international datelines - Winston Churchill

Published quarterly by the International Churchill Societies and the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill Society of British Columbia 

COVER 

The Cartton Club Portrait © Carlton Club 1992. A numbered print, signed 

by Lady Soames, is offered. See p.25. 

ARTICLES 

WSC: A Remembrance 7 

Washington Evening Star, 25 January 1965 

EngSsh-Speaking Agenda 8 

Statesmanship, Democracy and Churchill 

Secretary Jack Kemp 

Reviews: An Interesting Spring 11 

The TV Epic; New Books by Woods and Jablonsky 

Dorothy Rabinowitz, John P. Nixon, Jr., Dr. Cyril Mazansky 

Pausabnd Revisited 19 

Churchill's Favorite Villa Lives on in Dallas 

Marianne Almquist 

Churchi Organizations Worldwide 22 

Preserving the Memory - Keeping the Trust 

Introduction by The Lady Soames, DBE 

Gfrnpses: "Unpretentious and Comfortable Looking" 28 

Two 1945 Encounters with the Great Man 

James H. Heineman 

DEPARTMENTS 

Editorial/3 International Datelines/4 Adverts/5 Woods Comer/14 Gift Opportunities/25 

Churchill in Stamps/26 Churchilltrivia/29 Despatch Box/30 

Riddles, Mysteries/31 Action This Day/33 Immortal Words/36 

PULL-OUT INSERT 

Pages 1.09-1.12 , "Churchill Bibliographic Data" (All the Books of 

Winston S. Churchill: Amplified Woods List) 

FINEST HOUR 

Editor: Richard M. Langworth (tel. 603-746-4433 days) 

Post Office Box 385, Contoocook, New Hampshire 03229 USA 

Senior Editors: John G. Plumpton (tel. 416-497-5349 eves) 

130 Collingsbrook Blvd, Agincourt, Ontario, Canada M1W 1M7 

H. Ashley Redbum, OBE (tel. 0705 479575) 

7 Auriol Dr., Bedhampton, Hampshire PO9 3LR, England 

Cuttings Editor: John Frost (tel. 081 -440-3159) 

8 Monks Ave, New Barnet, Herts., EN5 1D8, England 

Contributors: 

George Richard, 7 Channel Hwy, Taroona, Tasmania, Australia 7006 

Stanley E. Smith, 9 Beech Drive, Littleton, MA 01460 USA 

Derek L. Johnston, Box 33859 Stn D, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 4L6 

Ronald Cohen, 1351 Potter Dr., Manotick ON Canada K4M 1C3 

Produced for ICS by Dragonwyck Publishing Inc. fyJ 

THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCHILL SOCIETIES 

Founded in 1968, the Society consists of three independent, not-forprofit 

charitable organisations in Canada, the United Kingdom and the 

United States, plus branch offices in Australia and New Zealand, which 

work together to promote interest in and education on the life, times, 

thought and work of Sir Winston Churchill, and to preserve his memory. 

The independent Societies are certified charities under the separate laws 

of Canada, the UK and USA, and are affiliated with similar organisations 

such as the Winston S. Churchill Societies of Western Canada. Finest 

Hour is provided free to Members or Friends of ICS, which offers several 

levels of support in various currencies. Membership applications and 

changes of address should be sent to the National Offices listed opposite. 

Editorial correspondence: PO Box 385, Contoocook, NH 03229 USA, 

fax 603-746-4260, telephone 746-4433. Permission to mail at nonprofit 

rates in the USA granted by the US Postal Service. Produced by 

Dragonwyck Publishing Inc. Copyright © 1992. All rights reserved. 

SIR WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL SOCIETY 

Founded in 1964, the Society works to ensure that Sir Winston's ideals 

and achievements are never forgotten by succeeding generations. All 

members of the B.C. Branch are automatic ICS members, while ICS 

membership is optional to members of the Edmonton and Calgary 

Branches. Activities include banquets for outstanding people connected 

with aspects of Sir Winston's career; public speaking and debating 

competitions for High School students, scholarships in Honours History, 

and other activities, including scholarships for study at Churchill College. 

PATRON OF THE SOCIETIES 

The Lady Soames, DBE 

TRUSTEES 

ICS/UK: The Lady Soames; The Duke of Marlborough; 

Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill; Hon. Celia Perkins; 

G.J. Wheeler; Nicholas Soames, MP; Richard Haslam-Hopwood; 

David Merritt; David Porter 

ICS/USA: Ambassador Paul H. Robinson, Jr., Chmn.; 

The Lady Soames; Hon. Caspar Weinberger; Rt. Hon. Lord Pym; 

Wendy R. Reves; Richard M. Langworth; George A. Lewis. 

J. Sinclair Armstrong, Norman Shaifer 

ICS HONORARY MEMBERS 

Winston S. Churchill, MP • The Duke of Marlborough, DL, JP 

Martin Gilbert, CBE • Anthony Montague Browne, CBE, DFC 

Grace Hamblin, OBE • Colin L. Powell 

Robert Hardy, CBE • Wendy Russell Reves 

Pamela C. Harriman • Amb. Paul H. Robinson, Jr. 

James Calhoun Humes • The Lady Soames, DBE 

Mary Coyne Jackman • Rt. Hon. Margaret Thatcher, OM, FRS, MP 

Yousuf Karsh, OC • Hon. Caspar W. Weinberger, GBE 

COUNCIL OF CHURCHILL SOCIETIES 

Australia: Peter M. Jenkins 

Canada: Celwyn P. Ball, John G. Plumpton 

Leonard Kitz, QC, Frank Battershill 

United Kingdom: David Boler 

United States: Merry Alberigi, Marianne Almquist, 

R. Alan Fitch, Larry Kryske, Richard Langworth, 

George Lewis, Alfred Lurie, Cyril Mazansky, James Muller

D I R E C T O R Y 

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL 

Celwyn P. Ball, Chairman 

1079 Coverdale Rd RR2, Moncton, N.B. El C 8J6 

Telephone (506) 387-7347 

THE CHURCHILL SOCIETIES 

ICS/Australia: Peter M. Jenkins, (03) 700-1277 

8 Regnans Ave., Endeavour Hills, Vic. 3802 

ICS/Canada: John G. Plumpton, Chmn. 

Hon. Sec: Celwyn Ball, (506) 387-7347 

1079 Coverdale Rd RR2, Moncton N.B. E1C 8J6 

ICS/Unked Kingdom: David Porter, Chmn. 

Hon. Sec: David Merritt (0342) 327754 

24 The Dell, E. Grinstead, W.Sx. RH19 3XP 

ICSAJSA: Amb. Paul H. Robinson, Jr., Chmn. 

Hon. Sec: Derek Brownleader (504) 752-3313 

1847 Stonewood Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70816 

DEPARTMENTS AND PROJECTS 

ICS Stores: Alan Fitch 

9807 Willow Brook Cir., Louisville, KY 40223 

Commemorative Covers: Dave Marcus 

221 Pewter La., Silver Spring, MD 20904 USA 

Publications: Richard M. Langworth 

PO Box 385, Contoocook, NH 03229 USA 

ICS CHAPTERS 

Merry Alberigi, Coordinator 

P.O. Box 5037, Novato CA 94948 USA 

Telephone (415) 883-9076 

Alaska: James W. Muller 

1518 Airport Hts Dr., Anchorage AK 99508 

Arizona: Marianne Almquist 

2423 E. Marshall Ave., Phoenix AZ 85016 

California: Merry Alberigi 

PO Box 5037, Novato CA 94948 

Chicago: William C. Ives 

8300 Sears Tower, Chicago IL 60606 

Illinois: Amb. Paul H. Robinson, Jr. 

135 S. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60603 

Nashville: Richard H. Knight, Jr. 

PO Box 24356, Nashville, TN 37202 

New Brunswick: Celwyn P. Ball 

1079 Coverdale Rd RR2, Moncton, NB E1C 8J6 

New York City: Alfred J. Lurie 

450 E. 63rd St, Apt 8A, New York, NY 10021 

New England: Cyril Mazansky 

50 Dolphin Rd., Newton Centre, MA 02159 

North Texas: Ann Hazlett 

2214 Sulphur Street, Dallas, TX 75208 

Toronto: The Other Club. Murray Milne 

33 Weldrick Rd., E., Ph #9 

Richmond Hill, Ontario L4C 8W4 

THOUGHTS AND ADVENTURES 

HOLMES-CHURCHILL SHORT STORY PUBLISHED 

By the time you read this, ICS United States will have published John C. Woods' 

Sherlock Holmes pastiche, "The Boer Conspiracy," an exciting account of how 

Holmes and Watson helped save Winston Churchill's life during the Oldham election 

campaign of 1900 — a period heretofore blank in the chronicles of Sherlock Holmes. 

This new ICS publication will be sent with compliments to Friends of ICS/USA and is 

being offered to ICS Canada, UK and Australia at the printing cost, to be distributed 

as they wish. 

Why a Sherlock Holmes story It is frivolity, pure and simple; but we know many 

Churchillians are also Sherlockians, and after all the hard work we have been doing 

on behalf of so many serious goals, we owed ourselves a treat. This is it: a story you 

will not put down until you reach "the exciting conclusion." Readers outside the 

USA who can't wait for their Society to supply copies may send £8 or $ 18 Canadian 

or Australian, payable to ICS, to the editor. We will speed one to you by airmail. 

With this issue, too, Finest Hour returns almost to schedule. We would have had 

this issue out in June were it not for the Churchill Tour, which takes us to England 

beginning June 7th, and from which we will not return until July 6th. Issue #76, 

the third quarter number, will however be out on time. In between, Celwyn Ball and I 

are taking a ten-day trip through the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, 

exploring among other things the possibility for a future Churchill Tour there. More on 

this as it develops! 

SHORTWAVE RADIO 

Many readers in Canada and the USA commented favorably on my recommendation 

of shortwave — the BBC especially — as a substitute for the non-news we get 

on AM-FM and the biased, gender- and race-driven features of National Public Radio. 

"Isn't it terribly expensive", you asked. "And if not, how do I get started" 

It's not cheap, but perhaps not as pricey as you thought. Many who bought lowcost 

shortwave receivers during the Gulf War gave up on the medium because of poor 

reception. By nature, shortwave beams vary in quality. You must have a radio with 

digital (instead of analog or needle) tuning and full 13-band coverage. That means a 

quality portable at US $150-200 or £85-120. The Sony UCF-SW7600, Panasonic 

RF-B65 and Realistic DX-380 (Sangean ATS-808) are top-rated. (Note: prices in 

Canada are 50-75% higher owing to tax, duty, and more tax.) 

If you really become hooked, you may want to acquire a tabletop, which offers 

more numerous and precise controls in exchange for non-portability and much more 

money: $750-1000/£450-600. Happily, two of the best tabletops are not made in 

Japan: the American Drake R-8 ($979), ranked best in the world; and the British 

Lowe HF-225 (£429), among the best for steady listening. Japanese rivals sprout 

more knobs and switches than a 747; Drake and Lowe reduce controls to levels ordinary 

mortals can understand. Do consider buying British or American in this field. 

For information contact R.L. Drake Co., PO Box 3006, Miamisburg, OH 45342, tel. 

(800) 937-2530; or Lowe Electronics Ltd., Chesterfield Road, Matlock, Derbyshire 

DE4 5LE, tel. (0629) 580800, fax 580020. 

I recommend two important publications. The Monitoring Times ($19.95 per 

year, $28.95 ex-USA, PO Box 98, Brasstown, NC 28905) is a monthly with many 

good features and an hour-by-hour list of all English-language transmissions. All 

foreign broadcasters — Germany, France, Russia, both Chinas, Cuba, Holland, 

Switzerland, Lithuania, Austria, etc. — have English programmes. With MT and a 

digital radio you can find them without guessing or time-consuming searches. 

Also consider Passport to World Band Radio ($16.95 in bookshops, $22.50 in 

Canada), a 386-page annual packed with user tips, top shows, frank test reports, 

and three programme guides arranged by the hour, country and wave band. 

BBC news programmes are the best in the world. Never in a year of regular listening 

have I heard one editorial opinion inserted in a BBC news story, or one value judgment 

made on the basis of a person's color or gender. The Beeb has correspondents 

everywhere; they report straight news, usually before everybody else. Their entertainment 

and discussion programmes are broadbased and intelligent; Alistair Cooke's 

"Letter from America" (Sunday at 0615, 1645 & 2230 GMT) is alone worth investing 

in a shortwave radio. Thus I recommend a subscription to BBC's monthly 

programme guide London Calling (£12, US$20, Can$25, Aus$25 from BBC, Bush 

House, Box 76S, Strand, London WC2B, 4PH, UK). 

RICHARD M. LANGWORTH, EDITOR 

The Editor's opinions are his own and not necessarily those of the International Churchill Societies. 

FINEST HOUR 75, PAGE 3

INTERNATIONAL DATELINES 

Quote of the Season 

"In dealing with nationalities, 

nothing is more fatal than a dodge. 

Wrongs will be forgiven, sufferings and 

losses will be forgiven or forgotten, 

battles will be remembered only as 

they recall the martial virtues of the 

combatants; but anything like chicane, 

anything like a trick, will always 

rankle." - wsc, COMMONS, 5 APRIL I 906 

Lady Soames at Hyde Paik 

HYDE PARK, NY, USA - The New England 

and New York Chapters of ICS join 

with the Franklin Roosevelt Library in 

welcoming Lady Soames to Hyde Park 

on August 15th, where she will view 

the exhibition of her father's paintings, 

on display through the end of the year. 

Lady Soames will conduct a walking 

tour of the exhibit with comments on 

the various paintings, after which a 

dinner will be held in her honor. Arrangements 

have been made through 

the kind invitation of Verne Newton, 

director of the Roosevelt Library, and 

with the aid of Cyril Mazansky and Al 

Lurie of ICS. All Friends of the Society 

in New England and the New York metropolitan 

area will receive booking 

forms automatically. Seats are limited, 

however, and we urge you to contact 

either ICS chapter immediately to 

reserve places. (See Directory, page 3.) 

Phoenix Chapter 

PHOENIX, ARIZ., FEBRUARY 26TH - A buffet 

dinner for 45 Friends and guests was 

held today at the home of Molly and 

John Clark. ICS Vice President Merry 

Alberigi was the featured speaker, on 

"Churchill the Painter: An Introduction 

to the Man and His Art." 

Mrs. Alberigi was introduced by 

chapter director Marianne Almquist, 

who gave a brief overview of ICS purposes 

and programs. "Churchill's 

achievements," she said, "serve to 

rank him as a premier role model for 

the younger generation who will carry 

the torch of leadership into the 21st 

century." 

The new ICS program, "Teaching 

the Next Generation," will be implemented 

by the Chapter with an awards 

program at Arizona universities and 

local high schools for history students 

writing exemplary essays on aspects of 

Churchill. Dick and Gretchen Wilson 

will explore the idea of a VCR presentation 

on Churchill suitable for young 

children. This program will be chaired 

by Dr. Carol Mattel, a Friend of ICS 

and professor of history at Arizona 

State University. With another Friend, 

Above (1-r): Lew and Patricia Roebuck, 

Marianne Almquist, Molly Clark of the 

ICS/Arizona dinner committee. Below: 

Merry Alberigi on Churchill the Artist. 

Dr. Retha Warnicke, Dr. Martel sponsored 

two graduate history students as 

special guests at February's event. 

The response to Merry Alberigi's 

presentation was enthusiastic, as we 

expected. Many who were attending an 

ICS event for the first time said this 

was a perfect introduction to the 

Society. Chapter members serving as 

hosts and on the planning committee 

included Karl and Marianne Almquist, 

Molly and John Clark, Carol and Larry 

Martel, Patricia and Lew Roebuck and 

Gretchen and Dick Wilson. 

APRIL 26TH - Rolling along, 

ICS/Phoenix met again at the home 

of Dick and Gretchen Wilson, who 

showed a 30-minute documentary on 

Churchill's public and private life and 

Dr. Carol Martel outlined plans for a 

"Teaching the Next Generation" 

award to be presented next year to an 

Arizona State University history student. 

Marianne Almquist reported on 

the February meeting and Friends were 

encouraged to suggest books on Churchill 

which they recommend. This was 

our final meeting until autumn, -MA. 

Colin Powell an Hon. Member 

PASCAGOULA, MISS., USA, MAY 15TH — 

Pascagoula Naval Station commanding 

officer Larry Kryske, a director of 

ICS/USA, welcomed Chairman of the 

Joint Chiefs of Staff here today to 

dedicate the USS Kearsarge with a 

proof copy of "The Dream" from the 

ICS archives. (WSC's haunting short 

story, produced by ICS in 1988, is currently 

out of print, but we hope to 

republish it in the future.) General 

Powell had been invited to become an 

honorary member of ICS United States 

after President Richard Langworth 

helped him attribute a quote — revealing 

his use of Churchill as a benchmark 

in his own philosophy. The quote, 

which perfectly fits General Powell's 

current campaign for Peace Through 

Strength, is from page 48 of the first 

editions of The World Crisis, Volume I 

(page 45 of the postwar Scribner 

reprint): Churchill's remarks about the 

1911 Agadir Crisis with Germany: 

War, Churchill wrote, "is too 

foolish, too fantastic to be thought of in 

the twentieth century . . . No one 

would do such things. Civilisation has 

climbed above such perils. The interdependence 

of nations in trade and traffic, 

the sense of public law, the Hague 

Convention, Liberal principles, the 

Labour Party, high finance, Christian 

charity, common sense have rendered 

such nightmares impossible. Are you 

quite sure It would be a pity to be 

wrong. Such a mistake could only be 

made once — once for all." 

Wannsee Conference Commemoration 

BERLIN, JANUARY 2OTH — In a villa on the 

banks of Wannsee Lake exactly fifty 

years ago, SS Intelligence head Reinhard 

Heydrich chaired a meeting including 

Adolf Eichmann, to organize 

and implement the "final solution of 

the Jewish Question." Today I attended 

the official dedication of Germany's 

first memorial centre to the 

resulting Holocaust, and the opening of 

an educational centre in the same villa 

where the conference had taken place, 

restored by the City of Berlin and German 

governments. The sponsors were 

"Remembrance for the Future," representing 

the Ministry of the Interior, 

Berlin state, Catholic and Protestant 

churches, Jewish community and German 

Historical Museum. 

I served with the RCAF in the war 

and found myself at the Belsen Concentration 

Camp four weeks after its 

liberation by the British XXX Corps. I 

have never forgotten the experience 


and made arrangements to attend the 

dedication ceremony. It was my privilege 

to bring greetings on behalf of the 

Churchill Societies to the Mayor of 

Berlin and the conference director, Dr. 

Gerhard Schoenberner {Finest Hour 74, 

page 3). 

The exhibition documents the events 

before, during and after the ' 'Wannsee 

Konferenz" including the minutes 

(recorded by Eichmann), and other relevant 

documents found in the German 

Foreign Office. Thirteen other smaller 

rooms portray pictorially with texts (at 

this stage only in German) the entire 

process of the segregation and ultimate 

genocide of Europe's Jews. Upper floors 

will house an education department 

and library. Dr. Schoenberner intends 

the villa to become "a centre of active 

learning" with seminars and conferences. 

STANLEY H. WINFIELD, EXEC. SEC. 

SIR W.S.C. SOCIETY, BRITISH COLUMBIA 

Fifty Years Ago (2): 

The Battle of Midway 

LONDON, JUNE 1942 — ' 'The annals of war at 

sea present no more intense, heartshaking 

shock than this battle in which 

the qualities of the United States Navy 

and Airforce and the American race 

shone forth in splendour. The bravery 

and self devotion of the American 

airmen and sailors and the nerve and 

skill of their leaders was the foundation 

of all." —WSC (attribution requested). 

Anti-Churchill Bibliography 

NEW YORK, MAY 16TH - Friend of ICS Glenn 

Horowitz sends us "The Drama of 

Eight Days,'' an eight page booklet subtitled, 

' 'How war was waged on Ireland 

with an economy of English Lives," 

published by Irish Republican Headquarters 

in New York and meant to 

solicit funds for the "American 

Association for the Recognition of the 

Irish Republic." Inside, highly selective 

quotes indict the "conspirators," 

General Macready, Lloyd George and 

WSC, who is quoted in the House on 26 

June 1922: "The presence in Dublin 

... of a band of men styling themselves 

the Headquarters of the Republican 

Executive is a gross breach and defiance 

of the Treaty." That sort of 

thing. Churchill's role as a key conciliator 

in the complicated negotiations 

that actually saved the Irish Treaty is, 

of course, ignored altogether. If anyone 

is interested in this pamphlet, please 

contact the editor. This is a probable 

new Woods Section D(b) entry, -RML 

No Doffing in Victoria 

VICTORIA, B.C., SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1929 - ChUTchill 

attended a Canadian Club luncheon 

at the Empress Hotel here, 

speaking about the role of the Royal 

Navy and the financial position of 

England. Afterward, during photographs 

on the hotel's balcony, the men 

were asked to remove their hats for the 

camera. Everyone but Churchill did so, 

but whenMayor Herbert Anscomb asked 

Churchill to do likewise he replied, 

"No I won't." Comments the Victoria 

Islander of January 12th: "Obviously 

the sun was far too bright [though 

later], perhaps as an act of penance, 

Churchill made time in his schedule to 

plant an English hawthorne in Beacon 

Hill Park's Mayor's Grove." The 

photograph, which is part of the 

Anscomb Collection, shows Churchill 

with his hat firmly rooted. 

— SUBMITTED BY JOHN PLUMPTON 

WSC, with hat, Vancouver, 1929 

Update on Churchill Books 

Forthcoming 

• Companion Volume VI, Part 1, 

The Churchill Papers, Volume 1: 

' 'At the Admiralty,'' September 1939- 

May 1940 will be published by 

Heinemann in the autumn. All readers 

of Finest Hour will receive complete 

ordering details at a discount price in 

these pages from the New Book Service. 

Part 2, "Never Surrender," has 

been delivered to the publisher and is in 

progress; it covers Churchill's chief 

documents for the balance of 1940. 

Eight additional volumes will cover the 

PULL-OUT CENTER SECTION 

In the center of this issue please find Section 3 of 

the "Amplified Woods List" of books by Churchill. 

Remove and file with previous inserts. The 

next issue will contain the final Section of this 

listing. 

five remaining years of the war, the Opposition 

period, the 1951-55 Second 

Premiership, and the 1955-65 retirement 

years. Edited by Martin Gilbert, 

these volumes have been made possible 

by the generosity of Wendy Reves and 

Friends of ICS in the United States and 

Canada. Heinemann tell us that these 

volumes will be bound uniformly with 

earlier Companion Volumes but jacketed 

differently; ICS may create an allpurpose 

white dust jacket for those 

who wish the jackets to appear uniform. 

To Be Reviewed Next Issue 

• The Great Betrayal: Britain, 

Australia and the Onset of the Pacific 

War 1939-1942, by David Day. Ashley 

Redburn takes a critical look at Day's 

latest outburst to the effect that Churchill 

forsook Australia and Menzies 

could have been Prime Minister of Britain. 

• Churchill: The Making of a Grand 

Strategist, by David Jablonsky. An excellent 

military historian (see reviews 

this issue) has published his third work 

on Churchill with the U.S. Army War 

College. Chris Harmon, of the Navy 

War College, reviews the book. 

• Churchill: Strategy and History, 

by Tulva Ben-Moshe is a book on the 

same subject as above, but far more 

critical. The editor will cast a jaundiced 

eye on this one. 

•The Opposition Years: Winston S. 

Churchill and the Conservative Party, 

1945-1951 by Frank Mayer (a Friend of 

ICS) is just out, in the American 

University Studies Series, published by 

Peter Lang. 

CLASSIFIED ADVERTS 

Personal advertisements of a brief 

nature are available free to Friends of 

the Societies. 

For Sale: 1978 Rolls-Royce Silver 

Shadow II. Garage kept, excellent condition, 

silver and burgundy righthand 

drive motorcar. Serviced by a Rolls- 

Royce/Bentley specialist. An advantageous 

purchase at $35,000. Tel. (609) 

448-0363 in USA. 

For Sale: If this issue is going to deal 

with used cars, consider my 1952 

Triumph Mayflower, the "watch 

charm Rolls,'' 84-inch wheelbase razoredge 

two-door saloon, RHD, handsome 

in black and ivory side panel flash. Excellent 

condition. Make offer. Contact 

the editor, Rt 1, Box 682, Hopkinton, 

NH 03229. Tel. (603) 746-5606. 


REVIEWING CHURCHILL 

EDITED BY JOHN G. PLUMPTON 

The Second World War, Vol. 1, The 

Gathering Storm, Boston: 

Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948 

and London, Toronto, Melbourne, 

Sydney, Wellington: Cassell & Co. 

