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FINEST HOUR
THE JOURNAL OF WINSTON CHURCHILL AND HIS TIMES • FALL 2018 • NO. 182
he Centenary of
the Armistice
November 11
1918-2018
PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCHILL SOCIETY • WWW.WINSTONCHURCHILL.ORG
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Elliot Berke, Gregg Berman, A. V. L. Brokaw III, Marina Brounger, Paul Brubaker, Alison Carlson, Jennie Churchill, Robert Courts MP,
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FINEST HOUR
FALL 2018 • NUMBER 182
On the Cover
Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves
Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing
is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth
forces in the world. Photo credit: Alamy.com
From The Editor
“When all was over, Torture and Cannibalism were the only two
Founded in 1968 by expedients the civilized, scientiic, Christian States had been able
Richard M. Langworth CBE to deny themselves: and these were of doubtful utility.” Such was
Winston Churchill’s grim verdict on the Great War. It also explains
Fall 2018 • Number 182
ISSN 0882-3715 the euphoria he witnessed when the tragedy inally concluded on
www.winstonchurchill.org Armistice Day and the description of that scene he recorded in his
____________________________ memoirs, which we reproduce here.
The International Churchill Society, Publisher One hundred years on, emotions have subsided, and it is
info@winstonchurchill.org possible to make sober reckonings of what was accomplished in and
David Freeman, Editor
what lessons taken from the First World War. Andrew Roberts, whose
dfreeman@winstonchurchill.org Churchill biography is published this fall, traces the connections
Department of History
between Churchill’s experiences in 1914–1918 and his leadership
California State University in 1939–45. Allan Mallinson then deconstructs the myths about
Fullerton, CA 92834-6846 Churchill’s leadership in the First War and shows that the perceived
__________________________
mistakes were more oten the deliberate misrepresentations of lesser
Deputy Editor men. Next, Mathew Seligmann reminds us that Churchill did not
Justin Reash
always get things right when directing the Royal Navy in 1914–15 but
Senior Editors also shows that the reality is much more complex than the myth.
Paul H. Courtenay, James W. Muller
We also have two very diferent ways of looking at Churchill’s
Contributing Editors history of the Great War. Peter Clarke examines he World Crisis as
Ronald I. Cohen
Michael McMenamin a work of history writen by a still very active politician, while Ronald
Timothy Riley I. Cohen walks us through the somewhat confusing publishing record
Contributors
of the ive volumes (in six parts!) that Churchill produced.
Peter Clarke, David Stafford Canada he appearance of a major new Churchill biography demands
John Campbell, Katherine Anne Carter,
Allan Mallinson, Andrew Roberts,
serious atention. We asked award-winning political biographer John
Matthew Seligmann Campbell (himself the author of detailed studies of Edward Heath,
United Kingdom
Jane Flaherty, W. Mark Hamilton,
Margaret hatcher, and Churchill’s best friend F. E. Smith) to review
Megan Spilker United States Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts. His thoughtful
Address changes: Please update us when you move
and elegant analysis should encourage any reader to secure a copy.
by contacting info@winstonchurchill.org In relecting on the First World War, it is consoling to know that,
________________________________
although as shocked by the brutality of the conlict as any, Churchill
Finest Hour is made possible in part through the generous
support of members of the International Churchill Society.
also knew how best to proceed into the peace that followed. In words
________________________________ that echoed Lincoln in 1865 but which also presaged Churchill himself
Published quarterly by the International Churchill Society in 1940, he said in November 1918: “Repair the waste. Rebuild the
ZLWKVXEVFULSWLRQVIURPRIÀFHVRQSDJHVDQG
3HUPLVVLRQWRPDLODWQRQSURÀWUDWHVLQ86$
ruins. Heal the wounds. Crown the victors. Comfort the broken and
granted by the United States Postal Service. the brokenhearted. here is the batle we have now to ight. here is
Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
the victory we have now to win. Let us go forward together.”
Finest Hour 181 “sold separately” and/or used for MacArthur Americans from every
recruitment. I wish I had ten extra group, from every stratum of soci-
LEXINGTON, VA—Congratulations copies.—Richard H. Knight, Jr. ety and from both parties.”
on the fantastic issue about “Chur- Substitute “Churchill and
chill and the British Army”! It was Finest Hour Extras Britons” in the spring of 1939 for
nice to see the leter of introduction “MacArthur and Americans” in
from the commandant of RMA ROUEN—hanks to Monroe Trout 1951, and most historians would
Sandhurst. As a civilian “veteran” of and Allen Packwood for their excel- agree with the phrasing.
Sandhurst, the institution remains lent “FH Extra” story about Chur- —Antoine Capet
close to my heart. he article by chill’s aborted visit to the United
Churchill’s great-grandson Alex- States in 1951 (“he Speech Chur- Finest Hour Extras are feature arti-
ander Perkins is especially impres- chill Never Gave”). cles uniquely published on our website
sive.—R. P. W. Havers, I was struck by a passage: “he www.winstonchurchill.org that may
President and CEO, traditional sympathy for the man not pertain to the themes of printed
George C. Marshall Foundation who is up against authority, the na- issues but which deserve the atention
tional pride which is starved of of readers.
NASHVILLE—I have never enjoyed heroes to worship, the appreciation
an issue more than this one. Con- of oratorical power, and the love Coming in Finest Hour 183:
gratulations! FH 181 could be of a good show have atracted to Working with
Churchill
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W inston Churchill famously edly to distinguish itself in action in many of the bloodiest
wrote about his feelings on engagements of the war. It proved the template for later
units that he brought into being in the Second World
becoming prime minister in War, such as the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service,
May 1940, “I felt as if I were walking Commandos, and Parachute Regiment.
with Destiny and that all my past
life had been but a preparation for Locus in quo
this hour and for this trial.”1 It was
true, and no part of his life had been
a better preparation than 1914–18.
he way that Churchill learned from
O n 19 August 1914, only a fortnight ater the out-
break of war, Churchill visited the mayors of
Calais and Dunkirk to discuss the redoubts they
were building there. His personal knowledge of these
Channel ports was further enhanced in May 1918 when
his and others’ mistakes of the Great Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig gave him the Chateau de
War, putting the lessons to good use Verchocq in the Pas-de-Calais. Knowing the area intim-
ately was to prove invaluable in the Second World War
in the Second World War, is an object when decisions had to be taken about the defence of Cal-
lesson in statesmanship. ais and evacuating the British Expeditionary Force from
Dunkirk.
