King Edward VII Archives - Richard M. Langworth

Did Winston Churchill Invent the Term “Wizard War”?

4 June 2020 Comments 0 Comments

Q: Churchill’s creation?

I’d like to know if you can shed light on Churchill’s use of the word “wizard” for radar scientists and engineers (as in Their Finest Hour, Book 2, Chapter 4 “The Wizard War”)? He first used the term in publication in that book in 1949; is there any indication of his use of the word, to describe what the RAF called “boffins”, during the early days of the war itself?

“Wizard” is of course a grand old Middle English word, and Churchill would have preferred that to the newfangled “boffin.” …

Churchill and Texas: The Complete History

20 January 2019 Comments 2 Comments

Q: Was Churchill ever in Texas?

A. The closest Churchill came to visiting Texas was in 1938, when he planned a series of lectures beginning at Fort Worth and Dallas. It was to have lasted six weeks in November and December. The Munich Crisis interfered and the lecture tour was cancelled.

Churchill was, however, an Honorary Freeman of the City of Dallas. In the 1970s Dallas boasted a neo-Victorian night spot called the Churchill Club. It was decorated with the great man’s pictures and quotations. There were Union Flags and a letter from WSC accepting his Freemanship of the city.…

Lord Randolph and the Aylesford Sports

7 March 2014 Comments 1 Comment

Was Winston Churchill's father a Lord? If so, how did he serve in the House of Commons? And did this continue even after he found he had to get out of town, so to speak, when he "incurred the displeasure of a great personage" A movie could be made. Ah, the Victorians.