Ltd., 1948. {The Saturday Review 

Of Literature, 31:7, 19 June 1948, 

reviewed by Rebecca West.) 

Mr. Churchill's account of the 

events leading up to the Second 

World War and its first awful year, 

which subjected us to ordeal by 

stagnancy, is a puzzling book. It is 

clear as crystal about everything 

except the man who wrote it. That 

clarity, so far as it goes, is beyond 

price, and we must thank heaven 

that when it decided to complicate 

earthly affairs it provided a chronicler 

with the vitality to cope with 

that complication. This is not to 

say that Mr. Churchill's writing 

always pleases. He is not nearly so 

good at the style which Sir Walter 

Scott called "the big bow-wow" as 

he thinks he is. His rhetorical passages 

seem, like the first English 

automobiles, to be preceded by the 

man carrying a red flag. But in his 

less flamboyant moods he is a 

master. 

He is without match in his generation 

for his exquisitely feline 

portraits of his enemies. But Churchill 

is the leader of the Tory Party, 

and he is not going to make it lose 

face altogether, so though he gives 

Baldwin away entirely, and frankly 

reveals Neville Chamberlain's incompetence 

at certain periods, he 

preserves certain reticences. This 

leads him at times into slight falisfications 

of history. 

But apart from partisan tenderness, 

Mr. Churchill has served history 

well. This book can be recommended 

to everybody who wants to 

keep by them a handy record of 

what happened between the end of 

the First World War and the beginning 

of the Second. 

His literary gift enables him to 

describe a certain manifestation so 

odd, so out of the run of reasonable 

life, that it would defy a less accomplished 

pen: the intrusion of 

the barbarians cherished and 

chosen as emissaries by the Fascist 

powers, into the familiar world of 

ordinary manners and. morals. 

Then, having shown how the ponderables 

and imponderables made a 

war, Mr. Churchill takes on the 

task of teaching the general reader 

something of tactics and strategy. 

But the whole book is puzzling. 

When it tells the story of the 

world's progress to its second total 

war, it has to tell the story of Mr. 

Churchill's own life; and that propounds 

a mystery. He is the most 

able statesman of his time, and he 

foresaw the most dangerous threat 

to his time. Yet his political life 

has been a matter of shouting from 

one to the other of the older political 

parties until he was thrown into 

the desert by the Tories for the 

best part of a decade. He was made 

Prime Minister only when Great 

Britain was in the extremest peril 

of death, and once he had averted 

that peril he was ejected from office. 

It is a tragedy; for humanity 

produces so little genius that it 

needs to avail itself of all there is. 

This volume indicates that some 

of Mr. Churchill's difficulties with 

his colleagues may have been due 

to his phenomenal egotism. He 

was inconsiderate of others and 

surrounded himself with smallsized 

men, except for "Prof." Baldwin 

and Chamberlain excluded 

him from the Cabinet because they 

thought he was displeasing to the 

electorate. They were, in an immediate 

and personal sense, quite 

wrong. When the electorate sees 

Mr. Churchill walking down the 

street or hears him over the radio, 

it likes him very much indeed. It 

likes his infantile contours, his 

several optimistic and epicurean 

chins; the gusto with which he 

munches his juicier phrases, particularly 

if they cock a snook at his 

enemies; his easy and beaming possession 

of the first requisite of 

manhood, courage; his rich solemnity, 

which shows him aware but 

not afraid of pain and death; his 

preposterous clothes, which are obviously 

the cast-offs of a hippopotamus. 

The very sight of him sends a 

crowd into sudden, tender, familiar 

laughter. Yet, as the polls show, 

the crowd is ambivalent. It loves 

him, it distrusts him, it fears him. 

England has always kept Winston 

Churchill because behind him 

they see the towers and parks of 

the great houses which were the 

nerve centres of the old order,- in 

him they fear the insolence which 

was the occupational disease of 

those who lived in the great houses. 

They suspect that, given his head, 

he will ride down the common 

man. It is interesting to read The 

Gathering Storm with an eye on 

the evidence it offers for and 

against this charge. There is some 

support for it in his views on certain 

international matters. In his 

estimate of the factors operating at 

the end of the First World War 

which caused the Second World 

War he names the complete breakup 

of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

He remarks, quite inaccurately, 

that "there is not one of 

the peoples or provinces that constituted 

the Empire of the Hapsburgs 

to whom gaining their independence 

has not brought the tortures 

which ancient poets and 

theologians have reserved for the 

damned." 

But he has a fine record as a 

maker of democratic England in his 

various periods of office. He consulted 

socialist Beatrice Webb on 

staffing the Labour Exchanges he 

set up. He wanted to abolish poverty; 

and other inequalities too 

were his enemies. 

We sigh in astonishment at the 

fools who year in, year out, kept 

out of power the man to whom we 

British owe our lives. But that is 

the story told in the first volume. 

There are more volumes to come. 

Did the stopped clock tell the right 

time then, too Did the fools, with 

the clairvoyance which is sometimes 

given to compensate for foolishness, 

foresee Teheran, Yalta, 

Potsdam, indeed all the terrible 

matter that will have to be explained 

in subsequent volumes 


WSC: A Remembrance 

\ HURCHILL is dead, gone from 

V> the world he saved. And the 

world he saved, distracted still by 

the flow and eddy of the aftermath, 

has not yet reckoned its debt to 

him. 

Perhaps that sum cannot be reckoned 

up, so great it is. Our very 

troubles of this time derive from 

that more nearly mortal evil that 

Churchill fought and ended. 

Are the emerging nations irritated 

and frustrated at what they 

take to be survivals of the British 

Raj Had it not been for Churchill, 

they would have been spared their 

hurt feelings, for they would never 

have emerged at all. 

Does Charles de Gaulle grow restive 

at the failure of the nations to 

see his glory The question would 

not have arisen without Churchill 

to fight for a France that had been 

captured. 

Are Americans troubled with the 

problems of the alliance We'd 

have been spared our troubles had 

not Churchill stood when all else 

fell. It is hard and endless to 

achieve the unity of Europe There 

was a European unity of slavery 

and depravity designed to last a 

thousand years. Because of Churchill 

it is no more. 

The Russians themselves may 

count their debt to that great man. 

Had England made its peace with 

evil, the Russian state would have 

dropped into the dark of history or 

have become, in the extension of 

the Stalin-Hitler pact, the complete 

political expression of the 

worst shadows in Stalin's mind. 

But Churchill did not fail. He 

lived and spoke and fought, and so 

all of us live as we do. 

In an age of progressive thought, 

he seemed an odd man to become a 

hero. He liked cigars and brandy 

and high cuisine. He believed 

deeply in the virtue of royalty. He 

believed in the British Empire, in 

gallantry, in chivalry. He believed 

in language and in the golden deeds 

of the English past. In an age that 

wrote history in terms of social 

movements and philosophical 

evolution, Churchill read history 

as a glorious record of brave men 

and the things they did for their 

country. 

He was old-fashioned and out of 

date. But when the hour struck it 

was his alone. For the evil that rose 

in Germany was a timeless evil. To 

meet it required a cast of mind 

that Churchill had, a dedicated innocence, 

a belief in battles and in 

courage. The monstrous German 

war-gods came up from under 

mountains and brandished again 

their hammers and axes. Their 

shadow of death spread through the 

heart of Europe, north to the polar 

ice, south to the Sahara, over all of 

France and paused for a moment at 

the little strip of water before 

England. 

In that moment Churchill spoke 

and his voice was like Roland's 

horn at Roncesvalles. He broke the 

spell of the evil magician and 

roused the world to fight for its 

freedom. Against the Wehrmacht's 

mechanical might, he had, for a 

while, only the gallantry, the 

courage, the spirit of his people. 

These old-fashioned virtues held 

the battle. 

He saved the world and his world 

at home replied by turning him out 

of office, for a new time had come. 

He said that he would not preside 

over the dissolution of the British 

Empire, but it is dissolved and it 

had to be dissolved. Yet whatever 

hope of freedom and dignity all 

men have today, they owe in part 

to the last glorious fight of that 

Empire, and to its ability to bring 

forth, as its last gift, the man, 

Winston Churchill. 

May angels attend him. 

THE EVENING STAR 

WASHINGTON DC, 25 JANUARY 1965 

SUBMITTED BY DR. HERBERT GOLDBERG 

FELLOW OF ICS UNITED STATES 


ENGLISH SPEAKING AGENDA 

Statesmanship, 

Democracy and Churchill 

Acceptance of the Churchill Award by Secretary 

Jack Kemp, Claremont Institute, 30 Nov. 1990 

Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to accept the 

first annual Winston Churchill Statesmanship 

Award today, on what would be Sir Winston's 

116th birthday. 

I love the Churchill story about the reporter who 

was once kind enough to let a rising young politician 

named Winston Churchill preview an upcoming 

article about his recent speech. At the end of a 

long quotation from Churchill's remarks, the newsman 

had written the words "cheers" to describe 

the audience's reaction. Churchill scratched it out. 

The reporter was amazed by what he thought was 

an unusual display of modesty, until Churchill 

wrote instead: "loud and prolonged applause." 

So if there are any reporters in the room tonight, I'd 

like to have a word with you after the speech. 

What a thrill it was for my wife and me to take 

our 19-year-old son Jimmy to Chartwell last 

summer and spend several hours walking in the 

footsteps of history. We also had the great privilege 

of visiting the War Rooms in London where Sir 

Winston charted the movements of great armies on 

the wall maps, commanded the forces of Great Britain, 

and spoke the courageous and inspired words 

that rallied the British Isles and all the West in his 

extraordinary radio broadcasts between 1940 and 

1945. 

Churchill is not only the "Last Lion" and the 

greatest leader of the 20th century, he was also 

among the most visionary statesmen the world has 

ever known. Now that is quite a statement coming 

from a card carrying Reaganite who believes that 

the Nobel Peace Prize should have gone to Ronald 

Reagan, not Mikhail Gorbachev. 

This thrilling era of global change — of peaceful 

democratic revolutions following the sudden collapse 

of Soviet totalitarianism labeled by President 

Bush the "Revolution of 1989" — was anticipated 

by Churchill over four decades ago. But more than 

that, I believe his postwar leadership helped lay the 

foundation for the policies of deterrence and 

strength that culminated in today's historic events. 

Sir Winston's deep concern for Soviet repression 

never undermined his long-term optimism. More 

Mr. Kemp is United States Secretary of Housing 

and Urban Development. 

than 30 years back, when others thought Soviet 

Marxism would eclipse the Western liberal democracies, 

Churchill wrote: "As long as the free world 

holds together . . . and maintains its strength, 

Russia will find that Peace and Plenty have more to 

offer than exterminatory war . . . And it may well 

be if wisdom and patience are practiced that 

Opportunity-for-All will conquer the minds ... of 

mankind." 

To Churchill's mind, the passion for freedom and 

the struggle for democracy were eternal and universal. 

But great statesmanship would be required to 

make that hope a reality. Of course, there were no 

guarantees that great statesmen would follow Churchill; 

but how fortunate for the world that two 

tremendous leaders, Ronald Reagan and Margaret 

Thatcher, stepped forward to carry us to the point 

where democracy and freedom are beginning to 

triumph over communism and totalitarianism. 

But there is so much left to be done. The 

challenges of the post-Cold War world are as great 

as this past century's challenges of defeating 

fascism and communism. 

I was fascinated by the press reports of Mikhail 

Gorbachev's visits to the United States recently 

when he told his audience that the Cold War was 

over, but went on to say it doesn't matter who 

won. 

Ladies and gentlemen, only a loser would say it 

doesn't matter who won. It does matter; it matters 

a great deal. 

But it wasn't our military might alone that won 

the Cold War — it was the power of oxir ideas and 

our Western ideals. 

A few short years ago, the communist dictatorship 

and the socialist idea were supposed to be so 

powerful that they were thought to be irreversible, 

unstoppable, inevitable, the most irresistible ideas 

of history. And not just by their dialectical proponents, 

but even by many in the West. Apart from 

a few honorable exceptions such as Professor Jaffa's 

many books, especially Crisis of the House 

Divided, and Greg Fossedal's book, The Democratic 

Imperative, leading political commentators have 

shown little faith in democracy's ability to win the 

struggle with totalitarianism and communism. 

From Oswald Spengler's Decline of the West to 

Whittaker Chambers' Witness, from Jean Francois 

Revel's How Democracies Perish to Paul Kennedy's 

Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, democracy was 

treated as almost an historical accident, a brief moment 

in time even now in its twilight. Many predicted 

that history would come to an end, in the 

Hegelian sense, in a global Marxist empire. Well, 

the empire turned out to have no clothes! 

Communism collapsed, enfeebled, ironically, by 

its own internal contradictions, and by the 

challenge of the most powerful idea in history: 

freedom — Jefferson's self-evident truth that "all 

men are created equal." The idea of communism, 

once thought to be the fuel igniting the fires of 


"A DROP OF WHAT YOU FANCY ..." 

Civil &. Military Gazette, Lahore, India, 17 July 1940 

history, wound up instead on history's ash heap. 

This occasion has a special meaning for me, coming 

as it does just two weeks after I had the great 

privilege of speaking at Gettysburg to commemorate 

the 127th anniversary of President Lincoln's 

most famous address. On the eve of a new century 

and a new millennium when the prospects for 

freedom and democracy have become so promising, 

it is fitting to pay tribute to the statesmanship of 

the two greatest champions of freedom and democracy: 

Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln. I 

recently read an early speech by Lincoln, and I 

would like to share a few of his words with you. He 

said: 

' 'If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand 

to those dimensions not wholly unworthy of 

its Almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the 

cause of my country, deserted by all the world . . . 

and I standing boldly and alone and hurling 

defiance ..." 

Well, Sir Winston himself could not have spoken 

more audacious words; yet these are the words of a 

30-year old Abraham Lincoln concerned about the 

threat to American democracy. 

Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln shared 

all the rare qualities of great statesmen. Both were 

fiery voices for the principles of freedom, rallying 

their nations to preserve and advance the cause of 

liberty. Both did stand practically alone in defeat as 

political winds shifted — Lincoln losing his Congressional 

seat, losing the Senate race, believing he 

had lost the White House in 1864 — and Churchill 

losing his Cabinet post over the Dardanelles, losing 

his House of Commons seat in 1922, and entering 

what Martin Gilbert has called his ' 'Wilderness 

Years," the decade from 1929 to 1939. 

But rather than shift with the winds of political 

opinion, both Lincoln and Churchill compelled the 

winds to turn back. 

In the end, no two leaders have ever been so successful 

after such ignominious defeat. Their victory 

was not just winning elections. Their supreme 

achievement was to save democracy from the 

strongest challenges ever mounted. Both gave 

future generations everywhere the opportunity to 

live in freedom. 

It is difficult for some to remember that in the 

decade before World War II, Winston Churchill was 

relegated to the back benches of the House of Commons. 

Many of his peers considered him an old 

man whose career had failed. They believed time 

had passed him by. During these years in the 

Wilderness, even before Adolf Hitler came to 

power, Churchill was warning of the dangers of 

disarmament in the face of what he alone perceived 

to be a growing German threat. Dogged by an unfair 

reputation for recklessness after the first World 

War, Churchill found it difficult to gain a hearing. 

In speech after speech in the House of Commons, 

members of all political parties denounced him as a 

warmonger, an alarmist — a provocateur. 

Far from being a warmonger, Churchill was in 

fact the earliest advocate of "peace through 

strength." He spent six lonely years determined to 

inform the British people about the growing threat 

of Nazi rearmament and aggression and repeatedly 

challenged the government's policies of appeasement 

and weakness. He openly disputed the government's 

figures on the balance between British and 

German military strength. He insistently demanded 

the creation of a Ministry of Supply. He bluntly 

asked whether Britain was doing all it could to defend 

democracy. 

' 'We must recognize that we have a great treasure 

to guard," Churchill said two years before Munich. 

"The inheritance in our possession represents the 

prolonged achievement of the centuries . . . there is 

not one of our simple uncounted rights today for 

which better men than we are have not died on the 

scaffold or the battlefield. We have not only a great 

treasure; we have a great cause." 

The tragedy of Munich marked the turning point 

for Great Britain and for Winston Churchill's 

political future. The policies of weakness and appeasement 

followed by Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley 

Baldwin, and Neville Chamberlain failed. The 

Nazis marched through Czechoslovakia . . . Poland 

. . . Scandinavia . . . the Low Countries . . . and 

rolled through France to the very gates of Paris in 

just 40 days. Malevolent eyes turned on Britain. 

In this dark hour, a desperate Britain summoned 

Churchill to lead the nation in war. The Wilderness 

Years were over. The battle of France had 

ended. The Battle of Britain had begun. 

Now in charge of the entire scene, Churchill 

recorded that he "slept soundly and had no need for 

cheering dreams." 

' 'I felt as if I were walking with Destiny,'' he 


said, "and that all my past life had been but a 

preparation for this hour and for this trial ... I was 

sure I would not fail." 

Three weeks into Churchill's government — 

while British forces were evacuating at Dunkirk — 

Mussolini offered to mediate between Britain and 

Germany. Germany would get the Continent; Britain 

would get independence ... to be assured by 

Hitler. Some in the War Cabinet favored opening 

talks. They believe Britain could win better terms 

before the attack that was sure to come. Churchill 

was vehemently opposed. 

When the meeting was opened to the entire 

Cabinet, Churchill gave an impassioned speech. His 

wrath grew with every word, words that poured 

forth relentlessly, hurled down like thunderbolts. 

' 'Nations which went down fighting rose again,'' he 

told his Ministers, ' 'but those which surrender 

tamely are finished." 

The stunned Cabinet erupted in applause. In a 

few minutes of powerful reasoning, Churchill 

turned uncertainty into resolve, apprehension into 

determination, fear into hope — and, with it, a near 

defeat into an eventual triumph. Ladies and gentlemen, 

that is what great leadership is all about. 

Speaking of Churchill's power over his Ministers, 

one Member, Leo Amery, remarked that ' 'no one 

ever left his Cabinet without feeling himself a 

braver man." 

Only the unwavering optimism of a Churchill 

could have inspired Britain and the West to fight 

on. He believed profoundly that freedom is vital to 

human nature and mankind would never let it be 

crushed. 

Listen to his words as war threatened to engulf 

the British Isles and fear had displaced hope. Sir 

Winston said: "These are not dark days: these are 

great days — the greatest days our country has ever 

lived; and we must all thank God that we have 

been allowed, each of us according to our stations, 

to play a part in making these days memorable in 

the history of our race." 

What was it that ultimately sustained him over 

six long decades of public life in triumph and in 

tragedy — in the first World Crisis following the 

Dardanelles, throughout the Wilderness Years, during 

the War Years, after his defeat in 1945 President 

Kennedy talked of his courage; Field Marshal 

Montgomery spoke of his domination; President 

Eisenhower said it was his defiance; Lord Beaverbrook 

mentioned his ambition; President Reagan 

credited his optimism; Clement Attlee called it 

luck. 

Yes, all these attributes marked the essential 

character of Winston Churchill. But in the end, I 

believe the anchor of his being was a profound faith 

in the overpowering force of ideas. Not just any 

ideas — Churchill's was a deeply held commitment 

to freedom and democracy, ideas which ennoble the 

long story of Britain, ideas extending from the 

Magna Carta to the America's Declaration "that all 

men are created equal,'' ideas which he believed 

were an eternal promise to transform the world for 

men and women everywhere. 

From statesmen of Churchill's rank, lessons can 

be learned that apply to nearly every political situation. 

What can we learn from him in our new post- 

Cold War era 

There is a debate raging on the right, where most 

interesting debates now take place: How involved 

should the U.S. be in the world now that the Soviet 

Empire is shrinking and aggression is waning What 

should our stance be in a post-Cold War world that 

is unipolar rather than bipolar or multipolar 

Some want to turn inward since there are no 

great threats to our national security. Some say 

"Come home, America!" Others believe we must 

continue an activist, forward-based strategy of 

spreading the global democratic imperative of 

freedom and opportunity for all; and that spreading 

democracy and entrepreneurial capitalism is a 

moral as well as a political necessity. 

Only a few months ago, probably about as many 

people had heard of Kuwait or knew where it is on 

a map, as had heard in 1935 of Abyssinia or knew 

where it was. Churchill, still out of power, saw 

Mussolini moving into Abyssinia. With typical 

foresight, he asked, ' 'Who is to say what will come 

of it in a year, or two, or three . . . with Germany 

arming at breakneck speed, England lost in a 

pacifist dream, France corrupt and torn by dissension, 

America remote and indifferent ..." 

The Western democracies did nothing to stop 

Mussolini in Abyssinia. Then Hitler took the 

Rhineland, the Anschluss followed, then the 

Sudetenland, then Prague, then Poland, and Pearl 

Harbor. The world, supposedly liberated from global 

threats only twenty years before, once again 

plunged into war. But Kuwait — that was different. 

America must do more than just stand against 

something. America's mission is to stand foi 

something, to be that "city on a hill," as President 

Reagan said. 

When the American colonies broke away from 

Britain, Jefferson, Adams, and the founders published 

the immortal Declaration of Independence. 

Isn't it remarkable that they did not begin with 

what they were against The Declaration's story 

begins by stating what America is for. we are foi 

the idea that all men are created equal. We are foi 

the natural rights of all human beings. We are foi 

government by consent of the governed. 

America's mission to the world did not end when 

communism ended. Our mission is ongoing. It was 

recognized by Sir Winston in his "Sinews of Peace" 

speech, inscribed in the words on this wonderful 

award. Our mission is to continue to tell the world 

that we are foi the freedom and human rights of all 

men and women, for all time — and to do everything 

we can to transform the ancient dream and 

hope of freedom into a democratic reality 

everywhere. And with God's help, we will. • 


Reviews: An Interesting Spring 

The Churchill Television Epic; 

Frederick Woods' Latest Book About Books; 

David Jablonsky on Churchill and Total War 

-®V Clllirefiil1 ' 

" TbeGreat 

') Game and 

i Total Wai' 

ICS Book Svc offers "Churchill: A Life" $25, "Artillery of 

Words" $30, "Great Game" $28 (see p25) 

Churchill: A BBC Television Documentary 

By Martin Gilbert. Produced by the British Broadcasting 

Corp., aired in England on BBC-TV and in the 

USA on the Arts &. Entertainment Cable Network. 

Videocassettes available in the USA at approximately 

$60; inquire with A&E Network. 

by Dorothy Rabinowitz 

Anytime is a good time to think on the life and 

career of Winston Churchill. Still, the arrival of a new 

documentary on the British leader did come at a 

wrenchingly auspicious time — smack in the middle 

of election campaigns here and in England. One need 

only to think of the depressing assortment of presidential 

candidates both in and out of office who 

would be pitiable to behold judged against almost any 

measure. Imagine what it feels like to be confronted 

at this hour with memories of Winston Churchill. 

It feels, in fact, terrific, for as long as it lasts. Churchill's 

official biographer, Martin Gilbert, was the 

chief source, writer and narrator of this four-part film 

shown on the A&E Network in April and earlier in 

Britain by the BBC. Historically comprehensive and 

fact-packed, though with a lyricism its subject would 

have appreciated, this is above all a work of biography, 

with a story that begins at the beginning. And 

that beginning — as earlier biographies haven't 

shown in anything like this vivid detail — was a 

dismally lonely and neglected one. His mother and 

father, who led busy social lives, apparently had no 

time to spare for their son, who was, like most 

children of the upper classes, packed off to boarding 

school at seven. His parents did not come even on 

days like Speech Day, when most of the other boys' 

parents arrived. 

Ms. Rabinowitz is Leisure & Arts columnist for The 

Wall Street Journal. Mr. Nixon, is a member of, and 

Dr. Mazansky director of, ICS/New England. 

The letters home, in which young Winston 

Leonard Spencer Churchill pleaded for a visit or even 

a letter, tell the tale. To his mother, the boy wrote, 

' 'If you have not time to write, darling mummy, you 

might telegraph. That takes very little time." 

Another letter begged, ' 'I am so wretched . . . please 

do, do, do, come to your loving son." In a 1960s interview, 

aired here, Churchill's son Randolph recalls 

that when he was sixteen and home from school, 

Churchill stopped, pensively, and marveled that they 

had talked more during this school holiday than his 

own father had done with him in his entire life. Still, 

the mother who wouldn't visit the schoolboy when 

he yearned for her became a passionate advocate and 

campaigner when WSC later stood for election. 