O n the outbreak of the First World War in Au- On 26 August 1914, Britain’s Russian allies captured
gust 1914, Churchill set up the Admiralty War the code and cypher books from the German light cruis-
Group, which consisted of himself and the four er Magdeburg ater it ran aground on the Estonian coast.
most senior admirals there. It met daily—sometimes sev- hese allowed the cryptographers in the Admiralty’s
eral times a day—to take all the most important strategic Room 40, the codebreaking operation that Churchill had
decisions. his concentration of power worked well, and set up some time earlier, to start decoding German signals
agreed upon the overriding objectives for the Royal Navy in real time. Churchill did not inform the Cabinet, but
in the conlict. Elsewhere in Whitehall, however, the or- kept the secret within the Admiralty War Group. It was
ganization of the war under Herbert Asquith, the prime also Room 40 that intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram
minster, was ludicrously haphazard. Decisions were taken that helped bring the United States into the war in April
by a few ministers called together ad hoc in emergencies 1917. Long before Bletchley Park, therefore, Churchill
without minutes being taken. Only at the end of Novem- appreciated the vital importance of signals intelligence.
ber 1914 was a War Council of eight members formed, On 7 September 1914, the Belgian Government asked
which soon grew to thirteen. From his own experience, for a force of twenty-ive thousand men to defend Ant-
therefore, Churchill learned how important it was to take werp against the German Army moving rapidly towards it.
a grip on the organization of the central decision-making “he Admiralty regard the sustained and efective defence
bodies and to keep the numbers involved as small as pos- of Antwerp as a mater of high consequence,” Churchill
sible. told Asquith, Secretary for War Lord Kitchener, and For-
In the irst days of the war, Churchill also set up a new eign Secretary Sir Edward Grey. “It preserves the life of
Royal Naval Division, an infantry force under the control the Belgian nation: it safeguards a strategic point which,
of the Admiralty rather than the Army, which was repeat- if captured, would be of the utmost menace.”2 Churchill
Chain of Command
The Mistaken View 28 July to order the Grand Fleet to steam from its grand
review at Spithead (in the Solent, Southern England)
“at high speed, and without lights” through the Straits of
of Churchill’s Dover into the North Sea and onwards to its batle sta-
tion, the lonely Orkney anchorage of Scapa Flow. In one
preemptive stroke, Britain had gained command of the
First World War North Sea and thereby the English Channel. It was one
of the decisive moves of the war, yet it goes largely un-
and therefore the BEF, of far greater German strength St Nazaire, and that during those forty days the Royal
west of the Meuse than anticipated? His own memoran- Navy should bring back troops from their imperial bases,
dum concluded, “France will not be able to end the war replacing them with colonial troops or territorials, and
successfully by any action on the frontiers. She will not together with yeomanry and Indian troops boost the BEF
be strong enough to invade Germany. Her only chance to some 300,000—more than double that which could be
is to conquer Germany in France” (emphasis added). sent at once to Maubeuge.
Churchill calculated that by the fortieth day of mobilisa- he DMO was in no mood to give the thirty-six-
tion, “Germany should be extended at full strain both in- year-old yeomanry major’s ideas anything other than
ternally and on her war fronts, and this strain will become a polite brush-of, however, though in fact Churchill
daily more severe and ultimately overwhelming, unless it had seen a good deal more of war than he had. “Win-
is relieved by decisive victories in France. If the French ston had put in a ridiculous and fantastic paper on a
army has not been squandered by precipitate or desper- war on the French and German frontier, which I was
ate action, the balance of forces should be favourable ater able to demolish,” wrote Wilson in his diary.3 he Ger-
the fortieth day [and improving]....Opportunities for the mans would not have enough divisions to develop a
decisive trial of strength might then occur.”2 strong ofensive west of the Meuse, he insisted, because
For this reason therefore Churchill proposed that of the number they would have to keep in East Prus-
the BEF should concentrate not at Maubeuge, as Wil- sia, and for their major ofensive in Alsace-Lorraine.
son proposed, but at Tours, midway between Paris and
Finest Hour 182/ 16
CHURCHILL’S MISTAKES?
Wilson’s argument for the forward deployment of the was in full retreat—only to be caught on the hop as it de-
BEF would be accepted by default as the basis of plan- trained at Le Cateau—and four more divisions would ar-
ning. Churchill’s consolation was his appointment three rive in turn piecemeal during the next two months and
months later as First Lord of the Admiralty to reform its join the ight. he casualties mounted accordingly.
staf procedure and align its plans with those of the War
Oice. Yet Churchill’s memorandum was in fact a paper Superior Strategist?
of extraordinary prescience. In 1914 the BEF, led by Sir
John French and consisting of only four infantry divisions
plus the Cavalry Division (two divisions being held back
in Britain because of the perceived threat of invasion),
were almost overwhelmed in their irst encounter of the
W hat, then, of Churchill’s 1911 (which he again
advocated in August 1914) proposal to keep
the BEF out of the ight on the frontiers, to
build up its strength to 300,000 and then to make it avail-
able for “decisive action” ater the fortieth day of German
war. Exactly three years to the day ater the meeting in mobilization? In light of actual events, would it have been
which Churchill was told that the Germans would not a beter strategy?
have enough troops to thrust far into Belgium and pose What, for example, of the gap that would have been
any threat, the BEF was almost overwhelmed at Mons let in the French line of batle? Did the BEF really tip the
on 23 August. he Germans had crossed the Meuse in balance, as is oten claimed?
strength, for the ofensive through Belgium was in fact the If the French had not been able to plan on the assump-
main efort, not Alsace-Lorraine, and the four British div- tion that the BEF would join the line immediately, they
isions found themselves astride the axis of advance of two would have made alternative arrangements—the normal
German armies—First and Second. his litle force would work of a general staf. With ninety divisions, they had the
be joined by a ith division a few days later when the BEF lexibility. Indeed, even if the decision had been taken on
5 August to hold back the BEF, the French had nine div- lower of Brandenburg reeling; but it was not enough.
isions that could have replaced them—the divisions that He had executed the irst two of (in modern parlance)
were earmarked for the army of observation on the Italian the four requirements of victory: “ind” and “ix.” He had
border. hese could have been put at notice to move as found the weak point, the lank of the great hook through
soon as the Italians declared their neutrality on 3 August, Belgium by the armies of Generals Kluck and Bülow, and
and the move begun as soon as French intelligence con- by the counter-atack had ixed them—temporarily at
irmed that the Italian army, although recalling some re- least—on the Aisne. What he then needed was to “strike”
servists to the colours, was not moving to a war footing. and then “exploit” (cf. Churchill’s “Her only chance is to
Indeed, this is what actually happened: the French Army conquer Germany in France”). Jofre had not, however,
of the Alps was stood down on 17 August (at which time been able to create the requisite striking force. What he
much of the BEF was still encamped near their ports of needed was what the BEF would have had to ofer if it
landing), but its divisions were then spread thinly across had been allowed to build its strength at Tours—a fresh,
the entire French line. hey were all in place when batle strong, virtually all-regular army of 300,000.
was joined, and could have been at Mons instead of the Jofre did not, however, simply need to atack on the
BEF. Aisne, to apply more brute force where brute force had al-
Had this happened, the situation at the end of Sep- ready exhausted itself. What was needed was overwhelm-
tember would have been the same as actually occurred: ing force applied as a lever rather than as a sledgehammer.
the French would have mounted a successful counter-at- he German lank was not just open in a localized way ater
tack on the Marne. Having the BEF in the line may well the retreat to the Aisne; the entire Schwenkunglugel—the
have boosted French morale, but it is unreasonable to “pivot” or “swing” wing—of the vaunted Schliefen Plan
suggest that the French would not have been able to was extended in an east–west line through mid-Cham-
manage things on their own. pagne and southern Picardy, and it was beginning to bow
French General Joseph Jofre had brilliantly impro- back on the right. With each successive encounter on the
vised and delivered a blow on the Marne that sent the extremity of that lank (the “race for the sea”), even as the
C
hurchill’s contribution to naval afairs in the First World War is
a polarizing topic. It divided people at the time and it remains
a matter of sharply delineated opinions even now. he reasons
for this are not diicult to spot. Although no decisive sea engagement
was fought while Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty, the
opening ten months of the war were nevertheless eventful, and the
operations that took place at that time appeared to highlight the worst
aspects of Churchill’s character as a civilian naval leader. he reality
is—inevitably—more complex, but a quick check of what went visibly
wrong and what appeared to go right will illustrate the point.
