Q - Winston Churchill

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Their relationship did not work: in 1900 Pamela complainedhat he was "incapable of affection." Churchill responded:"Perish the thought. I love one above all others.And I shall be constant. I am no fickle gallant capriciouslyfollowing the fancy of the hour. My love is deep andstrong....Who is this that I love. Listen—as the Frenchsay—over the page I will tell you." Over the page hewrote: "Yours vy sincerely, Winston S. Churchill."Ultimately, of course, as Sir Martin continued, hiswife Clementine was the "rock for his career."Their relationship had an odd start: when theyfirst met he was too shy to speak to her. A few weeks afterthis meeting, the young Assistant Secretary for theColonies was present at a colonial states meeting in London,where a rumour emerged of his engagement withHelen Botha, daughter of the South African general. TheManchester Guardian presented its compliments, and formerlove Muriel Wilson spoke of her hope for "littleBothas." But there was no engagement.Shortly after, Winston was sat next to Clementine at aparty, but spent his time talking to the girl on the otherside of him. At the end of the dinner he noticed her, andasked if she would read a copy of his new book. She saidshe would, if he would send it round. He forgot!Despite these false starts, fate intervened and their relationshipblossomed. Clementine would witness at firsthand the great strains of Winston's political life, and wasalways the greatest support to him. He feared that he wasa "dull companion" and said, "I wish I were more varied."But politics was his life, and he knew that one has to be"true to oneself."In time Churchill was to become a loving husbandand then a father, cautioning Clementine, "...do not let[the children] suck the paint off" their new toys. Despitehis affection for his family, he frequently caused Clementinepain and anxiety. He loved flying, but three of his instructorswere killed, one in a machine that Winston himselfhad frequently used. Clementine begged him to desist,which eventually he did ("this is a wrench"), admittingto her that he was sorry to have enjoyed himself "atyour expense."After his resignation over the Dardanelles campaignin 1915, a period in which Clementine thought "hewould die of grief," Churchill went to the trenches inFrance, writing Clementine a letter to be opened in theevent of his death. It is a revealing document. She was tobe his sole literary executor; she was to get hold of his papersrelating to the Dardanelles, and to ensure that "thetruth be known." Randolph, he wrote, would carry on hiswork. Touchingly he told her: "do not grieve...death isonly an incident...I have been happy." Clementine hadtaught him to know "how noble a woman's heart to be."As we know, Churchill survived six months on theWestern Front, after which he needed to rebuild his ca-Family. Upper left: ClementineHozier at the time of her engagementto Churchill, 1908. Above:Clementine with their daughterDiana, 1910. Left: WSC withRandolph at the seaside, 1912.Official Biography photographs.reer. Crucial to Churchill over the next twenty years werea number of secretaries whom he worked hard but genuinelycared for. A key secretary during the wildernessyears was Mrs. Violet Pearson; Churchill provided for herand paid for her daughter's education after her retirement.There was Katherine Hill, who was the first to be residentat Chartwell and who served throughout the SecondWorld War. There were Miss Holmes and Miss Layton(now honorary member Elizabeth Nel), who, as Sir Martinsaid, "saw him in all moods and lights." In addition topolitical work, they were vital in Churchill's massive outpouringof books.He wrote Clementine a ceaseless stream of letters.Even in his eighties, he would still write to her, albeit atthis point with great difficulty. On her seventy-eighthbirthday in 1963 he wrote her a birthday letter in his ownhand, as he had every year for fifty-five years: "I am apretty dull and paltry scribbler but my stick as I write carriesmy heart along with it."Sir Martin concluded with a reference to some of themost important women in Churchill's life, his children.Diana, Sarah and Mary offered him support when he was"up" and comfort and encouragement when he was depressed,especially towards the end of his life, when blowsand disappointments came his way and the first criticalbooks began to be published. In the presence of hisdaughter Mary, Sir Martin quoted her own words to herfather, which sum up better than any others whatChurchill did for the world: "In addition to all the feelingsa daughter has for a loving, generous father, I oweyou what every Englishman, woman & child does—Libertyitself." »: INHST HOUR 114/22
