The Glow-Worm The Churchillians by-the-Bay newsletter #15 — Summer 2012 “We are all worms. But I do believe that I am a glow-worm” Winston to Violet Asquith at a dinner at Lady Elcho’s, in the early summer of 1906, in her book Winston Churchill As I Knew Him. Winston was thirty-one at the time, Violet was nineteen.
First published in 1965. On the inside-front of the jacket: The portrait of Sir Winston Churchill on the jacket of this edition is from the painting by Sir William Orpen in 1916, and is reproduced by permission of Lady Churchill.
Churchillians by-the-Bay is the Northern California Affiliate of the Churchill Centre. The Board of Directors: Richard C. Mastio (Chairman and Contributions editor), Jason. C. Mueller (President), Gregory B. Smith (Secretary and Liaison Officer with the Churchill Centre), Michael Allen (Treasurer). Directors: Jack Koers, Lloyd Nattkemper, Dr. Andrew Ness, Barbara Norkus, Katherine Stathis, and Anne Steele. Glow-Worm was named by Susie Mastio. Editor of The Glow-Worm: Jim Lancaster (jimlydtom@gmail.com) Š Copyright, All Rights Reserved Glow-Worm and Churchillians by-the-Bay, Inc.
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Zimmermann telegram postscript (David Ramsay’s postscript to his article on the Zimmermann telegram in the previous issue of Glow-Worm) At the end of my article on the Zimmermann Telegram, which appeared in the last issue of Glow-Worm, I mentioned the victory of the American First Army in the battle of Chateau Thierry, with French artillery support, over the German Army in July 1918, noting that this success had enabled the allies to take the offensive and decisively defeat the German Army from that August, successes which led directly to the defeat of Germany and to the Armistice in November. I expanded on this theme in a talk I recently gave to the Southern California Chapter of the Churchill Centre in Los Angeles, which I summarize below Chateau Thierry was an American military triumph as important as Concord or Lexington or Gettysburg or any of the great victories of World War II. This makeshift Army had defeated one of the most formidable military machines in history — a great credit to Pershing and his Generals, among them Douglas MacArthur. Effectively, despite President Wilson’s shortcomings, America won that war.
The Royal and United States Navies working together to defeat the U-boats and maintain control of the Atlantic, in what was fittingly called Operation Pull Together, was the beginning of the Special Relationship between the two Englishspeaking powers, Britain and the United States, which has served the cause of freedom so well for nearly a century. The tragedy of World War I was that the victory won at the cost of so much blood and treasure was thrown away in the Treaty of Versailles where the Churchillian principles of In Victory: Magnanimity In Peace: Goodwill were singularly absent. Churchill himself was excluded from the British delegation. The harsh terms inflicted on Germany, for which Wilson must bear much of the blame, caused, among other ill-effects, the hyper-inflation which financially ruined the German middle-classes and were, as Churchill pointed out, a significant factor in the rise in Nazism and of the run-up to World War II. As Marshal Foch, who had led the allied armies to victory in 1918 and who had lost his only son in 1914, said when he read the terms: “It is not peace; it is only an armistice for twenty years.� He was wrong by only three months. Thus, everyone who died in World War I, on both sides, died in vain and another generation had to endure a world at war. A friend of mine, eighteen years old in 1939, who served in the British Army in the Middle East and in North-West Europe, once calculated that 30% of his contemporaries had been lost in that war. He told me that the only factor which reconciled him to that toll was that our children and grandchildren were growing up without experiencing the horror of war. Those who were lost in World War II did not die in vain. As a result of their effort and sacrifice there has been peace in Western Europe for two-thirds of a century.
Western Front on September 28, 1918
Haig’s map of the Western Front on September 25, 1918, showing the British forces in the north, followed by the French, then the American forces under Pershing. Churchill had this chart framed.
American soldiers at the war’s end, photo 1
(Martin Gilbert First World War, photo 79)
Two Americans and two French soldiers at war’s end
An American sailor, an American Red Cross nurse, and two French soldiers on either side, celebrating the signing of the Armistice. (Martin Gilbert First World War, photo 80)
The Churchill, The Power of Words exhibition in Manhattan Introduction
A few words about Michael and Isaac Norwich:
Michael Norwich, a long-time resident of Manhattan, was born in South Africa and earned his first degree at Churchill College, Cambridge. The College was founded as the British National and Commonwealth memorial to Sir Winston Churchill. Located in its grounds is the Churchill Archives Centre that houses Sir Winston’s papers plus those of almost six hundred other prominent personalities — the politicians, diplomats, military
leaders and scientists of the Churchill era and beyond As a Churchill graduate and coming from a family of collectors, over many years Michael worked closely with Allen Packwood, the Director of the Archives, to bring about the current Churchill Exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. Isaac Norwich, Michael’s elder son is entering his final year at Hunter College High School, a specialized public high school in Manhattan. He has written several papers on World War II and has had the privilege of using documents from the Churchill Archives Centre. In July and August Isaac will intern at the Morgan Library & Museum working in the Education and Communications Departments. In particular, he will be leading youth tours of the Churchill exhibition.
And a couple of images of the Morgan Library in New York City:
A drawing of the building (circa 1902)
Pierpoint Morgan’s 1906 library
Making the most of the Churchill Exhibition in New York
By Michael and Isaac Norwich
Winston Churchill as a Second Lieutenant in the Fourth Hussars, 1895 (Courtesy of Curtis Brown, London, on behalf of the Estate of Winston S. Churchill)
The Churchill exhibition opened on the evening of June 7th with a large crowd and many eminent people present, including the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the Mayor of London (Boris Johnson) and Caroline Kennedy. (Their opening speeches are available in a link at the end of this article). Since June 8, attendance has been high; the related activities have been well attended, with a good press. The exhibition will be on display at the Morgan Library from June 8 to September 23, 2012.
Churchill: The Power of Words is organized by The Morgan Library & Museum and the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. The exhibition brings to life the man behind the words through some sixty-five documents, artifacts, and recordings, ranging from edited typescripts of Churchill’s speeches, to his Nobel Medal and Citation, to excerpts from his broadcasts made during the London blitz. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the ‘pod’ in which eight of his most famous speeches can be heard with accompanying words and
relevant newsreel footage. The exhibition is curated by Allen Packwood, the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge (UK) and Declan Kiely of the Morgan Library.
Allen Packwood, Michael Norwich and Declan Kiely
After all the expectation and excitement of the moment it is useful to look back and understand the many ingredients of this success. It is a truism but the result was based on lots of effort on the part of many people, sincere and devoted teamwork, a high level of trust and partnership, a set of highly dedicated sponsors plus the wonders of technology that helped to bridge the Atlantic — not for the first time. In mid-2004 a magnificent exhibition was held in Washington DC at the Library of Congress Churchill and the Great Republic It included artifacts and recordings from the Churchill Archives and was visited by President George W.