Part one reveals much about Churchill's early 

political life and attitudes. As a youthful home 

secretary, Churchill was not a great friend of the suffragettes, 

and no less an authority than the son of the 

famous suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst is here to 

verify it. So unhappy were the suffragettes with 

Winston Churchill that one of them tried to push him 

under the wheels of a train, and was prevented from 

doing so only by a timely smack from an umbrella, 

wielded by Mrs. Winston Churchill. His attitudes 

toward female voters would soon change — especially, 

his daughter Mary notes, when he discovered 

how many of them voted for him. 

The film abounds in wry recollections of this sort 

gleaned from the family or those who worked with 

him. One of them recalls how, as Chancellor of the 

Exchequer, Churchill would sit through meetings 

with finance specialists and bankers and, when they 

were over, would ask an aide to tell him what had just 

happened in there. Confronted with the terminology 

of bankers and economists, this master of English 

prose was adrift. Mr. Gilbert extracts sharp memories 

from a succession of Churchill's former secretaries. 

These provide reflections heavily steeped in affection 

and awe, but they can also reveal an ever-so-slight 

touch of pique that still lingers after fifty years. 

One aged woman recalls that Churchill was utterly 

preoccupied with his work and the most self-involved 

man she had ever met. "I was no more to him," she 

muses, "than a fountain pen." [This is Phyllis 

Forbes, nee Moir, author of "I Was Winston Churchill's 

Private Secretary" (1941, Redburn A39). She 

was on the job only briefly and gets, we think, 

altogether too much attention. -Ed.] In due time, fortunately, 

Churchill changed secretaries, and he apparently 

wore out a lot of them in his long career. 


Only someone who has amassed as much biographical 

data as Mr. Gilbert has could have produced 

this sort of detail. There are some memorable photographs, 

including an amusingly intimate one of a 

vacationing Churchill about to push off from the top 

of a water slide, looking like nothing so much as an 

aged and balding baby. He was mad for animals all his 

life, and though this is not prime among the reasons 

the civilized world honors him, it is a rich source of 

anecdote. Mr. Gilbert makes the most of it, though 

one former secretary does tend to go on a bit about the 

time a kitten took it into its head to bite the prime 

minister's toe as he was lying in bed, causing him to 

leap up and shout, "Get off you fool!" — to the surprise 

of a general (Alanbrooke) who was just then talking 

to the PM on the telephone. Another former aide 

recalls finding him in bed poring over urgent state 

papers, with his dog on one side, a cat on the other 

and a pet bird perched on his head. 

The familiar story of Churchill's effort to waken 

England to the threat of Nazism, and of his ascension 

to power in 1940, seems far less familiar thanks to 

fresh detail. One Labour MP recalls that even at the 

eleventh hour, some Conservatives wanted to replace 

Neville Chamberlain with the arch appeaser Lord 

Halifax. And that was, the MP says, like ' 'getting rid 

of the organ grinder to put in the monkey." Informed 

by Prime Minister Reynaud that the French armies 

were beaten, Churchill rushed to France in disbelief, 

so inconceivable was it to him that the French would 

simply capitulate to the Germans. The leaders of 

France, of course, did not find the prospect so inconceivable. 

The-film chronicles Churchill's desperate effort to 

win Franklin Roosevelt's support at a time when the 

"America First" enemies of the war against Nazism 

were numerous and loud. One of these, writer Ruth 

Benedict, appears on camera still seething righteously 

after all these years to tell how she had hated 

Churchill and all he stood for, and wanted him 

dropped in the sea. This nicely evocative moment 

underscores how little difference there is between the 

"America First" isolationism of the '40s and its '90s 

counterpart. 

The war ended and Winston Churchill went on to 

grapple with the new realities — the Soviet dictators, 

a powerless England. No film treatment of Churchill's 

postwar career has ever been rendered so fully 

as Mr. Gilbert has done here. The ending of this extraordinary 

life is as meticulously detailed as its 

beginning. We follow Churchill to the last breath as 

he completes his remarkable journey, forgetting for a 

few blessed moments the political pygmies who 

followed so drearily in his wake. 

Artillery of Words: The Writings of Winston Churchill 

By Frederick Woods. London: Leo Coopei, 1992. 184 

pages. Published at £17.50 Available to Friends of ICS 

at $30 plus shipping (see page 25). 

by John P. Nixon, Jr. 

Frederick Woods' Bibliography of the Works of Sir 

Winston Churchill vies with the official biography 

among Churchill book collectors as the most likely 

candidate for the proverbial desert island; despite the 

fact that it hasn't been updated in two decades, 

' 'Woods" remains an essential tool. Any new book by 

the same author on Churchill's writings is of immediate 

interest, but Artillery of Words is a curious combination: 

an apologia for the earlier Bibliography and 

an uneven, one-dimensional critique of Churchill's 

writings. 

An immediate impression is that Artillery was 

written primarily to gain credence for the author's 

pioneering but now outdated and widely corrected 

Bibliography. The efforts of various people, notably 

in these pages, to correct and update the latter are ignored. 

For example, Woods uses the original published 

production figures for the Malakand (refuted in 

Finest Hour #54), ignores the American issues of Mr. 

Brodrick's Army and For Free Trade, the reissue of 

Liberalism and the Social Problem, and repeats 

several other errors such as assigning white instead of 

blue wrappers to the War Speeches. Indeed, he rattles 

his sabre at the Colonials in the preface, by remarking 

that the American The Second World War ranking as 

the true first edition was "contrived only by premature 

publication." 

This nit picking aside, Artillery should rightfully 

be compared to Manfred Weidhorn's Sword and Pen 

(Albuquerque: 1974, Redburn A316), considered by 

many to be the best critique on WSC's writings to 

date. 

Artillery is a narrative using many excerpts from 

Churchill's writings and correspondence, trying to 

show how he used his books "as weapons, as political 

tools, not necessarily as models of objective accuracy." 

As an example, Woods cites The River War: 

only the two-volume first edition contains the political 

passages criticizing the establishment (Kitchener), 

according to Woods. Once Churchill had made his 

point and was elected to Parliament, these passages 

were deleted from the 1902 and subsequent editions 

as they were no longer relevant. 

Sword and Pen, on the other hand, is much more 

introspective and broader in scope: Churchill's 

"temperament, background and experiences examined 

on how they influenced his writings" was the 

goal expressed by Weidhorn. Churchill's style of 

writing was also considered by Weidhorn, but not by 

Woods. Although Sword and. Pen is sixty percent 

longer than Artillery of Words, excerpts of Churchill's 

writings are used sparingly and only when relevant, 

not as filler material. 

While Sword flows neatly from decade to decade, 

Artillery lumps subject titles together (all the speech 


volumes in one chapter, for instance), which breaks 

the continuity and dismisses the influence of vastly 

different periods in the author's life. It is therefore 

more difficult to follow, jumping from one time 

period to another, especially with Woods' desire to 

add historical data (dates, copies sold, etc.) 

Woods deviates from his reporting of facts with an 

in-depth essay on Marlborough. He appears to be well 

schooled on this subject and is rather critical of Churchill 

for engaging in "exaggeration, bias, double talk" 

in trying to vindicate Marlborough. He also accuses 

Churchill of a ' 'blatant powerplay instead of seeking 

out the truth . . . deliberate distortion in presenting 

his case, pleading his cause." Weidhorn is less vociferous 

in his criticism of Churchill, but both authors 

come to the same conclusion that Marlborough was 

written first and foremost as a vindication. Despite 

the criticisms, both Woods and Weidhorn claim this 

to be Churchill's finest work. 

Woods and Weidhorn do not come to the same conclusions 

on other works. The Boer War volumes are 

called "failures" by Weidhorn, but "amongst his best 

works" by Woods. The World Crisis, according to 

Woods, is "a personal apologia . . . some of WSC's 

finest writing, illuminated and inspired by his 

detestation of modern warfare." Weidhorn does not 

share these conclusions and calls the volumes "an 

imperfect work." He prefers The Second World War 

to The World Crisis, while Woods dismisses this 

work with four pages of copy, stating that it was written 

with "a retinence that obscured the actual 

details" due to "a desire not to offend living personalities." 

Woods also likes My Early Life, "an essentially 

lightweight but sunny delight" which was written to 

keep Churchill in the public eye in spite of his lower 

political profile. A History of the English-Speaking 

Peoples is described as a "worthy swan song." Weidhorn 

agrees with My Early Life as "slight and superficial 

in some ways" and rates HESP just after 

Marlborough in order of composition. Both rate 

Savrola as a failure. Neither has subjected Churchill's 

novel to the intense light of Patrick Powers, who 

called Savrola "Churchill's Premier Literary Work" 

in the last issue of Finest Hour. 

The most interesting — and sure to be most controversial 

— section of Woods' book is a five-page appendix 

where he accuses Churchill of being an active 

partner in a ghostwriting scheme which resulted in 

"conning the public [and] defrauding the editors of 

the journals concerned, who paid Churchillian fees 

for the work of an unknown hack." The writings in 

question were some of the "pot boilers" of the 1930s, 

written for Colliers and other periodicals, such as 

Dictators on Dynamite and Germany Wants A Place 

In the Sun, allegedly written by one A. Marshall 

Diston, a socialist, staff member of the Amalgamated 

Press, and editor of Answers. 

Woods' conclusions are based upon correspondence 

in the Official Biography, Companion Vol. 5 Parts 2 

& 3. The footnote references are missing, unfortunately, 

and one must be most persistent to find the 

relevant letters, as Gilbert's indexing is quite inadequate, 

to put it mildly. 

Eddie Marsh is also accused of performing ghostwriting 

services for Churchill, although the evidence 

is less convincing: although Marsh wrote some drafts 

of 5000 and more words, they were revised by Churchill 

before being returned to Marsh for grammar 

checks, etc. 

Woods' accusations are pretty strong stuff. If Churchill 

was truly involved in such a scheme, a case 

could be made against "using" Marsh, a longtime 

colleague, confidente and proofreader. But why an 

obscure player like Diston, and a socialist no less 

There must be more correspondence than what appears 

in the Companion Volumes, if Woods' deductions 

are correct. No mention of this matter was 

made by Weidhorn, but it is interesting to note that 

Churchill's speech of 24 May 1952 (per Colville's 

diaries, quoted by Gilbert) was the first time in fifty 

years writing that Churchill had let anyone write a 

speech for him . . . 

Woods summarizes Churchill as a writer who 

"could never summon up the necessary detachment 

to become a truly great historian," thereby missing a 

fairly colossal point: Churchill was primarily a politician 

with a gift for writing. He wrote to survive, living 

as he said ' 'from mouth to hand,'' never claiming 

that his books were "history," rather "a contribution 

to history." The singular quality that made 

Churchill's books so readable and popular was the 

fact that he wrote from personal involvement in great 

affairs. Drawing conclusions similar to Woods', 

Weidhorn stated that the "shallowness of the themes 

and the spottiness of their interrelation keeps Churchill 

from the first rank of writers." Publishers who 

made him the highest paid writer of his time must 

have seen other qualities in WSC. 

Despite a number of similarities in conclusions, 

there is much less meat in Woods' new effort compared 

with Weidhorn's eighteen-year-old one. As a 

result, Artillery of Words does not warrant a place in 

every Churchill library, but is indeed worth more 

than a cursory glance. 

Churchill, The Great Game and Total War 

By David Jablonsky. London and Portland, Oregon: 

Frank CassLtd., 1991. 238pages. Published at £27.50 

in UK and $35 in USA. ICS New Book Service has two 

copies left at $28. 

by Dr. Cyril Mazansky 

The two key words in the title of this interesting 

and refreshingly different book, Game and Total, provide 

insight into the basis for the major theses: 

the use of espionage and the involvement of entire 

populations in the wars of the twentieth century. 

continued on page 18 . . . 


WOODS CORNER 

Addenda, corrigenda and discussions concerning the Woods Bibliography of the Works of Sir Winston Churchill 

"Those Damned Dots": 

Book-of-the-Month Club Editions 

Variants of The Second World War American Edition 

BY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH 

"You can easily tell a Book-ofthe-Month 

Club edition of The 

Gathering Stoim: the top page 

edges are not stained and there are 

no headbands" . . . "Book Club 

Editions of The Birth of Britain 

have dust jackets which state, 

'Book-of-the-Month Club Selection' 

"... "All copies of Blood, 

Sweat and Tears bound in red cloth 

are BOMC editions. ..." 

All these statements are regularly 

made about three of Churchill's 

most popular works. All are widely 

believed and accepted by librarians, 

dealers and collectors. And all are 

incontrovertibly wrong. 

Lord Randolph Churchill would 

have been a much happier Chancellor 

of the Exchequer if it had not 

been "for those damned dots." 

Churchill bibliophiles feel the 

same way. Lord Randolph was referring 

to the decimal points that 

befuddled him on Treasury documents; 

book collectors refer to the 

small debossed "dot" on the lower 

righthand corner of the rear board, 

which is said invariably to indicate 

a Book-of-the-Month Club edition. 

The problem is that the BOMC 

"dot" isn't always there — or not 

always easily discernible — even 

though the book in question is indubitably 

a BOMC edition. Contrariwise, 

books that bear many indications 

of Book-of-the-Month 

origin are in fact trade editions, 

some of them even first editions. 

And that is a headache. 

The "dot" isn't the only indication 

of a BOMC copy, however, 

and the purpose of this "Woods 

Corner" is to enable Churchill 

book collectors to discern BOMC 

from trade editions with a fair 

chance of accuracy. (While we deal 

here almost exclusively with the 

Book-of-the-Month Club issues, 

many of our guidelines can be applied 

as well to Literary Guild and 

other book club issues.) 

Let it be understood that I have 

no complaint with the Book-ofthe-Month 

Club, the Literary 

Guild or other book clubs. Lord 

knows, mankind should do more 

reading. By offering inexpensive 

reprints of popular books, clubs 

make a mammoth contribution to 

the fight against Prime Time — as 

well as to authors' pocketbooks. 

True, many a bookseller has invested 

in first edition remainders 

of a good title — only to see the 

bottom drop out as a BOMC issue 

appears. But in the long run, the 

Book-of-the-Month Club serves a 

positive function. Our problem as 

bibliophiles and Churchill specialists 

is to decode the varied characteristics 

of BOMC versus trade editions. 

The Black Spot 

"Ye've done it now, George Merry, 

'aven't ye 2 . Ye've flipped me the 

black spot," — Long John Silver 

If you sell or buy old books, you 

are probably familiar with certain 

Book-of-the-Month attributes. The 

most common rule of thumb is 

that all BOMCs carry a small spot 

or dot on the lower righthand corner 

of the back board — usually 

debossed, sometimes colored, 

most often black. If it has the spot 

it's BOMC, goes the theory. No 

spot means trade edition. 

Not necessarily. 

There are plenty of examples of 

BOMC Churchill selections with 

no sign of the debossed dot. 

Whether this is because of a poor 

impression on heavy or coarse 

cloths like buckram, or because 

someone forgot, or because several 

binderies were used and one did 

not deboss the dot, I am not sure. 

Exhibit A in this case is Winston 

Churchill's wartime bestseller, the 

compilation of his 1940 speeches 

entitled, Blood, Sweat and Tears. 

For many years Churchill specialists 

had offered the red cloth 

edition of BSlkT as a first edition, 

considering it to be a different state 

or issue of the conventional Putnam 

first edition in blue cloth. Indubitably 

there was a "dot" in the 

usual place on the red-bound copy 

— but because of the texture of the 

cloth it was rarely noticed. Title 

pages were identical, and as per 

Putnam's practice, there was no 

"First Edition" imprint on the title 

page verso. 

Fastidious booksellers noticed 

one difference: the blue copies 

were bound by Van Rees, the reds 

by the Haddon Craftsmen. This 

should have been a clue, since Haddon 

Craftsmen were one of Bookof-the-Month 

Club's chief binders. 

Indeed in this case, their Blood, 

Sweat and Tears is more handsomely 

bound than the first trade 

edition. 

The truth emerged finally when 

sufficient jacketed copies were examined 

to verify that the red copy's 

jacket flap carried a BOMC logo, 

while the blue copy's jacket flap 

carried a price. Booksellers then 

knew the difference at a glance — 

until someone discovered that a 

third trade impression had been 


16.00 

jk SccmiWoiUWar 

* 

THE 

fathering 

Storm 

Winston S. Churchill 

This book w unique. No great 

itateiman of our time has had mch a 

command of the English language. 

Few have had inch a grasp of history 

or played so large a part in making it. 

Mr. Churchill, throughout his career, 

preserved every scrap of significant 

material for the books he knew 

he would eventually wrile. Every 

order that lie issued, every memorandum 

or personal telegram, was immediately 

set up in type, printed, and 

filed. "I dnubt," he jays, "whether 

enisled." 

Continued on back flap 

BLOOD, SWEAT, 

AND TEARS 

h 

THE RT. HON. WINSTON 5. CHURCHILL 

OH., M.P. 

RANDOLPH S. CIIUBCEHLt. Ur. 

0. P. rilTNAK". SONS 

B0OK-0M1IE-M0NTH CLUB' SELECTION 

* 

THE 

fathering 

Storm 

Winston S. Churchill 

had such a command of the English 

language as Winston S. Churchill. Few 

have had such a grasp of history or 

played so large a part in making it. 

Throughout his career Churchill preserved 

every scrap of significant material 

for the books he knew he would 

eventually write. Every order he issued, 

every memorandum or personal telegram, 

was immediately set up in type, 

printed, and filed. "I doubt," he says, 

"whether any similar record exist! or 

It is no wonder that when it was 

announced that he would wrile the 

history of the Second World War there 

and excitement caused by no other 

continued on back flop 

•TnJc-Miik of BooWllwMonlk d J>. lac. 

Above: jacket flaps 

of trade (left) and 

BOMC issues of 

WW2 memoirs. 

Left: title page of 

Blood, Sweat, and 

Tears is identical 

on trade and 

BOMC editions. 

bound in red cloth by Van Rees! 

This is a color reverse of the normal 

trade edition in blue cloth 

with red spine bands. While distinctly 

different from the red 

BOMC issue, it adds an extra note 

of confusion. 

We should note that not all book 

club volumes are distinguished by 

a circular dot on the lower righthand 

corner of the rear boards. The 

Literary Guild edition of William 

Manchester's Churchill biography 

The Last Lion, for example, carries 

a small debossed maple leaf. This 

has nothing to do with either 

Canada or the publishers. It is the 

Guild's way of saying this is one of 

theirs — even though the title page 

verso also proclaims it the "First 

American Edition." 

The Speckled Band 

"There it is! Don't you see it, 

Watson The Band — the 

Speckled Band!''—Sherlock Holmes 

It is easy for a specialist in one 

author to tell you to compare 

volumes, less easy to do so if you 

don't share his specialty. Nevertheless 

it is useful to know — 

though this is by no means universal 

— that Book-of-the-Month 

Club issues tend not to carry headbands 

(the small bits of rolled cloth 

protecting the page gatherings at 

the top and bottom of the pages 

under the spine), and tend not to 

have stained top page edges. As 

usual, exceptions to these rules are 

legion. 

In the case of Churchill's two 

most popular works, The Second 

World War and A History of the 

English-Speaking Peoples, I rely on 

this rule, sometimes to my peril. 

There was so much demand for the 

first several volumes of S. W. W. 

that Houghton Mifflin was forced 

to use several different printers and 

binders. Though they are not detailed 

in the Woods Bibliography, 

these variations have been charted 

herewith. Yet I have seen only one 

of these first editions that did not 

carry stained top page edges and 

(speckled red and yellow) headbands. 

The oddball, by the way, is 

not saleable, since it doesn't match 

any of the rest. 

True first editions of Dodd 

Mead's History of the English- 

Speaking Peoples carry red top page 

edges and blue and yellow headbands 

in every example I have 

encountered. English-Speaking 

Peoples did not have the same 

multitude of printers and binders 

as The Second World War. There 

are several distinct first edition 

variants, but all of them carry 

headbands and stained top page 

edges. Furthermore, a verso claim 

to be the "First Edition" is not 

necessarily valid. 

The Blatant Impostei 

"After all, what is a lie 7 . 

'Tis but the truth in masquerade." 

— — Byron 

We come now to the chief snare 

by which BOMC editions nab unsuspecting 

booksellers by masquerading 

as firsts: They duplicate, 

often in precise detail, the exact 

form of the first edition's title page 

and verso. 

One such example is Lord 

Moran's presumptuous and inaccurate 

but high-selling doctor's 

diary, Churchill I The Struggle For 

Survival, published in 1966. Observers 

will find that the versos of 

both the first edition and the Bookof-the-Month 

Club issue contain 

the line, ' 'First American Edition.'' 

Likewise, the title pages of both 

versions contain the date at the 

bottom — a sure sign, according to 

all the sources, of a true Houghton 

Mifflin first edition. 

The more experienced will note 

that there are, however, differences: 

Moran's first edition carries the 

line, "first printing" and the code 

letter "C" on its title page verso, 

while the BOMC version omits 

this line and bears the code letter 

"W." Unfortunately such details 

tend to escape many of us. 

The true first is, however, easily 

identified without even cracking 

the cover. All BOMC issues contain 

a clear "dot" on the back 

boards as usual; and, while the 

BOMC issue also exhibits stained 

top page edges, it does not carry 

headbands. The first edition has 

both, and no dot. 

A more difficult example is The 

Gathering Storm, Churchill's first 

volume of The Second World War 

— the Churchill title subject to the 

most printing and binding variations. 

Again, both the BOMC issue 

and the first edition carry Houghton 

Mifflin's title page date. Here, 

though, there is nothing on the versos 

to allow us to distinguish one 

from the other. 

It is true that in the examples 

shown, the first edition was 

printed by The Riverside Press 

while the BOMC edition was 

printed (as usual) by the Haddon 

Craftsmen. But I have found first 

editions also printed by Haddon, 

and am told that there exist BOMC 

editions printed by Riverside! That 

method of distinguishing the two, 

which works so well for Blood, 

Sweat and Tears, is inappropriate 

here. 

One more confusion: just as 

Houghton Mifflin omits the title 

page date from all later trade impressions, 

the Book-of-the-Month 

Club (which had several printings) 

does likewise. For years I used the 

title page date as a sure sign of a 

first edition — until a client returned 

half a set pointing out the 

differences. 

How then does one tell true firsts 

of this title from BOMC firsts 

Well, none of the hundreds of 

BOMC copies I have examined 

carry headbands, though one or 


two firsts also lack headbands. No 

BOMC copies carry stained top 

page edges — but at least one 

variant first edition also lacks 

them. 

The seasoned Churchill specialist 

clinches the question by the 

color of the binding: a distinct pink 

for BOMC, brick red for trade editions. 

A Jacket Can Warn You 

"Peter lost his jacket, which 

Mr. MacGiegoz made into a 

scarecrow. " — Beatrix Potter 

I have left until last the question 

of dust jackets. Obviously there are 

differences between trade and 

BOMC jackets,- just as obviously, 

jackets get lost. And there is no 

surety that the jacket on a given 

book is original. Most of them are, 

of course — so if you are sure that 

jacket and book are mates, there 

are some useful rules, and also one 

pitfall. 

No Book-of-the-Month Club 

jacket that I have ever seen carries 

a price. While most trade jackets 

do, they have often been snipped 

off. But BOMC jackets also tend to 

carry tag lines, trademarks and 

logos which plainly announce 

what they are. Most BOMC jackets 

I have seen for both The Second 

World War and A History of the 

English-Speaking Peoples carry a 

stock number on the lower part of 

the spine — but this is not a fast 

rule. 

A printed price on one of the 

flaps ought to be decent assurance 

of a trade jacket, while any BOMC 

imprint or logo obviously indicates 

a BOMC jacket — or does it I offer 

this exception as evidence that you 

can never be quite sure of anything, 

and with the expectation 

that other exceptions must exist: 

It seems that the English- 

Speaking Peoples was selected as a 

Book-of-the-Month even before its 

trade publication date: in celebration 

of which Dodd, Mead applied 

the line, "Book-of-the-Month Club 

Selection" to every front flap of 

every trade jacket including first 

editions! The result, years later, is 

that many people tend to dismiss 

perfectly good first editions on the 

supposition that they are BOMCs. 

If you follow the basic rules you 

will not be confused. Trade jackets 

RNESTHOUR75, PAGE 16 

all contain a price. Even if the price 

is snipped off, they certainly do not 

carry a BOMC trademark notification, 

as do most BOMC jackets, 

although they may pronounce 

themselves BOMC selections. 

(The English Edition of Blood, 

Sweat and Tears, entitled Into 

Battle, carries a jacket statement 

"Book Society Choice," but no 

separate Book Society issue is 

known to exist.) 

