May 8, 2015

Finest Hour 108, Autumn 2000

Page 05

QUOTE OF THE SEASON

“…I adhere to the school or those who believe that governments cannot make nations rich; that wealth is gathered only by individual exertion and enterprise; that State expenditure is almost always profligate and wasteful. The more freedom enjoyed by the citizen and the less the interference of the State, the higher will be the standard or public well being.”
—WSC, IF I LIVED MY LIFE AGAIN, EDITED BY JACK FISHMAN (LONDON: ALLEN 1974)

Randolph Observed

I took the photo at right of Randolph Churchill at our aviation section during the Korean War about two weeks before he was wounded and had to be evacuated. I was a mechanic with the I-Corps aviation section, and flew both as an observer and a technician. Most of our observation flights were behind the lines to report on troop and equipment movements and to call in air and artillery strikes. I was a Staff Sergeant, and was awarded the Air Medal and four oak leaf clusters for my actions as an observer.

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Randolph, who was quite a talker and enjoyable to have along, would come by once or so every week to hitch a ride over the front, behind enemy lines. He would always bring along a bottle, scotch usually, to help pave the way for a ride. When I was preparing to shoot this photo he had a fifth in his hand. “Wait,” he said, and held it behind him. Although I read that he accounted for a lot of alcohol, I never saw him drunk. I was flying and did not see him being evacuated, but I was told he was wounded in the shin bone by a bullet or missile.
–Don Black, Lakeland, FL

Reluctant Dragon

LONDON, JUNE 13TH— The Daily Telegraph reported that Noel Coward and officials from the Ministry of Information went to America in 1940 secretly to urge Walt Disney to incorporate an antiNazi cartoon based on the legend of St. George and the Dragon in a film he was making entitled “The Reluctant Dragon.” (The St. George legend was a favorite of Churchill’s, who incorporated it into his 1928 “Disarmament Fable”; see FH 104, page 28.) According to previously unpublished documents in the Public Record Office, Walt Disney steadfastly refused because, said the Telegraph, he was determined to keep the U.S. out of the war. (Thanks for this news item to Terry McGarry.)

France Joins the Chorus

PARIS, JUNE— Churchill was on the cover of the French magazine Historia, named in this special issue as Homme d’Etat du Siecle (Statesman of the Century). The piece inside, 30 pages long, begins:

“Comme officier, journaliste, Premier ministre, depute ou historien, ce fabuleux homme orchestre a occupe pendant soixante-dix ans l’avant-scene de l’Histoire. En 1950, TIME magazine l’avait baptise: “L’homme du demisiecle.” Cinquante ans plus tard, le “demi” nous parait superflu…” [50 years later, the ‘half in Man of the Half-Century seems to us superfluous.] There is quite a bit of detailed and broad information in here; it seems like quite a balanced presentation (mais mon francais n’est pas parfait!). Save Finest Hour, it is the most on WSC that I’ve seen in any publication.
–Mike Campbell, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Churchill Papers Open to Worldwide Study

LONDON, AUGUST 29TH— The Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust, the University of Southampton, and leading information publishers the Gale Group announced today that the complete papers of Sir Winston Churchill are to be microfilmed and published over the next four years. A full on-line edition will follow at a later date.

The Churchill Papers comprise an estimated one million individual documents stored in approximately 2500 boxes. They consist of original documents composed, sent or received by Winston Churchill during the course of his ninety years: a historically unique record of the amazing career of a soldier, journalist, biographer, historian, orator, statesman and prime minister. They also shed light on the most important national and international events and personalities of the first half of the 20th century. Virtually everything has been preserved, from his childhood letters to drafts of his books, original notes for his famous speeches, annotations to Cabinet papers and departmental notes, incoming correspondence and copies of all outgoing memoranda, letters and telegrams, right down to receipts for brandy, cigars, Turkish baths, even the labels off game birds sent to him from Balmoral. In this way the Churchill Papers were created to become one of the most important sources available for the study of modern British and world history. Historians estimate that only about ten percent of the million documents in the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge, have been published in any form until now.

The Churchill Papers fall into two categories: the Chartwell Papers, covering the period up to 28 July 1945; and papers relating to the period after that. The Chartwell Papers were purchased in the first round of grants made by the Heritage Lottery Fund in April 1995. The post-1945 Churchill Papers, origi- ‘ nally bequeathed to Churchill College by Baroness Clementine Spencer Churchill, were donated by the Master and Fellows of the College. The owner- ‘ ship of both sets of papers is now consolidated in the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust, a charitable body established to safeguard the Churchill Papers in perpetuity, with the objectives of preserving them and making them available and widely accessible.