Opposite above:
The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Westminster Abbey
Opposite below:
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Ottawa
Big History
The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors by Sir William Orpen, 1919
volume of War Memoirs,” which is how he had described men will be spent to satisfy the military mind on that
the proposal to his literary agent in 1920. But there was a point.” Hence the strategic choice: “Are there not other
further reorientation. In 1921, when the irst two volumes alternatives than sending our armies to chew barbed wire
were in preparation, Churchill revealed that he envisaged in Flanders?”7 All of this read well in the 1920s.
giving his work the title he Great Amphibian.4 his was
indeed a dominant theme in what he was currently writing ANZAC Atack
in defence of the Gallipoli campaign. By the end of 1914,
he argued, the land war on the western front, begun by
the German invasion of Belgium and France, had setled
into a stalemate. “It was our turn now,” wrote Churchill.
“he initiative had passed to Britain—the Great Amphib-
B ut if he could thus appeal to his readers’ hindsight
about the futility of the western front, he also had
to acknowledge their hindsight about Gallipoli,
where the total Allied losses eventually totalled 46,000.
Among these, unforgetably, were 8,700 Australians and
ian.”5 In a land war, relative advantage lay with Germany; 2,700 New Zealanders.8 heir joint forces, under the
only by exploiting Britain’s own relative advantage in sea acronym ANZAC, had indeed served with notable hero-
power could the tables be turned. Hence the strategic ism, which Churchill readily acknowledged: “Anzac is the
choice that the author now posed, using the present tense greatest word in the history of Australasia.”9 he author
for immediacy: “Shall our armies toil only in the mud of had special reason to put this on record. For the publica-
Flanders, or shall we break new ground? Shall our leets tion in 1921 of the irst volume of the oicial Australian
remain contented with the grand and solid results they war history he Story of Anzac, writen by the journalist
have won, or shall they ward of future perils by a new in- Charles Bean, had already made a highly signiicant im-
exhaustible audacity?”6 pact. Bean had served as a war correspondent himself; he
It was Churchill’s American publishers Scribners had landed at Anzac Cove only hours ater the irst troops,
who vetoed he Great Amphibian as the title of the work, whose story he now told with the imprimatur of the Aus-
insisting instead upon he World Crisis. But Church- tralian government. His judgment was damning: “So,
ill’s text, of course, remains animated by the idea that, through a Churchill’s excess of imagination, a layman’s
whatever the laws of the Gallipoli campaign, it ofered a ignorance of artillery, and the fatal power of a young en-
means of deploying the leverage of British sea power; and thusiasm to convince older and more cautious brains, the
the only alternative grand strategy was the immiserating tragedy of Gallipoli was born.”10
experience of trench warfare on the western front. hus Churchill knew that he could not ignore this; in fact
Churchill quotes at length his memorandum to Asquith he quoted this comment at the end of the relevant chap-
on 29 December 1914: “my impression is that the pos- ter, professing the hope that the Australian people “will
ition of both armies is not likely to undergo any decisive not rest content with so crude, so inaccurate, so incom-
change—although no doubt several hundred thousand plete and so prejudiced a judgment, but will study the
boon but also raised an obvious question: how could the Armistice or Victory?
public trust a man who had changed party twice? And
Endnotes
1. See Peter Clarke, Mr. Churchill’s Profession (London:
Bloomsbury, 2012), esp. pp. 73–79.
2. Winston S. Churchill, he Gathering Storm (London:
Cassell, 1948), p. 62.
3. Winston S. Churchill, he World Crisis, 1911–18, 2 vols.,
continuous pagination (London: hornton Buterworth,
1938), p. 812. Further page references are to this edition. For a
useful academic study of the book see Robin Prior, Churchill’s
Arthur J. Balfour “World Crisis” as History (London: Croom Helm,1983).
4. See Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, Volume IV,
he Stricken World, 1916–1922 (London: Heineman, 1975),
of any further stipulation.”13 “Armistice” is thus elided pp. 750–59 for the composition and publication of the work.
with “Victory.” But the great controversy over the terms 5. World Crisis, p. 456.
of the Treaty of Versailles, as imposed on Germany in the 6. Ibid., p. 457.
summer of 1919, lushed this issue out of hiding. 7. Ibid., p. 484.
his is where the ith volume of he World Crisis, 8. Paul Addison, Churchill: he Unexpected Hero (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 80; this is an excellent
published as he Atermath (1929), signals a signiicant
brief account of the signiicance of Gallipoli.
shit in interpretation, relecting a change in public opin- 9. World Crisis, p. 905.
ion both in Britain and in the United States. he narrow 10. C. E. W. Bean, he Story of Anzac (1921; facsimile edn.
point here concerns a verbal distinction between Victory (1942) as vol. 1 of the Oicial History of Australia in the Great
and Armistice. “Had the Germans, instead of asking for an War, 8 vols., 1923–33). On Bean’s inluence, see also David
armistice, sought a peace by negotiation and meanwhile Reynolds, he Long Shadow: he Great War and the Twentieth-
fought on, the interpretation placed upon the Fourteen Century (London: Norton, 2013), pp. 372–73.
11. World Crisis, p. 553.
Points by them and by each of the Allies might have been
12. Victor Wallace Germains, he Tragedy of Winston Churchill
reduced to an exact and concrete form,” Churchill now (London: Hurst and Blacket, 1931), p. 47.
suggested. But the rapidity of their collapse meant that 13. World Crisis, p. 1399.
“they became uterly prostrate and inally submited to 14. Winston S. Churchill, he Atermath (New York: Scribners,
conditions which let them henceforward helpless.”14 he 1929), p. 100. I explore further aspects of this book in
classic denunciation of the Treaty, of course, had been he Locomotive of War: Money, Empire, Power and Guilt
(London: Bloomsbury, 2017), pp. 329–31.
that published by John Maynard Keynes as he Economic
15. he Atermath, p. 115.