The widespread notion that 

every BOMC edition is worthless 

has prevented a good many fine 

works from reaching appreciative 

hands. A bookseller friend appalls 

me by admitting that he feeds 

BOMC Churchills to his wood 

stove. Surely there are places — 

hospitals, veterans groups, nursing 

homes, small-town libraries — 

where BOMC works by great 

authors may find a home 

Furthermore, certain BOMC editions 

are highly collectible. I have 

mentioned the Haddon Craftsmen's 

Blood, Sweat and Tears, 

beautifully bound, debossed with 

the author's Coat of Arms, lettered 

in blue and gilt on red buckram, 

and equipped with headbands and 

stained top page edges. 

A yet better example is the recent 

"Chartwell Edition" of The 

Second World War, luxuriously 

bound in half-leather with Churchill's 

painting of his home tipped 

onto the top boards — the finest 

edition yet published in America. 

This highly collectible work was 

produced by Houghton Mifflin 

specifically as a BOMC premium 

— you received a set for only $35 

postpaid, by signing the usual 

minimum purchase agreement for 

four or five future BOMC selections. 

To qualify this special edition as 

a "selection," Houghton Mifflin 

produced a couple of hundred trade 

editions — priced at $295. The 

only difference, mind you, is that 

the latter carry yellow rather than 

orange stained top page edges, and 

no BOMC "dot" on the rear board. 

Since most people felt that $260 is 

a lot to pay for a dotless back cover, 

the publishers quickly dumped 

these, but the BOMC edition is 

common, since hundreds of Churchill 

collectors joined the club to 

get their set. 

Apparently, a few sets of the 

trade edition have hit the secondhand 

field, as they are occasionally 

quoted to me. They have been 

slowly rising in value through their 

luxurious appearance and scarcity, 

but the BOMC version is equally 

collectible. 

It seems, though, that no BOMC 

edition can exist without causing 

confusion. This one is often mistaken 

for the English Chartwell 

Edition, published in 1956! 

Conclusions 

"A few strong instincts, and a 

few plain rules. " — Wordsworth 

There are not enough hard and 

fast rules absolutely to distinguish 

every BOMC issue from its first 

edition counterpart. But enough 

general characteristics do exist, 

and Churchill specialists can soon 

amplify these with distinct observations 

within their own area of 

expertise. Follow these simple 

directions and mix carefully, but 

under no circumstances blend 

BOMC issues with your trade edition 

sets: 

1. Virtually every BOMC edition 

carries (or once carried) a 

"dot" or mark, usually debossed, 

on the lower righthand corner of 

the back board. Through age or the 

consistency of the cloth, however, 

these marks may be difficult or impossible 

to see. 

2. BOMC issues are usually 

cheapened in some way from trade 

editions by, for example, omitting 

headbands or using unstained instead 

of stained top page edges, or 

cheaper bindings. Nevertheless, 

some BOMC volumes exist with 

all these characteristics. 

3. BOMC issues usually, but 

not always, differ in some way 

from firsts on their title page or its 

verso. However, the inscription 

"First Edition" on either face is no 

guarantee of a true first. It may 

equally refer to the first Book-ofthe-Month 

edition. 

4. BOMC jackets never contain 

prices and usually contain BOMC 

trademarks or credit lines. However, 

a line stating that the book is 

a "BOMC Selection" does not 

necessarily mean that it is a BOMC 

jacket. 

5. BOMC jackets sometimes, 

but not always, contain a stock 

number on their spines. •

Variants of The Second World War. 

Houghton Mifflin U.S. Edition 

The amazing demand in the 

United States for the writings of 

Churchill required both the trade 

publisher, Houghton Mifflin in 

Boston, and the Book-of-the- 

Month Club in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, 

to contract with four different 

manufacturers to meet demand, 

resulting in numerous 

variants both of the trade and book 

club issues. The first attempt to 

categorize these was by the London 

bookseller Harold Mortlake, in his 

famous Churchill catalogue of the 

late Sixties, but the list was confusing 

and the descriptions incomplete. 

Mortlake's observations 

are combined with those of the 

author in this new listing, which I 

hope will be somewhat more comprehensible. 

Houghton Mifflin Company, replying 

to Mortlake's request for 

information, stated: "The six 

volumes of this title represent a 

bibliographical nightmare. We 

published these in different years, 

simultaneously with the Book-ofthe-Month 

Club . . . The Book-ofthe-Month 

Club used three manufacturers 

at this time: H. Wolff 

Mfg. Co., The Haddon Craftsmen, 

The Kingsport Press Inc. Four sets 

of identical plates were used. The 

first edition could be considered 

any one of these sets at either the 

Riverside Press [Houghton Mifflin's 

manufacturer for trade copies] or 

the three manufacturers for the 

Book-of-the-Month Club ..." 

In the following listing, I have 

separated the Book-of-the-Month 

Club issues from the trade editions, 

but first editions of both 

types can be distinguished by the 

date of first publications on their 

title pages. Later dates, or undated 

title pages, signify later impressions. 

"Dot" invariably refers to the 

traditional BOMC mark, usually 

debossed, always located on the 

lower right corner of the rear board; 

"t.p." means "title page" and 

"verso" means reverse of title 

page. 

VOL 1: THE GATHERING STORM 

Trade Editions 

1A. Brick red cloth, headbands, 

stained page tops. Title page states: 

"Published in association with 

The Cooperation Publishing Company, 

Inc." "The Riverside Press" 

(manufacturer) named on both t.p. 

and verso. Mortlake variation 

"C." First edition t.p. dated 1948. 

BOMC Issues 

1H. Pink cloth, no headbands, 

unstained top page edges. Title 

page as 1A. Verso names Haddon 

Craftsmen, Scranton, Pa. as manufacturer. 

Small dot, debossed blind. 

Mortlake "E." 

IK. As above, but verso names 

Kingsport Press, Kingsport, Tenn. 

as manufacturer. Small dot, debossed 

black. Mortlake variation 

"H." 

1R. As above but verso names 

Riverside Press, Cambridge, Ma. as 

manufacturer and contains the 

letter code "W." (No date on t.p. of 

copies examined, suggesting that 

Riverside manufactured some later 

BOMC copies.) Larger dot, debossed 

blind. Not in Mortlake. 

1W. As above, brick red cloth 

without stained page tops or headbands 

but no BOMC dot. H. Wolff 

listed as printer on verso. Observed 

only with dated t.p. Not in Mortlake. 

VOL 2: THEIR FINEST HOUR 



stained page ends. Title page and 

verso follow style of 1A. Mortlake 

"C." First edition t.p. dated 1949. 

2B. As above but later (I believe 

third and later) impressions: no 

date on t.p. Cooperation Publishing 

Company acknowledgement 

dropped. Mortlake variation 

"A." 

BOMC Issues 

2H. Pink cloth, no headbands, 

unstained top page edges. Title 

page as 2A. Haddon Craftsmen on 

verso. Small dot, debossed blind. 

Not in Mortlake. 

2K. As above, but verso names 

Kingsport Press. Small dot, debossed 

black. Dated and undated 

copies observed, both with Cooperation 

Publishing Company on title 

page. Confusingly, also called 

variation "E" by Mortlake. 

2R. As above but Riverside Press 

on verso with code letter "W." 

Observed only with no date on t.p. 

Large dot, debossed blind. Not in 

Mortlake. 

VOL 3: THE GRAND ALLIANCE 



stained top page edges. No mention 

of Cooperation Publishing Co. on 

t.p. Riverside Press in Old English 

on both t.p. and verso. First edition 

t.p. dated 1950. Not in Mortlake. 

3B. Pink cloth, no headbands or 

stained top page edges but no dot. 

Title page names Riverside Press 

but no date; verso stated only 

"PRINTED IN THE U.S.A." Probably 

produced by a BOMC manufacturer 

to fill a shortage of trade 

editions. Not in Mortlake. 

BOMC Issues 

3H. Pink cloth, no headbands or 

stained top page edges. First edition 

t.p. dated 1950. No mention of 

Cooperation Publishing Co. Haddon 

Craftsmen on verso. Small dot, 

debossed blind. Not in Mortlake. 

3HH. As above but undated t.p. 

and large square dot, debossed 

blind. A later BOMC printing by 

the Haddon Craftsmen. Not in 

Mortlake. 

3K. As above, Kingsport Press 

named on verso. Small dot, debossed 

black. Mortlake "B." 

3KK. As above, but dated 1951 

on t.p. Small dot, debossed blind. A 

later BOMC printing by the Kingsport 

Press. Not in Mortlake. 

3R. Riverside Press BOMC issue 

not observed; information needed. 

3W. Same as 3H with 1950 on 

first edition t.p. Verso names H. 

Wolff, New York as manufacturer. 

Small dot, debossed blind. Not in 

Mortlake. 

VOL 4: THE HINGE OF FATE 



stained top page edges. First editions 

dated 1950 on t.p. Mortlake 

variation "A." 

BOMC Issues 

4HH. Pink cloth, no headbands 

or stained top page edges. No 

manufacturer on verso but suspected 

to be later Haddon Craftsmen 

printing (see 3HH above). 

Only copy observed carries undated 

t.p.; not known to exist with 

dated t.p. Dot is a large square, 


4K. Pink cloth, no headbands or 


stained top page edges. Mortlake 

variation "B." 

4W. Same as 3W with H. Wolff 

named on verso but "Riverside 

Press" also carried on both verso 

and t.p. in Old English type. Large 

dot, debossed blind. Not in Mortlake. 

VOL 5: CLOSING THE RING 



yellow stained top page edges with 

first editions dated 1951 on t.p. 

Mortlake "]"; Riverside Press. 

BOMC Issues 

5K. Pink cloth, no headbands, no 


t.p. dated 1951. Verso names 

Kingsport Press. Small dot, debossed 

black. Mortlake variation 

"B." 

5W. As above but verso names 

H. Wolff and both t.p. and verso 

carry Riverside Press name in Old 

English. Dated 1951 on t.p. Not in 

Mortlake. 

5WW. As above but undated t.p. 

Dot is now embossed, or a debossed 

circle. A later BOMC printing 

by H. Wolff, as suggested by 

heavier, inked-up lettering on verso. 

Not in Mortlake. 

VOL 6: TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY 


6A. Description same as 5A but 

first edition t.p. dated 1953. Mortlake 

variation "D." 

BOMC Issues 

6K. Pink cloth, no headbands, no 


t.p. dated 1953. Verso names 

Kingsport Press and includes 

Library of Congress catalogue card 

number. Small dot, debossed 

black. Mortlake variation "G." 

Not observed by the author to date. 

6H. As above but verso lists no 

LCC number and names Haddon 

Craftsmen as manufacturer. Both 

t.p. and verso carry Riverside Press 

name in Old English. Small dot, 


6HH. As above but large square 

dot, debossed blind. Heavy, inkedup 

printing on verso suggests a 

later BOMC issue by Haddon 

Craftsmen. Not in Mortlake. 

6R. Pink cloth, no headbands but 

top page edges definitely stained 

yellow color as on trade editions. 

Verso and t.p. name only Riverside 

Press, verso also carries code letter 

"W." All copies seen carry 1953 

t.p. dates. Apparently manufactured 

by Riverside to fill a shortage 

of BOMC issues. Not Mortlake. • 

Reviews continued . . . 

These are elaborated upon under the umbrella of the 

influence of Winston Churchill's Victorian upbringing, 

which provided him with the psychological and 

moral armament effectively to lead Britain and the 

Allies to ultimate victory over the Axis. 

The stage is set by the opening chapter, where the 

author explains in some detail the Victorian framework 

which contributed so significantly to Churchill's 

traits. He describes the mood, mode and mindset 

of the Victorian era, an age of romantic, emotional 

enthusiasm and positive morality, combined with 

the contradictory element of rational pragmatism. 

War was a "sporting game" even though it was cruel 

and ruthless. Cowardice was the ultimate sin. 

Total war was the combination of von Clausewitz's 

"remarkable trinity" of the government, the military 

and the people. Jablonsky contrasts the nineteenth 

century Victorian wars, fought in far off lands, with 

the devastation of the twentieth century wars. The 

second Anglo-Boer War was the transition between 

these two. It was Churchill's retention of his Victorian 

upbringing and participation in Queen Victoria's 

little wars which permitted his management 

and leadership of the big and total wars that came 

later. 

The First World War essentially was one of education 

for Churchill and the British population in 

"Total War." Although disillusioned by aspects of 

this war, Churchill found his heroic men of action 

and applied his Victorian education and principles 

where he could. In the years between the two wars, 

Jablonsky describes how Churchill's views of the role 

of Government in Total War crystallized, while at the 

same time he retained his romantic faith in the 

Monarchy. With the advent of the Second World War, 

the people and Churchill understood the concept of 

"Total War." It was, however, his glorious and 

romantic Victorian cries to battle and victory which 

fueled and sustained the people. His veneration of 

parliamentary principles permitted him to be held in 

check by them. His constant battles with his generals, 

his attempts to impose his will on them, and his 

often impulsive ideas are elaborated upon by Jablonsky. 

Thus the author completes the Clausewitzian 

trinity relative to Churchill and leaves the reader 

with the understanding that the great leader by-andlarge 

had mastered its interrelationships. 

A third element of the book discusses the role of 

the "Great Game" of espionage and deception as 

critical tools in "Total War." Jablonsky adequately 

brings out Churchill's romantic approach to this 

world of cloak and dagger, plot and counter-plot. Yet 

he shows how the pragmatism of the Victorian era 

was applied to espionage. Churchill's fertile mind 

and fascination for technological gadgetry, combined 

with his Victorian characteristics, kept him very actively 

involved in the "Great Game." The various 

levels of organization of the intelligence service, 

mostly set up by Churchill; the role of Ultra and the 

use of deceptive techniques; are described in significant 

detail. At times the details of the technical information 

provided seem disproportionately excessive, 

especially compared with the smoothly flowing generalizations 

and more sweeping overviews of the 

earlier segments, which so successfully conveyed the 

critical overall message of the work. The concluding 

chapter succinctly and coherently sums up the major 

points. 

To this reviewer, who himself is unashamedly an 

incurable Victorian romantic, . Jablonsky's concept 

struck a distinctly favorable chord. 

• 


ALL THE BOOKS OF WINSTON S. CHURCHILL • "CHURCHILL BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA," PART 1, SECTION 3 

Cassell Variant Bindings 

Most Cassell English editions of war speech volumes between 

A66 and A114 appeared in light blue cloth blocked 

gilt, but wartime shortages resulted in numerous variant 

bindings, including smooth blue cloth of a darker shade and 

black or navy blocking instead of gilt. In addition, presentation 

copies in full and half leather exist, the latter said to 

have been made up in rather large quantities for distribution 

by Chartwell to well-wishers, etc. 

A66(a) INTO BATTLE (UK &, Aus. title) 

A66(b) BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS (US & Can, title) 

»A66(a) The First Edition (Cassell: 1941) 

A66(a.l-12): twelve impressions 1941-45 

The publisher lists 12 impressions (called "editions"); 

these do not correspond to the dates or quantities 

of impressions stated by Woods. 

»A66(b) The First American Edition (Putnam: New 

York 1941) 

A66(b.l-2): at least two impressions 1941 

Like A44(b), copies of later impressions are known 

bound in reverse colors (red cloth with blue spine 

bars. These should not be confused with the Book of 

the Month Club edition below. On all copies, a small 

coat of arms is debossed blind on lower right corner of 

cover. Top page edges of all copies stained red. 

•A66(bb) The Book of the Month Club Edition (Putnam: 

New York 1941) 

Normally found in red buckram with spine 

elaborately decorated in gilt on blue bands with gilt 

spine titles. A large coat of arms is debossed blind in 

center of cover, framed by gilt bars with the gilt initials 

"WSC" below lower bar. BOMC debossed dot 

on lower right corner of back board is often hard to 

see. A variant binding exists in fine red cloth. Top 

page edges of all copies stained blue. Jacket similar to 

the trade edition but front flap carries BOMC logo. 

•A66(c) The Canadian Edition or Issue (McClelland & 

Stewart: Toronto 1941). 

A66(c.l-2): at least two printings. 

Beats the American title with speeches taken from 

the English Edition. First printings are in red cloth 

blocked gilt; second printings in grey cloth blocked 

navy. First printings carried six illustrations but some 

show no sign of their ever having been present; second 

printings lack illustrations. First printings are known 

both with 488 and 526 pages, seconds have only 526. 

•A66(d) The Australian Edition or Issue (Cassell: Melbourne 

1941). 

•A66(ea) The Odhams Edition (London 1966, pprbk) 

Entitled CHURCHILL IN HIS OWN WORDS 

•A66(eb) The American Issue of the Oldhams Edition 

(Capricorn: New York 1966, pprbk, same title) 

Foreign Language Editions 

A66/Cz DO BOJE, Stolen Prerodu: Prague 1946 

A66/Da I KAMP, Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1948 

A66/Fr L'ENTREE EN LUTTE, Heinemann & Zsolnay: 

London 1943 

A66/Gel INS GEFECHT, Europa Verlag: Zurich 1946 

A66/Ge2 REDEN 1938-1940, Putnam: New York 1941 

This interesting volume is bound and jacketed identically 

to A66(a) despite its origin. 

A66/N0 BLOD, SVETTE OG TARER, Cappelens: Oslo 

1946, card & leather 

A66/Sp SANGRE, SUDOR & LAGRIMAS, Editorial Clarid: 

Buenos Aires 1941 

A66/Sw BLOD, SVETT OCH TARAR, Skoglunds: Stockholm, 

1941, card & cloth; a second 1941 edition adds 

three May 1938 speeches. 

A89 THE UNRELENTING STRUGGLE 

•A89(a) The First Edition (Cassell: 1942) 

A89(a.l-4) four impressions 

• A89(b) The American Edition (Little Brown: Boston 1942) 

A89(b.l-2) two impressions 


Stewart: Toronto 1942) 


1942) 

•A89(e) The European Edition (Continental Book Co. AB: 

Stockholm (1942) 

Brown cloth &. paper covered boards blocked with 

the coat of arms from Harrap's MARLBOROUQH. 

Printed from the A89(a) plates. 

•A89(f) The Books for Libraries Edition (New York: 1978) 


A89/Cz NELITOSTNY ZAPAS, Vorovy: Prague 1947 

A89/Da DEN HAARDE DYST, Gyldendal: Copenhagen 

1948 

A89/Fr LA LUTTE SANS RELACHE, Heinemann & 

Zsolnay: London 1943 

A89/Ge DER UNERBITTLICHE KAMPF, Europa-Verlag: 

1947 

A89/Sw OFORTROTTAD KAMP, Skoglunds: Stockholm 

1942, card & clothbound 

A94 THE END OF THE BEGINNING 


A94(a.l-4): four impressions 

•A94(b) The American Edition (Little Brown: Boston 1943) 

A94(b.l-4): four impressions, all 8/43 

•A94(c) The Canadian Edition or issue (McClelland & 


•A94(d) The Australian Edition or issue (Cassell: Melbourne 

1943). 

•A94(e) The Books for Libraries Edition (New York: 1972) 


A94/Cz KONEC ZACATKU, Stoleti Prerodu: Prague 1947 

A94/Fr LA FIN DU COMMENCEMENT, Heinemann & 

Zslonay: London 1943 

A94/Ge DAS ENDE DES ANFANGS, Europa Verlag: Zurich 

1948 

A94/Sp EL FIN DEL PRINCIPIO DEL ASISMO A LA 

VICTORIA, Editorial Clarid: Buenos Aires 1944 

A94/Sw SLUTET AV BORJAN, Skoglunds: Stockholm 

1943, card & cloth 

A101 ONWARDS TO VICTORY 


A101(a.l-3): three impressions 1944/45/46 

•A101(b) The American Edition (Little Brown: Boston 

1944) 

•A101(c) The Canadian Edition or issue (McClelland & 


•A101(d) The Australian Edition or issue (Cassell: Melbourne 

1944 

(Found in three different color cloth bindings: light 

blue, dark blue and orange. Spine bylines sometimes 

omit the titles C.H. and M.P.) 

1.09 (rev. FH75, 1992)


AlOl/Da MAALETI SIGTE, Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1948 

AlOl/Fr EN AVANT VERS LA VICTOIRE, Heinemann & 


AlOl/Ge VORWARTS ZUM SIEG, Europa Verlag: Zurich 

1948 

AlOl/No MOT SEIER, Cappelens, Oslo: 1945, card & 

leather 

AlOl/Spl ADELANTE HACIA LA VICTORIA, Los Libras 

de Nuestro Tiempo: Barcelona 1944 

A101/Sp2 HACIA LA VICTORIA, Ediciones Minerva: 

Mexico City 1945 

AlOl/Sw FRAM MOT SEGERN, Skoglunds: Stockholm 

1944, card & cloth 

A107 THE DAWN OF LIBERATION 


A107(a.l-2): two impressions 1945/47 


1945) 

•A107(cJ The Canadian Edition or issue (McClelland & 



1945) 


A107/CZ COT ERVA NKY OSVOZONY, Vorovy: Prague 

1948 

A107/Fr L'AUBE DE LA LIBERATION, Heinemann & 


A107/No VED MALET, Cappelens: Oslo 1947 card & 

leather 

A107/Sp ALBA DE LIBERACION, Los Libros de Nuestro 

Tiempo: Barcelona 1945 

A107/Sw BEFRIELSENS GRYNING, Skoglund: Stockholm 

1945, card & clothbound 

A112 VICTORY 

•A112(A) The First Edition (Cassell: 1946) 

A112(aa) First State: page 177 numbered "77" 

A112(ab) Second State: page 177 correctly numbered 


1946) 

•A112(c) The Canadian Edition or issue (McCelland & 


•A112(d) The Australian Edition or issue (Cassell: 

Melbourne: 1946) 


A112/Da SEJR, Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1948 

A112/Fr VICTOIRE, Heinemann & Zsolnay: London 1946 

A112/Ge ENDSIEG, Europa Verlag: Zurich 1950 

A112/Sp VICTORIA, Los Libros de N.T.: Barcelona 1947 

A112/Sw SEGER, Skoglund: Stockholm 1945 card & cloth 

bound 

A113 WAR SPEECHES 1940-1945 

»A113 The First English Edition (Cassell: London 1946) 

The first collected edition of war speeches, 

published in blue wrappers; among the four scarcest 

Churchill volumes but preceded in print by certain 

foreign language editions with varying contents, 

issued largely for propaganda purposes beginning 

1942. These match A113's paperback design and are 

indicated by an asterisk (*). 


A113/Dal KRIGSTALER, Cassell: 1946* 

A113/Da2 TALER, Gyldendal Ugleboger: Copenhagen 1965 

A113/Du WINSTON CHURCHILLS OORLOGSREDE 

VOERINGEN Cassell: 1945* 

A113/Fil WINSTON CHURCHILL SOTA-KRONNIKA 

[1939-1943], W. Soderstrom: Helsinki 1946 

A113/Fi2 WINSTON CHURCHILL SOTA-KRONNIKA, 

[1944-1945], W. Soderstrom: Helsinki 1948 

A113/Fr DISCOURS DE GUERRE 1940-1942, Shevnal 

Press, Great Britain 1945 

A113/It IN GUERRA: DISCORSI PUBBLICI E SEGRETI, 

Rizzoli, Rome 1948. (Includes Secret Session Speeches.) 

A113/RO DISCURSURI DE RAZBOIU: O CULEGERE A 

DISCURSURILOR TINUTE DE PRIMUL MINISTRUE 

AL MAERI BRITANNI, INTRE MAI 1940 SI OCTOM- 

BRIE 1943 [Romanian], Pilot Press: London 1945* 

A113/Ru IZBRANNIE RECHI 1938-1943 VOPROSI VIONY 

I MIRA [Russian], H.M.S.O., London 1945 

A113/Swl KRIGSKRONIKA, Skoglunds: Stockholm & H. 

Schildts: Helsinki 1945 |covers A66-A101) 

A113/Sw2 KRIGSKRONIKA 1944-45, Skoglunds: 

Stockholm & H. Schildts: Helsinki c. 1947 (A107-etc.) 

A113/Tu BU HARVIN ICNUZY, Basimeri: Istanbul 1942 

1.10 (rev. FH75, 1992) 

A114 SECRET SESSION SPEECHES 

•A114(a) The First Edition (New York: Simon & Schuster 

1946) 

•A114(b) The English Edition (Cassell: 1946) 




1946) 


A114/Da CHURCHILLS HEMMELIGE TALER, Berlingsky: 

Copenhagen 1946, card wrappers 

A114/Fr MES DISCOURS SECRETS, DuPont: Paris 1947 

A114/Ge GEHEIMSREDEN/BAND 7, Europa Verlag: 

Zurich 1947 

A114/Sp LOS SECRETOS DE LA GUERRA, Libros de 

Nuestro Timpo: Barcelona 1946 

A114/Sw TAL INFOR LYCKTA DORRAR, Skoglund: 

Stockholm 1946, card &. clothbound 

Volume Titles of "The Second World War" 

Six- and twelve-volume editions of this work invariably 

contain the same titles. To avoid repetition, we mention 

them here: 

Six volume editions: 1: The Gathering Storm, 2: Their 

First Hour, 3: The Grand Alliance, 4: The Hinge of Fate, 5: 

Closing the Ring, 6: Triumph and Tragedy. 

