Journal of the International Churchill Society - Winston Churchill

Journal of the International Churchill Society

Quarterly Journal of the International Churchill Society Established 1968 Number 51 • Spring \986
THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCHILL SOCIETY
A non-profit association of scholars, historians, philatelists, collectors and
bibliophiles, the Society was founded in 1968 to promote interest in and
knowledge of the life and thought of Sir Winston Churchill, and to preserve
his memory. ICS is certified as a tax-free charity under Section 501(c) (3) of
the US Internal Revenue Code, is Affiliate #49 of the American Philatelic
Society, and is a study unit of the American Topical Association. Finest Hour
subscriptions are included in a membership fee of $15 US, $20 Canadian, £13
Sterling, $22 Australian, or $19 US elsewhere. Membership applications and
changes of address welcomed at the business office listed on page 3. Editorial
correspondence: PO Box 385, Contoocook, NH 03229 USA. Permission to
mail at non-profit rates granted by the United States Postal Service. Produced
by Dragonwyck Publishing Inc. Copyright © 1986. All rights reserved.
PATRON OF THE SOCIETY
The Lady Soames, DBE
HONORARY MEMBERS
The Marquess of Bath
Winston S. Churchill, MP
Sir John Colville, CB, CVO
Martin Gilbert, MA
Grace Hamblin, OBE
Governor the Hon. W. Averell Harriman
The Duke of Marlborough, DL, JP
Sir John Martin
Anthony Montague Browne, CBE, DFC
The Rt Hon The Lord Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBE
The Rt Hon The Earl of Stockton, OM
The Hon Caspar W. Weinberger
In Memoriam:
The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, 1900-1979
The Baroness Clementine Spencer-Churchill of Chartwell, 1885-1977
Randolph S. Churchill, 1911-1968
Dalton Newfield, 1918-1982
Oscar Nemon, 1906-1985
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Australia: Peter M. Jenkins
Canada: Arthur Cload, Ronald W. Downey, John Plumpton,
W.J. Sterling Sunley, George E. Temple
New Zealand: R. Barry Collins
United Kingdom: Peter Coombs, Geoffrey J. Wheeler
United States: W. Glen Browne, Derek Brownleader, Sue M. Hefner,
Richard M. Langworth, George A. Lewis, David Marcus
COVER
A remarkable photograph of Winston S. Churchill during his visit to Alberta,
Canada in 1929, located for us by Sterling Sunley of Edmonton, courtesy of
the Provincial Archives of Alberta: Pollard Collection P5302. The photograph
shows a pensive Churchill, early in the so-called "Wilderness Years." Sterling
conjectures: could he be thinking of the letter he had just written to his
wife? . . . "Darling, I am greatly attracted to this country. [Perhaps I
should] clear out of politics and see if I cannot make you and the kittens a little
more comfortable before I die. Only one goal still attracts me, and if that were
barred I shd quit the dreary field for pastures new." Fortunately, he didn't.
FINEST HOUR
Editor: Richard M. Langworth
Post Office Box 385, Contoocook, New Hampshire 03229 USA
Senior Editor: John G. Plumpton
130 Collingsbrook Blvd, Agincourt, Ontario, Canada M1W 1M7
Bibliographic Editor (Works by Churchill): Ronald I. Cohen
5 Murray Avenue, Westmount, Quebec, Canada H3Y 2X9
Bibliographic Editor (Works about Churchill): H. Ashley Redburn
7 Auriol Drive, Bedhampton, Havant, Hants. PO9 3LR, England
Cuttings Editor: John Frost
8 Monks Ave, New Barnet, Herts., EN5 1D8, England
Contributors:
George Richard, 7 Channel Hwy, Taroona, Tasmania, Australia 7006
Stanley E. Smith, 155 Monument St., Concord, Mass. 01742 USA
Sidney Altneu, 2851 NE 183rd St., N. Miami Beach, Fla. 33160 USA
Composition by C&R Composition, Pittsfield, New Hampshire
Printing by Hazen Printing Co., Penacook, New Hampshire
FEATURES
Your Invitation to Vancouver: October 4-6,1986 5
The I.C.S. International Convention
With James C. Humes & William Manchester
Mark Grimsich is "Young Winston" 6
An Accurate Portrayal by a "Young Member"
by David Druckman
"Let Us Command the Moment to Remain" 7
Churchill as Father and Family Man
by The Lady Soames, D.B.E.
The Writing of "Lord Randolph Churchill" 14
An Immense Literary Value
by John G. Plumpton
Churchill in Stamps: Part 9 18
Interlude in Africa
by Richard M. Langworth
Books: The Revisionists Revised 20
Neilson and Thompson: Birds of a Feather?
by George Richard, Tom Sherman & Stanley E. Smith
"Winston As Fraud, Fakir and War-Monger" 23
Absorbing "The Most Virulent Criticism"
A Collection of Political Cartoons
DEPARTMENTS
Editorial/3 International Datelines/4 Woods Corner/12 Reviewing
Churchill/17 Action This Day/24 Riddles-Mysteries-
Enigmas/35 Despatch Box/25 Book Service/25
Coming Events/26 Members Classified/26 ICS Stores/27
Immortal Words/28
Produced by Dragonwyck Publishing Inc. Vi •\J Copyright ©19X6 1-inosl Hour

BUSINESS OFFICES
Australia: Peter M. Jenkins
8 Regnans Ave., Endeavour Hills, Victoria 3802
Canada: George E. Temple
20 Burbank Dr., Willowdale, Ontario M2K 1M8
New Zealand: R. Barry Collins
9 Millstream Place, Warkworth
United Kingdom: Geoffrey J. Wheeler
88A Franklin, Tadley, Hampshire RG26 6EU
United States; Derek Brownleader
1847 Stonewood Dr., Baton Rouge, La. 70816
Chairman of the Board: Richard M. Langworth
Putney House, Contoocook, NH 03229 USA
CHAPTERS
Canada/New Brunswick: Celwyn P. Ball
1079 Coverdale Rd. RR2, Moncton NB E1C 8J6
Canada/Toronto: P.A.H. Cassels
10 Woodmere Court, Islington, Ont. M9A 3J1
UK/Central England: Peter Coombs
1 Pound Close, Yarnton, Oxon. OX5 1QG
USA/New England: Jon R. Richardson
47 Old Farm Road, Bedford, N.H. 03102
USA/NY Metro: Paul Biba
23 Crestview Dr., Bernardsville, N.J. 07924
USA/North Texas: David A. Sampson
5603 Honey Locust Trail, Arlington, Tex. 76017
USA/Tennessee: Dennis Johnson
4817 Shadecrest Drive, Nashville, Tenn. 37211
USA/Washington: Kirby A. Wilbur
13411 78th Place N.E., Kirkland, Wash. 98034
AFFILIATED REPRESENTATIVES
Canada/Vancouver: Norman Faiers, Pres.
Sir Winston S. Churchill Society of Vancouver
2450 Mathers Ave., W. Vancouver, B.C. V7V 2H8
SPECIAL OFFICERS
General Treasurer: George A. Lewis
268 Canterbury Road, Westfield, N.J. 07790 USA
ICS Stores: Sue M. Hefner
134 N. Woodlawn, Lima, Ohio 45805 USA
Legal Advisor: Wallace H. Johnson
9905 Devonshire Dr., Omaha, Neb. 68114 USA
Commemorative Covers: David Marcus
221 Pewter Lane, Silver Spring, Md. 20904 USA
Biblographic Affairs: Ronald I. Cohen
5 Murray Ave., Westmount, P.Q. Canada H3Y 2X9
STOP PRESS! WILLIAM MANCHESTER AND JAMES HUMES ARE OUR
SPEAKERS AT THE 1986 ICS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION IN VAN-
COUVER, OCTOBER 4-6TH. Please turn to page 5, and follow the directions
to register and book your hotel accommodations. The fee of US$98 covers two
first-class dinners with wine, a band, all convention and speaker costs —
everything. It's a bargain. Vancouver is a nice place anytime — but in early
autumn, with Expo '86 as well, it offers you an ideal holiday or weekend away.
Please join us.
* * *
A characteristic of Finest Hour since its 1981 revival — both frustrating and
encouraging — is lack of space. We never have enough to handle all the things
we think ought to be in each issue. This time the victim is our center pull-out
handbook section, which will resume next time with an illustrated checklist of
Churchill local stamps and labels.
* * *
Exciting news on page 22: Ronald Cohen advises that a whole new
bibliography, which replaces rather than modifies "Woods" — is certain, with
Sections A and B vastly extended. Our "official bibliographer" is on a roll!
* * *
Our promise to make Finest Hour a more scholarly journal, and thus to encourage
more original research on our major subject, could not have been kept
without the contributors to two significant features herein. Senior editor John
Plumpton, of Agincourt, Ontario, offers us on page 14 a new look at the
writing of WSC's first great biography, Lord Randolph Churchill: the flaws and
strong points, as seen then and now, with an educated conjecture on the
author's motivations. John has also taken the same work as subject for his
regular column, "Reviewing Churchill," (page 17).
George Richard of Tasmania, Australia; Tom Sherman of Kansas and Stan
Smith of Massachusetts, USA, combine to review quite another type of work,
or works: two of the most contentious "revisionist" books about WSC. It is safe
to say that these fairminded commentaries are more than either "The Churchill
Legend" or "Churchill and Morton" received upon publication.
* * *
As we were halfway through the layouts for this issue, we received a
telegram from Martin Gilbert asking that we not publish his after-dinner talk
about "Churchill's London" for technical reasons, expressing his regret and
hoping to do something else of an original nature for us shortly. Something
else was duly suggested.
There is no lapse, however, in this issue's ration of fresh insights into Sir
Winston from those best able to provide them. We are proud to publish Lady
Soames' third contribution to this journal: her own rich remembrances of her
father as a father, as only she could relate them. We are grateful to our North
Texas Chapter, and in particular to Naomi Gottlieb and David Sampson, for
providing Lady Soames with the opportunity to deliver this most moving
address at their meeting last February.
* * *
Lady Soames' address is especially appropriate to this issue, since we are
deeply honored to announce that she has accepted the position of Patron of the
Society, vacant since the death of Lord Mountbatten in 1979. She writes that
she hopes to act as a kind of "God-mother" to us by contributing to our decisionmaking
processes, which is certainly an understatement. We are very
proud to welcome Lady Soames to this new position and know we shall derive
much from her guidance.
"Immortal Words" has been transferred to the back cover.
RML

"THAT DEAR & EXCELLENT WOMAN
London — Further to our announcement last
issue that the grave of "Nanny Everest" is
now beautifully restored, we are pleased to
show you the lovely result, via the adjacent
photo.
The headstone was paid for by Winston and
Jack, and for many years Sir Winston paid an
annual sum for upkeep of the gravesite. The
headstone reads: "Erected in Memory of
Elizabeth Ann Everest, who died 3rd July
1895, Aged 62, by Winston Spencer Churchill
— Jack Spencer Churchill."
Mrs. Everest was engaged as nanny to the
young Winston in 1875 and stayed with the
family until 1893. She was nicknamed
"Woomany" or "Woom" by her young
charges, whose affection for her lasted
throughout their lives.
In My Early Life, Sir Winston described
Mrs. Everest as "my dearest and most intimate
friend" during his first 20 years. He
used her as the model for the housekeeper to
the eponymous hero of his novel, Savrola. Her
epitaph he took from the autobiography of Edward
Gibbon, who wrote of his old nurse:
"If there be any who rejoice that I live, to
that dear and excellent woman their gratitude
is due."
— Geoffrey J. Wheeler
Above: Tom Thomas snapped this lovely war
memorial parade by former Royal Navy and
Free French members; the Cross of Lorraine
is at extreme left, next to B.L. and R.N.A.
standards. Right: While traveling through the
Cotswolds near Chipping Norton, after
"Churchill's England" last fall, the editor
found a delightful potential world headquarters
for ICS, and several estate agents have been
notified . . .
WATCH PBS-TV JUNE 18TH:
ROBERT HARDY/WSC RETURNS
Toronto, Canada, April — Douglas McLeod,
George Temple, and 10 other members of the
ICS Toronto Chapter attended a filming of
Robert Hardy, alias Siegfried Farrjum, alias
Winston Churchill (of "All Creatures Great
and Small" and "The Wilderness Years"),
which will be shown on USA public television
18 June. Tune in! Mr. Hardy, to whom we
have extended ICS membership, was in
Toronto in his brilliant role as WSC, for a
90-minute presentation produced by David
Susskind. The script was written by "our
own" James Humes, who plays a pretty fair
Churchill himself. Watch your television
listings for announcements.
CHURCHILL AIRPORT?
Redhill, Surrey, UK — A request for Gatwick
Airport to be renamed the Winston Spencer
Churchill Airport has been made by the Guild
of British Travel Agents. It has a certain ring
to it, we say.
GEORGE WILL'S PIN-UP WAS WSC
Washington, DC, 25 April — Syndicated
columnist (and ICS member) George F. Will
says he has been wearing bow ties since the
1960s, when "men's ties became fat and
ugly" and because he likes the look of them.
"Besides," he says, "most of my pin-ups
were of Churchill."
Will says red is the color for Washington
power ties. "If you want to be a serious person
in Washington, you wear red." Asked if
Republicans and Democrats dress the same, he
answers, "They actually think the same too,
but we're not allowed to say that ..."
— The Washington Post
NORWOOD AT CANBERRA
Canberra, ACT, Australia, April 25th — ICS
member Norwood Keeney of Washington, an
aide of Representative Judd Gregg (from our
own District in New Hampshire), arrived in
Canberra weighed down by a small gift for
Admiral Ian Richards and the Churchill
Memorial Trust: a complete file of Finest
Hour, going back to that thin, typed No. 1 we
still remember cranking out on an unplainpaper
copier (to a press run of 25) in 1968. A
small token of our esteem for the fine work being
done by the Australian Trust was long
overdue, and we thank Norwood for assuming
burro duties.
Continued on page 6