Consequences of the Peace (1919). Ten years later, Church- 16. hese words, of course, form part of the “Moral of the
ill now called him “a man of clairvoyant intelligence and Work,” printed in each of Churchill’s six volumes, he Second
no undue patriotic bias” and accepted Keynes’s view of World War.
the lawed economic setlement imposed on Germany.15
In his memoirs of the First World War published as he over! he unarmed and untrained island nation, who
World Crisis, Winston Churchill vividly recalls the scene he with no defence but its Navy had faced unquestioningly
witnessed at the moment the Armistice took efect. the strongest manifestation of military power in human
record, had completed its task. Our country had emerged
Left:
Churchill
as Secretary of State
for War on an
inspection
tour shortly after
the Armistice
he minutes passed. I was conscious of reaction rather simultaneously. he street was now a seething mass of
than elation. he material purposes on which one’s work humanity. Flags appeared as if by magic. Streams of men
had been centred, every process of thought on which one and women lowed from the Embankment. hey mingled
had lived, crumbled into nothing. he whole vast busi- with torrents pouring down the Strand on their way to ac-
ness of supply, the growing outputs, the careful hoards, claim the King. Almost before the last stroke of the clock
the secret future plans—but yesterday the whole duty of had died away, the strict, war-straitened, regulated streets
life—all at a stroke vanished like a nightmare dream, leav- of London had become a triumphant pandemonium. At
ing a void behind. My mind mechanically persisted in ex- any rate it was clear that no more work would be done
ploring the problems of demobilization. What was to hap- that day. Yes, the chains which had held the world were
pen to our three million Munition workers? What would broken. Links of imperative need, links of discipline, links
they make now? How would the roaring factories be con- of brute force, links of self-sacriice, links of terror, links of
verted? How in fact are swords beaten into ploughshares? honour which had held our nation, nay, the greater part of
How long would it take to bring the Armies home? What mankind, to grinding toil, to a compulsive cause—every
would they do when they got home? We had of course a one had snapped upon a few strokes of the clock. Safety,
demobilization plan for the Ministry of Munitions. It had freedom, peace, home, the dear one back at the ireside—
been carefully worked out, but it had played no part in our all ater ity-two months of gaunt distortion. Ater ity-
thoughts. Now it must be put into operation. he levers two months of making burdens grievous to be borne and
must be pulled—Full Steam Astern. he Munitions Coun- binding them on men’s backs, at last, all at once, suddenly
cil must meet without delay. and everywhere the burdens were cast down. At least so
And then suddenly the irst stroke of the chime. I for the moment it seemed.
looked again at the broad street beneath me. It was de- My wife arrived, and we decided to go and ofer our
serted. From the portals of one of the large hotels ab- congratulations to the Prime Minister, on whom the cen-
sorbed by Government Departments darted the slight ig- tral impact of the home struggle had fallen, in his hour
ure of a girl clerk, distractedly gesticulating while another of recompense. But no sooner had we entered our car
stroke of Big Ben resounded. hen from all sides men and than twenty people mounted upon it, and in the midst
women came scurrying into the street. Streams of people of a wildly cheering multitude we were impelled slowly
poured out of all the buildings. he bells of London began forward through Whitehall. We had driven together the
to clash. Northumberland Avenue was now crowded with opposite way along the same road on the aternoon of the
people in hundreds, nay, thousands, rushing hither and ultimatum. here had been the same crowd and almost
thither in a frantic manner, shouting and screaming with the same enthusiasm. It was with feelings which do not
joy. I could see that Trafalgar Square was already swarm- lend themselves to words that I heard the cheers of the
ing. Around me in our very headquarters, in the Hotel brave people who had borne so much and given all, who
Metropole, disorder had broken out. Doors banged. Feet had never wavered, who had never lost faith in their coun-
clatered down corridors. Everyone rose from the desk try or its destiny, and who could be indulgent to the faults
and cast aside pen and paper. All bounds were broken. of their servants when the hour of deliverance had come.
he tumult grew. It grew like a gale, but from all sides
By Tim Riley
Left:
Typescript for the
Iron Curtain speech
with Chuchill's notes
scribbled in
Below:
Churchill letter in the
collection of the
National Churchill Museum,
Fulton, Missouri
ner’s acquired the rights for the United States and Canada go ahead polishing and revising.” He also had discussions
for an advance of $16,000 against royalties. with his publisher about length. Churchill recorded that
Charles Scribner had concerns about how well the Buterworth was insisting, “that the irst volume must be
book would fare. He was anxious about serialisation in one volume only and not two, but his reader thinks all the
the United States and expressed consternation that “pub- stuf so good that it is a pity to cut any of it out. I am not
lication by representative papers in diferent sections of at all sure.”
the country would greatly lessen the sale of the book.” On Length was a serious issue. Contracted at 100,000
the other side of the Atlantic, hornton Buterworth was words, the manuscript ran to 165,000. his had the ef-
worried about the anticipated publication date of Lloyd fect of increasing Buterworth’s production costs by
George’s Memoirs, which, in the end, did not appear until approximately 70%, and he expressed an interest in re-
a decade later. Scribner added that “the publication date ducing both the amount of the advance and the level of
should be earlier than April 1st [1923], as our Spring sea- royalties in consequence. Needless to say, Churchill did
son is not as long as yours and a book published ater that not accede to his requests.
date has litle chance.”
here was in any case no ill feeling between Churchill he Title
O
and Lloyd George regarding their potentially competing ne of the maters that remained unresolved was
books. Churchill wrote Clementine that Lloyd George the title. Among the ideas bandied about by
had “read two of my chapters in the train & was well con- Churchill in January and February 1923—only
tent with the references to himself. He praised the style sixty days before publication—were: “he Administra-
and made several pregnant suggestions wh[ich] I am em- tion of the Admiralty 1911 to 1916,” “he Great Amphib-
bodying.” Churchill also observed more personally that ian,” “he World Convulsion,” “he Meteor Flag,” and
“It is a g[rea]t chance to put my whole case in an agree- “Within the Storm.” Buterworth ofered: “he World
able form to an atentive audience. And the pelf will make Crisis 1911–1916,” “he Decisive Years 1911–1916,”
us feel v[er]y comfortable.” and “My Admiralty Tenure.” Scribner and Buterworth
together came up with: “he World Crisis,” “Sea Power
Defeat Helps and the World Crisis,” or “Sea Power in the World Crisis.”
W
sentiments expressed to him directly, hile Churchill publicly tagu’s words, “Winston began sulky,
Winston nonetheless appreciated his warned on 7 October morose and unforthcoming.” When
father’s changed atitude and wrote against the possibility of Lloyd George advised the two that
in My Early Life that “Once I became “the speedy termination of the con- he planned to abolish the small
a gentleman cadet I acquired a new lict,” the Great War was indeed com- ive-member War Cabinet at the end
status in my father’s eyes, I was enti- ing quickly to an end, and Churchill of the war and replace it with a larger
tled when on leave to go about with knew it. he Armistice was signed the and more traditional twelve-member
him, if it was not inconvenient.” his following month. cabinet, Churchill’s atitude changed.
