May 29, 2022

The Art of Being Winston Churchill: Flying

By BARRY SINGER

Eighty years ago this month, on 17 June 1942, Churchill departed London for his second wartime meeting with President Roosevelt in Washington. He traveled from Scotland on the same Boeing Clipper that had brought him home from their first meeting the previous Christmas. “Huge flying boat,” General Sir Alan Brooke noted in his diary, as he accompanied the Prime Minister, “beautifully fitted up with bunks to sleep in, dining-saloon, steward’s office, lavatories, etc.”

Churchill’s party also included his doctor, Sir Charles Wilson, his Principal Private Secretary, John Martin, and his aide-de-camp, Commander “Tommy” Thompson. When the flying boat was about four hours away from Washington, Churchill announced to Thompson, “It is nearly eight o’clock, Tommy. Where’s dinner?”

Thompson explained that it was only about 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time and that Churchill would be dining, upon landing, at the British Embassy. “The Prime Minister retorted that he didn’t go by sun time,” recorded Brooke. “‘I go by tummy time, and I want my dinner.’ He had it—and so did we all—and a very good dinner it was! We landed on the Potomac River three or four hours later, and assembled at the British Embassy in time for a second meal.”

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Barry Singer is proprietor of Chartwell Booksellers in New York City and author of Churchill Style (2012).