Bush just prior to its opening. Other smaller exhibitions have been held in North America including one in Ottawa. A cadre of Churchill College graduates and other Churchillians have long spoken about the next big step, that of ‘bringing Churchill back to New York, ‘the city where his mother was born’, the first city he visited in America, on November 9, 1895 (he was 20 years old, on his way to Cuba), and also the city from which he left America on his last visit, leaving Idlewild Airport for London on April 13, 1961 (when he was 86 years old). A short-list of possible locations was created and inquiries made about various connections into each of them. Meetings were held but many doors remained unopened. Speaking candidly, some of the institutions felt that the subject would not fit their charter or would not be interesting enough to their core audience. While not disheartening, these conversations went on for quite a while, and like all good things took time to come to fruition. Over three years ago, first contact was made with the Morgan Library and Museum on Madison Avenue and 36th Street in Manhattan. From the start there was strong mutual interest between the Morgan and the Archives Centre. Close working relations were quickly forged, and after much discussion an exhibition concept was developed. Churchill read widely, and lived by his pen; while the Morgan Library exists to collect and preserve the literary and artistic tradition upon which he built his writing and career. Thus was born the concept and the title Churchill, The Power of Words. After the topic was agreed upon, many pieces clicked into place: a draft list of exhibit items was created and Martello Media of Dublin was hired to design the exhibition’s layout and audio-visual pod. The exhibition was originally planned to be in a newer second-floor gallery, but when a fine ground floor room became available the schedule of the exhibition was pushed back. Unfortunately, the tradeoff was that the exhibition is open during the summer months, for much of which time students are away and schools are not in session. Churchill, The Power of Words
From early on, the idea was that a series of related events would take place around the exhibition. These included a new book written by Sir Martin Gilbert entitled Churchill, the Power of Words,(This superb book is reviewed in the Book Reviews section of this Summer 2012 issue of Glow-Worm — click on the item in the Table of Contents in the left-hand panel), a Speakers series that included Celia Sandys, Andrew Roberts and Lynne Olson, a film series to be held at the Morgan, a successful, recent reading of the play Churchill at Bay and a student debate organized by the English-Speaking Union. The exhibition was also to provide the backdrop for the soft launch of ‘The Churchill Archive On-Line’, an ambitious collaboration between the Archives Centre and Bloomsbury Academic to digitize the entire Churchill Papers collection. There were two main groupings of participants who helped achieve such success on an international basis, with overall coordination by Allen Packwood and
Declan Kiely. First, there was the core team who worked with such organizations as the Churchill Archives, donors of other items, for example items from Chartwell, and the designers, Martello Media. One loaned item of particular note is a letter written by Mrs. Clementine Churchill during the war to a young Yorkshire schoolgirl called Barbara Taylor, thanking her for raising money for Clementine’s Red Cross Aid To Russia Fund. Barbara is now the well-known author Barbara Taylor Bradford; she credits this letter as a key source of early inspiration. The other group consisted of those of us who were involved in the development of the website, organizing speeches, and putting on Churchill-themed movies at the Morgan Library. As a graduate of Churchill College and coming from a family steeped in history, I had always had a fascination with the extraordinary bravery and leadership of Churchill during The Second World War. I can vividly remember sitting in a hotel room in London with a father who had just been diagnosed with jaundice, when it was announced that Sir Winston Churchill had just died. I was at a boarding school in Berkshire at the time — during Churchill’s funeral the sight of dockland cranes bowing in great respect was exceptionally moving. With two lively teenage sons my particular interest in Churchill has been primarily about the high value of leadership and what it can achieve to “move to a place that people would not have done otherwise” to quote a famous professor of leadership at Harvard Business School. While the actual history is clearly important it is less transportable than the lessons of leadership. Therefore, over the last sixplus months, as the physical exhibition and the other activities were being structured and finalized, I discussed initiating a youth outreach program for the 14 to 21 year old age group. While the primary objective would be to attract younger people to see the physical exhibition and provide youth tours, we also needed to speak to this group in their own way and in their own language.
Out of so many wonderful Churchill quotes, the one that appeals to me most is one from 1943.
‘The empires of the future are the empires of the mind’ (During a speech WSC made at Harvard University on receiving an honorary degree, September 6, 1943)
While different people can interpret this in their own way I think of the internet, websites, connectivity, collaboration and all the wonderful things that derive from these new paradigms and technologies. Therefore the three of us, Allen, Declan, and I, had discussions, took advice from others of experience and wrote several position papers about what a youth-oriented website would achieve and look like. The following two paragraphs are taken from the finalized paper.
The Churchill Exhibit at the Morgan is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to raise Churchill’s profile and in particular to try and connect with a younger generation. The feeling of several of us working on it is that we need some special interface to communicate the exhibition and the importance of Churchill directly to the under 21's. We need a mechanism to alert them in their own language to the fact that this is happening and to encourage them to visit the display, use the Bloomsbury site, attend the range of events and find out more. In short we need to provide a gateway, and the key to our success is likely to lie in producing something ‘cool’ which links Churchill’s leadership and speeches to the current context and contemporary experience. We aim to create significant interest (buzz) across the young population, (say aged 14 to 21) by pre-advertising the exhibit using a range of innovative and attractive social media. It would be highly attractive and modern, using color, images and quotes/jokes where possible. We could use celebrities — we could get actors, singers, politicians to say what Churchill means to them. If we create an appropriately constructed website then people would ‘friend’ it through Facebook and pass it on. A range of
intermediary organizations, like schools, teachers, social organizations etc will be leveraged through direct contact and in turn they would pass on these social media resources to their large networks; thereby multiplying the reach of this approach. Towards this end, a wonderful website has been created to attract younger fans to Churchill’s legacy.
