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Autumn 1998 Number 100

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Journal of The Churchill Center and International Churchill Societies

FINEST m -,HOUR " * - '

ftTHE CHURCHILL CENTERT H E I N T E R N A T I O N A L C H U R C H I L L S O C I E T I E S

AUSTRALIA • CANADA • UNITED KINGDOM • UNITED STATES • www.winstonchurchill.orgPATRON: THE LADY SOAMES, D. B. E.

The Churchill Center is an international non-profit organization which encourages study of the life and thought of Winston S.Churchill; fosters research about his speeches, writings and deeds; advances knowledge of his example as a statesman; and, byprogrammes of teaching and publishing, imparts that learning to men, women and young people around the world. The Centeralso sponsors Finest Hour, special publications, international conferences and tours. The Center was created by the International

Churchill Societies, which were founded in 1968 to preserve interest in and knowledge of the life, philosophy and heritage of theRt. Hon. Sir Winston S. Churchill. The several Societies are Associated Societies of The Churchill Center.

THE CHURCHILL CENTERA non-profit corporation, IRS No. 02-0482584

TRUSTEESThe Hon. Celia Sandys, Nigel KnockerFred Farrow, George A. Lewis, Garnet R. BarberAmbassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr.,The Hon. Caspar W. Weinberger

BOARD OF GOVERNORSWilliam C. Ives, Richard M. Langworth,Parker H. Lee III, Dr. John H. Mather,James W. Muller, Charles D. Platt,John G. Plumpton, Douglas S. Russell,Jacqueline Dean Witter. Ex-officio:Lorraine Horn; Garnet R. Barber, ICS Canada;Nigel Knocker, ICS United Kingdom

OFFICERSRichard M. Langworth, President181 Burrage Road, Hopkinton NH 03229Tel. (603) 746-4433, Fax. (603) 746-4260Email: Malakand@aol.com

William C. Ives, Vice President77 W. Wacker Dr., 43rd fir., Chicago IL 60601Tel. (312) 845-5798, Fax. (312) 845-5828

Dr. John H. Mather, Secretary12144 Long Ridge Lane, Bowie MD 20715Tel. ( 202) 565-8312, Fax. (202) 565-8476Email: Johnmather@aol.com

Douglas S. Russell, TreasurerPO Box 2416, Iowa City IA 52244Tel. (319) 351-5610, Fax. (319) 351-6409

Charles D. Platt, Endowment Director14 Blue Heron Dr. W., Greenwood VLG. CO 80121Tel. (303) 721-8550, Fax. (303) 290-0097Email: DNHX71A@prodigy.com

Lorraine C. Horn, Administrator8016 McKenstry Drive, Laurel MD 20723Tel. (888)WSC-1874, Fax. (301) 483-6902Email: WSC_1874@msn.com

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEEGarnet R. Barber, Colin D. Clark, D. Craig Horn,James F. Lane, Richard M. Langworth,Parker H. Lee III, Michael McMenamin,Michael W. Michelson, Charles D. Platt,Alex M. Worth, Jr. • Consultant: Anthony Gilles

INTERNET COMMITTEEHomepage: www.winstonchurchill.orgListserv: Winston@vm.marist.edu

John Plumpton, Editor, Savrola@ican.netListserv: Jonah.Triebwasser@marist.eduAssociate: Beverly Carr, bgcarr@interlog.com

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYDerek Brownleader, 1847 Stonewood Dr.,Baton Rouge LA 70816Tel. (225) 752-3313

Churchill Center, continuedCHURCHILL CENTER ASSOCIATES

Winston Churchill Associates:Intl. Churchill Society USA, Churchill Center,Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Wills, Mr. & Mrs. Parker H.Lee III, Alex M. Worth Jr., Fred Farrow, Colin D.Clark, Michael & Carol McMenamin, David &Diane Boler, Raymond L. & Patricia M. Orban

Clementine Churchill Associates:Barbara & Richard Langworth, James F. Lane,Drs. John H. & Susan H. Mather, Lorraine &Craig Horn, Mr. & Mrs. Charles D. Platt,John B. Thomison, Ronald D. Abramson;Ambassador & Mrs. Paul H. Robinson, Jr.Angelo & Jeanette Gabriel

Mary Soames Associates:Mr. & Mrs. Wm. C. Ives, Jacqueline & MalcolmWitter, Mr. & Mrs. John G. Plumpton,Gary J. Bonine, Mr. & Mrs. James W. Muller,Frederick C. & Martha S. Hardman,Douglas S. Russell, Elizabeth Churchill Snell,Mr. & Mrs. Richard A. Leahy, Mr. & Mrs. GeraldDrake Kambestad, Richard & Jenny Streiff,Daniel & Susan Borinsky

CHURCHILL CENTER ACADEMIC ADVISORSProf. James W. Muller, Chairman,

University of Alaska Anchorage1518 Airport Hts. Dr., Anchorage AK 99508

Tel. (907) 786-4740 Fax. (907) 786-4647Email: afjwm@uaa.alaska.edu

Prof. Paul Addison, University of EdinburghDr. Larry P. Arnn, President, The Claremont InstituteProf. Kirk Emmert, Kenyan CollegeSir Martin Gilbert, CBE, Merlon College, OxfordProf. Barry M. Gough,Wilfrid Laurier UniversityProf. Warren F. Kimball, Rutgers UniversityProf. Patrick Powers, So. New England School of LawProf. Paul A. Rahe, University of TulsaDr. Jeffrey Wallin, President, The American AcademyProf. Manfred Weidhorn, Yeshiva UniversityProf. John A. Ramsden,Qi<mi Mary & Westfield

College, University of London

CHURCHILL STORES (Back Issues & Sales Dept.)Gail Greenly, PO Box 96, Contoocook NH 03229Tel. (603) 746-3452 Fax (603) 746-6963Email: greengail@aol.com

INTERNATIONAL COUNCILOF CHURCHILL ORGANIZATIONSAmbassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr., Chairman208 S. LaSalle St., Chicago IL 60604 USATel. (800) 621-1917, Fax. (312) 726-9474

ICS AUSTRALIASubscriptions and renewals: Robin Linke,181 Jersey Street, Wembley, WA 6014

ACT Representative: Lee Deegan,12/63 Tindery Circuit, Palmerston, ACT 2913

ICS CANADARevenue Canada No. 0732701-21-13Ambassador Kenneth W. Taylor, Hon. Chairman

ICS Canada, continued

Garnet R. Barber, President4 Snowshoe Cres., Thornhill, Ont. L3T 4M6Tel. (905) 881-8550

John G. Plumpton, Executive Secretary130 Collingsbrook Blvd.,AgincourtON M1W 1M7Tel. (416) 497-5349 Fax. (416) 502-3847Email: Savrola@ican.net

Jeanette Webber, Membership Secretary3256 Rymal Road, Mississauga ON L4Y 3C1Tel. (905) 279-5169

Charles Anderson, Treasurer389 Stanfield Drive, Oakville ON L6L 3R2

The Other Club of OntarioBill Williams1 Ridgewood Rd., St. Catharines, ON L2R 3S2

Winston S. Churchill Society of Vancouver (Affiliated)Leslie A. Strike, President701-1565 Esquimalt Av.,W.Vancouver BC V7V 1R4

ICS UNITED KINGDOMCharity Registered in England No. 800030

Nigel Knocker, ChairmanPO Box 1257, Melksham, Wilts. SN12 6GQTel. & Fax. (01380) 828609Email: Nigel@icsuksaf.demon.co.uk

TRUSTEESThe Hon. Celia Sandys, Chairman;Ernie Money, CBE; The Duke of Marlborough, JP, DL;David Boler; David J. Porter; Geoffrey J. Wheeler;The Rt Hon The Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO

COMMITTEENigel KnockerCfaj/rman;Wylma Wayne, Vice Chairman;Paul H. Courtenay, Hon. Secretary;John Glanvill Smith, Editor ICS UK Newsletter;Timothy Hicks, Hon. Treasurer;Michael Kelion; Fred Lockwood;Dominic Walters

ICS UNITED STATESA non-profit corporation, IRS No. 02-0365444

Ambassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr.Chairman of the Board of Trustees208 South LaSalle Street, Chicago IL 60604Tel. (800) 621-1917

TRUSTEESRichard M. Langworth; George A. Lewis;Wendy Russell Reves; Hon. Celia Sandys;The Lady Soames, DBE; Hon. Caspar W. Weinberger

Autumn 1998 Journal of The Churchill Center and Societies Number 100

FINEST HOUR'S HUNDREDTH ISSUE

8 30 Years of Despatch BoxLetters to the Editor, 1968-1998

13 30 Years: A HistoryFrom the Pages of Finest Hourby Richard M. Langworth

61 1990-1998: Quotes of the Season62 Regrets, We Have a Few

THE FIRE OF LIFE:THE MANY LIVES OF WINSTON CHURCHILL

30 Churchill as Imperialistby Winston S. Churchill

32 Churchill as Artistby Ron Cynewulf Robbins and David Coombs

37 Churchill as Politicianby Luigi Barzini, Sr.

41 Churchill as Soldierby William R. Dales

4 Amid These Storms5 Churchill Center Report6 International Datelines8 Despatch Box

46 As Others Saw Him47 Action This Day49 Riddles, Mysteries, Enigmas50 Wit & Wisdom50 Recipes From Number Ten53 Churchilltrivia54 Churchill in Stamps58 www.winstonchurchill.org63 Ampersand(Woods Corner resumes next issue)

43 Churchill as War Leaderby Dean Acheson

44 Churchill as Sexagenarianby John H. Mather, M.D.

45 Churchill as Personality of the Centuryby Francis James

BOOKS, ARTS & CURIOSITIES:51 Richard Langworth's Connoisseur's Guide is aQuirky and Engaging Tour of Winston Churchill'sbooks, says Glenn Horowitz...."Inside the Journals" isan early FH periodical column, which is renewedbeginning this issue with an abstract by Tom Reinehr:Merry Alberigi's British Heritage article on Churchillthe Artist. The traditional array of departments takesup Arts and Curiosities: Curt Zoller's Churchilltrivia,Richard Langworth's "Churchill in Stamps." ListservWinston discusses the Temple of Philae (still standingdespite WSC's recommendations in The River War) anda proposed list of Churchill's "flaws and errors."

56 Churchill Commemoratives Calendar, Part 10The 1990s: A Bonanza of Anniversariesby Douglas J. Hall

Cover: Twenty-seven of the hundred FinestHour covers, selected and arranged by John

Pumpton and Beverly Can. First row: FHI,2, 32, 28, 30. Second row: FH 36, 48, 43,

54, 50. Third row: FH 56, 66. Fourth row:FH 65, 71, 62, 77, 79. Fifth row: FH 80, 82,83, 88, 90. Sixth row: FH 93, 94, 97, 98, 99.

Back cover: A reproduction of a large formatposter promoting student use of the Churchill

Home Page, our website,www.winstonchurchill.org. These are avail-

able for your use in schools and libraries.

FINEST HOUR 100/3

AMID THESE STORMS

Number 100Autumn 1998ISSN 0882-3715www.winstonchurchill.org

Barbara F. Langworth, PublisherRichard M Langworth, EditorPO Box 385, Hopkinton,NH 03229 USATel. (603) 746-4433Fax. (603) 746-4260E-mail: Malakand@aol.com

Senior Editor: John G. Plumpton130 Collingsbrook BlvdAgincourt Ont. M1W 1M7 CanadaEmail: Savrola@ican.net

Senior Editor: Ron Cynewulf Robbins198 St. Charles Street, Victoria,BC, V8S 3M7 Canada

Features Editor: Douglas J. Hall183A Somerby Hill, Grantham,Lines. NG31 7HAxEngland

News Editor: John Frost

Editorial Assistant: Gail Greenly

Contributors

Sir Martin Gilbert, Nigel Knocker, UK;George Richard, Australia;James W. Muller, Manfred Weidhorn,Curt Zoller, Dr. John H. Mather,Michael McMenamin, USA.

Finest Hour is made possible in partthrough the generous support of mem-bers of The Churchill Center andSocieties, and with the assistance of anendowment created by the ChurchillCenter Associates (page 2).

FINEST HOUR is published quarterly byThe Churchill Center and InternationalChurchill Societies, which offer various lev-els of support in their respective currencies.Membership applications and changes ofaddress should be sent to the appropriateoffices on page 2. Permission to mail at non-profit rates in USA granted by the US PostalService, Concord, NH, permit no. 1524.Copyright 1998. All rights reserved. De-signed and edited by DragonwyckPublishing Inc. Production by New EnglandFoil Stamping Inc. Printed by ReprographicsInc. Made in U.S.A.

The syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman wrote: "You don't get throughyour Fifties without a whole lot of reflection where you've been and whatyou are doing next. Those of us who did it all, and then some, in our

Forties, hear the unmistakable sound of doors closing behind us....There are doorsopening in front of us as well. But we know there isn't time to go boundingthrough them all. We have to pick carefully and boldly, to triage what we want todo, and what we want to quit."

Pondering this sage advice, I have come to conclude that what I want most todo is to write. I was astonished to realize, through John Plumpton's new FinestHour index, how few major articles I've written over the years. Despite all the nicethings readers say about the product, what I am mainly doing is editing the workof others, whose efforts I have the honor to refract. If I were to continue devotingmyself only to the ideas of others, I would not be the first to be swallowed upwhole by a magazine. Publishing often eats writers and spits them out as editors.

Scott Edelman, the editor of Science Fiction Age, wrote: "The list of writerssilenced, or at least witness to a severe falling off in their output by becoming edi-tors, goes on. So it is with no small sense of trepidation that I continue to edit themagazine. Will I continue to write? Will I continue to remember how to write? Thejoys of writing and those of editing are different. Sometimes an editor is like anexplorer, stepping over a mountaintop to see a glorious new land below, callingothers to come and see. But what an editor is not is a creator from whole cloth,weaving something out of nothing. Only a writer can know the joy of doing that."

Mr. Edelman concluded that if one tries hard enough, it may just be possibleto do both. By involving myself less in administration—and soon—I hope to beable to prove his thesis. Editorially, there is one accomplishment that eludes us.These pages contain many words of encouragement or praise from many greatpersonages—but we have yet to receive a letter from one of them saying, "I wasinspired to [enter some grand accomplishment] by reading Finest Hour." That is aletter it would be nice to receive some day.

I don't try to hide the pride I take in FH. Always we can find (and do) a weak-ness, a department, a column, whatever, that needs strengthening, needs atten-tion. But oh my, what a performance. I sit here, writing this column, and surveythe issue about to unfold. Senior Editor Ron Cynewulf Robbins continues to provewhat a superb and original writer he is. Alfred James contributes one of the mostwonderful Churchill eulogies ever written, by his father Francis, in 1965. Towhom has Senior Editor John Plumpton turned for the last fourteen years to relatewhat Churchill was doing 100, 75 and 50 years ago? To FH. Where else could onefind, for the first time in English, a wonderfully droll account of Churchill in the1910 Dundee election by Luigi Barzini, the leading Italian journalist of the earlyTwentieth Century? Lady Soames, historian of her family; Martin Gilbert, thegreat biographer; John Frost, chief supplier of "International Datelines"; DavidCoombs, preeminent authority on Churchill's paintings; Dean Acheson onLeadership; Curt Zoller's Churchilltrivia; Douglas Hall's Churchilliana; WilliamDales on the Malakand; Sir Winston himself, the master craftsman, whose wordsresound regularly herein, by courtesy of his grandson....

The list grows, and it is overpoweringly satisfying to know that FH has estab-lished that no one or two people are indispensable to its continuance as the inter-national focus of interest in Winston Churchill: the journal that keeps the tablets. Ilook at the magazine and say to myself that this is a venture kept alive by menand women who dare to believe that Churchill's inspiration isn't dead, can't bepermitted to die, who have made sure that they, their children, and their grand-children will always have, to plead Winston Churchill's cause and irradiate hisreason, this litle beacon of faith.

RICHARD M. LANGWORTH

FINEST HOUR 100/4

Churchill Center Report: Autumn 1998

TAKING STOCK

OUR Board of Governors was meeting in Washing-ton as this issue was prepared, taking stock of what

we had accomplished and what we must do in thefuture. The past year has seen major accomplishments:

# Thanks to further support from Churchill CenterAssociates, our Endowment surpassed $1,000,000.

# Our Churchill Home Page expanded exponential-ly: www.winstonchurchill.org provides thousands ofpeople per month, all over the world, material heretoforeavailable only in back issues of Finest Hour and ChurchillProceedings. Our website is our largest single source ofnew members—who have an average age of only 44.

# Thanks to Ethel M. Pont, its major benefactor, weheld our first student seminar in April 1997 at StanfordUniversity, bringing sixteen of North America's best stu-dents together with scholars after reading My Early Lifeand Thoughts and Adventures—many for the first time.The insights these young people delivered were not onlyinteresting; some of them stopped us in our tracks.

# Our first book, Churchill as Peacemaker, comprisespapers from our 1994 Churchill symposium. Brilliantand readable, it is the first scholarly evaluation ofChurchill's efforts at peacemaking from the Boer War tothe Cold War.

#• We commissioned editorial work on three morebooks: Winston Churchill's 'Iron Curtain' speech andChurchill in the Postwar Years; and a new edition of TheRiver War, including both the original 1899 and 1902 texts.

# The scholarships we provided for Canadian andan American students at the University of Edinburghwere not used in 1997, as the course did not develop;they were reinstated in 1998 for students at the Universi-ty's Centre for Second World War Studies.

# We helped to bring scholars from England andthe USA to the Toronto Churchill Conference in October,to participate in panels and to discuss Churchill's India.

# At the end of 1997, operations of the InternationalChurchill Society USA were consolidated with those ofThe Churchill Center, eliminating duplicate reports, timeand expense while preserving all the traditional socialand publishing activities of ICS.

# In May our third Churchill Symposium, atBlenheim Palace, brought sixteen scholars together toexamine Marlborough—the book Leo Strauss called "thegreatest historical work written in our century, an inex-haustible mine of political wisdom and understanding."

# Our second book, A Connoisseur's Guide to theBooks of Winston Churchill, was published in August. Itspublication, under our auspices, sets a pattern by whichThe Churchill Center can aid publication of future bookswhich might not be viable without our support.

# At the 1998 Conference in Williamsburg, Virginiawe launch the Churchill Lectures, starting with formerU.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's RaymondSeitz. We are also bringing scholars and students, to dis-cuss the Anglo-American "Special Relationship" andChurchill's views on the American Revolution. And, asusual, we will all have a wonderful time!

The Programme for 1999# In addition to seeking new, outside sponsors for

the Endowment Fund we will contact another round ofmembers, not only with an invitation to become Associ-ates, but with new, lower cost ways to invest in what isnow dearly a going concern.

# Churchill Proceedings 1996-1997 will be our nextspecial publication. Our sixth Proceedings, it will publishall the speeches and papers of the recent UK and Cana-dian conferences.

# You are invited to Bath, Maine on April 17th tojoin Lady Soames in launching USS Winston S. Churchill,the Navy's latest, greatest guided missile destroyer.

# The Center will help underwrite costs for stu-dents and scholars at the 16th International ChurchillConference at Bath, England on July 22-25th, 1999

# At Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, September 24-25th,1999, we hold our Theme Conference, "Churchill andEisenhower at Gettysburg," with a tour of the battlefieldas Churchill toured it with Dee, erudite speakers on theirrelationship in war and peace, and parallel publicationof two strikingly different Churchill compositions: SirWinston's factual account of the great Civil War battlefrom his History of the English-Speaking Peoples; and hisbrilliant though obscure "what if' story, "If Lee Had NotWon the Battle of Gettysburg."

# James Muller has completed his editing of thecomprehensive new edition of The River War. Our goalnow is to see it into publication, making a reasonablypriced, fully unabridged edition available to schools,libraries and individuals for the first time in a century.

# With the Connoisseur's Guide as experience, wewill work to encourage publication of other worthybooks. Authors are discussing with publishers and us aguide to Churchilliana, an account of Churchill's militarycareer, a book on Churchill and Lord Fisher and a cata-logue of Churchill stamps. As you can see, we are bal-anced between "lay" and "academic" interests; theneeds of collectors and bibliophiles are as important asthose of scholars and historians.

With your help, we are confident that 1999 will seecontinued progress and satisfying accomplishments.

—from the Churchill Center Annual Report

FINEST HOUR 100/5

INTERNATIONAL DATELINESQUOTE OF THE SEASON

"Introduction—connections—powerful friends— a name— good advice well followed—-allthese things count—but they lead only to a certain point. As it were they may ensure admis-sion to the scales. Ultimately—every man has to be weighed—and if found wanting nothingcan procure him the public confidence. Nor would I desire it under such circumstances. If Iam not good enough—others are welcome to take my place. I should never care to bolster up

a sham reputation and hold my position by disguising my personality."-WSC, Letter to Lady Randolph, 26 January 1898, from Bangalore

First quoted in Finest Hour 14, July-August 1970

to help win the war. A genius at mathe-matics and the father of modern com-puter science, Turing's work at Bletch-ley Park was vital in breaking Nazi Ger-many's Enigma code. The secrecy of hiswork meant that his achievements wentunsung for years. Sir Derek Jacobi, whoportrayed him on television, todayunveiled a blue plaque at his birthplacein Maida Vale, north London.

VINDICATIONOXFORD— Michael Portillo, reviewing theOxford Companion to British History, saysthe book is "witty and opinionated. OfChurchill's conduct of the war, we aretold that 'determined to have action, heprodded and sacked his generals andmade many mistakes—sinking theFrench fleet at Oran, invading Greece,defending Crete, neglecting the FarEast,' but—is this said a little wistful-ly?—'no attempts to revise or belittle hisreputation have yet succeeded.'"

AROUND AND ABOUTA few years ago some bright spark

planned a motorway across the cornerof an English Civil War battlefield. TheBattlefields Trust now exists to pre-serve this heritage, and not only in Eng-land. They are raising money to pur-chase a site in Belgium to commemoratethe First Duke of Marlborough's victo-ry at Ramillies in 1706. Membership £15from the Trust c/o M. Rayner, 33 HighGreen, Brooke, Norwich NR125 1HR ....Jock III is firmly ensconced at Chart-well, says Victoria Leighton who looksafter the hefty marmalade cat, third inline from the moggy given to Sir Win-ston by Jock Colville in 1962. "He's cer-tainly a mouser, but I'm thankful to sayhe doesn't bring them indoors".... Revi-sionist John Charmley, still hanging inthere, has denounced another author,Sir John Strawson, who commits theunpardonable sin of supporting WSC inhis Churchill and Hitler: In Victory and

WE'RE ONLY HERE FOR THE BEERSYDNEY, AUS., AUGUST 15TH— The sailingsloop Winston Churchill, to our knowl-edge the oldest vessel named for WSC,dropped out of the Southport-Queens-land yacht race in light air, one of thirty-six yachts out of seventy-six which didnot finish. The yacht was restored byRichard Winning, who looks upon it "asa bit of recreation....Gentleman's oceanracing" (see "Ampersand," FH 99, p47).Evidently Winning was more interestedin fun than winning....

To clear up some confusion, Win-ston Churchill was originally a yawl, aswe stated last issue (two masts, mizzen-mast aft of rudder) when built by PercyCoverdale of Hobart, Tasmania. But sheis now sloop-rigged, with a new alu-minium mainmast. Otherwise she lookslittle different from when she was built,of huon pine, in 1942.

THE THINGS THEY SAY...LONDON, AUGUST 10TH— Former PrimeMinister Sir Edward Heath has issued arebuke to his predecessor WinstonChurchill. "After the war Churchill haddifficulty in accepting that society hadchanged," Heath told The House maga-zine. "I suppose it was not surprisingconsidering his age." Sir Edward is 82.

ALAN TURINGLONDON, JULY 23RD— Churchill said Tur-ing did more than any other individual

Defeat: "The only original feature is itsattempt to deal with the so-called revi-sionist view of Churchill—whichamounts, I am obliged to confess, to myown work..." Where would we be with-out you, John? .... Vera Atkins of EastSussex writes that the Paris statue ofWSC is not the first in France: "There isa fine monument in Montargis onRoute N7 which was unveiled by LadySoames in about 1970 during her latehusband's tenure of office as our ambas-sador in Paris. The funds were raisedlocally with the support of the FrenchResistance".... Proportional Representa-tion has been denounced by Winston S.Churchill in a letter to the Daily Tele-graph as lending itself "to squalid back-room deals [which] can be seen all theway from Bonn to Rome and on toJerusalem...The Liberal Party neverinstituted it during the long years thatthey held power...The British nationshouldn't be made to fall for it" .... Astone circle in the churchyard of St.Paul's Cathedral will be a tribute toLondoners who died in the Blitz. Onthe monument's cap, in a spiral ofsmaller letters, will be cut: "In war, reso-lution; in defeat, defiance; in victory,magnanimity; in peace, good will."Seems a good line to us.

ERRATA, FH 98• Page 8: Henry White-Smith, hus-

band of Lady Churchill's former secre-tary (1953-55) Heather Wood, writesthat he and Mrs. White-Smith lunchedwith Grace Hamblin recently, "and asusual had the most stimulating remi-niscences. One point which came upand I must mention to you is that wewere all agreed that the two photos ofChurchill cars in the latest issue ofFinest Hour are not of the same car.The lower photo is indeed EYH 409which had always been based atChartwell for local use, but the upperpicture was of a totally different makeof car and was not EYH 409. It was aGovernment car provided for him andin all probability was a Daimler."

• Page 24: The line "English-Speaking Peoples" was inadvertentlyreproduced twice in the title. Thelower one was superfluous. Sorry.

• Back cover: Churchill is depict-ed two years before Omdurman in1896—not 1898 as stated.

FINEST HOUR 1 0 0 / 6

INTERNATIONAL DATELINES

THE CHURCHILL CALENDARLocal event organizers are welcome to send entries for this calendar; owing to our quarterly schedule, however, we need copy at least three months in advance.

19994-6 March: Churchill Center Board of Governors Spring Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

2 April: Annual General Meeting, ICS/UK, Cabinet War Rooms, London17 April: Launch of USS Winston S. Churchill DDG81, Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine.

22-25 July: Sixteenth International Churchill Conference, Bath, Somerset.26 July-8 August: "Churchill's South Africa" Tour, Capetown to Pretoria

24-26 September: Theme Conference, "Churchill & Eisenhower at Gettysburg," Gettysburg, Pennsylvania2000

14-17 September: Seventeenth International Churchill Conference, Anchorage, Alaska2001

14 February: Centenary of Churchill's Entry into Parliament Autumn: Eighteenth International Churchill Conference2003

Twentieth International Churchill Conference and 50th Anniversar)' of the Bermuda Conference, Hamilton, Bermuda

LOCAL AND NATIONAL EVENTSTHANKS, JOHNTHANKS, BERNIETORONTO, MAY 29TH— Dr. John H. Matherof the Churchill Center Board of Gover-nors addressed a dinner gathering ofeighty members of The Other Club ofOntario and Albany Club at the AlbanyClub tonight. National anthems ofCanada and the United States weresung by Solveig Barber.

Introduced by John Plumpton ofICS, Canada, Dr. Mather spoke on hisresearch into the illness of Lord Ran-dolph Churchill, who died aged only 46from what was thought to have beensyphilis. John Mather convincinglyargued that this is not the case and thatsymptoms more likely indicate a braindisorder. (See also FH 93.) A livery Q&Asession followed. Randy Barber, presi-dent of ICS, Canada, thanked John andhis wife Dr. Sue Mather for joining us.

R a n d yalso paidtribute tooutgoingpresidentB e r n i eW e b b e r ,who isnow re-lieved byBill Wil-liams. Tot h a n kB e r n i e ,R a n d y

presented him with a bottle of ChurchillPort. When Bernie Webber assumed the

presidency, membership was so smallthat the group was known as The OtherClub of Toronto. Under Bernie's leader-ship, our rolls grew to encompass all ofOntario. Bernie's tenure covered almostseven years, including two InternationalConferences: Calgary in 1994 andToronto in 1997, in both of which heplayed a major organizing role.

THE LAST CELEBRATIONOF OMDURMANBOSTON, SEPTEMBER 2ND— Forty New Eng-land members and friends gatheredtonight at the Harvard Club to mark theCentenary of the Battle of Omdurman,with a fine speech by Eugenia Kiesling,Associate Professor of History at theU.S. Military Academy, West Point,who took as her subject what may wellbe true: "The Last Celebration of

Omdurman." Her penetrating, wittyremarks were much appreciated. Thisweek also marked The Churchill Cen-

ter's first participation, as a related orga-nization, in the American Political Sci-ence Association meeting. On the 3rd,the CC sponsored a panel, "Churchill atWar on the Nile 1898-1998," chaired byMichael Barone of the Reader's Digestand the "McLaughlin Group." TheClaremont Institute hosted anotherpanel, "Churchill's Life of Marlbor-ough," on the same day. A receptionwas later held for CC participants.

NEW ENGLAND, 1999Area members may wish to save

these dates:• April 17th, Bath Maine: Members

are invited to attend the launching cere-monies of USS Winston S. Churchill, withour Patron, Lady Soames, at Bath IronWorks. Bath is about three hours by carfrom Boston and less than an hour fromPortland. The date is tentative, becauseof the remaining possibility that the"powers" may wish to postpone it aweek for the 50th anniversary of NATO.To help judge numbers, please let usknow if you plan to come. Telephone usat (603) 746-4433 weekdays.

• Boston, late May: The Editor isinvited to discuss his new book, A Con-noisseur's Guide to the Books of Sir WinstonChurchill, at the Boston Athenaeum. CCmembers will receive invitations.

UK, 1999This will be a busy year for ICS,

UK, which is hosting its third Interna-tional Churchill Conference in sevenyears on July 22-25 in Bath. Helpers areneeded! Contact Nigel Knocker, addresson page 2.

FINEST HOUR 100/7

30 YEARS OF DESPATCH BOX

"By Command of His Royal HighnessPaduka Seri Begawan Sultan GeneralHaji Sir Muda Omar 'Ali SaifuddienSa'adul Khairi Waddien, Minister ofDefence, Negara Brunei Darussalam,I acknowledge the receipt of yourletter and thank you for copies of

the journal about Sir Winston Churchill."-Peng Orang Kaya Laila Setia Datio' Seri Paduka Awang

Mohd. bin Pehin Orang Nawawi Kaya Shahbandar Haji Awang Mohd. Taha,Personal & Confidential Secretary, Negara Brunei Darussalam, 10 September 1984

22 February 1968Thank you for your letter con-

cerning the formation of a ChurchillStudy Unit. I regret to record that Iknow nothing about stamps, but Iwould be glad to answer any ques-tions you have in mind.

Randolph S. Churchill,East Bergholt, Suffolk

22 July 1968How very kind of your Board of

Directors to invite me to be an honourmember of the Winston ChurchillStudy Unit of the American TopicalAssociation. I should be very pleasedto accept this honour.

Lady Churchill, London

24 July 1968Thank you very much for your

letter of 18th July and enclosureswhich The Queen was most interest-ed to see. The Queen greatly appreci-ates your kind gesture, but I amafraid it would not be in accordancewith Her Majesty's practice to acceptHonorary Membership in theWinston S. Churchill Study Unit.