YOUR INVITATION TO VANCOUVER:
OCTOBER 4-6, 1986
The I.C.S. International Convention
With James C. Humes & William Manchester
REGISTER EARLY — SEATS LIMITED
The Sir Winston S. Churchill Society of
Vancouver and the International Churchill
Society request the honor of your presence at
the 1986 ICS Annual General Meeting, on
Saturday-Monday October 4th-6th, at the Harbourside
Holiday Inn, Vancouver.
Master Registration of only $98 (US), $135
(Can) or £68 (UK) covers all activities for all
three days.
A stunning and memorable program has
been planned for your enjoyment, with our
guests of honor, speaker and author James C.
Humes, and William Manchester, author of
The Last Lion/Winston Spencer Churchill, and
many other biographies including those of
Douglas Mac Arthur and John F. Kennedy.
Our convention is built around British
Columbia's 1986 World Exposition, and
group discounts will be available. (Even the
regular admission is only $15.) The tentative
schedule . . .
Saturday, October 4th: A mid-day welcoming
reception at our hotel. Meet and mingle
with our workers, officers and directors, with
lunch following at your own option.
At 2PM, a seminar on Churchillophilately
and collectible Churchilliana, conducted by
several ICS experts. Display items welcome
— contact the editor.
At 7PM, a cocktail hour followed by a fivecourse
banquet with wine, and James Humes'
famous presentation, "An Evening With Mr.
Churchill." Humes, one of the world's
foremost students and impersonators of WSC,
has been acclaimed "Churchill himself," and
was so much enjoyed at Boston last year that
we invited him to join us again. Everyone
finds his humorous and warm remembrance
of the Great Man unforgettable — and moving.
Sunday, October 5th: Because many will
want to visit Expo '86, this day is left free of
formal activities, but there will be an opportunity
to get together at our reception suite and
look over various exhibits. There will also be a
meeting of the ICS Board of Directors, to
which all members are invited.
Monday, October 6th: Bibliophiles will enjoy
our seminar today on Churchill books,
with Ronald Cohen and Richard Langworth on
hand to answer your questions and provide
personal appraisals of any rare editions. Do
bring these with you, so all can see them. We
will discuss the new Cohen Bibliography, (see
p!2 this issue), and promise to answer virtually
any question you can throw at us (we are very
confident) — about values, history, press runs,
availability and relative importance of any
book by or about Sir Winston. Depending on
supply, we hope to conduct a book sale as
well, to benefit the Literary Foundation.
This evening, the highlight of our convention:
a formal dinner banquet with wine, and
brandy later, for guest speaker William Manchester.
(Ours is the only invitation he has accepted
while still in the midst of Volume II of
The Last Lion.)
Our hosts are the members of the Churchill
Society of Vancouver, who plan all the traditional
pomp and circumstance of their annual
dinners: a military band, regimental music,
the Loyal Toast, national anthems. Black tie or
uniform is recommended, and decorations
may be worn.
Best-selling biographer William Manchester
is Adjunct Professor of History and Writer-in-
Residence at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
His 14 books, which have been published
in 18 languages as well as Braille, include
The Death of a President, The Arms of
Krupp, The Glory and the Dream, American
Caesar and Goodbye, Darkness. Join us
tonight as Professor Manchester discusses his
biographic adventures in Volume II (1932-65)
of The Last Lion.
All this in the splendor of magnificent Vancouver,
with a World's Fair at the same time,
and one of the ideal times of the year — how
can you plan to be anywhere else but with the
International Churchill Society?
HOW TO REGISTER
Simply send US$98, CAN$135 or the
equivalent, for each person attending, together
with their names and addresses, to:
Sir Winston S. Churchill Society
c/o Norman Faiers
2450 Mathers Avenue
Vancouver, B.C.
CANADA V7V2H8
You will receive registration materials and
further details later this summer.
HOTEL RESERVATIONS
You are responsible for making your own
reservations. However, the Harbourside Holiday
Inn is holding a block of 50 rooms for ICS
members. Telephone them at 604-689-9211
and please mention ICS.
Your special rates as an ICS member are:
harbor-view singles US$87, CAN$120;
doubles US$98, CAN$135; city-view singles
US$76, CAN$105, doubles US$87,
CAN$120.
DO IT TODAY: WE ARE ANXIOUS TO
SEE YOU!

MARK GRIMSICH IS "YOUNG WINSTON'
Chicago, March 8th — Anyone who missed
ICS member Mark Grimsich's solo performance
of "Churchill: The Early Years" at the
Red Lion Pub this March may only hope to
catch the next engagement — wherever it may
be. Grimsich's expert one-man act was so
popular that it was held over two weeks.
The Red Lion, on North Lincoln, is a small,
narrow, intimate lounge, decorated with
British memorabilia. Prior to the performance,
excerpts from Gilbert and Sullivan's
HMS Pinafore were playing.
Grimsich was dressed in striped trousers,
waistcoat, evening coat and, of course, spotted
in
Mark off-duty.
bow tie. Brandishing a large cigar, he spoke
for an hour. His reminiscences traveled from
his first Latin lesson ("But why 'O Table'?")
to the famous Nancy Astor-WSC exchange
("If I were your husband, I'd drink it.")
Grimsich has a strong, rich voice which belies
his diminutive physique; his hair and complexion
closely match contemporary photos of the
"Member for Oldham."
His hand movements and gait, I thought,
were typically Winstonian (WSC in turn patterned
them after Lord Randolph — the
famous cocked elbow with hand at the waist).
Most of the dialogue was adapted from My
Early Life, and presented conversationally.
Several guests were sure young Winston
himself had magically materialized.
Grimsich told me after the performance that
the audience had increased since his debut.
When I was there, the room was full, every
table taken. The manager would have been
wise to extend his stay longer.
Mark and his well-researched act should be
considered by any ICS chapter, and we hope
he will also be part of a future annual meeting.
He may be contacted at 910 W. Addison, Apt
2R, Chicago IL 60613 USA.
— David Druckman
Our hard-working UK directors, Peter Coombs (L) and Geoffrey Wheeler, represented the Society
at an impressive Churchillian Exhibit, by invitation of the Cabinet War Rooms in London
last November. We thought you would like to connect the faces to our many references.
The Cabinet Room
the Defence Committeedirecting
Britain's war effort
Winitor, Churctiilt. Prime Minn
of Dvfencc
\
Above: An old New Jersey artist-neighbor, Sal
Asaro, presented the editor with this handsome
exercise based on a Halsman photo of WSC
from the jacket of the American edition of
Their Finest Hour (1949). We are delighted to
advise that Sal has now agreed to contribute
an original painting to our forthcoming edition
of "The Dream" for the Churchill Literary
Foundation, showing Lord Randolph's 1948
"reappearance" in WSC's studio.

"Let Us Command the Moment to Remain"
Churchill as Father and Family Man
AN ADDRESS BY THE LADY SOAMES, D.B.E., TO ICS/NORTH TEXAS
LOEWS ANATOLE, DALLAS, 19 FEBRUARY 1986
Mr. Chairman. Ladies and Gentlemen. I am so excited and
honoured to be here at the very first gathering of the North
Texas International Churchill Society, and if I've had
anything to do with people wanting to come then I am indeed
proud and happy. You will realise how deeply moving
it is for me to see how revered, even 20 years after his death,
is my father's memory — which the International Churchill
Society does so much to keep fresh and green. It makes me
indeed proud and happy that you have all come here today
to meet me. I hope that you are the founding mothers,
fathers, brothers and sisters of a lively and active chapter of
the International Churchill Society. And as you are setting
out on your way, may I venture to say to you what I hope the
International Churchill Society does? It does a lot of things,
as you will see from Finest Hour. There are stamps and books
and recollections of my father — every kind of thing. But
perhaps we are looking at it from a rather partisan point of
view.
I hope that the International Churchill Society, wherever,
whatever chapters are formed, will continue to take a particular
care and pride in keeping the record straight. There
are a lot of stories told about famous people, and I find that
as time goes on it is rather like the lens of a camera becoming
out of focus. Virtues become out of focus, and faults come
out of focus. Inaccurate statements said in some paper or
book are copied light-heartedly, and reproduce themselves
all over the place. Few people take the trouble to go back to
the source, and find out if that really was what happened. I
like to hope that the International Churchill Society chapters
will, among all the other things that they do, regard
themselves as the guardians of the true picture and try
always to bring that camera back into true focus.
Sorry to give you a little lecture but I do care about it
tremendously, and the only time I've ever — I think I can say
this; Mr. Langworth who is the real founding father would
forgive me for saying so — the only time I've ever fallen out
with him a little bit was when I saw a really horrible effigy
of my father being advertised in Finest Hour, and I wrote him
a furious letter! [Laughter, all of it on me. Ed.] Any other
society, of course, could trade anything they liked — it's a
free world, a free country — but the Churchill Society, which
is there to keep the record straight should be careful what
they reproduce, what they use, because you are, you can be,
the repository of the true story and the true image. Naturally,
as his daughter, I care very much about that.
Your chairman has suggested that you would like it most if
I were to recall for you my father as a family man, and I shall
do so with great joy as well as some nostalgia. But it always
gives me happiness when I have an opportunity to revive
both myself and for others the vivid personality, the warmth,
Mary with her father at Chartwell, 1924, and addressing the North Texas
Chapter at Dallas, 1986.
.

and the humanity of my great and beloved father in the
glow of whose memory I shall ever live. Of course, it was his
family and close friends who were the principal beneficiaries
of his warm-hearted, and in the main genial temperament.
But those who knew Winston Churchill best in public and in
private have often testified to the oneness of his character.
His public face was not that much different from the private
countenance we all knew. He was a most natural, almost
uninhibited person with an engaging frankness of expression
and candour of mind which were most refreshing to encounter.
His spontaneous enjoyment of so many things in
life and his many interests and talents made him a very enthralling
companion, as those who worked closely with him
have often recounted.
And I'm so glad that some of you had the opportunity today
to meet for a brief moment Sir John Colville and his wife.
Sir John has just written an excellent book which has just
come out called Fringes of Power. He was my father's private
secretary from the beginning of the war on and off right
through the war, and then again when my father was Prime
Minister for the second time. He started as a young man with
my father, having been in Neville Chamberlain's private office.
He started with a real anti-Churchill outlook, and it is to
me moving and touching to see, as the days go by and the
months go by, that he became a candid and deep admirer, a
loyal servant, and a true friend. Long after my father left office,
he and Margaret Colville were frequent visitors to
wherever my parents were, and in the last days of my
father's life, they were among the people who came to bid
him farewell. You will see, if any of you get the book —
which I do most strongly recommend to you — the engaging
and private side of my father's life: how he liked to talk to his
private secretary on duty (which was often Jock Colville),
and his naturalness. Well, anyhow, I do think you ought try
and get it. He's not very nice about me but we have remained
friends all the way. [Laughter.]
To have been my father's child was an enrichment, as
perhaps you can imagine, beyond compare. And from my
earliest years I found myself admitted to a grown-up world of
interest, variety, excitement, and great fun. My childhood
Naomi Gottlieb, Lady Soames, David Sampson made the day.
Lady Soames inscribes a book for Mr. & Mrs. Sampson.
Sir John Colville stopped by, to our great delight.
DALLAS COMMANDS THE MOMENT
Dallas, Texas, 19 February — The North
Texas Chapter of the International Churchill
Society sponsored its first function in the
elegant Jade Room of the Loews Anatole
Hotel today. The luncheon was held in honor
of The Lady Soames, D.B.E., youngest
daughter of Sir Winston, who was in Dallas
for the presentation of the Churchill Award to
Dallas businessman and civic leader H. Ross
Perot. H.R.H. The Prince of Wales presented
the award to Mr. Perot the previous evening
during a banquet held in Mr. Perot's honor at
the Loews Anatole. Also present at the International
Churchill Society luncheon were Sir
John Colville, Sir Winston's private secretary
during the war years and again in Sir Winston's
second administration, and Sir John's
wife, Lady Margaret.
Lady Soames was a charming and delightful
guest of honor. During the reception which
preceded the luncheon, she greeted the 60
guests and signed copies of her books. After
the luncheon, she spoke on "Churchill as
Father and Family Man," a subject about
which she is uniquely qualified to discourse.
During her opening remarks, Lady Soames
made a moving appeal for the guests to
8
become members of the International Churchill
Society and support the important work
I.C.S. does in "setting the record straight and
keeping the camera lens in focus" some 20
years after her father's death.
As a direct result of the luncheon and Lady
Soames' remarks, the North Texas Chapter of
the International Churchill Society has grown
from nine to over 30 members in a little over a
month. A Board of Directors has been appointed,
and the Chapter is anxiously looking
forward to future events. Arrangements for
the elegant luncheon were made by longtime
Dallas I.C.S. supporter Mrs. Naomi Gottlieb.

memories of my parents are chiefly centred around life at
Chartwell, which I believe quite a number of you in this
room have visited. Chartwell was where my father loved best
of all to be in the whole wide world. He used to say, "A day
spent away from Chartwell is a day wasted." And there I, by
far the youngest of his children, was brought up from my
earliest days.
Of course, no account of Winston Churchill as a family
man can exclude his beloved Clementine, whose abiding
beauty, distinct personality, steadfast love, and — last but not
least — good housekeeping, made the constant background
to her husband's tumultuous career. Many years after they
were married he was to write in one of his wonderful letters
to her: "My greatest good fortune in a life of brilliant experience
has been to find you and to lead my life with you."
What a tribute! And for 57 years they lived together, through
a period as tumultuous and changing as surely as any in our
history. Together, they faced the ups and downs of political
life. And for nearly all their lives, they were in the eye of the
storms which have rocked our civilisation.
We children were early on to learn the tides and seasons of
Parliamentary sessions — the overriding responsibilities of
public life which governed our parents' lives, which took no
account of school prizegivings, family feasts, or carefully
planned treats and holidays. Even when we were quite small,
we learned to sense and to respond to the tension of the
crisis. My father used to say gravely, "We must all rise to the
level of events." An austere dictum for the young, but I have
come to be grateful for it in my life. Public dramas penetrated
to the nursery floor. In 1915, at the height of the Dardanelles
Crisis which resulted in grievous loss of life and dramatic
repercussions, Diana, then aged six, was heard by her nanny
to pray with fervour, "Oh God, please bless the Dardanelles,
whatever they are."
For me, clear consecutive memories of my father begin
with the opening of that decade which in the term of
Winston Churchill's life has come to be called "The
Wilderness Years": 1929-1939. In 1929, he had ceased to be
Chancellor of the Exchequer, when Stanley Baldwin's Conservative
government was defeated. For ten years after that
he was to be out of office. Winston was now in his midfifties,
Clementine ten years younger, and myself eightish,
trailing along well behind the big ones, Diana, Randolph, and
Sarah. Winston was of course still a member of Parliament,
and politics kept my parents much in London. But in the
Thirties, Chartwell, which had been bought in the early
Twenties, became more and more the centre of their lives.
Looking back with a perspective which one doesn't have at
the time, I think what strikes me most about my father at that
period, is what a prodigious worker he was. Our domestic
life was geared around his program. Chartwell was a
veritable factory. The lights from his upstairs study gleamed
late into the night while, padding up and down that long
room with its raftered ceiling, he dictated to his secretary hour
after hour. His speeches, whether on platforms up and down
the country or from his place below the gangway in the
House of Commons, received infinite pains in their preparation.
Newspaper articles for both home and abroad poured
forth.
His political activities alone would have filled a busy life,
but apart from all this, he made time for his work as an
author and as an historian. It must never be forgotten that he
was not a rich man. He kept us all by his pen. His literary
output in those years was truly amazing. Apart from collections
and speeches, articles and essays, his major works between
the two world wars were The World Crisis in six
volumes (which told the story of the 1914-1918 war and its
aftermath), and his monumental Life of his great ancestor,
the Duke of Marlborough. The outbreak of the Second World
War found him hard at work on his four-volume History of
the English Speaking Peoples — a vivid, panoramic tapestry,
from which he broke off to contribute with his own life
and actions more memorable pages to that history.
After the Second World War he was to complete this work,
but only after the six volumes of his war memoirs. Someone
has compared him to Caesar, who waged wars and wrote
about them. All the while he was involved in politics, leading
his party from the humiliating defeat of 1945 back to power
once more. Winston Churchill was 77 and still going strong
when he became Prime Minister again in 1951. And if we
now recall him chiefly as statesman and world leader, we
must remember that it was for literature that Winston Churchill
was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953.
Life was not all toil. Far from it! If midnight oil was consumed
by the gallon, daylight and sunshine hours were filled
with a multitude of occupations: building walls and cottages,
making dams, turning peninsulas into islands, constructing
swimming pools, and devising complicated waterworks so
the little rivulet that ran in at the Chart Well splashed 'round
down through the valley and was pumped up again to start
crashing down the hill again. During the winter of 1934,
when my mother was away on a long sea voyage, a friend
staying at Chartwell wrote to her to keep her in touch. She
wrote, "Winston has so many irons in the fire that the day is
not nearly long enough, what with the new wall and the
mechanical digger that does the work of 40 men, rebuilding
the chauffeur's cottage, films, the crisis in India, and when
there is nothing else, Marlborough. Well, you see, we are
busy."
And then, of course, there was his painting. I do hope
perhaps some of you will have the chance to go up to your
wonderful Dallas Museum of Art and to see there among very
great works of art, a small exhibition of my father's pictures.
Some of them I'm very proud of, and think are very good. I
hope you will perhaps take the chance to go and see them.
He took up painting literally as occupational therapy when
he was over 40, in the traumatic aftermath of the Dardanelles
catastrophe; and from that grim summer of 1915 for over 40
years more, my father found hours of pleasure and occupation
in painting. He himself wrote, "Happy are the painters,
for they shall not be lonely. Light and colour, peace and
hope, will keep them company to the end or almost to the
end of the day." Those were prophetic words, for he continued
to enjoy painting up to within just a few years before
his death. I am indeed fortunate to live surrounded by some
of his best pictures. They are so full of light and colour, and
evoke for me many happy hours spent watching him paint
or having picnics while he was painting. They evoke not
only the many seasons of Chartwell and the brilliant light of
the south of France, but they reflect also the hours of concen-
A

