in
domestic politics. And it found its
most consistent expression in Churchill's commitment to capitalism.
Churchill sought no "third way" or
"middle path" between capitalism
and socialism. "If you penalize the
spirit of individual daring and initiative," he said, "then you are, in
fact, abandoning the capitalist system, and you ought [to] go to the
other extreme and weave the whole
industry of the country into one
vast structure under state planning."
But Churchill's vision of capitalism was not a Darwinian struggle
where the strong thrive and the
weak suffer. His model of compassion was the good shepherd. In his
Churchill's Relevance
Jack Kemp: Churchill always swam
in deep waters. The essence of his
vision was freedom. His greatest
contribution was to preserve it from
extinction by rallying people be-
L: John Loeb, Karen McGowan, Harold & Lillian Epstein. John and Harold represented the Winston Churchill Foundation. R: Tarah Grant, Heather Mercer,
James Milner, moderator Humes, Caitlin Murphy and Aaron Pont, our five student presenters on Churchill themes, gave impressive appreciations of WSC.
14/FINEST HOUR 82
Warm welcome to Ethel Pont with her sons
Aaron and Jonathan from California.
David Robinson, veteran of USS Augusta,
speaking at Navy Chapel fifty-two years on.
Caitlin Murphy found the Churchill kneeling
pad at the Navy Chapel.
conservative philosophy, a nation
could not advance while leaving
others behind. "We want to draw a
line," he said, "below which we will
not allow persons to live and labour, yet above which they may
compete with all the strength of
their manhood. We want to have
free competition upwards; we decline to allow free competition to
run downwards. We do not want to
pull down the structures of science
and civilization, but to spread a net
over the abyss."
These are some of the direct and
vital contributions of Churchill to
the debates of today: an obligation
to maintain a strong defense; a belief in Western leadership to expand
democracy; a commitment to capitalism for the sake of everyone in
society. Those who think that conservatism only meant anti-communism only know half the story. We
must do more than just stand against
something. Our mission is to stand
for something—to be that "city on a
hill," as President Reagan said so
many times. That vision of freedom
is the idea for which Churchill lived
his life. All defenders of freedom
stand on Sir Winston's shoulders.
And thank God we have the International Churchill Society to perpetuate his legacy and to remind us
never to "splash in shallow waters."
entertaining large numbers of decent democratic citizens and at the
same time in exploring the deeper
political question of whether or not
liberal democracy is capable of
being guided by first principles and
governed by politicians of the first
order who can comprehend, persuasively articulate, and effectively
implement those principles. [It is]
directly relevant for our current
educational and political debate
about the worth of studying dead
males (and females) .... Churchill
gives an unambiguously affirmative response. Of course he takes it
for granted that the dead males
(and females) must be outstanding
in character and deeds to be worthy
of our attention.
Winston Churchill: "It would be a
mistake to imagine that perils do
not lie ahead. The reality must be
faced that the world has once again
been made safe for conventional
warfare ...
"For me, the most remarkable
aspect of my Grandfather's life,
whose memory we are gathered
this evening to celebrate, is the
breadth of his fields of interest, the
range of his talents and the potency
of his spirit, which is still with us,
and indeed has brought us together
this week in Washington."
Reading Churchill
Patrick Powers: Great Contemporaries, published 1937/38, is too little known and appreciated for its
political thoughtfulness. Churchill
was a master at writing concretely
about modern political life in a way
which succeeded simultaneously in
Churchill and the Army
Raymond A. Callahan: Steady, successful pressure on an ei .emy whose
ultimate defeat was in any case certain would give the British people a
glimpse of light at the end of the
tunnel — and Churchill was the invaluable counter of victory in the
game of alliance politics. The inex-
Winston S. Churchill with students from Forestville and Parkdale High Schools, Virginia, who added so much to our proceedings and, we hope,
learned something about the Man of the Century, were sponsored by ICS and individual members, and those from out of town were put up overnight.
FINEST HOUR 82/15
Left: Robinsons meet Kemps. Right: "I've never heard 'God Defend New Zealand' sung so well!" (Jack Kemp to Alan Keyes; Chris Harmon, center.)
orable shrinkage of British strength
after 1943, however, led to an ironic
denouement. Just as the British Army
found the commanders, techniques
— and situations — that would
bring victory, the inherent weakness in Britain's position meant that
those victories would matter less
and less in the sphere that Churchill, a good Clausewitzian, knew to
matter most: the one where military
achievement translates into the attainment of national objectives. It
may be that the most important of
those objectives—maintenance of
Britain's great power status—was
in fact unattainable, but no one
could ever claim that Winston
Churchill did not exert the last
ounce of effort to reach it—nor, for
that matter, could anyone in the end
claim that about the British Army.
Eliot A. Cohen: Undergirding
Churchill's high-level strategic decisions, on which historians traditionally lavish a great deal of attention,
are other, less visible but no less
important activities. They involve
decisionmaking about matters of
detail—important detail, but detail
nonetheless. Perhaps the most imLeading off with grace: Jacqueline Witter
offers grace on Saturday night.
portant was the continuous audit of
the military's judgment. Churchill,
as his generals often complained,
kept a close eye on many matters of
military detail...By no means did
Churchill always have it right. But
he often caught his military staff
when they had it wrong. This is not
to say that Churchill's military
judgment was invariably, or even
frequently, superior to that of his
subordinates, although on occasion
it clearly was. Rather, Churchill
exercised one of his most important
functions as war leader by holding
their calculations and assertions up
to standards of a massive common
sense, informed by wide reading
and experience at war. When 'us
military advisers could not come up
with plausible answers to these
harassing and inconvenient questions, they usually revised their
views; when they could, Churchill
revised his. In both cases, British
strategy benefited.
Warren F. Kimball: When Roosevelt told Churchill that China did
not want Indochina, Churchill replied, "Nonsense!" The President
said to him, "Winston, this is something which you just are not able to
understand. You have 400 years of
acquisitive instinct in your blood
and you just don't understand how
a country might not want to acquire
land somewhere if they can get it. A
new period has opened in the
world's history, and you will have
to adjust to it." The President then
said that the British would take
land anywhere in the world, even if
it were only a rock or a sand bar.
Now, Churchill may have been
right, and FDR was not above taking a Pacific sand bar or two himself, but it is the American image of
Churchill that concerns us. One
image, combined Churchill the conniver with Churchill the old world
politician seeking to play katy-barthe-door to change, since change
would threaten the UK's position in
the world and the position of his
class in Britain. What Churchill
called tradition, Americans saw as
reaction or at least a dangerous
dedication to the world of Queen
Victoria. Averell Harriman claimed
that Roosevelt saw Churchill as
Introduction Sunday night by former UN
Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick...
...She was introducing Jack Kemp, who had
it coming, and was glad.
Always Center Stage
I!
16/FINEST HOUR 82
Left: Martin Gilbert was introduced by Cyril Mazansky at the Holocaust Museum. Right: Paul Robinson with Barbara Langworth and Celia Sandys.
"pretty much a nineteenth century
colonialist," and Churchill himself
once commented (happily, one suspects): "In the White House, I'm
taken for a Victorian Tory." In
Whitehall, where one official complained: "With Roosevelt straining
to put the British Empire into liquidation and Winston pulling in the
opposite direction to put it back to
pre-Boer War, we are in danger of
losing both the Old and the New
World."
These interpretations are new
verses to old songs...But I can see
Mr. Churchill grinning, his cigar
end aimed at his accusers as he
points out that in all their portraits
of history, it is Winston Churchill
who stands right where he knew he
belonged: center stage.
the peace, of acting in excess of his
authority, of increasing the nation's
financial liabilities, and of losing his
head. It was a close call. Or suppose
Churchill had been ousted in 1942,
after three years of disasters? By
1945 people would have said,
"What a poor leader Churchill was!
Under him we had nothing but
defeats. And how great, by contrast,
his successor was. Under him we
had nothing but victories."
leave." He turned to her and said,
"These people lived through it and
died in it — you can sit and watch
it."
Manfred Weidhorn: Writing in
1916 on his daring action of sending
the fleet to its war station two years
earlier, Churchill remarke^ that if,
instead of war breaking ouN:, peace
had been maintained, he would
have been accused of endangering
Cyril Mazansky: A number of people expressed to me the feeling that
they would not be able emotionally
to tolerate a visit to the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
I do sincerely understand how they
feel, but it does bring to mind an
episode, which my father-in-law,
who was a lucky emigre from Nazi
Germany, mentioned. He had gone
with my mother-in-law to see "The
Diary of Anne Frank." Being a
woman both of great intellect and
emotion, in the middle of the film,
she said to my father-in-law, "I cannot tolerate it anymore, I must
Martin Gilbert: When on 7 July
1944 Churchill was shown the
request by the Jewish Agency that
the railway line leading from
Budapest and Berkenau and the
death camps should be bombed, he
did something which I have not
seen on any other document submitted to Churchill for his approval. He wrote on it what he
wanted done: "Is there any reason
to raise this matter with the Cabinet? Get anything out of the Air
Force you can and invoke me if necessary."
Two days later the deportations
on the railway lines from Hungary
to Auschwitz ceased and the priority of surviving Jews and of all those
concerned with them was the attempt to find someplace where they
might have a safe haven. I suppose
it is a great tragedy that all this had
not taken place on the 7th of July
1943 or the 7th of October 1942. For
when all is said and done, the 7th of
July 1944 was too late.
Langworth to Humes: "I hate to tell you this
but I think you need to know ...
"... that we have our speaker, so your intro of
Sec. Kemp is unnecessary ...
"...well, sure, if you want you can say some
words about Jack Kemp after dinner!"
Misjudging History
WSC and the Holocaust
FINEST HOUR 82/17
GUNARD LINES
Conference chairwoman Merry Alberigi presents Terrence Leveck with his raffle winning first class tickets for two on the Queen Elizabeth 2. Bon voyage Terry!
"Greatest of all pathways for Britain is the sea—the sea that has been our highway to Empire and to wealth, and
across which we draw, from the four corners of the world, the daily bread by which we live. And once more as
the Queen sets out, we feel confirmed in our ancient dominion over the wide waters—that dominion whose
peaceful purpose she is again a symbol. May she win back the Blue Ribbon that the Mauretania held for over a
score of years—and may she retain it against all comers as long as did her great precedessor."
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS/' STRAND MAGAZINE, MAY 1936
ICS THANKS CUNARD LINES FOR ITS SUPERB GENEROSITY TO OUR 25th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE
The Navy Chapel
ICS SINCERELY THANKS
British Airways
for the generosity which brought
Guests of Honour
Winston S. Churchill, MP
Minnie D. Churchill
Dr. Martin Gilbert, CBE
and
The Honorable Celia Sandys
to our
25th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, DC, NOVEMBER 5TH-8TH
David Robinson, USN, USS Augusta: Be strong and of a
good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an
inheritance the land which I sware unto their fathers to
give them. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success. Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not
afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is
with thee, whithersoever thou goest. (Joshua 1:6,8-9)
Raymond Goodman, RN, HMS Prince of Wales: Save
and deliver us from the hands of our enemies; abate their
pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices;
that we, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved
evermore from all perils, to glorify Thee, who are the only
giver of all victory. Stablish our hearts, O God, in the day
of battle, and strengthen our resolve, that we fight not in
enmity against men but against the powers of darkness
enslaving the souls of men, till all the enmity and oppression be done away and the peoples of the world be set free
from fear to serve one another as children of our Father,
who is above all and through all and in all, our God for
ever and ever, Amen. (These were the identical prayer and
lesson offered aboard HMS Prince of Wales at Argentia
Bay, 10 August 1941.)
Note: The editor did not have transcripts of student presentations
at press time. If these have been received in time for next issue,
they will appear there. Also Finest Hour #83 will contain all letters received on the conference, including the enthusiastic
response of students.
18/FINEST HOUR 82
GRATEFUL THANKS
Conference Committee: Merry Lee Alberigi (chairwoman), Marianne
Almquist, Michael J. Altenburger, Bruce Bogstad, Derek Brownleader
Walker B. Comegys, Donald & Irene Corn, Fred Crouch Shirley Graves'
Robin W. Grover, Fred Hardman, Dorothy Hartland, Caroline Hartzler Ann
& Richard Hazlett, Ron Helgemo, Jon Holtzman, William C. Ives James L
Johnson, Barbara & Richard Langworth, Raymond Lavine, Posey & Richard
Leahy, Victor B. Levit, George A. Lewis, Dr. John Mather, Dr Cyril Mazan
sky, James W. Muller, Gordon L. Ness Jr., DeEtta & Marvin Nicely Charlotte
& Earl Nicholson, Ann Novick, Jay Piper, John G. Plumpton, Mary Rummerfield, Harvey Sarner, Michael Schaengold, Aida Schoenfeld Jonah Trieb
wasser, Jacqueline Dean Witter. Conference Photographer: Michael Carpenter
Conference Videographer: James L. Johnson. Especial thanks to ICS Stores Alan
Fitch and Pat Peschko.
Displays: Organized by Shirley Graves from the collections of Merry Alberigi, Fred Hardman, Robert Hartland, Richard Langworth, Marvin Nicely Jerrv
O'Conor, David Perkins, Kenneth W. Rendell, Jonah Triebwasser and Mark
Weber
Benefactors: Jefferson & Shirley Graves, Hon. Paul & Mrs. Diana Gutman
Amb. John L. Loeb Jr, Ethel Pont.
Patrons: Mr & Mrs Parker H. Lee, Mary Lucas & Terrence Leveck Mr & Mrs
Michael W. Michelson.
Supporters: Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Altenburger, David & Diane Boler, Gerald
M. Kirke, Cyril & Harriet Mazansky, William C. Robinson, Norman Shaifer
Saul P. Steinberg, Wylma Wayne.
Friends: Ronald D. Abramson, Mr. & Mrs. Walker Comegys, Richard & Rhoda
Goldman, William C. Ives, The Hon & Mrs Proctor Jones, Richard & Ruth
Lavine, Raymond Lavine & Barbara Hammerman, Mr & Mrs Richard Leahy
Michael T. McMenamin Jr, Earl & Charlotte Nicholson, Peter J. Phillips'
Michael J. Schaengold, Reese Taylor, Janet T. Wilson.
'
Sponsors: Ian Aitchison, Bennett Archambault, Mr & Mrs William Beatty Dr
James S. Benedict, Dr James B. Bennett, Donald E. Best, Franklin M. Buchta
Donald & Irene Corn, Drs Ruth & Martin Cousineau, Clark W Fetridee'
Edward W. Fitzgerald, Dr Herbert A. Goldberg, James H. Heineman, Jon &
Sharon Holtzman, J. Willis Johnson, D. Lukin Johnston, Mr & Mrs Gerald Drake
Kambestad, Barbara & Richard Langworth, Ronald & Margaret Lebowitz J
William Lovelace, Richard & Molley Lowry, Jack Moseley, Dr John B. Na'nninga, Helen Newman, Marvin & DeEtta Nicely, John G. Plumpton, Richard
S. Raffauf, Amb Paul H. Robinson Jr., Douglas S. Russell, Dr. Stephen M
Saravay, Hon George P. Shultz, Jonah & Ellen Triebwasser, Celia & Clarence
Turner, Dr. William G. Underhill, Kathleen & John Utz, Edward C. Wilson Jr
Stanley H. Winfield, Dr H. William Winstanley, Malcolm & Jacqueline Witter'
John D. Woods, Sr.
Gifts: Glen & Merry Alberigi, Adm & Mrs. John W. Bitoff USN, Daniel H
Bormsky, Mr & Mrs William N. Boyce, John W. Churchill, Edward R. Flenz!
Mollie Frank-Jones, Harry J. Hart, George A. Lewis.
Corporate Supporters: Atlantic Richfield Co., British Airways, Cable & Wireless Inc., Champagne Pol Roger, Churchillbooks, Cunard Line, Land Rover
North America, Patton Boggs & Blow, Stouffer's Mayflower Hotel.