Private Secretary, Buckingham Palace

7 July 1969I am firmly against endorsing a

dealer, no matter how good. It couldpresent a possible legal problem, but Iam not familiar with Pennsylvanialaw. I am also against For Sale ads inthe classified section. Trade or swap,okay! I speak as a member whowould like to see WSCSU go on formany years. In fact, some thought

should be given to a merger with theEisenhower Study Unit.

Martin Hoff, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Lady Churchill22 July 1968

Randolph Churchill22 July 1968

28 February 1971My vote is against WSCSU

becoming the "International Chur-chill Society." It is normal for anyundertaking to wish to expand, butnot without incurring increased and,alas, unforseen responsibilities. I likethe WSCSU because it is so personal.By expanding shall we not lose ourpersonal identity and just become anumber, rather like a private compa-ny which goes public? I should hateto be swallowed up by an octopus.Whichever way the cat jumps, restassured of my fullest support.

Jack Symonds, Reading, Berks.

22 July 1973The present high reputation that

Churchill enjoys is largely transitory[because] he happened to be on thewinning side of WW2. This state ofaffairs is just beginning to be correct-ed by perceptive writers who probebeneath the Churchill rhetoric to find

FINEST HOUR 100/8

it supported by very little competencein military affairs and a master politi-cian's and propagandist's ability tocover the bloodstains of hiserrors....Those of us who were atAnzio, trapped and isolated, knewthat "the genius of Gallipoli" was atwork once more. I recommend thebooks of Trumbull Higgins and R. W.Thompson on the nature of the"Montgomery and Churchill Myths."

R. M. N. (Name withheld by request,but not, we think, Richard M. Nixon)

10 August 1981I particularly appreciated your

offer of honorary membership. Asyou see, I was interested in joiningeven before I heard of your generoussuggestion. [He had sent us his checkfor dues; we sent it back!] I will lookforward to receiving publications,and hope before too much longer tohave an opportunity to meet you.

Caspar W. Weinberger, Washington

24 March 1982I wanted personally to thank you

and all the members of the Society forsending me For Free Trade, which I amhonored to accept for inclusion in thePresidential Library. Sir Winstonstands unrivaled as the preeminentstatesman of our century. The volumeyou enclosed demonstrates what youso aptly describe as his "powerfulwriting, immortal speeches, match-less humor and prevailing opti-mism." The English-speaking peopleswhom he loved, and all who cherishfreedom, owe a lasting debt to thissuperbly gifted man, who playedsuch a vital role in leading the freeworld from the "Gathering Storm" toits "Finest Hour."

Ronald Reagan, Washington

7 April 1982Dal Newfield was a friendly, out-

going personality, balanced, tolerantand wise. His admiration for SirWinston was deep, his enthusiasmand knowledge inspiring. He lived tokeep the Immortal Memory ever-green. We shared the same thoughtsabout life, a love for Nature, and ofboth our countries. If ever a man »

deserved citizenship of both Americaand Britain it was Dal. Above all Ishall miss the warmth and sincerityof his friendship. What an immenseloss we have all suffered.H. Ashley Redburn, Bedhampton, Hants.

11 October 1982I can't believe I had not known of

ICS. How long has it been "living?" Itis a wonderful idea! I'm presentlyworking on a new book, ChurchillClairvoyant: Canny and Uncanny. Ifonly he were running a unitedDemocracies right now!

Kay M. Halle, Washington

8 February 1983The Prime Minister will be inter-

ested to hear that the Society is spon-soring a "Churchill's England" visitfor a party of members from NorthAmerica. You asked in your letterwhether the party might visit 10Downing Street. I very much regretthat this will not be possible. No. 10 isa working office for 24 hours a day,and it is therefore not possible formembers of the public to be shownaround. The Prime Minister wouldlike to be able to receive them person-ally, but this too will not be possible,due to her extremely crowded diary.

Caroline Stephens, Private Secretary,Number Ten Downing Street, London

20 August 1983It is quite unnecessary for you to

thank me for the delightful day Ispent with the Churchill Tour. One ofthe most important things aboutretirement is to feel useful and need-ed, and if one can acquire both ofthese essentials and combine themwith intense enjoyment, whatever isthere left to wish for? Certainly forme that day was complete. I amalways happy if I can help people tofall in love with Chartwell. SirWinston and I had two things in com-mon: our love of Chartwell and ourlove of cats!

Grace Hamblin, Westerham, Kent

10 May 1984While WSC is my favourite

British PM, I prefer FDR. It's a para-

Grace Hamblin20 August 1983

Ronald Reagan24 March 1982

dox that while WSC was great in1940, and not too bad in 1914, he nei-ther understood, believed in, or evenbelonged in this century. His fame islegendary, his charisma huge; hisBritish qualities were not as signifi-cant as the one he inherited from hisAmerican mother: strength of charac-ter. But FDR was much more relevantto this century. I'm surprised that anyWinstonphile could dislike Mac-Arthur. Both were great men; bothcan be shown to have been egotistical,incompetent and overrated. Chur-chillophiles obviously have a pre-dilection for the patrician, and Macwas an American patrician, descend-ed from a most ancient Scottish clan,grandfather a Supreme Court justice,father a famous general, mother froman aristocratic old southern family.They are so much alike!

Maurice D. Hendry, Auckland, N.Z.

10 September 1984By Command of His Royal

Highness Paduka Seri BegawanSultan General Haji Sir Muda Omar'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul KhairiWaddien, Minister of Defence,Negara Brunei Darussalam, Iacknowledge the receipt of your letterand thank you for copies of the jour-nal about Sir Winston Churchill. HisRoyal Highness would like to thankyou very much for the gifts.

Peng Orang Kaya Laila Setia Datio'Seri Paduka Awang Mohd. Nawawi binPehin Orang Kaya Shahbandar HajiAwang Mohd. Taha, Personal andConfidential Secretary to HRH PadukaSeri Begawan Sultan, Minister ofDefence,

Negara Brunei Darussalam

FINEST HOUR 100/9

25 January 1985I thank you for the Churchill

Society material, especially SirWinston's article, "If Lee Had NotWon the Battle of Gettysburg," a fan-tasy which transcends all my objec-tions to exploring the what-ifs andmight-have-beens in that great war.* Iregret that I won't be able to be withyou for this year's gathering. Regardsand best wishes.

Shelby Foote, Memphis, Tenn.

* Churchill's incredible "what-if," writtenin 1930, assumes Lee wins at Gettysburgand then occupies Washington. Theundisputed victor, Lee then frees theslaves, erasing the main moral argumentagainst Southern independence. TheUnited and Confederate States, after anuneasy 40 years, finally come togetherwith Great Britain to prevent war in 1914,with its Nazi and Bolshevik aftermath—which tragedies Churchill speculatesmight have actually come to pass "If LeeHad Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg."This piece will be published to coincidewith our Gettysburg conference next year.

15 March 1985I note that the Foreign Office has

announced that the BritishGovernment will not commemoratethe 40th anniversary of VE-Day "forfear of offending the Germans." TheF.O. has shown an incomprehensiblesensitivity to a non-existent Germanfeeling. VE-Day signifies the crushingof a terrible evil. Without Britain, thatvictory could not even have been con-templated, much less won. TheBritish people—most of all the veter-ans—have a great deal to be proud of.The Germans have much to celebrate,nothing to be ashamed of, and theF.O. should get out of the way andallow people to get at it.

Stephen Ambrose, New Orleans, La.

17 January 1987I recently detached from USS

Goldsborough (DDG 20) in the PersianGulf and returned home to Hawaiivia London, where I landed on theday of Winston Churchill's birth. Thenext morning I set out afoot to searchfor ghosts. As I crossed Millbank

CONTINUED OVERLEAF >»

30 YEARS OF DESPATCH BOX

Robert Hardy15 August 1988

Sir Martin Gilbert14 September 1989

Road the slate colored statue facingthe Houses of Parliament loomedbefore me. I could feel the gravity ofthe man as I stared at the figure. Thathe had risen to the pinnacle is com-mon knowledge: yet it was now evenmore real because of that statue.Cdr. Larry Kryske, USN, Mililani, Hawaii

13 June 1988I am commanded by The Queen

to acknowledge your letter of 7thJune and to thank you most warmlyfor sending the number 1 copy ofWinston Churchill's The Dream. HerMajesty is delighted to have this toadd to Sir Winston's other works inthe Royal Library and sends you herwarmest thanks. She is delighted toknow that the project has assisted inthe large work of supporting the pub-lication of the ten final CompanionVolumes to the Official Biography.

Sir William Heseltine, Windsor Castle

24 June 1988J'ai bien recu l'ouvrage de Sir

Winston Churchill au nom del'lnternational Churchill Society quevous avez eu l'amabilite de me faireparvenir. J'ai ete particulierementsensible a cette attention et j'ai beau-coup apprecie la qualite de l'edition.Je vous en remercie et vous prie decroire, Cher Monsieur, a l'expressionde mes sentiments les meilleurs.

Frangois Mitterand, Paris

26 July 1988Though twenty years seems a

milestone to our Society, it palesagainst the breadth of a lifespan likethat of the man we honor. When ele-vated as Prime Minister in 1940, hehad already lived to the full measure

several lifetimes. He had authoredtwenty-two books, countless articles,speeches, letters and travel notes; hehad fought in combat in India, theSudan, South Africa and Flanders; hehad traveled and lectured on severalcontinents; he had married andfathered five children; he had servedin Parliament as a Conservative, thena Liberal, then a Constitutionalist,and again as a Conservative. AsRobin Lampson so eloquently wrotein Finest Hour, our words are "butcandles to his sunlight...his magnifi-cent endeavor."

Sen. Bob Packwood, Washington

28 July 1988As Winston Churchill's only sur-

viving child, I have cause to feel thegreatest gratitude to ICS, which everperseveres to perpetuate my father'smemory, to rebut unjust and untruth-ful attacks upon his record and char-acter, and to ensure that the themes ofWinston Churchill's life and geniuslive on for future generations. To thededicated organisers and loyal mem-bers I send my warmest greetings andheartfelt thanks.

Lady Soames, London

10 August 1988My father derived a great deal of

pleasure from his association with thevarious Churchill organisations. Heoften said how fortunate he was tohave been so closely associated withone of the few truly great men of thepast decades and I think he felt thathe owed it to the Society to repay thisgood fortune in any way he could—hence his genuine and unflaggingdevotion to all matters relating to SirWinston. We all miss him terribly,but he would not wish us to com-plain. As he said to me only last May,"I've had my allotted threescore yearsand ten—anything extra is a bonus."

Sandy Colville, Broughton, Hants.

15 August 1988We live in a time when much

energy is spent on the destruction ofreputations, the reduction of achieve-ments. The International ChurchillSociety has already done much to

FINEST HOUR 100/10

guard the truth and no doubt,through the years to come, will haveto remain ever more vigilant anddetermined. I wish great strength toyour arm.Robert Hardy, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon.

10 January 1989We are busily at work recording

all Churchill's major works in ourBooks on Tape series, which are espe-cially useful to anyone with visualhandicaps. I read with interest ofWendy Reves's role in assuring publi-cation of the ten final CompanionVolumes for 1940-1965.1 think MartinGilbert should be sainted!Duvall Hecht, Books-on-Tape Inc., Calif.

Editor: While there are certain Ecumenicalproblems, we feel sure that, the properAuthorities giving their consent, Mr. Gilbertwould be disposed to consider the matter.

15 April 1989I like your addition of France to

your list of Democracy's builders.The concept and moral ideal of libertycomes from the ancient Hebrews, ason the Liberty Bell: "Proclaim Libertythroughout the Land and to all theinhabitants thereof"(Isaiah). Theancient Greeks gave us the ideal ofthe practice of Democracy in theircity-states. The Romans laid downsome of the structure—the Senate,etc. Of course the word is Greek. Theforegoing is from imperfect memory,but there is no question in my mindthat the Anglo-Saxons have madeDemocracy, using classical blue-prints, a viable modern political andlegal reality, and have continued todefend it, along with what are nowcalled the English-Speaking Peoples,against tyranny, and tyrants.

Richard M. Edelman, New York City

14 September 1989I was disappointed not to be pre-

sent at the dinner for Maurice Ashley,who I have long regarded as my men-tor. I remember my excitement atcoming across the first traces of hiswork for Churchill when I waspreparing the material for Volume V.I do not think I have ever been soimpressed at the energy and effort

put in by an historian in the archivesand in the assembly of material.

Martin Gilbert, Jerusalem

12 April 1990It is, of course, ludicrous for Mr.

Daniel Lazare to claim that WinstonChurchill was anti-Semitic. The con-trary evidence is massive: the BalfourDeclaration; the message he gaveHitler in the 1930s that anti-Semitismwas "a good starter but a bad stick-er"; his lifelong, numerous andprominent Jewish friends fromChaim Weizmann to Bernard Baruch;Ben-Gurion's deeply respectful visitto him in his old age—all these add tothe case. What is true is that WSC wasnot an uncritical friend. I have inmind the cowardly murder of somany of our soldiers and colonialadministrators in the last days of thePalestine Mandate, the blowing up ofthe King David Hotel, the hanging incold blood of two British sergeantsand the subsequent booby-trappingof their bodies. Against these vile actsChurchill exploded. What Mr. Lazareapparently wants is unmitigatedpraise and support untempered byany breath of criticism. That approachChurchill accorded to no one.

Anthony Montague Browne, London

31 March 1992Thank you for your invaluable

help in locating the primary sourcefor the "pity to be wrong" quotationfrom The World Crisis*. I used it againlast week as I addressed theInternational Institute for StrategicStudies in London. You are absolute-ly right—is very appropriate for thetimes.

Gen. Colin L. Powell, Washington

The quote occurs in Vol. I, in the chap-ter on the Agadir crisis: "War is too fool-ish, to fantastic to be thought of in thetwentieth century....Civilisation hasclimbed above such perils. The interde-pendence of nations in trade and traffic,the sense of public law, the HagueConvention, Liberal principles, theLabour Party, high finance, Christiancharity, common sense have renderedsuch nightmares impossible. Are youquite sure? It would be a pity to bewrong. Such a mistake could only bemade once—once for all."

4 May 1993Your catalogue of errors and tis-

sue of misrepresentations were quiteamusing as an example of "tabloid"journalism. Indeed, had it not beenfor the fact that you called me "mid-dle aged" (which precludes myapplying that term to yourself), Ishould have been tempted to useChurchill's apothegm about the satis-faction to be gathered from seeingmiddle-aged men in a state of fury.

John Charmley, Pulton, Mo.

6 November 1993I want you to know how hon-

oured I feel to receive the 500th copyof Winston Churchill's The Dream. Itcompletes my collection of his workand is bound more beautifully thanany of the others. I read it in the earlyhours of this morning and am totallyfascinated by the imagination of thestory and how much it reveals ofWinston the man and the son.

Lady Thatcher, London

21 July 1994I hope the complaint over "too

much inside chattiness" in your read-er survey will be heeded, but torequire that the journal report "onlythe facts" and none of what's happen-ing socially is absurd. The vibrancy ofan organization is a reflection of theinterest and hard work of its people. Ifind FH overflowing with articles ofgreat interest to me.

Thomas R. Fusto, New York City

23 November 1994The idea of a Churchill service

online is very intriguing [but] I dis-like reading things on monitors, sothere would have to be downloadablefiles. I'm sure the Charmley debates(issues 78-81) would have been morerapid-fire online, but I don't think Iwould have read them all online,whereas I read every letter in FinestHour, even though I knew ahead oftime I would be irritated...

Evan Quenon, Austin, Tex.

12 July 1995The controversy over the sale of SirWinston Churchill's papers to the

FINEST HOUR 100/11

Gen. Colin Powell31 March 1992

Lady Thatcher6 November 1993

British nation, with proceeds going tomembers of his family, is bewildering.One wonders why it is even newswor-thy. When out of office, Churchill, aprofessional writer, supported hishousehold with his pen. His literaryestate was his property. He had everyreason, both moral and legal, to expectthat title to it would pass on to his sur-vivors. The sum of £12.5 million seemshardly excessive. The collection couldbe sold for far more than that in theUnited States, but the papers shouldremain in England, accessible to schol-ars at Churchill College. Some criticsbelieve that they should have beendonated to the country. That has afamiliar ring. Authors are foreverbeing told that they should give theirwork to society, that to expect moneyin return is, well, tacky. The origin ofthis presumption lies in a misappre-hension of the word "gifted"—thebelief that talent is literally a gift,which the writer should pass along.The fact is that writing is very hardwork, and that here, as elsewhere, thelaborer is worthy of his hire. Surelyany working man should be able tounderstand that.William Manchester, Middletown, Conn.

17 November 1995A very hasty note, which however

you won't get for a while since I'm atsea, but its purpose is merely to thankyou for your extraordinary courtesies.You could not have been morethoughtful, kinder, more generous,and if I performed (see ChurchillProceedings 1994-1995) anything foryou or Mr. Churchill, that's only a poorcontribution in an attempt at requital.

William F. Buckley, Jr., New York City

CONTINUED OVERLEAF >»

30 YEARS15 October 1996

To the extent that the "Person-ality of the Century" is what Timemagazine thinks he or she should be,Time made its choice for "Man of theHalf Century" in 1950, when the twoRoosevelts, at least, had completedtheir contributions; yet neither wasseen to measure up to Churchill. Norhad Churchill's influence ended atthat moment. It is hardly necessary toreiterate his post-1950 achievements,including publication of the majorpart of the Second World War and allof A History of the English-SpeakingPeoples; winning the Nobel Prize forLiterature; a second term in office;and so on. I for one believe that noperson in the second half of the cen-tury has measured up to Time's choicefor the first half, since I believe Timeought not to reopen the debate on1901-1950.

Ronald I. Cohen, Manotick, Ont.

17 January 1997My compliments on a very

attractive Churchill Center website. Iwas impressed by how up to date thecontents are. I was also pleased by thestraightforward discussion about therole of the Center in issue 96, and thedifficulties that face us as older indi-viduals die off and the younger audi-ence may not appreciate Churchill'scontributions. I had not thought ofthat before, but it is a real concern, Ican see. You have all brought theCenter along splendidly, and, beingin association management, I under-stand how much effort has beenrequired to build an organization ofthis kind. I wanted to say thanks forwhat I know is much work, but it hasborne much fruit.

Ron Keener, North Aurora, III.

11 November 1997I enjoyed your review of my

Forged in War. Your public admissionabout agreeing with me could, ofcourse, be that your campaign hasprompted me to change. But some-how I doubt either of us believes that.I don't ever recall calling WSC an"alcoholic," preferring instead "alco-hol dependent," which he was. Come

AJL V^AJL

Finest Hour "Firsts"

FIRST AND BESTShe began by photocopying FH

covers at her office, proofread eightyissues, chaired three conferences, wrotearticles and thirty-four Churchilltriviacolumns, co-hosted eight tours, and hasmaintained the mailing list since 1970:Barbara Langworth (above, winning a 1995 Blenheim Award)deserves all the awards in the world for her devotion to duty, andto the editor. Thanks, Barbara.

FIRST TREASURY REPORTReceipts: Dues $36, Initiation Fees $9, Donations $73.05,

total $118.05. Expenses: Finest Hour Number 1 $11, Number 2$5.50, Number 3 $5.50; Postage $11; Other $14, total $47.00. -FH 3

FIRST FEATURE ARTICLE: SPANISH WALLPAPER"The Spanish Civil War brought its flood tide of charity

labels. The most common is the Sin Valor type of the 1940s. A newuse has been found for the blue 10 centavos value: red overprintshave been applied reputedly in Churchill's 'Memory' byunspeakably vulturous speculators ...." -Harry F. Rooke, FH 3

FIRST BOOK REVIEWJennie, The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill, by Ralph Martin,

speaks bluntly about the private lives of Churchill's parents, butshows Lady Randolph was a great influence on Winston's life.She introduced him to influential men, and embued him withcourage and stamina. -W. Glen Browne, FH 11

Longest Continuous MembershipsStuart Hall (Anchorage, Alaska), Richard Langworth

(Hopkinton, New Hampshire) and Dave Marcus (Las Vegas,Nevada) joined in 1968. Sue Hefner (Lima, Ohio), Sen. MiltonMarks (San Francisco, California), William Murray (Glen Head,New York) and Violet Scialla (Bridgeport, Connecticut) joined in1970. All have been members ever since.

now, he would never have allowedanyone to water his breakfast wine! Ilove the way you managed to validatethe "soft underbelly" which is, ofcourse, usually (mis) used to describejust the Ljubljana Gap notion. Yourswas a most fair, perceptive, and hon-est review that does not at all misrep-resent my interpretations.

Prof. Warren Kimball, Somerset, N.J.

25 June 1998Jack Darrah at Bletchley Park is

doing a valuable service to enlightenFINEST HOUR 100/12

many of those school children aboutwho Winston Churchill was and whathe did. His display of Churchilliana,housed in several large rooms of themansion, is arranged in chronologicalorder, taking you from Churchill'syouth and early career to his funeral.Jack doesn't hesitate to take them upfor a closer look. He also guidesgroups of children through it. I saluteJack on the wonderful job he is doingto "keep the memory green and therecord accurate."

FredHardman, Spencer, W.Va.

30 YEARS: A HISTORYby Richard M. Langworth

In the beginningthere was littlemore than a

newsletter, and forsix years during itsearly life there wasnothing at all. Yet theenterprise webrought into theworld had a strongkick to it, a purposein life that somehowkept it going, eventhough that purposewas not apparent formany years. Like achild it grew intoadolescence, theninto adulthood.Starting with anarrow focus, it quicklyexpanded to inquire intoWinston Churchill's life,thought, word, deed, books,politics, paintings and family.Through the Churchill prismit viewed a more formidableworld than any we hadknown since 1945, consider-ing the changing scene of his-tory as he might have. Earlyon, his daughter warned usnever to speculate on how he might react to this or thatmodern situation, and after being warned we neverdid. Yet it was impossible to avoid historical parallels:"Study history, study history," Churchill famouslyexclaimed: "In history lie all the secrets to statecraft."

Finest Hour's first publisher, the Winston S.Churchill Study Unit, became the InternationalChurchill Society in 1970; the Societies subdivided intoseparate American, British and Canadian organizationsin 1989, and ICS/USA became The Churchill Center in1997. But despite vast changes in our goals and pro-

In thirty years Finest Hour has had only two editors: Richard M. Langworthfrom 1968 to 1970 and 1981 todate (above, exhibiting his stamps at the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library, Fulton, Missouri in 1982);

and Dalton M. Newfieldfrm 1970 to 1975 (retiring from the State of California as the magazine mas beingrestarted in 1981). Dal has been gone since 1982, but his spirit and enthusiasm mill always be remembered.

jects, Finest Hour remained as clear a representative aswe could make it of what has become an internationalfocus of interest in Churchill's life and times, the onlypublication devoted entirely to him. From the begin-ning we had only one rule: "It must be Churchill-relat-ed." On Churchill we were of course positive but not,one hopes, too uncritical. Indeed the whole enterprisefrom the outset was based on securing new informa-tion and bringing it to the light of day. On the follow-ing pages we recall some of the highlights of our jour-nal, where it has been, where it is going, through itsvoyage of discovery over the years. »>

FINEST HOUR 100/13

/ 968-1970: AMBITION

The Sixties proved a dramatic backdrop for theearly Finest Hour which, though ostensibly dedi-cated to matters philatelic, observed from its spe-

cial vantage point years of thunder, days of drums. ThePrague Spring; the Vietnam War and mounting opposi-tion to it; the assassinations and their perplexed after-math: all found their way obliquely into our pages. SirWinston was gone but a few years, his voice still vivid-ly remembered, his record almost too fresh for histori-ans to assess.

The first "article" in issue 1 was one paragraphlong: "The name of this publication is temporary,unless you feel it should become permanent." Everyonedid, Finest Hour it began, Finest Hour it still is, 100issues and thirty years on. And, though its scope andcontents have changed beyond recognition, the namestuck because it could never be bettered.

We began with a unique liaison: official biographerRandolph Churchill had agreed "to answer any ques-tions you have in mind" about illustrations on stampsdepicting his father. Alas on 6 June 1968 Randolph diedin his sleep. Nine days later the Winston S. ChurchillStudy Unit of the American Topical Association wasformally organized in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Three months later, having taken in some fifty dol-lars through dues ($2) and donations, FH published itsfirst roster of eighteen members. Lady Churchill andRandolph's son Winston had accepted honorary mem-bership (although HM The Queen had not!) and wewere off. The chief purpose of the Study Unit was toassess the avalanche of Churchill stamps then beingissued for "Black Blots": commemorative stamps issuedmainly to bilk the unwary collector. But stamps soonsent us into other areas: a survey of Churchill's paint-ings, for example—appropriately the subject of cover-age in this issue and our color centerspread.

Nineteen sixty-eight, a traumatic year in history,witnessed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, theassassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and RobertKennedy, the Chicago riots. While our newest honorarymember, Winston Churchill, was in Chicago, reportingthe Democratic Convention and getting pummeled byMayor Daley's police, Finest Hour was quoting theGreat Man in what it said was "Churchill in Context."Over Prague's lost spring: "Czechoslovakia recedesinto the darkness..." (1938); over Vietnam: A smallarmy "would scarcely serve as a vanguard. If we arehated, they will not make us loved. If we are in danger,

THIS BULLETINWILL BE IN ENGLISH

"We were considered suchdunces that we could only learnEnglish ... Thus I got into mybones the essential structure of theordinary British sentence, which isa noble thing."

-WSC, QUOTED IN FH 1, MAY-JUNE 1968

IN MEMORIAM:RANDOLPH CHURCHILL

Handsome, brilliant, well tai-lored, witty, he left Oxford amidconfident predictions that hewould one day become prime min-ister. He gained a seat in 1940, lostit in 1945, and was never reelected.It is startling to consider how thefamily motto, "Faithful ButUnfortunate," applies to him, nowthrough his inability to finish whatmust become one of the world'sfinest biographies. Despite his mis-fortunes he will be long remem-bered. Britain can once again beproud she had a family calledChurchill, from which to drawinfinite resources of talent, patrio-tism and indomitable spirit.

- RICHARD LANGWORTH, FH 2, JUL-AUG1968

PRAGUE SPRING 1938-1968"Silent, mournful, abandoned,

broken, Czechoslovakia recedesinto the darkness ...And do notsuppose this is the end. This isonly the first sip, the first foretasteof a bitter cup which will be prof-fered to us year by year unless, bya supreme recovery or moralhealth and martial vigour, we ariseagain and take our stand for free-dom, as in the olden time."

- WSC, QUOTED IN FH 3, SEP-OCT 1968

RE SOVIET INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

CHURCHILL AS ARTISTHe surely acted like an artist.

Sir Gerald Kelly of the RoyalAcademy recalled that whenChurchill came to view an exhibithe would head straight for hisown paintings to see if they werehung to his satisfaction, and thenleave without so much as glancingat the other paintings. And this isthe way of all great artists.

- EVELYN ZIRKIND, FH 4, NOV-DEC 1968

CUSTOM COVERSI have a number of First Day

Covers that were made up on

FINEST HOUR 100/14

plain envelopes. Several friendswho are handy with a paint brushhand-painted cachets for me, andthese are very attractive. Does itmake much difference whether thedesign is applied before or afterthe postmark? This method hasthe added advantage of allowingyou to select only undamagedFDCs for the final artwork.-RICHARD STEVENSON, FH5, JAN-FEB 1969

PERSONALGLIMPSEIn 1944 my ship

prepared for theinvasion of thesouth of France.A fleet assembledin Naples —shipsof all descriptions

flying the Stars and Stripes or theWhite Ensign. An Admiral's bargewas speeding around the harbour.When it saw our White Ensign itcruised alongside. A chubby littleman in the bow took off his hatand held up his fingers in the V-sign. The English boys said,"Crickey, it's Churchill!"

-J. ARTHUR HALL, FH 6, MAR-APR 1969

they will not make us safe..." (1901).We began to consider Churchill's books in FH 5,

which listed twenty-three titles. In FH 6 we notifiedreaders that the Church of St. Mary, Aldermanbury,now reassembled in Fulton, Missouri after its stoneshad been shipped from London, would be dedicated inMay. With FH 7 we raised dues to $3 and promulgatedby-laws. In September-October 1969, for the first time,Finest Hour 9 contained more about Churchill thanabout Churchill stamps, running Part 1 of HenryAnatole Grunwald's "Man of the Century." Little didwe realize that Grunwald was a college friend of pub-lisher William A. Rusher; that the two of them hadtried to make Churchill guest of honor at a New Yorkmeeting of Harrow Old Boys in 1946. We would learnthese facts from Bill Rusher himself, who wouldaddress our 11th International Churchill Conference inBanff, Alberta a quarter century later.

Finest Hour 11 announcedour first commemorativecover, posted at Wood-stock, Blenheim Palace'spost office, on the 95thanniversary of Churchill's

birth. It had a wonderful reception. Members offered topay more dues for a continuing series. Dave Marcusundertook to produce these covers "from time to time."Thirty years later Dave is still at it, now marking cente-naries, like publication of Churchill's first book and theCharge at Omdurman (1998).

Finest Hour was expanding fast. In issue 11 we cov-ered the American lecture tour of Sir Winston's grand-son, Winston Churchill, who had addressed the DallasWomen's Club, mainly on the Arab-Israeli Six Day Warwhich he had covered and wrote about with his latefather. In issue 12 we added enemy propaganda to ourlist of subjects, via Herbert Friedman's article, "ThoseNasty Nazi Feldpost Cards." In FH 13 we reported onthe largest Churchilliana collection in the world—muchmore than just stamps: the Marquess of Bath's, atLongleat, Wiltshire. It remains impressive to this day.

At the same time, FH was looking for a new editor."The March-April issue will complete two years of myeditorship," I announced in issue 10. "It is time for newblood and new ideas....with two years' excellentgrowth, the Unit can stand on its own." Brave words!By a stroke of luck, it could and it would: the era of DalNewfield was about to begin. >»

FIRST YEARFrom a base of a half-dozen

members we have worked ourway up to over thirty. The mostimportant goal for our second yearis the publication of a professionalChurchill Handbook.- BEVERLY FOWLER, FH 7, MAY-JUNE 1969

FIRST "C-R" COLLECTIONI started collecting stamps

which showed persons, places,events and interests related to hislife. [Such stamps later becameknown to ICS as Churchill-Related, or "C-Rs" for short. - Ed.]

- W. GLEN BROWNE, FH 8, JUL-AUG 1969

MANOF THECENTURY"It is fun to

be in thesame decadewith you,"FranklinRooseveltwrote to him

early 1940s, thereby commit-magnificent understatement,was, more accurately, an

in theting aFor it

inspiration and an adventure tolive in the same century withWinston Churchill. No othercareer dominates that century asdoes his.

- H. A. GRUNWALD, FH 9, SEP-OCT 1969

WINSTON AS PHILATELISTChurchill was an enthusiastic

stamp collector during his child-hood. A letter to his father writtenin 1885 mentions his stamp book.He later asked his father, who wastraveling in India, to get him somestamps. He mentions stamps againin an 1886 letter from his Brightonschool, and in 1891 from Harrow.His brother Jack, in an early 1891letter, mentions stamps broughtback by their father from Africa.