Discover Churchill
This website was built quickly so that it would be up and running six weeks prior to the opening. Visitors are invited to explore Churchill’s life and words through the three main concepts of Leadership, Action, and Impact. Allen Packwood, Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, said: “I hope and believe that this website will be a great vehicle for taking Churchill's words and deeds to a wider and younger audience.” Positive comments have been received about it and people like the modern trailer that has been set to music. Initially, the numbers looking at the website were low but when the exhibition opened the link was widely inserted in articles, in particular in the New York Times Review by Edward Rothstein . While numbers have now stabilized lower, of special interest is the remarkable global reach that has been achieved; for example, a sample of 100 hits can come from as many as 70 cities globally all the way from China to Chile. The Discover Churchill website
The first page of the Discover Churchill website (Photograph: © Estate of Yousuf Karsh)
There is also a Facebook Page titled ‘Churchill: The Power of Words’ where younger fans of Churchill can win tickets to the Morgan Library through Question and Answer posts. Fans can also sign up for youth tours at the Morgan Library at 3pm on Wednesdays in July and August given by Isaac Norwich, a high school student. Between Facebook and Twitter (@DiscvrChurchill), there are many options for fans to reach out and get involved in the wonderful history of Winston Churchill’s speeches, words, and actions. I was given the privilege of visiting the Morgan Library during the installation of some of the items and allowed to take brief videos which have been posted to the Facebook page:
Facebook Churchill
We also have videos from one of the winners of tickets to the opening, Demetria Athenas, and articulate comments on Churchill by winners of the student debate. There are many other postings which I believe the reader will find of interest, irrespective of age. We are currently about one-third through the time that the exhibition will be open and we understand that attendance has been much higher than average — showing that strong word-of-mouth advertising is in play. The student tours have just started and there will be additional focus in communicating with younger people through Facebook and other means to persuade them to attend this special and unique exhibition. After all the effort that was expended to achieve a successful launch, people are only just starting to focus on the future. But knowing the participants I expect great things! Will the exhibition be shown in other locations? Can the audiovisuals from the eight key speeches in the pod be used in other contexts? And how will the Discover Churchill website be extended and institutionalized, so that it can
become an ongoing electronic memorial and source of information, primarily for students and teachers? Personally, this has been an extraordinary experience, one that I am very happy to have been involved in and learned from. I met people that I otherwise would not have, worked with professionals of high excellence in their fields plus I also learned a lot about how to apply social media. Additionally, although he has just started his internship, Isaac’s experience at the Morgan will be of great benefit to him as he moves onto college and bigger things. Websites: The Morgan Library & Museum - Current Exhibitions - Churchill: The Power of Words
Churchill College : Churchill Archives Centre
Video - Churchill exhibition opening NYC
‘Churchill - The Power of Words,’ at the Morgan Library - NYTimes.com
Charlie Rose - A discussion about Winston Churchill
Randolph Churchill & his wife Catherine visit the Seattle Chapter St. Marks Cathederal, Seattle May 10th, 2012 By Dr. Simon Mould and Mr. Steve Harper
In early May, 2012, Randolph Churchill, great-grandson of the elder Statesman Sir Winston Churchill, visited Canada and the Pacific Northwest to make presentations to several of the local Churchill Centers. On the evening of Friday, May 10th, Randolph and his wife Catherine visited the Seattle Chapter for an early dinner with several of the Center’s officials prior to a riveting lecture about the financial state of Europe after The Second World War, and about Churchill’s pro-active leadership of winning the war, which subsequently gave rise to the reconstruction of a peaceful and prosperous Europe. The Seattle Chapter is devoted to reaching those in business leadership and the academic community. The specific vision is to advance Churchill’s legacy of statesmanship by drawing from a rich depth of history surrounding Churchill that provides ample principles that can be applied to a rapidly changing world. In accordance with these aims, the Seattle Churchill chapter asked Randolph to present a lecture entitled, Churchill, European Unity and Economic Turmoil. Randolph carries the unique perspective of combining the historical analysis of his great grandfather’s legacy with the tremendous insight and experience of having been an investment banker to some of the most prominent merchant banks and investment firms in London. While Churchill’s focus during the war demanded the perseverance of daily planning and execution of wartime strategy and tactics, this never impeded his overall sense of vision to prepare the world for the post-war era that would inevitably follow the allied victory. His friendship with President Roosevelt demonstrated his commitment to foster a special relationship with the United States — a relationship based not only on its common heritage but also on their partnership to enable the development of a post-war international system that would aid a remarkable European recovery. In his lecture, Randolph pointed out that the factors aiding this recovery were based on a simple commitment to the principles over which the war was fought — the preservation of democracy, the encouragement of free markets and entrepreneurial creativity, and disciplined fiscal policy. Sadly, over the last few decades in the West, and in Europe particularly, those principles which have underscored Western political strength and financial prosperity have been neglected. Speaking directly about the current European crisis, Randolph warned that some of the southern and peripheral European nations have lacked the necessary fiscal discipline to get their house in order. They may pose such a risk to Europe that potentially some of the disciplined European states in the north might break from the rest and create their own revised monetary system. Randolph specifically tailored his presentation to the Seattle group because
of the city’s leadership in creativity and innovation in technology. It is precisely this kind of leadership that is needed to fuel the engine of economic recovery. Sadly, what is often lacking is a well-educated workforce capable of the research and development to drive ongoing growth. Randolph’s presentation left us with a true sense of commitment, not only to the task of education and innovation, but also to a revival of those values for which his great grandfather’s generation fought; those values which raised Europe out from the ashes of destruction. Randolph’s presentation was precisely the kind of subject matter which appeals to next-generation students and business leaders, the very people the Seattle chapter is keen to reach. The Seattle chapter was founded in 2005 upon the impetus created around the visit of Randolph’s father, Winston, who presented a compelling lecture to a packed lecture hall at the University of Washington where he shared his concerns regarding the decline of Western civilization. The Seattle chapter has since been host to other members of the Churchill family along with academic, military and business leaders. The Seattle Churchill Chapter is grateful to Randolph and Catherine’s ongoing work with the Churchill Centre and with the Seattle Chapter, in entrusting the memory and legacy of Winston Churchill to the next generation.
About the Authors Dr. Simon Mould and Mr. Steve Harper have served as originating chapter executive officers who lend their respective experience in education and business to forge a chapter that is relevant to the academic and business executive community alike by focusing specifically on Churchill's leadership traits and their application to today’s changing world. Simon, who emigrated to the U.S. from the U.K. in 1992, is the founding President of the Seattle Chapter, and is Head of History and Government at a classical school, Christ Church Academy. He is also Adjunct Professor of European History and American Government at Northwest University. In addition, Simon develops a Social Studies curriculum which strongly features Churchill as a relevant model of statesmanship. Steve serves the Seattle Chapter as an executive office and liaison to the President. Also from the UK, Steve emigrated to the U.S. in 1984. He is a senior executive in the Aerospace Industry. He presently works for Aerojet in Redmond, Washington, and leads a major rocket propulsion division of the company. Steve has strong ties to the University of Washington’s Foster Business School and is helping grow the Seattle Chapter by encouraging greater interest and involvement
from younger management professionals interested in the leadership and statesmanship best practices of Winston Churchill. Both Steve and Simon’s families share a rich history of involvement in The Second World War, driven by their admiration and passion for Winston Churchill. Simon’s grandfather served honorably in the British Expeditionary Force and was rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. Steve’s grandfather (then 62 years old) was a Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve CPO (Chief Petty Officer) assigned to one of the ‘Little Ships’ to help rescue the soldiers. He had sailed with Bertram Ramsay in the First World War. Steve is an Associate member of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) and has participated in two commemorative crossings back to Dunkirk. He also has lectured on the Evacuation of Dunkirk and the Invasion of Normandy with David Ramsay, son of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who led the evacuation. Before the lecture: Simon Mould (right) talks to Steve Harper
Dinner at Ivars, Seattle
Left to right: Seattle member Sharon Best, Randolph Churchill & his wife Catherine
After the lecture, St. Marks, Seattle
Left to right: Randolph Churchill, Diane Harper, Catherine Churchill, Steve Harper
The role of Bomber Command in 1940
It is timely in this Summer issue of Glow-Worm to draw attention to the Bomber Command Memorial in London, inaugurated by Her Majesty the Queen on June 28, 2012. This is in recognition, long overdue, of the sacrifice of the 55,573 men of Bomber Command, from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland and other Commonwealth and Allied nations who failed to return.
