December 2017 - Richard M. Langworth

“Darkest Hour,” the movie: an interview with The Australian

28 December 2017 Comments 14 Comments

For The Australian …

Troy Bramston of The Australian newspaper had pertinent questions about the new movie Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. With the thought that Troy’s queries might be of interest, I append the text of the interview.

The Australian : Of all the things Winston Churchill is purported to have said and done, the myths and misconceptions, which are the most prevalent and frustrating for scholars? None of these appear in the film, but there are three things that rankle: 1) The lies—that he was anxious to use poison gas; that he firebombed Dresden in revenge for Coventry; that he exacerbated the Bengal famine, etc.…

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Hyde Park Gate: Churchill’s London Home, 1945-1965

21 December 2017 Comments 0 Comments

Question: “Churchill owned both 27 and 28 Hyde Park Gate. Which one did he live in?” Answer: both.

1945-51

The Churchills purchased 28 Hyde Park Gate in September 1945. The fine attached brick house stands in a quiet cul-de-sac, close to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. They acquired the abutting number 27 in March 1946. According to Stefan Buczacki’s excellent book, Churchill and Chartwell, the garden wall between the two residences was knocked out to provide a single garden. Number 27 was initially acquired for needed office space, though Clementine Churchill thought it an extravagance.…

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Brendan Bracken: “Winston’s Faithful Chela”

12 December 2017 Comments 0 Comments

“Stanley Baldwin, showing an unexpected familiarity with Indian phrases, described Brendan Bracken as ‘Winston’s faithful chela,‘ wrote the biographer Charles Lysaght. “This is what gave Bracken his place in history, a minor but still an important one.”

The Hillsdale College Churchill Project has published two articles on Brendan Bracken, Churchill’s loyal ally and friend for four decades. The first begins with a memoir by the late Ron Robbins, a Canadian journalist who early on covered the House of Commons, where he met Bracken. The postscript is by me, followed by reviews of the two Bracken books by George Gale and A.J.P.…

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Intrepid — The Maple Leaf with 1941’s Red Ensign. (Artwork by Charlotte Thibault)

December 7th, 1941: Canada First to Declare War

7 December 2017 Comments 1 Comment

At War on the 7th Apropos December 7th, my friend Randy Barber (Ontario) writes: “Recently, I purchased seven copies of a World War II Canadian Army newspaper called Khaki. I have a think to tell you about the 7th, from reading papers and the letters to the editor from 1944: In a question to the editor about which country first declared war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the answer was, not the United States or Great Britain (which declared war on December 8th). It was Canada, which declared war on December 7th. Thus endeth your history lesson for today.…

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