Twelve volume editions were made by dividing the above 

into their components, subtitled "Book One" and "Book 

Two" within the original six volumes: 1: From War to War, 

1919-1939, 2: The Twilight War, September 3, 1939 — May 

10, 1940, 3: The Fall of France, 4: Alone, 5: Germany Drives 

East, 6: War Comes to America, 7: The Onslaught of Japan, 

8: Africa Redeemed, 9: Italy Won, 10: Teheran to Rome, 11: 

The Tide of Victory, 12: The Iron Curtain. 

Foreign language editions follow the above formats with 

two exceptions: the three-volume Belgian French edition 

combines Volumes 1 &2,3 &4 and 5 & 6 of the six-volume 

work; the ten-volume Dutch edition combines Volumes 

3&4 and 9&.10 of the twelve-volume work. (The Russian 

edition, though only six volumes, is comprised of Volumes 

1-6 of the twelve volume work; others were unpublished.)

A123 THE SECOND WORLD WAR 

All editions are of six volumes unless otherwise stated. 

»A123(a) The First Edition (1948-53) 

A123(aa) The Trade Issue 

A123(ab) The Book-of-the-Month Club Issue 

A123(ac) The Canadian Issue 

A123(ad) The Houghton Mifflin Paperback Issue (1989-) 

Published in Boston by the Houghton Mifflin Co. in 

cooperation with the Book-of-the-Month Club, Camp 

Hill, Pennsylvania, and simultaneously in Canada by 

Thomas Allen, Toronto. The Trade Issue is usually 

bound in brick red cloth with headbands and yellow 

stained top page edges. The BOMC Issue is usually 

bound in pink cloth lacking both headbands and page 

edge staining. The Canadian Issue is bound in deep 

red cloth and labeled "Thomas Allen" on the spines. 

Four different manufacturers were involved in the 

American issues. First edition dust jackets bear the 

price $6.00 on front flaps; this was raised to $6.50 

and above after the first editions. BOMC jackets do 

not contain prices but spines usually carry stock 

numbers. Reference: Finest Hour #75. 

»A123(b) English Edition (Cassell 1948-53) 

A123(ba) The Home Issue 

A123(bb) The Australian Issue (Melbourne) 

A123(bc) The Overseas Issue 

All issues bound in black cloth, with identical 

design dust jackets using a repeat "WSC" pattern, 

though the Australian issues are distinctly thicker. 

Though it was thought previously that Volume 6 was 

not published in Australia, this is incorrect: Melbourne 

produced the full set. A123(bc) is identical to 

A123(ba) except for the legend, "Overseas Edition" 

replacing the 301 price on front jacket flap. Many later 

British editions and impressions have since been produced; 

see Woods Appendix I for some details. 

»A123(c) The Abridged One Volume Edition 

A123(ca) The Home Issue (Cassell 1959) 

A123(ca.l-5) at least five impressions 

A123(cb) The American Issue (Boston: HM Co. 1959) 

A123(cc) The Second American Issue (NY: Bonanza 1978) 

A123(cc.l-3): at least three impressions 

•A123(d) The Fitst Chartwell Edition (Educational Book 

Company Ltd., 1954) 

The first illustrated edition, completely reset and 

incorporating all author corrections. Found in two 

bindings: watermelon buckram with brown leather 

spine and cover labels, and the much scarcer quarter 

blue pebble grain morocco. Glassine dust jackets. 

Brief new foreword by WSC. 

•A123(g) "The Gathering Storm" Penguin Edition (1959) 

Other volumes were intended, but not published. 

•A123(h) The Golden Press Edition (NY: 1 vol, 1960) 

A123(h.l-2) two impressions, 1960-61 

•A123(i) The Blenheim Edition (Cassell: 1 vol, 1961) 

A123(i.l-2) two impressions, both 1961 

Red cloth with illustrated dust jacket. 

•A123(j) The School Edition (Cassell: 1 vol, 1961) 

A123J.1-14 at least fourteen impressions 

Printed cloth in style of A123(i); no jacket. 

•A123(k) The Bantam Paperback Edition (NY: 1962) 

A123k.l- Numerous impressions to date. 

Early editions at least were boxed as a set. 

•A123(l) The Second Illustrated (Paperback) Edition 

(Cassell: 12 vols, 1964) 

A123.1.1- Several impressions; information needed. 

•A123(m) The Third Illustrated Edition (Heron-Cassell, 12 

vols, 1967) 

Quarter brown morocco and olive Kivar with gilt 

Churchill bust on cover; much rarer is a binding in 

full blue leatherette. Produced in Switzerland by Edito 

Services, Geneva. 

•A123(n) "Their Finest Hour" Franklin Library Edition 

(Excerpted Work, 1978) 

•A123(o) The Second Chartwell Edition (1983) 

A123(oa) The Trade Issue (Boston: HM Co.) 

A123(ob) The Book-of-the-Month Club Issue 

Luxurious quarter blue leather and tan linen cloth 

with WSC's painting of Chartwell tipped onto front 

boards. Undertaken as a premium for BOMC, whose 

issue has rust stained top page edges and the usual 

debossed "dot" on lower right rear boards; the trade 

edition, very scarce, has no "dot" and yellow stained 

top page edges. It was listed at $295, against only $35 

for the BOMC issue to new members of the BOMC. 

Sheets were reprinted from A123(a). 

•A123(p) The Penguin Paperback Edition 

A123(pa.l-) Numerous impressions to date. In print. 

A123(pb) Book Club edition 

Both sets were boxed; the Book Club edition did not 

display prices on book wrappers. 

•A123(q) The Easton Press Edition (Norwalk: 1989) 

Taken from the Houghton Mifflin sheets with no 

textual alterations, bound in black pigskin with red 

spine labels blocked gilt. 

•A123(e) The Reprint Society Edition (1954-56) 

Reset in smaller type with author corrections, 

bound in white cloth with gilt on maroon spine labels. 

Completion of this set in 1956 occasioned issue of a 

large scale folding map, boxed, showing WSC's wartime 

journeys and entitled "Dunkirk to Berlin." 

Several impressions. 

•A123(f) The Time-Life Edition (NY: 2 vols, 1959) 

Elaborately illustrated from Life magazine's 

serialized war memoirs; quarto volumes supplied in 

slipcase with a record containing wartime speech 

excerpts. 

1.11 (rev. FH75, 1992) 


All editions are of six volumes unless otherwise stated 

A123/Da DEN ANDEN VERDENS-KRIG, Hasselbalch: 

Copenhagen 1948-54 (originally dark brown leather in 

plain brown jackets; later issue in blue leatherette, 

pictorial jackets.) 

A123/Dul MEMOIRS, Elsevier: Amsterdam 1948-54 (10 

vols; at least some early volumes were reprinted. First 

edition in very dark green cloth; a deluxe leather binding 

was also offered). 

A123/Du2 MEMOIRS (10 volumes, paperback issue).

A123/Du3 DE TWEEDE WERELDOORLOG, De Boekenschat 

n.v. (12 vols; apparently produced by Edito in style 

of A123mandA123/Fr3). 

A123/Du4 DE TWEEDE WERELDOORLOG, Elsevier: 

Amsterdam 1974 (12 vols, author portrait spread across 

the composite jacket spines, bound both in pale blue grey 

and light olive green). 

A123/Frl MEMOIRES SUR LA DEUXIEME GUERRE 

MONDIALE, Librairie Plon: Paris 1948-54 (12 vols; 

notable for Churchill's additional remarks in the 

foreword to Vol 1, exonerating the French soldier from 

the debacle of 1940. Many impressions, all in paper 

wraps with jacket design changes, plus a limited edition 

on special high quality white paperl. 

A123/Fr2 MEMOIRS SUR LA DIEUXIEME GUERRE MON- 

DIALE, Edns. Sphinx: Brussels 1951-53 (issued in three 

large, illustrated volumes elaborately bound in maroon 

leatherette). 

A123/Fr3 MfiMOIRES SUR LA DEUXIEME GUERRE 

MONDIALE, Le Cercle du Bibliophie Edition, Edito: 

Geneva c. 1964-66 (12 vols hardbound in leatherette). 

A123/Fr4 TRIOMP ET TRAGEDIE Editions Romaldi, n.d. 

(2 vols, special limited edition to commemorate the 

author's receipt of the Nobel Prize, with special color 

illustrations; limited to 80 very special and 2500 color 

editions). 

A123/Gel DER ZWEITE WELTKRIEG, Scherz: Bern 1948- 

53 (12 vols, plain blue cloth. The first two volumes were 

later published by Toth, Hamburg, then Pamass, Stuttgart 

for Vol. 3 Part 1, then Scherz & Govert, Stuttgart for 

the rest. Finally Scherz & Govert republished the earlier 

volumes in a finer black cloth. Still in print.) 

A123/Ge2 DER ZWEITE WELTKRIG, Toth: Hamburg (6 

vols). 

A123/Ge3 DER ZWEITE WELTKRIG, Ullstein: 1985 (6 

vols, paperback boxed set). 

A123/Ge4 DER ZWEITE WELTKRIEG (lvol Abridged Edition). 

(At least three issues: Scherz: Berlin 1960 in grey 

cloth and blue and white jackets; Deutsche Buch- 

Gemeinschaft: Berlin-Darmstadt-Wien 1962, dark red 

paper boards with black leather spines; Scherz: Berlin 

1985, grey cloth, silver jacket, in print.) 

A123/Spl LA SEGUNDA GUERRA MONDIAL, Barcelona: 

1948-53 

A123/Sp2 LA SEGUNDA GUERRA MONDIAL, Barcelona: 

1960 (probably a reissue of the first edition, handsomely 

bound in tan leatherette trimmed in red, white 

and blue). 

A123/Sw ANDRA VARLDSKRIGET, Skoglund: Stockholm 

1948-53 (First issued in 12 jacketed paperbacks, then six 

hardbound vols in grey cloth and two leather bindings 

with colored panels). 

A123/Tu CORCIL ANLATIYOS, Vatan: Istanbul 1949-50 

(4 vols only, corresponding to original Vols 1&2) 

A124 THE SINEWS OF PEACE 

•A124(aJ The First Edition (Cassell 1948) 

•A124(b) The American Edition (HM Co.: Boston 1950) 


A124/Sw ATT VINNA FREDEN, Skoglund: Stockholm 

1949 (Issued both in card and blue cloth with the same 

jacket; later, Skoglunds issued a 4 vol set of all war and 

postwar speeches,- same comments apply to other postwar 

speech volumes by this publisher.) 

Note on Postwar Houghton Mifflin Editions 

Randolph Churchill took The Sinews of Peace to America 

in seaich of a publisher in 1948. He found one in Boston's 

Houghton Mifflin Company (HM Co.), which were publishing 

huge quantities of the War Memoirs and could, one 

supposes, hardly refuse. But HM Co. took fewer and fewer 

Cassell sheets to bind as American editions, making all the 

titles scarce if not rare. Quantities given by Woods are as 

follows: A124, 3000 copies; A128, 2500 copies; A130, 2000 

copies; A136, 500 copies; A137, 1750 copies. HM Co. 

declined to publish A142, the final speech volume and the 

last "new" book in WSC's lifetime. 

A123/Gk [THE SECOND WORLD WAR], Athens, c. 1948- 

54 (12 vols, titles in Greek, publisher unknown; info 

needed) 

A123/He AM HASAFER, Tel-Aviv 1959-60 (6vols, in 

Hebrew, publisher not verified, red boards, illustrated). 

A123/Itl LA SECONDA GUERRA MONDIALE, Mondadori: 

Rome 1948-53 (12 vols, originally large format 

paperbacks, followed by several 6 vol hardbound editions, 

the ninth in 1966. 

A123/It2 LA SECONDA GUERRA MONDIALE, Oscar: 

1970 (12 vols, boxed as a set). 

A123/NO DEN ANNEN VERDENSKRIG, Cappelens: Oslo 

1948-55 (12 vols; leather, board and paper bindings; all 

in green djs). 

A123/Pr A SEGUNDA GUERRA MONDIALE, Centro Ed.: 

Rio 1948-53 (12 vols, bound in blue cloth to the style of 

Houghton Mifflin, A123a). 

A123/RU [THE SECOND WORLD WAR], Chekhov: NY 

1954-55 (6 vols, titles in Russian; volumes corresponded 

to Vols 1-3 only of the original work.) 

A123/Sbl DRUGI SVETSKI RAT, Prosveta: Belgrade c. 

1960s (6 vols in Serbo-Croat, dates not stated.) 

A123/Sb2 DRUGA SVETOVNA VOJNA, Zavod: Belgrade 

1964 (1 vol) 

A125 PAINTING AS A PASTIME 

•A125(a) The First Edition (Odhams/Benn 1948) 

A125(a.l-7): at least seven impressions 1948/49/49/62/ 

65/65/66 

The 1965 "Memorial Edition" was bound in red 

leatherette with red and white jacket and also boxed 

with matched bindings of Heath's A Churchill Anthology 

(Woods Da21/1) and Thomson's Churchill: 

His Life and Times (Redburn A82d). The 1966 impression 

(maroon cloth) was an Odhams Bookplan 

issue in plain white jacket. 

•A125(b) The American Edition (McGraw-Hill/Whittlesey 

House: New York 1950) 

A125(a.l-3): at least three impressions 

•A125(c) The First Paperback Edition (Penguin: 1964) 

A125(c.l-3); at least three impressions 

•A125(d) The Second American Edition (Cornerstone 

Library: New York 1965) 

A125(d.l-2) two impressions 1965/66 

The first impression was issued in decorative hard 

paper boards and in paperback, the second impression 

(paperback only) was the first to use a Zip code in the 

publisher's address. 

1.12 (rev. FH75, 1992)

Pausaland Revisited 

Churchill's Favorite Villa Lives on in Dallas 

(Or: How Wendy Reves Moved House) 

TEXT BY MARIANNE ALMQUIST 

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY DALLAS ART MUSEUM 

Above: The Great Hall and Grand Salon of La Pausa. Top: WSC in the library with proofs of his History. 

How do you recreate a legend Not easily: yet the 

Dallas Art Museum has done precisely this in its 

recreation of six rooms from the celebrated Riviera 

villa La Pausa, home of Wendy and the late Emery 

Reves. Mrs. Reves, Fellow and Trustee of ICS/United 

States, and her late husband, were longtime friends of 

Sir Winston Churchill, their frequent house-guest in 

the late 1950s. Many pleasant days spent at the villa 

led Churchill to refer to it as "Pausaland." 

Emery Reves, Hungarian by birth, was a political 

journalist, author, publisher and financier. He formed 

the Cooperation Press in Paris in the 1930s, forming a 

lifelong association with Winston Churchill, among 

other world statesmen and journalists, whom he contracted 

to write for his syndicated service. Later, as 

Churchill's literary agent outside the UK, he negotiated 

the sale of rights to The Second World War, A 

History of the English-Speaking Peoples, and 

numerous new editions of earlier Churchill books. 

Reves purchased the foreign language rights personally. 

In remarks made at opening ceremonies of the 

Reves collection in Dallas, Martin Gilbert, 

Churchill's official biographer, praised Emery Reves 

for his "astute suggestions regarding style, format, 

clarity, content and titles" of The Second World War 

and A History of The English-Speaking Peoples. 

Marianne Almquist is Director of ICS/'Arizona. Her 

next article is a biography of Emery Reves. 

The duplication of La Pausa consists of entry hall, 

great hall, grand salon, library, dining room and bedroom. 

A series of hallways and connecting rooms includes 

additional display areas for the Reves collection 

of decorative and fine arts donated to the Dallas 

museum. Of special interest to the historian is the 

room containing Churchill memorabilia. 

Named The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, 

this 11,000 square foot area was designed by the 

renowned architect Edward Larabee Barnes to contain 

the Reves' dazzling treasure of Impressionist paintings, 

works on paper, Spanish and Middle Eastern 

carpets, Venetian glass, rare Chinese export porcelain, 

silver pieces, European iron and woodwork and 

early Renaissance and 17th century European furniture. 

The 1,400 piece collection was bequeathed to 

the museum by Mrs. Reves to honor the memory of 

her late husband. The decorative arts wing which incorporates 

this gift was opened to the public in late 

1985. 

The La Pausa recreation in Dallas derives its unique 

appeal (about 25,000 visitors each year) from the 

fact that the furniture, carpets, art and decorative accessories 

are arranged with few exceptions exactly as 

they were in the villa before making their journey to 

Dallas. The drama of air-lifting this vast collection 

from France to Texas, including delicate negotiations 

with French bureaucrats reluctant to relinquish their 

patrimonial claims to the Impressionist art, makes a 

cliff-hanging tale in itself. 


wsc, 

Saiah and 

Emery on 

the Salon 

Termce. 

Photographs of the rooms taken at the villa were 

used by the DAM staff to reassemble the collection 

once again in the new wing. Mrs. Reves was closely 

involved in the entire process, with many trips to 

Dallas to add her final touches in displaying the collection; 

she pronounced the reborn villa's rooms, 

especially the library, "uncanny." 

The legend of La Pausa, situated on a high bluff 

overlooking the Mediterranean on the Cote d'Azur, 

begins with a Gallic tale describing the olive grove as 

a resting place for Mary Magdalene when she fled 

Jerusalem following the Crucifixion. A chapel on property 

adjacent to the villa, named Our Lady of La 

Pausa, was erected to commemorate this legend. 

Our narrative moves ahead many centuries to the 

late 1920s when the Duke of Westminster, 

Churchill's beloved friend Bendor, sailed the Riviera 

coastline on his yacht, the White Cloud, accompanied 

by his mistress, fashion designer Coco 

Chanel. Coco had expressed a desire to own a home 

on the Cote d'Azur. In 1927 Bendor purchased the 

five-acre tract near the village of Roqueburne, Cap 

Martin, as the site for Coco's villa. Robert Streitz, a 

young architect whom they had befriended, was 

asked to design and build the house. 

Coco involved herself in the drafting of plans, the 

construction and the interior design, all done in her 

signature beige hues. As construction proceeded and 

on-site decisions were required, she would leave her 

Parisian fashion house and make a one-day round-trip 

on the famed Blue Train to the Riviera to confer with 

Streitz. One specific request from the new chatelaine 

called for the duplication of the large stone staircase 

from her childhood orphanage home in Aubazine, 

France. This same monk's staircase has been faithfully 

reproduced once more in Dallas. 

Coco's affair with the Duke ended in 1930, but the 

villa was hers and she continued to live there 

throughout World War II after closing her couture 

business when the Germans overran Paris. She occupied 

the villa less frequently in the years following 

the war. In 1950 Coco decided to re-enter the fashion 

world in Paris and placed La Pausa on the market. 

Emery and Wendy Reves now enter our story. 

A peripatetic couple, Emery and Wendy had lived 

in several European capitals since 1949. Wendy had 

longed for a permanent home and when she learned of 

the sale of Coco's renowned villa she and Emery 

literally took the next train for Monte Carlo. One 

look and Wendy convinced Emery that they had 

found their home. After lengthy negotiations, including 

an interview with Madame Chanel, the purchase 

was consummated and the renovation of the 

long-neglected villa began in 1953. This time, Wendy 

was construction supervisor. She oversaw all details 

including refinishing of furniture pieces which the 

former owner left in the home. 

Wendy and Emery now had a place in which to 

entertain their friends and to display and enjoy their 

expanding art collection. The restoration was nearing 

completion in late 1955 when, following a dinner 

with Sir Winston at Lord Beaverbrook's nearby villa, 

Emery extended a luncheon invitation to Churchill. 

Emery informed Wendy at breakfast the next morning 

that he had invited Churchill for lunch — that 

day! The indomitable, gracious and plucky Wendy 

rose to the occasion and the rest is history. Sir 

Winston fell in love with his surroundings. He stayed 

until 6 P.M. "The Man Who Came to Lunch" returned 

as a house-guest in January 1956 for the first of many 

lengthy visits. Over the next four years, Churchill 

stayed at the villa for a total of thirteen months. 

Wendy and Emery assembled a household staff, including 

gourmet chefs, to enable them to entertain 

Sir Winston and to welcome his family and friends as 

well. Every detail of hospitality was arranged by the 

capable hostess. A guest suite of two bedrooms, 

sitting room and bath was provided. In words of deep 

affection for his hosts, Churchill wrote Clementine, 

"they have devoted themselves to my comfort in 

every conceivable way." As Wendy has remarked, 

"Sir Winston never had a Black Dog day at La 

Pausa." 

Sir Winston's pet bird, a budgerigar named Toby, 

had free run of the house. The bird partially nibbled 

the dust cover of a first edition volume of the ENGLISH 

SPEAKING PEOPLES which Churchill planned to present to 

his hostess. This prompted him to dedicate the book 

"To Wendy from Winston and Toby." The opened 

book, with evidence of Toby's misdeed, is on display 

in Dallas, where a scattering of colorful feathers 

flutter across the inscription page. 

The Library was one of Sir Winston's favorite 

rooms. He staked out a comfortable spot on the sofa 

while correcting proofs of his History of The English 

Speaking Peoples. The shelves around the walls, 

overhung with glorious Impressionist art, were filled 

with art books and first editions of Churchill's many 

works. Some of these volumes now fill the shelves in 

the Dallas library recreation. The brandy snifter, 

etched with the initials WSC which Wendy comissioned 

for her guest, can be seen next to him in an accompanying 

photograph. 

As the visitor views this room in the museum today 

it is natural to imagine Churchill sitting there 

with his host, Emery, discussing editing and 

publishing details of forthcoming books. 

To commemorate the publishing of Closing the 

Ring, Volume V of the War Memoirs, Wendy commissioned 

Van Cleef and Arpels to create a cigar case 

for Sir Winston which is on display in the Churchill 

room. The lid contains miniature replicas of the 

covers of the six-volume work, with titles inscribed 

on each. 


Surrounded by so much art and natural beauty at La 

Pausa, Churchill was inspired to take up his brush. 

His easel was placed in the dining room on rainy or 

chilly days, but during pleasant weather it was carried 

to the gardens or the olive grove overlooking the 

Mediterranean. Wendy would often arrange floral 

bouquets from the garden for Sir Winston to paint. He 

also copied a Cezanne floral still life, which hangs in 

the memorabilia display room. Churchill wrote 

Clementine, ' 'I am taken through a course of Monet, 

Manet, Cezanne and company by my hosts. I am in 

fact having an aesthetic education with very 

agreeable tutors." 

The display cases of Churchill memorabilia have 

considerable historical and artistic appeal. Four Churchill 

paintings done while visiting the Riviera and 

presented to the Reves are hung here. The viewer's attention 

is directed to "The View of Menton and Italy 

from La Pausa," painted in 1957. Churchill subdued 

his palette in selecting serene blues and greens for 

this tranquil landscape. In addition to the copy of 

the Cezanne still life, there are two treescapes of the 

Riviera coastline. 

A Limoges china breakfast set, designed and commissioned 

by Wendy for Sir Winston's personal use, 

depicts a replica of the yellow and green French 

"Medaille Militaire" on the coffee cup. Other pieces 

on display include a specially designed cigar ashtray 

and holder for Churchill's use at the dining table, 

photos, letters and, of course, copies of his books 

which played a prominent role in his association with 

Emery. All these items are a testimonial to the 

celebrated house-guest whose every comfort was provided 

and whose company was welcomed. 

One of the most touching mementos is a note written 

to Wendy in November 1960 in which Churchill 

says, "The months I spent at your charming house 

were among the brightest in my life." 

The dining table is set today just as it once might 

have been, awaiting the arrival of statesmen and 

celebrities who joined Sir Winston to partake of the 

Reves' extraordinary hospitality. The long list includes 

Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery, Anthony 

Eden, French President Rene Coty, the Duke of 

Windsor, Konrad Adenauer, the beloved "Prof" 

Frederick Lindemann, Prince Rainier and Princess 

Grace of Monaco, Aristotle Onassis and Noel 

Coward. An open invitation was extended to Clementine, 

the children and their families, who visited from 

time to time. 

The Impressionist art collection includes forty-one 

major works by such artists as Van Gogh, Cezanne, 

Renoir, Gaugin, Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec, 

Courbet, Monet, Manet, Pissaro and Vlaminck. A 

stunning pastel by Rodin hanging in the entry hall is 

representative of the quality of the works hanging 

elsewhere in the exhibit. 

