Portico, Old College, Royal Military College, Sandhurst 2014
© Leslie Hossack
On September 1st 1893, at the age of eighteen, Winston Churchill entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Having failed on two occasions to pass the Sandhurst entrance examination, Winston had left Harrow School to study with the help of a crammer and passed the exam on his third attempt. In My Early Years, Churchill wrote: “At Sandhurst I had a new start. I was no longer handicapped by past neglect of Latin, French or Mathematics. We now had to learn fresh things and we all started equal. Tactics, Fortifications, Topography (mapmaking), Military Law and Military Administration formed the whole curriculum. In addition were Drill, Gymnastics and Riding.”
Winston thoroughly enjoyed his three terms as a gentleman cadet at Sandhurst, and he made several lasting friendships there. He was eager to participate in his military education, and he particularly enjoyed training at the riding-school.
The building above was completed in 1812. Located inside this massive structure is the cadet dining room where Winston Churchill took his meals. Another room in the Old College building is the Marlborough Room, named after John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough. He is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest soldiers. In recognition of his victories in Europe in the early 1700s, he was given Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill was born.
The image featured above is part of the limited edition collector’s portfolio created by Leslie Hossack to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill. She presents locations that chart Churchill’s personal and political life, from his birth at Blenheim Palace in 1874 until his death in London in 1965. THE CHURCHILL PHOTOGRAPHS are part of Hossack’s larger body of work that explores Nazi architecture in Berlin, Stalinist structures in Moscow, contested sites in Jerusalem, a Cold War bunker in Ottawa, NATO’s Headquarter Camp in Kosovo, and buildings linked to the Japanese Canadian internment during World War II.
To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com
HAUTE VITRINE 