Student Delegates: Rabbi Bruce Aft, Matt Altenburger, Laith Al-Nouri, Flora
Anders, Kendra Baity, Thomas J. Baker III, Tamara Baldwin, Christina Bellucci, Thomas J. Brady III, Jumarr Brooks, Dorothy Brown, Ayesha Burkely
Adrian Burton, Rhonda CampbeU, Shaunikka Chapman, Linda Coates, Shayla
Coates, S.F. Crawford, Duane Cross, Fred Crouch, Sean Dailey, Ross Daniels,
Erin Delaney, Dana C. Dobson, Lynn Dubin, Ted Eagles, Tameka Evans,'
Meredith Fascett, LaTanya Feggins, Elizabeth Bield, Tina Fitzgerald, Tira'
Floyd, Kurt L. Foster, Ryan Garvey, ChristinaJ.Gilbert, Janet & Ra'shad
Gilchrist, Lauren Golden, Jenna Goodrow, Tarah Qrant, Jennifer Greene
Elizabeth Gutierrez, Sabina Haderlein, Jonathan D. Hanretta, Venetta LaVelle
Harris, Sean Havard, Cecilia & Tiffany Hawkins, William Hay, Mia & Neeest
Hayes, Ruth He, Renee Henderson, Vernon Holleman III, Cheryl Holloway
Amy & Dan Howard, Ena Inesi, Demetrios L. Irvin, Carlita & Eugene Jackson, Esther & Tricia James, Jowan Kirby, Jennie Kneedler, Sabina Kook, Charlotte Karenzie, Anthony Latta, Akeisha Ledwell, Pamela Leftricht, Christina
Lytle, Andreen Mullings, Delica Matthews, Jehan Maynie, Ben Meeker
Heather Mercer, Rahsaan Miller, James Milner, Jason Minock, Kevin Montgomery, Sidaya Moore, Jeff M. Morneau, Keisha Moms, Caitlin Murphy Ben
Noble, Gillian Pachter, Jean Perkins, Cheryl & Randolph Perry, Greg Peter
Sharuka Pettaway, Aaron M. & John B. Pont, Tory Redmond, Keffi Robinson'
Arthur H.F. Schoenfeld, Robert Schwarzwalder, David Scruggs, Daniel Serene'
Jessica Sherman, Chivonda Smith, Anna Tabor, Charles Tate, Rende Taylor'
Elizabeth Lakiya Teshome, Harriet Thomas, Ryan Thompson, Karen Toles'
Dawane Andre Trent, Joan Trumps, Harriet Underwood, Cora Vandecar'
Carnitta De Vaughn, Nicole Wall, Kareemah Weans, Lakia M. & Michael
Whitehead, Kara & Kareem Williams, Lauretta & Nida Williams Travell
Williams, Clifford Wong, Candyce & John Wood, Alfred Young, Tina Yount
Canada '94: Sept. 23-26th
A
lthough he was personally reelected in the
1929 election, Churchill soon parted company with the Tory Party over the India
issue, and there was no place for him in the
Conservative shadow cabinet. The "Wilderness
Years" had begun.
Money had to be made by writing and lecturing. WSC had just published The Aftermath, had
begun work on Marlborough, and had contracted
for a series of articles in the Daily Telegraph. He
also planned a trans-Atlantic journey to North
Randy Barber
America, which he had last visited in 1900, with
Pres., ICS Canada
"no political mission and no axe to grind."
Approaching what he called a "vast labyrinth of mountains" on
24 August 1929, Churchill and his son Randolph reached Calgary,
-where they stayed at the Palliser Hotel, which he thought should be
called "Hotel Sahara" because the "dry laws" forbade it to sell alcoholic beverages.
After visiting a ranch owned by the Prince of Wales, Churchill's
party moved into the heart of the Rockies and the Banff Springs Hotel.
From there he wrote Clementine: "I have made up my mind that if
[Neville Chamberlain] is made leader [of the Conservative Party] or
anyone else of that kind, I clear out of politics and see if I cannot make
you and the kittens a little more comfortable before I die. Only one goal
still attracts me, and if that were barred I should quit the dreary field
for pastures new ... I am greatly attracted to this country. Immense
developments are going forward. The tide is flowing strongly." The
pastures new were Canada and the world of business.
This September you will have an opportunity to relive those days
when Churchill visited the Canadian Rockies. You will also be greatly
attracted to Canada. "Immense developments are going forward" to
provide memorable experiences during your visit.
Many arrangements are still maturing but we will join the Rt.
Hon. Sir Winston S. Churchill Society of Calgary's annual dinner at
the Palliser Hotel. Our speaker will be the Hon. Celia Sandys, granddaughter of Sir Winston, who enthralled everyone who met her in
Washington, D.C. last November. Celia will speak on her new book
on the youthful Winston, based on previously unavailable sources.
There will be opportunities to explore the delights of Calgary, a
foothills city with great civic pride, including the Calgary Symphony
and a visit to the Museum of the Regiments.
On the way to Banff, via private auto or bus, we will stop for a
good old-fashioned western barbeque amid glorious scenery. Dinner
at th j Banff Springs Hotel will feature a revisit to the music of World
W j II with 'Hits from the Blitz.'
Sunday will include a visit to Lake Louise where Churchill painted one of his most famous pictures. Merry Alberigi who has received
rave reviews for her presentation on 'Churchill: The Painter/ most
recently at the Art Gallery of Ontario, has been invited to share her
wealth of knowledge and keen insights on that subject.
Papers prepared expressly for this conference will be presented during the ever-popular academic symposia. Several academics, including
ICS Academic Advisors, are publishing books on Churchill and we hope
to hear from them on their progress.
Many other topics are being planned and details will be announced
in the next issue. We are pleased and honored to announce that Sir
Winston's daughter, Lady Mary Soames, will be present to meet her
many friends and admirers from around the world.
She will also make many new friends at this conference. You can do
the same. ICS Conferences have been described as 'friend-raising activities' and one of the joys of attending an ICS Conference is the mingling of
people from all over the world who share a common interest and admiration for the achievements of Sir Winston Churchill.
The interest in Sir Winston is strong in Western Canada and we anticipate extensive participation from Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Plan your annual vacation around attendance at the conference.
Many people from Eastern Canada and the United States plan auto tours
across the continent. Why not follow Churchill's route through all the
great cities of Canada? Some people, particularly from the Western
United States, plan to fly to Vancouver and take the train to Calgary.
Churchill wrote his wife that "the panorama of the Rocky Mountains
rises along the Western horizon in endless serrated ridges to grey blue
peaks nine thousand feet above the sea."
However you plan to get there, "the tide is flowing strongly" toward
Calgary and Banff, Alberta Canada. They are indeed the places to be
from September 23 to 26, 1994. For information contact John Plumpton
(416-497-5349) or Randy Barber (905-881-8550) or write ICS Canada, 130
Collingsbrook Blvd., Agincourt, Ontario, Canada M1W1M7.
FINEST HOUR 82/19
Great Contemporaries:
Reith of the BBC
'That Wuthering Height," said Churchill of his
Broadcasting House nemesis, the towering Scot who
dominated British radio in its most crucial years.
And of WSC Reith wrote, "I absolutely hate him."
BY RON CYNEWULF ROBBINS
C
was at his alliterative best when he
condemned Hitler and Mussolini as: "Men of
murder and the microphone." The dictators,
combining vile propaganda with incessant lying, made
radio a servant of totalitarianism.
Out of government office in the middle 1930s,
Churchill had few opportunities to broadcast. He felt
frustrated because he could not talk regularly and directly to the people of Britain about the ever-increasing
menace to peace and freedom posed by Germany and
Italy. He also felt his criticism of the British group that
sought to appease the dictators was being muted.
T
ohn Reith, an unusually tall Scot who was head of
;r
ish Broadcasting Corporation, relished the
power he had to exclude Church;'! from Broadcasting
House in Lonc!i,-:\. Radio at that time was the monopoly of the publicly-owned Corporation, so it is easy to
understand how Reith incurred Churchill's displeasure. Churchill claimed that for eight years Reith
barred him from radio but this, with good reason, is
generally dismissed as Churchillian hyperbole.
The mutual antipathy of the two men is a strange
and somewhat sad chapter in British politics. However, it is clear that the fault lies heavily on Reith's side
despite the tendency of certain authors to sum it up as
a collision between one big ego and another. Impishly
and memorably, Churchill stylized Reith as: "That
Wuthering Height." The paths of the two men crisscrossed frequently in the years preceding the Second
World War and fate decreed that Reith would spend a
period in the war cabinet.
Reith was endowed with many talents but lacked
genius; he never forgave himself for that, and irraHURCHILL
Mr. Robbins, a journalist, was a founding director of the
School of Journalism and Communication at the University
of Regina, Saskatchewan. He is a regular contributor to Finest
Hour and resides in Victoria, B.C.
20 / FINEST-HOUR 82
tionally developed the hideous habit of blaming his
inner deficiency on those who held any office higher
than his own. To Churchill, he Seems to have been an
irritant slightly akin to another giant of a man, General
de Gaulle.
Ebullient, and driving himself and everyone else
hard on to victory, Churchill was not to be diverted
from his central purpose by irritants. For Reith, it was
vastly different. A dark-minded introvert, he was incapable of establishing a rapport with a thunder and
lightning extrovert of Churchill's historic stature.
Reith's spleen is written large in his diaries, which
run to over two million words. His criticism of Churchill often dribbles on quite absurdly and finally he
descends to this: "I absolutely hate him." But it has to
be said that Reith had a remarkably long hate list dating from his early days. Churchill's genius and magnaminity were beyond Reith's reach and comprehension. Reith was handicapped by an off-putting, austere
nature that contrasted too starkly with Churchill's
warm friendships which had the hallmark of loyalty.
There was no primrose way to the top for Reith,
who was born in 1889. His father, a minister of the Free
Church of Scotland, had charge of a church in Glasgow
but never had much money. A large family drained his
small resources. John in his boyhood was extremely
bad-tempered and failed to show his parents proper
respect. When he was fifteen he was sent to Gresham's
School, in the hope that his conduct would improve.
He was unhappy at first, but soon settled down to his
studies. He out-distanced his classmates in the schoolroom, and on the playing field shone at rugby. When
he became seventeen, family finances were insufficient
for him to remain at the school and, to his unending
disappointment, he lost the chance of receiving a university education. A five-year apprenticeship was
arranged for him at a locomotive company. Before em-
Especially during the early Thirties, Churchill had easier
access to American airwaves than the BBC. Here he broadcasts in the US over NBC, 1932 (Wide World).
barking on that, he spent some time at Glasgow
Technical College and later reinforced this by attending night classes which enabled him to gain certificates
to launch him on his career with a London company.
He served in the First World War in the front line and
was wounded. Having proved his courage and displayed engineering expertise, he discovered he had a
_ well-spring of determination along with a capacity for
leadership. His organizing and administrative qualities were strongly apparent. Nevertheless, his fatal
flaw could not be hidden: he confessed to "intense
hatred" for a couple of the officers above him.
Leaving hospital after recovering from his serious
wounds, he had the ingenuity to take advantage of his
prewar engineering contacts to get an official British
appointment at an arms production plant close to
Philadelphia. His American experience was a crucial
factor in shaping a future that was to be crowned with
a peerage.
From 1916 to 1917 he was a tremendously effective
supervisor of arms inspection. He spared time to speak
publicly on the war and attracted attentive crowds. He
found Americans outgoingiand sympathetic. He could
fire unwanted employees While continuing to hold the
allegiance of the remainder di the staff. Wealthy and
influential industrialists opened their doors to him and
he learned to walk beside them with an extraneous
show of ease that was to convert him into acceptable
company for kings and bishops. He believed that, at
last, he had come face to face with his true self. Imbued
with a sense that he was destined to achieve great
things, he realized his resolution and ambition were
now twin strengths. Eventually he was replaced by
Americans and headed home convinced he was more
rounded, more confident, more the man he dearly
wished to be. But he failed to take several of his important American lessons permanently to heart and paid
the penalty psychologically. Hostile circumstances of
his own making might have engulfed him without the
therapeutic support of his diary.
Peace, and his impending marriage, emphasized the
necessity for him to make his mark quickly. Compelled
to lower his sights, he became general manager of a
provincial factory. He was outstanding at his job but
the firm's defects, and the renewed stirring of his political aspirations brought disenchantment. Privately, he
designated the firm "filthy" and labelled head office
executives "skunks." He was glad to leave and yield to
his yearning to be in London.
At no period of his life was Reith hesitant about
writing to, or approaching, anyone of leading rank
who might favour him with advancement. Resorting to
his customary technique, he steadily probed a variety
of possibilities and was rewarded by proving himself a
first-class general election aide to a key Coalition
Conservative unlikely to forget Reith's role in working
all-out for party interests. Reith was elated at his entree
into political circles where he rubbed shoulders with
Lloyd George and other statesmen. A seat in the House
of Commons was his goal.
What happened next was totally at variance with
anything he had foreseen for himself. That scientific
infant named radio ("wireless" in Britain) was squalling into existence. Reith saw an advertisement for a
general manager of the British Broadcasting Company
(forerunner of the British Broadcasting Corporation)
and applied. Undoubtedly, he was given what the
English term "a nod and a wink" that his candidacy
was well-timed. He was appointed and thus won a
power base with ramifications that escaped his immediate notice because of his complete ignorance of radio.
He did not attribute his appointment to political pull.
His intensely held Christian beliefs had prompted him
to pray before he was interviewed. Obviously, this
would not be very remarkable in his generation and,
indeed, he is justly credited with ensuring that the
Christian ethic was not neglected by the new medium.
The upheaval of the 1926 General Strike consolidated an alliance consisting of Stanley Baldwin, who was
Prime Minister; Neville Chamberlain, Minister of
Health; and Reith. They were a triumvirate of future
appeasers already suspicious of Churchill's bold and
restless temperament, Churchill was Chancellor of the
Exchequer and the post was his for two major reasons:
Chamberlain had rejected it and Baldwin was shrewd
enough to prefer Churchill inside the boat rather than
FINEST HOUR 8 2 / 2 1
outside where he would be free to sink it — and then
build and steer his own vessel.
The ultra-cautious Baldwin had the cooperation of
Chamberlain and Reith in keeping Churchill in check
and off the air during the strike. Churchill, drafted to
the British Gazette — an official paper deemed necessary in the crisis — exhibited his life-long mastery of
journalism and thoroughly enjoyed his editing and
publishing duties. It would be simplistic in the extreme
to conclude he was unaware that the triumvirate had
connived to fill his days with anything but a radio
speech.
Although the British Gazette was too robust for some
cabinet members, Chamberlain confirmed in private
the worth of its contribution. He added that the advantage of its publication was more than doubled by the
ability to control the radio outlet through which Baldwin had spoken soothingly to sixteen million listeners.
Reith preened himself on what he considered to be
radio's part in warding off downright panic, but had
to concede that the independence of the growing network had been dented by the government's backstage
control.
The pioneer British Broadcasting Company was
owned by manufacturers of radio equipment. In 1927
there was no noisy accompaniment of controversy
when it was transformed into the British Broadcasting
Corporation, with reliance on public funds from
licences for radio sets. Reith was its director general,
the seal was set on its monopoly and headline writers
dubbed it "The People's Network." Later on there were
critics who complained Reith was treating it as his feudal estate.
The impact of radio, especially before the advent of
television, was dominant. Britain had a fresh and exciting form of entertainment interspersed with knowledgeable broadcasts on the arts, and lessons by experts
relayed to schools. Reith's programming was coated
with religion, and this endeared him to ecclesiastics.
Politicians had rapidly recognized the significance
of radio in moulding public opinion. Reith stood in the
centre of an arena where (given his disposition) swordplay with Churchill was inevitable.
The pervasiveness of radio, and his impressive contribution to the structure and constitution of the BBC,
turned Reith into a powerful figure. He was at the side
of monarchs, prime ministers and church leaders
advising them about their radio speeches. The splendour and pageantry of national occasions saw him
carefully orchestrating every broadcast and doing his
utmost to avoid a slip-up or a flop. The participants
were grateful. He was the recipient of a knighthood
and honorary degrees, but that did not stop him being
22 / FINEST HOUR 82
peevish. He thought he deserved higher recognition
than a knighthood. At a formal ceremony, he glanced
at decorations worn by his companions and afterwards
egotistically recorded his comparison: he was convinced he had striven harder than they had for the
same type of medal. Disgust overwhelmed him.
As the years passed, Reith continued to block
Churchill's access to the BBC whenever he could.
Rarely was Churchill allowed on the air to talk about
India, a subject of enduring concern to him. He was not
keen on rushing Home Rule for India. His prescient
fear was that the subcontinent would be plunged into
bloodshed; he also foresaw the aftermath of a riven territory doomed to be fertile breeding ground for recurring problems. The issue widened the gap between
Churchill and Reith.