A
possible for me however to take the utumn 1943 is best remem- chill was so ill that he could not
very serious & far-reaching political bered for the Big hree atend a dinner that night with Roo-
decision you have suggested to me Conference in Tehran, when sevelt and Stalin. At the conclusion
without knowing deinitely the char- Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met of the Tehran Conference, Churchill
acter & main composition of the new together for the irst time, irmed lew back to Cairo on 2 December,
Govt you propose to form for the up plans for the invasion of France where a stomachache prevented him
period of reconstruction….” in 1944 and more or less setled from atending a dinner with the
Lloyd George was obviously the post-war eastern boundaries of Turks. He was now so weak that he
displeased and pulled no punches Poland in the absence of any Polish could not towel dry himself ater a
in his 8 November reply: “Ater the representatives. What is not so well bath. On 10 December, he made an
conversation we had on Wednesday remembered is that Churchill was eight and a half hour light from Cai-
night…your leter came upon me unwell throughout the entire fall, in- ro to Carthage and slept most of the
as an unpleasant surprise. Frankly cluding the Tehran Conference, and next day. hat night, he was stricken
it perplexes me. It suggests that you nearly died in its atermath. with a severe headache and a fever of
contemplate the possibility of leaving During the summer, Churchill 101 degrees. He was soon diagnosed
the Government, and you give no had journeyed extensively in North with pneumonia. Jock Colville’s joke
reason for it except an apparent dis- America for a series of meetings on being asked by a new junior secre-
satisfaction with your personal pros- with President Roosevelt. By the tary what to do in the event Churchill
pects. I am sure I must in this mis- end of September, according to Roy took ill [“You telephone Lord Moran
understand your real reason for no Jenkins, “Churchill was reported by and he will send for a real doctor”]
Minister could possibly adopt such his staf as being tired and bad-tem- became a reality.
an atitude in this critical moment in pered.” Lord Moran called in specialists
the history of our country….” Despite his disposition, Churchill from Cairo, Italy, and Britain. On
Churchill seized the lifeline was prepared on 7 October to ly to the night of 14 December, Moran
Lloyd George ofered him, i.e., that Tunis to meet with General Marshall thought Churchill’s heart was so
he had misunderstood Churchill’s to discuss Churchill’s Mediterra- weak that the prime minister was go-
“real meaning.” He wrote in his 9 No- nean strategy to invade the island of ing to die. Indeed, Churchill told his
vember reply that “You have certain- Rhodes and plans to bring Turkey daughter Sarah at the time, “If I die,
ly misconceived the spirit in wh my into the war on the side of the Allies, don’t worry—the war is won.” he
leter was writen.” He then referred and to express new concerns on the next day, Clementine was summoned
Lloyd George to a speech he had perils of Operation Overlord. Mar- from England, and Churchill sufered
given on 7 November as evidence of shall was unavailable, so Churchill’s a mild heart atack. Clementine ar-
“how far I am from contemplating next journey began on 12 November. rived on 17 December, and Churchill
any ‘desertion’ of you or yr Govern- He was so ill already that he had had another, milder heart atack on
ment….” Churchill concluded his been unable to preside over a War the 18th. he patient did not leave
leter with what was really bothering Cabinet meeting the previous day. his bed until 24 December.
him—the Conservatives’ unrelenting Nevertheless, he let for Algiers and
hostility toward Churchill. Malta, where he disembarked for
Finest Hour 182/ 41
Books, ARts,
& Curiosities
Heroic Biography of interpretation, but based almost fruitfully on all of them. On the
entirely on his reading of the exist- one hand, he is up to speed with a
Andrew Roberts, Churchill: ing published sources, shrewdly re- lot of new, very recently published
Walking with Destiny, Viking, fracted through a lifetime’s experi- scholarship on diferent aspects of
1105 pages, $40/£35. ence of politics. Roberts by contrast Churchill’s career (some of which
ISBN 978–1101980996 is a professional historian whose irst appeared in Finest Hour); and
thorough research draws on a far on the other he has trawled doz-
Review by John Campbell wider range of sources, old and ens of obscure and long-forgotten
new. As a result, he has managed to memoirs of secretaries, drivers,
assemble an enormous mountain diplomats, and others for unfamil-
G
iven his publisher’s claim of detail that will be fresh even to iar anecdotes and human glimpses,
that there have already been seasoned Churchillians. many of them very funny.
more than a thousand biog- First, he has gained access to a hird, he quotes extensively
raphies of Churchill, not counting number of important new sources, from Churchill’s own writings,
hundreds of specialist studies rang- most notably King George VI’s dia- including his enormous output
ing from his war leadership to his ry, which records the weekly lunch- of journalism—some of it trivial
taste in cigars, one’s irst reaction es throughout the Second World and eccentric, dashed of quickly
to Andrew Roberts producing an- War at which Churchill gave the for money, much of it powerful
other thousand-page biography is King his frank assessments of the and prophetic (such as his grasp
incredulity. Can there really be any- course of events; but also the diary of the potential of nuclear energy
thing new to discover or say? It is of Marian Holmes, his favourite in 1931), but all of it demonstrat-
as if Churchill has become the Ever- secretary for the latter part of the ing his extraordinary breadth of
est, which all biographers feel they war; the minutes of the Other Club interest and imaginative power of
must tackle before they hang up (the cross-party dining club Chur- language—to the extent that his
their pen, like great actors crown- chill founded with F. E. Smith in award of the Nobel Prize for Liter-
ing their career by playing King 1911, where he surrounded himself ature begins to seem not so incon-
Lear. Roy Jenkins wrote the last with his closest friends for the rest gruous after all.
major biography when he was near- of his life); and the Chartwell visi- Most remarkably, Roberts has
ly eighty on the back of an equally tors’ book, as well as other recently managed to assemble all these
substantial life of Gladstone; Rob- published goldmines such as the di- sources into a well-constructed
erts comes to him just four years aries of the Soviet ambassador Ivan mosaic of vivid detail without get-
after knocking of Napoleon. (But Maisky—another to whom Chur- ting bogged down for long in any
Roberts is only ifty-ive, so one chill unburdened himself before one subject, but conveying the
wonders where he can go next.) On and during the war with surprising multifariousness of Churchill’s in-
the other hand, Jenkins has held freedom. terests and activities on practically
the ield for seventeen years, so Second, Roberts’s bibliography every page. His deft chronological
maybe it is time for a big new reas- lists nearly a hundred archives, narrative of huge world-shaping
sessment for a new generation. around six hundred books, and events is constantly lightened by
If so, Roberts has risen magnii- another hundred scholarly articles personal touches that keep the
cently to the challenge. Jenkins’ and theses—and a inger in the focus on Churchill himself—his
book was an elegant tour-de-force footnotes shows that he has drawn humour, his drinking, his tears and
W
inston Churchill as First
instance on the use of poison gas the war until Russia and America Lord of the Admiralty
in Iraq in 1921; though of course eventually came in to bring that from 1911 to 1915 was
Churchill said and wrote so much hard-won victory about. not the archconservative politician
on so many subjects, often contra- In focussing, as a biographer he is sometimes thought of as to-
dicting himself, that it is always must, on the central igure of Chur- day. In fact, in the period before
possible to quote selectively, and chill, Roberts inevitably does less the First World War, Churchill
Roberts is unashamedly an advo- than justice to some of the other was viewed by his contemporaries
cate for the defence. players in the story—notably Lloyd as a social reformer and agent for
Where Roberts thinks Churchill George, whom he insistently pres- change.
was clearly wrong, however—for ents as a false friend, constantly Arriving at the Admiralty in
instance in allowing his visceral doing Churchill down while pre- October 1911, Churchill announced
anti-Communism to blind him to tending to support him. He makes an interest in pursuing need-
the dangers from Mussolini and Churchill the leading igure in ne- ed naval reforms, but the Lords
later Japan, his quixotic support gotiating the Irish treaty of 1921, of the Admiralty objected that
for King Edward VIII’s wish to for instance, which he was not. these would violate Royal Navy
marry Wallis Simpson, or his initial Arthur Balfour famously described traditions. “Naval tradition?” the
willingness to put too much trust Churchill’s ive-volume history of First Lord supposedly challenged.