- W. GLEN BROWNE, FH 10, NOV-DEC 1969

TWICE PROMISED LAND?In the Balfour Declaration of

1917 the British governmentexpressed a desire to see a Jewishhomeland established in a smallpart of Palestine. But, at the sametime, Lawrence of Arabia wastelling the Arabs that if they'dfight the Turks and Germans,

FINEST HOUR 100/15

Britain would secure Palestine forthem. Thus Palestine became thetwice promised land.

- WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, MP

FH1LJAN-FEB1970

THE DAL NEWFIELD ISSUEDalton Newfield's many con-

tributions to this issue exhibit the-literary and historical talents thatwill make him a superb editor. Dalis our 41st member, giving us a netgain of five this year.

-FH 12, MAR-APR 1970

"WINSTON CHURCHILLAND THE ROYAL NAVY"

No appreciation of WinstonChurchill can be complete withoutacknowledging his long associa-tion with the Royal Navy. Evenafter he became Prime Minister hebehaved, in the view of many, asthough he were still First Lord.Vice Admiral Sir Peter Gretton,writing from the point of view ofan experienced and accomplishednavy man, presents much that willbe of great interest to students ofSir Winston.

-MICHAEL RICHARDS, FH 13, MAY-JUNE 1970

1970-1980: EFFERVESCENCE

Dalton Newfield, who lived in Sacramento andworked for the State of California, was a WorldWar II veteran who had served in England,

where he gained a powerful respect for Britain's great-est Prime Minister. From the day his first, closely-typedletter arrived in April 1970, we fell victim to his irre-pressible enthusiasm. In his first FH contribution, Dalwrote the "postmaster" of Pabbay Isle (populationtwo), which had issued bogus Churchill stamps: "If youare man and wife, one of you must be postmaster. Doyou write to each other? There should be easier ways ofcommunicating than by writing a letter...Could it beyou have never been properly introduced?"

A true scholar, Dal couldn't have arrived at a ripertime. I had founded the Unit and published a dozenissues, the best thing about which is that I chanced on aperfect title. By 1970 I was moving to a new career, andhad no time left for Finest Hour. Happily and gaily, Daltook over. If you have not seen back issues 14-32(which are still available from Churchill Stores) you aremissing Newfield in his prime. In these pages fiveyears ago, David Freeman wrote that "it is difficult tooverstate the value of Dai's contributions. Under hisstewardship, first as editor and later as President, the

Winston S. Churchill Study Unit would transform itselfinto the International Churchill Society. Finest Hourwould become a lively bulletin with the editor cram-ming in information up and down the margins."

Dal knew FH needed good photos, so he begged aprinter to produce the journal by photo offset whenregular work was slack. The cover banner for numbers15 through 32 was an attractive illustration from W.H.Thompson's Sixty Minutes With Winston Churchill, setagainst a background of Churchill's entry from WhoWas Who. Rapidly Dal expanded our horizons, showingreaders that Churchill was more than the subject on astamp. FH became a clearing house for bibliophiles,scholars, students and collectors as well as philatelists.He published articles worthy of professional journals,answered questions, ran auctions, published critiquesas well as praise. He was the forty-first member to join;by the time he retired as Editor, membership was near-ing 300, with an active UK Section.

The Unit became the Churchill Society because itwas no longer strictly philatelic. Most stamp collectorswere "Churchillophiles," and the latter far outnum-bered the former; thus a general-purpose society wouldoffer economies of scale. Finest Hour 21 (Sep-Oct 1971)

RANDOLPH AND JENNIEOn 12 August 1873, Lord

Randolph met the beautiful andvivacious Jennie Jerome from NewYork. She was 19, he 24. Even inthese days it would have been awhirlwind courtship. They wouldsoon marry. Leonard Jerome wasdelighted. The Duke ofMarlborough was anything but...

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 14, JUL-AUG 1970

UNKNOWNSKETCHOF WSC FOUND

It was while vis-iting a friendlytribe that thescene on the coverwas sketched by

Major E.A.P. Hobday, R.A. Itdepicts the officers of theMalakand Expedition.

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 15, SEP-OCT 1970

COOKE ON IKE, WSCThe complete interview of

Alistair Cooke with Eisenhower,much of which was cut from thetelevision documentary, plus mapsand pictures of WSC and DDE, is

the content of Gen. Eisenhower onthe Military Churchill. Marshall'squote on why the Allies did nottake Berlin before the Russians isincluded. Cooke writes an intro-duction in which he relates per-sonal recollections of Ike andChurchill. Eisenhower exhibits hisfamiliar hesitancies, convolutionsand deviations from the subject.

-W. GLEN BROWNE, FH 16, NOV-DEC 1970

^ Mcentes #

V* *1*$TON SPEMCI* CHJflCHiu

W6SL0 $TA!E$M*N 0' XX CCMIUHY

NEWATLANTISLIVES

Most labelproducers tellyou lies whilethey pick yourpocket. Not soLeicesterHemingway,brother of Ernest, "President ofNew Atlantis," whose domainconsists of a raft anchored to asubmerged bank off Loans Point,Jamaica. Les established his"nation" in 1964, adopted a flagand began to issue "locals,"including a handsome Churchill"stamp." New Atlantis refuses to

FINEST HOUR 100/16

employ sharpies to market itsstamps, sells only at face value andhas never issued a CTO or FDC!

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 17, JAN-FEB 1971

FEUDING WITH BUCKLEYRichard Langworth has won

by default his argument with Wm.F. Buckley, Jr., who wrote inNational Review that Churchill was"a peace-time catastrophe." RMLbridled at this nonsense and sentWFB a masterly rebuttal. Buckleyallowed one of his editors, LindaBridges, to reply weakly once,then retired licking his wounds.[Miss Bridges, who took severeexception to Dai's report, is stillentrenched at National Review,where she is in charge of every-thing that matters. RML]

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 18, MAR-APR 1971

THE CHANDOR PAINTINGPresident Roosevelt had want-

ed a painting of the Big Three atYalta. On good advice, he choseDouglas Chandor as the artist.Sketches were completed andChandor soon had an excellentlikeness of FDR. Mr. Churchill was

was the first produced by the new InternationalChurchill Society. Its cover portrayed Lord Mountbat-ten, who later became ICS's first Patron

For five years and eighteen issues, Dal Newfield'sFinest Hour was the heart of the Churchill scene formany who had before known Sir Winston only as aninspired leader during World War II. Dal painted withmuch broader strokes: the cheeky child of Blenheim,the ambitious subaltern, the youthful adventurer-jour-nalist, the nervy young MP, the First Lord of theAdmiralty, the artist and historian, the prophet andthinker. Those who entered what Dal called "the spiritof the Society" learned a tale more fascinating, heroic,warm and absorbing than they ever thought existed.

"What is it about Churchill that so fascinates you?"I asked him once. "His humanity," Dal replied instant-ly. "He wasn't always right, nor even always wise,though the balance was pretty positive. But he wasalways so human."

ICS was like all volunteer organizations: a few dothe work, the rest root them on. Dal proved so adept aseditor that he was soon elected President as well. Neweditors volunteered to relieve him, but didn't comethrough. Wearily he would pick up unfinished issues,

lick them into shape and post them off. "We must beginnow to consider how ICS can be perpetuated throughthe election of a good slate of officers, so that this kindof situation will not recur," Dal wrote in issue 32,March 1975. He soon received his answer. Finest Hour32 was the last issue for over six years.

At exactly the time FH was shelved for lack of aneditor, I had become a full-time freelance writer. I hadlearned so much about publishing, but Churchill was aside issue. In 1975 I took on three different vintage autoperiodicals, one of which I still produce today. Had Isubstituted FH for one of the others, would we be far-ther along now? Who knows? The Churchill scene wentinto serious remission after the 1974 Centenary. Per-haps it was just as well that we left off when we did,and paused to take stock—and to grow up a little.

Happily for those who still cared, Dalton Newfielddidn't disappear. He founded the ChurchillianaCompany, the world's first Churchill-only antiquarianbook business, to sell books and memorabilia. Itsnewsletters carried much of the same old spark. Thushe kept the wheels turning. He also kept the ICS trea-sury in an interest-bearing account. Finest Hour wouldlive to return another day. >»

next on the list,when he came toFlorida in 1946.FDR had died butTruman hadrecommissionedthe work. WhileStalin would send

pictures galore, he would not sitfor Chandor, who was equallyadamant—he would not paintfrom photographs. The larger can-vas was never executed.

-ALICE PIES, FH 19, MAY-JUNE 1971

A MYSTERIOUS MUSHINESS"America," Churchill mused,

puffing his cigar. "A great andpowerful country, like a stronghorse, pulling the rest of the worldup behind it, towards peace andprosperity. But will America stay thecourse?" I answered the questionwith a confident "Yes." I wouldnow answer the question with analmost equally unequivocal"No"....There is a curious new flac-cidity, a mysterious mushiness,about American life and thoughtthat may be endurable.

-STEWART ALSOP, FH 20, JUL-AUG 1971

THE ORDER OF "ETC."Probably the rarest Order in

the world is The Order of Etc.,proudly held by our new Hon.Member Lord Mountbatten. Thetypical introduction will begin:"Knight of the Garter, PrivyCouncillor; Knight Grand Cross ofthe Order of the Bath; KnightGrand Cross of the Order of theStar of India; Knight Grand Crossof the Order of the Indian Empire;Knight Grand Cross of theVictorian Order; Companion of theDistinguished Service Order; Etc.,Etc., Etc., Etc. " This Order heproudly shares with Sir Winston.

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 21, SEP-OCT1971

QUESTIONABLE INFERENCESNowhere in his writings on

those gripping times doesChurchill comment on the wisdomof English gun laws, which keptrifle ownership and interest pri-marily a privilege of the landedand monied few . . . It is quite pos-sible that as a member of Britain'sprivileged classes, Churchill hadno real concept of how impracticalgun ownership had become for the

FINEST HOUR 100/17

average Briton.-AMERICAN RIFLEMAN, FH 22, NOV-DEC 1971

BOOK BARGAINSDawson's Book Shop of Los

Angeles offers the following spe-cial prices to ICS members only:The World Crisis, first British edi-tion complete, $250; Marlborough,near fine firsts, $150; same set finein dustwrappers, $250; My EarlyLife first edition inscribed "ToStanley James Webb from WinstonS. Churchill" VG, $165; The SecondWorld War, fine in dust jackets $30;Secret Session Speeches, ditto, $5.

- PHILIP TOWNSHEND SOMERVILLE,

FH 23, JAN-MAR 1972

FIRST MEETINGThe omens were not good for

the first formal meeting ever,planned by UK RepresentativeJack Symonds in the Board Roomof the British Philatelic Society onMay 6th. Most worrying: it wasCup Final Day. With some sur-prise we learned that Jack haddecided the Board Room wouldnot be large enough, and hadmoved the meeting to the »

1981-1983: REVIVA

Dal Newfield wasn't about to be a one man showagain. "If you will produce Finest Hour," he toldme, "I'll send subscription forms to my mailing

list." Fair enough! Finally FH had an editor with thetime, and at least a few more skills than in 1968—andwe still had Dal. Randolph Churchill's son Winston,like his father in 1968, encouraged us to go ahead.

In late 1981 we sent off Finest Hour 33—the first ineighty months, its masthead decorated with an allegori-cal drawing of Churchill's life, granted to us by thePobjoy Mint, still on our masthead today. One of thefirst subscriptions was from the United States Secretaryof Defense. I returned Mr. Weinberger's check andasked him to be an honorary member. We have manyreasons to be grateful to him for his participation andencouragement since then. (For all our HonoraryMembers since 1968, see inside back cover.)

Numbers 33-35 were printed with artsy brown inkon coated tan stock, which gave good reproduction butwas light enough to mail cheaply. We started off"heavy on philately," with articles on stamps, albumlayouts, covers, philatelic Q&A, a mainly philatelic auc-tion, ads from dealers. But we were soon hitting allthose other Churchill buttons Dal had established:

memorabilia, book reviews, historical articles, the occa-sional scholarly piece. A Board of Directors wasformed, including many still-familiar names: GeorgeTemple and John Plumpton of Canada; Tom Thomasand Geoffrey Wheeler of the UK; George Lewis, DalNewfield and Glen Browne of the USA. In 1982 DerekBrownleader of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, visited us inNew Hampshire, and left with the job of MembershipSecretary. Sixteen years later he's still there, havingprocessed over 800,000 pieces of mail.

In early 1982 we were granted non-profit statusand began to mail at low, non-profit rates. A Churchilltour of England was planned, a "convention"announced. And then,to our shock, DaltonNewfielddied.

Nobody expectedit. He had just retired,

Janet Wallin, ChurchillMemorial & Library Director of

Friends, with the ICS-con-

tributed stamp exhibit, 1982.

suddenly f̂ ™^

- - « •

* • :

'? ••

ilii

SSi

• 1

Charing Cross Hotel. Before themeeting was over, every memberin England save one had come.

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 24, APR-JUN 1972

FULTON, 25 YEARS ONWe compliment our Hon.

Member, Winston S. Churchill,MP, for his address, "Twenty-FiveYears After Fulton: A NewBalance."

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 25, JUL-SEP 1972

SUTHERLAND'S PORTRAITThe Graham Sutherland por-

trait, given on his 80th birthday byParliament, showed WSC as awithered but formidable old toad.It is in Lady Churchill's attic [andwas later destroyed -Ed.] FinestHour congratulates our Hon.Member for her discrimination.

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 26, OCT-DEC 1972

LORD MORAN'S CHURCHILLChurchill's doctor's diary was

never intended for publication.One year after his death it was.This apart, it deserves the appella-tion "masterpiece," becausethrough it we will obtain a deeper

understanding of Churchill's lifeand thought.

-PETER J. MC IVER, FH 27, JAN-MAR 1973

ROOSEVELTS OF HYDE PARKElliott Roosevelt says of

Consuelo Vanderbilt: "...her moth-er forced her daughter into mar-riage with the disagreeable Dukeof Marlborough, WinstonChurchill's grandfather." Mr.Roosevelt's accuracy has notimproved. WSC's grandfatherdied in 1883 at the age of 61, leav-ing a widow. Consuelo was sixyears old at the time.

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 28, APR-JUL 1973

THE YEAR WSC WAS BORNGladstone announces his retire-

ment (but does not in fact doso)....Disraeli's Tories begin negoti-ations for purchase of Suez Canalshares....The King of Fiji cedes theislands to Britain....Disraelireduces income tax from 4d to 3din the pound....silver spoons are7/4 per ounce, coal 21 / per ton, afrock coat 21 /. It was raining theday WSC was born, a weekend ofhurricanes, high seas and shipping

FINEST HOUR 100/18

disasters. Vivid lightning was seenby sailors.

-JOHN FROST, FH 29, AUG-DEC 1973

WSC AS JOHN SMITH?Mr. Churchill doubtless has a

grievance against the general pub-lic which has always been inclinedto underestimate his real and con-siderable abilities, but for this hisown personality is much to blame.He would certainly have gone fur-ther if he had been born plain JohnSmith. His whole life has beenovershadowed by the fact that heis a Marlborough manque.

- ELMER DAVIS (1923), FH 30, JAN-SEP 1974

LOSING HIS HEADOVER STAMPS

The impecunious Prince Seyifal-Islam Abdullah, Yemeni repre-sentative to the UN, took the 1948Yemen stamps commemoratingadmission to the UN to New York,where he fell into the hands ofS.H.&L. Stolow Co., and the setswere marketed. But back in Yemena dim view of the affair was taken,possibly because, according toMinkus, it is Abdullah and not the

and was looking forward to his "annual buying trip" toEngland. Now he was gone. George Lewis took hisplace as treasurer; John Plumpton took up his column"Action This Day." To this day Dai's memory lingers inthe hearts of his friends.

FH was building a head of steam, with many newcontributors: former bodyguard Ronald Golding;Washington statue sculptor Bill McVey; Peter Mclver,who wrote our first defense against revisionism,"Winston Churchill and the Bombing of Coventry."They were part of an increasingly confident and com-prehensive journal, now sixteen pages thick.

The "look of the book"improved as memberswere added and the bud-get allowed more pages.FH 36 in 1982 carried ourfirst two-color cover; FH40 in 1983 was the first on

II' coated offset paper. FH 37

Lady Soames, Ria DeVries and

former Churchill bodyguard

Ronald Golding during the First

Churchill Tour, London, 1983.

reported the first "convention" at Fulton, Missouri, on9-10 October 1982, a grand total of five participants.More successful was the First Churchill Tour in 1983,cosponsored by the Churchill Memorial, visiting HoeFarm, Chartwell, Longleat, Bladon, Blenheim, OscarNemon's studio; in London we hosted Lady Soames atthe Churchill Hotel and Sir John Colville at the Savoy.

Although we had lost our mentor, dozens of con-tributors had sprung to the fore. George Temple inCanada and Geoff Wheeler in England were rapidlyadding members and organizing events. We welcomedMartin Gilbert's Finest Hour 1939-1941 (Simon Schamain FH 42 hailed it as "The Churchilliad"). We weredrafting a new constitution, establishing a representa-tive board of directors with members from all majorparticipating countries. Houghton Mifflin had abdicat-ed from publishing any more Companion Volumes,and FH was wondering aloud how we might somehowrescue this project—which ironically had ended withthe volume for 1936-39. Membership was over 650 andgaining. The Third Churchill Conference was beingplanned for Toronto, establishing a nice USA-UK-Canada rotation. ICS was truly a society, truly interna-tional. Dalton Newfield would have been pleased. >»

ruling Imam whose pictureappears on three values. Abdullahlater led a revolt against the Imamand got his head chopped off,which should make the embar-rassed editors of the ICS Hand-book feel a bit better, we hope.

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 31, OCT-DEC 1974

END OF THE BEGINNING: 1975I accepted reelection only on

the promise and hope that a neweditor would be forthcoming. Icould not see how any workingperson could do both jobs well.Three proffered editors did notmaterialize. My point was, Ibelieve sincerely, more thanproved. We must begin now toconsider how ICS can be perpetu-ated. Think—NOW!

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 32, JAN-MAR 1975

COMEBACKIssue 32 was posted 61/2

years ago, carrying sombre warn-ings about its imminent demisewhich were, alas, as good as itsword. Finest Hour ironically van-ished at the height of theCentenary boom, and the

International Churchill Societywith it. But through those yearsDalton Newfield kept the treasuryintact. "Why not revive it?" hesaid. Why not indeed?

-RICHARD LANGWORTH, FH 33, AUTUMN 1981

"PAUSALAND"Winter 1956: The Churchills

were at Emery Reves' villa "LaPausa," which Sir Winston affec-tionately nicknamed "Pausaland. "A typical day included working inbed in the morning, painting allafternoon, and playing cards withfriends in the evening.

-DALTON NEWFIELD, FH 34, WINTER 1981-82

LANTERN MAGICI watched him paint [repro-

ducing the scene from a MagicLantern image] for a little whileand then said, with respect ofcourse, "Looks a bit like cheating."He looked over the top of his spec-tacles at me and said quite solemn-ly, "If the finished product lookslike a work of art, then it is a workof art, no matter how it has beenachieved."

-RONALD GOLDING, FH 35, SPRING 1982

FINEST HOUR 1 0 0 / 1 9

DALTON NEWFIELD R.I.P.If ever a man deserved citizen-

ship of both America and Britain itwas Dal. I shall miss his prolificletter writing and his easy yet pro-found conversation; but above all Ishall miss the warmth and sinceri-ty of his friendship. What animmense loss we have all suffered.

-H. ASHLEY REDBURN, FH 36, SUMMER 1982

TESTIMONIALSir Winston stands unrivaled

as the preeminent statesman of ourcentury. The English-speakingpeoples whom he loved, and allwho cherish freedom, owe a last-ing debt to this gifted man, whoplayed such a vital role in leadingthe free world from the "gatheringstorm" to its "finest hour."

-RONALD REAGAN, FH 37, AUTUMN 1982

SAVROLAThe fact that he allowed

Savrola to remain out of print from1915 until 1956 suggests how heregarded it. Still, Savrola deservesto be reprinted again, so manycoming events cast in its pagestheir shadows before. Not all »

FINEST HOURS: THE 1980s

ABOVE, L-R: First Churchill tour, 1983: Sir John Colville speaking at the Savoy; Bladon memorial service; sculptor Oscar Nemon welcomes us athis studio. BELOW L-R: Derek Lukin Johnston introducing William Manchester (r), 1986 Vancouver Conference; Grace Hamblin, Wendy Reves

and Rep. Jim Courter at the 1987 Dallas Conference; Alistair & Jane Cooke, Karen & David Sampson, 1988 Bretton Woods Conference.

PHOTO BY BOB LA PREE

the artificiality of Ruritanianromance can deprive this bookof authentic vitality when it is readwith the knowledge of what oneday its author would become.

-SIR COMPTON MACKENZIE,

QUOTED IN FH 38, WINTER 1982-83

WINGS OF EAGLESMan has parted company with

his faithful friend the horse, andhas sailed into the azure on thewings of eagles—eagles being rep-resented by the infernal, ah, Imean internal - combustion engine,ah, engine...[laughter]...

-WSC, QUOTED IN FH 39, SPRING 1983

CHURCHILL'S ENGLANDWe must not dwell in the past.

But we may all visit it from time totime....And perhaps you may feelas I do, that we return to our pre-sent with braver hearts, and aclearer vision.

-LADY SOAMES, FH 40, SUMMER 1983

CHURCHILL CLAIRVOYANTI think it was in 1953.1 went

up to his bedroom one morning ashe was shaving. He said, "Today is

the 24th of January. It's the day myfather died. It's the day I shall die,too."

-SIR JOHN COLVILLE, FH 41, AUTUMN 1983

GILBERT'S "CHURCHILLIAD"Finest Hour 1939-1941 suc-

ceeds in conveying the frighteningbleakness of the spring of 1940....Precisely because of its painstak-ing elaboration of detail, Gilbert'sbook is the only account that canshow the mechanics of inspirationat work....It goes on for 1275pages. It is a Churchilliad, andGilbert is its bard.

- SIMON SCHAMA, FH 42, WINTER 1983-84

UPPER CLASS TWANGChurchill speaks with the

Edwardian upper-class twangwhich to the average man's earsounds like cockney. [He] mispro-nounced "Nazi" and "Gestapo" aslong as the common people contin-ued to do so.

-GEORGE ORWELL, FH 43, SPRING 1984

CANADAWhat would Wolfe's emotion

have been, had it been granted to

FINEST HOUR 100/20

him to see a nation of ten millions,separated from the mighty neigh-bour by a frontier of 3000 miles,along which no armed sentineland no single war vessel could befound...?

-WSC, QUOTED IN FH 44, SUMMER 1984

LEARNING MATHWe were arrived in an Alice-

in-Wonderland World, at the por-tals of which stood, "A QuadraticEquation. " This with a strangegrimace pointed the way to theTheory of Indices, which againhanded on the intruder to the fullrigours of the Binomial Theorem.Further dim chambers lighted bysullen, sulphurous fires werereputed to contain a dragon calledthe Differential Calculus.

-WSC, MY EARLY LIFE, FH 45, AUTUMN 1984

GAITSKELL IN BAD ODOURWhen Ministers of the Crown

[advocate fewer baths to save fueland power] the Prime Ministerand his friends have no need towonder why they are gettingincreasingly into bad odour. I haveeven asked myself whether y o u , »

ABOVE, L-R: ICS/UK's Peter Coombs and Geoff Wheeler, Cabinet War Rooms, 198-.ICS/Canada's George Temple with Robert Hardy, 1987; ICS/UK's Michael Wybrouwith Lady Soames at Hoe Farm, 1989. BELOW: Churchill tour at Loch Lomond, 198~-

RIGHT: The 1989 tour hosted by Champagne Pol Roger, Epernay, France.

Mr. Speaker, would admit theword 'lousy' as a Parliamentaryexpression in referring to theAdministration, provided, ofcourse, it was not intended in acontemptuous sense but purely asone of factual narration."

-WSC, QUOTED IN FH 46, WINTER 1984-85

WASHINGTON REVERIEMy thoughts turn to three ear-

lier occasions when a British PrimeMinister, Winston Churchill, washonoured to address both Housesof Congress....His vision of a unionof mind and purpose between theEnglish-Speaking Peoples was toform the mainspring of the West.No one of my generation can for-get that America has been theprincipal architect of a peace inEurope which has lasted 40 years.

-LADY THATCHER, FH 47, SPRING 1985

THE PALADIN: A NOVEL?The story is fantastic. An 11-

year-old boy is recruited into theBritish Secret Service by WSC. Hewarns of Belgium's plan to surren-der in time to save the Army atDunkirk; finds secret U-boat pens

in Eire and blows their cover; sab-otages a friendly Dutch submarineafter it reports the Japanese battlefleet enroute to Pearl Harbor andmurders the cypher clerk who'sread the sub's message—his girl-friend. By which time he is a gooddeal older, sadder and bloodier.But war is a dirty business.

-R. LANGWORTH, FH 48, SUMMER 1985

BIBLIOMANIAThere is a mystique to collect-

ing Churchill not attached to mostbook collecting. Perhaps it is thepersonality of the man, the impres-siveness of his political credentials,the many decades he occupiedcenter stage. Perhaps it is nostal-gia. It matters not. I know thattomorrow I will begin to look formore volumes.

-WALLACE JOHNSON, FH 49, AUTUMN 1985

INSPIRATIONHitler said of Churchill, "This

is a gentleman who appears to liveon the moon." Well, we live in anage that has looked at our worldfrom the moon, and it is a veryspecial and very inspiring perspec-

FINEST HOUR 100/21

tive. You can see the earth whole. Ithink Churchill saw the earthwhole and the world that way,with an understanding thatencompassed past and future,light and dark, right and wrong.

-CASPAR W. WEINBERGER,

FH 50, WINTER 1985-86

WINSTON . . . CLEMMIENo account of Winston Churchill

as a family man can exclude hisbeloved Clementine, whose abid-ing beauty, distinct personality,steadfast love and—last but notleast—good housekeeping, madethe constant background to herhusband's tumultuous career.Many years after they married hewrote to her, "My greatest goodfortune in a life of brilliant experi-ence has been to find you and tolead my life with you." What atribute. And for 57 years they livedtogether, through a period astumultuous and changing as sure-ly any in our history. And fornearly all their lives they were inthe eye of the storms which haverocked our civilisation.

-LADY SOAMES, FH 51, SPRING 1996

1984-1988: MOMENTUM

In the Spring of 1984 FH 43 introduced our first colorcover, Edwina Sandys's "Chartwell") and estab-lished two long-running departments, "Churchill on

Stamps" and "Woods Corner." Number 44, with itsdramatic red maple leaf cover, was the first issue dedi-cated to a country: the "Canada Number." In 1985 theSecond Churchill Tour added "Lullenden," the family'spre-Chartwell country home, to our previous destina-tions. FH 47 presented our second color cover, BernardHailstone's "Last Portrait from Life," 1955. Inside thatissue, David Druckman traveled to South Africa, trac-ing Churchill's escape from the Boers almost 85 years tothe day and processing special covers at post officesalong the escape route; and the indefatigable JohnPlumpton introduced "Reviewing Churchill," originalreviews beginning with the Malakand Field Force.

The most important feature of FH 48 was a propos-al to launch the "Churchill Literary Foundation," a pre-decessor to the Churchill Center: "...of thirty-sevenindividual books of Sir Winston Churchill, twenty-nineare out of print and four are on the verge." We pro-posed raising $1,000,000 to turn this situation around.

How much has changed! In Finest Hour 99 thirteenyears later, we announced that The Churchill Center

Endowment had topped $1,053,000. By then, over ascore of Churchill's books had been restored to print,many with our active support. That hadn't required$1,000,000—but by FH 99 the much more ambitiousChurchill Center sought $7,000,000, a target whichtakes up so much of our effort today.

In the winter of 1985-86 Finest Hour celebrated itsfiftieth issue with a record 32 pages and a gold coverbearing Churchill's coat of arms. Contributors includedRonald Reagan, Allen Drury, Kay Halle, WilliamManchester, Anthony Montague Browne, ChristianPol-Roger, Lord and Lady Soames and Caspar

Weinberger (left). The Secretary ofDefense had addressed the SecondChurchill Conference in Boston: "I canstill remember the inspiration of [hisspeeches] over the small, cracklyradios of the time....I was certainlymoved more completely, I guess, thanI have been by any speech since."

Over the next three years ICSwaxed successful, with three increas-

ingly ambitious conferences: Vancouver 1986, withWilliam Manchester; Dallas 1987, with Wendy Reves

ON LOYALTYI hate the expression, "warts

and all." When one thinks of whatMr. Churchill did, what he actual-ly achieved, he alone, for his coun-try and for the world, then I thinkhe deserves our loyalty and notour criticism nor our assessmentsnor our judgments. Let us remem-ber him and be grateful.

-ELIZABETH NEL, FH 52, SUMMER 1986

CHURCHILL AND THE BALTICMy grandfather sailed into

Riga in the intoxicating spring ofthe Latvian Republic...He remem-bered the confidence and hope, theexuberance and patriotism, theburgeoning realization that after700 years Latvians were masters oftheir land. They could not knowthat their freedom would be mea-sured by less than a generation.

-RICHARD LANGWORTH, FH 53, AUTUMN 1986

OUT OF THE WOODSResearch points inexorably to

the fact that much of Woods' infor-mation on The Story of the MalakandField Force is either incomplete orincorrect. For example...the errata

slip does not necessarily appearwhere Woods says it does... thereare unrecorded variants, some ofgreat significance...

-RONALD I. COHEN, FH 54, WINTER 1986-87

PRESIDENTIAL POKERPresident Truman said, "Men,

Mr. Churchill has lost $850. Now,remember, he is our guest. We cer-tainly are not treating him well."So Charlie Ross, the President'spress secretary, said, "Boss, youcan't have it both ways. Which doyou want us to do, play poker orcarry this fellow?"

-CLARK CLIFFORD, FH 55, SPRING 1987

SHATTERING MYTHSThere is so much falsehood

mixed up with the truth. [WSC]was not neglected by his parentsany more than he was a dunce atschool. These were myths heinvented himself.

-PEREGRINE CHURCHILL, FH 56, SUMMER 1987

THE COMPANION VOLUMESWe have all of this extraordinary

writing because Churchill's career,or much of it, antedated the politi-

FINESTHOUR100/22

cal and bureaucratic use of thetelephone. Politicians in his timepersuaded one another by letterand memorandum. Churchill'stelephone transcripts would nothave been nearly so good.

-JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH,

FH 57, AUTUMN 1987

THANKS, WENDY!Wendy Reves has completely

funded the editorial costs of theten final Companion (Document)Volumes of the official biogra-phy.... Just as Johnson had hisBoswell, Sir Winston had hisEmery Reves—but also Wendy.

-MICHAEL RICHARDS, FH 58, WINTER 1987-88

AUSTRALIA'S APPRECIATIONLet the clever critics come on; let

them explain Winston's "errors"and, by implication, show howmuch wiser they would have been.

-SIR ROBERT MENZIES,

QUOTED IN FH 59. SPRING 1988

HE WAS ALWAYS SO FUNNY!The great man—who could at

any time be impatient, kind, irrita-ble, crushing, generous, inspiring,

and Grace Hamblin; Bretton Woods 1988, with AlistairCooke. Finest Hour celebrated them all, and others. In1987 we published Churchill's plaintive short story, TheDream. A third Churchill tour brought us again toEngland, where we struck up a friendship withChurchill's greatest stage and screen representation,Robert Hardy, our fast friend ever since.