The two had contrasting roles in the 1936 Abdication crisis. Reith, depressed and bewildered, joined the
ranks of pessimists in wrongly assuming that chaos —
not a monarch — would reign in Britain. Churchill
blazed with defiant loyalty for King Edward VIII, who
THE VOICEiiOF BRITAIN
preferred the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson, to his throne. Reith stage-managed the Abdication
broadcast for the King, whose new title, Duke of Windsor, was granted by his more worthy successor and
brother, George VI. Edward's farewell speech was embellished by Churchill; no Sherlock Holmes was needed to detect his inimitable style.
Since admiration for Hitler was Reith's blind spot,
he was contemptuous of Churchill's early rallying cry
urging Britain to prepare itself to meet the coming
assault by the Nazis on free countries. His diaries
express his approval of Germany. He was positive the
Nazis "would clean things up." It is not surprising that
he went on to extend his admiration to include Mussolini. Chamberlain had taken office as Prime Minister in
1937 and Reith eagerly obeyed him by denying Churchill adequate opportunity to rouse the British by speaking to them over the radio as they sat in the threatened
security of their peaceful homes.
By 1938 Reith was weary of his workload. In-fighting at bureaucratic meetings, as well as entrepreneurial
sniping at the BBC monopoly, were demeaning in his
eyes. Chamberlain manouevred him into the chairmanship of Imperial Airways. It was a desert far removed
from the political sphere and his super-ego did not
welcome the readjustment. Of greater moment was his
rude and late awakening to the tyrannical intentions of
Hitler. His patriotism, never in question, went to the
fore with the sturdiness that had characterized him in
the First World War. The trouble was that his shining
peacetime accomplishments gave him a grandiose
notion of the place he should occupy to help defeat the
enemy.
He floundered for a while following the outbreak of
the Second World War in September 1939, but when
1940 dawned he was Minister of Information under
Chamberlain. In the House of Commons he represented Southampton; the seat was uncontested when he
decided to seek it. Churchill was already in the government as First Lord of the Admiralty, a portfolio he had
also held from 1911 to 1915.
In May Germany invaded the Low Countries and
France. The British had had enough (cynics said: "too
much") of Chamberlain; Churchill succeeded him as
Prime Minister. Emerging from his wilderness years,
Churchill could now broadcast without hindrance.
From Reith's standpoint, the irony was that the radio
ban had the effect of lending extra force to Churchill's
message: his magnificently inspiring voice, hitherto
unfamiliar to listeners, was commanding and refreshingrorrTpared with Chamberlain's dreary tones.
Unfaltering determination and abiding faith in victory were Churchill's clarion calls. The British responded instantly and heroically. Because of his broadcasts,
the English language had become part of the armoury
of freedom.
Reith's rage at Churchill's premiership bordered on
apoplexy. "Heaven help us" was his verdict on learning that Churchill would also be Defence Minister. It
was "awful" that Churchill would be empowered to
have direct dealings with the chiefs of staff. His animosity was mingled with apprehension that he would
be downgraded or tossed aside. It cannot be overlooked that no less an authority than Sir John Colville,
private secretary to Churchill, has listed Reith as a failure in the Ministry of Information.
After France fell, Germans on the French coast were
visible from Dover. Britain was an island fortress,
pounded night and day by guns and planes. Anyone
brilliant and courageous was sure to be recruited at
once by Churchill. Reith had ample qualifications.
Churchill, ever averse to harbouring a grievance, appointed him Minister of Transport. His apologists
maintain that the short space of time Reith spent in the
information and transport ministries impeded him. In
October 1940 he was appointed Minister of Works and
elevated to the House of Lords. Churchill's hand in this
is scarcely indicative of deep-rooted prejudice against
him.
Reith ceased to be a minister in February 1942.
Genuine departmental success had eluded him. Attracted by planning reconstruction he did much that
was useful but nothing to justify retaining him in government.
Men who come late to politics in Britain are apt to
leave early. The parliamentary fray baffles them and
they get lost in the Whitehall civil service maze. Reith
was a classic example. The word compromise did not
fit comfortably into his vocabulary and that completed
his undoing. His behaviour in office was most curious.
He gloated over the fact that he declined to attend a
meeting of ministers summoned by Churchill. Yet, he
stopped by 10 Downing Street to walk to the Commons with the great man. At night, his diary vituperation was indulged in to the grossest extremity. Churchill was "essentially rotten," a "swine," a "cad" unfit to
govern. Conversely, it is necessary to recall that R. V.
Jones, the noted British scientist, has said his meetings
with Churchill produced in him the feeling of "being
recharged by contact with a source of living power."
Churchill was not cold towards Reith. In chats, and
on the phone, he attempted to jolly him along, as the
English would put it. But memoranda from Churchill,
or an inquiry from a Downing Street assistant asking
for news of progress, upset Reith, whose description of
such routine was that it amounted to Gestapo methods.
Reith dithered on being offered excellent opportunities by Churchill and his associates to employ his gifts
in various areas in the wake of his dismissal from government. He thrashed about in limbo until he hit on his
own solution. He joined the Royal Navy and discovered the Admiralty could use him at full stretch. He
attained the rank of captain and handsomely redeemed
himself by his dazzling organization of the supply of
materials for D-Day and beyond.
Churchill's gratitude manifested itself in the form of
a decoration: Companion of the Most Honourable
Order of the Bath (Military). Admirals, not captains,
are the more likely recipients of that award. Any gleaner of Reith's diary would be forgiven for standing up
and cheering on reading he was very pleased with
Churchill's action.
Reith had injudiciously strayed from the confines of
diary pages in his attacks on Churchill. He did not disparage him in print but poured his diatribe into every
ready, or half-ready, ear. It was odd of him to think he
FINEST HOUR 82 / 23
could re-enter government burdened with that tactless
propensity.
Attlee's Labour Government in 1945 were not in a
hurry to single him out to assist them. But the postwar
years brought him honour after honour and rewarding
company and public corporation work. In the field of
Commonwealth and Empire telecommunications and
development he was preeminent. Intractable to the
end, he refused to let the sunshine of praise dissipate
his innate gloom. His theme was that Churchill had
ruined him — demonstrably untrue. Reith's misfor-
tune was that a cankerworm of hate deep within him
destroyed his peace of mind. It is appropriate to cite by
contrast what Sir John Colville has stressed. Churchill
told him during the Second World War: "I hate nobody
except Hitler — and that is professional."
Sir Edward Grey (Foreign Secretary, 1905 to 1916)
declared that Churchill was a genius whose faults
would be forgotten in his achievements. Let us hope
Reith's achievements will not be forgotten in his faults.
It is a hope Churchill, in his infinitely generous heart,
would surely have shared.
1$
A Patient Shrug:
The Art of Churchill's
Correspondence With Stalin
Churchill, whom revisionists call an egotist,
wrote letters to Stalin with a selflessness
of which lesser men would not have been capable.
BY DOUGLAS PEINE
C
not the least of literary genres mastered by Churchill is the letter. Had the man not
written histories or biographies, it is unlikely,
to borrow Churchill's own phrase from The World
Crisis, that "students of today and tomorrow would
be; 1 over different history books and different maps";
although impoverished, certainly, the world in its aspect would likely remain otherwise unchanged.
Yet had he not been a skilled practitioner of the epistolary arts, particularly as they were put to use in forging and sustaining a difficult alliance among self-interested nations, there persists the very real historical possibility that the defeat of the Nazis would have been, to
whatever degree, a more close-run affair.
It is a subject worthy of a book-length study. For example, what part did the expression of vigor, capability, and confidence in Churchill's letters to Roosevelt
play in FDR's fateful conclusion that support for
Britain was in fact not futile? It was the nation as exemplified by the man to which Roosevelt responded —
and the great artistic achievement of Churchill's corresERTAINLY
Mr. Peine is an attorney practicing in St. Paul, Minnesota,
USA. Letter references are from The Second World War,
American Edition, Woods A123(a).
24 / FINEST HOUR 82
pondence to Roosevelt is its irresistible expression of
the hopes and fears of both.
Perhaps even more interesting than his wartime letters to FDR, and for entirely different reasons, are
those Churchill wrote to Stalin: the allied head of government whose fundamental philosophies of life and
politics, let alone civility, could hardly have been more
inimical. Yet common ground had not only to be located but shared for several years. Here was a challenge
for the written word, and it is this surface of the
Churchill correspondence that this article will scratch.
This undertaking is not simply academic. For anyone who must rely on the letter to pursuade or to mollify — the lawyer tusseling with hard-bitten opposing
counsel, the disgruntled consumer seeking satisfaction
from the imperious corporation, the business executive
or soldier struggling to dissuade an obtuse superior,
the college student wondering how best to break the
news to his parents that he flunked physics — a study
of Churchill's letters to Stalin can be an enlightening
exercise. It puts the petty, transitory disputes of one's
own daily commerce into some perspective: the miscommunication of the business executive, banker or attorney may well result in unwelcome exchange of
money, but for Churchill there was at stake a portion
of the civilized world. It is an angle on life that helps
ease our own burdens, while at the same time enhancing our respect for Churchill's stalwart assumption of
his.
But there are also specific techniques to be learned
from a look at Churchill's correspondence with the
Hard Case of the Twentieth Century.
"A Little 'Swing' Music in the Kremlin," by Zel in the Daily
Mirror, 11 October 1944. Churchill visited Moscow that
month for conferences with Stalin, who was singing in harmony at the time, thanks to WSC's ministrations.
KNOW YOUR FACTS A N D STATE THEM WELL
It is an elementary — but no less grudgingly admitted — notion that to argue matters in dispute competently requires knowing what one is talking about.
Homework, preparation and the resulting mastery of
the facts, although tedious and time-consuming, brook
no shortcut.
Has any political leader of history known so much
as Churchill — historical, political, geographical, economic, military — and then, on top of it all, been so
capable when giving written expression to that knowledge? The measure of his skill at marshalling and synthesizing the detail of a subject so vast as world war
rests in the fact that even the grand champion grumbler, Stalin, was on occasion compelled to concede
Churchill a complex, disputed point.
Churchill's letter of 11 March 1943 is an example.
Stalin had carped once more about what he perceived
to be the unjustifiably slow progress of British and
American troops in North Africa, as well as the delay
in opening the western front. While Churchill was
recovering from illness Roosevelt sent his own brief response, seeking to pacify Stalin by vague assurances
that "every possible step" is being taken and that "we
are making a maximum effort." Despite Roosevelt's
letter, Churchill, when he had regained his strength,
"thought it right" not to rely on Roosevelt's perfunctory note but to "present our whole case in my own
words."
The result is a magnificent ordering of complex facts
in simple sentences. Whereas FDR required Stalin to
trust in his "assurances," Churchill sought to convey
the "details of the story." (IV-748) Harsh weather conditions, terrain impediments, logistical problems and
daunting enemy numbers are woven into a persuasive
explanation of, among other things, why the "attempt
to get Tunis and Bizerta at a run was abandoned in
December." Notice that even Churchill's definition of
the task — to take the ground "at a run" — itself implies its difficulty and its unwisdom, yet at the same
time conveys the confidence that it will be taken in the
future. (IV-747)
Similarly effective are, for example, his detailed letters of 30 March and 6 April 1943, giving Stalin the bad
news of the postponement of monthly convoys due to
the inability to provide them adequate protection. As
Churchill himself observed, "My full explanations and
accounts were not wholly unrewarded. The answer
was more friendly than usual." (IV-757) If nothing else,
Churchill's frankness and thoroughness bought for
him a credibility with Stalin that subdued some of the
Soviet leader's demons of distrust.
ON THE OTHER HAND, SOMETIMES
SILENCE IS MORE EXPRESSIVE
After Stalin, in his letter of 23 July 1942 (IV-270), virtually accused the British Government both of perfidy
for failing to send convoys through impossible seas, as
well as cowardice for not immediately opening up a
second front in France, Churchill chose to "let Stalin's
bitter message pass without any specific rejoinder."
(IV-272) The matter ended there without further escalation of tensions. It was a technique Churchill was to
use effectively on several occasions.
Stalin's letter of 8 November 1941 was not only "bitter" but, also in Churchill's word, "chilling." In light of
Britain's practical reluctance to declare war on Finland,
Rumania and Hungary, the Russian leader unloosed a
petulant indictment of Britain's "war aims," its "plans
for the post-war organization," its insufficient "military assistance against Hitler in Europe." Neither was
he in the least abashed about complaining that Britain's
generous and risk-laden supply convoys to the Soviet
FINEST HOUR 82/25
"are arriving inefficiently packed, that sometimes parts
of the same vehicle are loaded in different ships, [and]
that planes, because of the imperfect packing, reach us
broken." (111-529-30)
To such "hysteria" Churchill again would not respond. "The silence," he observed in The Grand Alliance, "was expressive." (III-530) It was also effective.
Twelve days later the Soviet Ambassador requested a
meeting with Foreign Minister Eden at which he
assured Eden that it "certainly had not been M. Stalin's
intention to cause any offence to any members of the
Government, and least of all to the Prime Minister."
(III-530)
Churchill added variations to the theme in October
of 1943. Again in dispute was the suspension of the
British convoys to Russia because of the U-boat menace. Molotov went to the British Embassy in Moscow
and "'insisted' upon the urgent resumption of the convoys, and expected His Majesty's Government to take
all necessary measures within the next few days." (V261)
To such breathtaking presumptuousness Churchill
again chose not to respond. But this time he informed
Stalin of the fact:
I have received your request for the reopening of the convoys to North Russia. I and all my colleagues are most
anxious to help you and the valiant armies you lead to the
utmost of our ability. I do not therefore reply to various
controversial points made in M. Molotov's communication.
(V-263)
But Stalin had seen this trick before, and this time he
wasn't going to succumb. "Concerning your mention
of controversial points allegedly contained in the statement of M. Molotov," he telegraphed to Churchill, "I
have to say that I do not find any foundation for such a
remark." (V-268) Indeed, insisted Stalin, piling impudence atop Molotov's presumptuousness, the voluntary convoys by Britain "cannot be considered otherwise than as an obligation." (V-267)
In his turn Churchill simply gave the telegram back
to Soviet Ambassador Gousev in London:
I said very briefly that I did not think this message would
help the situation, that it had caused me a good deal of
pain, that I feared any reply which I could send would
only make things worse. ... I then handed it back to the
Ambassador an envelope. Gousev opened the envelope to
see what was inside it, and, recognising the message, said
he had been instructed to deliver it to me. I then said, "I
am not prepared to receive it, and got up to indicate in a
friendly manner that our conversation was at an end.
(V-272)
It was, as Churchill admitted, "an unusual diplomatic
incident, and, as I learnt later, it impressed the Soviet
Government." The next day a contrite Molotov
26 / FINEST HOUR 82
"Whereas FDR required Stalin to trust
in his 'assurances,' Churchill sought
to convey 'the details of the story.'"
visited Eden in Moscow and "said that his Government greatly valued the convoys, and had sadly missed
them." (V-272)
DICTATE THE TONE OF THE
CORRESPONDENCE
Churchill was always vigilant to grab the moral
high ground when corresponding with Stalin and
never, never to give it up. He understood two elusive
facts: if you successfully maintain a civil tone, your
correspondent, no matter how grudgingly, will sooner
or later be forced to adopt civility himself; and, while a
civil tone does not necessarily dictate friendly acts, incivility provides a ready excuse for unfriendly ones.
One of the methods by which Churchill accomplished this was, again, silence in the face of Stalin's
rudeness. But that was really no more than a refusal to
play the game by his correspondent's rules. It did little
to set his own moral tone.
To that end, Churchill hardly let a cable or letter go
by to Stalin, no matter now sharp the current tensions
between them, without paying some tribute to his ally.
Again and again, from 1941 all the way to the bitter
end in 1945, he made repeated reference to the "bravery and tenacity of the soldiers and people" of Russia
and their "splendid" or "grand" or "valiant" or "continued magnificent" or "continued marvelous" or "glorious" feats and heroisms. Particularly in 1941 such sentiments close Churchill's letters so frequently that sincerity gives way to ritual.
The significance here is not the degree of spontaneity
behind each expression in each missive but in the fact
that Churchill was willing to make the dogged effort
never to end discussions of their differences without a
reaffirmation of their common interests. He was, in
short, simply practicing civility, i.e., accentuating their
commonalities while at the same time dissembling
those other truths that might work as solvent on the
social glue.