The belle chambre, a bedroom-sitting room where 

ladies retired while gentlemen enjoyed brandy and 

cigars in the dining room, is filled with rare furniture 

made of lacquered wood, papier mache and mother of 

pearl inlays. This room especially has Wendy's personal 

touch and is a tribute to her fine collector's eye. 

Also of note is a pair of magnificent 17th century 

marquetry cabinets in the grand salon, a gift from 

Emery to Wendy on her 50th birthday. Emery Reves 

had been a collector since his early journalistic days 

in Berlin in the 1930's before he fled the Nazis. He 

carried on detailed correspondence over the years 

with gallery owners, auction houses and art 

historians. Wendy had been an antique collector 

since her career days in New York City before she 

met Emery. 

In the 1960s Emery and Wendy began to consider 

plans for the ultimate beneficiary of their extensive 

collection. Several proposals had been suggested but 

no final decision had been made before Emery's death 

in 1981. A former curator of the Musee le Chateau 

Versailles, Gerald Van der Kemp, was a friend of the 

Reves and also of several Dallas Art Museum officials. 

Following Emery's death Van der Kemp 

brought Wendy and representatives of the Museum 

together and negotiations began immediately. 

Wendy, a native of Marshall, Texas, had become 

acquainted with Harry Parker, then DAM director, in 

1977 when he and a group of museum members were 

planning a tour of European art collections. A visit to 

La Pausa had been scheduled but later cancelled due 

to Emery's failing health. Now in 1982 the Dallas Art 

Museum and Mrs. Reves had crossed paths again. 

The Museum was in the midst of construction of 

its new facility in downtown Dallas and the timing 

was such that it was possible to incorporate the villa 

recreation with plans for the Decorative Arts Wing. 

Construction on the Reves Collection was begun 

before final documents were signed and the last export 

hurdles in France had been cleared. It is a 

testimonal to both the Museum and to Mrs. Reves 

that they all proceeded on the faith that the Collection 

had indeed found its final home. The DAM successfully 

completed a campaign to raise six million 

dollars necessary to design, build and maintain the 

wing. 

Mrs. Reves in her generosity, and the Dallas Art 

Museum staff with its expertise and dedication to 

authenticity, have added a new dimension to the artistic 

enrichment of the museum and its public. The 

museum visitor experiences the personal appeal of 

each piece collected by Wendy and Emery Reves at La 

Pausa for their pleasure and that of their friends. 

Wendy's gift now makes it possible for many more to 

enjoy the recreation of La Pausa in its new home in 

Dallas, Texas. 

The author wishes to express appreciation to the 

following people who generously gave of their time in 

helping her gather information for this article: Karen 

Brophy, communications assistant, Dallas Art 

Museum; Charles Venable, curator of Decorative 

Arts, Dallas Art Museum; Robert Rozelle, former 

Director of Publications and Public Relations, Dallas 

Art Museum. 

• 


Churchill Organizations Worldwide 

Preserving the Memory — Keeping the Trust 

L: symbol 

of Britain's 

Winston S. 

Churchill 

Memorial 

Trust. 

R: the 

Archives 

Centre, 

Churchill 

College. 

INTRODUCTION BY THE LADY SOAMES, D.B.E. 

Many statues, buildings, organisations, scholarships, 

fellowships, lectures and other institutions 

have been set up throughout the world in memory 

of my father and bearing his name. Their sheer 

number contributes to some confusion about what 

each is, and what it does. At your editor's invitation 

I furnished the following memorandum for 

Finest Hour. 

The first attempt to codify and describe all the 

Churchill memorials was written in 1981 by the 

late Roy Morant, former chief executive officer of 

the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia, 

and reprinted and updated several times by the 

Trust since. In Mr. Morant's memory, the International 

Churchill Society of Australia is working on 

a further extension of his work, entitled "Churchill 

Memorials Worldwide," for future publication in 

booklet form. 

The purpose of this memorandum is to identify 

the principal Chuichill organisations in the United 

Kingdom, North America and Australasia which are 

currently engaged in fund raising. I have sent sundry 

literature including a brochure for the Winston 

Churchill Memorial Trust Appeal, although that is 

now closed having reached its goal. I think it is so 

good, and with it I sent the brochure for the companion 

appeal in the United States. I have also sent a 

guide to the principal holdings of the Churchill Archives 

Centre and Ambassador John Loeb, Jr.'s 

speech in 1991 when HM The Queen presented 

President Bush with the Churchill Foundation's 

Award. Copies of these materials are available to 

any reader from the editor. 

The Memorial Trust (inaugurated immediately 

after my father's death), and Churchill College 

Cambridge with its Churchill Archives Centre 

(founded by WSC and in operation in his lifetime) 

form the two British National Memorials to my 

father. Then there is Chartwell, which belongs to 

the National Trust and fulfills a somewhat different 

role — but one of greatest value and importance. 

The most important and widely effective>Churchill 

organisations in the United States are the Winston 

Churchill Foundation of the United States (founded 

in WSC's lifetime), the Fulton Memorial and 

Library (founded 1965) and the International Churchill 

Society of the United States (founded 1968). 

This paper was produced for the Winston Churchill 

Memorial Trust circa 1990, but several entries 

have been updated by your editor. I hope all this 

will be useful for reference. — Mary Soames 

The United Kingdom 

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust 

An ideal firmly expressed by Sir Winston Churchill 

was that men and women from all walks of 

life should be able to travel overseas and learn 

about the life, work and people of other countries. 

In this way, as a result of personal experience 

gained during their travels, they would be able to 

make a more effective contribution to the life of 

this country and their community. 

When Sir Winston died in 1965, Trusts in the 

Commonwealth and the USA were formed to 

perpetuate his memory by providing Travelling 

Fellowships. The national appeal to raise funds in 

the UK was launched immediately after his funeral. 

Donations from the Government, the City, Industry 

and individuals all over the country were invested, 

and the income from this capital finances the 

Travelling Fellowship scheme, which annually 

selects 100 UK citizens with a variety of study projects 

to travel to all corners of the world as 

representatives of the country in the name of Sir 

Winston Churchill. 

Together with Churchill College Cambridge, the 

Trust is considered as Britain's national memorial 

to Sir Winston. A selective fund raising campaign 

was launched in October 1988 in the UK, and later 

in the USA, to increase capital by £5,000,000 to 

maintain and enhance the quality and cost effectiveness 

of the Travelling Fellowships scheme for 

the foreseeable future. The campaign culminated in 

1990, the 25th anniversary of Sir Winston's death. 


Churchill College, Cambridge 

Sir Winston Churchill had been much impressed 

by his visit to the Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology and by subsequent warnings by Lord 

Cherwell and others on the way in which Britain 

was falling behind the rest of the world in the training 

of scientists. He concluded that an institution 

should be set up for this purpose and to forge links 

between industry and the universities. After talks 

with Government, academic institutions and 

American foundations, a distinct project for a new 

College at Cambridge emerged. It would be named 

Churchill College and would be a national and 

Commonwealth memorial to Sir Winston. It would 

be a College to meet the need for technologists and 

yet one which, embedded in an ancient and 

prestigious university, would be a place where arts 

and sciences, research and teaching would each 

leaven the other. 

An appeal for funds was launched in 1958 and by 

1966 £5,000,000 had been raised from over 1,000 

British companies, individuals, trade unions and 

from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. 

The College was founded in 1960, and by 1968 

the last section of the residential accommodations 

had been completed. The complex now occupies a 

42 acre site on the western side of Cambridge. It includes 

accommodation for 450 students and 

Fellows, an air conditioned theatre seating 300, exhibition 

hall, a music building and one of Cambridge's 

largest dining halls. 

Under its Statutes, about 70 percent of the 

students study natural sciences, mathematics or 

engineering and one-third are postgraduates. It was 

part of the Churchillian vision to attract postgraduate 

students from the United States and to 

strengthen ties with the new Commonwealth and 

many of the postgraduates come from these areas. 

Visiting Fellowships enable more senior people to 

spend up to twelve months on research visits to 

Cambridge. In 1990 the College had 110 Fellows, 

195 Advanced Students and 380 Undergraduates. 

A long term development programme is in progress 

to provide additional accommodation for 

postgraduates and to improve computer and information 

technology facilities. A selective appeal has 

been initiated in the UK and North America to 

solicit funds from the original donors, alumni, 

British and overseas companies and institutions. In 

June 1991, Lady Soames laid the foundation stone 

of the fine building for Continuing Education; the 

donor is a remarkable Dane. 

The Churchill Archives Centre 

The Churchill Archives Center, situated within 

the grounds of the College, was purpose-built to 

house the papers of Sir Winston Churchill. The 

cost of construction was met by a group of eminent 

Americans, which included every United States 

Ambassador to the Court of St. James's from 1925 

to 1973 or their descendants. Although the Churchill 

papers form the core of the archive, there are 

nearly 300 other collections covering all those fields 

of public life in which Sir Winston played a personal 

role or took an interest. For the history of war 

and peace and science and politics in Churchill's 

century, professional historians will turn to this 

Centre. 

The current income, even when supplemented by 

grants from Churchill College, is insufficient for independent 

operation or expansion of the Archives' 

activities. A seven year fund raising campaign has 

been in operation since 1985, with personal solicitation 

by the Keeper, Trustees and Patrons. 

Other UK Institutions 

The Sail Training Association regularly seeks 

financial assistance to meet current expenditures; 

one of its schooners is the "Sir Winston 

Churchill." The English-Speaking Union of the 

Commonwealth holds an annual Churchill 

Memorial Lecture in the Guildhall, London. 

The United States of America 

The Winston Churchill Travelling 

Fellowship Foundation 

This institution has recently been incorporated as 

a charity to finance the activities of British Churchill 

Fellows travelling in America. It is headed by 

American Directors to ensure that funds raised in 

the USA are retained and managed there solely for 

the purposes of Anglo-American fellowship. It was, 

in effect, the USA leg of the Winston Churchill 

Memorial Trust's fund raising campaign from 

February 1989 to mid-1990. 

The Winston Churchill Memorial and 

Library in the United States 

Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, the 

forum of the famous Iron Curtain speech in 1946, 

had transferred, with Sir Winston's approval, the 

debris of a bombed Wren church from the City of 

London and restored it at Fulton as a memorial to 

Anglo-American friendship. The College sponsors 

an annual Kemper lecture to commemorate the Iron 

Curtain address, and many of those associated with 

Sir Winston have been invited to deliver it. 

The Winston Churchill Foundation of the USA 

Established in 1959 by American admirers of Sir 

Winston "to honour his memory and to encourage 

the spirit of Anglo-American co-operation he 

epitomised,'' the Foundation operates a programme 

of Scholarships and Fellowships tenable at Churchill 

College Cambridge, financed by the original 

endowment and current donations. Every so often a 

major fund raising event is held to honour international 

personalities in the Churchillian mould — 

Mr. Averell Harriman, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher and 

Mr. Ross Perot were the first three. In 1989, the 

event was attended by HRH The Prince of Wales 


and honoured former President Ronald Reagan. In 

1991, HM The Queen presented the Churchill 

Award to President Bush. 

The Center for Chuichill Studies 

in the United States 

An academic endeavour between the International 

Churchill Society of the United States, the Elliott 

School of International Affairs at George Washington 

University, and James Humes' charitable trust, 

formerly the Churchill Institute for Statecraft, 

which has changed its name to the above for legal 

purposes, was fully described in Finest Hour #74. 

Canada 

The Rt. Hon. Sii Winston S. Churchill Society 

First founded in Edmonton with Sir Winston's 

personal approval in 1964, the Society has since expanded 

to encompass branches in Calgary and Vancouver. 

All three branches work to ensure that Sir 

Winston's ideals and achievements are never forgotten 

by succeeding generations. Activities include 

banquets for outstanding people connected with 

aspects of Sir Winston's career; public speaking and 

debating competitions for High School students; 

scholarships in Honours History; financial 

assistance for students at Churchill College. The 

Edmonton Branch has recently erected a fine 

statue of WSC in that city. The Society is active 

year-round, sponsoring students, holding school 

debates and competitions, etc. 

The Churchill Society for the Advancement of 

Parliamentary Democracy 

Founded in Toronto, the CSAPD works to support 

the health and vigour of parliamentary 

democracy, with an annual lecture by a distinguished 

parliamentarian, and other events the year 

round. 

Australasia 

The Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia 

In Australia, Sir Robert Menzies, then Prime 

Minister, was approached by Lord Baillieu for his 

support in setting up a Churchill Memorial Trust in 

Australia. Sir Robert, an old friend and great admirer 

of Sir Winston, readily agreed and prevailed 

on the then Counsellor (later Sir) William 

Kilpatrick to lay plans for an Appeal to be held in 

Australia on Churchill's death. 

The success of the Appeal in Australia is now a 

matter for history. On a per capita basis Australia 

raised more funds than any other country. 

However, in Britain's case it should be remembered 

that the British corporate sector had already 

responded very generously to the Appeal for funds 

to build Churchill College. 

Churchill House Canberra was built by the 

Australian Churchill Trust principally as an income 

producing investment from the leasing of its office 

space. It also houses the Trust's National Office. 

Memorial Trusts in Australasian Countries 

In New Zealand, the Churchill Trust was 

established by Act of Parliament. Administrative arrangements 

for the Appeal and later for the Churchill 

Fellowship Scheme were, and are currently 

undertaken by public servants responsible to a 

Board appointed by Parliament. When Papua New 

Guinea-achieved independence in 1976 the 

Australian Trust transferred funds which, together 

with a contribution from the Papua New Guinea 

Government, were sufficient for an independent 

Churchill Trust to be established in that country. 

International 

The International Churchill Societies 

of the United States, Canada, UK and Australia 

The International Churchill Societies comprise 

four independent non-profit educational organisations 

which work together "to keep the memory 

green and the record accurate,'' so that future 

generations will never forget the contributions of 

Sir Winston to the political philosophy, culture and 

literature of the English-Speaking Peoples and the 

Great Democracies. ICS numbers over 2500 people 

from all walks of life — academics, statesmen, 

students, professionals, non-professionals, collectors, 

bibliophiles, teachers — interested in aspects 

of Churchill and his career: not merely as the symbol 

of victory in war, but of culture, humour, principle, 

optimism, pride in country and faith in 

Western Civilization. 

ICS is politically non-partisan, but not apolitical: 

its quarterly journal, Finest Hour, often touches on 

Churchill's political philosophy and its eternal 

relevance to problems of the present. Speakers 

range the gamut from Alistair Cooke and William 

Manchester to Harry Byrd, Jr. and Caspar Weinberger, 

to Robert Hardy and Gregory Peck, to members 

of the Churchill family. Members' ages range 

from ten to ninety, and ICS is a growing organization, 

with special emphasis on young people 

through its programme, "Teaching the Next 

Generation." 

From small beginnings in 1968, the International 

Churchill Societies have since financed publication 

of the ten final Companion Volumes to the Official 

Biography; produced many specialized publications 

of Churchill works, checklists, bibliographies and 

oral history; organised eight international conferences 

and six International Churchill Tours; and 

assisted in or encouraged the republication of a 

score of Churchill books heretofore long out of 

print. 

ICS United States is now embarked on a plan to 

create a Center for Churchill Studies in Washington 

DC (see under "United States"); ICS Canada produces 

a calendar recounting the Churchillian events 

of fifty years ago, and is developing a new checklist 

of Churchill stamps; ICS UK has hosted the latest 

international conference; ICS Australia hopes to 

produce a guide to Churchill Memorials worldwide. • 


Gift Opportunities at the 

Churchill Society 

REMEMBER ICS IN YOUR WILL 

A fine way to help us "Teach the Next Generation." Many 

have done so, many ask how. We offer the services of the 

Society attorney. Please contact Win. C. Ives at Keck, 

Mahin & Cate, 77 W. Wacker Dr., 49th floor, Chicago IL 

60601, telephone (312) 634-7700. 

BOOKS FOR THE CHURCHILL CENTER 

The Center for Churchill Studies in the United States aims 

to create the most comprehensive Churchill library in the 

country, and many books, photographs and related 

ephemera have already been donated. If you could spare 

only one first edition, it would be deeply appreciated. A 

receipt for appraised value will be issued for tax purposes. 

Contact the editor, PO Box 385, Hopkinton, NH 03229, 

telephone (603) 746-4433. 

Cover Story: 

A Special 

Offer from 

the Carlton 

Club 

Collection 

to Friends of 

the Churchill 

Societies 

A ROOM IN YOUR NAME AT THE 

CENTER FOR CHURCHILL STUDIES 

can be a permanent feature of our building in Washington, 

DC, where students will study the Churchill experience. 

This arrangement is offered to major supporters of 

ICS/USA's joint project with George Washington University. 

All donations are tax-deductible. Details from Vice 

President Merry Alberigi, PO Box 9037, Novato CA 94948. 

ICS New Book Service 

Operated as a service to ICS. Shipping $3 first title, $1 each 

additional anywhere in the world. Order from Churchillbooks, 

Rt 1, Box 682, Hopkinton NH 03229 USA. 

(Bookshop price in parentheses). 

1001. INDIA: DEFENDING THE JEWEL IN THE 

CROWN. 1st US Edn, 168pp illus. ($35) $28 

1003. MALAKAND FIELD FORCE, Norton 1st American 

Edn, 234pp ($19) $15 

1004. THE BOER WAR, Dorset House Edn, 408pp with 

maps ($19) $15 

1005. MY AFRICAN JOURNEY, British Edition, 134pp, 

illus (£15) $28 

1006. MY EARLY LIFE, Cooper Edition, 388pp, illus $35 

1015. SAVROLA, London Cooper, 1990 Edn., 214pp. ICS 

A3i. (£15) $32 

1026. THOUGHTS AND ADVENTURES, Norton Edn., 

238pp, illus. ($23) $19 

1027. GREAT CONTEMPORARIES, Norton Ed., 252pp, 

illus. ($23) $19 

Books About Churchill 

1029. CHURCHILL: A LIFE, Gilbert. 1066pp, illus. The 

ultimate single-volume biography, not an abridgement 

but brand new. Strongly recommended — indispensible. 

($35) $28 

1032. DOWNING ST DIARIES, Martin 200pp, illus. By 

wartime private secretary. ($35) $27 

1033. SIR WINSTON METHOD, Humes. 190pp. Speak as 

effectively as WSC ($17) $14 

1036. ARTILLERY OF WORDS, Survey of the Writings of 

Winston S. Churchill, Woods, 184pp on WSC's articles and 

books. Reviewed, FH #75 (£ 17.50) $30 

The Carlton Club Portrait 

A Limited Edition Signed by Lady Soam.es 

The Cooper portrait of Churchill on the cover of 

this issue has hitherto been seen only by Members of 

the Carlton Club, famous London club of the Conservative 

Party. It is one of the most lifelike ever created 

— one almost expects WSC to leap from the paper. 

In an effort to help raise the capital required for 

essential renovations and refurbishment in the aftermath 

of a terrorist bomb attack on the building in 

1990, the Carlton Club now offers a limited number 

of magnificent prints of this portrait, individually 

numbered and signed by Lady Soames, to Friends of 

the Churchill Societies. It is expected that this form 

of personalization, together with the historical, nonprofit-making 

motive behind their creation, will undoubtedly 

enhance the prints' value as collector's 

items in the years to come. 

The price including postage and packing from 

England is $1500, which may be paid in one sum or in 

six monthly installments of $250. The dimensions 

are approximately 3x4 feet and each print is carefully 

matted and mounted in a frame of the highest quality. 

Deliveries will commence in September. 

The Carlton Club Collection has offered ICS a commission 

of 12.5% meaning that $188 of the cost will 

go to support the work of the Society, and will be 

receipted as a tax-deductible donation. Supply is 

limited. To order your print now, send either $1500 

or the first $250 installment (or the equivalent in 

Canadian dollars or Sterling) to: 

ICS/USA, 268 Canterbury Rd, Westfield, New 

Jersey 07090. 

ICS/Canada, 1079 Coverdale Rd, RR2, Moncton, 

New Brunswick E1C 8J6. 

ICS/UK, "Wychden," Wildemesse Ave., Seal, 

Sevenoaks, Kent TH15 0EA. 

ICS/Australia, 8 Regnans Ave., Endeavour Hills, 

Victoria 3802. 


Churchill in Stamps 

BY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH 

PAGES 163-168: THE BLITZ 

In this area the philatelic biographer's job is almost too easy: 

more Churchill commemoratives are designed around the London 

Blitz than any other period in the saga; indeed it is a challenge to 

find enough to say to create pages sufficient to house all the 

stamps. 

Catalogue numbers are Scott (#) and Stanley Gibbons (sg). A 

slash mark (/) indicates a set with a common design from which 

any value may be used. 

163. Dominica #410a (sg 440) is the most impressive philatelic 

portrayal of St. Paul's in the Blitz, though the colors are lurid and 

probably exaggerated. The souvenir sheet makes a perfect start to 

coverage of this period, with WSC's tribute to the cockneys at the 

top. 

164. Bhutan souvenir sheets quoting Churchill on "The Few" 

are of course highly appropriate. They show two of the planes 

responsible for Britain's air prowess, although the Spitfire (left) 

reached its peak rather later. These issues are disdained by Scott, 

but carry Minkus number 133 and sg MS 140 (perf and imperf). 

163. 

"LONDON CAN TAKE IT!" 

"Look at the Londoners—the cockneys. Look at what they stood up 

to. 'Grim and Gay' was their cry, and their wartime mood, 

•What's good enough for anybody's good enough for us'." 

--19^5 

While Hitler tried to avoid scenes of devastation, Churchill was 

In his element touring bombed-out sections of London, often with 

Clemmle, other times with the King and Queen. When the cockneys 

cried to give the Germans what they were dishing out, Winston 

assured them "I will certainly undertake to do so." 

Miraculously St. Paul's, invincible in the Blitz, survived the 

worst nights of 1940, though considerable damage occurred to other 

historic buildings including Buckingham Palace, which the King and 

Queen—to the delight of their subjects—adamantly refused to leave. 

165. Cook Islands #417 (sg 506) with Churchill and St. Paul's 

faces off against Germany #B190 (sg 768) at the top of this page. 

Below are two more of the endless sand dune issue by Khor 

Fakkan, the original 4 rupee and "revalued" 4 rial St. Paul's 

labels, Minkus 70 and 70A, not listed by Scott or Gibbons. 

166. Great Britain #430-437 (sg 671-678), the 1965 Battle of 

Britain set (phosphor line variety) is the dominant theme of this 

partial quote of Churchill on the height of the Blitz. The RAF 

planes contrast with the Luftwaffe's on German semi-postals, one 

from the set #B218-29 (sg 819-30) and #469 (sg 600). There was, 

incidentally, much repugnance voiced in Britain at the inclusion 

of a swastika on the GB stamp at upper left, albeit with the big 

crack running through it. 

167. Conclusion of Churchill's "saved in the skies" comment 

from his war memoirs, illustrating Britain's big advantage, radar, 

with GB #518 (sg 752), more semi-legitimates from Bhutan, 

Minkus 130-32 (sg 137-39) showing Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster; 

and Togo #893 and #C241 (sg 1048 and 1050), also depicting 

Spitfires. 

164. 

HEIGHT OF THE BLITZ 

One night on a visit to Fighter Command, Churchill asked the 

officer in charge how many squadrons were in the air. "All of 

them, Prime Minister," the officer replied. WSC asked how many 

squadrons were in reserve. "None," was the answer. It was In 

those days a very near thing: It was a time, Churchill wrote, 

"when it was equally good to live or die." 

. 2*. 

SaaJL 

14'- 

•1- .^Sfc : 

168. Mussolini's extension of the war into the Balkans can be 

easily illustrated by USA captive nations stamps for Albania, 

Yugoslavia and Greece #916-18 (sg 913-15), and stamps of each 

country depicting its then-head of state: King Zog, Albania 

#210/17 (sg 193/203); King Peter, Yugoslavia #142/51 (sg 

414/26); and King George II, Greece #391/93 (sg 503/13). 

(To be continued) 

Left: Supermarine Spitfire; right: Armstrong-Siddeley Hurricane

"GRIM AMD GAY" 

SAVED IN THE SKIES (II) 

When Churchill visited the ruins of London—and he often did— 

men called to him in cheerful defiance: "Give it 'em back." The 

Prime Minister listened, and ordered the RAF to bomb Berlin. To 

Hitler he broadcast, "You do your worst, and we will do our best. 

"...On September 17th, as we now know, the Fuehrer decided to 

postpone 'Operation Sea Lion 1 indefinitely, and September 15th 

may stand as the date of its demise." —THEIR FINEST HOUR 

165. 

Long after the Blitz 

was over, Churchill 

could proudly pay 

his tribute to his 

fellow Londoners: 

11 Grim and Gay, 

dogged and 

serviceable, with 

the confidence of an 

unconquered people 

in their bones... 

they took all they 

got, and they could 

have taken more." 

