June 2023 - Richard M. Langworth

Wit and Wisdom: Fitzroy Maclean, 1911-1996

30 June 2023 Comments 2 Comments

"Today, looking back over a long life, I can honestly say that almost the only things in which I take any conscious pride or esteem in one way or another is my association with Winston Churchill. After the war I was lucky enough to be a member of his Government and also, with my wife, to be asked every now and then to Chequers or Chartwell to join him and his family in their noisy, affectionate, hilarious, often uproarious family life. That, as a friend said to me the other day, was something that left you both wiser and also warmer at heart." —Sir Fitzroy

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“A Good House of Commons Man”: Robert Rhodes James

26 June 2023 Comments 0 Comments

Randolph Churchill had sacked Robert from his research team on the Official Biograhy, and Robert never forgave him (or his dislike of Eden). He maintained that Randolph just repeated the “case for the defence” Sir Winston had already made in his own books. Robert always said exactly what he believed—in the most forceful terms available to a gentleman. In an age of prevaricating phonies of Left and Right, such a character is rare. Winston Churchill would have loved him.

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Winston Churchill’s Favorite Newspapers

21 June 2023 Comments 0 Comments

“Is [the Prime Minister] aware that...the Iver Heath Conservative Party Association held a fete to raise money for party purposes to which it invited American Service baseball teams to participate for a ‘Winston Churchill’ trophy?” WSC: “I read in the Daily Worker some account of this. I had not, I agree, fully realised the political implications that might attach to the matter, and in so far as I have erred I express my regret. [If the situation were reversed] I hope we should all show an equal spirit of tolerance and good humour.”

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One Last Shining Moment: Churchill’s Paean to Beaverbrook

16 June 2023 Comments 0 Comments

"I was glad to be able sometimes to lean on him. He did not fail. This was his hour. Time has but added to the intensity of what I then felt, and to my regard and affection." —Sir Winston Churchill on the 85th birthday of Lord Beaverbrook, 25 May 1964.

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Nigel Bedingfield Knocker OBE 1930-2023: He Answered the Call

10 June 2023 Comments 2 Comments

"He made himself useful at a critical moment." Nigel arrived at one of those periodic crises of the Old Guard. The Churchill Centre UK Branch had unexpectedly lost its chairman, and we were at a loss over whom to send for. Celia Sandys had the answer: a retired Army colonel. We expected a severe taskmaster, perhaps even an officious mandarin. We found instead a warm-hearted collaborator and devotee of the Churchill saga.

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D-Day +79: “Rough Men Stand Ready,” a Shared Sentiment

5 June 2023 Comments 1 Comment

On the 79th anniversary of D-Day, this quote is likely to come up again. Neither Churchill's nor Orwell's, it nevertheless resounds with their sentiments. Quote Investigator provides a vast subtext to the various appearances and credits of “Rough men stand ready” over the years. Their conclusion is that no one specifically said the words. But Kipling may have inspired them, and Orwell paraphrased them, and they are in the Churchill spirit.

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