1 - Winston Churchill

"THE CHURCHILLSBOSTON, FEB. 21ST—A 2 1/2-hourAmerican adaptation of the 1995British television documentary onthe Churchill family from LordRandolph to Winston was scheduledto air over PBS-TV at 8PMeastern time (check local listingsfor times and stations).By editing out thirty minutes ofthe worst original misrepresentations,WGBH has made a majorimprovement on the British version'sturgid parade of half-truths,leaving a film we don't have towatch in fear of some nasty slur onWSC's character or falsification ofthe record inserted by some extremistproducer or historian.Lord Randolph is still not allowedto die without mention ofsyphilis, but only a single mentionsurvives, and Prof. Foster qualifiesit, saying no one can be sure. PartII still asserts that in 1919 "whileLloyd George was at the Parispeace conference, Churchill senttroops to Russia." (14,000 Britishtroops and seven generals were inRussia when Churchill becameMinister of War in 1919; while hedid wish to oppose the Bolsheviks,he did not wish to do so withBritish troops. He stayed in touchwith Lloyd George on this issuewhenever they were separated andnever countermanded his chief. Sothis statement is entirely false.)On the whole, though, WGBH isto be congratulated. World War IIand the Roosevelt-Churchill-Stalinrelationship are described well andhonestly; family triumphs andtragedies are handled with sensitivity.The sad majesty of the funeralis conveyed memorably injust a few moments. The filmingand narration are marvelous, andRobert Hardy as Churchill's voiceis superb as usual. -RMLALEC DOUGLAS-HOMESCOTLAND, OCTOBER 9TH—Akind and gentle Scot, Sir Alec Douglas-Homedied today. He becamePrime Minister upon the resigna-tion of Harold Macmillan in 1963,but held the post a shorter timethan any other PM this centuryexcept Andrew Bonar Law, losingto Harold Wilson's Labour Partythe following year.Alas at least one obituary(American) stated that Alec Homeprotested, as a backbench MP,"Churchill's betrayal of the Polesat Yalta," a popular but inaccurateconception. We now know thatChurchill (and Roosevelt) leftYalta with Stalin's promise of freePolish elections. When thatpromise was broken, Churchillwas among the first to warn of theimminent loss of Polish freedom. IfAlec Home also did so, kudos forhim; but he was also a lifetimeChamberlain apologist who wroteregularly that Munich gave GreatBritain an extra year to arm.Hitler, of course, armed muchfaster, and used the year to digestCzechoslovakia, the last strongdemocracy in central Europe,which had, recent historians nowsuggest, a fighting chance of resistingthe Nazis. -RMLFRENCH EXHIBITVTLLEJEAN, BRITANNY, DEC. 2-17TH—A unique exhibition of Churchill'slife and works featured a massivecollection of photos and documents.Included were comic booksby Calvo, a 1940s French sketchartist,who used animals to portrayWSC (a bulldog) and Hitler (awolf). Propaganda leaflets andChurchill's paintings were shown;"Churchill on the Internet" showedthe ICS Homepage. A multimediacomputer housed events, soundsand images about WSC from a CDromdisk called "200 Personnalites,"made with the assistanceof the CCETT (Joint Centre for Researchin Telecommunications andBroadcasting).Finest Hour congratulates theorganizer, M. J. Foulon, for thisambitious exhibition. For informationcontact M. Foulon, telephone(033) 99.12.43.75 or by e-mail tofoulon@ccett.frFINEST HOUR 89/8The London back-up variant: only 40 exist.RARE ICS COVERSFor the first time in twenty-fiveyears, ICS cover #42 (WSC's visitto Normandy 12Jun44) was lost.Happily, forty back-up covers withthe London WSC one-day silhouettecancellation and D-Day stampwere issued on the right day,12Jun94. Point is, first come, firstserved. ICS Friends may order therare London cover with a copy ofthe replacement cover postmarkedaboard USS Normandy for $20/£13or the Can/Aus equivalent. Chequespayable to "ICS" should be sent toBox 385, Hopkinton NH 03229 USA.PROF. RAMSDENLECTURES ON WSCSAN FRANCISCO, FEBRUARY20TH—John Ramsden, FulbrightVisiting Professor of British Historyat Westminster College, Fulton,Mo., delivers a lecture entitled,"The Road from Fulton:Churchill as Icon 1946-1955" atStanford University here today at4:15PM. This issue will not be outby the time you read this, but localFriends were notified. ProfessorRamsden is also to speak at the50th Anniversary Sinews of PeaceChurchill Conference at JeffersonCity, Mo. on March 8th. For informationon the Stanford lecturecontact Prof. Peter Stansky at(415) 723-2663. For information onFulton contact Judith Pugh at(314) 642-6648.STIRRED, NOT SHAKENLONDON, JAN. 1st—Victor Gowercelebrated his MBE in usual style,serving drinks to everyone at thebar at Simpson's in the Stranduntil 4:30AM. Gower, 67, had receivedhis award for services to »