NOVEMBER 2011
CHARTWELL
B R A N C H T C C ( U K )
ISSUE 12
THE NEWS President - Mr Randolph Churchill A REGULAR NEWSLETTER GIVING INFORMATION AND UPDATES TO THOSE INTERESTED IN ALL THINGS ‘CHURCHILL’ PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE TO ANYONE YOU FEEL MAY BE INTERESTED
“C’est Arrivé” No, not Beaujolais Nouveau, but our annual birthday luncheon!
All current members will have received their invitation and details of menu etc., and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on 30th November. Hopefully the weather will not intervene this year. Forgive me for indulging in a trip down memory lane, but a few years ago I took part in a mad motorcycle dash across France to bring ‘Nouveau’ to
the UK as soon as possible. Being mid November and in the middle of the night it was rather cold - but great fun. It doesn’t seem to be quite the event it once was. This is also a rather tenuous link into another book review about the ‘Great Man’ this time relating to policy-making at the dinner table
with Churchill”. My review is on page 2.
Email: chartwelltccuk@virginmedia.com
titled :“Dinner
2 I didn’t think there could be anymore to write about as far as Sir Winston was concerned- but I was wrong! I was fascinated by the subject matter so took a chance and it turned out to be an absorbing read. One can only imagine what it would have been like to share a dinner table with WSC. The first part of the book is devoted to the formal ‘summit’ dinners with extensive menus, and these are reproduced in great detail. He used these opportunities, with some success, to further discussions away from the conference table. Meticulous planning, which he apparently learnt from his mother, went into his dinner parties.
They apparently led to the misconception that WSC favoured these rather exotic foods, whereas in fact he preferred the homely cooking of his famous cook Mrs. Georgina Landemare. Mrs.Stelzer also confirmed his definite views on sandwiches: “the bread must be wafer-thin, nothing more than a vehicle to convey the filling to the stomach” (only WSC could explain it thus) Given the current trend for menfolk to don the chefs hat at home the authors comment that ‘Churchill was interested in dining not in cooking, despite his determination to acquire other practical skills like bricklaying’ perhaps puts the modern world into perspective. I recommend this book for yet more interesting facts.
Whilst on the subject of food I am pleased to report that we are now fully booked for our luncheon on 30th November, thanks to all who have booked. The timing for the event is 12.15 for 12.45 giving time to purchase pre-lunch refreshment.
28th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
3
Beryl, Val, Helen, Grace, Dorothy and myself all offered our services as volunteer helpers at the conference. Speaking for myself I have to say that it was time well spent. It was of course most professionally organised and efficiently run by Allan Packwood and Bridget Warrington and was a great credit to The Churchill Centre (UK), it was also pleasing that our branch supplied almost all the volunteers! At various times we were all able to attend some sessions, obviously I can only report on those I attended (perhaps the others will contribute in the coming issues). The session that stood out for me was titled “Forged in Fire: The Special Relationship 1940-45”, this featured papers by Sir Max Hastings, Professor John Charmley, and Professor Antoine Capet. It turned out to be somewhat controversial, although aware of the issues, perhaps not what I was expecting. As we know, Churchill’s efforts to get help from Roosevelt appeared to be somewhat futile during 1941and his belief in the ‘special relationship’ was questioned. However Sir Max opined that there really was no question that the strategic alliance with the US was essential, despite the invasion of Russia which opened a whole new scenario. Professor Charmley, despite his reputation as being something of a revisionist, was very entertaining and put a great case for Anthony Eden being right, over the view of Churchill, in respect of relations with Stalin (however another speaker in a different session expressed the view that he would rather have a drunk Churchill than a sober Eden!). He went on to describe the waning influence of Churchill vs Stalin in the eyes of Roosevelt. Professor Capet presented the case for de Gaulle in the relationship and from subsequent questions from the floor the view was expressed that had Reynaud (the French President) set up a ‘free French’ government in exile relations with the US President may have been more productive. It was a thought provoking session with brilliant speakers without the sentiment that so often accompanies discussion on what we now have to call ‘the essential relationship’.