167. 

Radar, then 

in its infancy, 

had 

played an 

important 

role in the 

British 

war effort. 

Though the 

Spitfire is 

the classic 

Battle of 

Britain aircraft, 

older 

Hurricanes 

and the 

bombers, 

both Blenheim 

and 

Lancaster, 

played vital 

roles after 

the air war 

was carried 

into Germany. 

Touring the city, 

Churchill and his 

aides in 1940, 

their faces lit 

by raging fires. 

SAVED IN THE SKIES (I) 

"On September 15th, every fighter was engaged. The odds were 

great; our margins small; the stakes infinite...It was later 

reported that the Royal Air Force had shot down 56 German planes 

...September 15th remains as the crux of the Battle of Britain.. 

THE FALL OF THE BALKANS 

In September 1940, the hungry Mussolini marched on the Balkans. 

The heroic Greeks chased the Italians out of their country. To 

secure his flank, Hitler went to Mussolini's aid in April 19*11. 

"There is no question," Churchill said, "that we shall honour 

our commitments to the trustees of ancient Athens." 

The only Balkan 

nation II Duce 

was able to 

handle was Albania, 

which capitulated 

in September 1940. 

166. 168. 

After attack by 

the Axis puppets 

Hungary and Bulgaria, 

and upon 

defection by the 

northern Croats, 

Yugoslavia yielded 

on 17 April 1941. 

Against overwhelming 

Axis forces 

Greece held on 

until 23 April 

1941, In the most 

stubborn resistance 

by a small 

nation to the 

Wehrmacht. 

GB Battle of Britain Commemoratives, 1965 

On phosphor-lined paper for automatic-cancelling machines

Glimpses: "Unpretentious and 

Comfortable Looking" 

Two 1945 Encounters with the Great Man 

BY JAMES H. HEINEMAN 

EVERY DAY there are fewer of us left who have set eyes 

on Winston Churchill. I saw him twice. 

The first time was at a memorial service for President 

Roosevelt at St. Paul's Cathedral. I was in the 

American army and had been stationed by then in 

London for more than two years. Through an administrative 

mix-up the Foreign Office saw fit to invite me 

to St. Paul's. (It was still the time when humans, and 

not computers, made mistakes.) I turned up at St. 

Paul's and quietly stationed myself near the center 

aisle at the back of the Cathedral. 

The service was very moving in its simplicity and in 

its dedication to the hymns and bible passages which 

limned Roosevelt's spirit. There was an almost eerie 

sense as Ambassador John Winant read the lesson in 

Lincolnesque fashion. 

At the end of the service King George and Queen 

Elizabeth led the host of dignitaries from the 

cathedral. Immediately following the King and 

Queen were other kings and queens, hereditary 

princes, dukes, and presidents of republics including 

General DeGaulle who had come from France for a 

few hours to pay his respects to his former allied 

adversary, and then the lesser folk who could be 

toppled and often were, such as prime ministers. 

Winston Churchill was among the lesser folk. 

As this array walked in prescribed order solemnly 

and slowly, I ducked out, stood on the top step of the 

cathedral and watched the mighty of the world leave 

in splendor. It was probably the last time that such a 

noble multitude would ever foregather at one time 

and at one place. I was naturally much impressed and 

so was the silent crowd in front of the cathedral who 

had come to pay their respects to a fallen leader. 

The spectacle was all but over when in turn 

Winston Churchill emerged from the cathedral 

among the somewhat motley crowd of the lower 

ranks. I stood a few feet from him as he seemed to 

convey the confident message that the war was still 

in good hands. There was a ripple of applause from 

the crowd as he descended the steps and entered his 

car to be driven off to another day's work. 

he second time I saw Churchill was on VE-Day, 

T a very short while later. He was sitting on the 

folded top of a tiny convertible car with his feet on 

the back seat. His daughter Mary, in her ATS uniform 

was sitting on the seat next to his legs. Churchill was 

on his way to Buckingham Palace to report on the 

completion of his assignment to his King and Queen. 

He had already called on Rene Massigli, the French 

ambassador, John G. Winant the American ambas- 

Mi. Heineman is a New Yoik publisher. 

sador, and the Russian ambassador. An orderly crowd 

of people lined each side of Piccadilly as the procession 

proceeded towards Hyde Park Corner. This procession 

consisted of a policeman astride a white horse 

followed by Churchill and then two policemen, one 

on each side of the car (he was waving his cigar when 

it was not stuck firmly in his mouth). Behind the car, 

also on foot, was a third policeman politely asking 

the crowd not to step too close to the procession. 

The scene was immersed in quiet emotion — very 

dignified and very heartfelt as Churchill rode to the 

palace. He bore himself with a look of contented accomplishment. 

The crowd did not roar as did the 

British lion during the conflict. It applauded expressing 

a polite thank you. 

There could not have been many people who had 

not been affected directly by the war — British, 

Americans and Allies alike. All felt beholden to this, 

their unpretentious and comfortable-looking leader. • 


CHURCHILL TRIVIA 

TEST your skill and knowledge! Virtually 

all questions can be answered 

in back issues of FINEST HOUR or 

other ICS publications (but it's not 

really cricket to check). Twentyfour 

questions appear in each issue, 

the answers in the following issue. 

Questions fall into six categories: 

Contemporaries (C), Literary (L), 

Miscellaneous (M), Personal (P), 

Statesmanship (S), and War (W). 

385. Which of Churchill's many 

admirers was honored when WSC 

named one of his race horses 

after her (C) 

386. The final volume of The 

World Crisis is entitled The 

Unknown War (U.S. title). What 

war was Churchill writing about 

(L) 

387. What sport did Churchill call 

"The Emperor of Games" (M) 

388. On which Harrow entrance 

exam did Churchill do so well that 

he was put in the top division for 

that subject (P) 

389. Churchill represented four 

constituencies in the pre-WW2 

years. Name at least three. (S) 

390. From which well-known literary 

figure did Churchill receive a 

letter praising his ideas for tanks 

(W) 

391. Which English pacifist said, 

"God put us on an island and 

Winston has given us a navy. It 

would be absurd to neglect these 

advantages" (C) 

392. Dorset Press (NY) has republished 

two of Churchill's books in 

one volume entitled The Boer War. 

What are the original titles (L) 

393. Churchill's building of brick 

walls at Chartwell is well known; 

what other object on the grounds 

did he have a hand in building (M) 

394. What is the name of the room 

in Blenheim Palace where WSC 

was born (P) 

395. In 1941 Churchill and 

Roosevelt met in Placentia Bay to 

frame the Atlantic Charter. After 

the war it became a basis for which 

organization's charter (S) 

396. Chamberlain thought that 

Churchill would hamper his 

negotiations with Hitler. What 

happened to make him invite WSC 

to enter the Government (W) 

397. Pamela Lytton (nee Plowden) 

was an early love of Winston's, 

with whom he corresponded for 

many years. About how many (C) 

398. Who was St. John Brodrick of 

Brodrick's Army (L) 

399. Why did Churchill receive 

the King George V Coronation 

Medal (M) 

400. What title did the Royal 

Academy bestow upon Churchill 

401. In 1916 Churchill was desperately 

hoping for an appointment 

which Lloyd George awarded to Edward 

Montague. What was it (S) 

402. Although he did not serve as a 

commissioned officer in WW2, 

WSC had several honorary military 

titles. Name at least two. (W) 

403. What was Prof. Lindemann's 

official government position during 

WW2 when he was also Churchill's 

scientific advisor (C) 

404. With whom did Churchill advocate 

free trade in his book, For 

Free Trade 1 . (L) 

405. Complete this Churchill 

quote: "A nation that forgets its 

past has no '_." (M) 

406. In 1892 Randolph Churchill 

had a book published. What was its 

title (Not a collection of his 

speeches.) (P) 

407. Churchill served in Parliament 

almost continuously for over 

60 years. When was the break (S) 

408. Churchill had a "run-in" 

with Lord Kitchener before their 

EDITED BY BARBARA LANGWORTH 

involvement in WW1. Where was 

it (W) 

ANSWERS TO LAST TRIVIA 

(361) Lord Cherwell was a Professor 

of Experimental Philosophy 

at Oxford University. (362) The 

series in the News of the World 

was called "The World's Greatest 

Stories." (363) Greece issued the 

stamp with Churchill's speech. 

(364) Churchill liked the Lord 

Warden's admiral-type hat. (365) 

1959 was the last year Churchill's 

name was on the ballot. (366) 

Roosevelt and Churchill disagreed 

over plans for the invasion of the 

Balkans. (367) The vegetable cook 

at the Carlton Hotel when WSC 

and Lloyd George dined on 4 August 

1914 was Ho Chi Minh. (368) 

Some HESP spin-offs are The Island 

Race, The American Civil War, 

Joan of Arc and Heroes of History. 

(369) The London shoot-out was 

called "The Siege of Sydney 

Street." (370) Churchill signed his 

paintings "WSC." (371) Canada 

was the ' 'linchpin" for the Englishspeaking 

world. (372) "Fight on 

the beaches" (Dunkirk) speech 

was given at the House of Commons, 

4 June 1940. (373) Clement 

Attlee was the "grub." (374) The 

Second World War is WSC's biggest 

seller. (375) Churchill planted 

a tree on Mt. Scopus. (376) Winston 

was "pig" (initially "pug") and 

Clementine was "kat." (377) In 

the '30s WSC predicted the Indian 

bloodbath which occurred in 1947. 

(378) The Japanese attack on Pearl 

Harbor made Churchill enjoy "the 

sleep of the saved and thankful." 

(379) Churchill was related to Mac- 

Arthur through an American ancestor, 

John Farnsworth. (380) "Man 

Overboard!" appeared in Harmsworth 

(1899) and Argosy (minus 

the exclamation mark, 1965). (381) 

The Palace is named after the Battle 

of Blenheim, Bavaria, which 

the First Duke won in 1704. (382) 

Nancy Astor was the lady in the 

"I'd poison your tea/I'd drink it" 

anecdote. (383) The "Focus [on 

Freedom and Peace]" group met in 

a series of informal meetings WSC 

held in 1937-38. (384) Churchill insisted 

that the fleet be in the 

Adriatic Sea in 1939. 

• 


DESPA TCH BOX 

In issue #73, Herbert Goldberg of 

Potomac, Maryland wrote of his seventh 

Churchill seminar at American University 

(Institute for Learning in Retirement) but 

we failed to give the details. Here they are: 

Winston Churchill: His Life and Times 

(1874-1965) 

Herbert A. Goldberg, M.D. 

March 8, 1991: Introduction to Seminar, 

The Early Churchills, Young Winston Churchill. 

March 15, 1991: Churchill and Politics — 

British Parliamentary System, Liberalism, 

Conservatism. 

March 22, 1991: Churchill and The 

Origins of W.W.I., Churchill at War, The 

Dardanelles. 

March 29, 1991: Churchill and Communism, 

The "Iron Curtain Speech." 

April 5, 1991: Churchill and His Contemporaries, 

Brendan Bracken, Prof. Lindemann 

(Lord Cherwell), Lord Beaverbrook, 

Chamberlain, Gen. Charles de Gaulle, Churchill 

and the Colonies, India, Palestine, 

Ireland. 

April 12, 1991: Fighting Appeasement, 

The Abdication Crisis, The Wilderness 

Years. 

April 19, 1991: World War H, Fall of 

France, Dunkirk, Relations with F.D.R. and 

Americans. 

April 26, 1991: Churchill and The 

Generals, Churchill and Soviet Russia 

Today. 

May 3, 1991: The Second Prime Ministership 

1951-1955. 

May 10, 1991: Churchill the Painter. 

May 17, 1991: The Final Phase. 

May 24, 1991: "The Greatest Englishman 

of All Time." 

Books on WSC and India 

How very much I enjoy Finest Hour, an impressive 

publication and a help in locating 

further sources on WSC. I am a history 

undergraduate at the University of Florida 

and hope eventually to write my thesis on 

Churchill's opposition to the India Bill, 

1931-35. Apart from the official biography, 

little attention has been paid to this protracted 

episode of his career, even though his impassioned 

and tenacious opposition and its consequences 

help to explain why many saw him 

as a discredited alarmist when he began to 

warn of Hitler. The cursory glances at this 

episode that do exist are merely repetitions 

of the popular misrepresentation of WSC as 

a reactionary, a nostalgic subaltern of the 

19th century. 

JOHN HICKEY, GAINESVILLE FL. USA 

The Redburn Bibliography (Part 2 of ' 'Churchill 

Bibliographic Data'') offers several 

useful works on WSC and India, most of them 

critical but worth consulting: A48'Thz Prime 

Minister on India, A49 Winston Churchill 

Some Sidelights, A59 Churchill on India, 

A66 Churchill's Blind Spot: India. Rather 

easier to find is R.J. Moore's Churchill 

Cripps and India, Redburn A344, but it 

covers only 1939-45. For a good analysis of 

WSC's 1931-35 India speeches see Manfred 

Weidhorn's Foreword to the new (first 

American) edition of Churchill's India, ICS 

A38(b), published by and available from the 

editor. 

Churchill, Europe and the Future 

Thank you for another great issue, number 

#72, particularly your leader on page 3. But 

on reading page 33 with your "More Relevant 

Than Ever" article I found that our 

opinions differ here and there. There have 

been times when I thought it impossible that I 

would ever write anything in defence of 

Germany — those were times twenty or 

more years ago when it was still being run by 

a generation that had completed its education 

in the Nazi era. You could feel it in the air 

when traveling through the country. It was 

still there when I was doing my national service 

in the Dutch army and went frequently 

into Germany on manoeuvres. Nowadays the 

nasty smell has all but gone. Younger people 

with open minds and Western attitudes 

dominate the scene, far too numerous and influential 

for the neo-Nazi riff-raff one hears 

about occasionally. Things in Germany really 

have changed. Fermanagh and Tyrone 

were and may still be among the things that 

haven't — and Churchill, too, saw them as 

such if I interpret his 1922 remark correctly. 

The somewhat slanted appraisal of Germany 

in your piece is probably due to distance. 

Living near a volcano seems utterly 

dangerous to everyone except those who live 

there, and so it is living next to large, powerful 

countries. They inspire fear by their 

sheer size; it is easy to conceive the enemy in 

them, and young Germans are only too 

well aware of this. They know that their 

record as a nation still puts them at a disadvantage. 

Unification and the prospect of an 

even more powerful Germany have aggravated 

this situation. But Mrs. Aung San 

Suu Kyi, the Burmese Nobel Peace Prize 

awardee, has said that it is not power that 

corrupts, but fear: the fear that is within 

everybody, including the Germans, and 

ourselves. 

In stages over the past decade or two I 

have stopped perceiving Germany as a country 

likely to throw its weight around. The 

Germans have too much at stake. They want 

to have their Bundeswehr integrated with the 

French army to become the nucleus of a 

European defence force. What more 

guarantee against aggression would one 

want I'm all for it. In that light a German 

ultimatum to Serbia is not much more than a 

gesture. 

I agree that the potential for conflict in the 

world today is as large as ever, but not every 

conflict is serious enough to result in war. 

One or two disputes were mentioned in your 

article that I didn't know existed. The present 

Yugoslav civil war is a demonstration of 

how the world has changed: all the major 

European countries and some from overseas 

are trying to contain the conflict, mostly 

working through established inter- and 

supernational organisations. Compare this to 

1914 or 1939. If this isn't progress, what is 

If there was a quick-fire way to "release 

ourselves from these permanent states of 

crisis and disaster," then someone would 

have stumbled on it by now. But conflicts are 

in the minds of people. They take the form of 

ignorance of other cultures, races, creeds. 

It's a slippery slope, almost impossible to 

reverse on, so perhaps we ought to start at 

the top. Our generation is far better travelled 

than previous ones; even people who do little 

besides soak up the sun must sooner or later 

reach the conclusion that the "filthy 

foreigners" they see are more like them than 

different. Here again we have an advantage 

over our forebears. 

Are Churchill's thought and wisdom 

"more relevant than ever" I should certainly 

think so, in the sense that we continue to 

need to protect ourselves. Churchill has done 

more than any other individual statesman to 

bring about a situation in which our present 

political structures could be erected and 

grow. Freedom and peace must be well 

guarded, and among the new instruments for 

doing so is the long-overdue European 

Defence Community, which I hope will one 

day form a strong alliance with the USA and 

Canada — and why not Australia, New 

Zealand and Japan as well — and the "Union 

of Sovereign States" Such an alliance 

would not just serve as a deterrent to any 

country foolish enough to challenge it, but 

also help to guarantee democracy. 

We must also broaden and strengthen our 

international organisations. And therefore, 

yes, I do support the European Community. 

May our national governments soon find the 

courage to grant it an equitable but sufficient 

measure of executive power of its own. Of 

course it has its shortcomings, and a lumbering 

bureaucracy is one of them. Give me one 

large country or institution not suffering 

from the same evil. Also, give me another 

example of sovereign democratic states 

voluntarily organising themselves on the 

same scale and to the same extent. Say what 

you will of the EC, I think it's marvelous 

even the way it is. 

DOEKE J. OOSTRA. EMMELOORD, HOLLAND 

Mr. Oostra and I have exchanged letters for 

27 years, though we have met but thrice; I 

have never had a letter from him that didn't 


make me think, and widen my perspectives. It 

was thus with delight that I found him interested 

enough in Churchill to become a 

Friend of the Societies. (See his remarks at 

the collapse of the Berlin Wall, FH #65, p. 

3). Although his letter and my reply are how 

six months old, I thought readers would like 

to read them. . . . 

A few defenses. First, I was not predicting a 

revival of the Nazi Reich in Germany, but the 

potential for the revival of a certain mindset, 

a way of doing things, that is not entirely unfamiliar. 

Second, the view I quoted about 

Germany was a European, not an American 

comment. Third, the disputes I mentioned 

were brought to my attention by Europeans, 

via shortwave radio (see page 3). 

We all know about Croatia vs. Serbia and 

Armenia vs. Azerbaijan. Radio Prague also 

reports that the Czechs and Slovaks may be 

nearing a break-up — and cordially hate 

each other. Radio Moscow reports territorial 

"disagreements" between Russia and 

Moldavia. Lithuania was not independent a 

month before Radio Vilnius reported ' 'disturbances" 

in several parishes bordering on 

Poland, where an ethnic Polish majority had 

attempted more or less to transfer their 

allegiance to Poland. This was put down — 

but not before a commentator on Radio 

Polonia reminded listeners that part of 

Lithuania including its capital ("Vilna" to 

the Poles) had been cut out of Poland by the 

Russians in 1940; and that Poland had been 

shifted west en bloc at Yalta [against the protests 

of Churchill], where it inherited as 

citizens a lot of unwelcome Silesian Germans. 

None of these statements were made 

by distant Americans . . . 

That the nations which spent much of the 

last century figuring out ways to slay each 

other have now adopted a degree of unity in 

thought and action is, on the face of it, commendable. 

Other nations, which lost generations 

fighting in Europe's wars — like Britain 

— can perhaps be forgiven for being just a 

teensy bit chary about the vast new groupings 

of the good old European family. A 

Bundeswehr integrated with the French Army 

as a guarantee against aggression One may 

only hope that this may prove to be as successful 

as you say. 

We must all hope that the European 

Defence [Defense] Community may soon take 

over European defense, incidentally relieving 

American taxpayers of that role. Will it 

do so Perhaps, if we allow Churchill's 

wisdom to govern its development. He left 

quite a gameplan. Had it been followed, 

World War II would have never occurred. 

Is Europe "working through established 

inter- and supernational organisations" 

Here is one more shortwave comment, on 9 

December over the BBC: If Germany follows 

through on "her rumoured intent to 

recognize Croatia," it will be the second 

time this century that she has done so, and 

she has thrown a spanner into the works both 

times. By recognizing Croatia and Slovenia 

at this juncture, the commentator says, 

"Germany will short-circuit the European 

Community and the United Nations'' — those 

very supernational organisations — "and 

will exacerbate attempts to mediate the conflict. 

" Germany has since browbeaten the 

EC into premature recognition of Croatia 

and Slovenia; Germany herself did so first. 

There is a case for easing trade barriers in 

Europe; there may even be a case for a common 

or alternative currency. There is no 

case — and Churchill proved there never is 

— for tariff barriers that create trade wars, 

sometimes leading to shooting wars, or for 

international clubs open only to prosperous 

nations. 

As Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher 

sensed that the EC was an engine that should 

be driven by economic forces rather than a 

bureaucracy issuing diktats — and that it was 

rumbling forward as if Brezhnev and the Evil 

Empire still existed. She wanted to pause and 

take a look — to reconsider strategy in the 

light of developments since the Berlin Wall 

fell. But her message was distorted beyond 

belief by the media. If the EC is really a community, 

let it pause before wrapping its dozen 

members in their supernational cloak; pause 

to consider the Europe east of the Elbe and 

north of the Danube. 

Another example of "sovereign 

democratic states voluntarily organising 

themselves on the same scale and to the same 

extent" The thirteen states of America, who 

in 1787 put tariffs, separate currencies and 

petty jealousies behind them and drafted a 

document called the Constitution of the 

United States. Interestingly, they didn 't leave 

any states on the continent out. 

RICHARD M. LANGWORTH 

ICS Publications 

I'm probably the only reader confused by the 

descriptions of publications on pages 36-37 

of Finest Hour #71. Am I right in assuming 

that "Churchill Bibliographic Data" will 

shortly be "out of date" owing to forthcoming 

revisions of the Amplified Woods list in 

center sections of issues #73-75 Can the 

"Data" booklet be updated by taking the 

leaves out of forthcoming Finest Hours and 

replacing them in the stapled "Data" 

booklets Will this not make it a little sloppy, 

unlike the usual ICS publication I presume 

future copies of "Data" will contain the updates 

you are publishing in issues #73-75. 

But then, whenever there is a new change, 

will it not have to be slipped in with the old 

sheets How often will it be necessary to 

print new bound editions incorporating these 

changes Doesn't the same problem occur 

with your own forthcoming "Guide to the 

Books of Sir Winston Churchill" Each time 

something new is discovered, an addendum 

sheet of some sort will have to be printed and 

slipped in. 

GERRY LECHTER, FT. LEE NJ, USA 

It's confusing, I know. "Churchill 

Bibliographic Data" will not look sloppy 

after the insertions of replacement pages, 

because it is not "bound. "Its covers merely 

' 'sandwich'' the pages and the whole thing is 

stapled together. Alan Fitch makes up only 

enough copies to satisfy orders. Therefore, 

as the new "Amplified Woods List" comes 

out, he merely throws out the corresponding 

section of his old Amplified Woods List in 

favor of the new pages which I supply him. 

Of course each new section did not cover exactly 

the same items, so Alan decided to wait 

until the replacement is complete before making 

any changes in "Data" make-up. The 

transformation started in the center of issue 

#73 is near complete; up-to-date copies of 

"Churchill Bibliographic Data" will be 

available shortly. 

With regard to the ' 'Guide to Books,'' any 

checklist or bibliography is obsolete the day 

it is published; that's the nature of the game. 

I do not foresee trying to keep the "Guide" 

up to date with addenda sheets. Addenda and 

corrigenda will be published in Finest Hour 

for those who wish to make pen and ink corrections 

in their books; when enough has accumulated, 

we will simply publish a new edition 

of the "Guide." continued))} 

RIDDLES, MYSTERIES, ENIGMAS 

Q: I have the attached letter from 

Winston Churchill but I believe it's the 

US writer, c. 1890-1920. Am I correct 

— John T. Hay, Sacramento, Calif., 

USA. (The typed letter signed is dated 

7 August 1915 from King's Grant, 

Windsor, Vermont, and reads: "My 

dear Mrs. Grant, Your kind letter about 

"A Far Country" gave me the greatest 

pleasure. I was very much interested in 

what you have to say about Maude. 

With kindest regards, Sincerely yours, 

Winston Churchill.") 

A. Indeed it is the American author 

Winston Chuzchill, whose novels, including 

A Far Country, weie so popular 

in the early 1900s that young Winston 

Spencer Churchill proposed using his 

middle name to distinguish himself 

from his more accomplished colleague. 

At one point the American Churchill 

served in the New Hampshire legislature, 

and the English Churchill suggested 

it would be fun if his friend 

became President at the same time he 

became Prime Minister! But the state 

legislature was as high as Winston the 

American got. The charming story of 

their first meeting, in Boston, is related 

in "My Early Life.' 


Despatch BOX, continued 

To ICS United States 

Thank you for your invaluable help 

in locating the primary source for the 

"pity to be wrong" quotation from 

Winston Churchill [see "International 

Datelines." -Ed.] I used it again last 

week as I addressed the International 

Institute for Strategic Studies in 

London. You are absolutely right — it 

is very appropriate for the times. 