On more occasions than one could have hoped for,
Stalin's own letters in response began to sound (in tone
if certainly not artistry) as though they could have
been written by Churchill himself. The contrast between the typically tactless and demanding prose of
Stalin's earlier communiques and his cable of 6 May
1942, approaches the comical:
I have a request of you. Some ninety steamers laded
with various important war materials for the U.S.S.R. are
bottled up at present in Iceland or in the approaches from
America to Iceland. I understand there is a danger that
the sailing of these ships may be delayed for a long time
because of the difficulty to organize convoy escorted by
the British naval forces.
I am fully aware of the difficulties involved and of the
sacrifices made by Great Britain in this matter. I feel however incumbent upon me to approach you with the
request to take all possible measures in order to ensure the
arrival of all the above-mentioned materials in the U.S.S.R.
in the course of May, as this is extremely important for
our front.
Accept my sincere greetings and best wishes for success.
(IV-260)
"Incumbent upon m e " indeed. As Churchill was
himself to remark (IV-341), if properly stroked even
Stalin could be made to "purr."
NEVER ALLOW YOUR PERSONAL FEELINGS
TO DISTRACT YOU FROM
YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL
Perhaps the most valuable lesson to be learned here
— and the one that is the true measure of Churchill as
statesman — was his absolute refusal in his correspondence to take his anger for a walk at the expense of
long range aims. There is no question that Stalin's repeated disparaging of British war efforts and strategy,
his astounding thanklessness, his arrogant blindness to
the fact that until the Nazis invaded Russia he was
more than willing to sell Britain up the Rhine — there
is no question that these things rankled deeply. Anger
still seethes from the pages of Churchill's commiserative letter to his long-suffering ambassador in Russia,
Stafford Cripps:
They certainly have no right to reproach us. They
brought their own fate upon themselves when, by their
pact with Ribbentrop, iheyi let Hitler loose on Poland and
so started the war.
;\
... We were left alone for a whole year while every
Communist in England, under orders from Moscow, did
his best to hamper our war effort. If we have been invaded and destroyed in July or August 1941, or starved out
this year in the Battle of the Atlantic, they would have
remained utterly indifferent.
... That a government with this record should accuse us
of trying to make conquests in Africa or gain advantages
in Persia at their expense or being willing to "fight to the
last Russian soldier" leaves me quite cold. If they harbour
suspicions of us, it is only because of the guilt and selfreproach in their own hearts.
(III-472)
Indeed, ten years later when he wrote his history of
the period, pique could still be spotted pulsing beneath
the veil of sarcastic understatement:
The Soviet Government had the impression they were
conferring a great favour on us by fighting in their own
country for their own lives. The more they fought, the
heavier our debt became. This was not a balanced view.
(III-388)
But Churchill rigorously stifled his own fury in
favor of the longterm goal. The alliance between Great
Britain and Russia was indispensible if the war against
Germany was to be won. Churchill was determined to
keep it intact even if Stalin did everything he could to
thwart the effort.
There is no question but that Churchill knew what
he was about:
Two or three times in this long correspondence I had to
protest in blunt language, but especially against the illusage of our sailors, who carried at so much peril the supplies to Murmansk and Archangel. Almost invariably
however I bore hectoring and reproaches with "a patient
shrug; for sufferance is the badge" of all who have to deal
with the Kremlin.
(III-388)
It was the same wisdom he had recommended
twenty-five years earlier to Sir John French when the
Commander in Chief was at odds with War Minister
Kitchener. "Above all, my dear friend," Churchill had
written to French, "do not be vexed or discouraged.
We are on the stage of history. Let us keep our anger
for the common foe." (The World Crisis, 1916-1918, Pt.
II, Ch. 3, pp. 505-06.) It is a remarkable achievement on
Churchill's part that in the face of Stalin's provocation
o.ver the long haul of World War II he succeeded in
abiding unflaggingly by his own advice;
Churchill's correspondence with Stalin does much to
refute charges of egocentricity. That a man who could
so successfully keep his own personal emotions and
agenda in check could yet be perceived by so many of
today's historians as essentially self-centered is irksome. In truth, Churchill's was a selfless effort which
lesser men would not have been capable of making.
Certainly it stands in pointed contrast to those world
leaders who feel they must rattle swords, if not bury
them in pulmonary cavities, to prove they are not
wimps.
Perhaps the greatest of lessons Churchill teaches the
head of government, or anyone, for that matter, burdened with responsibility: first, to gain such scrupulous insight into one's own psyche that one is able to
distinguish personal concern from duty; then, to make
the oftentimes Herculean effort of self-control necessary to deny the former from ever compromising the
latter. On "the stage of history" there are few who succeeded with more integrity, or artistry, than Winston
Churchill.
$
FINEST HOUR 82/27
How Healthy Was Churchill?
Aside from Lord Moran's book, there is not much
published medical evidence, but certainly room for
a book on the subject, if more details can be unearthed.
BY JOHN H. MATHER, M.D.
O
VER THE past three years, I have been researching material for a book which will document
and explore the status of Sir Winston Churchill's health throughout his life. The final title for the
book is yet to be determined. It will attempt to place in
perspective and historical context, the maintenance of
his health notwithstanding some of his habits which,
by today's medical knowledge, would have been inimical to a predicted life span of ninety years. The various
serious medical problems he experienced, such as a
bad automobile accident in New York in 1931; his
"heart" attacks; a serious bout with pneumonia in
North Africa; and his "strokes" will be discussed as
they might have or did affect the pace of historical
events.
I have read many books and papers, and there are
not very many which focus predominantly on Sir
Winston's health and medical infirmities. Of course,
Lord Moran's Churchill: The Struggle for Survival,
(London: Constable, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966,
Redburn A237) is a good source; but as the late Sir
John Colville, Churchill's private secretary for many
years after 1940, said, "Lord Moran was never present
when history was made, but he was sometimes invited
to lunch afterwards."
Even so, Lord Moran's account gives an intriguing
insight into a dedicated physician's recognition of Sir
Winston's taciturn nature when ill. Although when
first published the book was considered a breach of
physician-patient confidentiality, it shows Moran's
willingness to do whatever he could to restore Sir
Winston's health, thus returning his patient to his crucial role in world affairs.
Another book, Simply Churchill, (London: Hale; US
title Churchill's Last Years, N.Y.: McKay, Redburn A207)
is by WSC's personal nurse-attendant, Roy Howells.
Mr. Howells writes with care and, while feeling
Dr. Mather is a physician executive and an otolaryngologist who serves as the Chief Medical Director, Social Security
Administrator, Department of Health and Human Services,
United States. He is also the secretary/historian for the
Washington Chapter, International Churchill Society.
28 /FINEST HOUR 82
Winston Churchill being moved from a London nursing
home during his recovery from paratyphoid fever, 1932
(Keystone press photo, Newfield Collection). A year earlier
he'd been badly banged up by a New York taxicab.
"abused" by Sir Winston on certain occasions, does
evince in the reader a sense of the highest admiration
for Sir Winston's tenacity of spirit during his later
years. Apart from psychiatrist Dr. Anthony Storr's
essay, "Churchill: The Man" which appeared in
Churchill: Four Faces and the Man (London: Allen Lane;
US title Churchill Revised, N.Y.: Dial Press, 1969, Redburn 265; later reprinted in Storr's Churchill's Black Dog,
Kafka's Mice, N.Y.: Grove Press) I can find no other
books that seem to have a predominant interest in the
status of Sir Winston's health during his lifetime.
There are many individual articles that have inconclusively approached various issues such as Churchill's "speech defect," his reckless spirit that apparently
made him prone to physical injury, the effects of using
tobacco products, his possible over-indulgence in alcoholic beverages and the continued (dubious) speculations about his father's terminal dementia. Otherwise, I
have found only scattered references in other books.
An illustration of one issue I will explore in my book
is the oft-debated question whether each of us is more
a product of "nature" or "nurture." Robert Lewis
Taylor, in his 1952 book, Winston Churchill: An Informal
Study of Greatness, (N.Y.: Doubleday; reissued as The
Amazing Mr. Churchill, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1962, Redburn A110) makes the point very well:
Eminent physicians have decreed that energy is born and
not made, that humans, through the secret formulas of
heredity, receive an impetus at birth which sets the pace
for their bumpy journey across the moral span. In a general way, then, the life-force is influenced more by ancestors
than by vitamins. Churchill has been fortunate in both
departments: his ancestors could hardly have been selected with greater profit, and his successes with nourishment
have been a source of international amity.
During his lifetime, Sir Winston had several hospitalizations including an extended stay for a broken hip
when in his eighties at the Middlesex Hospital and
Medical School, London, which is where I completed
my medical training in 1967. When he was much
younger, WSC had an appendectomy at the London
Clinic on Harley Street, London. In his book, Great
Contemporaries, Sir Winston writes, "I had undergone a
few days before a severe operation for appendicitis,
but I could not let this pass. So I wrote at large to say
..." The matter of dispute related to Churchill's consternation with an individual reneging on a "cordial
promise to us all" to support his colleagues in some
political maneuverings. (Do you know of whom he
was writing?*)
My preliminary conclusion concerning Sir Winston's
health and medical problems is that, while he was
often "unwell" throughout his life, he was unwilling to
accept the "sick" role and was able to overcome. He
Last Visit to Commons
ILLUSTRATIONS SENT BY TOM CAWTE
demonstrates on occasion an impatience with, almost a
disdain for, physicians who purvey "pills and potions." He always seems willing to return to the regular activities of his life as soon as possible and not to be
side-lined from major events because of illness. He
devised, whether consciously or unconsciously (I do
not know) "therapies" for himself, such as his longstanding engagement with painting. This absorbing
activity may have done much for the maintenance of
sanity, and helped ward off his "black dog." Except for
the few instances when he was seriously ill during
times when he had heavy ministerial responsibilities,
his zest for life and indomitable spirit were paramount.
As the reader may discern, I am well into my research and I am now beginning the more difficult task
of crafting the words, integrating the collected material
and seriously putting "pen to paper"; rather, fingers to
the keyboard. I believe I have accumulated some very
useful information which, when completely organized,
will tell an enriching story. Even so, I am not convinced that I have covered all bases of inquiry. I would
be most interested to hear from any reader of Finest
Hour who could give me information on sources, personal reflections, or observations he or she would like
to share. Some information may duplicate material I
have accumulated, but please do not let that deter you.
I will be pleased to acknowledge your contribution in
my book, which will probably take a couple more
years to complete.
Please direct your contribution to me c/o "Churchill's Health," 12144 Long Ridge Lane Bowie, Maryland 20715 USA.
&
T h e answer is George Nathaniel Curzon.
CENTER & LEFT: These fine sketches by Juliet Pannett, furnished to us by the Churchill
Archives at Churchill College Cambridge, show the toll of age during Sir Winston's final visit
to the House in 1964. RIGHT: A detail from Graham Sutherland's 1954 80th birthday portrait
showing one of WSC's delicate hands. Our thanks to Mr. Cawte.
s*~
FINEST HOUR 82 / 29
Interests
Military
Leader
Videos
Curios
Statesman
Printed Matter
Records, tapes
Speaker
Stamps
Writer
Painter
Books
The Finest Hour Reader Survey
Ten percent of Friends of the Societies have responded
to our opinion survey. Their prime message is
to work harder on chapters, but they tell us much else too.
BY BARBARA F. LANGWORTH
I
'VE BEEN going through hundreds of ICS questionnaires for the last six months — it has taken so long
because so many other things interrupted this project. There are certain distinct observations I have made
through all of this: (1) the publications hold the Society
together, and (2) most Friends of ICS are pleased with
the content of same. However ...
The really unerring finding is that individual
Friends of ICS have no feeling whatsoever for the
scope of the membership in the Society, especially
about "Chapters" — how meetings are arranged, how
local events are planned or funded. Some obviously
don't really care. They are the ones happy to get Finest
Hour and pay their subscription and answer an occasional plea for money. But the survey has unearthed, I
think, a longing — a strong desire — among many of
the others to get together with "like-minded individuals."
In the last year a dozen or so mostly new Friends
have asked me for lists of local people they could contact. Typically I find 8,12, 21 names — maybe in a 300mile area! (ICS will soon publish a very compressed
list of where our Friends are, maybe even dots on a
map.)
Take John Doe who wants to get together in
Colorado. In Colorado we have seventeen Friends (and
hopefully their spouses) who reside in eleven cities.
How on earth are we going to get these people together for any kind of local event? (This is another justification for the current advertising push for more
Mrs. Langworth contributes the "Churchilltrivia" column
and drives the ICS computer system in New Hampshire.
30/FINEST HOUR 82
Friends; in many ways, higher membership will alleviate this problem.)
Some Friends of ICS feel slighted because they are
not being invited to local events. I suspect this is one
reason for the complaints about the cost of international conferences, since they are the only events many can
contemplate attending to meet with other "like-minded people."
In a way we can feel very satisfied that our image is
so big. But in another way, since we are so small, we
tend to disappoint Friends who expect better of us.
Obviously the strongest need identified by this survey is to enlarge our rolls in a big way: not only
through advertising, but through a follow-up mailing
of the new brochure to lapsed Friends of ICS who may
have forgotten, or don't know how much we now offer
(which ICS/USA plans on doing this year.) Remember
that one of the most-cited "regrets" in the survey is:
"I'm sorry I didn't learn about ICS sooner."
I have still to enter and check the database information provided with the questionnaires. When this is
completed I can prepare more statistical information. I
will also supply to Society officers the names, addresses and phone numbers of any individuals who volunteered to help, what they offered to do, and all the
many "quotable quotes," some of which are quite
good. Perhaps they ought to be published in one place.
OVERALL RESPONSE
The questionnaire was included in Finest Hour #79
and mailed in June 1993. New members received the
form until it ran out at the end of the year. The form
was only recently distributed in the U.K.
LENGTH OF MEMBERSHIP AND AGE
People answering this question numbered 281 to
date. Eleven percent of those listing a date for joining
the Society were Friends for a year or less. Most of the
responses were from people who were Friends less
than five years (73%); 5-10 years was 17%, and more
than ten years 9%. The average age of the 281 people
who answered this question was 50.
ORIGIN OF FRIENDS
17%
Friend/Relative
WSC book reprint
16%
British Heritage
13%
11%
Churchillbooks
Press coverage
7%
7%
5%
National Review
ICS Friend
Smithsonian
ADVERTISING
Suggestions on where to place advertisements were
broad, including general recommendations for publications concerning museums, veterans, military history,
history, food & wine and "scholarly politics." The following publications received more than one vote (in
parenthesis) and those marked with an asterisk are
being used for advertising presently.
British Heritage (25*), American Heritage (25*), Smithsonian (22*), New Yorker (13*), National Review (12*),
National Geographic (7*), Atlantic (7*), The Economist (7*),
American Spectator (6*), Foreign Affairs (6), History Today
(5), Realm (5), Reader's Digest (4), Newsweek (4), New
Republic (3*), Time (3), N.Y. Times Book Review (3), This
England (3), Canadian Military History (3), American
History (2), Architectural Digest (2), Town & Country (2),
Commentary (2), Harpers (2), Historic Preservation (2) and
Military History (2).
The following publications received one vote each:
American Philatelist, British Life, Business Week, Cable TV,
Civil War Times, English Speaking Union, Finance World,
Forbes, Highlander, Insight (D.C.), Modern Maturity,
Saturday Review, Scientific American, T. Roosevelt Journal,
U.S. Naval Alumni Bulletin, Union jack, USA Today,
Vanity Fair, Wall Street journal, Washingtonian, Wilson
Quarterly, World Press Review and Yankee.
One Friend suggested that we ask people what magazines they read. I believe that the answers we received
reflect the reading preferences of the membership.
Stamp publications
Meetings/Tours
Gift
American Spectator
Encyl. of Associations
Westminster College
Chartwell
4%
4%
3%
2%
2%
1%
<1%
<1%
CHAPTERS
I do not believe that the general membership has a
clear idea of the number or location of other Friends.
With few exceptions Friends would partake of a chapter if one was in their area and many assume one exists
but they just don't know about it. (A list always appears on page 2 of this journal. -Ed.) There is also a feeling that A) new Friends are not told about local chapters or B) local chapters are not notified of new Friends.