Since the completion of the final biographic volume of the Official Biography in 1988, the Churchill family have been looking to find a way of both preserving and making the documents available more widely without a charge on the taxpayer. This initiative is owed jointly to the family and Southampton University, who decided to bring in a commercial publisher, enabling self-financing preservation and dissemination.

This project is undertaken with the cooperation of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) who own the copyright in a great many of the public documents in the Archives. HMSO have authorised the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trustees, the publishers Gale, and Southampton University, to incorporate their material in the microfilm or electronic publications. One of the main early activities of the publisher is to make sure that all “third party” (i.e. non-HMSO and non-Churchill) copyrights are likewise cleared for use.

The Gale Group (a member of the Thomson Corporation), the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust (owners of the Churchill Papers), and the University of Southampton (licensee of the copyrights owned by members of the Churchill family) say that publication of Churchill’s Papers is scheduled to start early in 2001. The first files to be made available will reveal the background documents and drafts, plus his own speaking notes, of almost 1,300 speeches crafted by Churchill over the period 1897 to 1965. HMSO have given permission for Crown copyright material to be included. Later releases will include documents revealing all aspects of Churchill’s long and varied ministerial career. His political papers, principally his correspondence with virtually all the leading political figures of the day and his personal and literary files, will also be included.

Mark Holland, vice-president of Gale Group and UK Publisher, said: “The papers of Sir Winston Churchill are an exceptionally rich source for historians studying British and world affairs in the 20th century. We are delighted to be leading this magnificent project, and very proud to be adding the papers of Sir Winston to the portfolio of primary source historical documents available from Gale Group.” Noting the continuing public fascination with Churchill as war leader and towering personality, he added: “Scholars worldwide will be able to study the full range of Churchill’s contribution to world affairs and the way in which his extraordinary talents made an impact on so many of the major events of the 20th century.”

The Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust has a dual responsibility for the Churchill Papers, said its chairman, Andreas Whittam Smith: “To make them as widely available as possible and to preserve them for posterity. This project will achieve both goals. First, readers all over the world will be afforded instantaneous and unparalleled access to the Papers, made easier by the brilliant computerised catalogue which has been compiled at the Churchill Archives Centre over the past five years and which will in due course be put on the Internet. Secondly, the Trust will obtain a preservation microfilm, a full facsimile record of the Churchill Papers, which will ensure that the originals are kept in pristine condition as a priceless part of our national heritage. Finally, the Trust also looks forward to playing an active role in the project to ensure that publications based on the Churchill Papers reach the highest possible academic standards.”

The University of Southampton has for many years been a leader in the digitisation and automated analysis of large document collections, such as the Wellington and Mountbatten archives, added Sir Howard Newby, the University’s vice-chancellor. “This expertise attracted the Churchill family and the Gale Group to work with us in evaluating ways of preserving and publishing the Churchill Papers. We are delighted that this has now been achieved through an important tripartite agreement with the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust. We look forward to playing our part in delivering an exciting and imaginative programme.”

The Gale Group, which has entered into the agreement with the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust and Southampton University, is a long-established world leader in reference and research publishing, meeting the needs of libraries by delivering intelligently organized and accurate information in online, print, and microfilm formats to researchers, students and the general public in more than 100 countries.

Bletchley First Day Cover

BLETCHLEY PARK, BUCKS., JUNE 6TH— Bletchley Park Post Office today issued a limited edition (300) cover containing a set of Britain’s new “People and Places” stamps cancelled at Bletchley on their first day of issue. The cover design is based on links between Churchill and the secret wartime code breaking activities of Bletchley Park, his “Geese that laid the golden eggs but never cackled.”

Bletchley Park Post Office presented a specially framed and mounted cover to Jack Darrah, curator of the Churchill Rooms at Bletchley Park and latest recipient, with his wife Rita, of the Churchill Center Blenheim Award.

The little Bletchley Park Post Office was established in 1947 to serve Bletchley’s new role as a training centre; during the war years it was just a post room. In 1994 it started to produce its own first day covers to coincide with the opening of the Park to visitors. It is now one of the UK’s leading cover producers and its limited editions grace many collections. The income contributes to the continued development of Bletchley Park as a heritage site.

