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

"Never Despair," continuedforth triumphant from the hideous epochin which we have to dwell. Meanwhile,never flinch, never weary, never despair."-Alexander JusticeDESPAIR ANYWAY...LONDON, MARCH 29TH—Sir WinstonChurchill, Boadicea and Henry VIIIcould be among British figures banishedfrom history as part of a "dumbing down"of the subject, reports the Daily Mail.Drafts for the new National Curriculumcirculated in March contained almost norequirements for children aged 7-14 to betaught about important people, dates andfacts. Instead, teachers are urged to concentrateon "historical skills" and the beliefsof people from "various social, cultural,ethnic and religious perspectives."Chris McGovern, director of theHistory Curriculum Association, whofought to keep such figures as Churchillin the original curriculum five years ago,said the changes would erase "the landmarksof British history." The Mail adds:"Pupils currently learn about the twoWorld Wars and are offered the chance tostudy figures such as Churchill, Hitlerand Stalin in depth. But the new curriculummakes only the Nazi Holocaust acompulsory subject. It is otherwise left toteachers to give 'consideration' to 'thecauses and consequences' of the worldwars. Churchill is not even mentioned."McGovern continues: "It is a disaster.The birthright has disappeared forchildren to learn about their nationhood....A lot of teachers also feel a hugesense of guilt about Britain's past whichthey see as imperialistic and concernedonly with white males." He suggested thereforms were intended to underminesense of British identity, making it easierto submerge the country into a Europeansuperstate: "If you want to see the UnitedKingdom as part of a federal Europeanstate then history gets in the way."The draft curriculum was to havebeen sent to Education Secretary DavidBlunkett in May and put out to consultationover the summer. British readers maywish to query their MPs on the currentstate of these proposals.Simultaneously, the Telegraph advisedthat Earl Spencer's speech at the funeralDATELINESof Princess Diana has entered British secondaryschool textbooks "as one of thegreat examples of the effective uses ofEnglish."BUT NOT JUST YET...TORONTO, JUNE 2ND—Members might liketo know that we receive 60,000 to 70,000visits per week on The Churchill Centerand Societies website. That's not numbersof people, because some people makemany requests while surfing from page topage. Our busiest week was the week ofthe launching of USS Winston S.Churchill when we received 73,054 visits.But our busiest days were May 25th andMay 26th when we received 17,886 and16,660 respectively. Interestingly, it felloff to 3,730 per day by the end of thatweek, coinciding with the deadline forfinal exams and term-papers. The cause ofeducating young people about Churchillis not altogether lost.-John PlumptonSPIRITUAL RENEWALEDINBURGH,MAY 10TH—During the war aScottish cleaning woman and mother ofsix named Helen Duncan was tried forwitchcraft for holding seances invokingsuch ghosts as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Churchill angrily defended her in a letterto Home Secretary Herbert Morrison,calling the trial "obsolete tomfoolery."Mrs. Duncan was hounded for the rest ofher life. She died five weeks after policeburst into a seance while she was in tranceand tried to seize the ghostly apparaitions.Now a web-based campaign for a posthumouspardon has begun, with supportfrom British television producers, MPsand spiritualists. The web address ishttp://members. tripod, com/^helenduncan/.LONDON REMEMBERSLONDON, MAY 6TH—IN WAR, RESOLUTION;IN DEFEAT, DEFIANCE; IN VICTORY, MAG-NANIMITY; IN PEACE, GOODWILL. Thosefamous words are now inscribed on amemorial in St. Paul's Cathedral to the30,000 London civilians who died fromenemy bombing in World War II. Alsoengraved on the Irish limestone monumentare the words: "Remember beforeGod the People of London 1939-1945."FINEST HOUR 103 / 6i•SI•I•WM$m•Hs thehe>y theIt was the Queen Mother wholaunched the memorial fund with a generousdonation. She of course livedthrough the Blitz and made many visitsto the sites of the worst bombings. Sheachieved a special place in Londoners'hearts with her remark after the bombingof Buckingham Palace: "I'm glad we'vebeen bombed. It makes me feel I can lookthe East End in the face." The EveningStandard, which promoted the fund, receiveddonations ranging from a fewpence to hundreds of pounds, often inmemory of one who had died in the Blitzor the VI and V2 attacks that followed.BERLIN REMEMBERSBERLIN, MARCH 6TH—Some Germans areprotesting the naming of an Army Barracksafter Churchill, mainly on the goodold grounds of the bombing of Dresden(which everyone forgets was a militarytarget). German Defence Minister RudolfScharping hedged by saying the Barrackswould be in recognition of Churchill'scontribution to European unity. But PeterBoenisch in the newspaper Bild replied,"One can imagine a Churchill library, ayouth foundation or exhibition, but aChurchill Barracks would not be overcomingthe past." Meanwhile, CulturalMinister Michael Naumann has attackedBritain's obsession with World War II,saying the UK is still "mesmerized by theNazis....There is only one nation in the