February 1, 2025

First Announcement of Churchill’s Death Rediscovered

January 24th marked the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill. On behalf of the International Churchill Society (ICS), a wreath was laid on the gravesite in St. Martin’s Churchyard, Bladon by Robert Courts KC, former MP and Solicitor General for England and Wales. A surprise development this year was the discovery of a rare, live television news bulletin from 1965 announcing Churchill’s death, which has been released from the ITN Archive. The 16mm film reel has now been digitized to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Churchill’s passing, thanks to funding by ICS and scanning work by Cinelab Film & Digital. To view, please CLICK HERE.

The full live broadcast marking the death of the former prime minister is a unique piece of television history. Recordings of live television from the 1960s are exceptionally rare. Most have not survived. The footage would have been captured by a film camera recording the TV screen onto 16mm film as the announcement aired and is one of a small number of examples of live 1960s television that exist.

The 30-minute bulletin, presented by ITV newsreader Andrew Gardner, was a special news broadcast that went out on ITV at 2:20 pm on 24 January 1965. Bulletins were usually much shorter then, and the length demonstrates the significance of the story at the time.

Matt Harris, Archive Content Lead at ITN, discovered the reel while going through boxes of old recordings that would all have been in danger of being lost—because film can degenerate over time. It had a cloth strip across it with a short description typed along the side.

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Harris said, “Given the technical difficulties of recording live television at the time, it’s exceptionally rare and important to have any live broadcasts from this period, let alone covering such a historically important event. It’s one of many treasures stored in our vaults, including the first TV satellite broadcast from the US, and early bulletins covering the Vietnam War. We’re incredibly grateful to the ICS for their help in preserving this unique bit of British and global history.”

ICS President Randolph Churchill said, “The International Society and the Churchill family are very pleased to participate with ITN in bringing to life this historic broadcast first aired on the day of my great-grandfather’s death sixty years ago and which will now be available for viewing by a world-wide audience.”

The full broadcast will be released and exhibited by the ICS in due course