Category: Winston S. Churchill

Maclean
The Macleans at Strachur, ca. 1960. Sir Fitzroy and Lady Veronica née Fraser with their two sons, Charles (now the 2nd Baronet) and Alexander. (Ccab2bb, Creative Commons)
Wit and Wisdom: Fitzroy Maclean, 1911-1996

Wit and Wisdom: Fitzroy Maclean, 1911-1996

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"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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Rhodes James
Sir Robert Rhodes James saw 1939 as the year that ended Churchill’s “Study in Failure” and heralded his sequel, “A Study in Success.” On 5 November 1939 near Avesnes, France, WSC meets British Expeditionary Force Commander Field Marshal John Gort. Lt.-Gen. Henry Pownall, Chief of Staff, who would later assist WSC in writing his war memoirs, is at right. (Imperial War Museum, public domain)
“A Good House of Commons Man”: Robert Rhodes James

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

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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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newspapers
Meet the Press: Reporters at the Second Quebec Conference, September 1944, question WSC, FDR and Canadian PM Mackenzie King. Forgive flaws in photo negative. (National Archives, Public Domain)
Winston Churchill’s Favorite Newspapers

Winston Churchill’s Favorite Newspapers

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“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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Beaverbrook
Beaverbrook and Churchill leaving HMS Prince of Wales to bid farewell to Rooevelt, following the Atlantic Charter conference, Argentia, Newfoundland, 12 August 1941. (Admiralty Collection, Imperial War Museum, public domain)
One Last Shining Moment: Churchill’s Paean to Beaverbrook

One Last Shining Moment: Churchill’s Paean to Beaverbrook

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"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
Nigel Knocker received The Churchill Centre’s Blenheim Award from Chairman Bill Ives, now also gone, Southampton, 2004.
Nigel Bedingfield Knocker OBE 1930-2023: He Answered the Call

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

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"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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rough men
Seventy-nine years on: The Normandy Landings, June 1944, when rough men stood ready. (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces, Wikimedia Commons)
D-Day +79: “Rough Men Stand Ready,” a Shared Sentiment

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

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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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OMG
“Lord Fisher comes aboard.” Cartoon on Churchill’s reappointment of retired Admiral Fisher as First Sea Lord shortly after the start of the First World War. (Cartoon by F.H. Townsend in Punch, public domain)
OMG: Churchillian Origins of the Popular Texters’ Phrase

OMG: Churchillian Origins of the Popular Texters’ Phrase

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Yes, credit OMG to Admiral Fisher. He had a flamboyant writing style, often signing his letters to Churchill, “Yours till a cinder” or "Yours till Hell freezes over." Many other other loquacious salutations made his lexicon of salubrious sign-offs. Given his  sudden resignation and disappearance from the Admiralty in May 1915, they were rather less than sincere.

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Thatcher
President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher with a Frank Salisbury painting of someone they both revered, during the President’s visit to 10 Downing Street, 9 June 1982. (White House photographic collection, public domain)
Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher: Two Meetings

Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher: Two Meetings

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Margaret Thatcher's biographer and Churchill’s bodyguard each knew of one Churchill-Thatcher meeting but not the other. The story of their two encounters demonstrates Lady Thatcher’s lifelong respect, and Churchill’s words on the regulatory state could have been her own words, 30 years later. When it came to liberty, neither were for turning.

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best
Churchill plants a boutonniere on President Truman before dining at the British Embassy, Washington, 8 January 1953. Six months later he was not sending bouquets. (Library of Congress, public domain)
Churchill Quotations: The Best Telegram He Ever Sent

Churchill Quotations: The Best Telegram He Ever Sent

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"I warned the Americans before Potsdam not to withdraw from any of the part of Germany we occupied until we had a satisfactory understanding. They would not listen. And they will not listen now when I warn them about Germany. At Potsdam I wanted Prussia isolated and Germany divided horizontally and not vertically." —Churchill according to Moran

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Notability
Notable and notorious: A collector’s item in 1900 was a postcard autographed by the most famous escapee from the Boers. (Photo by HJPrieß, Creative Commons)
Churchill’s Word Play: “Notability or Notoriety”

Churchill’s Word Play: “Notability or Notoriety”

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Manfred Weidhorn: "The law of averages dictates that some of these dreamers succeed. Churchill was one of them. Hence he is the hero of our hypothetical non-realistic novel. As a young man, Churchill put the world on notice with his memorably declared resolve to be an achiever by either notability or notoriety."

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RML Books

Richard Langworth’s Most Popular Books & eBooks


Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality

Churchill by Himself

Churchill in His Own Words

Churchill and the Avoidable War

The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill

The Patriot’s Churchill

Triumph Cars - The Complete Story
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