It is assumed that Friends will look at Finest Hour
and locate their closest chapter. This doesn't seem to be
the case. I suggest we ask all the people listed in FH if
any new members have contacted them regarding
chapters. I don't think this is at all clear and I don't
think the members are sure what constitutes a chapter.
Friends would like to have small local meetings,
perhaps only one a year, casual and not too expensive.
Some suggestions were: dinner meetings with speakers, academic symposium with speakers, and videos of
Churchill tours. Unfortunately; the first two entail
speaker and dinner spending and tend to be expensive.
High and moderate interest is shown in most ICS publications and all Finest Hour features except stamps.
ICS PUBLICATIONS
FINEST HOUR FEATURES
About books
Feature articles
Book reviews
Immortal words
Finest Hour
Bibliography
Calendars
New book service J
Chartwell Bui
As others saw him
Reviewing Church. _j
Action this day
Despatch box
Churchllltrlvla
Amid these storms
Events coverage
Riddles, etc.
Inter'l datelines
Woods corner
Bric-a-brac
CR corner
Churchill in stamps
Dream
Boer Conspiracy
Weinberger
Hyde Park Gate
Orders, Deco, Med
Proc
Proc
88-89
1987
Newfield/Siamps
Level 01 Interest
I High
DModerate H Slight
Level 01 Interest
• Nil
• High
OModerate B Slight
•Nil
FINEST HOUR 82 / 31
INTERESTS
The pie chart says it all. It is interesting to note that
stamp collectors do not necessarily rate stamp features
high (or even moderate) interest! There seems to be confusion about getting ICS commemorative covers. I personally answered anyone who mentioned a problem, but I suggest
this information be given to new Friends as well as a men-
tion in the next issue of Finest Hour. (See page 5. -Ed.)
PUBLICATIONS
I believe we made an omission in this category by
not asking people to comment only on publications
that they have seen. Even though a person might have
joined after a particular book was mailed out they
could have purchased it through ICS Stores. So we
don't have a handle on the product, just the title concept.
The graph on page 31 succinctly portrays the interest in the twelve publications listed in the survey. I
find it difficult to believe that there is so little interest
in the Proceedings. Some of the most fascinating material appears in them!
FINEST HOUR
The bar chart on page 31 gives a good feeling for the
general interest in the eighteen categories listed. The
solid black/white areas demonstrate that the journal
pleases the readership, except for the last three items
which have minimal (which is not the same as no)
interest, but we shall still serve them.
I have the feeling that "Churchill in Stamps" is not read,
perhaps merely glanced at. Its accompanying text provides a
thumbnail sketch of history which, you would think, would
be just the kind of "quick facts" some readers like.
Suggestions for inclusion in Finest Hour ...
tJepartments: Full-length speeches; Ongoing work
of chapters; New WSC stamps (2); WSC's views applied
to current affairs; Profiles of WSC's associates, colleagues (political, social);
Titles: "Behind the Scenes in WWII"; "Chartwell —
an Architectural & Horticultural Perspective"; "Social
Welfare Legislation of WSC"; "Bedrooms Where WSC
Worked" (photo-story); "Soviet/CIA Subversive Parallels of 1920's/30's to 1980's/90's"; "WSC vs Samuel
Hoare (India)"; "The Effect of Religious Life on the
Speeches and Life of Sir Winston Churchill"; "WSC
Political Role as President of the Board of Trade";
"WSC as Home Secretary" (Ireland, Coal Strike, etc.);
"WSC's Home Office Effectiveness as Constituency
MP"; "WSC's Youth in India"; "An Analysis of WSC as
Orator" (See FH 69 -Ed.); "The Norwegian Campaign";
"WSC's Relationship with Mountbatten, Eisenhower,
de Gaulle and other Leaders During WWII"; "WSC's
32 / FINEST HOUR 82
German Intelligence Sources"; "Churchill's Heraldry";
"The History of Jennie and Randolph"; "WSC's Military
History"; "Churchill College, Cambridge"; "Churchill
as Air and War Minister after WWI"; "Churchill meets
Mussolini"; "Churchill's Influence on the U.S.A.";
"Current Political Leaders Inspired by Churchill";
"The Cartoon Churchill"; "Churchill's Interest and
Contributions to the Middle East"; "Churchill Related
Places in England"; "Into the Mind" Churchill's formative years; "Churchill's Early Years in Politics";
"Churchill's Menu: cigars, foods, recipes"; "The Underground War Headquarters"; "New Declassified
Material: US, UK, USSR"; "Churchill's Views on Jews:
What He Did To Combat Their Persecution."
Please note: any reader interested in writing on any of
the above topics should please contact the editor.
Topics: More on military; More personal vignettes/
anecdotes: life/home/personal habits; Merry Alberigi's
Churchill Paintings transcript (personal request); The
present Churchill family/post-1965; Youth-pre 1939;
Historical happenings with WSC; More of WSC's writings; More serious objects, less hagiography; Rare (or
unpublished) photos and stories and frameable photos;
Essay contest for Jr. & High School Students; Paintings:
reprints with discussions about; Polo (see FH 72 -Ed.)
In depth articles on specific events: Dardanelles, India,
Ireland; Transcripts of oral histories; Special features
on career; WSC's political ideas; Update previous feature articles; Too much on curios; More on collectibles
and how to get videos and tapes; One person commented on reprints — don't they know back issues are
available? (See ICS Stores catalogues. -Ed.)
Considering the diversity of interests we seem to be satisfying almost everyone. But I do wonder why the few people
who seemed to have little or no interest in the subjects covered in Finest Hour maintain their membership.
FUTURE MEETINGS
With only a few exceptions the hundreds plus people who suggested a location for a Conference all
wanted it in their nearest big town. The biggest exception was for a meeting in Fulton which has no convention facilities and no interest in ICS. There is also a lot
of interest in a Canadian venue, including many of the
locations visited by Churchill. Top of the list was
Toronto followed by British Columbia with Victoria,
Vancouver and the Empress Hotel. Other places mentioned by non-residents were Banff, Ottawa, Quebec/
Montreal and Calgary. I hope this bodes well for the
meeting in September. There was some interest in DC,
but this questionnaire was sent before the November
meeting.
The four cities most frequently mentioned, with one
exception, were also those best represented among respondents. New York City had eleven votes from residents, none from anyone else. San Francisco pulled
only two from non-locals; Philadelphia, Atlanta and
Chicago, one each. Why, someone even suggested
Bretton Woods, site of the 1988 Conference (great
event, dreadful hotel rooms).
Only 47 (18%) had been to any of the nine conferences listed. With few exceptions, Friends want meetings in the area in which they live. The US members
sent FH#79 break down according to the following distribution (not included are APOs):
1-9
0
100+ 50-100 20-49
10-20
AZ
AL
AK
MT
CA
FL
CT
CO
AR
VT
NY
IL
MA
NJ
PA
TX
VA
DC
GA
LA
MD
MI
MN
MO
NC
NH
IA
KS
KY
ME
NE
OK
OR
SC
WI
DE
HI
ID
IN
WY
MI
ND
NM
NV
RI
OH
TN
SD
UT
WA
WV
I think the above comments reflect that members
have little idea how or why a location is selected and
should be made aware that, with the exception of the
Washington DC conference, all previous Conferences
have been held where members volunteered to host a
meeting in their area.
TOURS (and possible meeting sites)
The answers were pretty standard (besides "time"
and "money"): wherever Churchill had gone! England,
Scotland, France, Norway, A\frica, Austria, Italy; Chartwell, Harrow, Blenheim, House of Commons, Westminster, Cabinet War Rooms; Yalta, Berlin, Marrakesh,
Paris: places Churchill loved, spent his youth in, and
painted at.
Churchill's example cannot be so limited; Friends
don't encourage friends to join; ICS sometimes appears
elitist; Not enough people know about ICS; It remains
an introvert Society; Adoration overdone; Tendency to
turn ICS into a business.
FINEST HOUR: The glossy cover stock keeps changing (not anymore. -Ed.); Publication time is erratic (too
true; we keep trying); Much later than cover date; So
much space is devoted to stamps; Only four times a
year; Too much "inside" chattiness.
PROJECTS: Smaller Carlton Club prints; Calendars
are out too late; Doesn't receive commemorative covers; The River War has not been reprinted; Wants more
sweatshirts; Painting reproductions are not available.
(Most are copyright, though we will investigate availability.)
EVENTS: ICS events in black-tie are funereal;
Doesn't hear about conferences early enough to plan in
advance (This year's was publicized one year in advance; so was last year's.); Wish they were less expensive (4); Would like smaller/dinner speaker meetings;
Would like more regional meetings; Would like more
academic symposiums with speakers; Couldn't get to
more conferences.
CHAPTER: There is no local chapter; My chapter
doesn't invite me to events; I didn't get chapter information with my new membership; Not enough chapter
meetings (California).
GENERAL BUGS: The editor doesn't get enough
credit; WSC is becoming less of a hero in his own
country; People who thoroughly dislike WSC; Can't
locate a quote.
Most of the Friends commented that the things the
Society does best are all the things the Society does,
from Finest Hour and other publications, to conferences, to "keeping the memory green," to tours, to
good value for money.
$
"WHAT BUGS YOU?"
Our favorite "bug" was "not knowing about the society sooner." "Not to be rich," although a frequent remark much sympathized with by the compiler, doesn't
really reflect on the interests of the Society.
THE SOCIETY: (From a French Canadian) ICS
seems to limit itself to the English-Speaking world and
WSC and CSCs 50th Anniversary, 1958 (Newfield Collection).
FINEST HOUR 82/33
ACTION THIS DAY
JOHN G. PLUMPTON
100 YEARS AGO
50 YEARS AGO
Cavalry and Horses
Preparing for "Overlord"
First Quarter 1894 • Age 19
It was intended that Winston would
join the 60th Rifles Infantry Regiment
upon graduation from Sandhurst but
his fervent desire to join the cavalry
was expressed in a letter to his mother:
"Promotions much quicker in Cavalry;
Obtain your commission in Cav much
sooner; 4th Hussars are going to India
shortly; Cavalry regiments are always
given good stations in India and generally taken care of by the Government; If
you want to keep a horse you can do it
much cheaper in the Cavalry. Sentimental advantages: uniform, increased
interest of 'life among horses', advantages of riding over walk, advantages of
joining a regiment some of whose officers you know. i.e. 4 Hussars."
The love of horses remained with
him throughout his life. In My Early Life
he wrote: "And here I say to parents,
especially to wealthy parents, 'Don't
give your son money, give him horses.'
No one ever came to grief — except
honourable grief — through riding
horses. No hour of life is lost that is
spent in the saddle. Young men have
often been ruined through owning
horses, or through backing horses, but
never through riding them; unless of
course they break their necks, which,
taken at a gallop, is a very good death
to die."
75 YEARS AGO
Intervention in Russia
First Quarter 1919 • Age 44
Upon assuming the twin portfolios
as Secretary of State for War and Air
Churchill inherited what has been
called "an odious situation." He immediately faced riots among the soldiers
who were demanding immediate
demobilization. From his window he
observed the arrest of disaffected
Tommies' who were demonstrating on
Horse Guards Parade. The declining
manpower supply caused Field Marshal
Haig to worry that the loss would be so
34/FINEST HOUR 82
serious that "the Germans will be in a
position to negotiate another kind of
peace."
Churchill's response was to create
armies of occupation and to increase
remuneration for the soldiers. To win
the support of Lloyd George for his
proposals he journeyed to Paris where
the British Prime Minister was attending the Peace Conference. Churchill
wrote his wife from the French capital:
"I was taken by the PM to the Conference this morning and placed in a seat
of honour among the great ones of the
earth ... It is a good thing to get in touch
again. We [he and Lloyd George] were
diverging a good deal. I think I influence him in a considerable degree and
there is no one with whom he talks so
easily..."
One area in which Churchill and
Lloyd George diverged was aid to the
anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia. The
intensity of their disagreement is
reflected in the remark that Churchill is
reported to have made to Lloyd George
that "one might as well legalize sodomy
as recognize the Bolsheviks." While he
acknowledged the genius of the Bolshevik leaders, he also recognized their
pernicious impact. Most importantly,
Churchill wanted a clear Government
policy which would either order withdrawal or authorize him to organize a
proper intervention strategy.
In February Churchill spoke at Mansion House: "If Russia is to be saved, as
I pray she may be saved, she must be
saved by Russians. It must be by
Russian manhood and Russian courage
and Russian virtue that the rescue and
regeneration of this once mighty nation
and famous branch of the European
family can alone be achieved." However, he agreed with his Prime Minister
that British assistance should not
.include British manpower.
—
In early March the War Cabinet
instructed Churchill to.prepare for the
evacuation of British troops from
Russia in June. Despite his distaste for
the decision he began to implement it.
Later, he lamented that "I feel quite
powerless to avert the grave developments I see approaching."
First Quarter 1944 • Age 69
Churchill entered his wife's room on
New Year's morning and exclaimed: "I
am so happy. I feel so much better."
They lunched in bright warm sunshine
in an olive grove. Montgomery was visiting before he left to assume command
of the Allied land forces preparing for
Overlord, the invasion of Normandy.
Montgomery was overheard commenting that his chaplains were more important to him than his artillery and that he
thought the 8th Army would follow his
instructions in voting in an election.
Lord Beaverbrook also visited and
after an evening of reminiscences about
their experiences in two world wars,
Churchill turned to Commander
Thompson and said, "But, Tommy,
you will bear witness that I do not
repeat my stories so often as my dear
friend, the President of the United
States."
Exiled Czech President Benes came
to lunch and expressed his belief that
Russia would have come to the aid of
Czechoslovakia at the time of Munich
and that he could reach an accommodation with Stalin on the border between
the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia
after the war, which he thought would
end this year.
Fitzroy Maclean and Randolph
Churchill visited while they awaited
their drop into Yugoslavia to meet
Tito's forces. Colville noted that the
Yugoslavian situation was next to
Anzio in Churchill's attention while in
Marrakesh.
Commenting on the Polish situation,
Churchill made it quite clear that the
Allies were not prepared "to begin a
new war with Russia for the sake of the
Polish Eastern frontier."
After General de Gaulle's visit
Churchill commented: "Now that the
General speaks English so well he"
understands my French perfectly."
After a review of French troops with
de Gaulle the British party flew to
Gibraltar where they boarded the battleship King George V for Plymouth.
Shortly after their return an amusing
incident occurred. Churchill had enquired who wrote political summaries
ACTION THIS DAY...
which arrived from the Washington
Embassy. He was informed that it was
Mr. Isaiah Berlin, Fellow of All Souls
and Tutor of New College (who subsequently wrote Mr. Churchill in 1940).
When the famous song writer Irving
Berlin arrived to entertain the troops,
the Prime Minister confused him with
Isaiah and invited him to lunch — and
conversed with him as if he had been
the academic, asking such questions as
"When do you think the war will end,
Mr. Berlin?". Irving Berlin enjoyed the
occasion and confidently forecast the
reelection of President Roosevelt.
Churchill was not so pleased particularly when Berlin told him that his
most important piece of work was 'I'm
Dreaming of a White Christmas'. The
Prime Minister was quite amused later
when he learned of the mistaken identity. On meeting Isaiah Berlin, Churchill
said: "I fear that you have learned of
the grave solecism I was so unfortunate
to have perpetrated."
On other occasions Churchill's fatigue and stress were evident. John
Colville found him reflecting that "with
the great events pending, [it] was the
time when national unity was essential:
the question of annihilating great states
had to be faced: it began to look as if
. democracy had not the persistence necessary to go through with it, however
well it might have shown its capacity."
On another occasion he said that "this
world (this dusty and lamentable ball)
is now too beastly to live in."
Attention focused on Anzio in February and Churchill's feelings were
summed up in his remark that "we
hurled a wildcat on the shores of Anzio
— all we have is a stranded whale."
On February 15 the Allies unsuccess' fully attacked German forces at Monte
Cassio and on February 16 the Germans
counter-attacked at Anzio. The war was
bogged down by Napoleon's fifth element — mud. The hope of capturing
Rome in January was now distant.
The lessons of Italy would be applied in Normandy. Bordeaux was
rejected as a suitable port for landing.
Churchill directed that planning keep
casualties to a minimum. Meanwhile,
Rommel was busy strengthening the
Atlantic wall.