To order: send £10.95 (sterling cheque or International Money Order) to Bletchley Park Post Office, Wilton Avenue, Milton Keynes MK3 6EF, England.

ICS (UK) and The Churchill Center are working with Bletchley Park Post Office on future cover projects that will help support Jack Darrah’s efforts.

Bletchley Bequests

Since Jack Darrah opened his exhibition of Churchill memorabilia at Bletchley Park in 1994, many visitors have presented items to enhance the collection. One such, rare in Britain, is a white glazed one pint tankard with a reproduction of the front page of the Rand Daily Mail announcing Churchill’s death in 1965 (above, centre). Other bequests pictured are a wartime Tallent table lighter, sadly sans cigar and striker (front left), two “Our Skipper” photographs (the larger a Tory Party poster, 1950; the smaller a postcard as issued by Photochrom and Putnam’s, 1942); and the “Our Skipper” photograph very nicely transformed into a plaster bas relief sculpture in a mahogany frame. -DJH

Copenhagen +50

COPENHAGEN, OCTOBER 30TH— To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Churchill’s visit to Copenhagen, ICS member Niels Bjerre has put together an imaginative exhibition, opening today in Denmark’s capital. Mr. Bjerre convinced Denmark’s largest newspaper to donate office facilities in the center of the city. Meanwhile, member Rene Hojris has managed to get Scandinavian Airlines System to cover the travel and expenses of guest of honor Lady Soames, and to sponsor the cost of printing photostats and programmes for the exhibit. Rene will loan some of his valuable Churchill books and memorabilia. The exhibition will run until mid-November. Our congratulations to Messrs. Bjerre and Hojris for this important achievement.

Oil & Gas Catalyst

Churchill appeared on the cover of Oil & Gas Investor’s special issue on the ” 100 Most Influential People of the Petroleum Century,” along with the likes of Ibn Saud, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller. The list wasn’t ranked, but divided into groups. Churchill fell under “Catalysts.” His accomplishments are nicely summed up in the concluding paragraph: “By the summer of 1914, the British Navy was fully committed to oil, and the government had assumed the role of Anglo-Persian’s majority stockholder. For the first time, oil had become an instrument of national policy and a strategic commodity. It has remained so ever since.” Anglo-Persian Oil Company was set up with Churchill’s assistance to provide a reliable stream of crude oil to Britain for the Navy. –Jason Wise

Local & National

“Somewhere in the Atlantic”

PORTLAND, MAINE, JULY 2isT— The editor, publisher and computer consultant of Finest Hour were guests of the USS Winston S. Churchill, DDG 81, on her Alpha Trials in the Gulf of Maine, leaving Portland in the morning mist and docking in Bath at 1730 after tests of various systems, including helicopter maneuvers. Commanding Officer Mike Franken was the genial host to several hundred friends and family of DDG 81, to whose library we presented a copy of the latest Churchill-Navy book, Fisher, Churchill and the Dardanelles. We told the crew the book isn’t exactly pro-Churchill, but might interest them as an example of what happens when politicians start messing with the Navy.

Naval personnel formed a skeleton crew, as the ship is still in the hands of its builders, Bath Iron Works. So it was BIW personnel who slipped us out of Portland Harbor into a brilliant Atlantic in perfect weather and flat seas. Rounding Popham Beach into the Kennebec River en route to Bath, we were struck by the incongruity of this fast, powerful 500foot destroyer cruising up the placid river, surrounded by green hills, pleasure craft and lobster boats. Speaking of which, Barbara Langworth had her turn at the helm, skillfully avoiding all the lobster traps, a hazard she has not always avoided in Penobscot Bay. Now that we’ve sailed on his vessel we’ve invited Cdr. Franken for a ride on ours which, though somewhat smaller, draws less and moors closer in.

USS Winston S. Churchill, brand new and sparkling, achieved spurts of 30 knots, an experience new to windborne sailors. This is not nearly her maximum, but the builders were babying the new machinery. With due attention to secure areas, we had the run of the ship, and met Lt. Angus Essenhigh, ship’s navigator (the first officer assigned to the Royal Navy’s standing billet on board). We expressed satisfaction that the R.N. had sent someone over to keep the Yanks off the rocks. We are not sure how much we should say about it, but the radar is phenomenal, and the big deck gun would have amused Churchill, who could have popped away at Huns as far off as Ostende if he’d had one mounted at Dover.