in Stalin—he says so; nor does he the Great War, he World Crisis, as Although Churchill denied ever
disguise Churchill’s grim enthusi- “Winston’s brilliant autobiography, having said it, a secondhand ac-
asm for the retributive “strategic” disguised as a history of the uni- count credits him with labeling the
bombing of German civilians—not verse”; and there is a touch of that traditions in question as “nothing
just factories and military tar- solipsism in this biography. But it but rum, sodomy, prayers, and the
gets—until near the end of the is what I would call a heroic biogra- lash.” Historian Matthew Selig-
war, when he began to get cold feet phy, appropriately matched to the mann transforms this famous if
about it. Churchill’s critics will say ambition, egotism, and undoubted disputed riposte into the outline
that Roberts lets Churchill of too achievement of the life it describes. for his book, examining how each
lightly for the bombing of Dresden It will surely remain the outstand- of the four social issues afected
(which he suggests was “signed of ing Churchill biography for many the Navy and Churchill’s addressed
by Attlee in London” while Chur- years to come. them as First Lord. here is also an
chill was at Yalta). But he is surely opening section on “pay, promo-
right to reject the absurd allega- John Campbell’s books include major
tion, and democratization.”
tion of genocide recently levelled biographies of Margaret hatcher, Edward
Heath, and the oicial biography of Roy Each of the social issues had a
at Churchill for not doing more signiicant efect on life at sea, and
Jenkins.
to alleviate the Bengal famine of Seligmann notes that Churchill’s
1943, maintaining that the prime concern for social reform in the
minister sent all the help he could navy had been shared by Admiral
Finest Hour 182/ 44
BOOKS, ARTS, AND CURIOSITIES
he daily rum ration, or “grog,” sure on the Admiralty for non-An-
dispensed in the Royal Navy be- glican representation.
came an increased concern for In 1904, Admiral Fisher worked
the Admiralty as the Temperance to shorten the enlistment term
movement gained strength under for Anglican chaplains in order
the new Liberal government. While to introduce “fresh blood” to the
Churchill appeared rather indif- naval chaplaincy. hough Fisher’s
ferent to the controversy, possibly plan did not work well, it was fol-
because of his own well-known en- lowed with limited compensation
joyment of spirits, he was pressed of “non-conformist” clergy and
to address the issue. Seligmann permission for sailors to attend
describes the various reforms ex- dockside and port churches. Pres-
amined—including making the sure from Irish Catholics continued
rum ration an option, with sailors to increase, and Catholic clergy
who abstained receiving a small ultimately served aboard naval
payment—but inancial costs and warships when the World War com-
Sir John Fisher several years earli- Treasury opposition resulted in menced.
er. Both men were convinced of an failure. British sailors continued to hough Churchill himself was
impending European war and be- enjoy a rum ration for another ifty not terribly religious—historian
lieved that the Royal Navy required years; it did not end until 1970! Andrew Roberts describes him as
both reform and strengthening to Sodomy, Seligmann observes, having had a “comfortable relation-
be ready. was yet another issue of concern ship with the Almighty”—Churchill
Churchill’s greatest concern, for the First Lord and the Admi- worked hard to balance the various
according to Seligmann, was the ralty on the eve of the First World sides. As the grip of the Anglican
status and well-being of the oi- War. Homosexuality was a strong church on the British Navy slowly
cers and men who made up the taboo in late Victorian and Edward- abated, the needs of the non-Angli-
Royal Navy. he First Lord wanted ian society, as the public trial of Os- can and Catholic clergy were met,
to make life in the navy more at- car Wilde attests. hough sodomy but complete freedom of worship
tractive. Sailors’ pay was low and a trial cases were uncommon in the aboard ship was not achieved until
source of widespread discontent, so Royal Navy, with evidence being the Second World War.
Churchill worked to get higher pay hard to collect and personal confes- Discipline in the Royal Navy
for the lower deck and to develop sions extremely rare, strong suspi- had always been harsh before
a more diverse oicer class. Naval cion of sodomy would result in dis- Churchill’s time. In 1911, the Roy-
oicers who came from a privileged missal without a formal court-mar- al Navy still embraced corporal
stratum of Edwardian society were tial. Despite the fact that the Navy punishment, especially for young-
not typically the brightest or best- was anxious to avoid public em- er sailors, who were occasionally
suited for their positions. Churchill barrassment, the volume of “vice” caned. Attitudes were changing,
was in contact with social reform- cases, which included sodomy, was however. Questions were raised in
ers such as Lionel Yexley, editor of on the increase. Churchill, however, Parliament about the practice, and
he Fleet, the annual naval year- having many homosexual friends the British Navy League and the
book, which urged improvements and associates, took a rather toler- Humanitarian League were writing
for the lower deck. he British Navy ant view of the morality issue. letters of concern. Besides ques-
League also encouraged reforms as he spiritual well-being of the tioning the morality of the practice,
a result of its civilian visits to naval oicers and enlisted men in the many naval oicers saw corporal
ships, where its representatives Navy was another controversy punishment as counterproductive
talked directly to sailors. Enabling faced by the Edwardian Admiralty. to discipline. Churchill, who had
faster promotion was a Churchill Only Church of England chaplains been sadistically caned as a school-
goal, especially because of the were allowed on Royal Navy ves- boy, requested an oicial review
chronic shortage of junior oicers sels, much to the unhappiness of of the issue and added to earlier
and the need for more ships in the Catholic clergy and their adherents. reforms, but he did not oppose cor-
Anglo-German naval race. heir objections increased the pres- poral punishment outright, even
T
he prospect of another medi-
mother at the ready when Chur- (Keep Buggering On) with a gen-
cal history of Churchill is one
chill’s physicians sought out skilled uinely caring nature, which is em-
we might initially approach
nursing care to aid his recovery. bodied in Miles’s recollection: “the
with caution. A previous history of
One reservation, however, is whole time he treated me more as
Churchill in this vein was said to be
the detail given to Doris’s ancestry, an intimate friend than a nurse.”
a breach of patient conidentiality
upbringing, and her immediate hough their time together was just
and remains contentious to this
circumstances leading up to her a few weeks, it was a crucial time
day. So how does Nursing Churchill
appointment as Churchill’s pri- in terms of Churchill’s health and
compare?
vate nurse. Whilst her story is re- Miles’s career. Her diligence and
From the outset, it is clear
markable in its own right, it is too care contributed to the war efort
that the intentions of Doris Miles,
lengthy for a work entitled Nursing probably more than she ever knew.
the woman who nursed Churchill
Churchill (approximately 150 pages) For her dedication and round-the-
I
n April 1943, as the North Af- version but of simple human care-
Cross System” and its celebrated
rican campaign approached its lessness. he March 1944 report
agent “Garbo,” which fooled the
climax in Tunisia, MI5, Britain’s included a breach of security con-
Germans so brilliantly about the
Security Service, began sending cerning a component of the artii-
place and timing of the D-Day land-
monthly reports on its activities cial harbours, codenamed Mulber-
ings.