We took a thrashing from Andrew Sullivan in TheNew Republic, who accused us of boosterism rampant,and gave back as good as we got (FH 58). The sameissue saw Barbara Langworth's first "Churchilltrivia"column; FH 59 was our AustraliaNumber, and in FH 60 we celebratedour twentieth anniversary, recreating(with improvements!) the cover ofissue number one.

These five years provided tremen-dous momentum. Our rolls were nowover 1200 worldwide, double whatthey had been in 1983. We had begun to attract trulydistinguished speakers, to sponsor major conferencesattended by hundreds of people—and already, by 1988,five old Churchill titles were back in print. The fourthquarter issue 61 for 1988 contained a notable assort-

ment of writers. William Manchester: "The Fiihrer wasright. He had never met Churchill, but he understoodhim, as Winston understood Hi tier....both were rulednot by reason but by intuition." Professor Frank Mayer:"Churchill did make a fundamental difference...whichallowed the postwar Conservative Party to emergefrom the defeat of 1945 as a dynamic political entity."Former secretary Elizabeth Nel: "He was grumblingabout de Gaulle. 'All right, all right,' he said grudging-ly. 'I'll be good. I'll be sweet. I'll kiss him on bothcheeks—or all four if you'd prefer it!'" Alistair Cooke:"Churchill was not, as generations have depicted him,a lonely, heroic figure with whom, had we been there,we would have sided. Churchill was isolated, rejected,and not quite trusted, and had we been there I'm afraidwe would have sided with Chamberlain."

The Bretton Woods Conference of 1988 introduced"the first ICS Symposium," moderated by Dean HalElliott Wert of Kansas City Art Institute. Papers pre-sented by Professors Max Schoenfeld, University ofWisconsin at Eau Claire and Ted Wilson, University ofKansas, were summarized by Professor RaymondCallahan, University of Delaware. It was our first forayinto "Churchill Studies." Many more lay ahead. >»

difficult, alarming, amusing,unpredictable, considerate, impos-sible to please, charming, demand-ing, inconsiderate, quick to angerand quick to forgive—was unfor-gettable....To me, who was privi-leged to be a member of his per-sonal staff during war days, evenmore diverting were the occasionswhen he was unconsciouslyfunny, without knowing it at all.

-ELIZABETH NEL, FH 61, 4TH QTR. 1988

EXCEPTIONAL LENGTHThe phenomenon of Winston

Churchill would have been impos-sible, whatever his other qualities,without the exceptional length ofhis public life and experience....Itwas because he irrepressiblyreturned ever and again to the bat-tlefront that he enjoyed that enor-mous span of public life whichmade him at the end of it an incar-nation of the British people.

-ENOCH POWELL, FH 62,1ST QTR. 1989

LADEN WITH HONOUR...Churchill's Chief Honours in

order of precedence are Knight ofthe Garter (KG), 1953; Privy

Councillor (PC), 1907; Order ofMerit (OM), 1946; Companion ofHonour (CH), 1922; and Fellow ofthe Royal Society (FRS), 1941. TheCH, founded by George V in 1917,is restricted to sixty-five members,for special service of nationalimportance. The OM, founded1902 by Edward VII, is a gift of theSovereign, limited to twenty-fourmembers.

-L. L. THOMAS, FH 63, 2ND QTR. 1989

SUMMING UPChurchill was indeed a noble

spirit, sustained in his long life bya faith in the capacity of man tolive in peace, to seek prosperity,and to ward off threats and dan-gers by his own exertions. His loveof country, his sense of fair play,his hopes for the human race, werematched by formidable powers ofwork and thought, vision and fore-sight. His path had often beendogged by controversy, disap-pointment and abuse, but thesehad never deflected him from hissense of duty and his faith in theBritish people.

-MARTIN GILBERT, FH 64, 3RD QTR. 1989

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LAST WORDSIf the human race wishes to

have a prolonged and indefiniteperiod of material prosperity, theyhave only got to behave in a peace-ful and helpful way toward oneanother, and science will do forthem all that they wish and morethan they can dream....Withholdno sacrifice. Grudge no toil. Seekno sordid gain. Fear no foe. Allwill be well.

-WSC, QUOTED IN FH 65, 4TH QTR. 1989

BAREKNUCKLEAPOLOGY

A friendwas seatednext to LadyChurchilland acrossfrom WSC,who keptmaking his

hand walk up and down beforeher, two fingers bent at the knuck-les. Her dinner partner asked,"Why is Sir Winston looking atyou so wistfully, and whatever ishe doing with those two knuckles

1985-1993: EXPANSION

In 1989 the USA, UK and Canada societies becameindependent, but continued to sponsor such activi-ties as Conferences, which soon grew to three- and

four-day affairs: Boston '85, Vancouver '86, Dallas '87,Bretton Woods '88, London '89, San Francisco '90,Effingham Park '92, Washington '93. The exception was1991, where the Fifth Churchill Tour went to Australiaand held a two-night conference in Canberra andMelbourne. FH had 44 pages by 1993. The 1991 USAbudget was $100,000, up from $180 in 1971.

In 1986 we had begun a critical campaign by rais-ing money to sponsor the Companion Volumes of theOfficial Biography—a huge challenge, met by WendyReves, Churchill's old friend and hostess in the mid-Fifties. Her visionary financing of these volumes willnever be forgotten. Nine years later the project contin-ues, slowly but inexorably. Two volumes are out,packed with unprecedented detail about 1939-1940; athird volume, The Ever Widening War, 1941, has beensubmitted. FH 63 celebrated Wendy, with her splendidrecollection of "The Man Who Was Here," and tributesby ICS and the Churchill Memorial and Library.

The depth and richness of Finest Hour clearly owesmuch to Winston S. Churchill, writer of the century.

Among his more arresting pieces: "Thoughts While Onthe Brink" (of both World Wars, FH 64); "ThusPerished Operation Sea Lion" (FH 68); "Old Battlefieldsof Virginia" (FH 72); "The Charge at Omdurman" (FH77); and that ringing 1943 Harvard speech, "The Priceof Greatness is Responsibility" (FH 80). FH 74 was thefirst dedicated entirely to one of WSC's books, Savrola.

Churchill aside, we take pride in the writers wehave published, mindful of them as we are from theexcerpts herein: A. L. Rowse's "teetotaller's burden"during lunch at Chartwell (FH 85); John F. Kennedy'snoble pronouncement of Honorary AmericanCitizenship (FH 80); Jacqueline Kennedy on Randolph,"speaking for his father. Always for his father" (FH 79);Robert Hardy on playingChurchill: "It's dangerous tobe versatile. I'm buryingthat habit but, oh Lor', I'm acharacter actor..." (FH 66);the "Canadian Airman'sPoem" on the cover of FH

Jacqueline Dean Witter with Lady

Thatcher, British Embassy reception,

1993 Washington conference.

"That's simple," Lady Churchillreplied. "We quarreled before weleft home, and he is indicating it'shis fault and he's on his knees tome in abject apology."

-MRS. ALLEN EDMUNDS, FH 66,1ST QTR. 1990

REORGANIZATIONICS has blossomed into four

separate Societies in the UnitedStates, United Kingdom, Canadaand Australia. Finest Hour and theProceedings remain joint publica-tions, financed proportionally. Allother aspects, including local andnational meetings, are left to theindividual Societies.

-ANNOUNCEMENT, FH 67, 2ND QTR. 1990

REMEMBRANCEOn 19 September 1965, forty

members of the Churchill familyattended the Battle of BritainService in Westminster Abbey. TheQueen unveiled a Churchill stonein the middle of the aisle, immedi-ately west of the UnknownWarrior's stone. On the wall justabove it is the commemorativeplaque to President Roosevelt. TheChurchill stone is inscribed:

REMEMBER WINSTON CHURCHILL: IN

ACCORDANCE WITH THE WISHES OF

THE QUEEN AND PARLIAMENT THE

DEAN AND CHAPTER PLACED THIS

STONE ON THE TWENTY FIFTH

ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF

BRITAIN. Earlier in the day aSpitfire and Hurricane flew overthe Churchill grave at Bladon.

-JOHN PLUMPTON, FH 68, 3RD QTR. 1990

SEVEN LESSONSOF SPEECHMAKING

1: Know, respect and love theEnglish Language. 2: See and heargood speakers in action, and studythe texts of their speeches. 3:Endure your handicaps if theycan't be cured and turn them toyour advantage. 4: Read goodbooks to broaden your mind andstimulate your thinking. 5: Userhetorical devices to help your lis-teners understand and rememberwhat you say, and to stir their feel-ings. 6: Put forth your best effortsto prepare your speeches and seizeevery possible opportunity topractice them. 7: Let your feelingsand personality show.

-THOMAS MONTALBO, FH 69,4TH QTR. 1990

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THE CASE AGAINSTGOING TO WAR IN 1939

What Chamberlain wantedwas a contented Germany within astable Europe....Conservatives willadmire the epic precariousness ofChurchill's achievement. But theyshould also agree that the war hadconsequences as damaging as thebombing of British cities and thefall of Singapore.

-MAURICE COWLING, FH 70,1ST QTR. 1991

LEE REMICKThere is

no otherAmericanactress so wellsuited to playthe mother ofWinstonChurchill....

Playing opposite this clear-eyedYankee girl with the appealingstyle and femininity that gracesevery one of her roles just bringsout the best in a man.

-GREGORY PECK, FH 71, 2ND QTR. 1991 PIC-

TURED WITH MERRY ALBERIGI, RICHARD

LANGWORTH AND LEE REMICK AT LEE'S

BLENHEIM AWARD DINNER, 4 MAY 1991

68: "Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, Anddanced the skies on laughter-silvered wings..."; ThomasMontalbo's Churchill rules of oratory (FH 69); CyrilMazansky's cigarette cards (FH 70); Emma Soames'sChartwell childhood (FH 71); Barbara Langworth's"Churchill and Polo" (FH 72); Martin Gilbert on"Churchill For Today" (FH 73); Patrick Powers on"Savrola and the Nobility of Politics" (FH 74); JackKemp's "Statesmanship and Democracy" (FH 75); RonCynewulf Robbins's journalist's memories (FH 76).Every issue seemed to draw forth at least one gem.

The most obvious physical change in these issueswas our increasing page count, but other little thingswere tried. In 1968 we made a conscious decision toreplace heavily bordered covers with "full bleed" covers,commencing with Life magazine's wonderful photo of

air trails during theBattle of Britain. Mostissues since have beenfull bleed, full colorenterprises. Nine have

Arthur Simon holds forth at

Hoe Farm, WSCs 1915

retreat, 1989 Churchill Tour.

featured paintings of Churchill, by Frank Salisbury,Douglas Chandor and Charles Egerton Cooper. Issue 80featured our first full color centerspread, David Low'sspectacular 1954 birthday cartoon dedicated "ToWinston, from his old friend and castigator."

FH 77 in 1992 saw two dramatic changes, but onlyone has survived. Its ultra-high-gloss cover tended tocurl; it would be dropped four years later. Our newtitle page, still in use, was inspired by Maine's statemagazine Down East. This change allowed us to devoteour inside front cover to a directory of people whomake FH and its organizations what they are.

We celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary in thepenultimate issue of 1993, David Freeman writing thevaledictory article: "From a small group of philatelistsworried about phony stamps, the InternationalChurchill Societies have blossomed into large andinfluential organizations firmly committed to preserv-ing the record of Churchill's accomplishments, and thegreat goals to which he devoted his life: freedom, liber-ty and democracy."

There was still one great goal ahead, however, andthe next five years of Finest Hour would tell all about it:The Churchill Center. >»

SUPPOSE YOU HAD TO TELLHIM WHAT'S HAPPENED?

Dear Sir Winston: We've won.In a "Great Climacteric," SovietBolshevism has collapsed fromwithin. You were right all along.You did not "accomplish much,only to accomplish little in theend." Your work was not squan-dered. Your deeds and wordsdefine our past, and illuminate ourfuture.-RICHARD LANGWORTH, FH 72, 3RD QTR. 1991

CHURCHILL FOR TODAYAs I open file after file of

Churchill's archive, I am continu-ally surprised by the truth of hisassertions, the modernity of histhought, the originality of hismind, the constructiveness of hisproposals, his humanity and, mostremarkable of all, his foresight. Inevery sphere of human endeavour,Churchill foresaw the dangers andpotential for evil. Many of thosedangers are our dangers today.Some writers portray him as a fig-ure of the past, an anachronism, agrotesque. In doing so, it is theywho are the losers, for he was a

man of quality: a good guide forthe generations now reachingadulthood.

-MARTIN GILBERT, FH 73, 4TH QTR. 1991

HISTORY REPEATSWhen the situation was man-

ageable it was neglected, and nowthat it is thoroughly out of handwe apply too late the remedieswhich then might have effected acure. There is nothing new in thestory....Want of foresight, unwill-ingness to act when action wouldbe simple and effective, lack ofclear thinking, confusion of coun-sel until the emergency comes,until self-preservation strikes itsjarring gong—these are the fea-tures which constitute the endlessrepetition of history.

-WSC in 1935, QUOTED IN FH 74,1ST QTR. 1992

THE GATHERING STORMEngland has always kept

Winston Churchill because behindhim they see the towers and parksof the great houses which were inthe nerve centres of the old order...But he has a fine record as a makerof democratic England. He con-

FINESTHOUR100/25

suited socialist Beatrice Webb onstaffing the labour exchanges heset up. He wanted to abolishpoverty; and other inequalities.We sigh in astonishment at thefools who year in, year out, keptout of power the man to whom weBritish owe our lives.

-DAME REBECCA WEST, FH 75, 2ND QTR. 1992

PICNIC AT HYDE PARKThe Prime Minister and his

daughter were at Hyde Park. Wehad picnic lunches both days andtried to give them as manyAmerican things to eat as we couldthink of. The Prime Ministerlearned to eat corn on the cobquite proficiently before he left.Miss Mary Churchill is young andlovely-looking and full of life.

-ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, FH 76, 3RD QTR. 1992

ASPECTS OF THE CHARGEA cavalry charge is very like

ordinary life. So long as you are allright, firmly in your saddle, yourhorse in hand, and well armed, lotsof enemies will give you a wideberth. But as soon as you have losta stirrup, have dropped >»

1994-1998: SUCCESS/ / I 1 ven though we have

1—j to sink to this level,J L ^ w e always have to

keep pace with modernimprovements," FH quotedWSC in 1994, inquiring if read-ers might like a "ChurchillInformation Service" on the"Information Superhighway"(Internet). Today the ChurchillHome Page is a massiveresource, managed by John

Plumpton and Beverly Carr, for researchers fromAustralia to Zimbabwe, who visit it by the thousands,and our largest source of new members. Accompaniedby the email forum "Listserv Winston," run by JonahTriebwasser, it is our most significant new service in adecade. Look it up at www.winstonchurchill.org.

Anniversaries came thick and fast in these years:the Fiftieth Anniversary of VE-Day (FH 86) and theFulton speech (FH 89); the Centenary of the MalakandField Force (FH 97) and Battle of Omdurman (FH 99).FH 93 was devoted to Lord Randolph Churchill, refut-ing the old canard that he suffered from syphilis; FH 98

was Lady Randolph's, with six historical articles andrecollections of playing "Jennie" by Lee Remick.

Gemstone articles continued apace. Lady DianaCooper's "Winston and Clementine" (FH 87) was un-known even to her son before we published it. LadyMoyne's scrapbook, with photos of the Churchills ontheir 1934 journey to the Levant, was equally unknown.The British nation acquired the Churchill archives, andMartin Gilbert reflected on their incalculable value (FH87). In the same issue, Michael Wardell recountedChurchill's 1949 stroke and Andrew Roberts explained"Why Children Should Learn About Churchill." CeliaSandys wrote about taking her children to Chartwell(FH 88). Professor Paul Alkon's "Winston Churchilland the Scientific Imagination" studded FH 94, whileNatalie Adams of the Churchill Archives Centre con-tributed her research on Lady Randolph as Winston'spolitical ally (FH 98). Jill Kendall tackled Churchill andMusic (FH 96), Jeannette Gabriel the Egerton Cooperportraits. Sir Winston "contributed" "Omdurman: TheFallen Foe" (FH 85), "The Scaffolding of Rhetoric" (FH94), and his maiden speech at Bath (FH 95).

In 1997 we finally had the opportunity to publishKarsh's famous photos when Johnny Parker, athletic

your weapon, are wounded, oryour horse is wounded, then is themoment when from all quartersenemies rush upon you.

-WSC, MY EARLY LIFE, FH 77, 4TH QTR. 1992

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHYIn August 1944, Churchill sent

a message to the Italian peoplewhich contained, in seven ques-tions, a compact summary of hisown philosophy: "Is there theright to free expression of opinionand of opposition and criticism ofthe Government of the day? Havethe people the right to turn out aGovernment of which they disap-prove? Are there courts of justicefree from violence by theExecutive and from threats of mobviolence, and free of all associationwith particular political parties?Will these courts administer openand well-established laws associat-ed with the broad principles ofdecency and justice? Will there befair play for poor as well as forrich, for private persons as well asGovernment officials? Will therights of the individual, subject tohis duties to the State, be main-

tained and assert-ed and exalted?Is the ordinarypeasant or work-man free fromfear that somegrim policeorganisation

under the control of a single party,like the Gestapo, will tap him onthe shoulder and pack him offwithout fair or open trial tobondage or ill-treatment?"

Nearly half a century has nowpassed, and Churchill's sense notonly of the importance, but also ofthe fragility, of individual libertyremains a central theme of domes-tic and international life.

-MARTIN GILBERT, FH 78,1ST QTR. 1993

RANDOLPH, 9 APRIL 1963Jack spoke first. Randolph

stepped forward to respond: "Mr.President." His voice was strong.He spoke on, with almost the voiceof Winston Churchill, but whileothers could imitate Sir Winston,Randolph's voice was finer. Hesent his words across the after-noon, that most brilliant, loving

FINEST HOUR 100/26

son. His head was the head of hisson beside him—Randolph andWinston—those two names thatwould for ever succeed each otheras long as Churchills had sons.And Randolph speaking for hisfather. Always for his father.-JACQUELINE ONASSIS, FH 79, 2ND QTR. 1993

ALREADY LEGENDBy adding his name to our

rolls we mean to honor him, buthis acceptance honors us far more.For no statement or proclamationcan enrich his name—the name SirWinston Churchill is already leg-end.

-JOHN F. KENNEDY, FH 80, 3RD QTR. 1993

TEETOTALLER'S BURDENI drew the line at port—port at

lunch! "What? No port? Then youmust have some brandy." (I can'tbear brandy.) "What? No brandy?Then you must have some liqueurwith your coffee. Have someCointreau: it's very soothing." I hadsome Cointreau: it was very sooth-ing. Slightly sozzled, I totteredupstairs after him...,

-A. L. ROWSE, FH 81, 4TH QTR. 1994

Boston '95. Left: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (I) introduced by WilliamManchester (r). Right: Student speaker Caitlin Murphy with Celia Sandys

coach for the New England Patriots, met Karsh andmade the request. Karsh photos now mark a series ofarticles aiming to have Churchill named "Personality ofthe Century" by Time magazine.

FH had now developed regular contributors. RonRobbins wrote on John Reith of the BBC (FH 82),Brendan Bracken (FH 86), and Churchill's Intellect (FH97). Douglas Hall began a series on "Churchilliana"that may never end, he has sent us so much. Douglasalso penned well-illustrated new articles on Chartwell(FH 90), Bletchley (FH 91), John Colville (FH 92), theRAF Memorial Flight (FH 96), and Owen Palmer'srestoration of the funeral launch Havengore (FH 97). To

pack all this in, issues were now 48 pages, six times thesize with 100 times the word count of FH 1.

In 1995 we reported a new entity, The ChurchillCenter, founded to promote the study of WinstonChurchill's life and times by people around the world.The Center has since sponsored three symposia:"Churchill as Peacemaker" (now a book), "Churchill inthe Postwar Years" (FH 91), "Churchill's Life ofMarlborough" (FH 99); plus the Manard E. PontSeminar at Stanford (FH 95), bringing North America'sbest students together to deliver new insights afterreading Churchill, many of them for the first time.

In 1995 over 600 people worldwide each put up$100 or more to launch an Endowment Campaign sup-ported by donors of $10,000 or more: the "ChurchillCenter Associates." That campaign continues, but FH99 announced that it had exceeded $1,000,000.

Finest Hour has truly been a journey worth the tak-ing for all who contribute to its success. To its readers,we owe a debt we can never repay: for your encourage-ment, enthusiasm, and generous loyalty. Whatever thefuture holds, FH seems destined to go on: the only pub-lication in the world devoted wholly to WinstonChurchill. Thank you for making it possible. 1$

ON CHAMPAGNEA single glass of Champagne

imparts a feeling of exhilaration.The nerves are braced, the imagi-nation is agreeably stirred, thewits become more nimble. A bottleproduces a contrary effect.-WSC, "WIT & WISDOM," FH 82,1ST QTR. 1994

MARRIED LIFEWhen Winston died, sympa-

thy was automatically expressedfor the widow, but little was saidabout his married life because itwas too happy to be heard of.

His epitaph might be: Onewho never turned his back butmarched breast forward; Neverdoubted clouds would break;Never dreamed, though right wereworsted, wrong would triumph;Held we fall to rise, are baffled tofight better, Sleep to wake.

-LADY DIANA COOPER FH 83, 2ND QTR. 1994

NEXT GENERATIONIt's a shame how little the

average teenager knows aboutmen and women of history whoshowed great wisdom, discern-ment and character. It frustrates

me that the only things I can dis-cuss with my peers is MTV andwho's going with whom. Has italways been this way for peoplelike me?

-JENNIFER JAMAR, FH 84, 3RD QTR. 1994

THE FALLEN FOEThere was nothing duke et

decorum about the Dervish dead;nothing of the dignity of uncon-querable manhood; all was filthycorruption. Yet these were asbrave men as ever walked theearth.-WSC, THE RIVER WAR, FH 85, WINTER 1994-95

FIRST THINGS FIRSTIn 1929, told by his New York

lecture agent, Louis Albers, thathis life was threatened, Churchillreplied: "Please fetch me a bottleof Champagne." Albers: "I hadbetter go first and make plansagainst these plots." WSC: "Firstthings first. Get the Champagne."

-"WIT & WISDOM," FH 86, SPRING 1995

O TO BE IN LATVIA...Tal Dumpis, Maxim Vickers,

Douglas Russell and Richard

FINEST HOUR 100/27

Langworth arrived at the Estonianborder after a ten-day, 410-milebicycle tour of the Latvian coastsponsored by ICS/USA in remem-brance of Latvians for whomWorld War II did not end in 1945.They experienced 40° F. tempera-tures, rain, hail and 30 mph head-winds. But they presented aLatvian edition of The Dream toPresident Ulmanis, who calledthem "heroes," which wasn't bad,considering.

-INTL. DATELINES, FH 87, SUMMER 1995

CHURCHILL ON DEMOCRACYNo one pretends that democ-

racy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed ithas been said that democracy theworst form of Government, exceptfor all those other forms that havebeen tried from time to time; butthere is the broad feeling in ourcountry that the people shouldrule, and that public opinion,expressed by all constitutionalmeans, should shape, guide andcontrol the actions of Ministerswho are their servants and nottheir masters.

-WSC IN 1947, FH 88, AUTUMN 1995

ABOVE, L-R: Enjoying Lake Louise, 1994 Alberta Conference; Kelly Lynn Domainque, speaking at the 1995 Boston Conference. "In the 1930s,Churchill represented the 'Nobility of the Minority.'" BELOW, L-R: Wm. F. Buckley, Jr. praises her father's oratory to Lady Soames, Boston '95;News Editor John Frost continually keeps us supplied with "International Datelines"; Douglas Hall is FH's Features and Churchilliana Editor.

NATURE GOES ONI said it was too late in the sea-

son for butterflies to emerge. Hereplied, "A pity, for goodnessknows where we shall all be thistime next year....The Russians, youknow. They are being very trou-blesome." An inspiration came tome, and I replied, "But nature goeson, sir." He nodded and remarked,"True, very true....Very well then,carry on with your plans."

-HUGH NEWMAN, FH 89, WINTER 1995-96

NEW THREATS FOR OLDIn short, the world remains a

very dangerous place [while] wehave lapsed into an alarming com-placency. We have run down ourdefence and relaxed our guard.And to comfort ourselves that wewere doing the right thing, wehave increasingly placed our trustin international institutions to safe-guard our future. But internationalbodies cannot perform well unlesswe refrain from Utopian aims, givethem practical tasks, and providethem with the means and backingto carry them out.

-LADY THATCHER, FH 90, SPRING 1996

RT. HON. GENTLEMENOn Stanley Baldwin: "In

[1920] the Lord President waswiser than he is now; he used fre-quently to take my advice." (1935)

On Sir Oswald Moseley: "Ican well understand the Hon.Member speaking for practice,which he badly needs." (1930)

On William Graham (LabourMP): "He spoke without a note,and almost without a point." (1931)

On Ramsay MacDonald: "Hehas more than any man the gift ofcompressing the largest number ofwords into the smallest amount ofthought." (1933)

-WSC, QUOTED IN FH 91, SUMMER 1996

READING MANCHESTERManchester's evocation of the

Victorian era and Churchill'sgrowth process within it took mein my imagination to a place I hadonly really visited previously,when my grandfather (who, likeChurchill, was born in the 1870s)reminisced as an old man abouthis youth. Having read and stud-ied a bit about psychological typesI found it interesting that

FINEST HOUR 100/28

Manchester believed Churchill tobe an "extroverted intuitive"—aninfrequent type.-MERRILL MALKERSON, FH 92, AUTUMN 1996

"UNIVERSITY OF MY LIFE"Churchill always regretted

that he did not have a universityeducation, but he was extremelywell-read. That process beganwhile he was in India, a periodwhich he called "the university ofmy life." His reading was prodi-gious. In the intense Indian heat hedevoured Gibbon's eight-volumeDecline and Fall of the Roman Empireand twelve volumes of Macaulay.He consumed Schopenhauer,Malthus, Darwin, Aristotle (OnPolitics), Henry Fawcett's PoliticalEconomy, William Lecky's EuropeanMorals and Rise and Influence ofRationalism, Pascal's ProvincialLetters, Adam Smith's The Wealth ofNations, Bartlett's FamiliarQuotations, Liang's Modern Scienceand Modern Thought, Rochefort'sMemoirs and Hallam'sConstitutional History. He read nonovels.

-JOHN PLUMPTON FH 93, WINTER 1996-97

CHURCHILLPROCEEDINGS

1994-1995

A PUBLICATION OF THE CHURCHILL CENTER

ABOVE, L-R: Sir Martin Gilbert (1) presented with a magnum of Pol Roger, to honour his knighthood, by ICS/UK chairman David Boler, 1995;our sixth Proceedings, published 1998; the Manard Pont Seminar, Stanford University, 1997. BELOW, L-R: Lady & Lord Jellicoe, Scapa Flow, 1994Churchill Tour; John Plumpton, Brian Winter, Celia Sandys, Bernie Webber, 1997 Toronto Conference; Marlborough Symposium programme.

NATURE GOES ONI said it was too late in the sea-

son for butterflies to emerge. Hereplied, "A pity, for goodnessknows where we shall all be thistime next year....The Russians, youknow. They are being very trou-blesome." An inspiration came tome, and I replied, "But nature goeson, sir." He nodded and remarked,"True, very true....Very well then,carry on with your plans."

-HUGH NEWMAN, FH 89, WINTER 1995-96

NEW THREATS FOR OLDIn short, the world remains a

very dangerous place [while] wehave lapsed into an alarming com-placency. We have run down ourdefence and relaxed our guard.And to comfort ourselves that wewere doing the right thing, wehave increasingly placed our trustin international institutions to safe-guard our future. But internationalbodies cannot perform well unlesswe refrain from Utopian aims, givethem practical tasks, and providethem with the means and backingto carry them out.

-LADY THATCHER, FH 90, SPRING 1996

RT. HON. GENTLEMENOn Stanley Baldwin: "In

[1920] the Lord President waswiser than he is now; he used fre-quently to take my advice." (1935)

On Sir Oswald Moseley: "Ican well understand the Hon.Member speaking for practice,which he badly needs." (1930)

On William Graham (LabourMP): "He spoke without a note,and almost without a point." (1931)

On Ramsay MacDonald: "Hehas more than any man the gift ofcompressing the largest number ofwords into the smallest amount ofthought." (1933)

-WSC, QUOTED IN FH 91, SUMMER 1996

READING MANCHESTERManchester's evocation of the

Victorian era and Churchill'sgrowth process within it took mein my imagination to a place I hadonly really visited previously,when my grandfather (who, likeChurchill, was born in the 1870s)reminisced as an old man abouthis youth. Having read and stud-ied a bit about psychological typesI found it interesting that

FINEST HOUR 100/29

Manchester believed Churchill tobe an "extroverted intuitive"—aninfrequent type.-MERRILL MALKERSON, FH 92, AUTUMN 1996

"UNIVERSITY OF MY LIFE"Churchill always regretted

that he did not have a universityeducation, but he was extremelywell-read. That process beganwhile he was in India, a periodwhich he called "the university ofmy life." His reading was prodi-gious. In the intense Indian heat hedevoured Gibbon's eight-volumeDecline and Fall of the Roman Empireand twelve volumes of Macaulay.He consumed Schopenhauer,Malthus, Darwin, Aristotle (OnPolitics), Henry Fawcett's PoliticalEconomy, William Lecky's EuropeanMorals and Rise and Influence ofRationalism, Pascal's ProvincialLetters, Adam Smith's The Wealth ofNations, Bartlett's FamiliarQuotations, Liang's Modern Scienceand Modern Thought, Rochefort'sMemoirs and Hallam'sConstitutional History. He read nonovels.

-JOHN PLUMPTON FH 93, WINTER 1996-97

THE FIRE OF LIFE

"Dowered with a stalwart constitution, his genius found scope and expressionin the varied and exciting events of his life and his quiverful of talents....

When at last the pace slowed, the long daylight hours did indeed hang heavy.Yet from those last years I treasure a precious and to me infinitely moving picture.

And remembering him thus, I recall Landor's lines:'I warmed both hands before the fire of life; It sinks, and I am ready to depart.'"

THE LADY SOAMES, DBE, 120TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, LONDON, 1994, CHURCHILL PROCEEDINGS 1994-1995

list;as Imperia

1 lie Jruituire 01 ilie it^mpire % A. o>peecli in fine Oouse oi L o n m o n s

JSTON S. CHURCHILL • 21 APRIL 1944

have been raised, like Free Trade versusProtection, Imperial Preference versus greaterdevelopment of international trade, and interna-tional currency in relation to the policy of theUnited States, and the existence of a vast sterlingarea. One even sees the gold standard peeringaround the corner, and, of course, British agricul-ture is close at hand.

My Hon. Friend The Member for Eye saidyesterday that the sole, or the main, lesson of thewar was that the world was one and indivisible. Ishould myself have thought that the main obviousfact before our eyes is that the world is very seri-ously divided, and is conducting its controversiesin a highly acrimonious manner. Certainly itseems sufficiently divided to give the peacemak-ers quite a considerable task to weld it into onecommon mutually-loving whole at the peace table.