Lt. Essenhigh, who, we learned later, comes from a distinguished British naval family, gave us a comprehensive tour of the ship while apologizing for his lack of familiarity with five percent of the things we encountered, and amusing us with his language problems (in English-English, “buoys” are pronounced “boys”). Interestingly, one of the main navigational concerns is not rocks but whales, which are such a worry to Today’s Navy that they limit the speed of ships at night, lest a basking whale be demolished by the screws and a thousand environmental impact forms be required. (We assume this little rule is deep-sixed in an emergency.) Later we sent Angus a copy of the best quote book currently available, Czarnomski’s Wisdom of Winston Churchill, for use in writing the ship’s plan of the day, which always includes a Churchill quote.

The Churchill Center also provided photos of WSC for both the officers’ and chiefs’ wardrooms, at least one of which, rumor has it, will be fitted out as an English pub. These are among the few areas on a navy ship where the crew is allowed to do their own decorating. Near the wardroom, Ian Langworth caught forty winks in the Captain’s Cabin, a misdemeanor of epic proportions under ordinary circumstances, but they let him go this time.

DDG 81 will be commissioned in Norfolk, Virginia on 10 March and members of The Churchill Center and Societies are invited as part of the “Churchill Team.” Later there may be a good will visit to Britain. Watch Finest Hour or your local mail for details. See our website for a link to USS Winston S. Churchill‘s home page. -RML

California

BEVERLY HILLS, JUNE 17TH— Three dozen California Churchillians attended a tea and garden party at the home of Len and Cathy Unger. They were welcomed by Curt Zoller, while Jerry Kambestad gave the toasts to Sir Winston and to Absent Friends. Zoller then described the 2001 Churchill Center conference now set for November 4th through 8th at the Hotel del Coronado. The themes of the event will involve Churchill and leadership and his experiences with the Navy. Terry McGarry discussed an appeal for major contributions to help support the conference.

Highlight of the afternoon was a talk by Churchill bibliophile Mark Weber, whose slide show, “Searching for Churchill,” was accompanied by humorous comments on the various methods he has used in searching for Churchill material around the world. Messrs. Weber and Zoller brought some items from their impressive collections, which attendees were able to examine in detail. In appreciation for opening their house to the gathering, our hosts were presented with a Churchill Center membership, while the speaker received a unique edition of Sir Winston’s The Dawn of Liberation in Czech for his outstanding presentation. -CZ

British Columbia

VICTORIA, MAY 10TH— Finest Hour senior editor Ron Cynewulf Robbins, who spent a distinguished career as a parliamentary journalist, was interviewed on the 60th anniversary of Churchill’s first premiership on CBC Radio’s international broadcast. Ron had been at sea in naval service on this date six decades ago. When the news came that Churchill had taken over, he said, “we knew that no matter what lay ahead, Hitler would be defeated. To us all, Churchill personified freedom. No one held the flag higher or flew it more defiantly… the feeling among us in the Navy, and among the public generally, was that it was Britain’s greatest time of peril. Perhaps the British people could not have survived without the deep sense that their glorious past would strengthen them to fight through to victory.”

Ron also outlined the work of The Churchill Center and Societies, and spoke about the enthusiasm for its work by the Churchill family. He closed by remarking, “We can say of Churchill what has been said of Shakespeare: ‘He was not of an Age, but for all Time.'”

Virginia

ALEXANDRIA, JULY i6TH— Forty members of the Washington Society for Churchill gathered at the home of Susan and Dan Borinsky for their annual summer picnic and book seminar. Our topic was Lord Moran’s Churchill: The Struggle for Survival 1940-1965, and our discussion was led by Dr. John Mather, who reviewed Moran’s book from his own recent researches into Winston Churchill’s medical history. The W.S.C. meets regularly. To assist or to learn about the next events, contact Caroline Hartzler (see page 2).

Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER 29TH— Finest Hour editor Richard Langworth was the guest speaker at a joint event of Philadelphiaarea Churchill Center members and the local branch of the English-Speaking Union tonight. His subject was “Churchill and the Art of the Statesman-Writer”—but a different take on his set speech, covering different books from the Boston Athenaeum last year (FH 102). The venue was the Franklin Inn, a literary club for readers, writers and raconteurs, now approaching its hundredth anniversary. After a round of libations the speaker delivered his talk accompanied by slides, and exchanged lively comments in a question and answer session. The talk was followed by a supper buffet. Thanks to Edwin Probert of the ESU, and Phyllis Ruoff and Richard Raffauf for the arrangements.