to the Prime Minister. Churchill ry, being constructed for D-Day. In
Success was also the key word
and secret intelligence had been an excess of zeal to ensure that the
in making the careful selection for
companions-in-arms for most of work should go smoothly, a Trades
Churchill’s eager eyes. What to tell
his political career. As Home Secre- Union oicial had sent out to more
him and what to withhold was a
tary before the First World War, he than two hundred addresses, in-
delicate task. he reports had to be
authorized the use of general war- cluding one in the Irish Republic,
kept short, as he was already over-
rants for the clandestine opening the minutes of a meeting called to
burdened with paperwork. Yet they
of the suspected mail and presided consolidate production. Fortunate-
also had to be interesting enough
over the passing of a draconian ly, the copy posted to Ireland was
to engage his attention while not
Oicial Secrets Act. At the Admi- intercepted by the censors, and all
encouraging the meddling in detail
ralty in 1914 he created Room 40, the others were recovered. So this
and occasional impetuosity for
its code breaking operation, and was a success story. But Churchill
which he was notorious. Above all,
delighted in reading its reports. furiously demanded to know more.
they were designed to highlight
Since becoming prime minister in After all, as West explains, the
success stories and draw a veil over
May 1940, he had regularly been merest hint to the Germans that a
operations that went awry. MI5
receiving the products of its suc- scheme had been devised to make
was especially cautious about in-
cessor operation based at Bletchley the capture of ports unnecessary
cluding reports on cases of internal
Park. Its “Ultra” reports based on would betray a central plank of the
subversion in case Churchill raised
intercepts were delivered to him entire D-Day project. he trades
them with the Home Secretary Her-
personally each day by Sir Stewart union oicial involved received a
bert Morrison. A Labour member
Menzies, head of the Secret Intelli- severe reprimand, and all trades
of the coalition Cabinet who was
gence Service. unions were warned to be more
fully briefed about MI5’s activities,
Now, MI5 chimed in with its careful in the future. he case pro-
Morrison shared his Party’s tradi-
own regular reports. Designed vides telling evidence of how thor-
tional suspicion about the agency
for the Prime Minister’s personal oughly wrought up Churchill was
meddling in domestic politics.
consumption only, they were not about the Normandy landings.
Interestingly, however, one of
shared with any of his staf, mili- he book reveals a great deal
the more revealing episodes in the
tary advisers, or even the Cabinet about MI5 operations. What it
dozens of fascinating cases brought
Secretary. Each document was does not explain is why the agency
to Churchill’s attention was not the
T
three years of internment. “Men he Prisoner in the Castle is the to ind her because she is needed
of position are seized and kept in eighth Maggie Hope Mystery. as a witness in the murder trial of a
prison for years without trial…a his one has Maggie a prison- serial killer.
frightful thing to anyone concerned er in a castle on a remote Scottish MacNeal is back up to three
about British liberties.” It was pre- island where the government con- stars for her portrayal of Churchill,
cisely because of such suspicions ines Special Operations Executive since there is no repeat of the myth
by Churchill that MI5 decided to (SOE) agents who know too much. from he Paris Spy that Churchill
disarm him by persuading him of It is 12 November 1942 when the “let Coventry be destroyed in a
the necessary and excellent work it novel begins, and Maggie has been Luftwafe attack to protect the se-
was doing. It was already clear that there since 22 June 1942. he book crets of Bletchley Park.” If you liked
at war’s end there would be a bitter is vague as to what exactly Maggie the earlier books in the series, you
inter-service struggle over signii- knows, but it includes “he secret will enjoy this one as well. here
cantly reduced resources. Some ur- of Pas-de-Calais and Normandy and will be more to come. It is only No-
gent PR by Petrie’s secret army was the invasion of occupied Europe.” vember 1942 after all. Lots more
vital for the agency’s future health Well, Maggie does not really know for the SOE to do.
and prosperity. West’s volume nice- about Normandy because in June
ly reveals what a skilled operation 1942 the selection of Normandy Novels are rated one to three stars
they concocted. as the location for the invasion of on two questions: Is the portrayal of
Europe had not been made and was Churchill accurate, and is the book
David Staford is author of Churchill not to be made until late 1943 after worth reading?
and Secret Service (1997), Roosevelt and the Tehran Conference.
Churchill: Men of Secrets (2000), and Michael McMenamin and his son Patrick
For those who have not read
Mission Accomplished: SOE and Italy are co-authors of the Winston Churchill
1943–1945, the oicial history (2011).
the previous book in the Maggie
hrillers he DeValera Deception, he
Hope series, he Paris Spy, this may
Parsifal Pursuit, he Gemini Agenda, he
be a bit of-putting. In that book, Berghof Betrayal, and he Silver Mosaic.
Maggie is in Paris as an SOE agent
in June 1942 at Churchill’s behest
to ind out who is betraying SOE Heavy Weather
agents in the ield to the Nazis.
Maggie does ind out, and she is Pressure by David Haig
locked away because the truth in- premiered in Edinburgh in 2014
volves a deception the Allies intend and played at the Ambassadors
to use once the D-Day location is heatre, London, through
chosen. his deception Mattie re- 1 September 2018.
fuses to condone. You really should
read he Paris Spy irst if you want Review by Jane Flaherty
to understand why she is a prison-
er. I suspect that MacNeal did not
say more about precisely why Mag-
P
ressure brings to life the to frame his recommendations,
taut, dramatic days before whereas the older, dowdier Stagg
the launch of Operation uses the latest scientiic under-
Overlord. At the Southwick House standing of meteorology. Over the
headquarters in Portsmouth, En- next four scenes, this interplay
gland, Allied Supreme Commander continues. hrough the talent of
General Dwight D. Eisenhower the actors, the audience feels the
has assembled the Allies’ leading tension and pressure mount as
strategists to inalize plans for reports arrive, generals deliberate,
the cross-channel D-Day invasion. and weathermen disagree.
Included in the team are weather As we know, Stagg’s analyis
trackers led by American Colonel proved accurate. Early on 5 June
Irvin P. Krick and Scotsman Dr. there were wind gusts, rough seas,
James Stagg, portrayed with great and a “helluva storm” over the
intensity by the playwright himself Channel. Stagg predicted a break
David Haig. Keeping the group co- in the weather on 6 June, when
ordinated and Eisenhower focused the successful invasion inally
during these tense days is Lieu- launched. he tight script reveals of single malt whiskey. In the inal
tenant Kay Summersby, Eisenhow- the challenge of working through scene, Eisenhower curtly dismisses
er’s driver, conidential assistant, forces one cannot control; the both Stagg and Summersby. “Lieu-
and alleged paramour. movement of storms becomes tenant Summersby, good luck with
he play opens on Friday, 2 central factors in determining the your future. Would you excuse me,”
June 1944, with Stagg’s arrival at fate of millions. Haig’s play shows he states, then turns and departs
his spare room. Stagg complains in deeply moving fashion how leaving Summersby heartbroken. In
to Summersby that he does not knowledge, tenacity, and humility truth, Summersby worked beside
have all the “urgent” equipment he can help shape history, despite the Eisenhower through V-E Day. Her
requested. “Everything, Dr. Stagg, obstacles of nature. conlicting accounts of their war-
is urgent,” she replies coolly in As Kay Summersby, Laura Rog- time relationship have kept mem-
the most understated moment of ers unequivocally shows longing oirists and historians speculating.
the play. Indeed, “7,000 vessels, for Eisenhower despite his wooden Stagg wrote in his published diary
160,000 ground troops, 200,000 and, at times, cold responses. he that his assignment to the D-Day
naval personnel, 15 hospital ships, backstory of Stagg’s wife going into planning was temporary and that
8,000 doctors, and 4 airborne di- a diicult labor at a distant hospital he continued to “cherish” the letter
visions” await Eisenhower’s signal is marred by the intrusive reality of gratitude Eisenhower sent him
to go, and Ike demands accurate of Haig’s age. At the time of the after returning to his regular duties
forecasts from the team of meteo- D-Day launch, Stagg was forty-four and family.
rologists every four to six hours to years old; Haig is sixty-two. While Even though we know before
ix the timing of the attack. his age served the story well as a the curtain rises how the story will
Enter Colonel Krick, the young counter to the younger, American end, the dialogue throughout the
and dashing “irst celebrity weath- antagonist, it proved a distraction play is crisp and moving, and the
erman.” Krick and Stagg disagree here. performances by the talented ac-
about the forecast for Monday, 5 Finally, this script is not kind to tors kept the audience enthralled.