On February 21 bombs hit Horse
Guards Parade, damaged Kitchener's
statue and shattered windows of 10
Downing St. The March 14 dinner with
King George ended in an air raid shelter.
Also in March Churchill was deeply
upset by the death of Wingate whom he
called a man of genius "who might well
have been a man of destiny."
On February 26 he broadcast to the
world with extensive references to the
Government's social services and postwar plans. But there was much to be
done before victory was achieved. "The
hour of our greatest effort and action is
approaching. It will require from our
own people here, from parliament,
from the Press, from all classes, the
same cool, strong nerves, the same
toughness of fibre, which stood us in
good stead in those days when we were
all alone under the blitz." His message
was not well received.
No one had given more to the cause
than Churchill but the cost to his health
was great. Brooke noted in his diary:
"We found him in a desperately tired
mood. I am afraid that he is losing
ground rapidly. He seems quite incapable of concentrating for a few minutes on end, and keeps wandering continuously. He kept yawning and said he
was feeling desperately tired." His box
was accumulating a "monstrous pile of
urgent and unsettled matter."
At times of stress Churchill often
reverted to his encyclopedic knowledge
of history and literature, sometimes to
the chagrin of his associates. John Colville: "At dinner he spent most of the
time repeating the Lays of Ancient Rome
arid Marmoin, which was a remarkable
feat of memory but rather boring.". |$
t\ RIDDLES; MYSTERIES^GMAS;:
Q: May I bother you for further references about "the gesture," i.e. the "V-sign" as noted on
page 29, FH #79? I have quoted
your explanation of it having originated at Agincourt to skeptical
friends, who press me for more
data. Is there an authpritative
source? -Robert R. Hunt \
A: Our source was a Q&A column
in one of those Sunday newspaper
supplements, which are never documented. We have referred your query
to the greatest expert on Agincourt we
know, Robert Hardy.
Q: Please comment about
Churchill's alleged involvement in
the sinking of the RMS Lusitania,
whose wreck we are featuring in
an upcoming issue in a piece by
Dr. Robert Ballard. -National
Geographic (to the editor)
A: There can be no quarrel with
Dr. Ballard's representation of the
charges
and
denials
involving
Churchill and RMS Lusitania. I once
engaged in a colloquy in the journal
of the Titanic Historical Society
(which Mr. Ballard will know), which
supported said charges, made in a sensational book on the subject.
Usually, the charge that Churchill
contrived to cause the sinking takes
two tacks: (1) That he issued sailing
orders from the Admiralty that sent the
approaching liner directly into the
danger zone;... (2) That he. encouraged
German attacks on liners as a general
policy to get America into the war.
The answer to (1) is that, on May
6-8th, Churchill was in Paris, negotiating with the French and Italians
about Italy's entry into the war. Thus
he could hardly have been in the
Admiralty initiating the fatal sailing
orders; and because his talks were
secret, he was not in touch with the
Admiralty.
Theory (2) simply strains credulity,
asking us to believe that Churchill
loaded every British liner with tons of
contraband, hoping that this would
cause the Germans to torpedo one with
large numbers of Americans on board.
But Americans weren't traveling in
great numbers because of the danger
(the 123 aboard Lusitania was a
fraction of typical peacetime numbers
on crack liners).
The best source on all this is Harry
faffa, 'The Sinking of the Lusitania:
Brutality, Bungling or Betrayal?," in
"Statesmanship: Essays in Honor of
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, "
Durham: Carolina Academic Press
1981.
-RML
Send your queries to the Editor.
FINEST HOUR 82 /35
Pearl Harbor:
Churchill in Stamps
Apogee
PRELUDE TO PEARL HARBOR
In the aftermath of the Atlantic Charter, many on Churchill's side expected momentary
American entry Inlo the war. Churchill, in a letter to Smuts, felt otherwise: "We must not
u n d e r r a t e |the President's] constitutional difficulties. He may take action as Chler
Executive, but only Congress can declare war. He went so far as to say lo me. "I may never
declare war; I may make war. If I were to ask Congress to declare war they might argue
about it for three months..."
BY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
PAGES 187-192: AMERICA AT WAR
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought America into the
war, but Hitler's immediate declaration of war on the United
States made it possible for Roosevelt tomake Germany the higher priority target, as Churchill had hoped. Scores of recent World
War II commemoratives make it easy to illustrate this part of our
story. "'C-R" (Churchill-related) stamps do not depict WSC but
are relevant to the subjects covered.
Catalogue numbers are Scott (#) and Stanley Gibbons (sg). A 187.
slash mark (/) indicates a set with a common design from which
;
any value may be used.
'" ' '
187. The 1991 set of American commemoratives noting events
of fifty years before are useful in this page describing Churchill's
attitude toward the USA's entry into the war after his meeting
with Roosevelt. They show the draft, Lend-Lease shipments,
tank production and civil defense mobilization. The note at the
bottom mentions USS Reuben James, which did not bring the US
into the war despite being sunk by.a U-boat in October. Burundi
Minkus 332 (sg MS307) is : a souvenir sheet overprinted for the"
Lions, a prominent institution in America and elsewhere.
•,-„.,
:
The Draft BUI without
which (he American
Army would have gone
lo pieces passed by
only one vote."
Churchill continued.
[Roosevelt) has now
carried through the
Senate by a small
majority the virtual
repeal of the Neutrality
AcL This must mean. If
endorsed by the other
House, constant
fighting In the Atlantic
between German and
American ships. Public
opinion in the United
States has advanced
lately, but with
Congress it is all a
matter of counting
heads... In the
meanwhile we must
have patience and trust
lo the Ude which Is
flowing our way and to
events.' [9 New 1941).
The Reuben James was
torpedoed In the
Atlantic by a German
vessel on 31 October.
But the biggest turn of
the Ude was not to
come until December.
188. The 1991" US stamp (center left," taken from'the photo
. below) depicts the height of .the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. ;'
less well known is the Japanese version (center right) #353 (sg
410), showing the scene from an attacking aircraft. Stamps .from. ,
Japan #325/36 (sg 391-407) set the mood for the aircraft'attack
on a sunny tropical morning, launched from Japanese vessels.; "•.; '\
,
/
•
.
.
189,. President Roosevelt's! speech to Congress requesting.a->5
decalartion of "war "is. documented by! another,, 1991 USA; WW2' •'
: commemorative,'and by Nicaragua #697/C273 (sg 1074-)'!. Papua//" ' &New Guinea #245/8 (sgVl 17/20) help illustrate the!,war there*^
along with a Japanese stamp from the period (center left). El <
;
'.Salvador#610,C113 (sg 969, 973) and USA #1235,(sg. 1217)!^
i. depict US Secretary of State Cordell-Hull, who had been dealing \v
-with Japan./,' •*.-.- •---,-•,.-"•= /h'-^.* " r/'-vt'-l,-;-'"-*'-'%'"?.':. 7- £•:,-•-. TS-£;*!I:'
PEARL HARBOR |1)
"It was Sunday evening, December 7. 1941. IU.S. Ambassador John G.) Wlnant and Avercll
Harrlman were along with me at the table at Chequers. I turned on my small wireless set
shortly after the nine o'clock news had started. There were a number of Items about the
fighting on the Russian front and on the British front In Libya, at the end of which some few
sentencrs were spoken regarding an attack by the Japanese on American shipping at
Hawaii...I did not personally sustain any direct Impression, but Averell said there was
something about the Japanese attacking the Americans...We all sat up...
•i
"1 asked for a call to the
^r eslocn t.».I Tt wo or
three minute* Mr.
Roosevelt came
through.
" , 190. British Virgin Islands #279a "(sg MS324)'.is' a 'nice.US/UK "
'. theme for the Grand Alliance. A 1963 USA Civil War commem- •.*.'
-1" orative recalls Churchill's knowledge of American fighting qualr "".ities. Two more 1991 WW2 USA commemoratives show the..
American industrial war effort with Liberty ships and vehicles."' - 188.
"•-
191. The USA 1991 war commemoratives came with a good •
map showing the Japanese-German aggressions. To this can be
added any number of stamps from British colonies, China and
"Iirdo-China"representing the occupied territories.
192. Nicaragua C241-43-46-47-50-51 all show Somoza addressing Congress, but it could just as easily be Churchill. USA #992
(sg 989) depicts the Capitol while #1161 (sg 1160) portrays isolationist Bob Taft. USA #1264 (sg 1246) is my favorite stamp.
(To be continued)
h
•' 'X
"Mr. Presklenl what's
this about JapanT
"It's quite true,' he
replied. They have
attacked us at Pearl
Harbour. We an: all In
the same boat now.'
"We went back Into the
hall and tried to adjust
our thoughts to the
supreme world event
which had occurred,
which was of so
startling a nature as to
make even those who
were near the centre
gasp."
-The Grand Alliance.
-Chapter 12
Apogee
Apogee
PEARL HARBOR (2]
WAR IN THE PACIFIC
The British Empire had been attacked in Malaya and throughout Southeast Asia In
Britain. Churchill ceremonially Informed the Japanese Ambassador "thai a state or war
exists between our two countries." His message concludedwlth the traditional diplomatic
formality; "I have the honour to be. with high consideration. Sir. Your obedient servant"
"Some people did not like this ceremonial style." wrote Churchill later. "But after all when
you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."
189.
Japan had simultaneously invaded French Indo-Chfna, Malaysia, the northern Philllplnes defended by Gen. MacArthur and numerous Pacific islands. A map published with the
United States 1941 World War n commemorative stamps shows the Japanese and German
aggressions: stamps are of British territories ultimately occupied by the Japanese.
IS Hi
President Roosevelt
addressed Congress
Monday December 8th.
demanding a declaratln
of war on Japan. In one
of his greatest
—
mistakes. Hitler
Immediately declared
war on the United
States. Roosevelt's
Secretary of State.
Cordell Hull, d la missed
the Japanese envoys,
expressing his disgust
at the dastardly nature
of the attack, which was
not proceeded by a
declaration of u
191.
Apogee
Apogee
PEARL HARBOR [3|
SPEECH TO THE AMERICAN CONGRESS
"No American will think it wrong of me if 1 proclaim that to have the United States at our
side was to me the greatest Joy...So we had won after all!...England would live; Britain would
Uve; the Commonwealth of Nations and the Empire would ltve. We should not be wiped out.
Our history would not come to an end. We might not even have to die as Individuals...
Anxious to confer Immediately with Roosevelt over war plans, Churchill sailed for the
United States Just weeks after Pearl Harbor, and found himself in the Senate Chamber
addressing a Joint session of Congress.
"If my father had been
American, and my
mother British, instead
of the other way round.
I might have got here o
"In thai case I should
not have needed any
invitation, bul IT! had It
Is hardly likely that it
190.
192.
would have been
unanimous...so perhaps
things are better as
they are."
"SlUy people might discount the force of the United States...But I had studied the American
Civil War. fought out to the last desperate inch...I thought of a remark which Edward Grey
had made to me more than thirty years before: thai the United States Is like "a gigantic
boiler. Once the fire Is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate." Being
saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the
saved and the thankful." —WSC. The Grand Alliance. Chapter 12
Churchill certainly
knew what lo say to
American politicians.
Even oldtlme
Isolationists who had
not wanted war while
America remained
unaltacked. like
Senator Tail of Ohio,
were on their feel
cheering the British
prime minister.
-•" REVIEWS
AEGEAN
ADVENTURES
I
1940-1943
U
"History with
its Flickering Lamp11
RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
Aegean Adventures 1940-43 and the End of Churchill's
Dream, by Michael Woodbine Parish (Sussex, UK: The
Book Guild Ltd.), hardbound, 400 pages, illus., £14.95.
Available from ICS New Book Service at $20.
M
AJOR Parish, a Friend of the Churchill Society
UK, becomes in this interesting memoir a
kind of alternative John Charmley (Reviews,
FH 81). Like the author of Churchill: End of Glory, Parish
believes that victory, in the war Britain entered as a
firstrate world power and center of an Empire, ironically ended in the collapse of Empire and the relegation of Britain to a minor player on the world stage.
Where they differ radically is their opinion of Churchill. Charmley despises everything Churchill stood for;
Parish believes Churchill was absolutely right, and was
betrayed by his allies, specifically Roosevelt and the
American military establishment, especially over war
operations in the eastern Mediterranean.
It would be well to establish that this book is not
what its title suggests. It neither starts in 1940 nor ends
in 1943, but is a broad-sweep memoir of a distinguished businessman and a brave soldier, who holds
both the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service
Medal for his part in the Battle of Crete. But the titlesubject is what chiefly concerns Churchillians. Here
Parish is compelling, but readers should not expect the
conventional documentation of standard histories: his
book is a "cooperative" or essentially self-published
work, there were no editors insisting on a plethora of
sourcework and footnotes, and none are delivered.
That is perhaps not a bad thing since Major Parish is
mainly stating his recollections and opinions, and there
are standard works in which pure history is given its
due. Unfortunately, because he deals considerably
with Aegean geography, his book suffers from a complete absence of good maps, something Churchill
always insisted upon, and with sound reason.
38/FINEST HOUR 82
What does Major Parish mean by "the End of
Churchill's Dream"? In a nutshell, he believes Churchill's Dream was to invade Europe from the southeast
before or maybe instead of the French coast, accomplishing an objective the Prime Minister once enunciated to Eisenhower: "I deem it highly important to shake
hands with the Russians as far to the East as possible."
The end of the dream came when Roosevelt, Marshall
and Eisenhower refused to countenance any deviation
of men and materiel to conquer the Greek islands —
which would, Parish suggests, have been the stepping
stones to an "eastern policy," forestalling the Soviet
occupation and satellization of Eastern Europe: "a
massive Allied attack," as Parish writes, "sweeping up
through Romania and along the Danube right through
to Berlin. This would have obviated the Second Front
and storming the Atlantic Wall, which probably cost a
million or more lives on both sides." He does not speculate on the cost of lives in his alternative approach
and one can hardly think that casualties in this theatre
would have been light. They certainly weren't, for
example, among the partisans fighting Hitler in the
Balkans, and they knew the country as no one else did.
The key to the "eastern policy" was Rhodes, which
Gen. Wilson failed to conquer or even seriously to
threaten, despite Churchill's remonstrances, in September 1943. Parish calls Wilson "unbelievably futile" for
telling Churchill "that the situation in Rhodes had
deteriorated too rapidly for them to take any action (it
had only deteriorated because he had done nothing
during four vital days)." Backed by his own military
experience in this theatre, Major Parish points out how
the Rhodes occupation could in his judgment have succeeded, with all the grand possibilities opening up as
outlined in the preceding paragraph.
Having failed to get Rhodes on his own, Churchill,
with his strategic vision, determined to try to get it
with the help of Roosevelt, and earnestly courted a
meeting in October 1943. This was the key point where
Roosevelt, Parish says, ended "Churchill's Dream."
The President "sent a totally unsatisfactory and
unhelpful reply," ending with a virtual refusal to meet
Churchill — thus WSC noted in his war memoirs, "Mr.
Roosevelt's reply quenched my last hopes."
Now this I find interesting, because Major Parish's
accounLoi.the.key Roosevelt communication commits
much the same transgression for which John Charmley
has been criticized: the partial quote, edited to suit the
preconceived notion. As quoted by Parish, Roosevelt
wrote Churchill as follows:
We have almost all the facts now at our disposal on which
to judge the commitments probably involved in the
Rhodes operation. As I see it, it is not merely the capture
of Rhodes, but it must mean of necessity, and it must be
apparent to the Germans that we intend to go further.
Otherwise Rhodes will be under the guns of both Cos and
Crete.
Parish notes: "not even a ten-year-old schoolboy could
have made such a fantastically stupid remark. The
nearest point on Crete, on its extreme eastern tip, was
130 miles. No gun in the world, either then or since,
has ever covered even half that distance. Likewise Cos
was fifty-five miles north of Rhodes, and therefore
almost totally out of range." True enough, if you take
Roosevelt literally. But suppose by "under the guns" he
was referring to the combined might of the German
forces, including aircraft?
