FINEST HOUR - Winston Churchill

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Mediterranean Victories:Churchill in StampsBY RICHARD M. LANGWORTHPages 199-204: MALTA TO ROMFCatalogue numlws arc Scott (•#) timl Shirley Gibbons isg/. Aslaih mark (/) indicates a xct with a common ifc&ixii Jium whichany value is usable. Cams and Minkui luraluquc numbers ansometimesused, and identified h\ mime.199. Question: is this pa^e accurate as stated, with Churchill inthe uniform of the Hlder Brother ot Tiinit> House, or is it theRoyal Yacht Squadron, as i>ne observer has stated? (It is not theLord Warden of The Cinque Ports uniform, as staled b\ StanleyGibbons.) The Trinity J loose material comes ln«m jn early issueof Final Hour. The stamps are all Churchill commi'moiathcs.From top to bottom: R;is al Khaima Minkus 15 (Cams 211 jnd itsrevalued replacement. Minkiis I5A iC&rus 27i; Manama Roose\elt.Minkus ?33 (Caru.s 3 U 7;; Urejt Britain 372S ^yfihl) inboth phosphor ;uid non-phosphor: and ("iibrahar*»^J7199.TRINITY HOUSEMany stamps depict Churchill wearing the undress uniform of anElder Brother of Trinity House, which governs lighthouses andother aids to navigation in England, Wales and the ChannelIslands, and is advisory to Scotland and Northern Ireland inthose matters. Its origins go back at least to King AlfredHenry VIII gave Trinity House its first charter.Membership isdivided into"Youngers" andElders." Theformer aremaster mariners"Elders" aredivided into"actives"(masters oflong experienceusually salarieiemployees ofTrinity House)and honoraries—Invariablymembers ofroyalty or verydistinguishedpoliticians.200. There- is only one place for Malta** Tine Churchill coinmemonitives in a biographical collection, and ihat is on the page rn.uk.-ing the successful defense of Malta in 1941-42 h\ General Dobtrie, and his successor, lord Gun. Malta #3-14-47 fsg3b2-o5) isaccompanied b> one of Nicaragua's superb mini-sheets. Minkus2362 (sg 1914a).201.1 didn't know what to do about the Cook Islands Churchilloverprints. #164-69 isg!79-S4;, though E suppose they could alsouscfuHy document the war in the Pacific. J finally chose WSCsfamous statement about not presiding over the liquidation of theEmpire, while explaining that WSC did favor self-govermnenr.• 202. Many stamps depict the- fateful Casablanca Conferencewhere Roosevelt demanded "Unconditional Surrender" and deGaulle and Girard were persuaded to pose together. These are.Nicaragua #698 and #C272 isgli)75 and 1082); an Ajmaii deGauTle mini sheet (sg804a). and iy y 0 dc Cmulle stamps ol \'auu-. 203. Casablanca continues, discussing the appointment ot liiscnhoweras supreme commander of Allied l ; orccs in Europe, illustratcd by gold foil stamps trom Mananu. one oi the infamous"sand dune" Arab tmcial states, which liki-h never served .ispostajre" Produced in J»J70, these are Minkus M5 iC'arus 415) andthe same in souvenir sheet overprinted for the l'ni\ersal PostalUnion Centenar> (Cams 417).•204. One of the more recent layouts, done with a Miicintosh and alaser printer, covers the Italian campaigns, starting with the (JrcatBritain admirals issue ifor Cunningham) and the following "C^K"Stamps: France #B94 (sg659); Italy #579 for Munleca-tinci;Frani:e#124g lsgI834) for Anzio: Italy 903/S mjrking the Resistance, and any of numerous stamps of the Vatican C'itv depictincVfoifiXnfTo be continued}200.APOGEEVICTORY AT MALTA"Today we welcome back to our shores General Dobbie—fornearly two years the heroic defender of Malta. For the momentthe terrific air attack on Malta has slackened. It looks asif a lot of enemy aircraft have moved eastward. I wonder why?"Gen. Dobbiewas wornout by thistime. ButWSC wrote,"up to thismoment hehad beenmagnificent,and from allparts of theEmpire eyeswere turned onhim—a Cromwellianfigureat the keypoint."Churchill nowappointedLord Gort,Governor ofGibraltar, totake Gen.Dobbie'splace. ButMalta hadindeed beensaved.—speech, May 19,42