June. Based on his study of the cur- the legacy of Eisenhower, portrayed he staging and lighting, partic-
rent weather patterns, Stagg rec- here by Malcolm Sinclair. Ike blus- ularly the displays of wall-sized
ommends postponing the invasion, ters and curses, tries to understand weather charts and storms outside
forecasting a storm on Monday. the rules of rugby, speaks of va- the French windows, were brilliant,
Krick believes they should launch cationing with Summersby, then and contributed to a great evening
as planned, predicting there will be reminisces about his deceased son of theater.
calm seas and clear skies. Ironically and longing for family. In Act Four,
the young, brash American relies after the invasion has launched, Jane Flaherty teaches history at Texas
A&M University.
on historical weather patterns Ike passes out after three drinks
F
or the past four years, the centenary of the week that the credit for the introduction of the
Great War, I have been managing social media new British armoured cars [tanks] was due to Mr.
content for the National World War I Museum Churchill, who enthusiastically took up the idea of
of the United States in Kansas City, Missouri. he making them and long ago converted him.” he mu-
challenge of the job is holding the attention of more seum also has a glowing review by Andrew Dewar
than 150,000 followers. he 24/7 Gibb of the Royal Scots Fusiliers,
business of reaching new audien- who wrote of Churchill: “No more
ces with bite-sized history works
best when we combine pithy
By Megan Spilker popular oicer ever commanded…
he left behind men who will always
quotes with vibrant imagery in a be his loyal partisans and admirers.”
steady low of articles that keep our younger demo- hese cameo portraits of Churchill in the Great
graphic engaged and interested in learning about an War successfully engage our younger audience and
often-forgotten war and people like Churchill, who encourage them to learn more.
survived the experience and learned from it. As we mark the centenary of the Armistice, you
he complex legacy of soldier-statesman Win- can check in with #Armistice100 hashtag to stay on
ston Churchill during the First World War is not top of events and content from my desk that will
easy to share in 280 characters or less, but our commemorate the fallen and celebrate peace. It is a
collection shows snippets of his experience through day that I hope will inspire many new followers to
objects and documents from the Royal Navy (which set aside time for remembering and exploring the
he oversaw in 1914–15) and photographs from past.
the Royal Scots Fusiliers (with which he served in
1916). A clipping from he Sydney Mail in 1916, for
instance, declares: “Mr. Lloyd George stated last Megan Spilker is Social Media Manager
at the National World War I Museum and Memorial.
The Renault FT-17 French tank, on display at the National World War I Museum, Kansas City
International Churchill Society Australia The International Churchill LA: Churchill Society of New Orleans
John David Olsen, Representative Society (United Kingdom) J. Gregg Collins | (504) 616-7535
(0401) 92-7878 jgreggcollins@msn.com
Andrew Smith, Executive Director
jolsen@churchillcentre.org.au ChurchillSocietyNewOrleans.com
(01223) 336179
andy@amscreative.co.uk
International Churchill Society–Canada MI: Winston Churchill Society of Michigan
Richard Marsh | (734) 913-0848
G. R. (Randy) Barber, Chairman ESSEX: ICS (UK) Woodford / Epping Branch rcmarsha2@aol.com
(905) 377-9421 | randybarber@sympatico.ca Tony Woodhead | (0208) 508-4562
www.winstonchurchillcanada.ca anthony.woodhead@virginmedia.com MO: Mid-Missouri Friends of the National
Churchill Museum
INDEPENDENT SOCIETIES KENT: ICS (UK) Chartwell Branch Anne Weller
Tony Millard | (01737) 767996 wella4203@gmail.com
tonymill21@hotmail.com
AB–CALGARY: Rt Hon Sir Winston Spencer NEW ENGLAND: New England Churchillians
Churchill Society of Calgary N. YORKSHIRE: ICS (UK) Northern Branch Joseph L. Hern | (617) 773-1907
Mark Milke Derek Greenwell | (01795) 676560 jhern@jhernlaw.com
mmilke@telus.net dg@ftcg.co.uk
NY: New York Churchillians
AB–EDMONTON: Rt Hon Sir Winston N. WALES: The Churchill Club of Conwy Gregg Berman | (212) 751-3389
Spencer Churchill Society of Edmonton Gregg.Berman@tklaw.com
Barbara Higgins | (01492) 535311
Dr. Roger Hodkinson | (780) 433-1191
higginsrbm@aol.com
rogerhodkinson@shawbiz.ca NC: North Carolina Churchillians
www.churchillsocietyofnorthcarolina.org
BC–VANCOUVER: Rt Hon Sir Winston Craig Horn | (704) 844-9960
Spencer Churchill Society of British Columbia The International Churchill Society
Michael F. Bishop, Executive Director dcraighorn@carolina.rr.com
www.winstonchurchillbc.org
April Accola | (778) 321-3550 (202) 994-4744
aprilaccola@hotmail.com mbishop@winstonchurchill.org OR: Churchill Society of Portland
William D. Schaub | (503) 548-2509
wdschaubpc@gmail.com
ON–OTTAWA: Sir Winston Churchill Society AK: Rt Hon Sir Winston Spencer
of Ottawa Churchill Society of Alaska
www.ottawachurchillsociety.com PA: Churchill Society of Philadelphia
Judith & James Muller | (907) 786-4740 Earl M. Baker | (610) 647-6973
Ronald I. Cohen | (613) 692-6234 jwmuller@alaska.edu
churchillsociety@chartwellcomm.com earlbaker@idv.net
The Churchill Centre DC: Washington Society for Churchill WA: Churchill Centre Seattle
New Zealand Samuel D. Ankerbrandt | (703) 999-7955 www.churchillseattle.blogspot.com
sankerbrandt@gmail.com Simon Mould | (425) 286-7364
Mike Groves, Representative | (9) 537-6591
mike.groves@xtra.co.nz simon@cckirkland.org
FL: Churchill Society of South Florida
Rodolfo Milani | (305) 668-4419 WI: Churchill Society of Wisconsin
International Churchill Society, Portugal churchillsocietyofsouthflorida@gmail.com Stacy G. Terris | (414) 254-8525
João Carlos Espada, President stacy@churchillsocietyofwi.org
(0351) 217214129 GA: Winston Churchill Society of Georgia
jespada@iep.lisboa.ucp.pt www.georgiachurchill.org
Joseph Wilson | (404) 966-1408
www.georgiachurchill.com