The Jade Room was a fine setting for our luncheon.
Lady Margaret Colville chats with Lady Soames.
Meeting North Texas ICS members.
trated pleasure, and oblivion from dark worries, which he
derived from painting them.
One of my father's salient characteristics was his readiness
to forgive. Somebody said about him, "Winston is a very bad
hater." When I was a child, I often heard him quote the
Biblical injunction, "Let not the sun go down upon your
wrath," and it was a precept he practised both in his public
and his private life. He indeed was a quick forgiver, and often
it was he who made the first steps across the bridge, to make
up quarrels — whether in matters great or small, whether
with mighty grown-ups or his own silly, tempestuous
children. And in his public life, he preached and practised
reconciliations and magnanimity in victory to his country's
foes.
No recollection of my father could ignore the wit and
wisdom and joviality of his company. Early admitted to our
parents' table as we children were, some of my most vivid
childhood and teenage memories are the mealtimes at Chartwell.
Much of the splendour of conversation, of course, sailed
over my head in the earlier years. I think I may have possibly
been more preoccupied about whether there were going to
be enough cupcakes for me to have a second helping. But I
think sometimes I didn't miss all of the firework displays and
eloquent argument. And as time went on, I began to follow
and to feel inspired by the great issues of those days.
But most of all, I remember with delight when our company
was joined by some of the muses — the muse of
history, of song, and poetry sacred and heroic. Led by my
father, we would recite verse after verse from Macauley's
Lays of Ancient Rome, his and our favourite being the glorious
tale of how Horatio kept that bridge in the days of old. And
the rollicking Edwardian musical songs he had enjoyed so
much as a young man; and Rudyard Kipling in all his
moods; and Rupert Brooke; and of course, Shakespeare.
What a prodigious memory my father had, reaching far back
to his school days at Harrow. And from him, too, I learned as
a child that throbbing, thrilling, glorious "Battle Hymn of the
Republic," "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of
the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of
wrath are stored." Perhaps those long ago, triumphant days
were in our minds when we chose that hymn to be sung at
his great state funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral.
With all these diversions, mealtimes sometimes prolonged
themselves into three-hour sessions, often to my mother's
despair. And so eventually she would make to move. And I
so well remember my father looking at her down the table,
lovingly and ruefully, and saying, "Oh, Clemmie, don't go. It
is so nice. Let us command the moment to remain." Of
course, one never can. But today I've tried to command some
precious moments that I remember to remain. And as I have
recalled these things and that extraordinary man in your
company, it has made me very happy.*
10

CHARTWELL
Bold Rockwork
and Falls
DESIGNED AND
CONSTRUCTED FOR
The Right Hon.
Winston S.
Churchill
O.M., C.H., M.P.
tn
GAVIN JONES NURSERIES LIMITED • LETCHWORTH • Herts
Above: Cuttings Editor John Frost (New Barnet, UK) found this 1950 ad by the gardeners who helped WSC design and build his Chartwell
rockeries in the 1930s, as mentioned by Lady Soames. What we can't fathom is how John keeps coming up with these gems!
Below: Sarah Churchill helps her father campaign, 1929. Mary, 13, with her parents enroute Westminster Hall for the loyal addresses, 9 May 1935.
11

Woods Corner
Ronald I. Cohen, Editor
5 Murrray Avenue, Westmount, Quebec, Canada H3Y 2X9
An Ongoing Forum of Additions & Corrections to the Woods Bibliography of Works by Sir Winston Churchill
To Come: An Entirely New Churchill Bibliography
I have spent most of the last six months in Europe, principally
filming in Yugoslavia but also visiting England, France,
Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Czechoslovakia and
Hungary. During that time, I have had the opportunity to do
considerable research regarding the foreign language editions.
(Some of the results of that work ran in the last issue of Finest
Hour. I intend, in a coming issue of FH, to talk about how I
found what I found. There appear to be several typographical
errors in foreign names and titles in the last column. These
will be corrected in a forthcoming issue.)
I have also had the time to reflect further on the structure of
the Churchill Bibliography, both the present one by Woods
and that which I am in the process of preparing. This Woods
Corner will be devoted to that subject.
First, I think that it is clear that Woods did an extraordinary
job in tracking down the wealth of material which comprised
the first edition of the Bibliography (in 1963). Many of the
works were even unknown to, or unremembered by, the Churchill
family, and the Bibliography provided a significant
foothold for scholars and collectors attempting to scale the
Churchillian mountain of written and spoken/written words.
The matter does not, however, end there. Changes which
users were entitled to expect between the first and the latest
(1975) edition did not occur. There are many gaps and errors
in Sections A and C, as I have pointed out in previous issues of
FH. But the Bibliography has worse problems — structural
ones. In generally accepted bibliographical terms, Woods has
missed the point of Sections B and D. Let me explain.
The general purpose of a bibliography is to trace for the
scholar, or of course the collector, all of the first appearances
of all material written by the author. Whether fiction, poetry,
history or speeches, the point is the same. Each section of a
bibliography is designed to participate in this exploration of
first appearances, and this in a pretty standard format.
Section A
Customarily, the scope of any "A" section is broader than
Woods' Section A. In a standard bibliography, that section
contains all books, pamphlets and broadsides wholly or
substantially by the author.
Thus, there is no reason for excluding from Section A the
Grabhorn Press edition of Addresses, D(a)5, or the W.H.
Smith Bombay War Speeches, D(a)7(a) and (b), to choose examples
of works wholly by Churchill (and assuming that the
W.H. Smith publications, which I have not examined, contain
first appearance material). Nor for forgetting the Proceedings
at the Unveiling of the Memorial to Lawrence of Arabia,
D(b)50(b), Churchill in Ottawa, D(b)62, and Churchill's Visit
to Norway, D(b)74, to select examples of works written
substantially by Churchill. There is more of a problem with
the Grabhorn Broadcast Addresses, D(a)8, since none of the
six speeches published there appear for the first time in volume
or pamphlet form.
12
The Chelsea House-Bowker Complete Speeches (1974)
would also be included in Section A in a normal bibliography.
So, too, would co-authored works where Churchill was one of
the two authors. Thus, the recently published Churchill-
Roosevelt Correspondence (Princeton University Press) and
the Loewenheim Roosevelt and Churchill: Their Secret Wartime
Correspondence (1975) would also be present. Whether
B57, which includes the correspondence of numerous
"authors," namely, Stalin, Roosevelt, Truman, Churchill and
Attlee, should be in Section A is a matter of judgment.
Section C
(I will skip Section B for the moment.) Section C is the
repository of all first appearances in periodical publications,
whether magazines or newspapers. This is straightforward,
although Woods mistakenly allocates numerous C-items to
Section D — see, for example, D(b)23/1, D(b)24, D(b)25/1,
D(b)36. Bibliographers and their publishers are forever
jousting about the appropriateness of including subsequent appearances
of articles in this section, but that may be little more
than a consideration of space.
Section B
Section B should list all titles in which any material by the
author appears for the first time in book or pamphlet form.
This is not limited to prefaces, introductions or chapters written
expressly for the work in which they appear. It includes
any first published appearance, whether of a letter serving as a
preface, as in the case of The Epic of Malta, B38, or The Battle
of the Narrow Seas, D(b)64, or of a letter within the body of a
work, such as Jean, D(b)55/3 or Edward Marsh, D(b)l 15/2,
or of a speech as in the case of King and Country, D(b)52 or
the Harvard Commencement Ceremonies, D(b)59.
It also includes first appearances in volume or pamphlet
form where the material has previously appeared in a
periodical. Thus The Bravest Deed I Ever Saw, Bl, qualifies,
notwithstanding the appearance of The Doctor and the Soldier,
C30, previously in V. C. But Coming Men on Coming Questions,
B2, will not qualify, since the first appearance was in
pamphlet, not periodical, form (see A7/1).
Section D
This also means that Woods' Section D will be emasculated,
for his entries there either belong in Section A, B or C or not in
the Bibliography at all, as in the case of Fifty Stories Stranger
than Fiction, D(a)3, or The Trumpeter of St. George,
D(b)55/1, since both reprinted excerpts were first published in
other pamphlets or volumes.
Editor's note: Many decisions will have to be made between now and
the publication of a new Bibliography. Ronald Cohen invites your comments
and suggestions. Please write him at the address shown at top.

The New Bibliography
In the new Bibliography, Sections A and B will clearly be bibliographies (where appropriate to the author) which I
more substantial than in Woods. In keeping with general believe should be included here.
bibliographical practice, all editions of each work in Section A First, a section, probably Section AA, will be devoted to
will be given an identifying number; each will be described collections of the author's work(s) which do not include
with title page transcription and details of the contents. Thus material by the author first published in that particular collection.
The Library of Imperial History's 34-volume Collected
A12, My African Journey, will include the British edition, the
1919 Hodder & Stoughton paper edition, the Holland Works would be included here (although the four-volume Collected
Essays would undoubtedly be included separately in
Press/Neville Spearman edition, the Icon Books paperback
and the New English Library paperback. Separate issues such Section A.) Frontiers and Wars — see the reference in Woods
as the Hodder & Stoughton British card wraps issue of 1908, under Al(a) — would be here as would A Churchill Anthology,
the Hodder & Stoughton and Doran American issues, and the D(a)21/1 and its American counterpart Great Destiny (how did
Briggs 1909 Canadian issue will also be mentioned and the latter become D(a)21/5/l?). Verification is necessary but
described (although not as separate editions).
the "wit and wisdom, maxims and reflections" books and
Since the scope of the material to be covered is far larger other such Churchill collections and anthologies would likely
than what Woods had in mind, Section B will be considerably be here as well. Not here, however, will be any anthologies of
expanded. In order to keep the overall size of the volume other compilers/editors including a chapter or contribution by
manageable (and hence not too pricey), I intend (in keeping Churchill previously published in volume or pamphlet form
with standard bibliographic practice) to include title page (thus qualifying as a Section A item). See e.g. Men at War,
transcriptions, but not contents descriptions.
D(a)ll or the later Arco edition, Time To Be Young, D(a)13,
Section C will be larger because of the large number of and so on.
Woods' omissions (see FH 45 and 46 for those found up to While interviews could qualify as Section C items, they do
January 1985). It will also be presented in a more consistent partake of a different nature and are often the meat of a
and simpler way, chronologically, and with a separate identifying
number for every article, even if part of a so-called series Blurbs on the dust jackets or wrappers of works by other
separate section.
(see e.g. C15, C16 or C153), unless the articles together comprise
a single volume serialization, such as that of My African Phonorecordings,. not new to the Churchill Bibliography,
authors also generally merit a separate section.
Journey (C35) or Savrola (C14).
would remain. They are, after all, the spoken word.
Foreign language editions are also customarily present in I am very tempted to add a section on film and television
any bibliography. Woods unfortunately limited their presence programs commercially released, whether on 16 mm, 35 mm
to a reference (under the major British entry) to the languages or videocassette, since they also represent the spoken word in
into which the work had been translated (for those volumes its 20th century form, and the medium by which our author has
where he believed there had been a translation). That is of little probably come to be generally perceived as the greatest
help or interest to the researcher or collector and I intend to include
the foreign language title, publisher, date and city of The implementation of these changes will provide Churchill
statesman in history, whether of this or any other century.
publication, name of the translator and a brief reference to scholars, dealers, collectors and researchers with a far more
subsequent editions or printings.
complete and rationalized framework, and most important,
There are several other sections generally present in one which is in keeping with standard bibliographical practice. •
Some oddments relating to A37(b); Left, what may well have been the inspiration for the US title, Henty's 1900 novel (WSC
also used title as Chapter I, Ian Hamilton's March.) Center: a Scribners advert for A Roving Commission, 1930.
A ROVING COMMISSION
OH THROUGH THE
BLACK INSURRECTION OF HAYTI
I
"More exciting than any novel."
— London Times.
J\ Koring
Commission
My Early Life
G. A. HENTY
author oj "The World Crisis,- etc.
"Like a beaker of champagne," says a reviewer in
the London Observer of Mr. Churchill's 2estful
volume of recollections, and continues: "I am
jure that as long as there are young men and
women they will thumb with delight the tale of
adventure told by Mr. Churchill with the skill of
tONDON
BLACK H5 k SON, Lwni\ » OLD BAILIT, 1.0.
OUSOOW AKD D0BUH
ft is packed with excitemen
glowing with life, this narre
of hairbreadth 'scapes
in South Africa, wartime
adventures in E^ypt, India,
and Cuba, red-hot political
impaigns and amusing
youthful scrapes at home.
Moreover, it is an incompatible
picture of the shaping
Profusely illustrated
$3.50
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, NEW YORK
13
Reproduction Jackets for your Valuable A37s:
The editor has printed enough exact color repro
jackets for the first edition My Early Life and A Roving
Commission to paper the walls. Postpaid: $4 each ($5
Canada, £3 UK/airmail). When the costs are met, we
will donate all proceeds to ICS. PO Box 385, Contoocook,
New Hampshire 03229 USA.