Before and after the opening of the Memorial the old debate about area-bombing later in the war was revived and recycled by opinionated journalists born long after the war ended. The issue of German civilians who were killed by bombers of RAF Bomber Command, and of the United States 8th Air Force, flying from bases in Britain, relates primarily to the years 1942-45.
Bomber Command and the invasion of Britain The offensive aspects of the Battle of Britain in 1940 were overlooked by journalists, as they have been by many historians. The popular image of the Battle of Britain is one of Spitfires and Hurricanes shooting Messerschmitt 109s out of the sky, while the RAF’s offensive bombing operations against the enemy’s invasion ports, and its attacks on invasion barges in the Channel, are hardly mentioned. The first phase of the Battle of Britain was the campaign to destroy the enemy’s invasion infrastructure — by attacking the ports, from Cherbourg to Wilhelmshaven, to be used for Operation Sea Lion (Hitler’s term for the Invasion of England), and by attacking barges and naval transport in the Channel. On July 4 1940 the Air Staff directed Bomber Command to make attacks on enemy ports and shipping ‘a first priority’ (Richard Overy, Bomber Command 1939-1945, p. 54) Churchill outlined his strategy in his minute of August 5, 1940:
1. ‘Our first line of defence against invasion must be as ever the enemy’s ports. Air reconnaissance, submarine watching, and other means of obtaining information should be followed by
resolute attacks with all our forces available and suitable upon any concentrations of enemy shipping.’ (Volume II of The Second World War, Cassell edition. P. 257, or p. 292 in the Houghton Mifflin edition) As recounted in Churchill’s volume II of The Second World War: Our excellent Intelligence confirmed that the operation ‘Sea Lion’ had been definitely ordered by Hitler and was in active preparation … A large number of self-propelled barges and motor-boats began to pass by night through the straits of Dover, creeping along the French coast and gradually assembling in all the French Channel ports from Calais to Brest. (Cassell pp. 2612, Houghton Mifflin, p. 296) We immediately began to attack the vessels in transit with our small craft, and Bomber Command was concentrated upon the new set of invasion ports now opening upon us. (Cassell p. 262, Houghton Mifflin, p. 296) When on September 1 the great southward flow of invasion shipping began , it was watched, reported, and violently assailed by the Royal Air Force along the whole front from Antwerp to Havre. (Cassell p. 271, Houghton Mifflin, p. 308) We must take September 15 as the culminating date [for the Battle of Britain]. On this day the Luftwaffe … made its greatest concentrated effort in a resumed daylight attack on London. (Cassell p. 293, Houghton Mifflin, p. 332 ) Although our post-war information has shown that the enemy’s losses on this day were only fifty-six, September 15 was the crux of the Battle of Britain. That same night our Bomber Command attacked in strength the shipping in the ports from Boulogne to Antwerp… On September 17, as we now know, the Fuehrer
decided to postpone ‘Sea Lion’ indefinitely. (Cassell, p. 297, Houghton Mifflin, p. 337) On the night of September 7/8, 1940, with Operation Sea Lion far advanced, the first direct attack on the invasion fleet took place: 92 bombers, a mixture of light and medium aircraft, were sent against the Channel ports. Repeated attacks by almost the whole force reduced the German fleet by 12 per cent and hampered the organisation and assembly of troops and equipment. The situation made invasion too dangerous. (Richard Overy, Bomber Command 1939-1945, p. 54). Operation Sea Lion was cancelled 10 days later.
The German perspective William Shirer, the American journalist and historian, reporting from Berlin for CBS from 1934 until December 1940, when Nazi censorship made accurate reporting impossible, wrote his seminal ‘History of Nazi Germany’ in 1959 — The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The pertinent chapter in this book is OPERATION SEA LION: THE THWARTED INVASION OF BRITAIN: June 30, 1940: “The final German victory over England is now only a question of time.” (General Jodl, head of the High Command of the Armed Forces (OKW) (Shirer, p. 758) July 16: Hitler orders directive No. 16 to prepare for the invasion (Shirer, p. 762) September 3: Directive from Keitel at OKW confirming DDay as September 11(Shirer, p. 768) September 14: Operation Sea Lion postponed. Shirer’s account: The Navy’s opinion of the Luftwaffe grew hourly worse. On
the evening of the crucial conference in Berlin the German Naval War Staff reported severe RAF bombings of the invasion ports, from Antwerp to Boulogne — In Antwerp … considerable casualties are inflicted on transports — five transport steamers in port heavily damaged; one barge sunk, two cranes destroyed, an ammunition train blown up, several sheds burning. The next night was even worse, the Navy reporting “strong enemy air attacks on the entire coastal area between Le Havre and Antwerp.” An SOS was sent out by the sailors for more anti-aircraft protection of the invasion ports. (Shirer, p. 772) The RAF are still by no means defeated: on the contrary they are showing increasing activity in their attacks on the Channel ports and in their mounting interference with the assembly movements. On September 16, according to a German authority, RAF bombers surprised a large invasion training exercise and inflicted heavy losses in men and landing vessels … On September 21, confidential German Navy papers recorded that 21 transports and 214 barges — some 12 per cent of the total assembled for the invasion — had been lost or damaged. (Shirer, pp. 772-3) September 17: That night [September 17] there was a full moon and the British night bombers made the most of it. The German Naval War Staff reported ‘very considerable losses’ of the shipping which now jammed the invasion ports. At Dunkirk eightyfour barges were sunk or damaged, and from Cherbourg to Den Helder (a port in the north of Holland, principal port of the Royal Netherlands Navy) the Navy reported, among other depressing items, a 500-ton ammunition store blown up, a rations depot burned out, various steamers and torpedo boats sunk and many casualties to personnel suffered. This severe bombing plus bombardment from heavy guns across the Channel made it necessary, the Navy Staff reported, to disperse the naval and transport vessels already concentrated in the Channel and to stop further movement of shipping to the invasion ports…Otherwise, with energetic enemy action such casualties will occur in the course of time that the execution of the operation on the scale previously envisaged will in any case be problematic. (Shirer, p. 773) September 17: The German Naval War Diary entry: “The enemy air force is by no means defeated. On the contrary, it shows increasing activity. The weather as a whole does not permit us to expect a period of calm … The Fuehrer therefore decides to
postpone ‘Sea Lion’ indefinitely. (Shirer, p. 773) Conclusion In the summer and early autumn of 1940 RAF Bomber Command played a key role in forcing Hitler to cancel Operation Sea Lion. These successful attacks on the invasion ports were made with small aircraft such as the single-engine Fairey Battle, the twin-engine Handley Page Hampden, and various models of the twin-engine Bristol Blenheim. These aircraft had a limited performance and minimal armament; they were no match for the German Messerschmitt 109; they were a far cry from the Lancaster bombers with their four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, the mainstay of the American Air Force, which were also adopted by the RAF later in the war. One of these aircraft, the Handley Page Hampden (used primarily for laying mines) was very popular with pilots. According to one pilot ‘The Hampden was a beautiful aeroplane to fly, but cramped,, no heat, and no facilities where you could relieve yourself — but a joy to fly’ (Richard Overy, Bomber Command 1939-1945, p. 47).
