currents

CHURCHILL’S TRIAL
The distinction did not come immediately or easily for him.
Sir Edward Grey— foreign minister before and during the Great
War and a senior and distinguished member of Parliament—
described Churchill as a “hero” during that war. “I can’t tell you
how much I admire his courage & gallant spirit & genius for war,”
he said. 22 But Churchill realized his gallant spirit could lead him
astray, as it did when, while serving as the first lord of the admiralty,
he took direct and personal charge of the defense of Antwerp
in 1914. The Germans were sweeping across Belgium on their way
to France, and Antwerp, a fortified city, provided a chance to delay
them and gain time. Churchill got to the scene of battle, and the
next thing he was commanding troops. He did not save Antwerp,
though his energy and judgments were much praised by those
who saw them. King Albert of Belgium thought that the delay in
the German advance was of “inestimable service” and that only
Churchill had the “prevision of what the loss of Antwerp would
entail.” 23 Churchill nonetheless learned a lesson from the episode:
I ought . . . never to have gone to Antwerp. I ought to have
remained in London and endeavored to force the Cabinet and
Lord Kitchener to take more effective action than they did,
while all the time I sat in my position of great authority with
all the precautions which shield great authority from rough
mischance. . . . Those who are charged with the direction of
supreme affairs must sit on the mountain- tops of control;
they must never descend into the valleys of direct physical
and personal action. 24
Churchill here was lecturing himself. He admired his ancestor,
the first Duke of Marlborough, for his ability to command
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