BLETCHLEY PARK: WHAT'S NEW IN 7 02A tribute to tne perseverance and dedication or Rita and Jack DarranDOUGLAS HALLTaken with friends atChartwell, this is Jack'sfavourite photo of Rita,whom we all mourn deeply(FH113:8-9). Jack tells usthat when he first took aninterest in collectingChurchilliana, Rita enthusiasticallyimmersed herselfin the distaff side of thefamily, on which shequickly gained expertise.Together they created thebrilliant display that welcomesvisitors to Bletchley,recounting the saga in theartifacts of the Churchillyears. Herewith FH FeaturesEditor Douglas Hallrecounts the move of Jack'scollection to larger quarterson the premises.In "History Lives at Ditchley and Bletchley" {FH 85)we outlined the Second World War role of the top secretcode-breaking establishment at Bletchley Park,Buckinghamshire, and its inestimable value to WinstonChurchill in securing victory. "Bletchley Park Bloomswith Churchilliana" {FH 91) described the superb Darrah-Harwoodcollection of Winston Churchill memorabiliawhich had been installed in two rooms of the BletchleyPark Mansion in time to celebrate the 50th anniversaryof D-Day.In the years since, thousands of visitors have stoppedat Bletchley (it is now open every weekend and by specialarrangement during the week) to view the ever-growingassemblage of exhibitions, displays and reenactments illustratingthe rich and diverse history of the site and itsinvolvement in military intelligence, electronics and computing,cryptography and code-breaking, telecommunications,radar and air traffic control. The vast majority ofthose visitors have been enthralled by Jack and Rita Darrah'smagnificent exhibition of Churchill memorabilia,and the sad recent loss of Rita {FH 113:8) reminds us thatan update is in order.The various attractions at Bletchley Park are largelyrun by an enthusiastic band of volunteers, but to securethe long-term future and continued development of allthe historic exhibitions the Bletchley Park Trust is aimingto achieve fully funded charitable status and to create apermanent living memorial to all those fine achievements.The Mansion will generate a significant income whenconverted to a Conference Centre and so, to make way,Jack and Rita moved their Churchilliana exhibition into alarge refurbished room in "A" Block— an operation involving,according to Jack, much "blood, toil, tears andsweat." The bonus is that there is now more space inwhich to display the collection to even greater effect."A" Block was the first "permanent" building to beerected at Station "X"—the earlier wartime overflow fromthe Mansion had been accommodated in a collection ofwooden army huts—and was heavily constructed in 1941of concrete reinforced with more than 200 bracing steelgirders. The fear of a gas attack by the Luftwaffe was stillvery real at the time and the building was provided withhermetically sealing doors, a much reduced window areaand heavy, airtight window blinds. The original use of theroom now occupied by the Churchilliana exhibit was tohouse large wall charts of the Atlantic, on which the positionsand movements of German U-boats were plotted asthe intercepted signals traffic was decrypted and analyzed.After the end of the war "A" Block was taken over by theCivil Aviation Authority for use as its training school,which kept it in an excellent state of repair until the CAAvacated the site in 1991. continued overleaf.FINEST HOUR 114/23
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Page 4 and 5: DESPATCH BOXNumber 114* Spring 2002
Page 6: RIDDLES,MYSTERIES,ENIGMASSend your
Page 10 and 11: CHURCHILLDATELINESCALENDARLocal eve
Page 13 and 14: DATELINESTorontoFEBRUARY 28TH—Tor
Page 15 and 16: none of them whitewashes—are just
Page 17 and 18: Henry Campbell-Bannerman, at a Cons
Page 19 and 20: les of the world can be borne and a
Page 21: Relatives. Left: Grandmama Fanny an
Page 25 and 26: WW2 gets heavy coverage, with fasci
Page 27 and 28: which the idea of summer time was r
Page 29 and 30: ten to Churchill when he was in his
Page 31 and 32: Magnum opwwtfhgems de haut en hasJo
Page 33 and 34: Jenkins, continued...jumped into a
Page 35 and 36: a chapter, since it involved Church
Page 37 and 38: INSIDE THE JOURNALSBefore the Fall,
Page 39 and 40: a new government. The following day
Page 41 and 42: .AND THE RECORD ACCURATEwas believe
Page 43 and 44: Recipes irom No. 10: Madras Eggsby
Page 45 and 46: main troubled by passages like this
Page 47 and 48: CHURCHILLTRIVIABy Curt Zoller (zcur

Q - Winston Churchill

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