But I digress. What Parish leaves out is Roosevelt's
explanation for his statement above, which followed in
the very next paragraph, and whatever we may think
of FDR as war strategist, it should have been quoted in
justice to history, if not to Roosevelt:
I was in accord with obtaining whatever hold we could in
the Dodecanese without heavy commitments, but the present picture involves not only a well-organized, determined operation, but a necessary follow-through. This in
turn involves the necessity of drawing for the means,
largely shipping and air, not ground troops, from other
source which inevitably must be Italy, OVERLORD, or
possibly Mountbatten's amphibious operation. The problem then is are we now to enter into a Balkan campaign
starting with the southern tip, or is there more to be
gained, and with security, by pushing rapidly to the
agreed upon position north of Rome. It appears to me that
a greater Allied threat against the Balkans is implied in
this than by the necessarily precarious amphibious operation against Rhodes with a lack evident to the enemy of
the necessary means for follow-through. Strategically, if
WP gpt the Aegean Islands, I ask myself where do we go
frnm there and vice versa where would the Germans go if
fnr some time they retain possession of the Islands.
(Kimball, ed. Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete
Correspondence, Princeton University Press 1984, II pp 50506; underlines are Roosevelt's.)
HE question thus resolves itself as follows: If
Roosevelt was right to avoid invading Europe
through the Balkans — that the problem of transporting a major invasion force across the Mediterranean instead of across the Channel was relatively
more formidable, that the Wehrmachi was occupying a
geographic dead end and therefore bottled up — then
he was right to say what he did to Churchill (in both the
paragraph quoted by Major Parish, and the paragraph
he omits). If he was wrong about all these, he was
wrong to say what he did. If Roosevelt was right to
T
support, not only "Overlord" but Gen. Alexander in Italy,
he was correct to write those paragraphs.
"I am not saying that we would have advanced on
Germany quicker or better than the Russians to our
north," writes Major Parish, "but without the least
doubt, when it became clear to the German High Command that their war could not possibly be won, the top
Aegean-Danube invasion meant had a lengthy supply route from
England subject to attack at many points. Also, Rhodes (circled) was
quite a distant first stepping stone.
Generals, to a man, would have decided to hold the
Russians on their north-eastern front [and] allowed, if
not welcomed, an Allied army progressing up the
Danube to enter and occupy Germany." (198) Indeed?
Why then didn't they allow an army progressing
across France after D-Day, when key German generals
from Rommel down demonstrably concluded the war
was lost? They did not: they fought doggedly, even
counterattacked in strength (as at the Bulge), even
when hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned.
There are other unsubstantiated and undocumented
opinions, which may very well be true, but cannot be
established without sourcework. The author regards
the forced repatriation of Yugoslavs and Russians to
Tito and Stalin by British soldiers (231) acts that rank
"among the most disgraceful in British history," and he
will get little argument. But he also says those acts
"spawned the current horrors in Yugoslavia," leaving
the reader wondering just how this evolution occurred.
Churchill said, "History with its flickering lamp
stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with
pale gleams the passion of former days." In an age
where many schoolchildren cannot find Greece on the
map, one realizes how hard it is to minimize the flickering. It is always difficult to place ourselves in the
halls of power, circa 1943, and imagine what it was like
to make decisions involving the fate of millions.
Major Parish writes well, with genuinity and verve.
His memoirs of the war and the companions it threw
together, especially among the brave Greeks; his suffering as a prisoner of war; and his triumphantly
successful marriage and postwar career, are all worth
reading. His military experiences in the Aegean provide firsthand visions of what that fighting must have
been like, and are of special interest to students of that
phase of the war. On the question of broad strategy
over the invasion of Europe through the Balkans,
instead of France or even Italy, the case remains to be
made comprehensively.
Reviews continue overleaf...
FINEST HOUR 82 / 39
Statesmanship
in a Grave New World
PATRICK J.C. POWERS
Winston Churchill: Architect of Peace: A Study of
Statesmanship and the Cold War, by Steven James
Lambakis (Westport, Ct. & London: The Greenwood
Press), hardbound, 188 pages, $48. Available from ICS
New Book Service at $42
Steven Lambakis has written a timely and useful
defense of Winston Churchill's political career after
World War II. He presents Churchill as a statesman
attempting to bring to fruition the high-minded international, as well as domestic, political tasks he had initiated in the 1930s and worked so vigilantly to keep
alive during the war. The recent fall of the former
Soviet Union, and the general movement of former
communist regimes toward greater rapproachment
with the same Western liberal democracies that
Churchill defended and led in the 1940s and 1950s,
vindicates the wisdom and prudence of Churchill's
postwar grand strategic vision of "securing a true and
firmlv grounded peace," by transforming the main
fortrebt- of communism and welcoming the Soviet leaders into the "community of nations" (4). If Steven
Lambakis is correct in his assessment that Churchill's
peacetime statesmanship is as worthy of praise as his
wartime leadership, then there are lessons for contemporary democratic leaders to learn from studying
Churchill's postwar ideas, speeches and deeds as they
grapple with the task of carving a lasting peace out of
the post-Cold War disorder.
The main argument of the book begins in Chapter 2
with an outline of some elements of Churchill's politiDr. Powers is a professor of political philosophy at
Assumption College and Holy Cross College in Worcester,
Massachusetts, he is currently on leave preparing a book on
Democratic Statesmanship: The Lessons of Lincoln,
Churchill and de Gaulle, with the support of grants from
the Bradley and Earhart Foundations.
40 / FINEST HOUR 82
cal understanding, not about domestic government
and political life, but about "certain attributes of international politics, which, by his own account, are permanent in character" (8). These include the probability
but not inevitability of war, the continuing presence of
both liberal and despotic political orders, as well as the
peculiar nature of communism and its relationship to
the rest of the international community. Against the
background of Churchill's political ideas, in the central
section of the book (Chapter 3), Lambakis evaluates the
genesis of Churchill's postwar Soviet policy. He examines the altered character of the Grand Alliance of
Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union
after the war, by describing and evaluating the Cold
War realities of Poland, the Balkans, and the end game
in Germany. In the last section on the emergence of a
"Grave New World," the author mounts a thoughtful
and evidenced defense of Churchill's approach to
Stalin and. the U.S.S.R. toward the end of the war. The
unity of the allies was largely artificial, given the fundamental antagonisms between the liberal democracies
and the totalitarian communist state, not to mention
the differences between the British and American political ways (72f). Even as Churchill worked for a Big
Three solution to the quest for international peace
through an effective world organization, he realized
"that then-present impasses may have been too great"
(68) for his statesmanship to achieve its intended goal.
Knowing the limits of what he could accomplish,
Churchill developed an approach toward the U.S.S.R.
that balanced squaring off against "the Russian peril,"
even while seeking an understanding with her. For
Lambakis, Churchill's political vision of a grand strategy aimed at perpetuating the Grand Alliance after the
war is the high-minded response of a statesman to the
difficult realities of postwar international and democratic English political life. In light of this assessment.
Lambakis concludes the chapter by outlining the arguments against "the groundless charge that [Churchill]
was inconsistent in his Soviet policy" (69), and the false
impression left by Churchill's public rhetoric of his
niavete about Stalin's intentions (73f).
The reasons why the author believes these criticisms
to be misdirected are developed in Chapters 4 through
6. Lambakis' main concern is to elaborate and exemplify the quintessential principle of Churchillian statesmanship — namely, that meaningful diplomacy can be
advanced only if it is "convincingly supported by military might and determination on the part of political
leaders" (69). At the same time, he argues that there
were insuperable domestic and international limitations to even the most astute postwar diplomacy of
Churchill, which prevented him from actualizing the
full extent of his grand strategic vision before the end
of his political career in 1955. Thus, what many commentators mislabel as Churchill's inconsistent leadership is actually the admirable exercise of moderate
statesmanship under very difficult circumstances.
T
. he limitations of this work are the consequences
of its virtues. Churchill's peacetime leadership is measured against the demanding standard of statesmanship, which is arguably the greatest theme of political
life. Historically, statesmanship has been considered,
by philosophers and politicians alike, to entail the
"application of universal principles ... to particular circumstances" (166). If the author is to persuade us that
Churchill was a peacetime statesman, then the account
of his leadership has accurately and effectively to
reflect how Churchill combined universal principles
with particular circumstances in his Cold War speeches, policies and actions. How does Winston Churchill:
Architect of Peace fare, when measured against its own
standards?
Churchill could also be better defended against the
charge of postwar political inconsistency by examining
the extent to which statesmanly leadership can ever be
made compatible with and answerable to government
by a democratic citizenry in peacetime. To this end, it
would be necessary to examine more carefully the
democratic reasons for Churchill's defeat in the election of 1945, the way in which that defeat limited
Churchill's political effectiveness as a statesman even
after his return to power in 1951, and how the defeat
insured that his postwar leadership would never be
widely appreciated for the exercise of statesmanship
that it was. Given the tilt of the book in favor of viewing Churchill as a statesman whose action is guided by
an understanding of higher universal political principles (xi), it may not be surprising that the author does
not dwell on the peculiar conditions of English democratic political life that shaped the character and limited
the possibilities of Churchill's peacetime statesmanship. Yet, given that Churchill was first and foremost
the leader of the English liberal democracy, before he
became the leader of the English speaking people and
the western liberal democracies, the reader expects an
accounting of how Churchill implemented his universal principles in the particular circumstances of the late
twentieth century English body politic. In fairness to
the author's intentions, such fan account is lacking because Churchill is evaluated ki\ the statesmanly architect of an international peace grounded on advancing
liberal democratic ideas throughout the world, rather
than as the shaper of a specifically English democratic
peace.
In the final analysis, Winston Churchill: Architect of
Peace is marked by an important but unexamined tension that undercuts the strength and unity of the
author's argument about the character of Churchill's
statesmanship. On the one hand, he points to the elevation of political life for ordinary citizens in particular
democracies as the stuff of genuine liberal democratic
statesmanship. On the other hand, he judges
Churchill's international political actions, and not his
domestic efforts, to be the hallmark of his postwar
statesmanship. The necessary and important connection between the domestic and international dimensions of Churchill's peacetime democratic statesmanship remains unexplored in this otherwise fine introduction about the long ignored climax to the stellar
political career of the Man of the Century. The limitations of this book are not constraining but challenging.
For they demand of the author a further work in which
the conundrums of modern liberal democratic statesmanship are unraveled through a more comprehensive
analysis of the domestic and international unity of
Churchill's postwar leadership.
The task of persuading democratic peoples that a
leader of Churchill's stature is worthy of the same
praise for his postwar leadership that he received during wartime is an arduous and long task. Lambakis'
claim about Churchill's peacetime statesmanship is
considered controversial in England, as he himself
admits. The French continue to debate the extent to
which the presidency of the wartime leader Charles de
Gaulle was beneficial for France between 1959 and
1969. Moreover, how would Lincoln be remembered
had he lived to wrestle with the difficulties of peacetime reconstruction? War assists the efforts of democratic statesmen — such as Churchill, de Gaulle and
Lincoln — at unifying and galvanizing a democracy for
the sake of common action, by clarifying for even the
dimmest of citizens exactly what means are required in
order to preserve the cherished democratic goals of
peace, quality, liberty and prosperity, peace, on the
other hand, dissolves the easy wartime alliance between statesmen and citizens by preoccupying a democratic people with their own particular daily concerns,
amitions, and opinions. Seen in this light, it may be
that the democratic statesmanship of peacetime leaders
is more worthy of praise, for their great political efforts
will come to fruition only in distant days unseen and
ignored by the general run of those they govern.
The author of Winston Churchill: Architect of peace has
done a fine public service by laying out the frame of
reference for an accurate understanding of Churchill's
statesmanly aspirations, efforts and accomplishments
after World War II. The greatness of Churchill's Cold
War leadership was vindicated only years after his
death with the fall of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. Likewise, the
sensibleness of Steven Lambakis' high-minded approach to understanding the political virtues of
Churchill's leadership after England's Finest Hour had
come and gone may become apparent only years from
now."Appreciation of his arguments will probably
emerge only after experience with the complex political realities of the post-Cold War "peace" reminds
democratic citizens of the extent to which preserving
and promoting government of, by, and for the people
necessitates relying on the peacetime guidance, as well
as the wartime direction, of prescient political leaders
like Winston Churchill.
&
FINEST HOUR 82 / 41
Lord Randolph's Generosity
From the papers of Sir Winston's father,
who remembered the little people.
BY COURTESY OF PEREGRINE S. CHURCHILL
Beatrice E. Parsons to
Lord Randolph Churchill
9th March 1886
U -n-rv p. 1 lieu Umt
(ie
(.
ii
Miss Parsons wrote Lord Randolph March 9th; :3he must have had her reply the next day, for on the 11th she wrote again:
o{
un-th.
•
•
kncL
aQun. '--"Ml
C Lkcm. on,
*o "pta~m.
1:
l i t Coit" i^ "»T.t<c
u> Iny Ian
"A
A
:
/ 0
^ . faun. idxLs. otit
• fhi/ ficrtd J you. <mJbi
/
1 /
42 / FINEST HOUR 82
, ——
Beatrice E. Parsons to
Lord Randolph Churchill
Uth March 1886
U
(I
Mr
- tUA* (^i.
J
•
V
T"l
, £nct
j
DESPATCH BOX
TOTAL SUPPORT
I cannot tell you how impressed
I am with what you all have done
with the Churchill Society. We
had not been in contact for many
years, and frankly I thought that
it had pretty much phased out. In
a sense, I have been operating my
own "Churchill Society," copying
videotapes and articles that I
thought would be of interest to
the many clients I have who collect Churchill material. Now that
we are back in touch, I am overwhelmed with what ICS has made
out of all of this.
If I could be of any help, I
would be glad to do something. I
do have a very good personal collection of Churchill material probably as good or better than
anyone else's. When I had my
show in New York entitled "With
Weapons and Wits - Psychological
Warfare in World War II," I
asked a number of my clients if
they had any Churchill pieces that
they could loan to enhance my
collection, and only one had anything: one of Churchill's monthly
desk calendars filled in with his
handwriting. I do have quite a
few letters, a very significant collection of candid and official photos of Churchill, all signed by
him, speeches, artifacts, etc.
You may be amused to know
that last year when Gorbachev was
speaking in Missouri, I mentioned
to a friend that he should get
Gorbachev to write his own comments in a copy of Churchill's
speech. It turned out he didn't
have an off-print of that speech,
and in fact we literally'called
everyone in the world th't next
day trying to buy a copy, as Ivhad
the only one, and it was not for
sale. My copy was signed both by
Truman and Churchill, and it
now is on display at the Forbes
Museum signed by Gorbachev as
well. I had tried to get Gorbachev
to make some comments about
Churchill and the pamphlet, but
he refused to do so. We have
ended up with an unusual, situation - it's my pamphlet, but Steve
Forbes's inscription!
KENNETH W. RENDELL,
WELLESLEY, MASS., USA
Mr. Rendell is one of the most distinguished experts in the field of autograph letters, manuscripts and documents and we are honored by his support. Readers interested in his catalogues may write him at Box 9001,
Wellesley MA 02181 USA.
TO SIR RICHARD
ATTENBOROUGH
I am writing to pass on an idea
which may have already been suggested. I often wonder how many
valid concepts have died based on
that philosophy.
Over the past ten years the film
industry has gradually realized the
vast untapped potential in bringing to the screen the stories of
historic figures. Ghandi, with
which you yourself were involved, and Patton are two recent
examples.
A film called Young Winston was
produced in the 1970s, and the
BBC followed by U.S. public television in the 1980s created a
superb series entitled The Wilderness Years, which took us up to
1938. However, to my knowledge
no filmmaker has attempted to
te'l the Winston Churchill story
from that point on: that is
through the war and beyond.
I am a Friend of the International Churchill Society here in
the US. It seems to me that the
way Mr. Churchill conducted the
war and in all truth held Britain
together is a story which needs to
be told. The research has already
been done, and I'm sure
Churchill's official biographer,
Martin Gilbert, could provide
invaluable assistance to the project. I would also suggest that
while we still have Mr. Robert
Hardy in our midst, his proven
ability to portray Churchill would
be absolutely superb. To top the
whole thing off, your guiding
hand would assure that the project would honor the great man's
memory.
I realize that I'm suggesting a
monumental challenge, but, in my
very humble opinion, WSC is the
undisputed Man of the Century.
How can we end it without having
his full story preserved on film
for future generations to see?