John G. Plumpton
The Writing of "Lord Randolph Churchill"
An Immense Literary Value
British historian E. H. Carr's dictum to study the historian before we
study his history is particularly appropriate in the case of Winston Churchill's
biography of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill. One cannot
fully appreciate either the biography or the biographer without
understanding the relationship between the father and son. Violet
Bonham Carter, a close friend of young Winston's tells us that
... it was the image of his father which dominated and obsessed his
being . . . and even the icy detachment and indifference of Lord Randolph
failed to destroy the proud and passionate allegiance of his son
. . . Until the end he worshipped at the altar of his Unknown Father. 1
In his own writings Winston provides us with considerable evidence
of filial hero-worship. In Thoughts and Adventures, he writes:
The greatest and most powerful influence in my early life was of course
my father. . . . I conceived an intense admiration and affection for him;
and, after his death, for his memory. I read industriously almost every
word he had ever spoken and learnt by heart large portions of his
speeches. 2
In My Early Life, he relates that his father "seemed to own the key to
everything or almost everything worth having." 3 If Lord Randolph
Churchill had lived a normal lifespan, he might have smothered his
more illustrious son's political career in its infancy but, as it was, the
father's premature death was a major motivating factor in Winston's
decision to "pursue his [father's] aims and vindicate his memory."
In a cogent study of Churchill's personality, psychoanalyst Anthony
Storr offers a psychological theory for understanding Winston's heroworship
of his father: "Children whose emotional needs have been
insufficiently satisfied react to the lack with idealization on the one
hand, and hostility on the other." 4 Winston Churchill's life was an example
of that paradox. His aggression, stubbornness, resentment of
authority and rebelliousness were apparent early in his life and continued
throughout a tumultuous political career, culminating in the 1940
cry of "we shall never surrender." On the other hand, his filial
idealization was obsessive and his early life was devoted to exonerating
his father politically.
The political careers of father and son followed similar paths.
Winston adopted much of his father's political philosophy and pursued
the same capricious and independent relationship toward the discipline
of political parties. One of his proudest moments occurred when he took
the oath as Chancellor of the Exchequer, wearing the same robes worn
by his father in that office.
Early in his career he performed an essentially cathartic exercise
which helped ". . .to know my father, which would have been a joy to
me." That exercise was to write the two-volume biography, Lord Randolph
Churchill (Woods A8). With the help of Lord Rosebery, Winston
persuaded his father's literary executors to entrust the task of producing
the official biography to him. Rosebery, a close friend of Lord Randolph's
and a valued counsellor of Winston's, perceptively noted that
... the plan was beset with difficulties. A son, who hardly knew his
father as a public man or not at all, writing his father's life; the story
only ten years old and full of delicacies and resentments; many survivors
of those times whose toes it was impossible to avoid treading
upon, still in existence. . . . And the author had normal animosities by
leaving the party, and had to write with delicacy about both parties in
view of past and present connections. . . . 5
Winston's position within society and political circles gave him
unique access to his father's political friends and foes, most of whom
still lived. Notwithstanding Lord Rosebery's caveat, a number of those
"toes" assisted the author, Joseph Chamberlain provided immeasurable
assistance. Arthur Balfour, then Prime Minister, offered to help in 1902
but, two years later, he wrote an apology for providing nothing and
claimed he had conducted an unsuccessful hunt for correspondence. He
The Balfourian Parliament (1906)
Cartoon by E. T. Reed, 1901
did, however, ask Winston to delete a passage about his involvement in
an exchange between Salisbury and Gladstone in 1885 over the
possibility of granting some measure of self-government to Ireland.
Churchill agreed but the substance of the incident remained in the book.
Lord Salisbury, with little time left to live, and Sir Michael Hicks-
Beach, gave Winston access to their correspondence with Lord Randolph.
W. St. John Brodrick, Secretary of State for India, allowed the
use of state papers on India but suggested that Winston obtain the permission
of King Edward VII to use papers and letters on Lord Randolph's
correspondence with and about members of the Royal Family.
Churchill agreed and subsequently received permission to use the relevant
documents.
Winston had hoped that his greatest assistance would come from the
Earl of Rosebery. He later wrote in My Early Life:
I used to go to see Lord Rosebery in the later years of his life because
apart from the respect I bore this distinguished man, I loved to hear him
talk about my father. I had the feeling of getting nearer my father when
1 talked with his intimate and illustrious friend. 3
But Winston's relationship with Rosebery was not always smooth. Ambivalent
about the entire project, Rosebery reneged on some of his promises
and engaged in a "tiff" with Winston over the use of the word
"scug" in a planned introductory essay to the biography. "Scug" was
an Eton slang term that Winston considered derogatory and unsuited to
the biography written by a son. Rosebery's essay was subsequently
published as a separate volume. 6
On publication in January 1906, Lord Randolph Churchill received
considerable attention as might be expected of a work by a rising young
politician with an established literary reputation about one of the most
14

emarkable leaders of the previous generation. Readers were eager to
know whether filial bias would distort the author's judgment and
whether Winston's own political jousts with Balfour and Joseph
Chamberlain would distort his perspective.
The biography was both admired and denounced because it showed
Lord Randolph participating in the game of politics for the sheer
pleasure of it. Admiration was extended for the clear and frank portrayal
of its subject's extravagent behavior, but the biography's claim
that Lord Randolph made the Conservative Party more democratic and
popular was challenged. To many readers Lord Randolph was a cynical
politician who believed that the gyrations of political parties had value
for their own sake. "Had he been in America, he would have proved
himself a 'boss' among ward-politicians." 7
American reviewers liked the inside story aspect of the book — how it
explored the way in which a nation is governed, and how it was based
on letters and documents unavailable to the public. Winston was given
credit for using the documents honestly and with openly portraying his
father's faults and errors. It was, to many observers, one of the great
political biographies of the age.
From the perspective of time, however, scholars have been less enthusiastic.
British historian J.H. Plumb has charged that Churchill
deliberately doctored the evidence in order to whitewash Lord Randolph's
actions, that he quietly suppressed some documents and made
little effort to obtain documents in the possession of others, and that he
smothered Randolph's prose in order to place his father in a better
light. 8
Although Winston claimed that "there is nothing more to tell," many
feel that the biography lacks balance because it dwells so much on the
political machinations and touches too lightly on the personal and
psychological aspects of Lord Randolph's life. This approach is quite
consistent with the tradition of 19th century historians, who were
chroniclers and not primarily interpreters of psychological factors. It
also results from Winston's propinquity of time and status to the events
and persons involved. Many protaganists in the story were still alive and
active, and belonged to the society in which Winston moved. Indeed,
Balfour was Prime Minsiter and Edward was King!
Churchill's interpretation of specific events are open to challenge.
The entire story of the snubbing of Randolph by the then-Prince of
Wales is passed off with: "Lord Randolph incurred the deep
displeasure of a great personage." It is also claimed that while
. . . this misfortune produced in Lord Randolph characteristics which
afterwards hindered or injured his public work, it was also his spur.
Without it he might have wasted a dozen years in frivolous and expensive
pursuit of a silly world of fashion; without it he would probably
never have developed popular sympathies or the courage to champion
democratic causes. 9
While modern historians agree that the incident left Lord Randolph with
a contempt for "society," they hesitate to accept the argument that it
converted him into a champion of democratic causes.
A modern reader, who requires the historian to ask the question
"why," will note that there are many areas into which Winston did not
delve. He did not consider why his father's behavior was so at variance
with Lord Randolph's claim that "public life has not great charm for
me, as I am naturally very quiet, and hate bother and publicity." He did
not attempt to reconcile the paradox of the newly-enfranchised masses,
working-class men on the edge of poverty, voting for the party of
aristocrats, landowners and bankers. Nor did he study the steady
growth of Toryism in radical Birmingham.
He did, however, deal with a number of issues in detail and the reader
can evaluate the book's worth through consideration of some of these
issues in light of more recent evidence. There is little disagreement with
Winston over his father's contributions in popularizing the ideas of
"Tory Democracy." Although critics are less kind regarding the merits
of the Fourth Party, they do agree that Lord Randolph's personal
popularity caused the Tories to become more acceptable to the masses.
While Churchill cites the Dartford speech of 2 October 1886 as a
reliable source of his father's commitment to a Tory Democratic program,
others have had difficulty in delineating any integrated political
philosophy from Lord Randolph's speeches. Robert Blake is one of the
most critical commentators:
The truth is that Churchill had no real policy. He talked about Tory
Democracy and the importance of the working-class Tories, but he
showed no sign of having any program for them. 10
Regarding the most traumatic event in Lord Randolph's political
life, his resignation from the Cabinet, Winston cites irreconcilable
philosophical differences between his father and Tory leader Lord
Salisbury, a cynical willingness by Salisbury to sacrifice his opinions to
get his way, and tactical miscalculations by Lord Randolph as the principal
causes. Winston believed that his father could not have invited the
support of potential allies like Joseph Chamberlain because "so strictly
did he interpret the idea of Cabinet loyalty." But Winston must have
known that Lord Randolph was in secret communication with
Chamberlain on budget items. Why did he not divulge this information?
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was an influential member of the Salisbury
government, so powerful, according to Winston, that "had he made
common cause with Churchill, the Ministry would surely have fallen."
But Winston makes no attempt to deal with Randolph's failure to appreciate
the potential influence of his friend. What may have been a
fatal miscalculation by Randolph was a major omission by his
biographer. Its exclusion may have resulted from the fact that in the
event of a withdrawal by Lord Rosebery, Hicks-Beach would have been
Arthur Balfour (below) and the legendary
Joe Chamberlain (right) gave
WSC significant assistance, although
both had been political opponents.
Rosebery later published his own "Lord Randolph"
15

the final arbitrator in any dispute between Winston and his father's
literary trustee.
The nature of Lord Randolph's final illness is a contentious issue.
Some clain that he suffered from syphilis. If that is the case, did
Winston know the nature of his father's plight? He wrote his mother:
I persuaded Dr. Roose to tell exactly how Papa was. ... He told me
everything and showed me the medical reports. I have told no one. ..."
Winston's biographers say only that he knew the true facts. In Lord
Randolph Churchill, Winston treats his father's final illness very
delicately, calling it "a very rare and ghastly disease."
The true value of Lord Randolph Churchill as work of history has little
to do with the career of its subject. It has the enormous advantage of
the personal intimacy between author and subject and author and
sources, but the bias of kinship is very strong. The emotional needs of
the writer prevented him from producing an objective study. This fact
was recognized by his contemporaries but the biases of family and
friends caused them to react in different ways. Winston's cousin, the
Duke of Marlborough (Sunny), while full of admiration for the
biography, lamented
. . . your anxiety to be impartial to the main figure in your story has led
you I think to lean towards the side of the stern critic. I wish I had
looked through the mass of letters from which you have made your
selection. I do not think that RC's letters are quite happily chosen.
Some of them display too much the cynical and flippant frame of mind,
which characteristics were exceptional rather than permanent in him.
The reader forms the idea that levity playe'd too large a part in his
nature. . . , 12
Frank Harris, who negotiated the sale of the manuscript to Macmillan,
later wrote that the volumes were
... an admirable official Victorian biography distinguished by the
remarkable fairness used to explain every incident in his political
career, a politician writing of a politician. But of the man himself,
his powers, his failing and his quiddities, hardly a soul-revealing word;
yet Winston might, nay, probably would have written a real life, had
not Randolph been his father, and had he not had his own political career
to consider. However, it must be confessed that the sympathy between
father and son was very slight. Winston told me once that time and
again when he tried to talk seriously on politics, or indeed on anything
else, his father snubbed him pitilessly. "He wouldn't listen to me or
consider anything I said. There was no companionship with him possible
to me and I tried so hard and so often. He was so self-centered no one
else existed for him. My mother was everything to me." 11
In 1930 Winston Churchill reflected on the career of his father. This
reflection and his own experiences brought him to the realization that
his father had been a victim of his own flaws, and their relationship to
the peculiar needs of the times in which they lived. The following account
shows a more mature and objective Winston than the original
author:
I can see my father now in a somewhat different light from the days
when I wrote his biography. I have long passed the age at which he
died. I understand only too plainly the fatal character of his act of
resignation. He was "the daring pilot in extremity." That was his hour.
But conditions changed with the Unionist victory of 1886. Quiet times
were required and political repose. Lord Salisbury represented to the
nation what it needed and desired. . . .
16
Young Winston after writing Lord Randolph Churchill, from a
postcard in the collection of Tom Thomas, Surrey, UK. The card is
sepiatone in the Rotary Photographic Series and bears a stamp
postmarked Dundee (WSC's constituency from 9 May 1908), dated
"Jy II 08." Above left: Lord Randolph in his prime, by E. Ward.
Moreover, from the moment Lord Randolph Churchill became Chancellor
of the Exchequer responsible in large measure for the affairs of
the nation, he ceased in vital matters to be a Tory. He adopted with
increasing zest the Gladstonian outlook . . . and in all social and
labour questions he was far beyond what the Whig and middle-class
Liberal of the epoch could have tolerated. ... He was not the man to
take his decisions from party caucuses. When he was faction-fighting
he fought to win, seizing anything that came along. But when responsible,
his contribution to public affairs was faithful and original. He
never sat down to play a cold, calculated game. He said what he
thought. It was better so. 14
In 1952. the biography was reissued by Odhams. It is regrettable that
it was not a "revised edition." Its merits today are in its immense
literary value because few writers could tell a political story with the
majesty of Winston Churchill. The author, not the subject, makes the
reading of Lord Randolph Churchill a rewarding endeavor. •
'Violet Bonham Carter, Winston Churchill As 1 Knew Him. (London: 1965.)
2 Winston S. Churchill, Thoughts and Adventures. (London: 1932.)
3 Winston S. Churchill, My Early Life. (London: 1930.)
4 Anthony Storr, "Then Man" in Churchill Revised, A Critical Assessment.
(New York: 1969.)
'Randolph S. Churchill, Winston S. Churchill, Volume II, Young Statesman,
1901-1914. (London: 1967.)
'Lord Rosebery, Lord Randolph Churchill. (London: 1906.)
1 Blackwood's Magazine, February, 1906.
8 J. H. Plumb, "The Historian" in Churchill Revised, A Critical Assessment.
'Churchill, Lord Randolph Churchill, Volume 1.
1 "Robert Blake, The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill. (New York:
1970.)
"Randolph S. Churchill, Winston S. Churchill, Volume 1, Youth, 1874-1900.
(London: 1965.)
l2 Randolph S. Churchill, Winston S. Churchill, Companion Volume II, Parti.
(London: 1967.)
l3 Frank Harris, My Life and Loves, Volume II.
"My Early Life.

