Winston S. Churchill Archives - Page 8 of 43

Winston Churchill’s Phrase “We are all in it together”

5 October 2023

Togetherness—united purpose and action among free peoples—was Churchill's theme all his life. A more common riff, used at least fifteen times, as "Let us go forward together." He applied that one in venues grand and minor, from the House of Commons to a conversation with his poodle Rufus.

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Churchill’s Novels: Escape Valves or Reality Checks?

30 September 2023

Churchill was motivated by Wells’s views of military science: “The irresistible Juggernaut, driving through towns and villages as through a field of standing corn—a type which Armageddon itself could not achieve….” That was an accurate description of France in 1940. Churchill himself called it “a remarkable combination of air bombing and heavily armoured tanks.” He then admonished Britons: “Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour."

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Australia: National Anthems, Miscellaneous Ramblings

25 September 2023

In her memoirs, Mary Soames wrote of the great service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral five days after V-E Day, 1945: "Such was the mood that we were allowed to sing the second verse of the National Anthem (usually a real no-no), bidding God arise to scatter the King's enemies ('Confound their politics / Frustrate their knavish tricks')." Well, at a Churchill Conference in 2000, we entertained her by singing all five verses of God Save the Queen, including that one. She was sure we were going way over the top.

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Squandermania: Churchill on Debt Limits

15 September 2023

"The detailed methods of [Squandermania] have not yet been fully thought out, but we are assured on the highest authority that if only enough resource and energy are used there will be no difficulty in getting rid of the stuff. This is the policy which used to be stigmatised by as the policy of buying a biscuit early in the morning and walking about all day looking for a dog to give it to."

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Churchill, Leslie Howard, Vivien Leigh and “Gone With the Wind”

31 August 2023

Q: Did Churchill read Gone With the Wind?

“I am a longtime Gone With the Wind collector and researcher, and give presentations at GWtW events. I’ve also been the GWtW Answer Lady on several websites. Some asked: Did Churchill and Roosevelt read Gone With the Wind? It seems that FDR read quite a bit of the novel, but I couldn’t come up with anything about Churchill.

“I hope you don’t mind me tossing you this question. I assume that Churchill did see the film, as FDR did, on 26 December 1939, after it opened in Washington.…

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rascals — “Who’s that damn fool on the grey?” Lt. Churchill, 4th Hussars, India, 1896. (Wikimedia Commons)

Divine Intervention: Taking Care of Winston

30 August 2023

Churchill's religion included the belief that God was preserving him for some higher purposes. Andrew Roberts notes that he had many narrow escapes: childhood illnesses, near-death from ruptured kidney, near-drowning in Lake Geneva. He survived close brushes fighting in five wars on five continents from 1897 to 1916. He was nearly killed by a car in New York, survived assassination plots and enemy aircraft. Lord Roberts adds: "Not without reason he believed that the Almighty's chief obligation was to watch over the life of Winston Churchill."

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Churchill Quotations: Youth, Maturity, Principle, Regulations

20 August 2023

"What is the use of Parliament if it is not the place where true statements can be brought before the people? What is the use of sending Members to the House of Commons who say just the popular things of the moment, and merely endeavour to give satisfaction by cheering loudly every Ministerial platitude? If Parliamentary democracy is to survive, it will not be because the Constituencies return tame, docile, subservient Members, and try to stamp out every form of independent judgment."

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John Morley, Victorian Eminence: “Such Men Are Not Found Today”

15 August 2023

Morley pronounced the epitaph for his age in May 1923, four months before he died. His words sound more like 2023. "Present party designations have become empty of all contents…. Vastly extended State expenditure, vastly increased demands from the taxpayer who has to provide the money, social reform regardless of expense, cash exacted from the taxpayer already at his wits’ end—when were the problems of plus and minus more desperate?"

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Jock: Churchill’s Cat, by Larry Kryske

10 August 2023

Here Kryske captures what most reporters ignore: the great man’s sadness in twilight. Clementine reminds him of all the good he had accomplished. Winston Churchill feels only remorse. “I have profound misgivings about the future. Our leaders are more concerned with appearance than substance. Grave dangers lie before us. Who will be the voice in the wilderness now?” Does that say anything to us in 2023? I fear so.

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Winston Churchill’s Revulsion over Napalm Bombing

25 July 2023

"My own feeling is that Napalm ought not to be used in the way it is being done by the American Forces. This is I am sure the overwhelming feeling of the House of Commons, but I do not take my opinion from them. I certainly could not agree to our taking any responsibility for it, otherwise than in the general duty of serving with and under the United Nations Commander. I do not see how Press articles and jabber of that kind compares with splashing about this burning fluid on the necks of humble people...."

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