A Bristol Blenheim I of 107 Squadron, photo taken in 1939
On a personal note, on a narrow lane a short distance from where we live in Normandy there is a memorial to three British airmen whose plane, a Bristol Blenheim bomber, was shot down on September 20, 1940. Every year on September 20 my wife and I place three little wooden crosses with the traditional poppy at the memorial, as also on their gravestones in the nearby churchyard of Le Vast. Their plane was shot down by German anti-aircraft guns based at the airfield of Maupertus, two miles east of the port of Cherbourg.
British airmen shot down on September 20, 1940 Commonwealth War Graves information: Kenneth Victor Palmer, age 24, Pilot Officer Douglas Allen Walters, age 19, Sergeant operator Ernest Edward Wright, age unknown, Sergeant observer
The plaque at the memorial to the three British airmen
Note the date: September 20, 1940. We now know that Hitler had cancelled Operation Sea Lion three days earlier, on September 17. But
this had not yet been confirmed at the time. Bomber Command had been directed on September 21 to ‘maintain its attacks on merchant vessels and barges in enemy ports, with the German aircraft industry, submarine works and communications also on the target list.’ (Ian Carter Bomber Command 1939-45, Photographs from the Imperial War Museum, p. 72) Last, but not least, here is a rare photograph of Winston Churchill, in the uniform of an Air Commodore, during a visit to a Yorkshire-based Halifax bomber squadron in May 1942: Churchill in his Air Commodore uniform
On his left: Dr. E. H. Evatt (Australian Minister for External Affairs), Clement Attlee, and Air-Vice Marshal C. R. Carr (Air Officer Commanding No 4 Group) Ian Carter, p. 72 — Imperial War Museum photograph.
Churchilliana Carol Mueller liked to use the word ‘Churchilliana’ to describe random Churchill-related items. As from this issue of Glow-Worm these items will be grouped in a new Churchilliana column. Violet Bonham Carter and the Glow-Worm in 1954 Violet contributed a tribute to Winston in the book Winston Churchill, Servant of Crown and Commonwealth presented to him on his 80th birthday on November 30, 1954. After reading her article in an early copy of the book, Winston wrote to her on November 4, 1954: “My dear Violet — It seems that after all these years you still believe me to be a glow-worm. That is a compliment which I find entirely acceptable.” (Martin Gilbert, Official Biography, vol VIII, p. 1068) Violet’s diary entry the following day, Friday November 5: “Worked. Was manicured (very badly!) Had a most moving letter from W. who had just got the Cassell book [the book of tributes to Winston on his 80th birthday]. He writes of the various chapters: ‘There is one which means more to me than all the remainder & which indeed moves me deeply. It seems that after all these years you still believe me to be a glow-worm. This is a compliment which I find entirely acceptable.’ It made me very proud & happy. (Daring to Hope, The Diaries and Letters of Violet Bonham Carter, 1946-69 edited by Mark Pottle, p. 140)
An unlikely mention of the glow-worm story In 1992 Jonathan Cape published a heavy tome by the American historian Robert K. Massie (winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his Peter the Great: His Life and World) with the title Dreadnought, and the subtitle Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War. Here is the heading for chapter 40 on page 744:
Chapter 40 is Massie’s account of how Churchill came to be offered the Admiralty at the Prime Minister’s residence in Scotland: “I [Violet] was just finishing tea when they [her father the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith and Churchill, the Home Secretary] came in. Looking up, I saw in Winston’s face a radiance like the sun.” She asked whether he would like tea. He looked at her “with grave but shining eyes, ‘No, I don’t want tea — I don’t want anything — anything in the world. Your father has just offered me the Admiralty.’” (Massie Dreadnought, pp. 748-9, quoting from Violet’s Winston Churchill As I Knew Him, p. 236. Massie recounts Violet’s glow-worm story in Dreadnought on pp. 749-50)
Forging Winston’s signature John Peck, one of Churchill’s private secretaries during The Second World War, wrote his memoirs in a book with the title Dublin from Downing Street. Here is his account of a ‘bizarre episode’ in March 1943: A few days later I was involved in a bizarre episode. I was the Private Secretary on duty one morning when the Prime Minister decided that he would only deal with the essentials in his box. I went through it with him and found that nearly everything could either be deferred or dealt with simply, without having to bother him over much. There was, however, the tiresome folder of things requiring his signature. At that time a number of citizens of the United States and the Dominions wished to make their personal contribution to the British war effort, which they did by cheques made out to Winston Churchill. This meant that he had to sign them on the back. There was also a steady flow of photographs of himself that he had to sign for deserving individuals or institutions. There must have been ten or a dozen cheques and photographs to sign. Churchill looked at them with some gloom and then said, “Sign these for me.” I gulped. ‘You mean, Sir, that I am to forge your signature?’ ‘Yes, can you? Let me see.’ ‘May I borrow your pen? The one you always use?’ He scrutinised the sample. ‘Hm, Hm, Hm, Hm. All right, do them.’ So I forged the Prime Minister’s signature on cheques and photographs. I was privately rather proud of my rendering of his signature, but I never thought I should have to use my hidden talent before his very eyes. Then there remained the biggest challenge of all. At the bottom of the folder, there was a letter for signature to, of all people, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Churchill always did the ‘My dear Archbishop’ and ‘Yours very sincerely’ in manuscript, so I did too. I never pretended to be able to forge more than his signature, so if His Grace was ever puzzled by the calligraphy of this particular letter I hope he attributed it to the Prime Minister’s illness; in a sense, he would have been right. Mr Churchill found it inordinately funny. (John Peck, Dublin from Downing Street, p. 78)
“We are still masters of our fate. We still are captain of our souls.” These are the closing words of Churchill’s speech in the House of Commons on ‘The War Situation’ on September 9, 1941. (The Unrelenting Struggle, Cassell, p. 255, Little Brown, p. 261)
Winston assumed that most MPs in 1941 were familiar with these lines. They are inspired by the last two lines in the poem Invictus by the English poet William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) (Burton Stevenson Book of Quotations, p. 1892; Darrel Holley Churchill’s Literary Allusions, p 128.) Henley contracted polio at the age of 12, and had to have one of his legs amputated below the knee when he was 17 years old. In a letter to Henley after the publication of Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson wrote “I will now make a confession. It was the sight of your maimed strength and masterfulness that begot Long John Silver...the idea of the maimed man, ruling and dreaded by the sound, was entirely taken from you”.