Edited by John G. Plumplom
130 Collingsbrook Blvd. Agincourt, Onl, Ml W1M7
LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL BY
WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL,
M.P. AUTHOR OF 'THE STORY OF THE
MALAKAND FIELD FORCE, 1897,'
'THE RIVER WAR,' 'LONDON TO
LADYSMITH VIA PRETORIA' ETC. IN
TWO VOLUMES. LONDON: MAC-
MILLAN AND CO. LIMITED. NEW
YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY,
1906. 8,000 copies published on 2 January
1906, prices 36s. both volumes.
Times Literary Supplement, 5 January 1906.
With a single exception, Lord Randolph
Churchill's rise to the first place in the House
of Commons is the most dazzling personal
triumph in English Parliamentary history. In
January 1781, Pitt was only a proud boy who
had inherited the greatest of all political
names. Three years later he was Prime
Minister. In 1881 Lord Randolph Churchill
was the leader of a party of four, and he and
his party were the established practical joke of
the day. In 1886 he was the leader of the
House of Commons with every eye fixed on
him as the man of the future. But there, except
for the brevity of the two lives the parallel ends
altogether. Lord Randolph's fall was even
swifter than his rise. And it was final.
It is a pleasure to be able to say that a life so
well worth writing has been admirably written.
Sons have not always proved the most
judicious of biographers and Mr. Winston
Churchill's warmest admirers would not ask
us to think him the most judicious of men. But
here is a book which is certainly among the
two or three most exciting political biographies
in the language. The book is a son's
book, of course, written from a particular
British and US (gilt top edges) Firsts.
point of view; and there are, of course, things
which might be said against Lord Randolph
Churchill, but are not said here. That is inevitable;
but the worst kind of biographer is
not he who has a point of view but he who has
not — and certainly Mr. Winston Churchill
has not unduly obtruded his. One hears the
son's voice ... but the voice of a politician
one hardly ever hears.
Good taste has not generally been considered
the strong point either of the
biographer or of his father; nor has either of
them been conspicuous for self-restraint. But
the severest critic will find very few lapses of
taste in this book; and for those few it is not the
writer's pen, but the subject's tongue, that is
responsible.
And as for self-restraint, who could have
believed that Mr. Winston Churchill could
write a book that is full of Mr. Chamberlain
and not altogether empty of Mr. Balfour and
yet write it like an historian, and not at all like
a man on a party platform? But he has.
A biography is more as well as less than a
history; its business is not merely to relate
events but to paint a portrait — what sort of
portrait of Lord Randolph is it that this book
ultimately leaves in the memory? In some respects,
that of a more complex personality
than has generally been believed. The rudest
man, perhaps, who ever sat on the front
benches had in private ' 'an old world courtesy
of manner" and was called by Gladstone "the
most courtly man I ever saw."
The man who in four years completely transformed
a great party, and prepared it for twenty
years in power, will not be forgotten so long
as English parties exist and English political
history is read.
17
The Eindburgh Review, No. 417, July 1906.
Whatever judgment men may pass on the
career of Lord Randolph Churchill, no one can
dispute the great literary talent shown by his
son in the brilliant biography he has given to
the public. However important historically the
events which he describes, he has known how to
make the personality of his father always the predominating
interest of the book. It is biography,
not history, at which the author has aimed.
The story is told, if not without partiality,
yet with very commendable frankness and with
little attempt to keep back from the public extravagances
of behaviour and language which in
his own day, if they delighted a large section
of the democracy, certainly estranged from
him no small portion of the steadier elements
in the community. Mr. Churchill has succeeded
in painting a striking and we believe on the
whole a true portrait of a very remarkable
man.
Mr. Winston Churchill has evidently inherited
many of his father's great gifts and his
own life has enabled him to understand and appreciate
the varied experiences of Lord Randolph's
career. The son has trodden in his
father's footsteps and if in addition to the great
gifts which he has inherited Mr. Winston
Churchill proves that he possesses certain
qualities in which Lord Randolph was lacking
— the capacity to work and cooperate with
other men even when they are not his subordinates,
and the power of inspiring the public
with confidence in his character as well as with
admiration of his cleverness and courage — it
is not easy to set limits to the height to which
the son's abilities may yet raise him.
Mr. Winston Churchill is naturally a little
inclined to overestimate the work done by his
father in restoring in a few years the Conservative
Party to the position of prolonged
ascendency over its Liberal and Radical rivals.
But he has told the story of the Fourth Party
with brightness and verve.
Mr. Churchill also estimates too highly his
father's services in popularizing or democratizing
the Conservative Party and he greatly
exaggerates his influence in bringing about
that alliance between Conservative and
Liberal-Unionists which provided the majority
of the House of Commons.
A man of moods, with fixed principles, cannot
be expected to give steady guidance to the
State. To excel in the party game will not suffice.
Lord Randolph Churchill was greatly
gifted, but it was not possible for him to play
the part, or leave behind him the reputation,
of a great statesman.*

Churchill in Stamps
BY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
PAGES 49-54: INTERLUDE IN AFRICA
Churchill's exciting African journey of late 1907 offers
endless opportunities for philatelic biographer* with the ICS list
of "Churchill-related" stamps — and none to those who stick
only to normal Churchill commemoratives. (Send $4 for your
C-R list, payable fCS. to the editor.) The rules are few: select
the most illustrative stamps you can find (most of them are verycheap),
keep the copy brief, and create imaginative layouts.
Remember, every layout-person will tell you that subjects should
point inward, not outward, if they face one way. Catalog
numbers are Scott (U) ami Gibbons (sg).
49. Stamp-related maps always fascinate .spectators or albumreaders.
I culled this one out of a grubby copy of the Official
Biography (Vol II). handy for providing illustrations, and easy
to find at low cost. The Edward VII East Africa and Uganda
#31/9, sg ?) are contemporary to WSC's visit, while the K-U-T
set (#63/73. sg 110/20;. K-U-T map (#118-19) and Sudan stamp
point out sights WSC saw. Kenya #67 depicts the type of train
WSC rode out of Mombasa — seated on its cowcatcher!
50. The famous photo of WSC with his Burchcll's white
rhinoceros is set off by stamp-illustrations of animals he mentioned.
Rhodesia #254&7 and SWA #251-2 show rhinos and
elephants: Kenya's set #20/35 provides others; Sudan #152
shows all of them. Stamp choices are infinite, but you have to
read My African Journey or the Biography to pick the animals.
51. Churchill's imagined hydro-electric dam at Owens Falls,
which came true in 1954. is handily documented by any from
the Uganda set #79/82 (sg 95/98), the ••before" view, and
K-U-T #102 (sg 167). the "after" view. The upper stamps are
part of K-U-T #63-73 (sg 110-20) showing Ripon Falls, which
WSC also noted.
52. Sudan's handsome 1950 airmail set, #C35-42 (sg 7) could
have been much elaborated on. with quotes from WSC's book
on these sights, notably his Nile riverboat descriptions. My
African Journey also mentions ibex, the Nubian variety being
on Sudan #98 (#99-104 are the same design) at lower left.
53. This page represents a gaffe, and one way to fix it. I suddenlyrealized
that I'd completed page 46 on Cyprus 1907 but failed to
use Cyprus #48-51 (sg 52-4). which I'd collected with this in
mind; and also that I was long past 1906. when WSC first went
to Malta (#28-9, sg 45-6; #77-8. sg 105-6). In the Biography I
found that he was in Malta on several subsequent key occasions.
I bunged the whole lot into this catch-all page, which falls
reasonably well anywhere between 1906 and 1912.
54. The only "stamp" showing Lloyd George is a Bardsey nonpostal
local/label, but it is essential at the juncture where WSC
goes to the Board of Trade and later to the Home Office. At last
a real Churchill issue rescues us: Isle of Man #49 (sg 55) shows
him as Home Secretary. Italy #909 illustrates the Lloyd
George/Marconi scandal, while the Home Rule fight is
represented by Eire issues: Countess Markievicz (#246/7, sg
243/4). Roger Casement (#214/5, sg 221/2) and John Redmond
(#157, sg 164).
A continuing series
49
50
"MY AFRICAN JOURNEY"
Ln 1907, Churchill convinced Lord Elgin to let him go look over
Firitain's new protectorates in East Africa and Uganda. He arrived
in Mombasa in late October, and set off up the line toward Lake
Victoria, thence through Uganda and the Soudan past Omdurman,
where he had fought eight years before, arid on up the Nile to
Alexandria. Braving flies and fauna (his servant Scrivings fell
victim to sleeping sickness), WSC sent voluminous messages to
home and the Colonial Office about his safari. From Gondokoro
he telegraphed home: "sofari so goody."
WSC AS WHITE HUNTER
'I wish I eld find time to write to you full accounts of all this
lost interesting journey...From the railway one can see literally
ivery animal in the Zoo.-.We saw a rhinoceros quietly grazing...
re started to sally out against Behemoth & do battle with him...
: fired at the big one with a heavy 450 rifle & hit her plum in
;he chest...You cannot resist a feeling that these brutes are
.nvulnerable & will trample you under foot however well you shoot,
lowever, all's well that ends well..."
—WSC to his mother, 6 November 1907
Sane of the animals
mentioned by
Winston in his
letters home.

k
AFRICAN VISION
KEYNOTES AT MALTA
Churchill seemed throughout his life to turn up at critical tim
in Malta, which he anyway regarded as key to the Mediterranean.
As Secretary of State for the Colonies, he recommended both Cyp
and Malta for self-government. Africa-bound in 1909, he paid a
preoccupied visit to Malta when his wife was expecting their fi
child. In 1912, he attended a critical conference there.
That "little
masonry" proved
to be Owens Falls
Dam, which took
six years to build
and cost £22 million.
Still, the
fact that such a
dam did get built
testified to
WSC's vision five
decades before.
SHU
•
is*
Pi
in June 1912, a
conference with
Kitchener and
Haldane at Malta
produced WSC's
recommendations
for "a strong
flotilla" to
counteract any
possible combination
of opposing
naval
forces in that
theatre.
51
When the dam
opened in 1954,
The Queen wired
WSC, "Your vision
has becane
reality."
UG AN DA!
53
Churchill
proposed selfgovernment
for
Cyprus and
Malta as early
as 1906. Malta
received it in
1922.
Stamps show the
Falls and the
Dam, "before"
and "after."
ASCENDANCY
CHURCHILL'S TRAVELOGUE
LIBERAL REFORM, HOME RULE
While in Africa Churchill received an offer from Lhe Strand for
a series of articles about his travels for £ 150 each, and the
journey ultimately turned an unexpected profit when Hodder and
Stoughton paid £500 for the book rights. His only travel book,
MY AFRICAN JOURNEY had cleared 40,000 copies worldwide by 1919,
and was still in print as late as the mid-1960s.
Churchill's politics were radical for those days* he pitied
though he could not personally relate to, the jobless and the
poor. As President of the Board of Trade (1909-10) he set up
the first Labor Exchanges. As Home Secretary (1910-11) he
improved conditions in British prisons.
,52
"The remainder
of our journey
[north of
Khartoum] lay in
tourist lands,
and the comfortable
sleeping
cars of the
Desert Railway,
and the pleasant
passenger
steamers of the
Wadi Haifa and
Aswan reach
soon carried us
prosperously and
uneventfully to
Upper Egypt;
and so to Cairo,
London and the
rest."
—WSC,
MY AFRICAN
JOURNEY, 1908
54
WSC's early
mentor, whom
he worshipped,
was the great
Welsh MP,
David Lloyd-
George . During
a scandal
over L-G's
'conflict of
interest 1 as
a holder of
Marconi
stocks, WSC
defended him.
Churchill
favored Irish
Home Rule,
for which
Casement died
and Markievicz
campaigned.
Home Rule
advocate John
Redmond praised
his efforts on
behalf of
Ireland.

Books: The Revisionists Revised
Neilson and Thompson: Birds of a Feather?
BY GEORGE RICHARD, TOM SHERMAN & STANLEY E. SMITH
' 'Revisionist history,'' as it is politely
called, has been going on, vis-a-vis Sir
Winston, for a long time. As early as 1949
Francis Neilson began the attack with his
reviews of The Second World War, compiled
in volume form as The Churchill Legend (Redburn
275, 1954). Neilson kept at it, with four
more works (R276-79), culminating in a
reprint of his 1954 book with the sub-title,
"Churchill as Fraud, Fakir and War-
Monger. " You rather comprehend the nature
of Neilson's views from that one.
More scholarly but equally devastating was
R. W. Thompson who, on the strength of long
correspondence with Desmond Morton, set out
to "humanize" Churchill with The Yankee
Marlborough (R351, 1963). After Morton's
death, Thompson revealed his chief source
with Churchill and Morton (R354, 1976).
Curious trivialities: Thompson also got in
touch with: Francis Neilson — whom he
described to Morton as ' 'an ancient. '' (Indeed
Neilson then claimed to have known Churchill
longer than anyone alive, back to the old
"Khaki Election" of 1906.) Ironically,
Neilson was still publishing his fulminations in
1979, long after Desmond Morton was in his
grave.
To review these fascinating works, we are
pleased to draw upon George Richard of
Tasmania, Australia, and Tom Sherman of
Kansas, USA, who review Churchill and Morton;
and Stanley Smith of Massachusetts, USA,
for the first of a multi-part review of The Churchill
Legend. — Editor
"Churchill and Morton" by R.W. Thompson.
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1976.
This is a very different book in the sense that
the reader is taken through the gestation period
of an entirely separate book, The Yankee
Marlborough. This work is concerned primarily
with the author's research for the latter,
through the offices of Sir Desmond Morton,
longtime friend and confidante of WSC.
For a war correspondent and military author
of note, and one who practiced his arts during
Churchill's greatest years, Thompson seems
comparatively uninformed about his subject. It
is the quest for requisite information that
forms his text: the correspondence between a
biographer seeking material and an erstwhile
intimate of his theme.
Although the Thompson-Morton correspondence
was exchanged between 1960 and 1962,
the reader could gain the impression that WSC
was already dead, so frequently is past tense
apparent in their letters. The approach of both
parties, the more so of Thompson, is detached
almost to the point of being insensitive.
Sir Desmond Morton was a friend of Churchill's
from 1917 until the end of the Second
World War, but perhaps the period of his
greatest influence and importance was in the
years immediately preceding that war. In this
period when WSC was in the political wilderness
— a veritable pariah to many politicians
— Morton was involved with the Industrial Intelligence
Centre. He was privy to vital information
relating to German rearmament,
statistics which indicated not only how rapid
was their build-up but also the paucity of the
British armed forces and armaments industry
by comparison.
Morton realized the urgent need to apprise
Churchill of the evidence he possessed, which
would vindicate WSC's efforts to alert Britain
to her looming peril. That he was able to do
this is fairly well known; what is not so well
known is that in so doing he had the blessing of
the three British Prime Ministers in the immediate
pre-war years, Mac Donald, Baldwin
and Chamberlain. An intriguing scenario is
thus revealed: leaders of a nation surreptitiously
supplying their leading critic with precisely
the ammunition he needed to launch his many
salvoes!
As well as throwing different light onto
many aspects of Churchill's personality,
writings and wartime premiership, this volume
brings to life the otherwise somewhat shadowy
figure of Sir Desmond. He would not allow his
20
name to be quoted in relation to WSC during
his own lifetime, and destroyed his personal
and private papers shortly before his death.
To the Churchill scholar, therefore, Churchill
and Morton is invaluable as an insight into
Morton the person, as contrasted with Morton
the official.
Morton the person is of course able to speak
his mind in a manner his official alter ego
could not have countenanced. In addition to his
comments on WSC, he deals at some length
with other political figures of the day — Eden,
for example, receives considerable attention
— and with British military leaders of the Second
World War. This latter feature is
bolstered by the inclusion of correspondence
from and between several of them.
The work is not uncritical of WSC although
such criticisms as do appear, primarily from
Morton, seem to have been made objectively
and from an association unique in its various
facets.
For the student of WSC the Thompson-
Morton exchanges ought to be required
reading, not only for some original propositions
(Morton compares the character of WSC
with that of Henry VIII) but for the views,
some perhaps iconoclastic, expressed by both
parties.
In summation, a very readable, instructive
and unusual book worthy of inclusion in any
Churchill collection.
— George F. Richard
My reactions to and appraisal of this book
must be understood in the context of what
many of us have experienced: my early years
spent growing up through the period of World
War II. The perception of a "war," even at a
distance, makes very deep impressions on the
mind of a young boy. I can recall in some
detail that Sunday evening at the supper table
when our family heard the radio announcement
of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Before
that, the sounds of Big Ben, ack-ack, and
Edward R. Murrow's "This ... is London."
I kept a scrapbook of newspaper reports from
the various theatres of war. The picture or
name of Winston Churchill appeared frequently
and, a few times, a transcript from one
of his speeches would be broadcast.
So it was that a composite picture of WSC
took shape in my mind through those years,
much of it, I am sure, a product of the propaganda
mill of the Anglo-American press.
Realistically, that picture has had to change
during the last 40 years. The flood of official