I cannot pretend to have provided myselfwith the answers to all these questions, withanswers which would give satisfaction to all par-ties here at home, and cause no complications inour relations with foreign States. But I bid theHouse to take comfort from the fact that, great asour responsibilities are, no reasonable personcould expect us to solve all the problems of theworld while we are fighting for our lives. We mustbe generous, we must be fair to the future, wemust leave something to be done by our descen-dants, if any.

At my first meeting with the President ofthe United States, at Argentia in Newfoundland,at the time of the so-called Atlantic Charter andbefore the United States had entered the war—a

This speech contains the seed of many a term -paper orhistorical debate. More a musing than a clear prescrip-tion, it was made amidst war about matters that hadnot yet fixed the nation's interest, yet it reveals thedepth of Churchill's mind and the broadness of his view.The speech should be read in its entirety, beginning onpage 6918 of Winston S. Churchill: His CompleteSpeeches, edited by Robert Rhodes James. Copyright ©Winston S. Churchill, reprinted by permission.

What changes are to be made in the politi-cal, economic, and defence structure ofthe British Commonwealth and Empire?

In what way will an ever more closely knottedBritish Commonwealth and Empire become also,at the same time, more closely associated with theUnited States? How will this vast bloc of Statesand Nations, which will walk along together,speaking, to a large extent, the same language,reposing on the same body of common law, bemerged in the Supreme Council for the mainte-nance of world peace? Should we draw closer toEurope?—there is another question—and aim atcreating, under the Supreme World Council, a liv-ing union, an entity in Europe, a United States ofEurope? Or, again, should we concentrate uponour own Imperial and Commonwealth organisa-tion, or upon our fraternal association with theUnited States, and put our trust in the EnglishChannel, in air power, and in sea power?

Other more familiar topics than these—because it is easy to see, from the recurrence ofthese topics in so many speeches, the way inwhich the modern mind of the House is moving—

FINEST HOUR 100/30

meeting of very anxious and critical importance— "Human beings are not dominated byI asked for the insertion of the following words, , . , ,, . , , , • ,which can be read in that document: ".with due matenal thm8S> but bV ldeaS

respect for their existing obligations...." for which they are willing to giveThose are the limiting words, and they their lives or their life's work."

were inserted for the express purpose of retainingin the House of Commons, and the DominionParliaments, the fullest possible rights and liber- darkness was turned into light, and into a lightties over the question of Imperial Preference. How which will never fade away.could it be otherwise, when Parliament itself What is this force, this miracle whichwould not only have to debate the money matters, makes governments, as proud and sovereign asbut would have to legislate upon them, when they any that have ever existed, immediately cast asidewere brought before it? all their fears, and immediately set themselves to

I am convinced myself that there should be aid a good cause and beat the common foe?a careful, searching, far-ranging discussion on the You must look very deep into the heart ofeconomics of the postwar world, and a sincere man, and then you will not find the answer unlessattempt made to reconcile conflicting interests you look with the eye of the spirit. Then it is thatwherever possible. There must be a whole-hearted you learn that human beings are not dominatedendeavour, begun in good time, to promote the by material things, but by ideas for which they aregreatest interchange of goods and services willing to give their lives or their life's work,between the various communities of the world, Among the forces that hold the Empireand to strive for that process of betterment of stan- together are those deep and mysterious influencesdards of life in every country without which which cause human beings to do the most incalcu-expanding markets are impossible, and without lable, improvident, and, from the narrow point ofwhich world prosperity is a dream which might view, profitless things. It is our union in freedomeasily turn into a nightmare. and for the sake of our way of living which is the

great fact, reinforced by tradition and sentiment,

We had a pretty dreary time between these and it does not depend upon anything that could

two wars. But we have great responsibil- ever be written down in any account kept in someities for the part we played—and so large volume,

have the Americans in not making the League ofNations a reality and in not backing its principles f~*\ ome assume that there must be an inherentwith effective armed forces, and in letting this ^^antagonism between a world order to keepdeadly and vengeful foe arm at his leisure. V̂ >̂ peace, and the vast national or federal organi-

Then this war broke out. The Mother zation which will eventually be in existence. I doCountry—I must still ask leave to use this name; I not believe this is true. Both the world order andthink it is rather dangerous to plunge into new this great organization may be so fashioned as tonomenclature, and I am not sure that anything like be two parts of one tremendous whole. I have"The Elder Sister Country" would be a very great never conceived that a fraternal association withsuccess—was geographically involved, once the United States would militate in any wayagain, in the struggles of Europe. Instantly, from against the unity of the British Commonwealthall parts of the British Empire, with one and Empire, or breed ill-feeling with our greatlamentable exception, about which we must all Russian Ally. I do not think we need choose this orsearch our hearts, came the same response. None that. With wisdom, and patience, and vigour andof the disillusionments that had followed "the war courage, we may get the best of both. We haveto end wars" had affected in any way the living, often said of our own British Empire: "In mygrowing, intensifying inner life of the British Father's house there are many mansions." So inCommonwealth and Empire. When the signal this far greater world structure, which we shallcame, from the poorest Colony to the most power- surely raise out of the ruins of desolating war,ful Dominion, the great maxim held: "When the there will be room for all generous, free associa-King declares war, the Empire is at war." The tions of a special character, so long as they are notdarkest moment came. Did anyone flinch? Was disloyal to the world cause nor seek to bar the for-there one cry of pain or doubt or terror? No, Sir, ward march of mankind. W

FINEST HOUR 100/31

THE FIRE OF LIFE

as ArtistHalfassioii,

RON CYNEWULF ROBBINS

Churchill was forty before he discovered the pleasuresof painting. The compositional challenge of depicting alandscape gave the heroic rebel in him temporary

repose. He possessed the heightened perception of the gen-uine artist to whom no scene is commonplace. Over a periodof forty-eight years his creativity yielded more than 500 pic-tures. His art quickly became half passion, half philosophy.He enjoyed holding forth in speech and print on the aestheticrewards for amateur devotees. To him it was the greatest ofhobbies. He had found his other world—a respite fromcrowding events and pulsating politics.

His initiation was simplistic. As he put it: "...experi-ments with a child's paint-box led me the next morning toproduce a complete outfit in oils." Unfamiliarity with tech-nique could not lessen his determination; discipline—andlessons—would have to wait. Yet a sense of awe seemed toimpose restraint. The novitiate was caught by the wife of SirJohn Lavery (distinguished leader of the Glasgow school ofpainting) tentatively handling a small brush." Painting!" sheexclaimed. "But what are you hesitating about? Let me have abrush—the big one." She showed him that a brush was aweapon to subdue a blank, intimidating canvas by firingpaint at it to dazzling effect. Never again did he feel theslightest inhibition.

Characteristically, Churchill's first word of advice tobudding artists was "audacity." He was a strong proponentof oils. Without intending any insult, he put "la peinture al'eau" in second place.

The erratic pendulum of politics afforded him theopportunity to verify that the attraction of painting was nomere infatuation. He was appointed First Lord of theAdmiralty in 1911 at the age of thirty-six and insisted that theRoyal Navy shake off the shackles of the 19th century. Largerships must abandon coal and run on oil; here was his answerto the growing threat from Germany. The First World Warsaw his political career in jeopardy with the 1915 failure ofthe Dardanelles expedition for which he was blamed.Relegated to the minor position of Chancellor of the Duchy ofLancaster, he soon resigned to join the army as a colonel.Awaiting embarkation for France, he had time to succumb tothe lure of brush and palette. By 1917, he was back in office

Right: "Goldfish Pond at Chartwell" (Coombs 348), painted 1932. Collectionof Lady Soames. Copyright © Churchill Heritage Ltd. Reproduced by kindpermission. Mr. Robbins is a Finest Hour Senior Editor.

FINEST HOUR 100/32

FINEST HOUR 100/33

with the portfolio of Minister of Munitions. Hismasterly advocacy of the tank to counter the men-ace of the German machine-gun broke the trenchwarfare deadlock, and the tank proved historical-ly invaluable during the vital combat at Cambrai.

Encouragement to persevere with hishobby stemmed from an amateur prize (his first)which he won for "Winter Sunshine, Chartwell,"a bright reflection of his Kentish home. He sentfive paintings to be exhibited in Paris in the 1920s.Four were sold for £30 each. Making money, it hasbeen well established, was not the incentive, thenor ever. Sheer delight accounted for Churchill'sdevotion. For the Paris test of his ability he hid hisidentity under an assumed name: Charles Morin.

Why the disguise? Imperceptive criticsattribute it to nervous ego on the part of a states-man to the fore in oratory, soldiery, and literature.The decisive factor is that Churchill's paintinganimated him to the point of exaltation and threwopen for us another door to the treasure house ofhis genius. Eager flaw-finders would like us tobelieve use of a pseudonym was unworthy. Infact, it proves that his ego was not overblown tothe extent of excluding a winning modesty, whichoften surfaced in the course of his astonishing life.Writing for the New York Times Magazine to mark

the centenary of Churchill's birth, the British his-torian A. J. P. Taylor described how, in old age,Churchill pronounced a verdict on his career: "Heremarked that the final verdict of history wouldtake account not only of the victories achievedunder his direction, but also of the political resultswhich flowed from them and he added: 'Judgedby this standard, I am not sure that I shall be heldto have done very well.' Churchill did himself aninjustice. The results were not his doing; the victo-ries were. The results were foreshadowed whenthe British people resolved on war with Hitler."

Modesty shone through that self-estimate.Modesty—and warm sympathy—wereundeniably evident in what Churchill

told a fellow painter, Sergeant Edmund Murray,his bodyguard from 1950 to 1965. Murray hadbeen in the Foreign Legion and the LondonMetropolitan Police. Interviewing him to gaugehis suitability, Churchill said: "You have had amost interesting life. And I hear you even paint inoils." After Murray had his work rejected by theRoyal Academy, Churchill told him: "You know,your paintings are so much better than mine, butyours are judged on their merit."

Sergeant Murray was at Churchill's elbow

Winston v^Jkuarcliills O i s JL/iie and JraintingAm Account oi me tboraieoy s JL̂ oam. JC/xliioifioii, January 1991

COOMBS

Last January more than 12,000people visited a loan exhibition

of 105 paintings by Sir WinstonChurchill at Sotheby's in London.Open for less than a fortnight, thiswas the largest exhibition of hiswork since the 1959 show at theRoyal Academy of Arts. The exhibi-tion attracted enormous publicityall over the world.

Most of the reporters werefrom the younger generation andnot one of them knew thatChurchill painted, nor of the extentof his work and the reality of histalent. My own involvement with

Mr. Coombs, the preeminent expert onChurchill's paintings, hopes to produce asequel to his famous catalogue, Churchill: HisPaintings (London, Cleveland: 1967).

the exhibition stemmed from mybook, Churchill: His Paintings, pub-lished at the time of Sir Winston'sdeath. In 1965 it was front pagenews that he had left all of hispaintings to Lady Churchill, andhad given very few away in his life-time. As then-assistant editor of anarts magazine, The Connoisseur, Irealised that Sir Winston's pictureswere likely to be dispersed andmight even be forged, so an official,illustrated catalogue was required.The family agreed to this idea and Iwas soon at work.

I was young at the time andlooked a great deal younger; I haveoften thought since that had any ofthe Churchill family met me then,they would never have trusted me

FINEST HOUR 100/34

with the job. Certainly such animportant catalog is generally theprovince of distinguished if notelderly experts, so I'm never sur-prised these days to be greeted bystrangers with the remark: "I didn'tknow you were still alive!" On theother hand, and as a longtime sup-porter of the secondhand booktrade, I have been cheered by analternative greeting: "Of course Iknow who you are. I've made moremoney from you and your bookthan any other Churchill title."

When therefore HugoSwire of Sotheby's approached meto help with an exhibition ofChurchill paintings, I was flatteredand excited. Hugo had the idea thatthe show should include pictures

on many painting outings. He carried the gearand took the photographs Churchill needed forreference indoors. He would voice hints aboutjust where he thought an extra touch would bringimprovement. Churchill, absorbed and happy,usually kept on wielding his brush. Sometimes,however, he asked for an opinion. Murray boast-ed that now and then his advice was taken.

The wealth of organization displayed byan artist's canvas is rightly considered essential tothe proper assessment of virtuosity. Equally perti-nent is the assertion that definitive artistic valuelies wholly in the workmanship. Churchill's pro-gressive workmanship demonstrates that apseudonym employed at a crucial stage shrewdlyenabled him to find out where he stood beforemoving on to fine-tool his talent.

Churchill again favoured a pseudonym(Mr. Winter) in 1947 when offering works to theRoyal Academy, so his fame in other spheres wasnot exploited. Two pictures were accepted andeventually the title of Honorary AcademicianExtraordinary was conferred on him. He earnedit. That is borne out by the conclusion of therenowned painter Sir Oswald Birley: "If Churchillhad given the time to art that he has given to poli-tics, he would have been by all odds the world's

greatest painter."Connoisseurs of

Sir Winston's artstoutly defendtheir individualpreference, butthere are convinc-ing arguments forbestowing highestpraise on "TheBlue Sitting Room,Trent Park" whichwas sold in 1949 toaid charity (right).

Awinner ofthe NobelPrize for Literature, Churchill was con-

scious of the abiding unity of poetry, painting andsculpture—"sister arts." His rise from gifted ama-teur to academician was no easy flight but, withtwinkling mischief which charmed even his ene-mies, he could be dismissive of his painting skills.

Occasionally he invited a parliamentaryjournalist to lunch. This provided him with asounding board and served as a nostalgicreminder of his journalistic days. In April 1946

by Sir Winston's artist friends; thisparticularly interested me, for inthe years following his death I hadcome to realise that his friendshipswith a number of important artistswere real and genuine.Significantly, I thought, most ofthese had developed long beforethe years of Churchill's great fame.

My initial and enduringimpression from examining severalhundred pictures by Sir Winstonstacked in the dining room atChartwell, had been wonder attheir extent, coupled with the reali-sation that they showed a sensitivi-ty of temperament not then com-monly appreciated. Friendshipswith artists, therefore, whilst unex-pected, were not surprising.

The Sotheby's show wasnotable for many generous loansfrom Mary Soames and others ofSir Winston's family, individualand private owners and theNational Trust at Chartwell.Churchill's paintings were

"Lake Como" (painted in 1945) is a brilliantimpression of sunlight on water.

arranged principally in two largegalleries in roughly chronologicalorder. As the exhibit's curator, Idecided to hang them in as attrac-tive a manner as possible by plac-ing similar scenes together: viewsof Cannes or Blenheim for instance.

FINEST HOUR 100/35

This made for an interesting andvaried show that emphasized thesubjects and variety of techniquesrather than the art—for there is nopoint in denying that Sir Winstonwas a variable artist. After all, hewas an amateur, and I feel verystrongly that his pictures should bejudged for what they are.

Attempts at art historicalevaluation of Churchill's paintingsare at best embarrassing in myview and, significantly, the mostsensitive art criticisms of his workcontinue to be made by profession-al artists.

That said, I've consistentlythought the best of Churchill's pic-tures to be very fine in their ownright. I first realised this, coinciden-tally also at Sotheby's, in 1966when one of his paintings, "IghtamMote," was part of a sale ofImpressionist art and lookedsecurely in place amongst the otherpictures. The 1998 exhibition alsogave me the opportunity to >»

William Barkley was his choice. A penetratingthinker whose columns were the envy of his FleetStreet colleagues, Barkley once wrote: "...for eyes,Churchill has lakes of cerulean blue." He meticu-lously related their table talk.

Asked if he intended to hold an exhibitionof his paintings, Churchill derided the idea:"They are not worth it. They are only of interest inhaving been painted [this with a guffaw] by anotorious character! If Crippen had painted pic-tures no doubt the public would flock to seethem." He was disdainful of proposals that heretire: "A great many people who want to retireme now were never very eager to advance me."By 1951, of course, he was Prime Minister oncemore, compensated for the crushing electoraldefeat of the Conservatives in 1945.

Despite outward flippancy, Churchill had atrue craftsman's dedication when he tookup a paint brush. He consulted teachers

admired for their professionalism. He was fond ofciting Ruskin's Elements of Drawing and readilyaccepted Sir William Orpen's suggestion that heshould visit Avignon, where the light can vergeon a miracle. He recalled an encounter on theCote d'Azur with artists who worshipped at the

throne of Cezanne and gratefully acknowledgedthe inspiration he derived from their exchange.Marrakech, Morocco—irresistible and produc-tive—always brought out the best in him.

Churchill sought and found tranquillity inhis art. His much quoted words, summing upexpectations of celestial bliss, retain their lustre:"When I get to heaven I mean to spend a consid-erable portion of my first million years in paint-ing, and so get to the bottom of the subject..."

Village near Lugano,"painted September 1945

Reader Notes:Twin enchantments:Churchill's "PaintingAs a Pastime," thefinal essay in Amid

These Storms (First American edition 1932, entitledThoughts and Adventures in England, published in vol-ume form, London and New York, 1948); and Churchill:His Life As a Painter, a study by his daughter MarySoames, published in 1990. David Coombs's Churchill:His Paintings (1967) is an indispensable catalogue.Sergeant Murray's autobiography, / Was Churchill'sBodyguard (1987) is robust and frank. $

reconsider some of the dates of oneor two pictures, having seen themin the context of so many others atonce.

The second part of the exhi-bition was devoted to works byChurchill's friends: Sir John Lavery,Walter Sickert, Sir WilliamNicholson and Paul Maze. It wasparticularly enlightening to hangtwo original paintings by JohnSinger Sargent directly beside thecopies that Sir Winston made ofthem: the Sargents were master-pieces and Churchill's copies wereexcellent and honourable worksthat confirmed his own skills.

There was a further sectionof the exhibition devoted to por-traits of Sir Winston by, for exam-ple, Sir William Orpen, FrankSalisbury, Oscar Nemon and SirOswald Birley; and there were sev-eral Laverys including one from theGallery of Modem Art in Dublin. Inaddition, the National PortraitGallery in London loaned three

sketches by Graham Sutherland forthe 80th birthday portrait, laterdestroyed by Lady Churchill.

The opportunity of intro-ducing Sir Winston's paintings to anew generation was one unexpect-ed consequence of the Sotheby'sexhibition. Another was the chanceto talk to a number of privatelyorganised groups of visitors,including one from theInternational Churchill Society inthe UK, and to share with them myown constantly developing ideas.

The most unexpected resultof the exhibition has been anopportunity to publish a revisedand updated version of my original1967 catalogue. This is a dauntingprospect which, should it be con-firmed, will require a new bookentirely rethought in terms of itscontent for a new generation ofreaders.

The Sotheby's cataloguealready represents the basis of whatI shall be suggesting; it contains a

FINEST HOUR 100/36

very detailed chronology setting SirWinston's interest in paintingagainst his other concerns andactivities, plus a relatively completecompendium of his writings on art.This latter included two little-noticed pieces of art criticism dat-ing from the 1930s but most crucial-ly, the whole text of Painting as aPastime which, after all, explains inChurchill's own incomparablewords the reason for it all.

The principal impetus forthe Sotheby's exhibition had beenthe opportunity for commemorat-ing the 50th anniversaries of thefirst appearance in book form ofPainting as a Pastime, and of SirWinston's appointment by theRoyal Academy to the uniquedistinction of "HonoraryAcademician Extraordinary."Whatever may be its other andlonger-term consequences, inrespect of these celebrations theexhibition was a triumphantsuccess. W

THE FIRE OF LIFE

as ire

Wnat was it really like to watcn C^nurcnill win Dundee for tne Literals

in 1910 o* A contemporary reporter [brings tne rollicking scene to life,

LUIGI BARZINI, SR.

found in anotherhotel the head-quarters of theUnionist candi-date, James Glass.I started my pil-grimage oncemore. As dawnappeared I foundan inn and rangthe bell with allthe force of des-peration.

"Is this," I asked the porter, "the headquar-ters of the Labour Party?"

"No, Sir.""And the Prohibitionist Party?""No, Sir.""Not even the Feminist Party?""Oh no, Sir.""Well, give me a room then!"These completely personal difficulties are

not without political interest. They show howDundee was occupied by various electoral armiesabout to set out on manoeuvres. They started withan unleashing of the advance guard mounted onautomobiles which were decorated with flags,rosettes, flowers and trophies in such a way so asto seem ready for a gala parade.

The automobile has entered politics. Itenables the candidate to go and speak in every vil-lage, the canvasser to go and convince every elec-tor, and every elector to go and cast his vote.

The consequences of the battle are worry-ing the well-known medical journal, The Lancet,which foresees the honourable representatives ofthe nation coming down with serious nervous ill-ness and throat disturbances. This campaign willprovoke no fewer losses than a battle. However,the authoritative journal has not considered therestorative effects of victory. Only the losing candi-dates will fall ill. The greatest sufferers in this cam-paign will be the automobiles. >»

wantto see a livelyelection?" a spe-cialist asked me."Go to Dundee inScotland where aRight HonourableWinstonChurchill, theSecretary ofCommerce,* is setto have an unpleasant quarter of an hour." I wentto Dundee. The Right Honourable did not pass anasty quarter of an hour, but the election was live-ly. Half of the prediction therefore came true. Andthat's not bad for a political prediction.

When I arrived, Dundee was still asleep,tired perhaps from the rallies and assemblies,which lasted until late. I found myself the only liv-ing thing in the unknown, dark, silent, freezingstreets, in company with my luggage which Imoved, almost as if I had become a politician,from right to left and vice-versa, as the need arose.

There is the large Queen's Hotel. EveryBritish city has a Queen's Hotel. I knocked andbegged a room, but there was no room. WinstonChurchill and his staff had taken the hotel over. Iwas shown another hotel, the Royal. A ten minutewalk. I knocked and begged a room. Impossible!The Conservative candidate, Seymour Lloyd, andhis staff had taken every room from the groundfloor to the attic. I plunged into other streets and

Mr. Barzini was a distinguished Italian journalist of the early20th century. His report, from Corriere della Sera, 23 January1910, appears here for the first time in English. Translation byAndrew Martin Garvey and Patrizio Romano Giangreco.

*WSC fought the election as President of the Board of Trade,roughly equivalent to an American Secretary of Commercebut not a Secretaryship in Britain. The day after, he wasappointed Home Secretary, his first Secretaryship.

FINEST HOUR 100/37

At Dundee the elec-tion was held in a cordial,characteristic way. Themen voted. The childrenwere noisy. It was a greatpolitical party for infancy.The city was full of crowdsof minors whose argentineshouts echoed for hoursand hours, penetrating andhappy, covering everysound.

The polling stationswere in schools and pro-duced a phenomenon inwhich the adults went toschool and the pupilsstayed outside. The unem-ployed became last minuteworkers. Outside of everypolling station were thecarefree sounds of a schoolduring break-time.

The children hadthe name of a candidate pinned onto their capsand a bundle of posters under their arms. TheseLilliputian agents pestered the electors. With anair of laying siege to a castle, they grabbed thetails of the colossus and stuck notices in his pock-ets, they shouted Hurrah and then ran off, beingdistracted every now and again from their graveelectoral tasks by games of hide and seek.

In a poor area I see a five-year-old Liberal can-vasser upon whose head is the word"Churchill" and who is shouting "Churchill!"

at the top of his voice. Suddenly the tiny canvasserfalls silent. He seems worried, he squats down,and a small river passes under him showing hisunlimited love for freedom....

After the children come the women.Dundee suffragettes are on the rampage. Platoonsof them are outside the polling stations; young,old, beautiful, ugly, insensitive and tireless. In thepolling stations there is some worry that somefemale Guy Fox [sic! perhaps he meant "Fawkes"—translator] is lying in wait with evil intent, buttoday the suffragettes are tame, smiling, seduc-tive, and all they are asking is for the electors tosign their petition to Parliament in order to obtainthe vote. Armed with forms and pencils they leapupon the adversaries and present their two thingswith unheard-of courtesy. They are now doing

things the legal way. Theelector, taken by his weakside, smiles and signs.

Tables and chairshave been brought outonto the street, thus set-ting up open-air offices.They have even set up ashop covered with posterswhere one can take teaserved by active suf-fragettes who give out pic-ture postcards with thecups and make speechesabout women's rights, allfor the modest price of six-pence.

But not all politicalwomen are suffragettes.At the polling stationsdoors are Liberal women,Unionist women, Labourwomen handing outleaflets, advice, and

rosettes. Up here the meaning of the rosette ismore complicated than at Manchester, whereopinions are represented by simple colours. AtDundee, tariff reform is shown by white and red;work by red and yellow; socialism by white; femi-nism by white, purple and green. The candidatesand their consorts go from polling area to pollingarea on their bedecked automobiles, except for thesocialist who only has a cart drawn by a greyhorse. When they arrive, enthusiasm reaches ahigh pitch, and young voices screech out.

At midday Winston Churchill leaves hisbeautiful wife to carry on the rounds andgoes off to play golf. The news gets out.

Dundee admires the greatness of this man whocan dedicate himself to sport so calmly whilefighting his battle. Reporters rush to the golf linksand phone their papers with the news thatChurchill plays as well as Balfour. And the com-mittees announce the event.

I find Churchill returning to his hotel. Heis the touch of grace in the radical cabinet and hasthe methods and the face of a tenor. He has yellowblond hair worn like a pianist's, grey penetratingeyes and a slim mouth. There is an expression ofsureness on his strong, wide, clean-shaven facewith its small, round protruding chin. He is verybusy; he even has to write a few sentences in an

FINEST HOUR 100/38

enthusiastic lady's note-book. On the mantle-piece are some books: hisbook The People's Rights,Plutarch's Lives, a historyof Europe and the histo-ry of the BritishParliament.

Astrange man,Churchill. Hebecame popular

as a war correspondentfor the Morning Post. Iremember eleven yearsago telegraphing theCorriere della Sera thestory of his sensationalescape from Pretoria,where he was being heldprisoner during the BoerWar. That story was latercontradicted,* but popu-larity had been won. Heentered politics as aUnionist and then movedto the Radical Party.Having lost his seat atManchester, he then cre-ated in this strip of Scotland an unshakablepedestal.

A smooth writer, he has published four orfive books on the Indian and African Campaignsand a novel. A lively, charming, untiring speaker,he knows how to speak in the right way to everykind of public, and knows how to find the phrasewhich enthuses. He is not yet forty. The Unionistswere wrong if they thought they could havefought him easily. Dundee is Churchillian and thewhole of Scotland is Radical, if only for its oldantagonism with England. The Scots do hide theirsense of superiority over the English. A journalistfrom Glasgow explained the picturesque politicsof the children in Dundee: "Scottish children aremore educated and more intelligent than Englishchildren."

The crowd increased in the afternoon. Infront of the polling stations, especially in the cen-tral areas, the characteristic Scots gather with their

clean-shaven faces, maitred'hotel sideburns, goodnatured shrewd smiles,humorous asides andmerry conversations.Joyful remarks areexchanged. Politicsdoesn't make anyoneangry. It's easy to smile.Improvised speakersfight each other friendly,with phrases in dialectwhich make even thepolicemen smile.

o;

Churchill and his wife visited the seventeen Labour Exchanges(Whitechapel above) opened on 1 February 1910: a result of his

advocacy of State intervention on behalf of the ill and unemployed.

*Barzini may refer to the controversy that arose after fellow prisonerAylmer Haldane stated that Churchill had escaped while leaving hisfellow escapees still imprisoned; this was later disproved. See theOfficial Biography, Vol. 2.

FINEST HOUR 100/39

n his chest oneold man has ahandwritten

poster full of spellingmistakes. He says he isFOR THE LORDS. He isin rags. The crowd givehim the nickname "LordBoom," and salute him.

I hear a conversa-tion between twowomen: "I've beenlooking for my husbandfor four hours. He

hasn't come home. He must be here workingfor politics."

"What party is your husband?""The evening before last he went to a

Unionist meeting. Yesterday evening he went to aLiberal meeting."

"But what is he at home?""A downright drunkard!"Husbands such as these can not be all that

rare. We are in the home of whisky and old scotch.There are a number of shining, smiling eyes. A lotof tongues are confused. Words and gaits have anuncertainty about them which would be deplor-able in politics.

In the evening the streets come alive withexpectant crowds. Processions of young boys,many with naked legs under the classical Scottishkilt, pass by singing at the tops of their voices....old songs with new words, led by flags. Theseyouthful demonstrators break through thethrongs, appearing from everywhere and passingby one another. They are in charge of Dundee.They work their way through the steep streets,down towards the sea.

be one huge carnival, oneof the strange childhoodfestivities, which in cer-tain days bring largenumbers of children tothe courtyards ofJapanese temples. Anelection here can be noth-ing less than pacific. Thesmall ones get betweenthe combatants and hos-tility is disarmed.

The ballot boxes areclosed. One interest-ing scene is to be

found in the Sheriff CourtBuilding, a sort of courtwhere the votes arecounted. The ballot boxesand electoral registerswrapped in sealed canvassacks arrive being carriedreligiously and solemnly.The candidates, accordingto English custom, arepresent at the count. Like condemned men theyare pale-faced and nervous, pretending to be dis-tracted, studying the ceiling. Two names above allare repeated by the monotonous voices of theclerks who are counting the votes under the eyesof the magistrates: Churchill and Wilkie. Wilkie isthe Labour Party candidate. Small and short witha grey beard, he is quite visibly overcome by emo-tion, which gives his face a scared expression anda corpse-like pallor. As victory takes on a clearershape, expressions change. The losers pretend tosmile; the winners take on a resigned, humble air.But their eyes tell the truth, and show where thereis joy and where there is sadness.

The vote counting operation takes a longtime. Dundee has to return two representativesbut, by a quirk of British law, it is not divided intotwo constituencies. Instead, every elector has twovotes, both of which may be cast provided theyare not for the same candidate. Eighty-six percentof the electors have turned out to vote. TheLiberals are associated with the Labour Party.Churchill and Wilkie have collected an equalnumber of votes, three-quarters of those cast.

The crowd outside is singing and waiting.The less happy voices of the grown-ups havetaken the place of those of the children, who have

Two months before the election, Churchill was attacked with a dogwhip by a militant suffragette, Theresa Garnett. In July he voted

against votes for women. Later he reconsidered, his daughter says,"when he realized how many women would vote for him."

probably gone to bed.Seen from the balcony ofthe Sheriff Court, thecrowd, that mass ofraised faces, is frighten-ing. Multitudes alwayshave something threaten-ing about them.Divisions, whirlpools ofgroups can be seen. Justas with fields of corn inthe wind, the people areswaying from one side ofthe square to the other,like waves. Old, solemnScottish songs start up inone part and spread andfade and gusts ofHurrahs rise up.

It is just a few min-utes before midnightwhen the final results aremade known. In the Hallthe customary entourageforms up. The doors arethrown open. The Sheriff

comes out in gown and wig, followed by hisclerks. Behind him in order of voting come thecandidates. Then come the candidates' wives (inthe same order) and then in a group everyone elsepresent.

ecretary Churchill is happy; an insistentsmile is moving his lips. This he finds out ofplace given the solemnity of the moment,

and with an instinctive gesture he hides it in thepalm of his hand. But later, when the Sheriffannounces the result to the people from the bal-cony, he moves to one side and Churchill frees thesmile, which the frenzied crowd gives right back.Mrs. Churchill waves a handkerchief and over thecrowd is a rustling of waving handkerchiefs inreply. Churchill then steps up onto an automobilewaving his hat, and the victory drive does not fin-ish until two o'clock in the morning, after threespeeches given for generosity. He has an escort offorty policemen.

