Bulletin #62 – Aug 2013

Thirtieth International Churchill Conference Fast Approaches

Churchill Statue Outside the British Embassy in WashingtonWashington, D.C.:  There is still time to register for the conference taking place on November 1st and 2nd. David Eisenhower will deliver the Keynote Address at the Black Tie Gala dinner discussing his grandfather’s relationship with Churchill. Also headlining the conference will be historians Andrew Roberts and Sir David Cannadine. Paul Reid, the author handpicked by William Manchester to finish his majesterial Churchill biography The Last Lion, will discuss how he managed the herculean project. This promises to be one of the most memorable conferences ever put on by The Churchill Centre.  To register, click here: Read More >

A Quarter of a Million Dollars Donated to Venue Opening in 2014-15

Norfolk, VA: At a ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Winston S. Churchill in Norfolk, VA in June, The Harry and Alice Stillman Family Foundation made a major gift of $250,000 to The Churchill Centre to support development of the new National Churchill Library and Center at George Washington University. Announcement of the gift was made on behalf of the Foundation by Roger Stillman and Lee Pollock, Executive Director of The Churchill Centre, in the presence of the Churchill‘s Captain, CDR Christopher Stone and TCC Board Member Rear Adm. Michael Franken, who served as the ship’s first commanding officer. Read More >

Jonathan Dimbleby Discusses His New Book on the Desert Campaign

Cheltenham: Veteran British radio and television presenter Jonathan Dimbleby gave an interview at the Literary Festival to Waterstone’s Booksellers describing how he came to write a book about the British Army’s campaign in North Africa during the Second World War and the conclusions he reached about Churchill’s strategy to pursue such action.  The book Destiny in the Desert is now available in paperback both in Britain and North America. To coincide with the book’s original publication last year on the 70th anniversary of the battle, Dimbleby presented a BBC 2 documentary called “The Story Behind El Alamein.”  To watch video of Dimbleby discussing his book, please CLICK HERE. Read More >

Capt. Alex Perkins Seeking UK Citizenship For His Afghan Interpreter

Captain Alex Perkins
Churchill’s Great Grandson London:  Following in the footsteps of his great grandfather, Alex Perkins, son of Churchill’s grandaughter Celia Sandys, attended The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the first descendant of Churchill to do so.  After being commissioned into the Scots Guards in 2006, Alex served in the army for six years during which time he made two tours of duty in Afghanistan. Since leaving the army at the start of this year, Captain Perkins has started a petition to persuade the British government to grant citizenship to Afghans who worked as interpreters for British units.  “These people did not ask us to invade their country,” Perkins told the Chartwell Bulletin, “but when we did they tried their best to help us in the pursuit of a better Afghanistan.”  As a result, the lives of these interpreters and their families are now in great danger. Read More >

Reading Winston Churchill’s Biography of His Father Today
Reflections By the Editor

Lord Randolph ChurchillLong out of print, the lengthy two-volume biography that Winston Churchill wrote about his father more than a century ago must be one of the least read of his books today. Certainly the size intimidates, but there are other problems.  There was much young Winston could not or would not say about his subject due to various constraints: he was himself an MP who had just switched parties, many of his father’s colleageus were still active and powerful politicians and his own mother was still very much alive.  Additionally, the work fit the traditional “tombstone” genre of its day as it included verbatim copies of numerous letters, cables and memoranda with little or no narrative threading them together.  So why should anyone today outside of academia read a book so heavily laden with the small change of paleolithic politics?  Because the narrative that does surround the documents (which are easily skimmed) is by Winston Churchill–and that is never dull. Read More >

No More Touching Statues of Churchill & Others in Commons Lobby

Churchill & Lloyd George Flank Entrance to CommonsLondon:  The statues of former prime ministers that frame the Member’s Lobby of the House of Commons have been placed off-limits.  “Four statues (Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Margaret Thatcher and David Lloyd George) are seriously under threat due the tradition of touching the toes of the statues for good luck,” Melanie Unwin, the House’s Deputy Curator, reported to the cross-party Works of Art Committee. The tradition of MPs tapping the toe of the Churchill statue before entering the Commons chamber has been ongoing since the work by Oscar Nemon was unveiled in 1970.  Resulting damage to the statue became a concern in 2006. Now, however, the other three statues are also endangered. Labour MPs began paying their respects to the Attlee statue while Liberals adopted Lloyd George as their touchstone.  Although the statue of Lady Thatcer was only put up in 2007, it too is already showing serious wear. Read More >

Newsletters and Events From Local Chapters of The Churchill Centre

Across Britain and North America, as well as places further afield including Australia, Israel and Portugal, members of the Churchill Centre keep a busy schedule to honor Winston Churchill and promote his legacy. Additionally, the Centre keeps in close contact with the staff of the Churchill Museum at the Churchill War Rooms in London, the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge, the National Churchill Museum of the United States in Fulton, Missouri and of course Chartwell itself, Churchill’s home in Westerham, Kent.  Many of these chapters and institutions also publish their own newsletters.  Here is a register of recent and coming events: Read More >