and unofficial histories, memoirs, diaries,
journals and biographies has served to blur
edges, fill in empty spots and generally add
color and balance to what had been, in all
probability, a wartime necessity.
I will admit to some surprise when I received
R.W. Thompson's Churchill and Morton.
I had seen mention of it as a secondary
source in Christopher Thome's Allies of a
Kind, and had rather expected a narrative or
memoir. What I found was interesting and
provocative — but disappointing. I had hoped
to find something instructive about the long
relationship between WSC and Desmond Morton.
There was some of that, but in a way only
incidental to the format of the book — a series
of letters between the author & Morton over a
period of 20 months relating the author's progress
in the writing of what would be The
Yankee Marlborough. Thompson professed to
be searching for the "real Churchill" to offset
the "mythical" or "legendary" man that he
believed most writers had foisted on the
reading public. I have not yet had the opportunity
to read Yankee Marlborough, so my
opinion may be premature and ill-informed,
but if the thrust of this book is an indication,
then Thompson is only partly successful. He is
attempting to complete a structure fitted
around a framework of preconceived opinions
and suppositions. I learned many years ago
that historical methodology is generally
limited by two extremes — one by the
historian who researches all relevant facts and
arranges them with no apparent attempt to interpret
them; the other by the historian who
constructs a framework for his thesis and uses
only those facts which agree and fit into that
framework.
Thompson's stated purpose was an assessment
of Churchill and his impact on our times;
to "discover the man." Yet he seems consciously
or otherwise to have attempted to
psychoanalyze him. WSC was neither a perfect
human being nor a "mere mortal," but I
do not consider Thompson or Morton qualified
to subject him to psychoanalysis. Nevertheless,
at one point Thompson arrives at the
conclusion that WSC's self-centeredness, his
need to dominate, was the result of having
been ignored by both his parents during his
formative years. There are other references by
Thompson and Morton to a dream that Churchill
had and had written about, concerning his
early soldiering career. They interpret the
dream to explain WSC's egotism, pride and
lack of consideration of others. At yet another
point, Morton shows that Churchill's character
made him incapable of complete friendship
with any other man . . . unless he could
consider that man inferior and of use to him.
And now, Thompson: "His aim was survival
at any cost. His values would not be consistent
with honour in the extreme." And again, Morton:
"Of course he was a great man, as the
world counts greatness. So were Henry VIII
and Ivan the Terrible.'' Morton also states that
Winston's nearest approach to a mutual friendship
in recent years was Brendan Bracken,
Bernard Baruch and possibly, Beaverbrook.
One would be led to believe that, in light of
some of those opinions of his character, Churchill
would have been fortunate indeed to have
had any friends at all.
There are a number of opinions relating to
WSC's wartime leadership, or lack of it.
Thompson states that 1941-42 was a vital
period when Churchill realized power, abused
it and virtually lost it in terms of the Allies. He
does not immediately expand on this theory,
but I consider that an astonishing remark to
make in view of the conditions leading up to
that time, over which he had no control. Great
Britain was still "paying the price" in terms of
production, manpower and shipping for having
not listened to WSC's warnings in the late
Thirties. Churchill may have misjudged the
military and political situation in the Far East
badly through that time, but he was not alone
in that respect.
Thompson and Morton criticize and question
Churchill's personal and military judgment.
Morton does absolve WSC of any blame
for the Dardanelles failure during WW I, but
he suggests that tactical and strategic errors in
WW II made by WSC helped greatly in contributing
to England's loss of power and position
in the world. The 1940 Norwegian campaign
is described as badly timed and ill-conceived.
Churchill is made responsible for the staggering
losses in the Far East, Middle East,
Balkans and various setbacks in the Mediterranean,
North Africa and, ultimately, the loss
of Eastern Europe. The implication is left that
WSC was a one-man band with a bad conductor.
Churchill is continually pictured as refusing
advice and forcing his decisions on all and sundry.
Morton disapprovingly accuses Churchill
of gathering information from sources other
than the Chiefs of Staff. In light of Morton's
function vis-a-vis WSC in the 1930s, it seems
a rather questionable point.
One of the most damning remarks in the
book is made by Morton in reference to the
relief of Gen. Wavell in North Africa: "The
first time I ever deeply disliked Winston and
realized the depths of his selfish brutality was
when he told me why he was sacking Wavell."
He quotes WSC as muttering over and over
again, "I wanted to show my power." Morton's
analysis was that Churchill heartily
disliked anyone whom he had to respect, but
couldn't dominate.
That he had the authority to sack Wavell is
unquestioned. That he made the correct decision
is probably arguable either way. That he
made it for the reason Morton states is totally
unacceptable. I'm sure that Morton believed
that was what WSC said. I simply do not.
Another of the more serious charges against
Churchill, in Morton's opinion, relates to the
aims and objects of Stalin. He tells Thompson
that "until the war was over and Churchill was
out of power, he never would grasp the truth
about Stalinism. Winston didn't realize that
Stalin was a reincarnation of all the worst
Czars. His entire concentration was on winning
the war and he gave no reasoned thought
to anything else whatsoever."
Subsequent developments might seem to support
that view, but I believe that he begs the
question. Churchill was aware, as early as
1918, of the depths of brutality of which
Lenin's Russia was capable. Stalin's rise to
21
power from that time certainly could not have
left any illusions. British Intelligence, through
various means, had been able to keep accurate
tabs on Russian military capabilities as early as
December 1942. The British also were aware
of the Russian psychological/political need for
buffer states on their borders. Churchill's
moves to assuage that need may have gone too
far, but in the last 18 months of the war there
was very little else that could have been done.
There was still the need to keep the coalition
together to defeat Germany. Even Morton
seems to concede that WSC hated the decisions
that were "more or less imposed on him
by Roosevelt at Yalta."
Thompson even appears to deny Churchill
his other accomplishments in writing and painting.
He told Morton that "none of this was
work in the true sense of the word — the work
that leads to scholarship." His pettiness also
includes Trumbull Higgins and Herbert Feis:
"Research and facts are sound, but they
should be, with university and foundation
backing, support and whole teams of research
workers."
My feeling is that the book fails in the attempt
to find the ''whole man.'' It is singularly
unbalanced against Churchill. It can best be
said by Gen. J.F.C. Fuller, "we are writing
lone impressions, much more of what we think
and feel." Or, by Morton: "Any sort of
history contains a greater or less element of
fiction . . . but rising above that the element of
'Art' can give a far truer impression of probable
historical fact than a catalogue of mere
facts." Witness some of Thompson's subsequent
books, apparently written using the
same approach and method: Churchill & the
Montgomery Myth, Montgomery the Field
Marshal, Churchill Revised, Generalissimo
Churchill. I realize that Thompson is one of
the better revisionist historians, and that there
are criticisms to be made of Churchill.
Relentless flattery is not appropriate or
desirable. But I much prefer Martin Gilbert's
catalogue of the facts.
— Tom Sherman
The Churchill Legend, by Francis Neilson;
Nelson, Appleton, Wis. 1954
Reviewing a review is a delicate task, but a
worthwhile one if the original work reviewed
is of particular interest or importance. Winston
Churchill's The Gathering Storm is unquestionably
such a work. It covers the years between
the close of the First World War and
Churchill's ascension to the Premiership in
1940, and is reviewed by Francis Neilson in
the appendix to his 1954 work, The Churchill
Legend.
Neilson is highly critical of The Gathering
Storm, just as his other writings are highly
critical of Churchill himself. The great
preponderance of his criticisms, however,
stem from a curious misunderstanding of the
nature of the work. The Gathering Storm is
avowedly a memoir, a personal perspective,
and makes no pretense of being a thorough and
impartial history of the period. "I do not
describe it as history," Churchill states, "for
that belongs to another generation. But I claim

with confidence that it is a contribution to
history which will be of service to the future."
Neilson acknowledges Churchill's explanation
of the nature of the memoirs early in his
review, but ignores this fundamental understanding
and criticizes The Gathering Storm
from standards applicable to an objective
period history. This is especially so in his
chiding of Churchill for not presenting all
sides of the crucial Parliamentary debates of
the period, and for occasionally allowing at
least a hint of nationalistic feeling to creep into
the narrative. These would be plausible criticisms
if the work pretended to be a balanced
and purely objective history, but are hardly
relevant to a personal memoir.
Was Churchill correct in choosing a personal
approach? Viewing his narrative of the
Second World War as a whole, one must
answer in the affirmative. The reasons are
noted by Churchill himself in the preface to
The Gathering Storm. Since he occupied a
position of supreme power for nearly the entire
duration of the war, an account of his personal
experiences, heavily supplemented by
documents, offers a unique and absolutely invaluable
contribution to history.
It must be acknowledged that the personal
approach is less effective in The Gathering
Storm than in the subsequent volumes, because
it is the only volume that covers a period of
years in which Churchill was not Prime
Minister — nor even, for many years, in office
at all. Since he was not then the mover and
shaker he later became, his personal perspective
in that work is less central to the vital decisions
of the period discussed than in the rest of
his memoirs. The immense value and advantage
that Churchill's personal approach lends
to the remainder of the war narrative,
however, more than compensates for any
slight relative weakness in that regard to be
found in The Gathering Storm. Even this
weakness is largely dissipated in the second
half of that volume, in which Churchill is First
Lord of the Admiralty and, as such, already a
major force in the war effort.
Stanley Baldwin, probably the dominant
British political figure in the years between the
wars, naturally figures prominently in The
Gathering Storm, particularly as an antagonist
of Churchill in the debates on national policy
of the 1930's. Neilson argues that Churchill
emphasizes his disagreements with Baldwin
because he was bitter over being excluded
from office "since 1925." (In fact, the year
was 1929.) The years in the political Wilderness
were unquestionably frustrating for Churchill,
but to attribute his disagreements with
Baldwin entirely, or even largely, to personal
resentment, is simply absurd. Neilson himself
quotes a passage in which Churchill states that
"in all these years and later I never had an
unpleasant personal interview or contact with
him, and at no time did I feel we could not talk
together in good faith and understanding as
man to man."
Far from being substantially personal in
nature, Churchill's quarrels with Baldwin over
India and national defense were based on fundamentally
differing convictions about the
proper state and course of national and Imperial
policy. Even the passage cited by
Neilson about Baldwin using "the last flicker
of his power" against Churchill relates as
directly to vital national issues as, in this instance,
to Churchill's personal political fortunes.
The context of the passage is Baldwin's
appointment of Sir Thomas Inskip as Minister
of the Coordination of Defense, an important
and newly-created post for which Churchill
had generally been considered a prominent
candidate. The appointment of the unknown
(and, some might argue, ill-qualified) Inskip
produced intense astonishment. Moreover,
Churchill later describes his rejection for the
post as a personal blessing in disguise, as it
prevented him from being in any way associated
with the disastrous policies of the late
1930's.
Neilson says the quarrel between Churchill
and Baldwin is given chapters when it should
be given a page or. two. Were it merely a matter
of personal political recrimination, this
would be true. It is the decade-long series of
debates and actions over vital national issues
between prominent British statesmen that is
given chapters, however. And it deserves
them.
In the section on Lloyd George, Neilson expresses
amazement that Churchill fails to articulate
the criticisms of his policies by his
Parliamentary opponents of the 1930s. Again,
the duty of presenting all points of view
belongs to the impartial historian rather than
the memoirist. In fact, however, Churchill
does quote both Lloyd George and Lord
Lothian at the time of the German reoccupation
of the Rhineland and on other critical occasions.
Churchill also fully acknowledges
that the pacifistic views of these men were
widely shared by the public, as is shown in the
passage from pages 77-78 quoted by Neilson.
It need hardly be said that the quotations
given by Neilson of Lloyd George and Lothian
today bear a strange and pathetic ring. One
may concede Neilson's indignant claims that
these men imagined they had reliable sources
of information and that they were devoted to
Great Britain's interests. One may also point
out that their imaginations were wrong and
their pronouncements completely misguided,
as subsequent events amply demonstrated.
Those who so wanted peace adopted policies
that led directly to its dissolution. In light of
this, Neilson's claim that the public and its
leaders at the time "knew a lot more about affairs
than [Churchill] thought they did" is difficult
to understand.
In an unbelievable aside, Neilson wonders if
Churchill was in accord with Hitler in his contempt
of free institutions. Churchill's entire
life was a repudiation of such a comparison,
and such a suggestion from an author makes
one suspect the presence of a stubborn and
unreasoning prejudice against Churchill.
Though never a pure democrat — constitutional
monarchy was the form of government
he loved best — Churchill's record in defense
of free institutions is exceeded perhaps only by
Lincoln's.
Neilson next devotes a section to an examination
of Churchill's evolving views on
Hitler. He claims that Churchill underwent a
22
"spiritual earthquake" in 12 months, and
turned from praise of Hitler to condemnation
of him. This is untrue on two counts: (1) The
mildly complimentary passages were written
in 1932-39, while the "maniac of ferocious
genius" appeared in The Gathering Storm
(1948). Thus the change in emphasis occurred
over a span of nine to sixteen years, not one.
Even Mr. Neilson would be hardpressed to
deny that the entire world attained a much
clearer and more thorough understanding of
Hitler's character and purposes in the course
of those years, to its terrible and bitter cost.
In the second place, Neilson misunderstands
the nature of Churchill's earlier praise of
Hitler's achievements. Churchill did not praise
Hitler's character or ultimate aims, which
were then ambiguous at best to most observers.
He noted Hitler's personal magnetism, which
was undeniably powerful and a great element
of his rise to authority. He cited as remarkable
the transformation of Germany from a defeated
state to a powerful nation under Hitler. And
remarkable it was — even though Germany's
newly-regained power was eventually put to
dark and terrible uses. He praised Hitler's love
of his country, and expressed the hope that
England, if defeated, would also find a champion
to restore her to power, and this is nothing
more than an expression of Churchill's sense
of patriotism. In none of this can be found an
endorsement of Nazism, a panegyric on Hitler,
or even a trace of implicit trust in Hitler's virtue
or wisdom. Indeed, by saying that "...
the world lives in hope that the worst is over
..." (Great Contemporaries), Churchill
clearly indicated, as is well-known, that his
misgivings about Hitler arose early in the rule
of the Fuehrer.
Neilson similarly attempts to show a gaping
inconsistency in Churchill's views on Germany
and the German people by citing a
speech given in 1908 and a passage written in
1948. Even aside from the incalculable
changes wrought in Germany and throughout
the world between those years, the analysis is
faulty, because the passages are taken out of
context. Neilson concludes from the 1908
speech that Churchill saw Germany at that
time as "a prey to European intrigue and a
drudge amongst the nations of the Continent."
In fact, the speech plainly shows that Churchill
saw the German people as having risen from
that state and having "won themselves a
foremost place in the front of civilization.".
This was at a time when the German nation
had shown its genius but not the extent of its
capacity for atrocity, and Churchill wished
them well in continuing along enlightened
paths.
The second passage, written two world wars
later, was penned as part of an explanation of
France's apprehensions about Germany. As
such, it cannot be read as a repudiation of
Churchill's earlier hopes and good wishes for
the civilized well-being of the German people.
Neilson goes on to raise a number of
specific but minor and mostly irrelevant items
in the narrative in support of his attack. Most
of these, however, are simply not consistent.
He begins by attacking Churchill's description
of Germany as the "head and forefront" and