ON COLONIES"We mean to hold our own. I have not become the King's FirstMinister in order to preside over the liquidation of the BritishEmpire...without which the good cause might well have perishedfrom the face of the earth. Here we are, and here we stand, averitable rock of salvation in this drifting world."Churchill wasoften quoted outof context fromthis speech, inwhich he coupledBritain 1 s need"to hold its own"with its simultaneousdeclarationto seek noadditional landor colonies.Though an ardentmonarchist and aconservative,WSC was vastlymisrepresentedwith respect toself-government,which he stronglysupported.—Lord Mayor's Day Speech, 10 November 19^22(U.CASABLANCA CONFERENCE (II)At Casablanca, the American and British leaders mutually agreedto appoint General Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander forthe European Theater, and made extensive plans for the cominginvasion of Europe.Churchill, in hismemoirs, marveledat de Gaulle'sability to maintaina strident attitude.He was a man withouta country, WSC wrote,yet he acted as ifhe was head of state.(And he would do soagain, when he washead of state. .'.)IWVEHSAL POSTAL VNtOlSCENTENARYCook Islandsself-governmentissues overprintedinhonor of SirWinston, 1965.CASABLANCA CONFERENCE (I)From 14 through 24 January 19^3, Churchill and Roosevelt met toconfer at Casablanca—for the first time on captured enemyterritory. Churchill spent a lot of time coaxing General Charlesde Gaulle to attend. There was an antipathy between Rooseveltand de Gaulle, not to mention another French leader present atthe meeting, General Giraud.TOE CONQUEST OF ITALY: SICILY, ANZIO, ROMEOn July 9th, 1943, a huge armada converged south of Malta and made all steam for thebeaches of Sicily. Scarcely five weeks later the last German forces were flung out of Sicilyand the whole island was in Allied hands. Mussolini was overthrown July , interned buttemporarily rescued by Hitler, but by September Italy had signed an armistice.The Germansset up a rival Fascist government In the North of Italy and continued to offer stiffresistance, especially when the Allies attempted to break a stalemate by a surpriseamphibious landing at Anzlo. Rome did not fall until June 4th, 1944.Giraud,Roosevelt,de Gaulleand Churchillat Casablanca,an unselfishphoto sessioncomposed ofmutual dislikes.The onlyincidents whichoccurred to marthe precision of[the Sicilyarmada] werethe loss by U-boat attack ofthree ships Inconvoy." -Adm.Cunningham204.By the end of1943 Alliedtroops hadreached theabbey atMontecasslno,where fiercebattles raged;Anzlo was notlinked to themain Invasionforce until May1944.•.'• . .\> I •.- • v,tGeneral de Gaulle at first refused to go to Casablanca at all,but Churchill persuaded him. Convincing de Gaulle to sit out onthe lawn with Giraud was something else again, but miraculouslythe Prime Minister managed it.Despite avigorous Ilallanresistancemovement theGermans did notabandon centralItaly until thefall of Rome,where.ln theVatican. PopePius XI! hadcontinued toproclaimneutrality.
Page 1 and 2: Autumn 1995 • NumberyFINESTHOURJo
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTSrAutumn 1995FINEST HOURJour
Page 5 and 6: QUOTE OF THE SEASON"Yugoslavia, sin
Page 7 and 8: the Marquess Don Achille diLorenzo,
Page 9 and 10: THE THINGS THEY SAY,PARTS 1,749 & 1
Page 11 and 12: "Democracy is the worst system of g
Page 13 and 14: "There are secrets too mysterious f
Page 15 and 16: Durban, 1899: The Desperado SpeaksC
Page 17 and 18: this governess' because she was Ver
Page 19 and 20: WSC dictated from his stand-up desk
Page 21 and 22: nanny, Mrs. Everest. He adored his
Page 23 and 24: Keepers of the FlameICS United Stat
Page 25 and 26: A bibliophile's column named in mem
Page 27 and 28: Churchill's mind read and the thoug
Page 29 and 30: Will Ye Tak' the High Road?RAYMOND
Page 31: "WAR OF NERVES," NEW CHRONICLE, LON
Page 35 and 36: TEHERAN CONFERENCEAfter meeting wit
Page 37 and 38: pears to be fairly rare. I have onl
Page 39 and 40: of the original. They have a smooth
Page 41 and 42: each other's interest. The sad trut
Page 43 and 44: together the Freedom of the Borough
Page 45 and 46: CHl'RCHILLTRIVIAEDITED BY BARBARA L

FINEST HOUR - Winston Churchill

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