January 1, 1970

The poem that was recited by broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, as Churchill’s coffin was lowered into the ground at Bladon:

Drop English earth on him beneath

Do our sons; and their sons bequeath

His glories and our pride and grief

At Bladon.

For Lionheart that lies below

That feared not toil nor tears nor foe.

Let the oak stand tho’ tempests blow

At Bladon.

So Churchill sleeps, yet surely wakes

Old Warrior where the morning breaks

On sunlit uplands. But the heart aches

At Bladon.

Avril Anderson (the nom de plume of Mrs Crabtree).