William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)
Henley is best known for his poem Invictus (Unconquered), published in 1888: The last of the four stanzas: It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.
Why did Winston adopt the name Junius Junior when he wrote letters to the Harrovian while he was at Harrow? This was a literary nod to the Letters of Junius, scurrilous attacks on Warren Hastings (1732-1818, former Governor-General of India), and John Wilkes (1725-97, the radical journalist and politician) in the 1770s and 1780s by an anonymous writer who signed his letters Junius. In the third volume of A History of the English-Speaking
Peoples, (page 185 in the 1957 Cassell edition), Churchill author was Sir Philip Francis (1740-1818) an pamphleteer. The latest research about the authorship Junius agrees with Churchill’s assessment that the certainly Sir Philip Francis.
claimed that the anonymous Irish-born clergyman and of the anonymous Letters of reputed author was almost
Book reviews The two books reviewed in this issue of Glow-Worm both have a New York City connection. Barry Singer, the author of ChurchillStyle is the proprietor of Chartwell Booksellers in New York City. Martin Gilbert’s book Churchill, The Power of Words inspired the name of the exhibition currently at the Morgan Library and Museum in Manhattan — from June 8 through September 23, 2012 — organised by the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, England. (Read the report about this exhibition in this issue of Glow-Worm) Churchill’s first visit to New York was in November 1895, on his way to Cuba. His mother, who had been born in Brooklyn in 1854, arranged for him to stay with one of her New York friends Bourke Cockran. This turned out to be a valuable friendship. Many years later Adlai Stevenson asked Churchill who had most influenced his oratory. Churchill replied: “It was an American [Bourke Cockran] who inspired me when I was 19 & he taught me how to use every note of the human voice like an organ. He was my model. I learned from him how to hold thousands in thrall.” (Randolph S. Churchill volume I of the Official Biography, pp. 282-3. The first chapter of Martin Gilbert’s book Churchill and America gives a full account of this first visit to New York.)
In later years Churchill visited New York on many occasions, often meeting up with old friends such as Bernard Baruch. His last visit was in April 1961, when he reached Manhattan after a voyage up the East Coast from Palm Beach aboard Christina (Aristotle Onassis’s yacht). The New York Times, 13 April 1961:
‘Churchill Sails In As Harbor Cheers’ (Gilbert Churchill and America, p. 446). It was too stormy to disembark, so he entertained his friends on Christina.
Barry Singer’s ‘Churchill Style, The Art of Being Winston Churchill’ Gregory B. Smith reviews Barry Singer’s Churchill Style, The Art of Being Winston Churchill (Abrams, 2012, hardbound), 240 pages, $24.95
The Front cover
A most enjoyable book.
Within a skeletal outline of Churchill’s biography, it explores Churchill’s tastes in drinking, cigars, clothing, books, dining, homes, friendships and more. Singer has dug up many little known aspects of Churchill’s tastes and character, providing
both narrative and 40 color and 100 black and white photos. Singer’s prose is very much equal to the task.
Barry Singer is the owner of New York City’s Chartwell Books, where the book is available at list price signed by the author. Chartwell Books is the worthy successor to Richard Langworth’s Churchillbooks (but he has not done as well as Langworth did in providing inexpensive “reading copies” of Churchill’s works – Singer’s books are expensive).
Churchill Style is a beautifully done book with many color reproductions of Churchill artifacts, receipts, book covers, clothing, homes, etc. This is a book done by a lover of books. It includes a forward by Michael Korda.
As the owner of nearly 600 books by and about Churchill and his family, I found this volume a thoroughly enjoyable read and highly recommend it.
The Back Cover
Martin Gilbert’s ‘Churchill: The Power of Words’
Front cover
Back cover
Reviewed for Glow-Worm by Jim Lancaster
Distilling from over fifteen tons of paper, accumulated over many years spent researching and writing the Churchill Biography, Martin Gilbert has already provided readers with three excellent single-volume biographies of Winston Churchill: In 1973: Churchill, A Photographic Portrait (364 photographs, with detailed explanatory captions) In 1979: Churchill, A Biography (192 pages, much original material which was not published in the Official Biography) In 1991: Churchill, A Life (a big book of 1,066 pages, excellent Index and Gilbert-designed maps, a full-length biography aimed at the general reader) Recently, in January 2012, Gilbert gave us a fourth single-volume biography of Winston Churchill: Churchill, The Power of Words, a superb book of which he should be rightly proud, a book which should be in the library of every serious Churchillian. The casual reader may consider that a selection of newspaper articles, speeches and broadcasts does not constitute a ‘biography’. Not so. Gilbert introduces each ‘reading’ with a few succinct sentences to give the biographical context — how old Churchill was at the time, where he was, what he was doing, what he was reading or writing, his aspirations, his electoral and parliamentary adventures, the offices he held etc. As Gilbert explains in his Preface: I have put the extracts in chronological order, and in their context, so that, read sequentially they form a biological narrative. Gilbert uses the word ‘readings’ deliberately. In his Acknowledgements he reminds us of his early days as a research assistant for Churchill’s son Randolph: ‘Reading aloud’ was a regular feature of evenings at Randolph Churchill’s house in Suffolk. Winston Churchill described his own self-education when he was a young man in India in the chapter ‘Education at Bangalore’ in his autobiography My Early Life: I had picked up a wide vocabulary and had a liking for words and for the feel of words fitting and falling into their places like pennies in a
slot. (My Early Life, Thornton Butterworth, 1930, p. 123, A Roving Commission, Scribner’s 1941, p. 109)
One could say that ‘young’ Gilbert, fresh from Oxford, learnt much about ‘The Power of Words’ during his ‘Education at Stour’ [Randolph’s home in Suffolk]: It was at Stour, and under Randolph’s gaze, that I learned much about history, and even more about Churchill. (Gilbert In Search of Churchill p. 14)
The 20 new maps, specially drawn by Gilbert for The Power of Words, also provide important biographical information for the armchair reader. For example, map 15 illustrates the journeys travelled during Churchill’s first American and Canadian lecture tour, 1900-1, while map 16 shows the more extensive itinerary during Churchill’s second American and Canadian lecture tour, 1930-1. These maps are most useful for readers living outside North America. Map 20 Eastern Europe and the Iron Curtain is useful for readers in North America (and also for many readers in Europe) who need to be reminded of the geography of towns such as Stettin, Danzig and Brest Litovsk.
