September 9, 2015

Finest Hour 165, Autumn 2014

Page 04

FINEST HOUR 163

Whether or not Churchill believed in God and Christianity, he certainly had high hopes. In Painting as a Pastime he declared that when he got to heaven he meant to spend a considerable part of his first million years in painting. In another context, he mused that in heaven the Lord would have to form a government, “And He will certainly call upon me.” (John Colville in “Churchill and the Italian Campaign” by Ward Chamberlin Jr., Proceedings of the International Churchill Societies 1990-1991, 116).
MIKE GROVES, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

I found the World War I articles fascinating. It was skimmed in my last weeks of school. My great uncle, whom I knew well, fought in France. But, my favorite in this issue is Jock VI, Lord Warden of the Cinque Mouseholes! Great issue. Enjoyed it. Wish the KC conference on WWI had not been cancelled.
JUDITH KAMBESTAD, SANTA ANA, CALIF

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I enjoyed the images of the Harrow Rifle Corps, especially the photos of the “Square,” which was already obsolete at the time. It was intended to repel a cavalry charge. The medieval Scottish schiltron formation was designed for this purpose. The basic tactic was probably known to Julius Caesar, and the Duke of Wellington used it against Ney’s cavalry at Waterloo. I’ve found numerous examples in the intervening years.

In essence you form a line of spears, pikes or bayonets pointed toward the direction of the oncoming charge, whence equine psychology comes in. No horse will charge such a line; you can spur him all day—he will not do it (which only proves horses are smarter than people). The tactic does not stop the charge; it redirects it. The charging horsemen will flow along the line of spears/pikes/bayonets, looking for an open flank. With the square formation, there isn’t one.

The square was strictly a defensive formation; as obvious from the Harrow photos, it did not have offensive capability.  While it saw occasional use in colonial warfare, against infantry armed with repeating rifles, it would have been suicidal.  The Maxim gun rendered cavalry charges obsolete anyway.
JONATHAN HAYES, CORVALLIS, ORE.

I was devastated to note in FH 163 that the “Churchill Quiz” will only be available online. This was always the first page I turned to and I see no possible reason for this course of action. In my opinion this is another nail in the coffin of Western civilisation! Unlike WSC I am a committed Luddite without a computer, and no plans to acquire one. I shall thus be deprived of the pleasant exercise of testing my erudition on all things Churchillian.
MERVYN GILBART-SMITH, VANCOUVER, B.C.

Editor’s response: I gather that the decision to move the Quiz is part of a number of changes in this journal to accommodate the digital age and to add images and web links to the Q&As.

William F. Buckley Jr. at the age of 80 wrote that he had learned to use email and computers, not because he welcomed them, but because to reject them is “to be condemned to ever-diminishing news and information.” That he was uncomfortable I know from his emails, always full of typos! Indeed I had all I could do years ago to switch from a manual to an electric typewriter. Given the times we live in I’ve made my peace with computers. I’m not at all sure what Churchill would think of them.

LADY SOAMES ISSUE 164

What an extraordinary issue of Finest Hour: Immensely moving, very well written and of course beautifully produced as ever. Many congratulations; she would have been thrilled.
ANDREW ROBERTS, NEW YORK CITY

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the memorial issue on Lady Soames. I read it cover to cover and found the tributes and articles fascinating. I especially enjoyed your remembrance and the valediction by Sarah Churchill to end the issue. Thank you for all the wonderful issues that you produced over the years.
BETH KRZYWICKI, SPRING VALLEY, CALIF.

Congratulations on a terrific run as the man who, through writing, editing, and organizing, kept the flame of Churchill in the public eye, stimulated research and publication, and always showed by rare example that biography must trump hagiography, that idolatry is no substitute for truth, that greatness in a historical figure means not the absence of flaws but the overcoming of them.
PROF. MANFRED WEIDHORN,
YESHIVA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY

You have been a remarkable editor, a superb Churchill scholar and an unfailingly generous friend. You helped me get started on the Winston trail. My debt is deep and I can do nothing but wish you and Barbara all the best.
LORD (MICHAEL) DOBBS, WYLYE, WILTS.