I am delighted to accept an honorary 

membership in the International Churchill 

Society of the United States. 

Thank you also for the copies of Finest 

Houi. They contain some wonderful 

material and I shall treasure them. 

COLIN L. POWELL, CHAIRMAN 

JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, WASHINGTON, DC 

Election 1955 Memories 

The photo of WSC and Clementine 

in issue #73 was from 1955 not 1951, 

and I thought your readers might enjoy 

a little information thereon. 

A General Election was called for 26 

May 1955, and although Sir Winston 

toured the Constituency and addressed 

several meetings during preceding 

weeks, he and Lady Churchill did not 

arrive on Polling Day until the evening, 

when they dined with Sir Stuart 

Mallinson at Woodford Green. As 

escort I duly called for them sometime 

after 10 PM to take them to the counting 

of votes at the Sir James Hawkey 

Hall, Woodford. As they entered the 

foyer Churchill turned to the right to 

enter the gentlemen's toilet, followed 

by Lady C! "Are you joining me, my 

dear" he enquired, whereupon she 

collapsed on his shoulder. By chance a 

press photographer took the snap, and 

it appeared in the Daily Sketch on 

Saturday May 28th. I have a copy of the 

photograph in my archives. 

Incidentally, Sir James Hawkey, as 

vice chairman of the Epping Constituency 

Conservative Association, was 

mainly responsible for the invitation to 

Churchill to stand as its candidate at 

the 1924 General Election. Their 

friendship lasted until Hawkey's death 

in 1952. 

On 24 April 1953 Mr. Churchill was 

invested with the Garter; on 19 May 

1953 I was elected Mayor of the 

Borough of Wanstead and Woodford — 

Coronation Year! I laid the Foundation 

Stone of the Hawkey Hall, with Sir 

Winston playing 'second fiddle' as our 

esteemed MP. For the occasion I was 

presented with an engraved silver 

trowel with an ivory handle by the 

Hall's architect. After the ceremony 

WSC was invited to lay a few bricks 

beside the 'stone,' and in so doing 

FINEST HOUR 75, PAGE 32 

"Are you joining me, my dear 1 ." (1955) 

broke the handle off my trowel — 

much to the amusement of the guests. 

On 26 March 1955 Churchill drove 

to Woodford to open the Sir James 

Hawkey Hall. In his speech he said how 

pleased he was to see Hawkey's son, Sir 

Roger, with his daughter Sally, who 

was celebrating her 21st birthday that 

day. Thus you can understand the 

depth of the friendship which grew up 

between the Churchill family and the 

burgesses of the Parliamentary Divisions 

of Epping and Woodford. 

DONALD L. FORBES, CBE, JP, FCA 

WOODFORD GREEN, ESSEX 

Australian Salute 

On your tour of Australia last year 

you lunched at Wyndham Estate and 

met our cousin, Digby Matheson. He 

has contacted us regarding a poem by 

our mother, Myra Steer, which we have 

pleasure in sending to you, in an 

Australian Comforts Fund copy. Most 

of her poems were written during the 

war years. In the family are several 

letters written by Winston and one by 

Clementine Churchill, and we have 

enclosed a photocopy of these. 

Myra Pickering Steer was born in 

1888 and spent her entire life in the 

southeast corner of Queensland. In 

1915 she married Rev. John Steer, 

reared six children, and wrote prolifically. 

She wrote many poems, 

which were published mainly in the 

local newspaper, and printed two books 

of verse: "My Pin-Up Man and Other 

Poems" during WW2 and "Selected 

Poems" during the Coronation Year 

1953. She had a weekly children's 

column and also wrote a children's 

book, "Bandai." She passed away in 

1964. 

JOHN & JOY STEER, TEWANTIN, QUEENSLAND 

My Pin-Up Man 

by Myra Steer, 1888-1964 

He's pinned up in me kitchen, where 

I sees him every day, 

An' I often sez, "God bless him," for 

he helps me on me way, 

He ain't what you'd call handsome, 

but his face it makes you care; 

For he looks like some ol' gran' duke 

dreamin' in his ol' armchair. 

'Taint a "swell" room for to pin him, 

but I likes him there the best. 

It's the place where most I needs him 

in me long endurance test. 

An' though it's gettin' shabby — needs 

new lino on the floor — 

Well, I kind o' just don't see it with 

him sittin' by the door. 

Still an' all I get rebellious, peelin' 

spuds the same ol' way, 

Washin' up the piles o' dishes, 

sweepin', cookin' every day. 

With me fam'ly in the forces, an' 

releasin' man-pow'r too, 

I do get so awful weary, I do get so 

awful blue. 

And it's when I starts a-thinkin', and 

feels as I could sob, 

Comes a chuckle from me "pin-up," 

an' a voice sez, "Do your job!" 

An' I sort of stands attention, an' I 

seem to read his mind; 

He's a man wot scorns a shirker, an' 

the folks wot lag behind. 

An' I sort of hear him sayin', "Blood, 

an' toil, an' tears, and sweat! 

I have nothin' else to offer." We shall 

be victorious yet, 

"For we'll fight 'em on the beaches, in 

the hills, the field, the street, 

An' we never shall surrender, "We 

shall never take defeat!" 

An' I kind o' see Ol' England — Isle o' 

Greatness o'er the sea — 

Bombed and bleedin', with her Allies 

fightin' for the likes o' me. 

So I peels me spuds an' whistles, for me 

tears won't let me sing — 

An' I cooks a coupon dinner wot might 

tempt a hungry king. 

Now, there ain't no housewife medals 

— if she dies, no epitaph; 

But she fights her daily battle, one an' 

only on the staff; 

An' what I sez is logic, maybe, consolation, 

too, 

It depends upon yer stoker how yer gets 

yer engine through. 

An' me "Pin-up" man, he helps me, so 

I talks to him, I do. 

An' I sez, "God bless you, guide you, 

help you see them dreams come 

true." 

He's no glamour boy, I'll grant you, 

bein' just too old by far — 

But he's England's "Bull-dog" Churchill, 

dreamin' with his ol' cigar. 

"Young Winston" Endings 

I have been trying for a long while to 

get a true and accurate copy of "Young 

Winston," starring Simon Ward, including 

the original final scene. This

ACTION THIS DAY 

FIRST QUARTER 1892* Age 17 

In France to study French, 

against his wishes, Winston was 

pleased to receive invitations to 

dine from aristocratic French 

friends of his parents. He also enjoyed 

a visit to the morgue but he 

was somewhat disappointed that 

there were ' 'only 3 macabres — not 

a good bag." 

After returning to Harrow 

Winston took up his pen with 

letters to The Hanovian, over a 

series of pseudonyms, particularly 

'Junius Junior.' He complained of 

the use of the Speech Room tower 

as a classroom, of the constant 

playing of organ music and of the 

shortage of towels in the gymnasium 

dressing room. On one occasion 

the editors of The Hanovian 

omitted parts of his letter "which 

seemed to us to exceed the limits 

of fair criticism." 

Churchill later recalled receiving 

the following admonition from the 

Reverend Mr. Welldon: ' 'My boy, I 

have observed certain articles 

which have recently appeared in 

The Harrovian, of a character not 

calculated to increase the respect 

of the boys for the constituted 

authorities of the school. As The 

Harrovian is anonymous I shall not 

dream of inquiring who wrote 

those articles, but if any more of 

the same sort appear, it might 

become my painful duty to swish 

you ." 

FIRST QUARTER 1917» Age 42 

As Churchill celebrated the New 

Year at Blenheim, he realized that 

his chances of coming back to 

power were not good. As he wrote 

Lord Fisher: "Our common enemies 

are all powerful today and 

friendship counts for less than 

nothing. I am simply existing." 

The return to power would follow 

only exoneration by the Dardanelles 

Commission of Enquiry. 

In a letter to the Commission 

Churchill declared: "If ever there 

was an operation in the history of 

war which once having been taken 

should have been carried through 

with the utmost vigour and at the 

utmost speed it was the military 

attack on the Gallipoli Peninsula." 

The War Office, he charged, was 

aware of the incompetency of the 

generals even if the Cabinet was 

not. After the military defeat, the 

politicians were also found wanting 

in failing to renew the offensive. 

Upon receipt of a draft copy of 

the Commission Report from 

Lloyd George, Churchill wrote a 

long response to the Commission 

which concluded: "Public opinion 

is unable to measure the true proposition 

of events. Orthodox 

military opinion remains united on 

the local view that victory in 1915 

could only be found by pouring out 

men and munitions in frantic efforts 

to break the German entrenchments 

in the West. The passage 

of a few years will throw a 

very different light on these events. 

They will then be seen in a truer 

proportion and perspective. It will 

then be understood that the capture 

of Constantinople and the 

rallying of the Balkans was the one 

great and decisive manoeuvre open 

to the allied armies in 1915. It will 

then be seen that the ill-supported 

armies struggling on the Gallipoli 

Peninsula, whose efforts are now 

viewed with so much prejudice and 

repugnance, were in fact within an 

ace of succeeding in an enterprise 

which would have abridged the 

miseries of the World and proved 

the salvation of our cause. It will 

then seem incredible that a dozen 

old ships, half a dozen divisions, or 

a few hundred thousand shells 

were allowed to stand between 

them and success. Contemporaries 

have condemned the men who 

tried to force the Dardanelles — 

History will condemn those who 

did not aid them." 

He repeated these sentiments in 

the Commons debate on the Commission's 

Report: "When this 

matter is passed in final review 

before the tribunal of history, I 

have no fear where the sympathies 

of those who come after us will lie. 

Your Commission may condemn 

the men who tried to force the Dardanelles, 

but your children will 

keep their condemnation for all 

who did not rally to their aid." 

FIRST QUARTER 1942* Age 67 

On New Year's Day Churchill 

returned from Ottawa to Washington 

where he and Roosevelt signed 

the United Nations Charter. A few 

days later he flew to Pompano 

Beach, Florida, for a short vacation, 

and on 14 January he left the 

United States for home. Over the 

Atlantic he took over the controls 

of a Boeing flying boat, even making 

a couple of banked turns. 

At a meeting of the War Cabinet 

Churchill reported that Roosevelt 

had said to trust him to the bitter 

end. The next day he told the King 

that he was confident of ultimate 

victory. 

Dramatic events were taking 

place on the Eastern Front as the 

showed Churchill after World War II, 

speaking to the shade of his father 

["The Dream," first published in 

volume form by ICS in 1987] about the 

events since his father's death. This 

was a brilliant and unforgettable psychological 

formulation and the great 

power of the film. But in the American 

version, the film ends with footage of 

V-E Day with Churchill and the Royal 

Family waving from Buckingham 

Palace. 

The British Film Institute tells me 

that "Young Winston" is available on 

video through Video Collection Ltd. of 

Strand VCI House, Caxton Way, Watford, 

Herts. WD1 8UF, but the UK version 

"is 120 minutes long as opposed to 

the original release time of 157 minutes 

so the same scene that interests you 

may also be cut here as well." Also, of 

course, British videos are not compatible 

with US equipment, requiring (expensive) 

conversion. 

Can you help me obtain a copy of the 

film with the remarkable last scene 

preserved 

DR. HARVEY H. SHAPIRO, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 

We have been aware for some time of 

the original ending featuring "The 

Dream," and would be glad to know if 

any reader has a videotape with the 

original ending and could duplicate it 

for Dr. Shapiro (and us). 

• 


Russians forced Germany to give 

up the seige of Sevastopol. Hitler 

attributed this German failure to 

the severe cold. As desperate as he 

was for Russian support, Churchill 

refused to acknowledge Soviet 

claims to Estonia, Latvia and 

Lithuania. 

The horror which the Allies were 

fighting was graphically illustrated 

at a February meeting in Wannsee, 

near Berlin, where, in a ninety 

minute meeting, Heydrich outlined 

plans for exterminating all 

Jews in Europe. A month later the 

first deportees arrived at Auschwitz. 

At the end of January the news 

seemed dark on all fronts. Rommel 

had become "a kind of magician or 

bogeyman" to troops in Africa,- 

British forces were being pushed 

back at Singapore; Churchill faced 

a no-confidence vote in the Commons. 

He won the vote with only 

one dissenter in the Commons and 

Rommel's advance was stopped at 

Libya, but Singapore fell in what 

Churchill called the greatest 

military defeat in the history of the 

British Empire. Nonetheless, 

Roosevelt, now also in his Sixties, 

responded to a Churchill birthday 

greeting: "It is fun to be in the 

same decade with you." 

Command appointments were 

being made which would eventually 

carry the Allies to victory. 

Stilwell was appointed C-in-C, US 

Forces in Chinese Theatre; Harris 

was appointed C-in-C, Bomber 

Command; Mountbatten was appointed 

C-in-C, Combined Operations; 

Slim was appointed C-in-C, 

Burma; and Blarney was appointed 

C-in-C, Australian forces. Mac- 

Arthur left the Philippines with the 

vow, "I shall return." Churchill's 

dissatisfaction with Auchlinleck in 

Africa grew. 

Concern for Churchill's burdens 

and their affect on his health and 

demeanor grew among his family 

and associates. His doctor, Charles 

Wilson, expressed the wish to ' 'put 

out the fires that seem to be consuming 

him." Brooke commented 

that the Prime Minister was dejected 

and "in for a lot more trouble." 

Mary Churchill noted that 

her father was "saddened — appalled 

by events" and "desperately 

taxed." Eden speculated privately 

FINEST HOUR 75, PAGE 34 

that Churchill had had a stroke. 

Churchill wrote Roosevelt that 

he was finding it very difficult to 

get over the fall of Singapore. It 

may have had as traumatic an impact 

on him as the Dardanelles did 

in the First World War. In his 

public speeches he continued to 

exude confidence but never withheld 

the realities of the situation. 

To the Conservative Party Council 

Meeting, he said: "This is a very 

hard war. Its numerous and fearful 

problems reach down to the very 

foundations of human society. Its 

scope is worldwide, and it involves 

all nations and every man, woman, 

and child in them. Strategy and 

economics are interwoven. Sea, 

land, and air are but a single service. 

The latest refinements of 

science are linked with the 

cruelties of the Stone Age. The 

workshop and the fighting line are 

one. All may fall, and all will stand 

together. We must aid each other, 

must stand by each other." 

FIRST QUARTER 1967 

Randolph Churchill and his 

"Young Gentlemen," who toiled 

under the direction of Michael 

Wolff, continued their work on 

Volume II of the official biography, 

which they called the Great Work. 

Randolph's work schedule was 

very similar to his father's. The 

Young Gentlemen who came to his 

home at Stour were invited to read 

their research aloud before, during 

and after dinner. If it was particularly 

good, ' 'lovely grub" in Randolph's 

term, other researchers 

were invited to listen. Much of the 

reading time was interrupted by 

telephone calls, Randolph's anecdotes 

and comments, or instructions 

to refer to something in his 

remarkable library. Martin Gilbert 

said that Randolph could "sniff out 

dubious facts like a bloodhound." 

The reading aloud continued until 

about midnight when all departed 

except for Randolph and the Young 

Gentleman on duty. They worked 

until the early hours of the morning. 

The outside secretaries arrived 

about 9:00 a.m. to type the night's 

work. The manuscript had to be 

ready to show Randolph when he 

called for it by noon. 

Action This Day: 2nd Quarter 

SECOND QUARTER 1892 • Age 17 

Winston's great achievement 

this term was the winning of a 

fencing championship. He reported 

to his mother that he was ' 'far and 

away first. Absolutely untouched 

in the finals." He also wrote to his 

father about his accomplishments, 

asking for more money. Lord Randolph's 

response focused on the 

financial request: "I send you £1 

but you are really too extravagant 

... If you were a millionaire you 

could not be more extravagant . . . 

This cannot last, and if you are not 

more careful should you get into 

the army six months of it will see 

you in Bankruptcy Court." 

The Hanovian recognized the 

achievements overlooked in the 

paternal response. The comments 

in the student paper indicated how 

Churchill would fight battles all of 

his life: "... his quick and dashing 

attack . . . took his opponents by 

surprise." It would not be the last 

time that "Churchill must be congratulated 

on his success over all 

his opponents . . . many of whom 

must have been much taller and 

more formidable than himself." 

SECOND QUARTER 1917 • Age 42 

The Churchills purchased a new 

home at Lullenden in Sussex. Lady 

Randolph signed the Deed (shown 

recently on ICS' visit), suggesting 

that she provided backing or some 

other form of support. 

After the report of the Dardanelles 

Commission, the political 

fate of Churchill lay in the hands of 

his old friend, Lloyd George. Churchill 

opposed the attack on the 

Western Front, wanting to wait until 

American forces could arrive in 

Europe. Lloyd George realized that 

it would be better to have his friend 

in the Government rather than 

criticizing from the outside, but 

his Tory allies were adamantly opposed 

to Churchill's inclusion. 

Churchill later wrote that he was 

told by Lloyd George that he would 

eventually be brought in: "I became 

to a large extent his colleague. 

He repeatedly discussed with me 

every aspect of the war and many of 

his secret hopes and fears."

In late May, Churchill returned 

to the continent, where he met 

Marshal Foch, Sir Henry Wilson, 

and Sir Douglas Haig, among 

others. One of the others was Lord 

Esher, Liaison Officer between the 

British and French War Offices and 

a pillar of the political establishment. 

A letter from Esher to Haig 

outlines the views that many had 

of Churchill at the time: "A true 

appreciation of Winston Churchill 

— of his potential uses — is a difficult 

matter. The degree to which 

his clever but unbalanced mind 

will in future fulfill its responsibilities 

is very speculative. He 

handles great subjects in rhythmical 

language, and becomes 

quickly enslaved by his own 

phrases. He deceives himself into 

the belief that he takes broad 

views, when his mind is fixed upon 

one comparatively small aspect of 

the question. 

' 'The power of Winston for good 

and evil is very considerable. His 

temperament is of wax and quicksilver, 

and this strange toy amuses 

and fascinates L George, who likes 

and fears him ... To me he appears 

not as a statesman, but as a 

politician of keen intelligence lacking 

in those puissant qualities that 

are essential in a man who is to 

conduct the business of our country 

through the coming year. I hope 

therefore that he may remain outside 

the Government." 

Notwithstanding these views, in 

July Churchill returned to the 

Government as Minister of Munitions. 

SECOND QUARTER • Age 67 

Harry Hopkins and General Marshall 

visited Churchill to relay 

President Roosevelt's "heart and 

mind" concerning a second front. 

They told the Prime Minister that 

American public opinion was 

weighted toward priority against 

Japan, but that American leaders 

considered Germany the primary 

enemy. They agreed on a crosschannel 

invasion in 1943 and 

named it Operation Roundup. In 

the meantime, they would engage 

the enemy in Africa and, Churchill 

hoped, Norway. The Germans prepared 

for the cross-channel assault 

by appointing Field Marshal 

Von Rundstedt Commander in 

Chief, Atlantic Wall Defences. 

Losing patience with the pace of 

war in North Africa, Churchill 

ordered General Auchinleck to 

engage the enemy, but Rommel 

was the first to take the initiative 

with an attack on 26 May. Churchill 

pressed the importance of not 

losing Malta as a supply base, and 

sent the following message to 

Auchinleck: "Your decision to 

fight it out to the end is most cordially 

endorsed. We shall sustain 

you whatever the result. Retreat 

would be fatal. This is a business 

not only of armour but of willpower. 

'' 

While the battles raged in Africa 

there was also considerable action 

elsewhere. Bataan and Corregidor 

fell but the Japanese Navy was 

stopped at the Battle of Midway. In 

Europe the Allies sent 1,000 

bombers against Cologne. Germany 

lost a potential successor to 

Hitler with the assassination of 

Heydrich. As the Germans waged 

campaigns against partisans 

throughout the Eastern Front, 

news reached Warsaw that gas was 

being used on Jews in Auschwitz. 

Churchill decided that plans for 

operations had to be finalized so he 

set out to visit Roosevelt in 

America. Before leaving he advised 

the King to appoint Anthony Eden 

as Prime Minister should anything 

happen on this trip. The British 

and American leaders met first at 

Roosevelt's home at Hyde Park, 

New York. On returning to Washington, 

Churchill was informed 

that Tobruk had fallen. This was 

one of the heaviest blows he received 

during the war, comparable 

to the loss of Singapore. 

Before returning to Britain, he 

wrote Auchinleck: "Do not have 

the slightest anxiety about the 

course of affairs at home. Whatever 

views I may have about how the 

battle was fought or whether it 

should have been fought a good 

deal earlier, you have my entire 

confidence and I share your responsibilities 

to the full ..." 

The course of affairs at home, 

which Churchill called "a beautiful 

row," involved a debate on a 

vote of censure in the House of 

Commons. Churchill later wrote 

that had he led a party government 

he might have suffered the fate of 

Chamberlain in May 1940, but the 

National Coalition Government 

was strong enough to survive "a 

long succession of misfortune and 

defeats in Malaya, Singapore and 

Burma; Auchinleck's lost battle in 

the Desert; Tobruk, unexplained, 

and, it seemed, inexplicable,- the 

rapid retreat of the Desert Army and 

the loss of all our conquests in 

Libya and Cyrenaica; four hundred 

miles of retrogression towards the 

Egyptian frontier. ..." 

In this case Churchill's Government 

was supported by 475 votes 

to 25. Parallels were drawn between 

Churchill and Pitt who experienced 

similar dark days in 

1799, but, sustained by the House 

of Commons, emerged victorious. 

SECOND QUARTER 1967 

War journalism had been a Churchill 

family accomplishment for 

seventy-five years. Winston had 

covered hostilities in Africa, India 

and Cuba. His son, Randolph, 

covered the Spanish Civil War, 

and, in 1945 — victorious in war 

but defeated in politics — became a 

roving, syndicated reporter. He 

later covered the Korean War and 

the Suez and Sinai campaigns. 

The present Winston Churchill, 

M.P., son of Randolph, had just 

completed a reporting tour of 

South Vietnam when his father 

challenged him to visit the Middle 

East and view the escalating crisis 

from the Israeli side. In Israel he 

befriended Moshe Dayan and was 

breakfasting with David Ben 

Gurion at the King David Hotel in 

Jerusalem on 22 May when the 

former Israeli Prime Minister heard 

the news that Nasser had closed 

the Straits of Tiran. Ben Gurion 

remarked: "This means war." 

Winston was back in London 

when the war began but he soon 

returned to the Middle East, this 

time to report for the London Evening 

News. In the middle of the 

war, which lasted only six days, he 

received the following telegram 

from Randolph: SUGGEST WE DO JOINT 

RUSH BOOK STOP WHAT DO YOU SAY STOP 

LOVE = FATHER. The book, published 

in 1968, was entitled The Six Day 

Wai. 

• 


IMMORTAL WORDS 

"WESTWARD, LOOK, THE LAND IS BRIGHT" 

It was with indescribable relief 

that I learned of the tremendous decisions lately taken 

by the President and people of the United States. 

The American Fleet and flying boats have been ordered to patrol 

the wide waters of the Western Hemisphere, 

and to warn the peaceful shipping of all nations 

outside the combat zone of the presence of lurking U-boats 

or raiding cruisers belonging to the two aggressor nations. 

We British shall therefore be able to concentrate our protecting 

forces 

far more upon the routes nearer home ... 

When I said ten weeks ago, "Give us the tools and we will finish the job,' 

I meant, give them to us; 

put them within our reach — 

and that is what it now seems the Americans are going to do. 

While therefore we naturally view with sorrow and anxiety 

much that is happening in Europe and in Africa, 

and may happen in Asia, 

we must not lose our sense of proportion 

and thus become discouraged or alarmed. 

When we face with a steady eye 

the difficulties which lie before us, 

we may derive new confidence from remembering 

those we have already overcome. 

Nothing that is happening now is comparable in gravity 

with the dangers through which we passed last year. 

Last time I spoke to you I quoted the lines of Longfellow 

which President Roosevelt had written out for me in his own hand. 

I have some other lines which are less well known 

but which seem apt and appropriate to our fortunes tonight, 

and I believe they will be so judged 

wherever the English language is spoken 

or the flag of freedom flies: 

"For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, 

Seem here no painful inch to gain, 

Far back, through creeks and inlets making, 

Comes silent, flooding in, the main. 

' 'And not by eastern windows only, 

When daylight comes, comes in the light; 

In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly! 

But westward, look, the land is bright." 

BROADCAST, LONDON, 27 APRIL 1941 

THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCHILL SOCIETIES • AUSTRALIA • CANADA • UNITED KINGDOM • UNITED STATES 

THE RT. HON. SIR WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

international datelines - Winston Churchill

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