"prime cause" of World War I, and says
everyone knows that Germany was not
"wholly responsible." Of course not all other
nations were free from blame, but Churchill
never said that Germany was wholly responsible.
He said Germany was primarily responsible,
which is very different. Neilson here is
simply setting up a Churchill straw man to
knock down, and not for the first time.
Similarly, he criticizes Churchill for calling
World War I a war of peoples, and says that,
in fact, few members of Parliament or the
public fully understood the causes of the war.
This may or may not be so, but it is completely
beside the point. Whether or not the people
understood the causes of the war, they believed
they were in the right, and they sacrificed,
fought, bled, and died in profusion for it.
The remainder of Neilson's review deals
with the British guarantee to Poland in 1939.
In it, he tries to paint two contradictory portraits
of Churchill and his view of the
guarantee — one calm and laudatory and the
other raging and frustrated. Once again, a
careful examination of the passages and their
contexts dispels any imaginary contradictions.
The first passage cited shows Churchill's
belief in the vital importance of including
Russia in any effective scheme for maintaining
an Eastern bulwark or, if necessary, an
Eastern front against Germany. From this perceptive
belief he never wavered, and he was
quick to act upon it in 1941. Following Germany's
invasion of Russia that year, he
promptly extended his hand to welcome an
Anglo-Russian alliance when he could just as
easily have persuaded his hardpressed countrymen
to leave the despised Bolsheviks to their
fate.
The second passage, which Neilson describes
as an unparalleled "explosion of
temper," follows a description of the sudden
and dramatic reversal of the Chamberlain
Government from appeasement to firmness
following the Nazi absorption of the remains
of Czechoslovakia. Churchill presents an eloquent
and ironical indictment, not of the Polish
guarantee, but rather of the blindness of
British leaders in waiting until circumstances
were desperate before displaying such principled
determination. In both passages, Churchill
displays his beliefs in prompt action and
sound strategic balance, and in no way do the
passages contradict each other.
Finally, in discussing Churchill's account of
the Norwegian campaign, Neilson expresses
surprise that much of the account concerns
movements of the Fleet. Considering that
Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty at
the time, this is hardly astonishing.
It is a pleasant relief to turn, in conclusion,
from rebutting criticisms to speaking briefly of
the pleasures of The Gathering Storm. Though
this largely introductory volume lacks the
closely detailed view from the summit found in
the subsequent volumes encompassing Churchill's
Premiership, it finds compensation in
the greater freedom it affords its author. Churchill
the narrator is here in his prime, and he
sweeps along the grand landscape of the years
with a broader and lighter touch than is possible
in describing the close, desperate struggle
that followed.
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the
book is its essential magnanimity. It is a vindication
without vindictiveness. Though a
memoir, written in triumph, of years in which
the author was long ridiculed by many only to
be proven right, it portrays the virtues as well
as the faults of the leaders of the period.
Nearly any prophet, telling of his cries in the
wilderness, would have set the tale entirely in
black and white. Churchill omits neither the
grays nor the smudges and, though firm in his
judgments, is unfailingly courteous and balanced
in rendering them. Part of Churchill's
chosen "Moral of the Work" is "In Victory:
Magnanimity." The work shows how deeply
this attribute was a part of Churchill himself.
— Stanley E. Smith
' 'WINSTON AS FRAUD, FAKIR AND WAR-MONGER''
(title acknowledgement to Francis Neilson)
"P admire] his ability to absorb the most virulent criticism ..." Hon. Caspar w. Weinberger, iCS/Boston 1985
Above left: Strube in the Daily Express, 13 December 1913, when WSC's Naval Estimates
topped £50 million and Lloyd George (bottom right) threatened to resign. "Mrs. Cocoa Press"
says, "Come away from that window, you naughty boy, you have too many of those toys
already." Above center: Strube, same paper, 13 September 1919. John Q. Public says, "You
did it to me with your Sidney Street — Antwerp — Gallipoli 'fluence, but not in this stunt."
(WSC as Secretary of State for War was decrying "the foul baboonery of Bolshevism," suggesting
preventive war in Russia.) Above right: And again! Strube in the Express, 1 April
1914, the cartoon entitled LET THE RED BLOOD FLOW (over Home Rule), and a poem:
"Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum!/I smell the blood of an Ulsterman./Be he alive or be he dead,/I'll grind his
bones for Devlin's bread." Lloyd George,another Liberal anathema to the Tory Express, is at
right, labeled "For Lying" (in the Marconi Scandal). Right: Sidney Low in Labour's Star,
castigating WSC for anti-Socialist stance. (The banner is held by Nortchliffe and Beaverbrook,
always a favorite of cartoonists. Baldwin is the soldier with the pipe.) Heavy going!
23

76, 60 & 26
Edited By John G. Plumpton
SPRING 1886: Age 11
The highlight of young Winston's year was the visit of his
nanny, Mrs. Everest (Woom), and his brother Jack, to his
school at Brighton. Despite many pleadings Lord and Lady
Randolph had declined to visit their son at school, but when
the young boy's life was seriously threatened by pneumonia
the parents rushed to his bedside. The constant attention of
Dr. Robson Roose, the family physician who came down
from London, may have been the critical factor in saving
Winston's life. Both Lord Salisbury, the Prime Minister, and
the Prince of Wales enquired about the boy's health.
In April Lord Randolph made an infrequent visit to his
recovering son and presented the delighted boy with a toy
steam locomotive.
Lord Randolph's political life was as anxious as his personal
affairs. Joseph Chamberlain and other Liberals split with
Gladstone over Home Rule for Ireland. Throughout the spring,
feverish activity dominated the Houses of Parliament as
the dissident Liberals negotiated with both the Prime Minister
and the Tories.
Gladstone pleaded for support for his Bill for the Better
Government of Ireland: "Think, I beseech you, think well,
think wisely, think not for a moment but for the years that are
to come. ..." But Home Rule was defeated.
Lord Randolph's contribution to the defeat was private and
behind the scenes. He was the emissary with Chamberlain.
But before a crowd in Manchester he coined the phrase
"Unionist Party" to cover the divergent groups opposed to
Home Rule, principally the Tories and the dissident Liberals
under Joseph Chamberlain.
SPRING 1911: Age 36
Expecting their second child (dubbed "the Chumbolly"),
the Churchills celebrated Easter at Blenheim. On 28 May a
son, Randolph, was born at their home on Eccleston Square,
London.
Shortly after, Winston attended his annual camp with the
Oxfordshire Yeomanry at Blenheim. On 22 June they attended
the first of three coronations they would see during
their lives. Clementine was not expected to attend but,
through the kind offices of King George V, a royal carriage
was sent for her and returned her to the hungry Randolph immediately
after the ceremony.
Along with Home Office duties, Winston piloted the Parliament
Bill through the House of Commons. When the House
of Lords amended it out of recognition, it was obvious that
the final battle was at hand. Meanwhile, the Government
searched for a solution to the perennial Irish problem.
The acrimony created by these political battles was
somewhat mitigated by the creation of The Other Club. The
genesis of The Other Club is unclear. Some claim that Parliament
was the first club but The Other Club's official historian
suggests that the founders, Winston Churchill and F.E.
Smith, started it in response to their failure to secure election
to The Club, in Oxford. The first dinner was held on 18 May
1911 and The Other Club still meets in the Pinafore Room of
the Savoy Hotel.
24
SPRING 1936: Age 61
Britain's relations with the great powers of the continent
dominated Churchill's political and literary attention.
His work on the third volume of Marlborough (Woods
A40) was aided by the arrival of a new research assistant, Bill
Deakin. Deakin later attributed Churchill's ability to write in
the midst of international crises to his "ruthless partition of the
day, the planning of things all the time. There was never a
wasted moment. He had intense control."
His concerns with defense were outlined in a series of articles
serialized in the Evening Standard and subsequently
published in Step by Step (Woods A45).
Some friends, impressed by Hitler, tried to change his mind
on Germany. His cousin Lord Londonderry wrote: "I should
like to get out of your mind what appears to be a strong anti-
German obsession because all these great countries are required
in the political settlement of the future ..."
Churchill replied that he was not obsessively anti-German
and that he did not think that war between England and Germany
was inevitable but "British policy for 400 years has been
to oppose the strongest powers in Europe by weaving
together a combination of other countries strong enough to
face the bully. Sometimes it is Spain, sometimes the French
monarchy, sometimes the French Empire, sometimes Germany.
I have no doubt who it is now. But if France set up to
claim the over-lordship of Europe, I should equally endeavour
to oppose them. It is thus through the centuries we
have kept our liberties and maintained our life and power."
Similar foreign policy objectives had motivated his ancestor
and subject of his biography, the Duke of Marlborough.
SPRING 1961: Age 86
In early March Sir Winston joined Aristotle Onassis' yacht
at Gibraltar for an unhurried tour of the Caribbean and the US
coast. On the day the first Russian cosmonaut went into
space, Churchill arrived in New York Harbor for the final
time.
Among the luncheon guests on the Christina was UN Ambassador
Adlai Stevenson, who later commented to reporters:
"This is a very great man, who has been the conscience
of freedom in his time, and who now is in the sunset
of his life and entitled to the privacy that he has earned in
those years of endeavor."
After lunch, Sir Winston observed the departure of
the Queen Mary, the Cunard ship which had conveyed him
to his wartime meetings with Franklin Roosevelt. At dinner he
was joined by his longtime friend, 90-year-old Bernard
Baruch, who told the press: "It will be good to be with him.
He's a wonderful young man at 86." During dinner he received
a telephone call from President Kennedy, who offered
to send a special plane to bring him to the White House for a
visit. But the old man was too infirm. Besides Lady Churchill
was in hospital and he wanted to get back to her. Although
pleasantly surprised, he declined the invitation but accepted
"for some other time."
On 14 April on Pan American Flight 100, Sir Winston
Churchill left his mother's homeland for the last time.

Q. Can you determine if Churchill said the
following, and if so, when and where he said
it: "To be a reservist is to be twice a citizen."
A. This quote was given us by a Florida Army
Reserve Company, and despite extensive digging
we could not find it. Can anyone help?
Please write the editor.
Q. Can you determine the place and date of
this Churchill quote, used by Kay Halle in "Irrepressible
Churchill" (1966, p. [vi]). . . "In
my belief, you cannot deal with the most
serious things in the world unless you also
understand the most amusing."
A. This was asked of us and Fulton by the
Reader's Digest. Once again, we tried and
failed, and request your help.
Q. Does any stamp show Churchill as Home
Secretary c. 1910?
A. Yes: Isle of Man's 1974 Centenary commemorative
set includes a 4'Ap value so depicting
WSC, Scott 49, S-G 55. See also
"Churchill in Stamps" this issue and ICS
Churchill Collectors Handbook, Seel, p. 1.8.
Q. I just purchased for $85 a copy of
Malakand Field Force from a bookseller in
New York City. It is the Silver Library Edition,
Woods Al(b), in fantastic shape with the
original maps and frontispiece in extraordinary
condition. The spine is good and sturdy,
still well bound, and the cover is in great shape
also. Could you tell me anything about that
particular edition and estimate its worth for
insurance purposes? I thought I was pretty
fortunate.
A. You were. Every so often even big-city
booksellers make mistakes, usually by underrating
non-first editions. [Our member was apprised
of the value and is delighted; any
member may learn the details by writing the
editor.] The lovely maroon and gilt Silver
Library Edition has the first "Malakand" text
entirely approved by the author. In size it is an
approximate duplicate of the first edition, but
the editing is far more professional. Four impressions
were produced. This is a very worthy
addition to any library.
Send your questions to the editor, PO Box
385, Contoocook NH 03229 USA.
It was my pleasure to be with you at the dinner
on 2 November in Boston, and I am just
glad that my schedule allowed me to join you.
I am glad to know that your members seem
to have become inspired to start new chapters
and recruit new members, and if I was in any
way helpful, I am all the more pleased.
It was good to see you, and I will look forward
to our next opportunity to meet and
perhaps have more time to chat a bit.
— Caspar W. Weinberger, Washington
The Sir Winston Churchill Pub referred to
in FH5Q was not the first. Many years ago as a
student in Paris, my colleagues and I used to
frequent the Sir Winston Churchill Pub near
L'Etoile. I have no idea whether the establishment
still exists (your readers might be helpful
here), but I do remember my introduction to
Watney's Red Barrel. Whether WSC would
have approved of this concoction, again, I
have no idea. But I am sure he would have approved
of how I passed my student days in
Paris — some 15 years ago.
— Richard D. Carreno
N. Grosvenordale, CT
I am pleased to advise that Golden Hill Fort
[Hayling Island, Hants.] has been selected by
the Co-ordinator of the Defence of the Realm
Project as the Isle of Wight site location and
headquarters for this Project.
The Defence of the Realm Project with its
considerable publicity resources will, I feel
confident, bring more overseas visitors to the
Isle of Wight, which has played such an important
part in the nation's history, and we will
do our best to justify this selection.
—W.T. Perkins, C. Eng., MIERE
Hayling Island, Hampshire, UK
Thank you for your story about the limited
edition of the Winston Churchill writing desk
from Chartwell. I would like to clarify a few
points: the limited edition of 250 desks is not
for sale in the US only, but worldwide in all
150 countries with which Britain has diplomatic
relations. The purchase price is based
on a London price of £4200. Distribution is expected
to be as little as one or two per country
except for the US and others which have a
larger allocation. Information may be obtained
in the USA from us at 77 Main St., Tappan
NY 10983, and in England from Mrs. Broome,
Administrator at Chartwell, Westerham,
Kent, TN16 IPS.
—Norman Shaifer, President
Heritage Arts Ltd.
25
NEW MEMBERS
South Africa
Capetown — P.V. Mills; Port Elizabeth —
Elizabeth Nel.
Sweden
Varberg — Per Starefors, Olof Svanberg.
United Kingdom
Bucks — Marlow/John Evans; Essex —
Malden/F. Rendell, Rayleigh/A.H. Benham.
Woodford Green/Ralph Tremayne Prout, MBE;
Gwent — Chepstow/K.G. Tufft; Hants — S. Benfleet/J.E.
Morris; Lanes — Hambleton/P.M.
Welsh; Mdlsx — Enfield/R.A. Smith, Northolt/
V.A. Woodcock.
UK Addenda: Essex — Billericay/Norman J. Mutchinson;
Warks — Stratford/Dale Weber; Scotland
— Glasgow/Bob Sutherland.
United States
DC - Washington/Celia Hoke; 111 - Winnetka/Douglas
M. Reimer; MD — Chevy
Chase/Harry L. Freeman; Mass — Boston/Thos. A.
Robinson; Norton/Austin C. Smith; NY — NYC/C.
Austin Fitts, Donald F. Malin Jr., Mrs. J. Sterling
McClusky, Charles W. Sprague; Tenn — Hendersonville/Tom
Cope; Texas — Arlington/Homer
Burks, Richard M. Flatt, Lowell Hoover, Mark
Mahan, Dr. Mitchell Smith, Randy Stevenson;
Dallas/Dr. W. J. Bufkin, Barbara J. Girard,
Margaret Koons, Daphne Baynham White;
DeSoto/Ernest Gower.
*Will any recent member who has not seen his or
her name on these lists since FH48 kindly notify the
editor.
Our Spring catalogue features two new books: the
reissue of Kay Halle's IRREPRESSIBLE CHUR-
CHILL - Woods D(a)21/5 — published @ $19.95,
our price $17 postpaid.
And BLENHEIM REVISITED by H. Montgomery-Massingberd,
a magnificent illustrated
256-page documentary with profuse color photos,
published @ $16.95, our price $14 postpaid.
OUR SPRING CATALOGUE 16, available by 1
June, is 16 pages, lists 850 volumes by and about
WSC, from fine firsts to paperbacks, from $2 to
$750. Write for a copy if you are not on our mailing
lists. Telephone bus. hrs. DST: 603-746-5606.
Churchillbooks, Burrage Road, Contoocook,
New Hampshire 03229 USA.