All the 200 readings are sourced in a section on ‘Sources’ towards the end of the book. A quick glance reveals that Gilbert has been generous in sharing much original material — for example the conversation between Winston Churchill and an old Harrovian in 1891, in which Churchill, 16 years old at the time, told his friend that he forecast the day will come when “I shall save London and England
from disaster.” And a close analysis of the 200 readings reveals that 26 of them have never been published before; they are sourced form obscure newspaper articles or from the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge. Reading aloud enhances the appreciation of the sound of words. For many years one of Churchill’s private secretaries Eddie Marsh acted as Churchill’s ‘literary sounding board’. Here is Eddie Marsh describing Winston’s well-known epigram: When the Great War was over, he produced one day a lapidary epigram on the spirit proper to a great nation in war and peace: ‘In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance, in victory, magnanimity, in peace, good-will.’ (I wish the tones in which he spoke this could have been ‘recorded’ — the first phrase a rattle of musketry, the second ‘grating harsh thunder’, the third a ray of sunshine through storm-clouds; the last, pure benediction.) (Edward Marsh A Number of People, A Book of Reminscences, p. 152.)
Many years later Churchill used this epigram as the Moral of the Work for each of the six volumes of his The Second World War, in verse form:
IN WAR: RESOLUTION IN DEFEAT: DEFIANCE IN VICTORY: MAGNANIMITY IN PEACE: GOODWILL As the years went by, Churchill’s secretaries became adept at typing his speech notes in blank verse, ‘speech form’ or ‘psalm form’— to appreciate better the sound of the words, their scansion, their rhythm. In The Power of Words Gilbert has provided several examples of speech notes which he found in the Churchill Archives in Cambridge. Below are the speech notes for the address which Churchill gave to his constituents in Dundee on Armistice Day, November 11, 1922 (The Power of Words, p. 164). The text of Churchill’s address to his constituents as printed in Robert Rhodes James’s Complete Speeches, pp. 3374-77, does not include these notes. The lines below are only the first part of the notes. Gilbert provided a fuller version of these notes in the last page, p. 915, in volume IV, 1917-22, of the Official Biography.
What a disappointment the Twentieth Century has been. How terrible & how melancholy is long series of disastrous events wh. have darkened its first 20 years. We have seen in ev. country a dissolution, a weakening of those bonds, a challenge to those principles a decay of faith an abridgement of hope on wh. structure & ultimate existence of civilized society depends. We have seen in ev. part of globe one gt. country after another wh. had erected an orderly, a peaceful a prosperous structure of civilised society, relapsing in hideous succession into bankruptcy, barbarism or anarchy. Towards the end of The Power of Words, in the reading titled THE PAST SHOULD GIVE US HOPE (The Power of Words, p. 424) Gilbert gives us the last paragraph of Churchill’s last book, the fourth and final volume of his 4-vol A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (THE GREAT DEMOCRACIES. Churchill’s preface to the first edition was dated February 10, 1957; Churchill was 82 years old. The book was published in 1958. The line starting ‘The future is unknowable’ is in bold to identify this as part of the last reading listed on the back cover of The Power of Words.)
Here is set out a long story of the English-Speaking Peoples. They are now to become Allies in terrible but victorious wars. And that is not the end. Another phase looms before us, in which alliance will once more be tested and in which its formidable virtues may be to preserve Peace and Freedom. The future is unknowable, but the past should give us hope. Nor should we now seek to define precisely the exact terms of ultimate union.
Churchill expressed his thoughts and sentiments about America and the English-Speaking Peoples on many occasions, but none so magnificently as his
BBC broadcast to America on June 16, 1941 — his acceptance speech on being conferred an honorary degree as a Doctor of Laws at the University of Rochester in New York State. This broadcast is not as well-known as it should be, but Gilbert generously reprints it in its entirety with the title heading OUR PULSES THROB AND BEAT AS ONE (The Power of Words, pp. 281-84.). Gilbert’s ‘infinite capacity for taking trouble’ (to use Harold Nicolson’s phrase about Churchill’s oratory) is clearly evident by his including, in square brackets, the words which Churchill substituted at the last minute, before reading the broadcast. To make it easier to read I have put a strike through the words which Churchill decided not to use in the broadcast (both the texts of this broadcast as published in The Unrelenting Struggle, pp. 173-75 in the Cassell edition, as also in The Complete Speeches, pp. 6425-27, edited by Robert Rhodes James, are therefore incorrect.) Extracts:
Strong tides of emotion, fierce surges of passion, sweep the broad expanses of the Union … The world is witnessing the birth throes of a sublime resolve… The [fate] destiny of mankind is not decided by material computation. When great causes are on the move in the world, stirring all men’s souls, drawing from their [hearths and homes] firesides, casting [away] aside comfort, wealth, and the pursuit of happiness [for something quite out of the ordinary] in response to impulses at once [awful] awestriking and [sublime] irresistible, we learn that we are spirits, not animals, and that something is going on in space and time, and beyond space and time, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty… And now the old lion [and] with her lion cubs at her side stands alone against hunters who are armed with [their] deadly weapons and [held] impelled by desperate and destructive rage. Is the tragedy to repeat itself once more? Ah no. This is not the end of the tale. The stars in their courses proclaim the deliverance of mankind. Not so easily shall the onward progress of [the nations] the peoples be barred. Not so easily shall the lights of freedom die.
Last but not least, Gilbert has unearthed 52 illustrations, many of which are new to me. By way of example, here is an appropriate photograph which Gilbert must have stumbled across by diligence and good luck, but which he is kind enough to share with his readers:
Churchill at Chartwell, a photograph taken on 25 February 1939, published in the New York Times magazine on 13 August 1939.(Illustration 20, facing page 107 in The Power of Words)
The New York Times phrase NOW THEY LISTEN TO CHURCHILL is as appropriate today as it was in 1940. Friends tell me that the ‘Churchill, The Power of Words’ exhibition at the Morgan Library in Manhattan is a great success, special provision having been made for visitors to listen to Winston Churchill speaking many of his immortal phrases.
Lady Elcho
Violet Bonham Carter, in her book Winston Churchill As I Knew Him tells us on the first page ‘I first met Winston Churchill in the early summer of 1906 at a dinner party to which I was invited as a very young girl. Our hostess was Lady Wemyss’.Violet has left us three splendid volumes of her diaries. But who was Lady Wemyss? She was born Mary Wyndham in 1862, the eldest child of the Hon. Percy Wyndham (the second son of the first Lord Leconfield) and Madeline Campbell, who were married in 1860. Percy and Madeline had four other children: George, Guy, Madeline and Pamela. To quote from the entry for Charteris, Mary Constance, Countess of Wemyss (1862-1937) in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Mary Wyndham was brought up in an unconventional household that was both aristocratic and artistic. Her father, an MP and master of fox hounds, was an important patron of the pre-Raphaelites: her mother, a talented decorative artist herself, filled her house with artists and writers. Mary was educated at home by a German governess. Her looks were outstanding…In August 1883 she married Hugo Richard Charteris, Lord Elcho (1857-1937), heir to the eighth Earl of Wemyss.