"Why," I asked one of the police escorts"are you surrounding the Secretary of Commercelike this? Are you afraid of an attempt on his life?"

"Yes.""Are anarchists around?""Worse. There are Suffragettes." 8

FINEST HOUR 100/40

THE FIRE OF LIFE

as .1111 tuesvJkat

if kelps fo Iiave spent a tour ©i duty tiiere

ars,

Left: Rain clouds over the Swat River Valley, taken by the author from the Chakdara Fort officers mess. Right: Looking westfrom the "reduit" (BOQ) of the Malakand Fort over the Mardan Valley towards Nowshera and the Kabul River.

After "passing out" of Sandhurst, the RoyalMilitary College, in June 1939, I was com-missioned a second lieutenant in the

British Indian Army. That December, I joined the1st Battalion of my new regiment, the 6th GurkhaRifles, in the Malakand Fort. My paternal grandfa-ther had played a small part in the Malakand cam-paign, and I was interested in seeing the groundover which he had fought and, as is typical of allsoldiers, often talked about.

In terms of tribal unrest, in 1939 theMalakand had been for many years mostly quiet.Even so, it was part of a swathe of mountainouscountry stretching from Baluchistan in the south,north along the Afghan frontier and, just abovethe Khyber, where it made a "right hook" toinclude the Malakand and the states of Swat andDir. All of this large area was classified as "TribalTerritory" and, throughout its length, a state ofacute political and military sensitivity prevailed.

British Indian law did not apply inside theTribal Territories, and the Raj's power and influ-ence were protected and represented by PoliticalAgents. Most if not all Agents were secondedfrom the British Indian Army; were fluent in the

Mr. Dales, a member of The Churchill Center, is a retiredBritish Army officer residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

basic language, Pushtu; and were experienced inliving among their tribal constituents. The PAshad on-the-spot support from British and IndianArmy troops as well as local "Scouts," or milita-rized corps manned by local Pathans and officeredby British regular army officers. In the main, thiscombination of skilled political personnel and mil-itary was sufficient to maintain a reasonablypeaceful state of affairs throughout the territory.

It was standard practice for Pathans to bearmed, since they could, and did—often at thedrop of a hat—use those arms against the "Sirkar"(government). Due to widespread blood vendettasit was politic for a Pathan to be at all times readyto fend off enemies. In fact, and throughout theterritory, both the Sirkar and the local residentsmaintained an attitude of armed preparedness.And, let it be understood, this state of affairs hasnot changed under the Muslim Pakistani Sirkar.

Malakand Fort was an old-fashioned sortof fort, set atop a massif from which there was animmense and fascinating view down the steepslope on which it stood to, and beyond, the townof Nowshera, on the far bank of the Kabul Riverabout sixty miles from the Malakand Pass.Surrounding the fort were several picquets, mostof which were large enough to accommodate gar-risons of twenty to thirty men. >»

FINEST HOUR 100/41

Radio had not yet become a part of theIndian Army's infantry equipment, and sig-nalling "all's well" to Chakdara, eight miles

away, was carried out with flags and heliograph.The skill with which the Gurkha signallers carriedout this crucial task never failed to impress me—ateither end of the "flashing light" connection.

It wasn't long before I was myself postedto command Chakdara Fort garrison. Languageseemed an overwhelming problem. I could speakUrdu, the lingua franca of the Indian Army, butwhen ordered into the Chakdara "blue" I had asyet only just begun to get my tongue aroundGurkhali, the language used within all Gurkharegiments. It was amazing how quickly I foundmyself conversing with my men—but, of course,with their wicked sense of humor, the Ghurkasloved hearing my linguistic errors!

Chakdara Fort had great strategic value,commanding the roads leading to the states of Dirand Swat and the bridge across the Swat River. Ihad frequent meetings with the local Pathans, andwas surprised how seriously the "greybeards"among them dealt with this ghora (white) "child-officer"—at twenty, I had the baby face of a mid-teenager! Regardless, it did wonders for my senseof personal self-esteem and confidence.

The relationship between the Gurkhas andtheir British officers has always been based onmutual respect, but the Gurkhas wasted no timein breaking me in. My only respite from adaptingmyself to the Gurkhas was when the Adjutant inMalakand ordered me to a day's "shikar" (hunt-ing) for my fellow officers: usually snipe or duckshooting across the rice paddy fields of the rivervalley, going after chikor in the rocky hills, or fish-ing for the 40-pound "mahseer" in the river.Gurkhas get immense pleasure out of participat-ing, mostly as "beaters" driving up to, or widen-ing the line of guns; but, very much so when anofficer loaned his shotgun so they, too, could lay abead on a fast flying snipe.

In Malakand Fort I was given a taste of thefrontier's basic wildness, or primitiveness, whenthe Adjutant asked one day for the loan of mywhite tie evening dress. Although "our war" hadstarted on September 3rd, we were still doingthings "properly" in India, and this evening wereentertaining the Malakand Political Agent and hiswife at dinner in the Mess.

The need for my "tails" resulted from theunexpected arrival at the Agent's Malakand homeof Jahanzeb, the Crown Prince of Swat. The reason

for his dramatic arrival was that his father, theWali, had decided to have him killed—and whenthe Wali decided, such a thing was usually done!

Jehanzeb was seeking "bedraggah" (hon-orable protection) of the Agent, and this was will-ingly given. Unfortunately, Jehanzeb lacked"tails," and I was approximately the same size.Thus I had to wear uniform at dinner, allowingthe Jehanzeb to appear resplendent and properlykitted out! He was a very handsome young man,almost a twin to the young Omar Sharif.

The next day, the Political Agent set off forSai'du Sharif, Swat's capital, where he persuadedthe Wali not to harm his son. Many years later,when I was serving in Pakistan, Jehanzeb hadbecome the Wali (after forcing his father to abdi-cate in his favor). He repaid the loan of my "tails"a hundred times over through the hospitality andkindnesses he extended to my family and me.

I made frequent visits to the Malakand andSwat during 1950-54, when the former Wali, nowin his 90s and bearing the title of "Badshah," wasliving in a very pleasant "auxiliary" Sai'du Sharif"palace"—more an oversized bungalow with adeep verandah. On my first courtesy visit, wereminisced over such things as the annual duckshoot to which he invited dignitaries, an invitationhe kindly extended to me.

Before leaving, he agreed to do us the hon-our of sitting for an oil portrait by my wife. Forthe first sitting, we found him seated and holdinghis favourite 12-bore shotgun, which he insistedon including. The first sitting went well, but at thesecond, after about two hours, the Badshah sud-denly stood up, shouted for his bodyguard and,without a word to my wife (who, after all, wasonly a woman) said he was tired of sitting andwanted to take me to visit some of his favouriteshikar spots. We were away for several hours, dur-ing which time my wife worked on her portraitand otherwise whiled away the hours.

As a result of the Malakand Field Force'seffort, there was no doubt in my mind that thelocal Pathans came to "suffer" the British presencewith equanimity. Certainly things remained rea-sonably calm and under control in the area.Equally, the average man-in-the-street, Malakandi,Swati and Diri Pathan, no longer suffered theabuses of power, as had been inflicted on them bytheir former despotic tribal leaders. I believe thatwas the fact of the matter, but, certainly, I alwaysenjoyed their company and have nary one badmemory of the time I spent among them. $

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as War LeaderJrour centuries back we may iind Jus equaL

My former chief, President Truman, hascalled Sir Winston the greatest public fig-ure of our age. This is an understate-

ment. One would, I think, have to go back, cer-tainly in the English-speaking world, four cen-turies to find his equal.

For his equal could not merely be a soldier,statesman or orator, or all three. Equality wouldrequire the ability to create that "romantic attach-ment" which, as Sir John Neale has written, exist-ed between the English people and the greatQueen.

Certainly, in my own country no leader hasinspired in his own lifetime this "romantic attach-ment." General Washington, great as he was,inspired respect and, all too briefly, gratitude.Bonaparte inspired romantic devotion to be sure;but his influence was divisive and disastrous andhe had about him an aura of falsity and self-seek-ing. But Elizabeth and Churchill needed, andused, all their superb qualities of heart and brain,their indomitable courage, inexhaustible energy,their magnanimity and good sense, to bring theircountry through its two periods of darkest peril.

But these might not have been enoughwithout their "supreme art." It was this whichfused and multiplied all the rest to inspire theEnglish people with the reckless, gay and confi-dent courage to enable them twice, under adoredleaders, to face and fight alone the greatest mili-tary and ideological powers of the two ages.

Here, raised to its highest, is the leadershipwhich alone can call forth from a free people whatcannot be commanded. Neither courage, nor rightdecisions, nor speaking good words is enough.Art, great art, transforms all these into somethingdifferent and superlative. What Churchill did wasgreat: how he did it was equally so. Neither actionnor style could have accomplished the resultalone. Both were needed.

Not only was the content of his speeches

Dean Acheson was Secretary of State in the TrumanAdministration and a chief architect of the Marshall Plan.This excerpt is from his "The Supreme Artist," in Churchill byHis Contemporaries, An Observer Appreciation (1963).

wise and right but they were prepared with thatinfinite capacity for taking pains which is said tobe genius. So was his appearance; his attitudesand gestures, his use of all the artifices to get hisway, from wooing and cajolery, through powerfuladvocacy to bluff bullying—all were carefullyadjusted to the need. To call this acting is quiteinadequate. Acting is a mode infinitely variableand adjustable. What we are speaking of is atransformation, a growth and a permanent changeof personality. Napoleon understood this. So didRoosevelt. Washington did not.

Churchill mastered it. Its manifestationwas dramatic and romantic—the endless energywhich took him into everything and every place,the siren suit, the indomitable V-sign for victory,the cigar for imperturbability, and so on. Here,too, he and Elizabeth moved together. In hisspeeches the bedrock of sense and necessity wasclothed, as in hers, with romanticism. Of all thewords which must, for ever, move English andFrench hearts are those closing his broadcast, inOctober, 1940, to the French people:

"Good night then: sleep to gather strength forthe morning. For the morning will come. Brightly willit shine on the brave and true, kindly upon all who suf-fer for the cause, glorious upon the tombs of heroes.Thus will shine the dawn. Vive la France!"

And Elizabeth, at a no less critical moment,with the Armada at sea, clothed resolution inromance:

"I know I have the body of a weak and feeblewoman, but I have the heart and stomach of a King,and of a King of England, too."

It gives staying and working power, goodnerves, ability to sleep at any time, and to wakefresh. It is incompatible with the weakest ofhuman emotions, worry and regret, and leaves afair field for deliberate judgment. It is the essenceof command: and it was, certainly, a Tudor quality.Let Sir Winston be his own witness:

"Thus, then, on the night of the tenth of May,at the outset of this mighty battle, I acquired the chiefpowers in the State....Therefore, although impatient forthe morning, I slept soundly and had no need for cheer-ing dreams. Facts are better than dreams." $

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THE FIRE OF LIFE

as sexagenarianIe played Jkis greatest role at an age wlneii most people retire.

Our abiding image ofChurchill in World War IIis that of an indomitable

spirit. Rarely do we considerwhere he found the energy, at theage of 65, to direct the war effort.What were his sources of physical,mental and spiritual toughness?

He had developed a physical resilience,mental hardiness and personal toughness, and thesubtle interplay among these characteristics makesa healthy person. Churchill identified his earlyyears with those of his ancestor, the First Duke ofMarlborough: "Famous men are usually the prod-uct of an unhappy childhood. The stern compres-sion of circumstances, the twinges of adversity, thespur of slights and taunts in early years, are need-ed to evoke that ruthless fixity of purpose andtenacious wit without which great actions are sel-dom accomplished."

His relationships shaped his personalityand temperament. He found solace from hisnanny, Mrs. Everest, and many other sources ofinternal fortitude, commenting in The River War:"Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong,and a boy deprived of a father's care often devel-opes, if he escape the perils of youth, an indepen-dence and vigour of thought which may restore inafter life the heavy loss of early days."

In 1940 he assumed office at an age whenmost people retire, when their vital forces begin todecline. Yet he appeared not only indomitable, butalso indefatigable. He enthusiastically assumedthe greatest job of his life during the most fearfuland intense war in his country's history.

Over this five-year period he maintainedwith evident relish a work schedule which mighthave exhausted most men of his age, and indeeddid wear out some of his colleagues and contem-poraries. During this period he may have suffereda heart attack and had several bouts of pneumo-nia, which in earlier days would have killed or

Dr. Mather is Secretary of The Churchill Center. His articleson Lord Randolph Churchill and Lady Randolph appearedrespectively in Finest Hour 93 and 98.

disabled him. After his recoveryfrom each of three pneumoniaattacks, he continued to maintaina grueling schedule of work, withfew periods of rest and relaxationapart from his afternoon naps.

He conquered his predispo-sition towards melancholia during

the war with a personality that found comfort inhis loving and supportive family. His daughter,Lady Soames, who spent a lot of time with himduring the war, recalls: "Papa had this enormousquality of never despairing." He took life in stride,finding equanimity in laughter and fun, whichcontributed to his overall good health andlongevity. Contrary to what is popularly believed,he did not take himself, his friends or his enemiestoo seriously.

Churchill was not the only leader who hadto bear up under duress. At Yalta in 1945, he waslikely not the "sick man at the table"—a phrasecoined by detractors to describe Roosevelt. ThePresident, recorded Churchill's physician, LordMoran, "sat looking straight ahead with hismouth open, as if he were not taking things in.Everyone was shocked by his appearance."

Churchill stands out among the notables ofthis century not least because of his stamina andthe way he maintained it. Yet despite his toweringimage, from a medical standpoint he was ashuman as any of us. Had he been an ordinarymortal, his medical history would be of no inter-est. He was anything but ordinary.

Although in later life advancing age madehim less buoyant, there can be little or no doubtabout his physical resilience and mental hardi-ness. At the age of 57, Churchill himself capturedthe essence of his own toughness: "The more seri-ous physical wounds are often surprisinglyendurable at the moment they are received. Thereis an interval of uncertain length before sensationis renewed. The shock numbs but does not para-lyze, the wound bleeds but does not smart. So it iswith the great reverses of life."* $* "My New York Misadventure/' Daily Mail, 3 January 1932

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THE FIRE OF LIFE

as Jrersoiiality oi tike

Bringing nothing into this world, it iscertain that we can carry nothingout. Men measure us by what we

leave behind. This can be great or little,simple or subtle; this much can be sure: itcan be nothing material. That Prometheanspirit, returned now to clay in sure andcertain hope of the Resurrection unto eter-nal life, left much. It is a varied legacy, aswhat human bequest is not? For the sakeof our children, and of generations yetunborn, we must fasten soon and firmly upon theessence of it. The outer wrappings are splendidenough; what lies inside is an infinitely precious giftto mankind. Our peril lies in this: that we may keepon saying the right things for all the wrong reasons:that the appearances by their own dramatic bril-liance may blind us to the paradox they enfold.

Those wrappings are real: the example of thegreat war leader, the captain-general, the masterstrategist. Within lies this paradox of truth: WinstonChurchill was a man of peace—prepared at all timesto fight for it. His example as a peacemaker is histrue bequest to us.

There is nothing passive about Peace, in eitherthe seeking or possession of it. Its quest demandseternal vigilance, positive thought. Its possessiondemands resolute preparedness to defend it. He whowould disturb the peace never sleeps. Nor does theman of peace passively await his assaults. If youwant peace, you must defend it, seek out the dis-turber, detect him from afar, nail him down, van-quish him.

The ebullience of youth understood, there wasno inconsistency between Churchill's devotion topeace and his first profession of arms. That purposesoon became manifest in the subordination of swordto pen, which marked his long life. The first halting,painful speech in the Mother of Parliaments, at theturn of the century, did more than show the spiritwhich overcame defects of voice and vision: itrevealed the mind to which "patriotism" meantpeace, and the defence of the realm: never war orwanton aggression.

© KARSH, OTTAWA

Mr. James's eulogy was published in The Anglican, Sydney,Australia, on 27 January 1965. It is republished here, in ourseries of articles nominating the Personality of the Century,by kind permission of his son Alfred, of ICS Australia.

What he did for more than half a cen-tury thereafter was almost uniquely signifi-cant; how he did it is something people willdiscuss for ever; why he did it is of tran-scendent importance to us all. If the "what"and the "how" make a mixed bag, uponwhich the professional "debunkers"—theintellectually imperceptive, carrion crows ofour time —have already started to gorge,the "why" of it will afford them no suste-nance. That he erred on so many and such

great issues is not the point at all. Consider them: notthe Dardenelles or Antwerp; but Russia in 1919, orIndia after 1947. The real point is that any one sucherror would have written finis to the political life ofan ordinary man, as would his treatment of number-less individuals: Wavell, Reith, Greenwood,Auchinleck, de Gaulle, Nils Bohr (whom he serious-ly thought should have been imprisoned!). Such wasthe patent magnanimity of this man that none whounderstood it bore him any resentment.

There is a corollary to that prophetic insight ofthe Thirties, the unceasing flow of intelligence fromthe Continent, the unflagging support of his friendslike Eden and Vansittart, the unremitting oppositionto forces represented by the Chamberlains andBaldwins and their satellites, including Antipodeanword-spinners. If he was right, they were wrong. Itfollows as the night follows the day. And he wasright. Here is the example to our children: that thisman fought on for the truth, oblivious of the tide.

He did not succeed to the Prime Ministership ofa nation united in purpose on that day in 1940.When Chamberlain went, Winston Churchill was noteven first choice for the succession. Those therewere, the comfortable, who would certainly havecapitulated there and then, rather than have him.Their descendants are still among us, unreformed.When we speak of him to our children, let us speakof them, too; without malice, with firmness and mea-sured magnanimity, as he did. But let us not forgetthem and what they stand for, lest we spurn hisbequest to us, betray all he stood for, and drop thevital lessons of history in the rubbish bin.

To praise God for his life and example, to cher-ish and revere his memory, is not alone enough: it isempty, unless we see clearly what we praise andrevere in truth, and unless the same prophetic spiritand action prevail in our children's lives forever. IS

FINEST HOUR 100/45

As OTHERS SAW HIMTheodore Roosevelt:"I saw the Englishman, WinstonChurchill...he is not an attractive fellow

Churchill and TheodoreRoosevelt got off to a thor-

oughly bad start, according toRobert Pilpel's excellent Churchill inAmerica 1895-1961 (NY: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich 1976); the authorhas presented the rights to TheChurchill Center, and we hope toarrange republication.

Churchill journeyed to Albanyin December 1900 to meet vice pres-ident-elect Roosevelt, who hadcharged up San Juan Hill just twomonths before Churchill hadcharged at Omdurman. Pilpelwrites: "...in their vitality, theirenergy, their lust for adventure, thetwo men had other things in com-mon as well. It was a case of likesrepelling. 'I saw the Englishman,Winston Churchill here, and...he isnot an attractive fellow/ Rooseveltconfided to a friend after the meet-ing, and this negative impressionproved as enduring as the paral-lelism of careers—both Churchilland Roosevelt were to shift theirpolitical allegiances from the partiesof their youth; both were to achievethe highest political office on twooccasions; and both were to beawarded a Nobel Prize." (37-38)

In 1906, "the reception accordedLord Randolph Churchill was friendlyand its sales were good; only theincumbent President still dwellingon what must have been a truly dis-astrous first encounter more thanfive years earlier... 'I have been overWinston Churchill's life of hisfather/ TR told Henry Cabot Lodge.'I dislike the father and dislike theson, so I may be prejudiced. Still, I

feel that, while the biographer andhis subject possess some real far-sightedness...yet they both possessor possesed such levity, lack ofsobriety, lack of permanent princi-ple, and an inordinate thirst for thatcheap form of admiration which isgiven to notoriety, as to make thempoor public servants.'

"To historian GeorgeTrevelyan, Roosevelt wrote of'Winston Churchill's clever, force-ful, rather cheap and vulgar life ofthat clever, forceful, rather cheapand vulgar egoist, his father.'

"To TR, Jr.: '[Lord Randolph] isan interesting book...but I can't helpfeeling about both of them that theolder one WAS a rather cheap char-acter, and the younger one IS arather cheap character.'" (pp 60-61)

In 1908, TR, planning a trip toAfrica, read with delightChurchill's My African journey. ToUS Ambassador to BritainWhitelaw Reid he wrote, "I should

FINEST HOUR 100/46

consider my entire African trip asuccess if I could...find the game asChurchill describes it." Six weekslater TR wrote Reid, "I do not likeWinston Churchill but I supposed Iought to write him. Will you sendhim the enclosed letter if it is allright?" The letter was a thank-youfor "the beautiful copy of yourbook" in which TR hoped that "Ishall have as good luck as youhad." (63)

After war broke out in 1914,Roosevelt wrote a friend: "I havenever liked Winston Churchill, butin view of what you tell me as to hisadmirable conduct and nerve inmobilizing the fleet, I do wish thatif it comes your way you wouldextend to him my congratulationson his action." (69)

During his 1929 visit to theUSA, Churchill attended a dinnerparty where he was seated next toTR's daughter, Alice RooseveltLongworth. Pilpel: "Despite her lin-eage, Mrs. Longworth seems notonly to have taken to him but evento have engaged in a little flirtationas well. When he asked her to stateher opinions about Prohibition, forexample, she leaned over and mur-mured, 'I would rather whisperthem to you.' (Of course, this maysimply have been because bad lan-guage from a lady was still unac-ceptable in polite society.)" (110)

Pilpel's final reference to TRalso testifies to the sheer span ofChurchill's political life. In 1961, onWSC's last visit to America,President Kennedy telephoned him,offering to send a special plane toNew York for a flying visit to theWhite House, but Clementine wasunwell and WSC was anxious to getback to her: "He had spoken to hisfirst President, William McKinley,in 1900, and now, after TheodoreRoosevelt, Wilson, Hoover, FDR,Truman and Eisenhower, he hadspoken to his last." (273)

ACTIONATHIS DA* by John G. Plumpton

One hundred years ago:Autumn 1898 • Age 24"In love, but not yet -preparedto commit himself..."

The Nile War over, Churchillreturned to England where he

immediately became embroiled incontroversy over his military andpolitical activities. The Prince ofWales wrote him that "I think an offi-cer serving in a campaign should notwrite letters for the newspapers orexpress strong opinions of how theoperations are carried out."

"A General Officer" wrote tothe Editor of the Army and NavyGazette: "Can it be for the good of theService that young subalterns, how-ever influentially connected and ablethey may be, should be allowed asLieut. Churchill is to go careeringover the world, elbowing out menfrequently much abler and moreexperienced (in a worldly sense atany rate) than themselves?"

Churchill responded: "Yourcorrespondent's quarrel is not withme but with the Army authorities.They are antagonists more worthy ofhis rank. He should not bandy wordswith subalterns in the columns of thepublic press. What can be more preju-dicial to the discipline for which heprofesses so extravagant a regard? Heshould go to the War office with thisnew grievance....to make personalattacks on individuals, howeverinsignificant they may be, in the pub-licity of print, and from out of thedarkness of anonymity, is conduct

equally unworthy of a brave soldierand an honourable man."

He continued to lay the founda-tion for a political career. Beforereturning to India, he made severalspeeches to Conservative Associa-tions, identifying himself with theprogressive wing of the Tory party."To keep an Empire we must have afree people, an educated and well-fedpeople."

In his personal life Churchillwas in love with Pamela Plowdenbut, as his son later wrote; "such werehis ambition and his slender meansthat he was not yet prepared to com-mit himself."

Seventy-five years ago:Autumn 1923 • Age 49Country Gentleman

Back in England from a cruise onthe Duke of Westminster's yacht,

Churchill reflected, "I am very con-tent to have for the first time in mylife a little rest, and leisure to lookafter my own affairs, build my houseand cultivate my garden."

His primary focus was on thesecond volume of The World Crisis.The periodicals were full of pros andcons about his first volume. Everyonewho had participated in the Warseemed to want to get a word in. TheMorning Post venomously said thatChurchill "is mentally incapable ofrealizing the truth or anything like it"but most reviews were favourable.Stanley Baldwin probably summedup the feelings of Churchill's col-leagues: "If I could write as you do, I

FINEST HOUR 100/47

should never bother about makingspeeches." Baldwin would live tohear Churchill's immortal speeches of1940 and 1941.

On the issue of tariffs, Baldwincalled an election for December 6.Churchill answered the call to fightProtection as a Liberal. He beat theConservative but came second to theLabour candidate who had advocat-ed a special tax on high incomes.

Even his Conservative oppo-nents regretted his defeat. "I was atthe Carlton Club that foggy Electionnight," wrote his aunt. "When yourpoll was announced, there was agrim silence and stodgy Lord Middle-ton, who was sitting next to me, said,'Well, I am genuinely sorry. Wewanted Winston in the House ofCommons.'"

His other battle at this time wasa libel suit against Lord Alfred Doug-las who had accused him of manipu-lating the stock market during theBattle of Jutland. His victory overDouglas was celebrated by his friendswho also encouraged him to continuehis efforts to reenter Parliament. "Youmust get back to the House," wroteone. "The outlook is dark and trou-bled; the country will need your ener-gy and vision."

Fifty years ago:Autumn 1948 • Age 74Publishing Volume I

Aholiday for Winston Churchillwas a trying time for everyone

around him. His daughter Sarahcalled him "Hard, hard workingwonderful Papa."

Martin Gilbert records a tele-phone call between Churchill (in Aix-en-Province) and William Deakin (atChartwell) which illustrates thedemands placed on assistants.

"WSC: Bill, I am very hardpressed. I want you to come downright away. Take tomorrow's plane.I'll have a car meet you at the airport.

"Deakin: I'm so sorry, Sir, but Ican't get away that early. I have a lotof work to wind up at Oxford andcan't leave for a least four days.

"WSC: What's that you say? I

can't hear you. I need you down herevery much. Get on the plane as fastyou can. We'll arrange everythingfrom this end.

"Deakin: But, Sir, I said I can'tpossibly do it. There is work I mustfinish up here first.

"WSC: This connection is verybad. Can't hear a word you say. We'llsee you tomorrow then. Good-bye."

Gilbert also records a poignantstory that illustrates the complexity ofChurchill's genius at this time. WalterGraebner, author of My Dear MisterChurchill, dined with Churchill afterWSC had spent "a long happy after-noon at Montagne Sainte-Victoire, sobeloved of Cezanne. Deep in thoughtfor several minutes, he suddenlybroke into the conversation aroundhim, and said rather gravely: 'I havehad a wonderful life, full of manyachievements. Every ambition I'veever had has been fulfilled - saveone/ 'Oh, dear me, what is that?' saidMrs. Churchill. 'I am not a greatpainter,' he said, looking slowlyaround the table."

On receiving an honorarydegree from the University of Lon-don, he remarked on "how manymore degrees I have received than Ihave passed examinations." On his74th birthday he went riding tohounds with the Old Surrey BurstowHunt. He appeared in his bowler hat,smoking an enormous cigar. He washale and hearty and tally-hoed afterthe fox for two hours.

Twenty-five years ago:Autumn 1973

Finest Hour published TheTimes's photograph of the unveilingof Churchill's statue in ParliamentSquare, London, with the followingaccount of the official unveiling byChurchill's beloved Clementine, inthe presence of their family and HerMajesty, Queen Elizabeth II:

"The first day of November inthe 99th year after his birth saw theapotheosis of Winston Churchill in 12feet of bronze styled by Ivor Roberts-Jones. He looks east toward Big Benand is in the shadow of the Parlia-ment that he served, loved, vexed

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and dominated like a Colossus forsixty-four years. Now his image, atopits 8 ft. plinth, can only cover theother deities in the pantheon of Par-liament Square.

"It began twenty years ago withplans for the reconstruction of Parlia-ment Square. Reportedly, Sir Winstonhimself selected the site on which hisstatue now stands. Not even TheTimes doubts that its location is 'oneof the most conspicuous in Londonfor a piece of public sculpture.' Leg-end records how Sir Winston deci-sively drew a circle on the northeastcorner of the square, and remainedunpersuaded by protests that he wasruining the symmetry of the setting.His reply was at once magisterial andcharacteristically accurate: 'That iswhere my statue will go.'"

FH also reported The Queen'sSpeech at the unveiling:

"In the long history of thisKingdom and of our Parliament,there is no man whose name andfame are more certain of an enduringplace than Winston Churchill.

"He will be remembered formany things, in peace and in war, inpolitics and in literature; and for hisgreatness as a Parliamentarian.

"From the time he came of ageto the day of his death, the House ofCommons was at the centre of histhoughts and his affections. He facedits hostility without bitterness andlived to receive its standing ovations.

"He was enthusiastic in debate,imperturbable in adversity and gen-erous in triumph. He toiled for many

FINEST HOUR 100/48

years through the details of commit-tee and report. He was elected aMember in the reign of Queen Victo-ria and when he left his seat for thelast time sixty-four years later, he wasloved and revered on the Govern-ment and Opposition benches alike.

"I thought that when heresigned as Prime Minister, andwould no long play an active role inparty politics, I might honour hiswholly exceptional achievements byoffering him a dukedom. No suchdistinction had been proposed fornearly a century.

"But he wanted to spend hislast years where he had passedalmost all his adult life—the House ofCommons—and indeed he had noneed for distinction greater than thename of Winston Churchill.

"For more than fifty eventfulyears, Lady Churchill was his deeplyloved companion and I think itwould be right, therefore, for her tounveil the statue of her husband."

Sixteen Years Ago:A Final Wordfrom John Plumpton

In Finest Hour 37 (Autumn 1982) Iresponded to an invitation from

Richard Langworth to succeed thelate Dal Newfield in writing "ActionThis Day." Recording the remarkablecareer of Winston Churchill, seasonby season, year by year, has been awonderful journey through the life ofan awe-inspiring man.

I now turn over that journey toMichael McMenamin. But I am notleaving the pages of Finest Hour. I willreturn to a former column, "Insidethe Journals," to bring you the latestin periodical literature, popular andacademic, on Churchill: and I willwrite about what we're doing on ourwebsite: www.winstonchurchill.org.

Under the sure hands andsteady guidance of Dal Newfield andRichard Langworth, Finest Hour hashad a remarkable journey of its own.That story is told in our newly pub-lished index, The First 100, on ourwebsite under "The Finest of FinestHour," and in this issue. $

Send your questions (and answers) to the Editor

Riddles, Mysteries, Enigmas

iWhat'kind of

relation didChurchillhave withPrimeMinisterMenzies ofAustralia? -magus@oze-mail.com.au

A)TheLAustral-

ian historian,David Day,wrote a criti-cal work,Menzies and

Churchill at War (N. Ryde, NSW:Angus & Robertson 1986) which isworth reading for the negative side.But this has to be considered along-side Menzies's own memoirAfternoon Light (London: Cassell1967), and his WSC By RGM(Melbourne: Willkie & Co. 1965),limited to 500 copies, possibly avail-able through an Australian libraryexchange.