For more Philadelphia-area doings, contact Richard Raffauf, 116 Hampshire Road, Reading PA 19608, tel. (610) 777-1654, [email protected].

South Africa

FRERE, KWAZULU-NATAL, NOVEMBER 15TH, 1999— Alexander Perkins, 13, son of Celia Sandys and Maj. Gen. Ken Perkins, played his great grandfather in a reenactment of the armoured train attack here 100 years ago. After surrendering to an Afrikaner on horseback, Alexander said: “It was very exciting. I was proud to act my great-grandfather’s part.” (The original Churchill was marched to a Boer prison camp in Pretoria, from which he quickly escaped, touching off worldwide headlines, and the rest, as they say, is history.) Celia and son were joined by descendants of Boer commander Louis Botha and Lt. Sarel Oosthuizen, who captured WSC.

Celia Perkins was slightly injured earlier when she fired a cannon to start a 15-mile road race called the Churchill Run in nearby Estcourt. As she lit the miniature field piece it backfired, blasting small fragments of hot gunpowder into her face. “All my grandfather got in South Africa was a flesh wound,” she remarked. “I got my face blown up.”

Later, Celia and son watched HRH Prince Philip lay wreaths at the hilltop battlefield of Spion Kop. Sir Winston had also been involved there, twice climbing the slopes on the day when more than 600 British soldiers lost their lives in a famous military blunder.

Celia still seeks information for her new book about her grandfather’s travels abroad: fax to (+44) (1672) 871066 or write the editor. Letters will be forwarded.

Franta Belsky 1921-2000

Born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, the son of eminent economist Joseph Belsky, Franta fled with his family to England after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. He volunteered for the Czech exile army and, as a teenager in 1940, met Churchill when the Prime Minister inspected the Czech brigade. Fighting in France as a gunner, Belsky was twice mentioned in despatches, once for continuing to repair a telephone line while under heavy fire. He received a number of Czech decorations for bravery. Later he was very reticent about his wartime exploits.

After the war Belsky returned to Prague, where he found that twentytwo of his relations had perished in the Holocaust. He created the Paratroop Memorial in Prague and designed a medal in honour of the Czech Olympic athlete Emil Zatopek before having to flee Czechoslovakia again following the Communist takeover in 1948. As well as statues and busts, Belsky was responsible for many abstract designs on a heroic scale and developed novel techniques. His 1958 “Triga” at Caltex House, Knightsbridge—a 30-foot-high group of three rearing horses—is in reinforced concrete with a metal coating.

In 1969 Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri commissioned Belsky to create an eightfoot bronze of Churchill to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the “Iron Curtain” speech. Among Churchill sculptors only Oscar Nemon escaped criticism, either from the subject or his family or friends. Belsky was no exception, although its reception was not so bad as that which had been given to Jacob Epstein’s 1946 bust, David McFall’s 1959 statue in Woodford, or that which would be given to Ivor Roberts-Jones’ 1976 “deformed giant” in Parliament Square. However, it must have pleased somebody because when Belsky was able to return to Prague again in 1989, he was asked to produce a statue of Churchill for the British Embassy. In the meantime he had sculpted the portrait bust in the Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge; another which is in the Churchill Hotel, Portman Square, London; and the large, and unusual, bas-relief bronze plaque on the landing of the Conservative Club in Hoddesdon.

Belsky was renowned for taking extreme pains over his sculptures. Most sculptors will make a number of working models on the way to developing their finished work. Belsky produced no fewer than nine half-scale models before completing the Fulton statue. It was his habit to seal inside each of his castings a Guinness bottle, a copy of that day’s newspaper, a six-penny coin, and a note declaring that Franta Belsky was the artist responsible! Belsky married Margaret Owen, a fellow student at the Royal College of Art, in 1944. She became the well-known and successful cartoonist “Belsky.” Margaret died in 1989 and Franta married the sculptor Irena Sedlecka in 1996.

The story goes that shortly before he died in 1972 it was suggested to the famously unreticent former U.S. President Harry S. Truman that an American sculptor should sculpt his bust. “Hell, no,” Truman is said to have replied: “If I ever pose for anybody it will be the guy who did Winston in Fulton.” Franta Belsky obliged—twice. His busts of Truman are in the Presidential Library, Independence, Missouri and at the Truman Dam on the Osage River. -DJH