ROBIN LAWSON,
ASHLAND, ORE., USA
/ thank Mr. Lawson for his
thoughts, as I only recently sent a similar suggestion to Mr. Ken Burns, the
documentary film producer, nominating the "World Crisis" period (19141918) as fine unplumbed territory for
the historical film-drama. Mr. Hardy
himself would, however, prefer now to
direct another great actor (he suggests
Anthony Hopkins), applying what he
has learned to the honing of the starring role. (See 1990-1991 Proceedings, just posted to Friends in Canada
and the United States.) -Ed.
GALLIPOLI AND MR. KEATING
Thank you for your letter asking for a transcript of what Prime
Minister Keating had to say about
Churchill and Gallipoli, and how I
responded. I have tried to get the
text of the Prime Minister's remarks. There were some press reports of what journalists thought
he said but I wanted the text from
his office. Unfortunately, since his
remarks were made in "live" radio
and TV interviews, it has not been
possible to get the official text. In
the same way, my responses were
all in "live" interviews also and so
I do not have the transcript.
I thought you might be interested to learn about a development which has been going on in
Aus-tralia since 1992. I am not
sure how this will work itself out.
It contains three strands.
The strands were "joined" at
the Fiftieth Anniversary (May
1992) of the Battle of the Coral
Sea (now called the Battle of
Australia). The first strand consists of Mr. Keat-ing's claim that
this was a more im-portant battle
than Gallipoli (which is the
nation's main military anniversary). Australia was not threatened at all in World War I, as it
was threatened in April-May 1942.
(Churchill, for some Australians,
comes out badly in both events!)
The second strand is the emphasis on Asia. This is not new
since it began in the late 1960s
(under John Gorton) and continFINEST HOUR 82 / 43
ued under Gough Whitlam (197275). But, since journalists have no
sense of history, and are lazy
enough simply to rewrite in their
own words the PM's press releases, they have given the impression
that the emphasis on Asia is new.
The Battle of Australia fits well
with this strand, Australia (in effect) was betrayed by the UK at
Gallipoli and even more so after
December 1941; Britain did it
again by entering the EEC in 1973
and now the united Europe will
make the lives of Australian farmers even more: difficult. The battle
of Australia (according to this
argument) demonstrated that Australia's real destiny is in Asia — in
terms of both threats (1942) and
opportunities for trade (today).
The third strand is the Kokoda
Trail (April 1942), where Australian
troops stopped the Japanese attack on Port Moresby, Papua and
New Guinea. Since PNG was then
Australian, this was the first land
defence of Australian territory
against military invasion — and
Australia did it on her own and it
was successful. It was one of
Japan's first setbacks. This (according to Australia's "new nationalists") is more worthy of celebration than the Gallipoli disaster.
As I say, I am not sure how all
this will work itself out. It may be
just another diversion from Australia's economic problems. But it
could be the beginning of a "new
nationalism." The PM, who does
not write his own speeches (and
can barely read them), is being
advised by at least one military
historian who is concerned to rewrite Australian military history so
as to place less emphasis on Australia as the UK's junior partner
and, instead, seeks to show that
Australia has been a distinguished
actor in its own right on the international stage.
DR. KEITH SUTER,
SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA
BIBLIOGRAPHY DEVELOPING
Just a quick line to let you
know I am now elected Churchill
Memorial Fellow for 1994, and
am therefore funded for my research on a new edition of my
Churchill Bibliography. I hope to
44 / FINEST HOUR 82
come to North America about the
end of June for a coast-to-coast
mopping-up operation, starting in
San Francisco, and working my
way home. This weekend I am
writing to book collectors whose
names you gave me to try to establish availability. I can then construct a firm schedule. This is
very early, I know, but it's the
only way.
If you put anything about this
in FH, perhaps you could ask
those with items "not in Woods"
to contact me direct. In particular,
I'd like to hear from the man who
said my early publication dates
and print runs were wrong. He
didn't adduce any evidence, and
obviously I need to know his reasoning. As my figures all came
from the publisher's ledgers, it's
difficult to know what this might
be.
FREDERICK WOODS
266 HUNGERFORD ROAD
CREWE, CHESHIRE CW1 1HG ENGLAND
APPRECIATION
AND WONDER
I am dazzled at the munificence
of Wendy Reves (FH 81, page 28).
I would like to meet her one of
these days and thank her in person for her valiant deed in sponsoring 1939-65 Churchill documents. Had it not been for the
exertions of Sir Winston and of
many others, you and I would
either be dead — or, if we were
alive, I should be corresponding
with you in German, One wonders at the ingratitude of people
living in our decade to the deeds
and words of those whose floruit
was half a century ago. Although
we are their chronological heirs,
in so many ways we have similarly
betrayed their legacy. I really
resent anyone's implication(s) that
what Churchill and his allies
accomplished was somehow misdirected — e.g., that, say, a Halifax
Government would have been able
to negotiate a "peace" with the
Austrian monster, Hitler. Perhaps
some of our contemporary soi disant historians ought to gaze more
steadily at life in Vichy France,
which did not exactly receive any
special consideration at the hands
of the malignant Nazis and their
Franco-Fascist fellow travelers.
Churchill was one of the very last
Englishmen to make the "Great"
in Great Britain mean something!
I bless "his example, and honor his
memory.
DR. WILLIAM D. FAULHABER,
HARRISBURG PA, USA
What becomes clearer each
passing day is that the historical
illiteracy of the present generation
means that every historical question can be reopened. All one
needs is a book contract and an
outrageous theory. In fact, the latter helps the author obtain the
former. The reading public cannot unmask these frauds, because
too many lack not only the correct
historical background to render a
proper judgment, but also the
ability for critical reasoning. For
too many, the lack of evidence in
a conspiracy (pick any would-be
conspiracy theory you wish) becomes proof of that conspiracy.
Can we reasonably expect a person who can't find Yalta on a
map to understand what happened there?
Of course, all of this makes the
work of ICS and Finest Hour that
much more important, as "keeping the memory green" becomes
at once more difficult and more
necessary.
ROBERT O. ARTNER,
LOUISVILLE KY, USA
THANKS FROM
THE NEXT GENERATION
I am writing to thank you for
inviting me to the ICS Conference. I really enjoyed it and
learned a lot. Before coming, I
didn't know much about Sir
Winston Churchill, only what I
read in history books. But from
the various speeches and films I
learned what a great man he was
and began to understand why
people would want to preserve his
memory. Hearing people like
Robert Hopkins speak of times
when they met Churchill made
history come to life for me, and
encouraged me to read more
about Sir Winston.
Some of the things they said
went over my head, so to understand those things I'll have to
Jack Kemp and Caitlin Murphy
read and learn more. Currently I
am reading My Early Life, which
the Comegys in Wenham, Mass,
have sent to me.
I had a wonderful time. The
Hillwood Mansion was beautiful
and the Holocaust Museum very
moving. The visit has actually
helped me in my study of the
Holocaust. I spoke to my history
class about the museum and my
trip to Washington. The school
was very interested and one of the
parents, who writes for the parent
newsletter, is writing an article
about it.
I am extremely grateful to have
had this opportunity and experience, and will never forget the
things I learned, the experiences I
had, and the people I met. If possible I'd like somehow to stay
involved.
CAITLIN MURPHY, BOSTON MA, USA
[
Your own fine presentation^ helped
make our conference a success^ and we
have entered your complimentary subscription.
CHURCHILL'S MARRAKESH
Friends of ICS may be interested in our two days in Marrakesh.
The main market square was a
fantasy. Covering about ten acres,
we saw monkeys doing tricks,
acrobats, snake charmers and dentists, all with their hand out for
taking their picture (I had my
video camera, of course).
Marrakesh is a city of 200,000
people with 1,000,000 visiting an-
nually. We stayed in a 4 star hotel
which was equivalent to 2 stars in
the US. but it was clean as were
all the hotels we used.
I could not leave with out trying to see Room 300 at the Mamounia Hotel. The facility is more
than one city block in size and
contains all the environment and
offerings of a first class European
hotel but in Arab and Berber
style. In 1986 they added a casino
in which my wife left a gift. As
recommended in the guide, we
had tea in the garden and took a
few pictures. As you know,
Churchill stayed in Marrakesh
December '35, December '43,
December '50, and January '59.
During the Casablanca Conference, in January 1943, he told
President Roosevelt, "You can't
come as far as Casablanca without
visiting my beloved Marrakesh, the
Paris of the Sahara."
I practiced my spiel the previous day so when I faced the hotel
Arrangement Manager I was
ready. "My name is David Druckman. I represent the International
Churchill Society and would like
to video-tape the Churchill Suite
in hopes of convincing our society
of visiting Marrakesh and staying
here." "No! You cannot tape the
Churchill Suite," was the tart response. "May I then see the
rooms?" "No, you cannot. They
are occupied." "Is there anyone
else I can see about this," I asked
and again was told "no". I even
offered him 50 dirhams (about
$5) and again was met with a definite negative. Do I believe him?
Well, a fellow traveler also inquired and was told to return the
next day when the "lady" would
be available. I should have preceded my travels with a letter on ICS
stationery making prior arrangements.
Churchill also stayed several
weeks in T i n e r h i r , near the
desert, to paint. It looked to us as
a typical Berber village with no
distinguishing features.
DAVID DRUCKMAN,
INDIAN HEAD PARK IL, USA
EARLY CREDITS
This photograph was found in
the Calgary Museum of the Regi-
ments archives. When and where
it was taken is unknown to me.
[By G. Russell & Sons, London,
1941. -Ed.] Furthermore, attempts
to contact the studio shown on the
back have been unsuccessful.
Given the age of the photograph,
I don't think copyright is a problem.
CAPT. JOHN R. GRODZINSKI,
CALGARY AB, CANADA
FINEST HO UR #78-80
Thank you for your kind words
about my own contribution to the
Charmley debate [in The New
Republic -Ed.], though I think no
one had done a better job of eviscerating Charmley than Charmley
himself in those self-serving letters
of his to your journal. And I am
delighted to know that I am down
for a year's subscription.
ARTHUR SCHLESINGER, JR., NEW YORK
FINEST HOUR #81
... is full of good stuff, I think
that bust on the cover really looks
quite good.
THE LADY SOAMES, DBE, LONDON
I was disappointed with the
cover. There is little if any resemblance of the bronze head to Mr.
Churchill. I blame two people:
Mr. Ludtke and yourself for allowing such a ridiculous object to
(un)grace the cover. You should
be more selective. Shame on you.
BEN MATCHEN,
PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. USA
FINEST HOUR 82 / 45
CHURCH1LLTRIVIA.
EDITED BY BARBARA LANGWORTH
TEST your skill and knowledge: Virtually all questions can be answered in
back issues of Finest Hour or other ICS
publications (but it's not really cricket
to check). Twenty-four questions appear in each issue, the answer in the
following issue. Questions fall into six
categories: Contemporaries
(C),
Literary (L), Miscellaneous (M),
Personal (P), Statesmanship (S), and
War (W).
539. When and where did Churchill
deliver his "blood, toil, tears and
sweat" speech? (S)
540. What factor did Churchill use to
determine whether to support the
"Chetniks" or "Partisans" in Yugoslavia? (W)
541. The architect Churchill hired when
Chartwell was rebuilt wrote a book,
True Remembrances, in which it is
mentioned. Who was the author of this
1954 work? (C)
529. Who encouraged Churchill to
meet face-to-face with Roosevelt after
the Battle of Britain? (C)
542. WSC wrote two other pieces of
fiction besides Savrola. What were the
titles? (L)
530. Name the four individual titles of
WSC's History of the English-Speaking
Peoples. (L)
543. What gave Churchill "a feeling of
tremendous conquest over space"? (M)
531. Where stands a statue of WSC
with one foot on American soil and one
foot on British? (M)
532. What is the only major government office Churchill did not hold ? (P)
544. To his dismay, Churchill was listed under what name when he first
attended Harrow? (P)
545. Complete this Churchill quote: "I
do not hold that we should rearm to
fight, I hold that we should rearm to
•" (S)
533. "They feared the friendship of the
West ... couldn't afford to allow free
and friendly intercourse between their
country and those they controlled, and
the rest of the world. They daren't see
... the easements and tolerances which
come from the agreeable contacts of
nations and of individuals." Who were
thev'' (S)
534. What European island did Churchill consider invading in both World
Wars ? (W)
535. Who said, "Churchill is one of the
few men I have met who ... give me the
impression of genius. Shaw is another.
It is amusing to know that each thinks
the other is much overrated!"? (C)
536. What is the subject matter of Into
Battle (first published in 1941)? (L)
537. Churchill served in nine British
regiments. Name five. (M)
538. Winston's mother, Jennie, was
accomplished on what musical instrument? (P)
46 / FINEST HOUR 82
546. What reason did Churchill give
when he offered to resign as First Lord
of the Admiralty in 1914? (W)
547. What was the relationship between
Edward H. Marsh(1872-1953) and
WSC? (C)
548. In 1932, what well-known American family asked Churchill to write a
biography of their patriarch, but withdrew their offer because his fee was too
high? (L)
549. Churchill was one of the founders
of "The Other Club." What was its official purpose? (M)
ANSWERS TO LAST TRIVIA
(505) Sir Robert Menzies described
Churchill as "a great voice rolling round
the world." (506) The Malakand Field
Force concerned the uprising of the
frontier tribes and a wave of Afghan incursions in India. (507) Churchill coined
the word "summit" for the meeting of
Soviet and Western leaders. (508)
Royal Doulton has been making Churchill toby mugs since 1941. (509) Churchill called Lenin "the embodiment of
evil" in 1919. (510) Codename for the
assemblage of American and Commonwealth forces in Britain for an eventual
invasion (not the invasion itself) across
the Channel was "Operation Bolero."
(511) Churchill met Max Aitken in
1911. (512) The total number of Companion Volumes (to the Official Biography) so far published is fourteen. (513)
Churchill called General Robert E. Lee
"one of the noblest Americans who ever
lived ..." (514) Churchill's only painting during WW2 was done at Marrakesh. (515) Harrow School, 1941, was
the occasion of the "Never Give In"
speech. (516) Admiral Beatty felt that
an explosion between Churchill and
Admiral Fisher was inevitable. (517)
WSC said Konrad Adenauer was a
diplomat of Bismarkian proportions.
(518) Young Winston's Wars, The Collected Essays, and The Dream have
been published posthumously. (519)
Many of the trees at Chartwell were replaced through the generosity of the
Pol-Roger family. (520) Painting
offered Churchill a diversion and solace
after the Dardanelles fiasco. (521)
WSC parodied "Home Sweet Home"
with "Accommodation Unit, Sweet Accommodation Unit." (522) Churchill felt
that the declaration of war on Germany
in 1914 was "an open conflict between
Christian civilisation and scientific barbarism." (523) Churchill called Mussolini a "whipped jackal." (524) Three
states are currently known of the Ameri-
can edition of My African Journey.
550. What animal sketches did Winston
and Clementine usually draw in their
correspondence to each other? (P)
551. What was the subject of Churchill's first political speech (1897)? (S)
552. In 1939 Churchill suspected that
Hitler would do one or more of several
things on the western front. Name one.
(W)
(525) ICS started as a study group of the
American Topical Association. (526)
Churchill caught a "monstrous swordfish" off the coast of Catalina in 1929.
(527) Churchill wanted to see a homeland for the Kurds after WW1. (528)
Since there were no seagulls flying
around the dummy ships, Churchill said
they wouldn't fool the Germans, and
that food should be thrown around to
attract gulls.
$
IMMORTAL
WORDS
"CANADA WILL BE WITH US TO THE END"
I am much affected by the kindness of the message which Mr. Mackenzie brings
and by the emblem which has been carried so far
over the land,
through the air,
and over the sea.
It represents another impulse of the great effort
which Canada is making in all these months and years of storm.
We are in this old house and garden,
which has for hundreds of years been the centre
from which the British Government has been conducted,
on this unshiny afternoon
without any enemy aeroplanes
daring to come within the range of our fighting Air Force.
I am proud to welcome the Canadian representatives
who have come all this way to encourage us in our fight
and to add their own weighty contribution
and to assure us —•
if indeed, assurance is needed —
that Canada will be with us to the end.
The end may be far off.
We cannot tell.
That depends on the enemy.
How long he will resist we cannot say.
How long that wicked man will torture and afflict nations
or how often or in what directions he will set his murder machine
we cannot tell.
One thing we are assured of
is that he and his villianous crew
will be delivered to the doom and shame which is their due,
and that we, ourselves,
will have the honour
of having had something to do with it.
Spoken at Number Ten Downing Street
1 July 1941
in motion