Menzies was often frustrated byChurchill's ideas about strategicpriorities, especially with respect tothe defense of Australia. In the end,however, Menzies came up withthis summary, in Afternoon Light:

"Years afterwards, in 1948,1made a remark to Winston....'Yourealise,' I said, 'that five years afteryour death...clever young men willbe writing books explaining thatyou were never right about any-thing!' 'Oh,' he said in a friendlygrumble, 'you think so, do you?' Iretorted that, as he himself was anhistorian who had felt called uponto restore the reputation of the greatMarlborough, he knew that suchthings could and would happen.'But!,' I added, 'not many yearslater, the clever young men will

have been forgotten, and yourname will be seen at the pinnacle.'"

g l have heard some rather disturb-ing comments to the effect that•chill was prepared to sacrifice the

Australians to achieve the liberation inEurope during WW2. Can you clarifyor direct me to the text? -Peter Baker

AThe Australian antipathy toChurchill goes back to the

Dardanelles/Gallipoli campaign inWW1, which many Australians sayhe conceived (wrong), and in whichAussie troops suffered the mostcasualties (far more British werekilled and wounded, although theslaughter was epic on all sides).David Day (see above Q&A) hascarried the antipathy forward intoWorld War II with his book, whichcriticizes Churchill for leavingAustralia undefended. Ironically,other critics complain thatChurchill hesitated to invadeFrance, when the cause for his hesi-tation was his memory of whathappened to poorly led troopsflung ashore on Gallipoli. ProfessorDay actually states that RobertMenzies was a contender for theBritish Premiership.

QDo you know the names of any ofChurchill's speechwriters?

AThat's a fun question, whichcan best be answered by relat-

ing the experience of Churchill'sofficial biographer, Sir MartinGilbert. Many years ago a juniorminister asked Sir Martin whoChurchill's speechwriters were."He didn't use any," repliedGilbert, incurring the indignant dis-belief of Douglas Hurd, futureForeign Secretary of Great Britain.

QPlease cite the oft-quoted remarkof Churchill's before World War II

that Britain had nothing to fear fromJapan. -Wendell Nix

ARefer to the official biography,Winston S. Churchill, Vol. 5,

Prophet of Truth 1922-1939, byMartin Gilbert, English edition(London: Heinemann 1976):

In 1925, Churchill as Chancellorwas involved in budget considera-tions for the Washington NavalTreaty, which apportioned the capi-tal ships of the UK, USA and Japan(Gilbert Chapter 6). WSC consis-tently downplayed the threat ofJapan, and the quote most oftencited by his critics is from his letterto Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, thenDeputy Chief of Naval Staff, on 22March 1925:

I do not believe Japan has any ideaof attacking the British Empire, orthat there is any danger of her doingso for at least a generation to come.If, however, I am wrong and she didattack us 'out of the blue,' I do notthink there would be any difficultyin defeating her. She would not, aswas the case with Germany, haveany chance of striking at the heart ofthe Empire and destroying itspower to wage war. We should beput to great annoyance and expense,but in three or four years we couldcertainly sweep the Japanese fromthe seas and force them to makepeace.

It is interesting to readChurchill's qualifications in thispassage, considering what hap-pened seventeen years later. Hisfirst sentence is often quoted out ofcontext as an example of his lack offoresight (although, further inProphet of Truth, he urges defenseplanners to take Japan into accountas early as 1936; see index refer-ences to Japan from page 699 on).The later sentences show that herather accurately summed up whatactually happened (with, of course,American dominance) in 1942-45.Japan never did have the power tostrike at "the heart of-the Empire";and seventeen years is not quite ageneration, but it's close. W

FINEST HOUR 100/49

"FOUL WEATHER FRIEND"..."TATTERED LACKEY"

Browsing our exchanges on the"Winston" listserv, I found a coupleof unanswered questions andunattributed quotes. As nearly allrequests are answered (and most ofthose which aren't are likely to referto rather dubious or spurious attri-butions) I thought I might as welltry to complete the record:

• On 20 January 1997 ChuckMaegher asked where JamesHumes had produced his quote ofBeaverbrook's being Churchill's"foul weather friend." LordMoran's Churchill: The Struggle forSurvival, quotes Churchill as sayingon 22 September 1944: "Max is agood friend in foul weather. Then,when things are going well, he willhave a bloody row with you overnothing." Moran is, of course, asMartin Gilbert has noted, not asource beyond doubt. But there it is.

• On 30 June 1997 Jim Downsasked Jonah Triebwasser about aChurchill quote "tattered lackeys."The quote stems from Churchill'sspeech on 12 June 1941 and reads infull: "It is upon this foundation thatHitler, with his tattered lackeyMussolini at his tail and AdmiralDarlan frisking by his side, pre-tends to build out of hatred,appetite, and racial assertion a neworder for Europe." (Churchill, TheUnrelenting Struggle, 162 ff.)

"NOTHING WRONGIN CHANGE"..."DOINGWHAT'S NECESSARY"

• On 22 August1997 R. Trimmer askedabout the origin of theChurchill quote, "There isnothing wrong in change,if it is in the right direc-tion. To improve is tochange, so to be perfect isto have changed often."The quote was traced byJonah Triebwasser to TheWit and Wisdom ofWinston Churchill, byJames C. Humes, but nofurther. It appears to be

part of an exchange in the House ofCommons with Philip Snowdenwhen Churchill defended his firstbudget in 1924, cf. "Ephesian"[Bechover Roberts], WinstonChurchill, second edition, p. 288.

• On 24 September 1997 KirkRostron asked about the followingphrase: "It's no use saying 'we'redoing our best.' You have to suc-ceed in doing what's necessary."This is from Churchill's speech on 7March 1916 in the House ofCommons, cf. Gilbert, OfficialBiography, Winston S. Churchill,Vol. 3, The Challenge of War (Londonand Boston: 1971, page 719).

-Karl-Georg Schon

Recipes From Number Tenby Georgina Landemare, the Churchills' Cook • Edited and annotated for themodern kitchen by Barbara F. Langworth (Email: bjangworth@conknet.com)

After the end of the Second World War, Winston Churchill was made an HonoraryMember of Boodles—a distinction previously confined almost exclusively to members of

the Royal Family. This story may be apocryphal, but it is said he had only one requestwhen he visited the club for luncheon, accompanied by Lord Cherwell and Harold

Macmillan: that he might sit in the bow window facing St. James's and smoke his cigar;which he did, attracting quite a small crowd outside. According to The Gentlemen's Clubsof London, Lejeune & Lewis (London: Macdonald and Jane's 1979, p62), he summed up

what so many generations have felt about Boodles's. He said, "I like this club."

BOODLES'S ORANGE FOOL

Afool is a traditional English dessertmade of whipped cream and

mashed fruit—originally cooked goose-berries. I've found two possible deriva-tions of the word fool: one is that the com-bination of fruit puree and cream wasonce considered foolish; the other is thatthe word derives from the French fouler,meaning "to crush." Any cooked or pureed fruit can be used. Thick cream or evena custard can be substituted for the whipped cream. This recipe does not whip thecream, but uses a cake base.

6 sponge cakes (or dessert shells, or 1 pkg. lady fingers)4 oranges - grate two, juice all four2 lemons - grate one, juice both3/4 pt cream (UK) or one 16 oz. pint1/4 cup sugar

Cut up sponge cakes lengthwise in slices and place in a glass dish. (Orprepare for six individual servings.)

In a bowl put the grated rind of 1 lemon and 2 oranges and the juice of allthe fruit. Mix with the cream and sugar. Pour all over the sponge cakes and allowto stand for six hours before serving. $

FINEST HOUR 100/50

BOOKS, ARTS

& CURIOSITIES

A Connoisseur's Guide to the Books ofSir Winston Churchill, by Richard M.Langworth. London: Brassey's, 372pages, over 200 photographs, 14 booksin color, $39.95 (£40 in UK). Memberprice $35 ppd. from CC Book Club, POBox 385, Contoocook NH 03229 or£21.50 ppd. from ICS/UK, PO Box 1257,Melksham, Wilts. SN12 6GC.

Churchill's Books:A Quirky andEngaging GuideGLENN HOROWITZ

Irecently had reason to show a wallof books in my apartment to aworldly criminal defense lawyer

who had never expressed any interestin printed matter except for the stur-dy, utilitarian law volumes in hisoffice. The steady, silent gaze he fixedon the shelves baffled me, and after afew moments I inquired If somethingwas troubling him. "Why," he asked,"are all of your books about otherbooks?" An encyclopedia of baseballstatistics, needed to settle a dispute,had been shelved, I realized, in mycollection of bibliographies, book-sellers' memoirs, auction catalogues,and library publications.

This encounter came back to mewhile reading Richard M. Lang-worth's A Connoisseur's Guide, aquirky and engaging tour of all theeditions of Churchill's key texts.

Before a debate over my use of"quirky" in an endearing manner, letit be known to all that Langworth isthe major American dealer in booksby and about Churchill and as suchhas a unique view of Churchill as fil-tered through his work. Others regu-larly handle Churchill material (in-cluding the author of this piece, who,in the spirit of full disclosure, it shouldbe noted is praised in the acknowl-edgments and cited authoritatively inthe text), but none take into stock andsend back out into the world a frac-tion of materials that pass throughLangworth's hands. Indeed, in his

Mr. Horowitz is an antiquarian bookseller inNew York City and East Hampton, N.Y.

introduction he claims "one purpose"of his book is to forestall the questionmost frequently put to him collectors:"What exactly am I holding in myhands?"

With this Guide in hand, theanswer might still require one morecall to Langworth; but once the aspi-rant grasps the bibliographic languagewith which he narrates this textualtale, home-schooling should quicklyreplace classroom instruction.

The Guide is put together withadmirable clarity, even simplicity. Foreach text, from The Story of theMalakand Field Force in 1898 to theposthumous ephemeral publications,Langworth first provides an eminent-ly readable redaction, along withsome solid background of each book'splace in the canon. In these preamblesLangworth's voice resonates elo-quently, providing a sense that we arebeing guided by a generous, avuncu-lar Diogenes with knowledge of allthings Churchillian.

Following his introductoryremarks, Langworth deploys excerptsfrom both contemporary and moderncommentators; his use of supportingand dissenting opinions offers a novel

FINEST HOUR 100/51

approach to understanding how a textwas greeted upon publication andhow it continues to be perceived. Infact I would not have objected to hear-ing more of these testimonials. (I aminformed there were more, but trim-ming was required to stay within theagreed-upon word count.)

But the source of Langworth's edi-torial discipline is revealed in the sub-sequent entries, which narrate thepanoply of Churchill's books, fromfirst editions to, in many cases, cheappaperbacks. For anyone even faintlyfamiliar with traditional bibliography,here the Guide will assume both a rec-ognizable tone and style.

Throughout Langworth relies onthe bibliographical research of the lateFrederick Woods, who devoteddecades to tracing Churchill's works,and whose bibliography, to date, hasnot been superseded. Langworthstates that his goal is to amplify, notexpand upon, Woods's early work,and in this, I think he is too humble:he clarifies innumerable pockets ofobfuscation transmitted by Woods(one need only read his lucid discus-sion of The Malakand Field Force to seehow far we've come). He also, »

Connoisseur's Guide...occasionally nudges up against thehubristic: definitionally, Woods is thetext with which Langworth is banter-ing, and insomuch as the prepoonder-ance of readers will not be familiarwith Woods, his frequent tag-lines"see Woods" and "Woods incorrect-ly..." seem a bit bullying. Maybe I'mbeing pedantic, but the paragraphsdevoted to the physical componentsof the books generate a feeling thatLangworth, now and again, set up hispredecessor only to knock him down.

Most readers, I suspect, willbreeze through the technicalpatches on book produc-

tion, press-runs and binding variantsand will be rewarded with the con-cluding categories with which thedescription of each edition ends. Thefirst of these is labeled "Comments,"in which Langworth incorporates thesubstantial knowledge he has gath-ered in decades of handling Churchillbooks. In these passages he demon-strates the extent to which he hasattained true "connoisseurship," thatstate of grace to which all collectorsaspire, and he communicates his wis-dom with the ease bred of confidence.

For example, in describing theTimes Book Club issue of Lord Ran-dolph Churchill he notes: "nicely if notelaborately bound (it lacks the giltcoat of arms) it is an adequate if notdramatic looking set of books." Andabout the first edition of India: "soft-bound copies on the market todayoutnumber hardbound copies at leasttwenty to one...." These are, to mymind, truths that could only be prof-fered succinctly and elegantly afteryears of study and reflection. In a lateinterview, the American novelistBernard Malamud suggested that"clear writing is clear thinking," andin those pithy observations, in whichLangworth shares his clear thinking indean writing, the Guide earns a placeon the list of essential reference worksdevoted to Churchill as author.

The final paragraph about each isdevoted to a brief discussion of thecurrent value for that edition. I foundthis the least useful apparatus, thoughI don't think my reservations will beshared by most readers. In fact, formany I imagine these observationsmight very well be one of the Guide'smore engaging aspects. However, I'dcounsel potential collectors to treadlightly in that region where Mammon

has scattered the angels. I've beenbuying and selling rare books fortwenty years and I've never encoun-tered a price guide that doesn't gener-ate aggravation and illumination inequal doses. Values of rare bookscan't be stated in absolute terms;maybe for common, and commonlyencountered titles, prices are fairlyconstant, but the scarcer and morefugitive a volume, the harder it will beto pin a price, or a range of prices onit. I understand the public serviceimpinge that caused Langworth toappend this economic postscript toeach edition, and his ranges are com-mendably wide; but I'd advise thereader of the Guide to use the informa-tion cautiously.

The Guide is sturdily produced;the photographs are attractive. I wishmore of the compelling, early bookshad been shot in color, though someappear on the color dust jacket. Tothose of us who esteem Churchill'saccomplishments, this work offers onemore reason to stand in reverence: thetitles and text roll across sevendecades with clarity and logic. TheGuide both elevates and entertains—and you can't ask for much more foryour money, can you?

A British Heritage: The Statesman-PainterARTICLE ABSTRACT BY TOM REINEHR

BRITISH

"Churchill: A portrait of the statesmanas a young Artist,"by Merry Alberigi,British Heritage,October/November1998,6 pages, 7illustrations, 6 incolor, $4.99 onnewsstands.

The author, who chaired the 1990and 1993 Churchill Confer-ences, became fascinated with

Churchill's painting over ten yearsago, and has interviewed Churchill'sfamily and associates, including threeformer bodyguards who were respon-sible for setting up his easels. Thispast year she completed her master's

thesis on Churchill as a Painter. It wasawarded second place in the Califor-nia State University Student ResearchCompetition.

Churchill took up painting as ahobby when he was out of office andbored in 1915. This began a "career"which spanned over forty years andwas a source of great joy. Painting, hesaid, is "a wonderful new world ofthought and craft," an occupation forevery idle hour, an unceasing voyageof entrancing discovery." As in every-thing he did, he took no half measuresand was quite prolific, producing over500 oil paintings. His friend PaulMaze once told him to "Paint like you

Mr. Reinehr, of Avondale, Arizona, will beassisting John Plumpton in producing articleabstracts, "Inside the Journals," in future issues.

FINEST HOUR 100/52

write or speak," and he did so.Churchill's subjects were almost

always peaceful, often bathed in sun-light. He painted in over twelve coun-tries, but most often in France andEngland, preferring landscapes, par-ticularly the Mediterranean. Churchillpainted mainly in the Impressioniststyle. As in other arenas, he learnedquickly. Contemporary artistfriends—Sir John Lavery, Walter Sick-ert, Sir Oswald Birley, Sir Paul Maze,and Sir William Nicolson—influencedhis early work. His experimentationwith their styles led a reviewer tocomment that Churchill's artistic mat-uration was "not a matter of straightprogress but of the inspiration of themoment."

continued on page 60

CHURCHILLTRIVIA

BY CURT ZOLLER (Curt@fea.net)

Erratum: In issue 99,1 mistakenly re-ranChurchilltrivia from issue 98. This install-mant continues the proper sequence withquestion 889. My apologies to readers. -Ed.

Test your knowledge! Most questionscan be answered in back issues of

Finest Hour or other Churchill Centerpublications, but it's not really cricket tocheck. 24 questions appear each issue,answers in the following issue.Questions are in six categories:Contemporaries (C), Literary (L),Miscellaneous (M), Personal (P),Statesmanship (S), War (W).

889. After Churchill became First Lordof the Admiralty in 1911, whom did heappoint as his Naval Secretary? (C)

890. How old was WSC when he wonthe Nobel Prize for Literature? (L)

891. Which Monarch told Churchill:"Antwerp and Gallipoli, both conceivedby you, were in my opinion the twomaster-strokes of the war"? (M)

892. What was Clementine Churchill'smother's maiden name? (P)

893. Professor Kirk Emmert lists themoral and political virtues of greatpolitical leaders, such as Churchill orMarlborough, in his essay "ThePeaceful Purposes of Empire." What arethey? (S)

894. Whom did Lord Mountbattenreplace when he was appointedCommodore and Advisor, CombinedOperations, on 19 October 1941? (W)

895. What name did Churchill call SirJohn Cunningham? (C)

896. Who edited Winston Churchill'sComplete Speeches ? (L)

897. Who was First Sea Lord and Chiefof Naval Staff when Churchill becameFirst Lord of the Admiralty in 1939? (M)

898. In 1955 Churchill received the firstWilliamsburg Award from theTrustees of Colonial Williamsburg.What is the Award's purpose? (P)

899. On 25 June 1907, Churchill com-mented memorably on the House of

Lords. What did he say? (S)

900. What was the Calais Mutiny? (W)

901. When did the Churchills' daughterMarigold die? (C)

902. When was the first volume ofMarlborough published? (L)

903. Where is the Churchill Porch? (M)

904. Sotheby recently sold a car ownedby Churchill. What make was it? (P)

905. In early April 1941 Churchill wroteStalin, warning of the relocation of upto five Panzer Division to southernPoland for a probable attack on theSoviet Union. Who held up this mes-sage repeatedly until April 19th? (S)

906. Define "Operation Catherine." (W)

907. To whom did Churchill refer inDecember 1940 as "...a lunaticin a country of lunatics"? (C)

908. In a 1953 speech to theConservative Party, Churchill said, "Iam always chary about loading aspeech with percentages." What did helike in his speeches? (L)

909. When did Lord RandolphChurchill marry Jennie Jerome? (M)

910. Who quotes Churchill as saying,"he thinks it is a brave thing to ride intriumph through Persepolis"? (P)

911. Did Churchill cite the Govern-ment's moral or political weaknesswhen urging negotiations with SinnFein in May 1921? (S)

912. In September 1942 a Germandecrypt snowed that the 8th Armyknew the outline and original date ofthe Alam el Haifa attack. Whom didChurchill blame as being too free withEnigma intelligence information? (W)

Answers to Churchilltrivia in FH 99:

(865) Churchill attended the Kiel Regattain 1914 as guest of Kaiser Wilhelm. (866)The Chartwell Bulletins were lettersChurchill wrote to his wife fromChartwell commenting on everythingfrom politics to Mary's pug committing

"indiscretions" on the carpet. (867)Mougins, France, erected a V-sign memo-rial to Churchill. (868) WSC appeared onseven covers of Time magazine and as partof an eighth cover. (869) Churchill consid-ered Lend-Lease the "most unsordid act."

(870) Churchill wore the naval uniform ofan Elder Brother of Trinity House, a dou-ble breasted, brass buttoned jacket andmilitary cap with small round insignia,when he met FDR. (871) The CoronationMarch was composed when Churchillbecame Knight of the Garter. (872) LordRandolph Churchill was the last literarywork Churchill wrote without researchassistants. (873) The statues of FDR andWSC on Bond Street are by the Americansculptor Lawrence Holofcener. (874)Churchill preferred Camacho and Romeoy Julieta cigars.

(875) Churchill's leadership was in the tra-dition of Edmund Burke, 1729-1797. (876)Field Cornet Sarel Oosthuizen, not LouisBotha, captured Churchill during the BoerWar. (877) Isaiah Berlin immortalizedChurchill thus in Mr. Churchill in 1940.(878) A. Marshall Diston was editor ofAnswers, who wrote several partial andcomplete articles which were allegedlypassed on as Churchill's. (879) The YorkLV633 named "Ascalon" and a C54Skymaster EW999 were assigned toChurchill.

(880) Churchill's maiden speech was on 18February 1901. (881) In the "ArmisticeDream," key statesmen of World War Icongregate on an island in the EnglishChannel, leaving partisanship and selfishinterests behind. (882) "There is only onething certain about war, that it is full ofdisappointments and also full of mis-takes." (883) Lady Churchill was spon-sored into the House of Lords by LordsNormanbrook and Ismay. (884) Britishtitle of While England Slept is Arms and theCovenant.

(885) Vice President Henry Wallace wasagainst an Anglo-American bloc. (886)The Churchills were married on 12September 1908. (887) On 11 November1947 in the House of Commons, Churchillsaid, "We hold that there ought to be aconstant relationship between the rulersand the people. Government of the peo-ple, by the people, for the people, stillremains the sovereign definition ofdemocracy." (888) The message/'This is atime to think of Clive and Peterborough"was sent to Gen. Wilson on 13 September1943, suggesting the capture of Rhodes. $

FINEST HOUR 100/53

Churchill in Stamps:A Man for the AgesBY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH

Pages 265-270: "BLAZONED WITH HONOUR"Catalogue numbers are Scott (#) or Stanley Gibbons (sg). Aslash mark (/) indicates a set with a common design from whichany value is usable. Cams and Minkus catalogue numbers aresometimes used, and are identified by name.

When queried about a posthumous American decorationlong after his death, Sir Winston's daughter Lady Soames

said that it was superfluous, since her father regarded HonoraryAmerican Citizenship as the highest accolade he could havereceived, near the end of his life, from the "Great Republic" inwhich he held such faith.

265. The numerous stamps picturing both Churchill andKennedy, who died within fifteen months of each other, areideal for these pages covering the Honorary Citizenshipbestowed upon WSC by JFK in April 1963. The text is fromKennedy's presentation; the stamps are Panama, Minkus cata-logue 929 (perf and imperf); and a spurious but interestingManama silver foil "stamp," overprinted for Apollo 13, Caruscatalogue 414b.

266. A continuation of Kennedy's speech is illustrated with theManama gold foil Apollo 13 overprint, counterpart to the previ-ous issue, Minkus 101, Carus 107. The Kennedy stamps over-printed In Memoriam to Sir Winston are Sharjah Minkus 138-40 (sg 127-29). Both Manama and Sharjah were Arab Trucialstates, their stamps issued mainly for sale to collectors.

267. Every possible variation was tried by the collector-bilkingTrucial States. This colorful souvenir sheet, first issued in 1968and depicting Churchill and Adenauer in gold foil, was over-printed "Apollo 13 1970." It is listed only in Carus: 414p.

268. Anguilla #198a (sg MS187) is a colorful allegorical, bio-graphical souvenir sheet, suitable for a broad statement like theResolution of Thanks upon Churchill's retirement as a Memberof Parliament. It includes all the stamps of the 1974 commemo-rative set, nicely illustrating the words of appreciation.

269. Churchill died 24 January 1965. Ajman, a prolificChurchill issuer, illustrated his birth sign, Sagittarius, onMinkus 667, Carus 799, and its accompanying souvenir sheet.The Bernard Levin quote about chipped granite is suitably illus-trated by any Gibraltar issue showing the famous "rock."

270. Numerous stamps depict Churchill's Lying in State inWestminster Hall. Those shown here are Umm Al Qiwain,Minkus 68 (sg 67) and the revalued successor issue, Minkus68A (sg 67A); Maldive Islands #202, 204-05 (sg 205, 207-08);and Antigua #351 (sg 410).

(To be continued)

FINEST HOUR 100/54

265.

266.

VALEDICTION

AMERICA'S HONORARY CITIZEN (I)

"Whenever and wherever tyranny threatened, he has alwayschampioned liberty. Facing firmly towards the future, he hasnever forgotten the past. Serving six monarchs of his nativeGreat Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity.

T!... In dark, daysand darker nights,when England stoodalone, and mos tmen save English-men despaired ofEngland's life, hemobilized theEnglish language,and sent it intobattle...

President of theUnited StatesJohn .f1. Kennedy,on 9 April 1963,conferring hiscountry1s firsthonorary citizen-ship on SirWinston Churchill.

WSC was greatlydisappointed thathis health madeit impossible forhim to go to theU.S. personally.His son Randolphand grandsonWinston were hisrepresentatives.

VALEDICTION

AMERICA'S HONORARY CITIZEN (II)

"...Now his stately ship of life, having weathered the severeststorms of a troubled century, is anchored in tranquil waters—proof that courage and faith and zest for freedom are truly.Indestructible. The record of his triumphant passage will inspirefree hearts all over the globe.

"...In presentingthis honor, wemean to honor him,but his acceptancehonors us muchmore. For nostatement orproclamation canenrich his namenow. The name SirWinston Churchillis already legend."

Less than eightmonths later,President Kennedypreceded Churchillinto death. AfterWSC died in 1965,Sharjah immediatelyoverprinted itsKennedy commemora-tive 3.

VALEDICTION

AMERICA'S HONORARY CITIZEN (III)

Churchill watched President Kennedy present his honorary citizenpapers on television, relayed direct—to WSC's vast impression—by American communications satellite. The next day he had a visitfrom the American Ambassador, who handed him his U.S. passport.

"He had a very strong affection for the Americans, and I believehe made at least 16 visits to the United States, frequently tospeak on notable occasions,

"The day after he had started his holiday on the Riviera heachieved another remarkable distinction. He became the mostlong-lived British Prime Minister, beating the record forlongevity held by Mr. Gladstone, who was over 88 when he diedin 1898/

—Roy Howells, WSC's last nurse

269.

VALEDICTION

SUNDAY MORNING

On 8 January 1965 he refused a cigar; on 9 January—almostreluctantly, he went to bed. He was not to get up again. Felledby a stroke, Sir Winston lingered until Sunday 24 January, 70years to the day of his father's death in 1895 G T t

nury, 70at Tom, the

by a stroke, Sir Winston lingered until Sunday 24 Janyears to the day of his father's death in 1895. Great Tom, thestate bell of St. Paul's, pealed in mourning—to herald one ofthe most magnificent funerals in British history.

"•The infinitepatience of death,in its mercilesscompassion,chipped away atthe granite bit bybit, until thedust was at lastready to returnto the dust."

—Bernard Levin

Lord Moran, WSC'sdoctor, told thepress: "SirWinston died inpeace and withoutpain.''

VALEDICTION

RESOLUTION IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 1964

"That this House desires to take this opportunity of marking theforthcoming retirement of the Right Honourable Gentleman, theMember for Woodford, by an entry on record of its unboundedadmiration and gratitude for his services to Parliament, to theNation, and to the world; Remembers above all his inspiration ofthe British people when they stood alone...

18-1 • SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL • 1974

270.

"...and his leadership until victory was won; and offers itsgratitude and thanks to the Right Honourable Gentleman forthese outstanding services to this House and to the Nation.

—moved and.unanimously passedon the eve of Sir Winston's

retirement from the House,28 July 1964

VALEDICTION

WHERE KINGS HAD LAIN

For three days and nights his body lay in state at WestminsterHall, adjoining the House of Commons, on a crimson dais drapedin the Union flag. More than 300,000 people passed the coffin.

Westminster Hall,begun in 1097by King William II,was specificallychosen by WSC forthis function, ina funeral planknown as "OperationHope Not."

"I am ready tomeet my Maker.Whether my Makeris prepared forthe supremeordeal of meetingme is anothermatter."

— 3 0 November 19^

DOUGLAS HALL'S CHURCHILLIANA

Churchill Commemoratives Calendar Part 10The 1990s: A Bonanza of Anniversaries

LEFT: A one-of-a-kind commemorative, Oscar Nemon's double statue of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill stands beside the lake at Chartwell, com-memorating the 50th anniversary of Churchill's first appointment as Prime Minister and the 25th anniversary of his death. RIGHT: Kevin Francis fig-

ures by Douglas Tootle, each a limited edition of 750: Mini-Churchill, 1993; Standing Churchill, 1990; Naval Churchill, 1991; Political Churchill,1993. Douglas Tootle must now be the leading modeller of Churchill ceramics, and second only to Neman as a sculptor of the famous image.

The two principal golden anniver-saries occurring in 1990—the 50thanniversary of Churchill's first

appointment as Prime Minister and ofthe Battle of Britain—brought a richcrop of Churchilliana. For the first ofthese, in May, Caverswall produced aplate, a lion head beaker, a mug, aminiature cup and saucer and a thimble.Sutherland China weighed in with alimited edition (2000) mug inscribed"Walking with Destiny" and the GerryFord Designs mug had a wraparoundtransfer depicting Churchill superim-posed against a background of theHouses of Parliament. From the USA,Zippo contributed a chrome-platedcigarette lighter with a coloured enamelportrait of Churchill, a facsimile of hissignature and the inscription "Let us goforward together, 13 May 1940."

The best Battle of Britain commem-orative was Spode's loving cup in a lim-ited edition of 500, richly decorated incobalt blue and gold, with the Royal AirForce and Fighter Command badgesand the inscription "Never in the fieldof human conflict has so much beenowed by so many to so few." Designedby Ray Trigg, and priced at £149, itquickly sold out and now commands apremium of 35% and rising.

Mugs came from Coalport andSovereign China and the Hamilton Col-lection marketed a group of six "Finest

Hour" plates, made by Royal Worcester,carrying scenes from notable WorldWar II events. Winston's of Harrogate,that very high class "emporium for thediscerning gentleman," commissioned("exclusively for its customers") a nine-inches-tall figure of Churchill standingon the cliffs at Dover in 1940. KevinFrancis Ceramics had an immediate suc-cess with the first of their Churchillstanding Tobies (the one with the sub-ject in "naval" dress and standingastride a bulldog). Issued in a limitededition of 750 at £90, the jug now fetchesaround £140/ $250.

In 1991 Kevin Francis Ceramicscapitalised on the success of PeggyDavies' 1989 "Spirit of Britain" toby jugwith a "shrink" titled "Little Winston."In an edition of 2500, the toby sold at£40. Current UK price is £55 and sec-ondary market prices are often higher.

Royal Doulton finally withdrew,after a production run of more than fiftyyears, their best-selling trio of WinstonChurchill toby jugs which had beendesigned by Harry Fenton back in 1940.At the time of withdrawal a "first edi-tion" set had reached over £400 in theUK and $800 in the USA. A set of latereditions could be had for £130 or $230.As a replacement Doulton introduced asmall, 4-inches-tall character jugdesigned by Stanley Taylor, with a han-dle in the form of a replica front page of

FINEST HOUR 100/56

a wartime edition of the "News Chroni-cle." It was merely a pilot for Doulton'snext piece of Churchilliana: their large"Character Jug of the Year" for 1992,which applied a bulldog and UnionFlag handle to an enlarged version ofStanley Taylor's portrait sculpture.

Kevin Francis Ceramics added thesecond in Douglas Tootle's series ofstanding tobies, depicting Churchill inthe uniform of Lord Warden of theCinque Ports standing astride a map ofthe British Isles. An unusual 1991release was "The Churchill Collection,"a set of six place mats carrying repro-ductions of Churchill paintings. Manu-factured to a very high standard byLady Clare for Churchill Heritage andthe National Trust, these quicklybecame collectible both for their decora-tive and their utilitarian properties.

Nineteen ninety-two was verymuch Royal Doulton's year.Their "Character Jug of the

Year," available only during 1992, waslaunched at £75. However Doulton's"Finest Hour" was to come in the shapeof Alan Maslankowski's superblydetailed 11-inch-tall figure (5000 issuedat £275) portraying Churchill on one ofhis famous walkabouts during the Lon-don Blitz: arguably one of the finestporcelain images.