Three years later she was painted by Sir Edward John Poynter as a dark and thoughtful beauty:
Painting of Lady Elcho in 1886
Sir Edward John Poynter’s painting of Lady Elcho in 1886
Some years later, in 1899, the American artist John Singer Sargent painted the three Wyndham Sisters:
The Wyndham Sisters
The famous painting of the three Wyndham sisters in 1899, dubbed ‘The Three Graces’ by the Prince of Wales, by the American artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) ‘the leading portrait painter of his generation’. From left to right: Madeline, Pamela and Mary (Lady Elcho) The painting is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
As a leading member of the group known as the Souls, together with Arthur Balfour and Margot Asquith (Violet’s mother-in-law) Lady Elcho saw herself as a hostess where all the guests were expected to be brilliant conversationalists. She chose very well when she invited Winston and Violet to her dinner in the early summer of 1906. Her timing was excellent. The year 1906 had started well for Churchill. He had been appointed by Prime Minister Campbell-Bannerman as Under-Secretary of State at the Colonial Office on December 9, 1905, his first ministerial appointment. Although he was only a Junior Minister, he was able to conduct the affairs of the Colonial Office in the House of Commons, since the Secretary of State for the Colonial Office, Lord Elgin, was in the House of Lords. On January 2, 1906, his biography of his father Lord Randolph Churchill, in two volumes, had been published. He had been working on this biography for the last three years. In October 1905 he had sent the final draft to Frank Harris, the author and playwright, for his comments and for his advice on possible publishers. Harris replied on October 7, 1905 (Companion Volume II, Part 1, p. 465): While still under the influence of the story I must assure you that you have done a very fine & noble piece of work — out of sight better than Rosebery’s Pitt or Morley’s Gladstone…
This was high praise from the former editor of Saturday Review and Vanity Fair to a young author only 30 years old. In addition, Harris succeeded in negotiating a very remunerative contract of £8,000 from Macmillan and Company. Churchill’s previous publisher Mr. Longman had been gracious enough to write to Churchill on October 31, 1905: ‘I must congratulate you on the splendid price you have got for your book.’ (Cohen, p. 128) At the General Election on January 13, 1906, Winston was returned as a Liberal candidate with a significant majority in North-West Manchester. This was the Liberal Landslide election, in which the Liberals won 377 seats, leaving the Tories with only 157 seats. The election was aptly described in Hilaire Belloc’s doggerel (Jane Ridley and Clayre Percy The Letters of Arthur Balfour and Lady Elcho 1885-1917, p. 228):
The accurséd power which stands on privilege (And goes with Women, and Champagne and Bridge) Broke — and Democracy resumed her reign: (Which goes with Bridge, and Women and Champagne). In June 1914, Mary’s husband Hugo succeeded his father as the ninth earl of Wemyss. A second extract from Mary’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: In the 1914-18 war the Wemysses lost two sons: the eldest, Ego, in Egypt in 1916, the youngest, Yvo, in France in 1915, when he was just nineteen. In their memory the Countess of Wemyss wrote the story of their lives. A Family Record (1932) consists of letters to and from the two sons, skilfully linked by Mary Wemyss’s cool, well-written prose. It is a moving work. Mary Wemyss’s last years were spent at Stanway [her home in Gloucestershire for all her married life] where ‘dowdily dressed, unconscious of the distinction that ever accompanied her’ (The Times, 3 May 1937), she recreated the Stanway magic for another generation of Charteris children. In the spring of 1937 she was taken ill at Stanway and died in a Cheltenham nursing home on 29 April. Her burial took place at Stanway on 1 May.
Stanway House, Gloucestershire
Bookworm’s Corner Churchill’s ‘infinite capacity for taking trouble’ In Glow-Worm 2012 Q2 there was a reference to Harold Nicolson’s comment about Churchill’s oratory, his ‘infinite capacity for taking trouble’. The phrase applies with equal force to Churchill’s writing of books. By way of example, here is a draft page in volume IV of Churchill’s War Memoirs (Martin Gilbert Churchill, A Biography, Park Lane Press 1979, p. 170):
A draft page in Volume IV of Churchill’s War Memoirs
(Martin Gilbert Churchill, Park Lane Press 1979, p. 170) This draft page is self-explanatory, even if many of the hand-written squiggles and
hieroglyphics are not immediately decipherable — the attention to detail, the choice of words, phrasing and punctuation demonstrate, if need there be, Churchill’s ‘infinite capacity for taking trouble.’
It is instructive to compare the draft text to the text of the final printed version. Volume IV of The Second World War, ‘The Hinge of Fate’, was first published in the United States, in the Houghton Mifflin edition in 1950, with a Preface dated September 1, 1950 (Cohen, p. 737). Churchill was 75 years old at the time of publication. The text below, towards the end of chapter VII ‘THE U-BOAT PARADISE’, starts on page 125 in the Houghton Mifflin edition of Volume IV.
The final text in the first edition of Volume IV
The U-boat attack was our worst evil. It would have been wise for the Germans to stake all upon it. I remember hearing my father say, “In politics when you have got hold of a good thing, stick to it.” This is also a strategic principle of importance. Just as Goering repeatedly shifted his air targets in the Battle of Britain in 1940, so now the U-boat warfare was to some extent weakened for the sake of competing attractions. Nevertheless it constituted a terrible event in a very bad time. It will be well here to relate the course of events elsewhere and to record briefly the progress of the Atlantic battle up to the end of 1942. In August the U-boats turned their attention to the area around Trinidad and the north coast of Brazil, where the ships carrying bauxite to the United States for the aircraft industry and the stream of outward-bound ships with supplies for the Middle East offered the most attractive targets. Other roving U-boats were at work near Freetown; some ranged as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, and a few even penetrated into the Indian Ocean. For a time the South Atlantic caused us anxiety. Here in September and October five large homeward-bound liners sailing independently were sunk, but all our troop transports outward-bound for the Middle East in convoy came through unscathed. Among the big ships lost was the Laconia, of
nearly 20,000 tons, carrying two thousand Italian prisoners of war to England. Many were drowned. Note the extensive revision of the first draft — only a few words and phrases have made it through to the final copy — and note also, in the third sentence, the introduction of a good piece of advice from Churchill’s father: “In politics when you have got hold of a good thing, stick to it.” Admiral Doenitz, the commander of the German U-boat fleet, chose, fortunately, not to heed Lord Randolph’s advice.
Message from the Editor
My Lakeland terrier Tommy is wearing a white collar and a black bow tie, similar to the one worn by the dog Uggie in the 2011 movie The Artist. The collar and tie were presents to Tommy from Carol Mueller.
I ask any fellow Churchillians who would like to write an item for Glow-Worm to contact me on my email address:
Jim’s email address: jimlydtom@gmail.com You can call me on 00 33 2 33 43 52 48 (nine hours ahead of PST)
Or you can write to me at: 12 Hameau Boutron 50330 Brillevast France I have several ideas for interesting items; so do many Glow-Worm readers. Let us have a dialog. I look forward to hearing from you. Best regards, Jim Lancaster