.JOURNAL OFTIIE CHURCHILL CKNTER AND ... - Winston Churchill

"The Swiss Press got rather confused and described NicholasSoames and me as WSC's 'two grandsons,' which puzzledthe multitude, as the physical resemblance is absolutely nil.Nicholas, of course, thought it hilarious."—RRJFor awhile it seemed that SirRobert and I weren't destined tobecome chums. He was a Torywet who believed in little Britainwithin the European Union and regardedMargaret Thatcher as a rathernasty aberration. I was a jaded politicaljunkie who had lost faith in politicsas currently practiced but wouldhave voted for Thatcher if I could,who believed that the EU was a socialistcon-job for the benefit of theFranco-Germans, and that the bestGreat Britain could do was to join theNorth American Free Trade Association.We disagreed manifestly aboutthe Official Biography. RandolphChurchill had sacked him from theO.B. research team and Robert neverforgave him, always maintaining thatthe O.B. was the same "case for thedefence" Churchill had already madein his own books (FH 64, p. 11).Robert never feared to say exactlywhat he believed in the most forcefulterms available to a gentleman. In anage of prevaricating phonies of theLeft and Right, such a character israre. Winston Churchill would haveloved him.At the Peacemaker symposium hetook on my friend Manfred Weidhorn,who suggested that Churchillhad protested Hitler's occupation ofthe Rhineland. Walking briskly to thepodium after Manny's presentation,Robert announced: "Churchill saidnothing about the Rhineland, nothingat all; he was hoping to get intothe Cabinet so he kept his mouthshut." Then bang, he sat down again.No questions, thanks very much!Later we tangled over this—becauseChurchill did and said thingsabout the Rhineland which ought tobe in the record, and (I argued)sweeping generalizations have noplace either in a biography ofBoothby or a seminar on Churchill.He ended it with a peremptory note:"I am one of Churchill's strongest admirers,but I cannot accept claimsthat have no merit or justification. Isee no point whatever in continuingthis correspondence."nd that, I thought, was that;Allbut a year later he wrote tojffer Finest Hour a very goodpiece ("Myth-Shattering: An ActorDid NOT Give Churchill's Speeches,"FH 92), and we renewed our correspondence,in which he produced atreasury of rewarding observations.His intelligent and shrewd thoughtson Churchill and politics, deliveredad hoc with a kind of entre nous intimacy,were a privilege to read. Heeven agreed to consider what I wouldeventually produce on Churchill andthe Rhineland. I came to realize thathere was a wise and opinionated Diogenesto shed a kindly light over myown insignificant Churchill studies.Alas the Rhineland piece was setaside, because like most of his friendsand admirers I expected Robertwould be with us a long time yet; andnow he will never read it, to hammerme back in cordial debate. He diedtoo young, of cancer on May 20th,his second Churchill volume unpublished.I join the mourners of a firstclass intellect and, as Churchill said,"a good House of Commons man." $3AFFAIRS CHURCHILLSir Robert Rhodes James to Richard M. Langworth, 1995-98ANTHONY EDEN"I do not think that WSC developed 'a cold hatred' for Eden; certainly theircorrespondence would belie this, but the abandonment of the Suez Canal baseangered Churchill, as did Eden's manifest impatience with WSC's procrastinationabout retiring."GEORGE VI"The relationship between WSC and the King during the war is important,as it has been consistently underestimated, and even on occasion ignored. Itbegan stickily, but developed into the closest relationship between Monarchand Prime Minister in modern British history. The Queen Mother is very affectionatelyamusing about WSC, as was the King when Churchill's letters becameespecially flowery. On one occasion WSC enthusiastically responded to a pleafor help in preparing a broadcast by the King by sending a speech he had composedspecially. Of course, it contained words and phrases the King could notget his tongue round, and, while splendidly Churchillian, was so out of characterfor the King that it was politely rejected. Sadly, his draft seems to have disappeared."HAROLD NICOLSON"His position was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Informationbetween May 1940 and June 1941. This was a junior Ministerial post in theChurchill Coalition Government. Duff Cooper was a disaster as Minister, andHarolds career suffered thereby, but as his son Nigel has frankly admitted, 'hewas not a fit person to run a Department in wartime.' Indeed, much as I lovedHN, he was marvellously unfitted to administer or run anything. When WSC,who had to find a Labour Minister to balance the Coalition team, had to sackHN, whom he greatly liked and respected, he made him a Governor of theBBC, which was his true metier." continued opposite »>FINEST HOUR 103/10