Inevitable as it was, stepping down from your last significant link to TCC is a sad occasion for the Churchill community. As our oracle for four decades, you have stoutly and articulately defended Churchill’s monumental legacy in a fair and objective way, to keep “the memory green and the record straight,” as his daughter once said, telling me how splendidly you achieved her goal. Your contributions went well beyond Finest Hour. I was privileged to have witnessed many of them as an officer of ICS when you were president, then later as one of TCC’s founders. I have thoroughly enjoyed our many wide ranging discussions and the vigorous debates we had, especially those over matters about which we knew little! But most of it all it was great fun and I am looking forward to more of the same. And now, as you drape the mantle on the shoulders of your able successor and you and Barbara pursue other work, let us hope that it will be worn with as much dedication as it was on yours.
WILLIAM C. IVES, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
PAST PRESIDENT, TCC

I can’t repress my regret. You have maintained the highest standards of content and design, and so for so long that it seems unforgiveable to leave the task of delivering to readers their quarterly box of treats. As an academic I’ve always been particularly impressed by the fact that so much of the journal is devoted to serious, properly referenced historical discussion and debate. Of course Churchill is fun too, and it has rightly reflected this, but Finest Hour has always done him justice as statesman and politician. It must have been enormous hard work and a burden you wouldn’t want to bear indefinitely, so I congratulate you on your emancipation. I’m sure David will do a great job in maintaining the standards you’ve set.
PROF. PAUL ADDISON,
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

Your role has been so capital, critical, learned and balanced. Thank you very much for an immense contribution to sustaining the importance of Churchill, and for thirty years of friendship and collaboration.
RONALD I. COHEN, OTTAWA, ONT.

I am deeply proud to have had my name appear in this extraordinary publication, It is a wonderful achievement: a journal that stands in the front rank of Churchillian study, and knowing you built it. I come from no writing background other than raw enthusiasm, and I have learned an enormous amount from your editorial expertise. It is a phenomenon of the Internet age that one can instruct people one rarely actually meets. Learning “on the job” from you whilst writing for FH has enabled me to produce, I hope, concise, well-crafted articles where I might only have produced rambling if enthusiastic, tracts.
ROBERT COURTS,
BALSALL COMMON, MIDLANDS

I thought I knew all about writing until I encountered your editorial pencil and discovered I still had a lot to learn—especially (like most professors, probably) about concision. Thanks too for composition lessons! Best wishes for your next enterprise and thanks for all your help with my Churchill efforts.
PROF. PAUL ALKON,
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CALIF

I wanted to wish you the best of luck and thank you for the hours of joy and enlightenment!
JORDI MARTĺ DE CONEJORS, BARCELONA

My gratitude for doing a superlative job on the publication, and for always being there when I had burning questions about Churchill.
BOB MACK, ANNAPOLIS, MD.

Churchillians owe you a huge debt of thanks for your work on Finest Hour. These volumes stand as one of the best, if not the best, ongoing records of Churchill scholarship.
CITA STELZER, WASHINGTON, D.C.

It is bittersweet news, but thousands of Churchillians, scholars, and perhaps people all over the world have benefited from your loyal and steadfast dedication. I would be remiss if I did not extend my thanks for your help in my independent study and final essay at Hollins University a few years ago.

In the long run, everyone benefits by Churchill study. The world moves on, but many of his thoughts and views come to mind and we are reminded of his incredible insights and the lessons he offers to those willing to listen. The language may change, but the wisdom continues. His relevance is timeless.
KEITH THOMAS LEONARD, ROANOKE, VA.

Having worked with you since you relaunched FH with #33, and now proofing #165, I am truly impressed by what you created.  It was like watching a baby born in a small room at Blenheim growing into a colossus. Amongst your many achievements, perhaps the one that impresses me most is to see FH constantly cited as an authoritative source by the eminent scholars in the field. A warm thanks on behalf of all who toil in the historiographical field of Sir Winston Churchill.
JOHN G. PLUMTON, TORONTO, ONT.
PAST PRESIDENT, TCC