May 14, 2013

Finest Hour 149, Winter 2010-11

Page 37

Wit and Wisdom – “Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier”

It floats around the Internet that according to Churchill, Britain served in the Second World War as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier.” The phrase does not however track to Churchill.

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John Charmley, in Churchill’s Grand Alliance: The Anglo-American Special Relationship 1940-1957 (New York: Harcourt, 1995) appropriated the line for his own in arguing that Britain served American interests by lending territory for American air bases. Laurence Thompson, in 1940 (New York: Morrow, 1966), used the phrase earlier, declaring that Germany’s defeat would not have been possible without UK bases. But neither was the originator.

The “unsinkable” remark stems rather from the Memoirs of General Ismay (New York: Viking, 1960), WSC’s chief of staff. Writing of U.S. forces gathering in England before D-Day, Ismay writes amusingly of the mistaken meaning of a word in a radio broadcast (p. 350):

…the American forces identified themselves whole-heartedly with local interest. In one village they subscribed most generously to funds for rebuilding a church which had been heavily bombed. The work was completed some years after the end of the war, and the Re-dedication Service was broadcast and relayed to America. The general who had commanded the troops in that area was an interested listener, but he blew up in fury when he heard the bishop observe, in the course of his address, how fortunate they had been in having the “succour from America.” He switched off abruptly, vowing that never again would he do anything for such so-and-sos. The British Isles had already proved a gigantic—and unsinkable—aircraft-carrier. They now had to fulfill the additional role of a gigantic ordnance depot.

Greatest Man in the World?

Current discussion about the younger generation (See “Datelines…The Youth Vote,” page 8) brings to mind the story about a child who allegedly confronted Churchill at Chartwell and asked something like this: “Are you the greatest man in the world?” Churchill allegedly replied, “Yes I am. Now bugger off.” Is it true?
— Stan A. Orchard, Via Email

Editor’s response: Yes. From our report on the House of Commons Churchill Dinner, 2 June 1990, the editor’s maiden (and only) speech; Finest Hour 67:

I am honored to be asked to speak here, something I could have never have imagined, knowing that such honors are fleeting, remembering the time Sir Winston was shooting pheasants on the estate of the old Duke of Westminster.

“How many did you shoot?” the Duke asked him.

“Four,” Churchill replied.

“Indeed,” said the Duke, “Then you’ve shot enough, and I will have your carriage ordered for tomorrow morning.”

So before my carriage is summoned, I would like to share with you the excitement that has engulfed the International Churchill Societies during this memorable anniversary year. [A long report on Churchill Society activities followed.]

We are always amazed at the numbers of young people who join us, who have so early in life come to know him either through his writings or by the endless stories about him. One of these, only eighteen, told us recently what first got him interested. (So many of these stories are apocryphal; perhaps Lady Soames will tell us if it’s true.)

A schoolboy at Chartwell, eluding all security, found himself in Sir Winston’s bedroom, the occupant propped up, riffling through the newspapers and puffing an enormous cigar.

“My papa says you’re the greatest man in the world,” offered the boy. “Is it true?”

Sir Winston peered at him over his spectacles and said, “Of course—now buzz off.”

Now I am told that in fact he used a rather more earthy phrase than that. But in deference to my surroundings I have done a little editing.

P.S.: Lady Soames tells me it’s true. [Privately she said that the questioner was none other than her son Nicholas, now an MP in his own right.]

He certainly was the greatest man in the world for the longest time, and his truth, in the words of the American hymn he loved, goes marching on.