Journal of the International Churchill Society - Winston Churchill

Churchill in Stamps
BY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
PAGES 25-30: WINSTON TO INDIA
This six-page segment of philatelic adventures is built entirely
around Churchill's travel to India at the height of the
British Raj (and you need to read many books to understand
it; "The Jewel in the Crown," good as it was, remains superficial).
The lack of actual Churchill commemoratives referencing
this period again requires the philatelic biographer to
rely, with only one exception, on CR (Churchill-Related)
stamps.
25. This page is unfinished, but since this series may later be
reprinted I include it for continuity. Incidentally, there is a
mistake in the text: the typical Indian tour of duty was nine,
not five years. Egypt #46-60 (sg ?) are the stamps Winston
probably bought for his brother Jack at Port Said. The key
value missing is Egypt #536 (sg ?) showing Suez.
26. Ideal to illustrate almost any page concerning WSC/India
are the fine Victoria definitives in use when he arrived (in use
1895-1900: #36-46 & #50-52, sg 84-94 & 107-9). As you can
see, I've yet to find #43 and have rough examples of some
others. Places mentioned by WSC to look for on postmarks include
Bangalore, Guntakal, Hyderabad, Poona and Wadi.
27. The map comes from an old atlas and shows British India
and the independent Princely States. High-value definitives
were used, but lacking #50 I substituted temporarily #447
(sg 502), a Taj Mahal design. Another view of the "Taj" is on
India #220, issued in 1949. It is remarkable how little of the
sub-continent Britain administered directly. Bangalore, where
WSC was stationed, is in the south near Mysore State.
28. Churchill's fascination with butterflies stemmed from his
acquaintance with them in India. Three he mentioned collecting
may be found on stamps: swallowtail, purple emperor and
white admiral, Poland #1543/46 and Romania #1620. His
India garden contained roses including "La France," "Gloire
de Dyon" and "Marechal Nel," but these varieties have disappeared.
We rely on GB #786-89 (sg 1006-09) for representatives.
29. Polo, Churchill's favorite sport, is the subject here, with
Khor Fakkan Minkus #68 the only Churchill issue in these six
pages. Others are Brazil #891 (India has not to my knowledge
issued a stamp for her national sport), Laos #79 (tying in
WSC's lovelorn elephant rides through Hyderabad on a howdah
with Pamela Plowden), Pakistan #70/72 (for general views of
the countryside), one of the first three Cochin stamps (WSC
visited), and any of the Hyderabad #4-12 (sg 4-12) early definitives
(WSC played polo with the Nizam).
30.1 am reasonably confident that there's a lot more research
to be done on the books Churchill read to educate himself in
India, and the stamps available to illustrate those books. (Can
any reader provide his complete reading list?) I have found
stamps to represent his known reading of Plato on Aristotle
(Greece #RA91), On Pessimism by Shoepenhauer (Danzig
#222/4), Darwin's Origin of Species (GB's Darwin commemoratives,
also Germany/DDR #388-89) and Socrates (Dominica
#243, sg 247). The recent New Zealand 24^ definitive came on
an envelope, and reminded me that WSC had once passed an
examination on the strength of his phenomenal memory. The
night before, he put the names of countries into a hat, drew
out "New Zealand" and memorized its shape. The next day
the exam asked, "Draw a map of New Zealand." He must have
seemed a wizard!
A continuing series
25
26
TO IMDIA MLUCTANTLY
Churchill did not want to go to India, which was at peace, but
to the scene of action—yet action did not obtain. He made brazen
use of his contacts to avoid the fire-year Indian tour of duty,
but on 11 September 1696 he found himself enroute with the rest
of the Fourth Hussars.
Crossing the
Bay of Biscay,
sailing into
the Mediterranean,
WSC
glimpsed Lisbon,
later
Malta. On 20
September the
ship touched
at Port Said.
WSC vent
ashore, to
buy cigarettes
to send
his mother,
and stamps
for his
brother Jack.
The voyage
then took
Churchill
through the
Sues Canal,
completed
only five
years before
he was born.
Suet impressed
him, and
he wrote
about it at
length.
INDIAN ARRIVAL
Twenty days out of England, the Fourth Hussars arrived in Bombay
Harbor. Reaching for a docfcslde hand-ring from the dinghy taking
him ashore, Churchill wrenched his shoulder, an injury which was
to plaque him all his life and cause him to play polo with his
upper right arm strapped to his chest. But the disability caused
him to forsake rifle for pistol at Omdurman In 1896—luckily.
The Hussars
rested at
Poona, then
marched via
Wadi and Guntakal
to
Bangalore,
where they
would be
stationed,
as was then
Army custom,
for the next
nine years.
Low value
Indian
definitive
s tamps in
use during
Churchill's
arrival.
Higher values
overleaf.
Postmarked
at Poona,
where WSC
often played
polo.