Churchilliana, continued...

The year saw the 50th anniversaryof the Battle of El Alamein and a limitededition (2500) mug designed by JohnBall for Peter Jones China was issued.

Kevin Francis kept the band-wagonrolling in 1993 with the third in theirseries of standing tobies, "PoliticalChurchill" by Douglas Tootle, depictingChurchill standing, with a bulldog,alongside a lectern with a BBC micro-phone. Another limited edition of 750, itwas not so successful as its two prede-cessors. Another KFC innovation wasRay Noble's character bust, a sort ofcross between a bust and a characterjug, sold at £65.

Two 1993 tinplate commemorativesare worthy of mention. Grumbridge ofBedford launched a range of decoratedstorage tins featuring "Heroes of Britishhistory"—appropriately, Churchill fea-tured on a colourful cigar tin. The Impe-rial War Museum introduced a goldenportrait silhouette of Churchill on vari-ous souvenir items.

In 1994 Kevin Francis introducedChurchill into their series of "Fiddlerand Midshipmite" tobies featuring mod-ern politicians in the style of some of theearliest 18th century jugs. The Churchill"Midshipmite" had the subject dressedin tricorn hat, frock coat, breeches, stock-ings and buckled shoes, seated and play-

ing a violin. Limited to 150 pieces, thetobies sold at £120 and have quicklyacquired a rarity value. In May, KevinFrancis commemorated the 50thanniversary of D-Day with a toby mod-elled by Andy Moss. Limited to 750, ithad a seated Churchill in siren suit andsteel helmet, making his famous V-sign,with small figures of Montgomery andEisenhower peering over his shoulders.It sold briskly in the UK at £140. Alsocommemorating D-Day was an 8-inchdiameter plate from Royal Doulton mar-keted by the Bradford Exchange. Notamongst Doulton's better pieces ofChurchilliana, the plate sold at £19.95but has since traded at a discount of 25%on the secondary market.

The 50th anniversary of the end ofWorld War II in 1995 was a vin-tage year for Churchilliana. From

the potteries, the star piece wasundoubtedly Noble Ceramics's "8-inch-es-tall x 9 1 /2-inches-wide V-E DayChurchill character jug. It featured oneof the finest china images of Churchilland an imaginative handle decoratedwith excellent cameo portraits of Eisen-hower, Montgomery, Stalin and Roo-sevelt. Modelled by Ray Noble, the jugcame in a limited edition of 1000 andsold for £199 in the UK.

Kevin Francis Ceramics also cele-brated VE-Day with another addition to

their popular range of standing tobies.This one had Churchill on the Bucking-ham Palace balcony on 8 May 1945,flanked by a British bulldog and anAmerican eagle. ICS members were ableto purchase an exclusive colourway,limited to 250 pieces, at a discount, andcan be confident that the value of theirinvestment will appreciate.

Peter Jones China also used theBuckingham Palace balcony theme todecorate a "Celebration Vase" (edition100, £595), a lion head beaker (edition500, £42), a plate (edition 3000, £37) anda mug (unlimited, £27) whilst from pot-teries throughout Stoke-on-Trent andbeyond came various items of VE-Daycommemorative tableware selling fromjust a few pounds upwards.

Windsor Crafts of BurlingtonArcade, London, one of the capital'smost expensive shopping streets,offered a hand-painted pewter figurineof Churchill just over three inches tall.The price of £115, they claimed, was"exceptional." It certainly was. I don'tthink they sold very many.

A nice new UK £2 "Peace Coin"featured a dove on the reverse and hadinscribed around the rim Churchill'smaxim, "In Peace - Goodwill," ensuringthat those abiding words will be as per-manent as the pounds in our pockets. Amost excellent reason for resisting acommon European currency.... W

LEFT: Probably one of the finest porcelain images ever, Alan Maslankowski's superbly detailed 11-inch-tall Royal Doulton figure (5000 issued at£275) portraying Churchill on walkabout during the Blitz, 1992. CENTRE: Inexpensive tinplate collectibles: Grumbridge's Winston Churchill

cigar tin, modestly priced at £3.99, and one of the many Imperial War Museum souvenirs with silhouette logo. RIGHT: Superb Kevin Francis Ceram-ics "Fiddler & Midshipmite," a series of modern political leaders to a 200-year-old design; only 150 Churchills were produced and value is rising.

FINEST HOUR 100/57

h t t p : / / w w w . w i n s t o n c h u r c h i l l . o r gRecent Discussions on Listserv "Winston"

LISTSERV WINSTON:Subscribe free to our discussion forum. Sendthe e-mail message SUSCRIBE WINSTON toListserv@vm.marist.edu —you'll receive a con-firmation and will then be able to send andreceive comments on all aspects of Churchill byour online community by e-mailing Win-ston@vm.marist.edu. In case of problems con-tact our List Manager, Jonah Triebwasser:JZML@maristB.marist.edu

TEMPLE OF PHILAE

From: tomreinehr@USWEST.NET(Thomas Reinehr):

In the second volume of the firstedition of The River War (pl7-19),Churchill complains that the dam tobe built at Aswan would be eight feetshorter than ideal, resulting in 2.5times less water storage. This wasrequired to save the Temple of Philae,an ancient Egyptian building. Theincident makes one think about amodern problem: weighing thepreservation of heritage versus thepublic good. In a different form thequestion arises in efforts to preventdevelopment in order to protect anobscure species. I wondered how (orif) Churchill addressed similar situa-tions in his lifetime.

From: Malakand@aol.com (Editor):In "Churchill vs. Philae," Finest

Hour 29, page 2b, Dalton Newfieldwrote: "It is typical of Churchill that inthe midst of his exciting book TheRiver War, and while expounding onthe progress of his squadron up theNile, he comes to a full stop and

digresses with several pages on theAswan dam, then under construction.All is written in brightly optimistictones until he comes to the Temple ofPhilae, the preservation of whichimposed a reduction of more than50% on the capacity of the dam."

Newfield then quotes Churchill,who would not apparently winapproval of preservationists with this:

"I will not assail the small butbeautiful ruin. Let us believe that thegod to whom it was raised was onceworthy of human reverence, andwould willingly accept as a noblermemorial the life-giving lake beneathwhich his temple would be buried. Ifit were not so, then, indeed, it wouldbe time for a rational and utilitariangeneration to tear the monument ofsuch a monster to pieces...."

Newfield adds: "The dam, fin-ished in 1902, left the Isle of Philaeawash except from June to September.It was raised in 1912 and again in1934, but suffered little damage untilthe Aswan High Dam was completedrecently. Now strong currents fromthe new dam threaten to destroy thismost beautiful and historic site.UNESCO is heading a drive to raisethe $14 million required to dismantle

FINEST HOUR 100/58

THE CHURCHILL WEBSITE:Aim your browser at the www address

www.winstonchurchill.org and the ChurchillHome Page will appear. Click on any of the

icons to connect to the latest information on theChurchill Center and Churchill Societies. The

Finest Hour icon produces the earliest publica-tion of the next issue. If you experience any dif-ficulty please email webmaster John Pumpton:

Savrola@ican.net

the ruins and rebuild them on thenearby island of Agilkia." Finest Hour29 was published twenty-five yearsago. Can anyone update us on the sta-tus of the Temple of Philae?

From: afjwm@UAA.AIJiSKA.EDU(James W. Muller):

The temple of Philae wasremoved to the island in questionsome years ago and saved for posteri-ty. Some further particulars will beincluded in a note in the new editionof The River War that I am preparing.

From: Drichm7768 (Dan Richmond):I did an Internet search and

brought up 205 references to Templeof Philae! Most are from tour agencies.You can visit the following website:www.beachsite.com / gypsy / egypthtmto see a photo of the Temple (mostdefinitely above waterline). Here's anexcerpt from one agency's brochure:

"Day 3: Cruise southwards toEdfu and visit the Temple, the mostcomplete of Egypt's temples. Rejointhe MS Serenade and sail to KomOmbo and moor overnight. Day 4: Inthe morning see the Ptolemaic templethen cruise on to Aswan. In the after-noon visit the Aswan High Damwhich is over two miles long, 360 feethigh and affords spectacular viewsover Lake Nasser. Continue to theTemple of Philae, returning to theship by local felucca along the shoresof Elephantine and KitchenerIslands." continued opposite >»

NOT RIGHT ALL THE TIME

Some of the editor's fifteen exam-ples of Churchill "flaws and mis-takes" (last issue, page 37) drew criti-cism and debate on the Listserv. I donot have the writer's permission to listhis name, but since his points areinteresting, here is the exchange, withthe counter-argument in italics, andthe response following arrows (» ) :

• "Deserting the Tory Party, at anopportune political moment only tobe forced to return to it later."

***Moving to another party is alwaysan act of great risk and little reward,requiring personal courage and convic-tion. It enabled him to take a major role ingovernment before and during WW1.

»What I mean is, WSC sacrificedlong-term political advantage for (rel-ative) short-term opportunity. Noteverybody believed his crossing thefloor was an act of "courage and con-viction" but rather opportunism andambition. Tories had long memories,and never trusted him again, evenwhen he was handling the nation'spurse, and later, to his greater disad-vantage, trying to warn the nation ofHitler. The irony is that he left themover Free Trade, in 1931.

• "Championing the Dardanellesoperation, without plenary authorityto bring it to a successful conclusion."

***The record shows that the failuresof this strategically correct idea were dueto the gross errors made by the comman-ders on the ground, Kitchener's insuffer-able indecisiveness and cabinet cowardice.

»I wasn't arguing the strengthof the idea, only Churchill's mistake inrelation to it. Strategically correct?One List member suggested that evenif he had full authority, Churchillcouldn't have pulled it off because theTurkish mobile batteries were able toprotect the minefields. Suppose thefleet did get through and appeared offConstantinople? Churchill was surethis would have caused the Turks tosurrender. But would they?

• "Restoring the Gold Standardwithout commensurate reforms inemployment and wage policies,which helped bring about the 1926General Strike."

***Sofar of the mark that band widthis not wide enough to tackle on the list.

» See Paul Addison, Churchill onthe Home Front, pp251-2:

Keynes had argued that as a consequenceof the return to gold, attempts would bemade to reduce wages. In the summer of1925, events appeared to prove him cor-rect. The Gold Standard was by no meansthe only cause of the coal industry's trou-bles, but was certainly an aggravating fac-tor. At the end of June 1925 the mine own-ers gave notice of their intention to reducewages as from 31 July. As an alternativethey invited the miners to work longerhours for existing rates of pay. The minersrejected the terms, and the Governmentwas faced by the prospect of a long anddamaging dispute in the coal trade.

• "Wasting political capitalopposing the India Bill, which wasclearly going through with big majori-ties in all three major parties."

***India's independence broughtdeath, destruction and misery to millions,all sacrificed on the altar of de-colonisa-tion. Churchill was right and political cor-rectness (then and now) wrong.

» The easy answer to this is: "Soyou think India should haveremained a possession?" Death,destruction and misery also accompa-nied American independence. Man-fred Weidhorn, in his Foreword to thenew edition of Churchill's India (1991)admitted that the bloodbath followingindependence proved Churchill wasnot entirely wrong. But, Weidhornconcluded, a people prefer to be gov-erned by their own rascals. Even thebloodbath might largely have beenaverted had Mountbatten not arbitrar-ily evacuated British authority andtroops in August 1947, almost a yearin advance of the Labour Govern-ment's target date, and before theboundary disputes had been settled.(See Roberts's Eminent Churchillians)This Churchill knew, telling Mount-batten later, "What you did in Indiawas like striking me across the facewith your riding crop."

FINEST HOUR 100/59

• "Trying to skewer Sam Hoareon an issue of Parliamentary Privilegewhen Sam's orthodox Tory pals couldstack the deck to protect him."

***Big character flaw this one.

» N o t a flaw, an error, and it costhim. The original request was, Whydoesn't someone ever discuss "anerror or a flaw in his character?"

• "Sticking up for Mr. DavidWindsor in the Abdication Crisis, longafter that worthy had lost the right tosupport from anybody."

***Windsor was a miserable speci-men, but loyalty to a friend and to princi-ple is not a flaw. Clearly Churchill saw thebig picture, which you do not understand.

» Not a flaw, a mistake. Whatwas the big picture? Surely by 1936 itwas Nazi Germany. By then WSCwas beginning to be heeded. His bestfriends admitted that his defense ofthe King put him in political eclipse.Thanks to Hitler, this was only tempo-rary. (See Gilbert, Vol. 5, Chapter 41,"The Abdication.")

In fact, Hitler saved WSC onmany occasions, such as holding uphis forces at Dunkirk and forgettingabout the Russian winter, which WSCso charmingly noted—"We alllearned about it in school. He musthave been very loosely educated."

This begs another, wider question.Once World War II started, Churchilldefended every action of his like this:"I have only one purpose [defeatingHitler] and my life is much simplifiedthereby." He used that to justify aidingStalin, attacking the French fleet, min-ing neutral waters, approving a plot toassassinate Hitler, etc.

Now, let's accept that these wereacts of realpolitik and courage on hispart. But if he recognized Hitler as theall-embracing menace, why didn't hesimplify his life in the 1930s by con-centrating on Hitler, instead ofdefending the indefensible (EdwardVm) and leading the diehards overIndia? Part of the answer is, as youinfer, his indomitable nature. But partof it also is that being human, he toomade mistakes. continued>»

Statesman-Painter...from p. 52

He also copied the works of artiststhat he liked, including CharlesDaubigny, who influenced some ofWSCs early paintings.

Walter Sickert encouragedChurchill to copy the works of JohnSinger Sargent, who became anotherstrong influence. Later in his career,he used compositions by Monet andCezanne as starting points for his ownwork. Critic John London praised hiswork: "At least a dozen of [Churchill's]pictures will stand against any of the

Impressionists."Merry Alberigi's article looks at

Churchill from a different perspectivefrom most, purposely ignoring hisother contributions to humanity. It is arefreshing perspective on a man whohas been studied in many ways. Herpreference as a title, "Sir WinstonChurchill and the Impressionists," ismore descriptive of the article than theone actually chosen. I hope she will beable to write at greater length on thisfascinating subject.

Note: For more on Churchill asPainter, see pages 32-36. IS

Churchill Online... from p. 59

• "Placing his faith in the FrenchArmy."

***No reasonable person could haveexpected even the miserable French to col-lapse with quite the suddenness andpanache with which they did.

» Just before the war Churchillexclaimed, after observing the state ofGerman preparations, "Thank Godfor the French Army." He was wrong.

• "Confusing Blitzkrieg with thestatic warfare of WW1."

***No evidence for this exists.

» See The Second World War, Vol.2, Their Finest Hour (repeated demandsto strike at the panzer columns andassurances that they'd have to stop, asin WW1.) See also Spears's Assignmentto Catastrophe, Vol. 1. (London:Heine-mann 1954). There is much historicaldebate on the subject. The French actu-ally had more tanks than the Germans,they just didn't use them properly.

It is not unreasonable to concludethat Churchill confused Blitzkriegwith WW1 when he said things like:"All experience shows that the offen-sive will come to an end after awhile. Iremember the 21st of March, 1918."(Finest Hour, p. 42 U.S. ed.). WSC him-self wrote, a few paragraphs later, "Ihad seen a good deal of this sort ofthing in the previous war, and theidea of the line being broken, even ona broad front, did not convey to mymind the appalling consequences that

now flowed from it." And (p. 60): "Iwas shocked by the utter failure tograpple with the German armour,which, with a few thousand vehicles,was compassing the entire destructionof mighty armies...." Followed by hissuggestions to Reynaud, all futile,about how to deal with panzers:"Undue importance should not beattached to the arrival of a few tanksat any particular point." I haven'tbothered to look up what some ofChurchill's critics say on this point.

• "Accepting leadership of theConservative Party upon the death ofChamberlain."

***Which party should he havebecome leader of?

» See Gilbert Vol. 6. The errorwas in making himself a partisaninstead of remaining a national leader.He might well have been able to holdthe coalition together long enough to"do the peace," as he wanted, had hestood above the political fray—as hissensible wife urged him to do.

• "Believing he could trust Stalin."***The total, opposite of the case.

» True, by April 1945 Churchillwas warning the dying FDR, as hewould continue to warn Truman, ofStalin's perfidy; but I was thinking ofan earlier period. See Colville, Fringesof Power (NY: Norton 1985, p. 562:"The P.M. was rather depressed,thinking of the possibilities of Russiaone day turning against us, saying

FINEST HOUR 100/60

that Chamberlain had trusted Hitleras he was now trusting Stalin (thoughhe thought in different circum-stances)...."

In our new Churchill Proceedings1994-1995, Wm. F. Buckley Jr. refers toa similar statement: "To his cabinet,he reported that he was certain that hecould trust Stalin. The same manwhose death he so eagerly anticipatedat M.I.T. five years later, in 1945 hespoke of as hoping he would live for-ever. 'Poor Neville Chamberlain,' hetold Mr. Colville, 'he believed hecould trust Hitler. He was wrong. ButI don't think I'm wrong about Stalin.'"

• "Comparing poor Clem Attleeand his friends to 'a kind of Gestapo'during an otherwise effective reelec-tion broadcast in 1945."

***Election rhetoric, history wasagainst him.

Nevertheless this was a majorerror. Sarah Churchill had urged herfather not to say "Gestapo," realizingthat the idea of Attlee as Lenin wasderisory. As Martin Gilbert has noted,few of WSCs critics look beyond the"Gestapo" statement to the solid sub-stance in this speech. See Victory (Lon-don: Cassell, Boston: L. Brown 1946).

• "Staying on too long as PrimeMinister in the 1950s."

***No alternative. (His successor wasnot exactly a rip-roaring success.)

» Gilbert, memoirs of colleaguesand family, uniformly hold that WSCstayed too long. There were plenty ofalternatives besides Eden. Macmillanwas considered by many (if not thiswriter) a rip-roaring success.

Recent critics have made a liveli-hood floating off-the-wall thesesabout Churchill and, when criticized,claiming that their critics are syco-phants who have swallowed theChurchill "myth," just as WSC hopedthey would. If we expect to take issuewith them, we must be able to con-cede that the great man was not infal-lible. As Paul Addison wrote recently,"I always feel that, paradoxically, itdiminishes Churchill when he'sregarded as super-human." $

~l

Beginning with Finest Hour 69 in 1990, "Inter-national Datelines" led with a "Quote of theSeason," wherein we related something

Churchill said to current events. His words on othermatters, in other times, were often eerily relevant...

THE GULF WAR"When the ancient Athenians, on one occasion,

overpowered a tribe in the Peloponnesus which hadwrought them injury by base, treacherous means, andwhen they had the hostile army herded on a beachnaked for slaughter, they forgave them and set themfree, and they said: 'This was not because they weremen; it was done because of the nature of Man.'"

-WSC, 1945 (FH 70,1991)

COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION"Socialism has become intellectually discredited. It

no longer presents itself as a solution of human difficul-ties or as an effective and practical philosophy....Wehave seen grisly examples of the ruin which it broughtto States, industries and communities of all kinds,whether it was applied on the largest or on the smallestscale....It is intellectually bankrupt and discredited andhas been proved on a gigantic scale and with perfectclearness to be fatal to the welfare of living nations."

-WSC, 1929 (FH 73,1991)

U.S. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES"No one has ever suggested that prolonged elec-

tioneering is capable of settling our problems....One canhardly imagine anything more unfortunate than thatwe should find ourselves split in half on domestic poli-tics, with both parties gathering and arranging theirforces for another trial of strength. That this shouldcontinue for many months without remedy can only bedisastrous to our prosperity, and may well endangerboth our life and even our survival as a great power."

-WSC, 1950 (FH 74,, 1992)

UNIFICATION OF GERMANY"The re-entry into the European circle of a

Germany at peace within itself, with a heart devoid ofhate, would be the most precious benefit for which wecould strive, and a supreme advantage which alonewould liberate Europe from its peril and its fear, and Ibelieve the British and French democracies would go along way in extending the hand of friendship to realizesuch a hope." -WSC, 1935 (FH 77,1992)

A NEW AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION"Every new administration, not excluding our-

selves, arrives in power with bright and benevolentideas of using public money to do good. The more fre-quent the changes of Government, the more numerousare the bright ideas, and the more frequent the elec-tions, the more benevolent they become."

-WSC, 1927 (FH 80,1993)

RICHARD NIXON, R.I.P."It might be said that he outlived his future by ten

years and his past by more than twenty. The brilliantprospects which had shone before him until he becamethe leader were dispersed by the break-up of hisGovernment and the defeat of his Party. The part hetook as a patriot in supporting the War destroyed hishold upon the regard and confidence of the Radicalmasses....He severed himself by purposeful action fromhis friends and followers....Within a decade afterachieving the pinnacle his political career was closedfor ever. It was only two decades later that his long lifeended." -WSC ON ROSEBERY, 1937 (FH 83,1994)

NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE TALKS"Let us not be led by impatience, by prejudice, by vexa-tion, by anxiety, into courses which would lay us opento charges of fickleness or levity in dealing with thoseissues so long lasting as the relations between the twoislands. Let us so direct our steps that, in spite of everydisappointment, we give this Treaty arrangement everypossible chance of becoming the true act of reconcilia-tion." -WSC, 1922 (FH 84,1994)

ISRAEL-JORDAN PEACE TREATY"My Dear Weizmann...The wonderful exertions whichIsrael is making in these times of difficulty are cheeringto an old Zionist like me. I trust you may work withJordan and the rest of the Moslem world. With truecomradeship there will be enough for all."

-WSC, 1951 (FH 85,1995)

CIVIL WAR IN THE BALKANS"Yugoslavia, since Hitler's invasion and conquest

in April 1941, had been the scene of fearful events....Inthe mountains there began again the fierce guerrillawith which the Serbs had resisted the Turks for cen-turies....This confronted the Germans with a problemwhich could not be solved by the mass executions ofnotables or persons of substance. They found them-selves confronted by desperate men who had to behunted down in their lairs. No reprisals, howeverbloody, upon hostages or villages deterred them."

-WSC, 1951 (FH 88,1995)continued overleaf »

FINEST HOUR 100/61

1990-1998: QUOTES OF THE SEASONDROPPING THE MONARCHY

"Ignorant people are often disposed to imaginethat progress consists in converting oneself from amonarchy into a republic. In this country we haveknown the blessings of limited monarchy. Great tradi-tional and constitutional chains of events have come tomake an arrangement, to make a situation, unwritten,which enables our affairs to proceed on what I believeis a superior level of smoothness and of democraticprogress." -WSC, 1944 (FH 89,1996)

EUROPEAN UNION"Anyone can see what the position is. The

Government simply cannot make up their minds, orthey cannot get the Prime Minister to make up hismind. So they go on in strange paradox, decided onlyto be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant fordrift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent. Sowe go on preparing more months and years—preciousperhaps to the greatness of Britain—for the locusts toeat." -WSC, 1938 (FH 92,1996)

SCOTTISH SCIENTISTS CLONE A SHEEP"There seems little doubt that it will be possible to

carry out in artificial surroundings the entire cyclewhich now leads to the birth of a child. Interferencewith the mental development of such beings, expertsuggestion and treatment in the earlier years, wouldproduce beings specialized to thought or toil....A beingmight be produced capable of tending a machine butwithout other ambitions." -WSC, 1931 (FH 94,1997)

ANTAGONISM IN THE U.S. CONGRESS"Class quarrels, endless party strife, on a back-

ground of apathy, indifference and bewilderment, willlead us all to ruin. Only a new surge of impulse canwin us back the glorious ascendancy which we gainedin the struggle for right and freedom, and for whichour forebears had nerved our hearts down the longaisles of time. Let us make a supreme effort to sur-mount our dangers. Let faith—not appetite—guide oursteps." -WSC, 1950 (FH 95,1997)

PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD"When the Arab municipalities are conducting

their affairs with anything like the progressive vigourthat is shown by the Jewish community, and when youhave come to the point of the whole principle of localgovernment having been implemented by the good willand activities of the population, your case will be enor-mously stronger for a forward movement."

-WSC, 1936 (FH 96,1997) t>

Regrets, We Have a FewAs with most publications, FH wasn'talways what it should have been...

"What might have been Churchill's recommenda-tion for America in Vietnam? One strongly suspects hemight have said the United States ought to press onand finish it." -FH 23, Jan-Mar 1972

"Did Nixon listen to WSC? 'Never give in! Never,never, never, never... except to convictions of honourand good sense.'" -FH 31, Oct-Dec 1974

"Prince Charles could not have made a betterchoice. His lady already demonstrates the uncommonbut vital talent to bear the strains of awesome respon-sibility with the warm humanity that is the mark ofthe present Queen's reign." -FH 34, Winter 1981

"Thank you for returning my letter to The Hon.Eustace Gibbs, so stupidly addressed to Contoocook,New Hampshire.* I am afraid it will not be possible forThe Prince of Wales to accept honorary membership inthe Society." -Hon. Edward Adeane, Buckingham Palace

*Mr. Adeane had directed a letter inquiring as to ICS'sbona fides to "The Hon. Eustace Gibbs, British Embassy,Contoocook, New Hampshire." -FH 48,1985

"What an unbelievable & utterly appalling error!Like writing a piece about Henry Bernard Shaw orFranklin D. Kennedy! You must apologize openly &pro-fusely. With (otherwise) kind regards."-Alistair Cooke

* After we ran an article in FH #80 on David Low,entitled, "Cartoon Critic Sidney Low." -FH 81,1993

"As a physician who has watched countless num-bers of people suffer and die because they wouldn'tstop smoking, I am disgusted to see the two ridiculousitems regarding smoking on pages 5 and 8 of issue #84.Do you really think Churchill or Brunei would object toany deemphasis of smoking materials for children? Ifyour answer is yes then you discredit these men as wellas yourself." -Dr. Eric Minde, Pittsburgh, Pa.

-FH 85,1995

"Sir Robert Rhodes James and the editor admit wemisdated Churchill's first speech as Prime Minister.("You ask what is our policy?"). Of course it was on 13May 1940, not 4 June. Mutually we hang our heads."

-FH 93,1997 8

FINEST HOUR 100/62

AMPERSAN 1emlbers an.1A Awar A Wi

PATRONSAdmiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma,

KG, PC, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCVO, DSO (1975-1979)The Lady Soames, DBE (1986-)

HONORARY MEMBERS1. The Baroness Clementine Spencer-Churchill (1968-1979)*2. Randolph S. Churchill, MBE (1968)*3. Winston S. Churchill (1968-)4. Jerome Husak (1968-1975)5. Archbold van Beuren (1968-1975)*6. The Marquess of Bath (1970-1990)*7. The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, PC (1971-1979)*8. The Hon. Caspar W. Weinberger, GBE (1981-)9. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Stockton, OM (1982-1986)*10. Governor The Hon. W. Averell Harriman (1982-1986)*11. Sir Martin Gilbert, CBE (1982-)12. The Duke of Marlborough, JP, DL (1982-)13. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Soames, GCMG, GCVO (1982-1987)*14. The Lady Soames, DBE (1982-)15. Dalton Newfield (1982)*16. Sir John Colville, CB, CVO (1982-1987)*17. Anthony Montague Browne, CBE, DFC (1982-)18. Oscar Nemon (1982)*19. Sir John Martin, KCMG, CB, CVO (1986-1991)*20. Grace Hamblin, OBE (1986-)21. Mary Coyne Jackman (1986-1997)*22. Yousuf Karsh (1986-)23. Robert Hardy, CBE (1987-)24. James C. Humes (1987-)25. Ambassador Pamela C. Harriman (1989-1997)*26. Wendy Russell Reves (1989-)27. The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Thatcher, OM, FRS (1991-)28. Colin L. Powell, KCB (1992-)29. Ambassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr. (1992-)30. William Manchester (1995-)

Notes: (4) Mr. Husak was the founder of the American TopicalAssociation, under whose auspices WSCSU operated through 1975.(5) Mr. van Beuren was President of the English-Speaking Union ofthe United States. (9) Lord Stockton was the former HaroldMacmillan. (21) Mrs. Jackman and her late husband funded numer-ous Churchill statues in Canada. Honorary memberships (2), (15)and (18) were presented posthumously. *Deceased.

THE BLENHEIM AWARDPresented by The Churchill Center, and before it The

International Churchill Societies, as a special recognition ofthose who have notably contributed to the memory of SirWinston, the understanding of his life and times, or fornotable contributions to the Churchill Center and Societies.

The Award consists of a special plaque. The first recipientswere The Lady Soames and Sir John Colville (1983); RichardM. Langworth (1984); The Honorable Caspar W. Weinberger,Sir Martin and Lady Gilbert, Anthony Montague Browne andWinston S. Churchill (1985); William Manchester (1986);Robert Hardy (1987); Lee Remick (1991); and Merry Alberigi(1993). Two Blenheim Awards were presented in 1995: to JohnG. Plumpton for his work as Senior Editor of Finest Hour andBarbara F. Langworth for her three conference chairmanshipsand other contributions. In 1996 three Blenheim Awards werepresented: to H. Ashley Redburn, for his many contributionsas Finest Hour senior editor; to Grace Hamblin for her servicesto the Churchills since 1932 and her work as firstAdministrator of Chartwell; and to The Duke of Marlboroughfor his life's work of preserving Churchill's birthplace,Blenheim Palace. The latest Blenheim Award was presented in1997 to George A. Lewis upon his retirement as Treasurer ofICS United States, where he had served since 1982.

THE EMERY REVES AWARDPresented periodically in recognition of excellence in writ-

ing or speaking about Churchill's life and times and/or apply-ing his precepts and values to contemporary issues among theEnglish-Speaking Peoples. It is named for Emery Reves,Churchill's literary collaborator, and sponsored by Mrs.Wendy Reves in his memory. The Award is a Nemon bust ofChurchill with a suitably inscribed plinth. Recipients inchronological order have been The Hon. James Courter forDefending the West (1987); Alistair Cooke for his BBC "LetterFrom America" (1988); Maurice Ashley for his work onMarlborough and his book Churchill As Historian (1989);William Manchester for The Last Lion (1995); and JonathanAitken, MP for Nixon (1996).

THE FARROW AWARDEstablished by Mr. Fred Farrow, President of Century

Instruments Inc. in Livonia, Michigan, recognizes excellencein the field of Churchill Studies. It consists of a $1000 hono-rarium and a suitably engraved plaque. The first FarrowAward was presented in 1995 to Professor James W. Muller ofthe Political Science Dept., University of Alaska Anchorage,for his distinguished research and writing on Churchill's liter-ary career and organizing Churchill Center symposiaWashington, and his chairing of the ICS Academic Advisorypanel in North America. The second Farrow Award was pre-sented in 1996 to Sir Martin Gilbert, CBE, for his work on theOfficial Biography of Sir Winston Churchill and his manyother contributions to Churchill Studies. The Third FarrowAward was presented in 1997 to Dr. Paul Addison, Universityof Edinburgh, for his outstanding study of Churchill's domes-tic political career, Churchill on the Home Front.

Said?

tStudy History JStudy History!f

www.winstonchurchill.orgThe Churchill Center & International Churchill Societies

1-888-WSC-1874

Teach the Next Generation! To obtain copies of this poster for your local high school or university, contactThe Churchill Center or International Churchill Societies of Canada and United Kingdom, (addresses on page 2).