Gaming
20 JULY/NEW HAMPSHIRE
The New England Chapter of ICS invites
you to our second English pub lunch and gettogether,
held again at Barbara and Richard
Langworths' colonial home outside Concord,
New Hampshire on Sunday, 20 July. A Churchill
film will be shown on outdoor VCR-TV.
We will be able to examine members' Churchilliana,
books and memorabilia. A traditional
ploughman's lunch will be served, along
with English and Yank beer and soft drinks.
The location is 1 '4 hours north of Boston, 3
hours from Hartford. To join in, send $6 per
adult, $3 per child to ICS, c/o Putney House,
Contoocook, NH 03229 USA. Road directions
and inn suggestions will be sent to all who plan
to come.
SUMMER/NORTH TEXAS
The North Texas Chapter of ICS will be
meeting this Summer to plan future events,
following the sell-out success of our luncheon
for Lady Soames and Sir John Colville in
Dallas on February 19th. To contribute ideas
or learn more details please contact David
Sampson, 5603 Honey Locust Trail, Arlington
TX 76017.
6 SEPTEMBER/LONDON
Owing to business commitments I have
rescheduled the UK AGM to Sunday 6
September at the Barrie Suite, Hospitality Inn,
Bayswater Road, London W2, from noon onwards.
A finger buffet with wine will be
served at 1PM; tea, coffee, and biscuits will be
available later, at the inclusive cost of £7.50
per member or guest. We hope to have a guest
speaker, and will be showing the 45-minute
film "Churchill the Man" at the close of proceedings.
Bookings by 1 July please, Geoffrey
J. Wheeler, 88A Franklin Ave, Tadley, Basingstoke,
Hants RG26 6EU.
AUTUMN/TORONTO
The Toronto, Canada chapter of ICS was
organised at a meeting of a dozen members
at the National Club on 1 May. Officers were
elected as follows: Pat Cassels, President;
Murray Milne, Secretary-Treasurer; John
Plumpton, Program Consultant. George Temple's
great services saw him named honorary
chairman and life member.
John Plumpton reported that an ICS Award
in British History will be presented annually to
students at both York University and the
University of Toronto. (More on this will appear
shortly in Finest Hour.) Robert Gillan offered
to organise the Spring meeting on
27 May or 5 June. If you wish to join in
on our future activities, contact Pat Cassells,
11 Woodmere Court, Islington, Ontario,
Canada M9A3J1.
4-6 OCTOBER/VANCOUVER
The International Churchill Society's Annual
General Meeting occurs at the Harbourside
Holiday Inn in Vancouver, B.C., Canada,
on Saturday through Monday October 4th-6th.
Featured are two noted speakers, a black tie
dinner with band, various daytime meetings
and events, and time to visit Expo '86 in Vancouver.
For registration details watch the next
issue of Finest Hour.
We strongly urge that you book your rooms
at the Harbourside Holiday Inn now, Special
rates are in force for ICS. See details on page 4
of this issue or contact the hotel at 1133 West
Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. Canada
V6E 3T3, telephone (604) 689-9211.
Classified advertisements of all kinds are free
to ICS members. Deadlines for copy: Spring
issue, 1 April; Summer issue, 1 July; Autumn
issue, 1 September; Winter issue, 1 December.
The editors reserve the right to edit advertisements
and to reject advertising that is not
suitable for Finest Hour. Send to the editor.
• Churchill Sculpture by Karin Churchill:
an exact copy of the original at Blenheim
Palace, limited to 400 only, of which about
200 have been subscribed. This 16-inch-high
work in cold cast bronze is individually made
by the artist from the original mould, and
depicts WSC in his Garter robes. Each statue
is signed, numbered, registered, and accompanied
by a Certificate of Authenticity. The
International Churchill Society will benefit
from each sale. Price 1300 plus shipping.
Karin Churchill Studio, The Lodge, Jam Way,
Boars Hill, Oxford, OX1 5JF, England.
TRADE OR SELL
SAVROLA: A lovely near-fine copy of the First
American (and world) edition, 1900. Prefer to swap
up or down for similar pre-1920 Churchill works.
Jack Nixon, 29 Partridge Lane, Sudbury MA
01776.
WANTED
VIDEOTAPES OF WSC, especially "The Finest
Hours" documentary by Jack LeVien (British film,
1964). Prefer to purchase, willing to rent. Douglas
Marden, Box 35, Princeton, MA 01541 USA.
"THE WILDERNESS YEARS" (8-part PBS
television series): Wish to borrow your VCR recording
for personal duplication. All or any of the 8
episodes wanted. Richard Langworth, Putney
House, Contoocook, NH 03229 USA.
CHURCHILL'S FREEMASONRY: Information,
leads, any data desperately wanted on WSC's career
as a Freemason 1901-12 (Studholm Lodge no.
1591). Masonry is NOT a secret society but an
organization with some secrets. I have material
from 10 years of effort which I would share, but
hope to learn more. No Mason would be in trouble
for revealing anything he might know, and anything
which should not be printed won't be. I hope to
publish in Finest Hour and in Masonic papers. Otis
V. Jones, Jr., Box 5366, Raleigh, NC 27650 USA.
FOR SALE — BOOKS
A4: LONDON TO LADYSMITH, 1st US edn, exlib,
ratty spine, orig top/bottom boards $60; 1st Br
edn fully rebound in half-calf, ribbed sp, marbled
eps & edges, water damage Iwr half top/bottom
boards, Iwr crners chewed, conts clean, unfoxed
$75.
26
A8: LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL: 1st edn,
spine sunned, a good reading copy, 2 vols. $50.
A12: MY AFRICAN JOURNEY, 1st US edn, very
scarce, ex-lib in lib binding, lacks tissue over frontis,
but very difficult to find in any condition $100.
AI5: LIBERALISM AND THE SOCIAL PROB-
LEM, 1st edn, a very nice copy $275.
A31(b): THE GREAT WAR, 3 vols in publisher's
red cloth $75; the original 26 parts (v.scarce) $200.
A44(a): ARMS AND THE COVENANT, 1st edn,
spine sunned, otherwise a nice copy $60.
A45: STEP BY STEP, 1st edn, very nice $110; 1st
US edn in damaged but scarce dust jacket $85.
A138(a): HISTORY OF E.S. PEOPLES, 1st edn,
4vols, all with djs, si.chips or tears on those of vols
1 and 2, a nice set $90.
"A142/1": THE SINEWS OF PEACE. Not in
Woods. The Fulton speech publishes 1965 by
Halcyon-Commonwealth, NYC, Preface by H.
Truman, soft, fine $35.
B27: ALL CLEAR AFT, v.g. copy $15.
B47: HAPPY ODYSSEY, 2nd ptg, nice $10.
B58: ADVENTURE IN OIL, 1st edn, VG $10.
B60: MEMOIRS OF GEN THE LORD ISMAY:
1st edn in somewhat torn dj $20; 1st US edn, good
copy $10.
C25: LORD ROBERTS, in Windsor Magazine
bound vol, article fine, can be had with poor
binder's cloth (at higher postage) or separated, $40.
ALSO AVAILABLE: All Canadian first edns of the
war speech vols in dust jackets $25 ea, with the exception
of VICTORY and S.S. SPEECHES which
are $30 ea. Without jackets $18.
Postage extra.
Ronald I. Cohen, 5 Murray Avenue, Westmount,
Quebec, Canada H3Y 2X9.

NEW CHURCHILL NEEDLEPOINT
ICS STORES
Sold in support of the International Churchill Society.
Orders: USA: Sue Hefner, 134 North Woodlawn, Lima, OH 45805.
UK & Commonwealth members may order from their national offices.
"ACTION THIS DAY" LABELS
NEW ICS CHRISTMAS CARDS
AND NOTE CARDS
NEUEB
61UE
IN
* #108 Reproductions of WSC's famous wartime
label. Perfect for tax returns! Black &
orange, 3 x 1% inches. Pad of 1Q0 postpaid:
USA $3, UK £2 , Canada C$4, Australia A$5.
MIRRORPIC CIGARETTE CARPS
Beautiful original needlepoint kit created by
Donna Johnson of ICS. Makes a lovely wall
hanging-or a perfect throw-pillow to warn
poachers off your favorite easy-chair. WSC
appears in traditional profile with bowtie,
initials, dates and slogan as above. Color:
black on white. Size: ll'/i x 15 inches.
#103 Canvas alone, postpaid: USA $25,
UK £18, Canada C$36, Australia A$40.
" #104 The full kit (yarn, needle, canvas,
instructions). Postpaid: USA $39, UK £29,
Canada C$55, Australia A$60.
• #109 Rare originals by Mirrorpic/England,
full set of 50 depicts WSC life scenes, Ppd:
USA $20, UK £15, Canada C$27, Aus. A$32.
WSC LIBRARY CREDO
Silhouette artist Elizabeth Baverstock (see FH#48
p. 6) has kindly donated her elegant Churchill
silhouette art to our UK chapter for use on these
handsome Christmas and note cards. Each measures
4x6" with the cover silhouette framed by an embossed
border.
tt\ 15 Christmas Cards. Inside is a Christmas
greeting at right, facing Sir Winston's Christmas
1941 greetings as broadcast from the White House.
Packets of 10 cards and envelopes, postpaid: USA
$5, Canada $6. (In UK & Australia, order direel
from your local ICS office—see page 2 for address.
These cards omit the White House greeting.)
#116 Note Cards. As above but blank inside for
notes/letters. Packets of 10. same prices as above:
USA $5, Canada $6.
EFFANBEE CHURCHILL DOLL
' #101 In stock for immediate shipment, a
handsome, hand-crafted collector doll by the
famous New York producer, Effanbee. Sir Winston
wears his spotted bowtie, Homburg,
correct formal attire and gold watchchain,
carries a cigar in one hand and flashes a V-sign
with the other. Low production limited edition
assures that its value will appreciate. Our supply
limited-order soon. Size: 16% inches. List
price $100+. ICS postpaid price: USA $68,
UK £49, Canada C$92, Australia A$103.
(Overseas sent surface-parcel.)
ICS COMMEMORATIVE COVERS. Limited edition covers issued by ICS
in the past, all of which have long been collectors items. Supplies of some
very limited. Each cover bears a special cachet, plus Churchill or C-related
stamps of the country of issue, and contains a descriptive insert
with information on the anniversary celebrated. Postpaid including overseas
airmail: USA $3, UK £2, Canada C$4, Aus. A$5.
#5 30th Anniv. 1st UN Conference. Washington 28 Dec 71
*« 10th Anniv. Honorary US Citizenship. Washington 3 Apr 73
#q~n UnVeiling WSC Statue > hand-drawn cachet, London 1973 (25 exist)
|y Opening Centenary Exhibit, Somerset House London 10 May 74
ff 10 10th Anniv. WSC's Last Visit to Commons, London 27 Jul 74
fflta Hoover-Churchill Centenary, London 10 Aug 74
I j; ! " Oth Y car of WSC's Birth, hand cancel, London 9 Oct 74.
#12h A ab ° Ve " but Somerset House postmark in blue ink.
#131
Ve ' bUt Somerset House postmark in black ink.
#1 sifinl
y of Centenary Exhibit, hand cancel. London 14 Oct 74
#7 nn u " niy - WSC ' S Birth > Washington 30 Nov 74
T* -lUUth Anniv. WSC's Birth, Jersey, Channel Isles 30 Nov 74
• #113 Printed on buff parchment. Postpaid:
USA $2, UK £2, Canada C$2.75, Aus. A$3.
FINEST HOUR BACK ISSUES
• #114 Full set numbers 1-40 (some early ones
photocopied) postpaid: USA $98, UK £72,
Canada C$133, Australia A$ 150.
'Single copies: Numbers #17, 24, 26, 30-36,
38 to date. Each, postpaid: USA $3, UK £3,
Canada C$4, Australia A$5.
PHILATELIC
ICS HANDBOOK SUPPLEMENTS
Each 4-page supplement, postpaid: USA $1,
UK £l, Canada C$1.50, Australia A$2:
• Section I (Stamps) Numbers 1,2,3, &4.
• Section II (Books) Numbers 1,2,3,4,5.
• Section III (Membership) Number 1
Section IV (Works by WSC/Foreign Editions)
Number 1
CACHETED ENVELOPES
• New all-purpose ICS cachet 3Vi x 6, thermoengraved,
pack of 25.
Each pack postpaid: USA $7, UK £5,
Canada C$9, Australia A$10.
#20 40th Anniv. El Alamein, Battleground, Virginia 4 Nov 82
#20a As above but limited edition Churchill, Maryland cancel.
#21 75th Wedding Anniv., Winston/Clementine, London 12 Sep 83.
#22 40th Anniv. D-Day, Normandy Beach, New Jersey 6 June 84
#23 40th Anniv. Battle of the Bulge, Patton, California 26 Dec 84
#24 85th Anniv. Escape from Boers, 6 S. Africa stamps/cancels. 1984
#25a 40th Anniv. V-E Day, Churchill. Ont. 8 May 1985
#25b As above, Dominica stamps & cancel. 8 May 1985
PHILATELIC ODDS AND ENDS: Each of the following packages costs
US $3, UK £2, Canada C$4, Australia A$5, postpaid, airmail overseas:
• Art Craft Churchill Maxi-Cards, thcrmo-engraved WSC portrait, with
either US or UK stamps, canceled at Fulton or London.
• Isle of Man Churchill Centenary 1974 first day covers
• Essex Stamp Show Churchill Centenary valid postcard June 1984
• Australia Churchill Stamp on Nov 1973 cacheted covers, 2 different
• Cover marking 20th Anniv. WSC's funeral, 30 Jan 1985
• Cafe Royal cancel Centenary cover, octoganal machin S/Sheet
• Turks & Caicos & Gibraltar Centenary cacheted envelopes, in pairs.
1
27

asidQSt
I speak to you tonight
for the first time as Prime Minister
in a solemn hour for our country,
for our Empire,
for our allies,
and above all for the cause of Freedom.
The Germans, by a remarkable combination
of air bombing and heavily armoured tanks,
have broken through the French defenses
north of the Maginot Line,
and strong columns of their armoured vehicles
are ravaging the open country . . .
We must not allow ourselves
to be intimidated
by the presence of these armoured vehicles
in unexpected places behind our lines.
It would be foolish, however,
to disguise the gravity of the hour.
Our task is not only to win the battle —
but to win the war.
After this battle in France abates its force,
there will come the battle for our Island —
for all that Britain is,
and all that Britain means.
That will be the struggle.
In that supreme emergency we shall not hesitate
to take every step, even the most drastic,
to call forth from our people
the last ounce and the last inch of effort
of which they are capable.
Having received His Majesty's commission,
I have formed an Administration of men and women
of every Party,
and of almost every point of view.
We have differed and quarreled in the past;
but now one bond unites us all:
to wage war until victory is won,
and never to surrender ourselves.
to servitude and shame,
whatever the cost and the agony may be.
This is one of most awe-striking periods
in the long history of France and Britain.
It is also, beyond doubt, the most sublime.
Side by side,
unaided except by their kith and kin
in the great Dominions,
and by the wide Empires
which rest beneath their shield —
Side by side the British and French peoples
have advanced to rescue not only Europe,
but mankind,
from the foulest
and most soul-destroying tyranny
which has
ever darkened and stained
the pages of history.
Behind them—
behind us—
behind the Armies and Fleets
of France and Britain,
lie a dozen shattered States and bludgeoned races:
the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians,
the Danes, the Dutch, the Belgians,
upon all of whom
the long night of barbarism will descend,
unbroken even by a star of hope,
unless we conquer,
as conquer we must,
as conquer we shall.
Today is Trinity Sunday.
Centuries ago words were written
to be a call and a spur
to the faithful guardians of Truth and Justice:
"Arm yourselves,
and be ye men of valour,
and be in readiness for the conflict;
for it is far better for us to perish in battle
than to look upon the outrage
our nation and our altar.
"As the Will of God is in Heaven,
even so, let it be."
— Broadcast, London, 19 May 1940