Charting Churchill: Sir Martin Gilbert, Official Biographer

Sir Martin Gilbert, Hatchard’s Booksellers, London 2014

Throughout his long life, Sir Winston Churchill published many books, and in 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Of course, many more books have been written about him, than by him. Sir Martin Gilbert, who became Churchill’s official biographer in 1968, passed away on February 3rd 2015. Shown above are just a few of Gilbert’s more than 80 books. He is remembered not only as an author but also as a revered historian. For more information about Sir Martin Gilbert and his work, please visit the Martin Gilbert website.

Seen in the above photograph are the eight volumes of Churchill’s biography, the last six written by Gilbert. The book covers read as follows.

TOP ROW: Winston S. Churchill by Randolph S. Churchill, Youth 1874-1900; Winston S. Churchill by Randolph S. Churchill, Young Statesman 1901-1914.

MIDDLE ROW: Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Volume III 1914-1916; Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Volume IV 1917-1922; Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Volume V 1922-1939.

BOTTOM ROW: Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Finest Hour 1939-1941; Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Volume VII Road to Victory 1941-1945; Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Volume VIII ‘Never Despair’ 1945-1965.

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

Charting Churchill: The Long Library, Blenheim Palace

Long Library, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock 2014

In 1874, Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim, one of Britain’s greatest palaces. The Long Library, measuring over 55 metres from end to end, was once described as the longest room in England. As a boy, Churchill spent many holidays visiting his grandparents at Blenheim where he spent countless hours playing indoors and out with his younger brother Jack and their cousins. Perhaps his love of reading and writing started in the room shown above. Throughout his long life, Churchill composed hundreds of newspaper articles, magazine features, political speeches, public lectures, and full-length books, some of several volumes.

In the period following World War II, Churchill published The Dawn of Liberation (1945), Victory (1946), War Speeches (1940-45, 1946), Secret Session Speeches (1946), The Second World War, 6 volumes (1948-53), The Sinews of Peace (1948), Painting as a Pastime (1948), Europe Unite (1950), In the Balance (1951), The War Speeches, 3 volumes (1951-52), and Stemming the Tide: Speeches (1953.) That same year, on December 10th 1953, Sir Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.” Due to ill health, Churchill was unable to attend the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, and his speech was read by Lady Churchill.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: 28 Hyde Park Gate, London

28 Hyde Park Gate, London 2014

On May 8th 1945, Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a broadcast to the nation announcing Germany’s unconditional surrender. A few days later, the wartime coalition government broke up, and on May 23rd 1945 Churchill formed a caretaker government. That summer there was a general election in Great Britain and the Labour Party won a landslide victory. On July 26th, Churchill resigned as Prime Minister and became Leader of the Opposition.

It was time to leave the official residence at 10 Downing Street. Churchill purchased 28 Hyde Park Gate, shown above, where he and Clementine lived from 1945 until his death in 1965. In 1951, he became Prime Minister once again, and they lived at 10 Downing Street from 1951 to 1955, before returning to 28 Hyde Park Gate.

August 1945, the month following Churchill’s resignation as Prime Minister, saw cataclysmic events around the globe. The atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th and on Nagasaki on August 9th. Japan surrendered on August 15th, VJ Day, and World War II came to end six years after it had begun. Sir Winston Churchill will always be remembered as the resolute and inspirational individual who led Great Britain through that global conflict.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL’S WAR YEARS

CHARTING CHURCHILL, 1874 – 1965

Part 5, The War Years, 1939 – 1945

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s state funeral. On November 30th 2014, Winston Churchill’s 140th birthday, Haute Vitrine started publishing images from the series THE CHURCHILL PHOTOGRAPHS by Leslie Hossack.

The previous post marked the end of Part 5, The War Years, 1939 – 1945. During this time, Sir Winston Churchill served as Prime Minister from May 10th 1940 until the end of World War II. He led Great Britain through its darkest days and finest hour, in the fight against Nazi tyranny. Photographs featured in Part 5, The War Years can be reviewed below.

To view the photographs from Part 1, The Early Years, 1874 – 1892; Part 2, The Defining Years, 1892 – 1908; Part 3, The Political Years, 1908 – 1929; and Part 4, The War Years, 1939 – 1945, please see the Haute Vitrine posts of November 30th 2014 through January 16th 2015.

Leslie Hossack’s CHARTING CHURCHILL will continue through January 2015, the month that marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill, and into February with Part 6, The Later Years, 1945 – 1965.

Cabinet Room, The Cabinet War Rooms, Clive Steps, London 2014

Churchill’s Office, The Cabinet War Rooms, Clive Steps, London 2014

10 Downing Street, London 2014

The Main House, Bletchley Park 2014

Hut 8, Bletchley Park 2014

Main Entrance and House, Ditchley Park 2014

Garden Front of House, Ditchley Park 2014

Prime Minister’s Bathroom, Ditchley Park 2014

Hoar Memorial Hall, Church House, Dean’s Yard, London 2014

Buckingham Palace, London 2014

The images featured above are part of the limited edition collector’s portfolio created by Leslie Hossack. She presents locations that chart Sir Winston Churchill’s personal and political life, from his birth at Blenheim Palace in 1874 until his death in London in 1965. To read the stories behind these images, please see the previous posts here on Haute Vitrine.

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

Charting Churchill: Buckingham Palace, London

Buckingham Palace, London 2014

Winston Churchill was called to Buckingham Palace on May 10th 1940 by King George VI and asked to form a government. Five years later, on May 8th 1945, Prime Minister Churchill stood on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with King George, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret waving to the cheering crowds. Throughout the day and evening, the Royal Family made several appearances. The square in front of the Palace, shown above, was packed with people celebrating VE Day; Germany had surrendered unconditionally.

Churchill also greeted the massive crowds on Whitehall, from balcony of the Ministry of Health. Here he made two appearances, one during the day and another at 10:30 pm when he wore his famous siren suit. He proclaimed: “This is your victory! It is the victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In our long history we have never seen a greater day than this…” At the conclusion of his brief remarks, the band played Land of Hope and Glory, and everyone joined in the singing, including Churchill.

On May 8th 1945, the Prime Minister also made a broadcast to the nation from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street. Announcing Germany’s unconditional surrender, he said: “Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight, but in the interests of saving lives the “Cease fire” began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also freed today.” He repeated the words of the broadcast in the House of Commons, with a paragraph added. Churchill then concluded by saying: “I therefore beg, Sir, with your permission to move: That this House do now attend at the Church of St. Margaret, Westminster, to give humble and reverent thanks to Almighty God for our deliverance from the threat of German domination.”

To learn more about events of 1945, please visit the BBC World War II Timeline. This BBC summary, prepared by Bruce Robinson, was last updated in 2011.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: Church House, London

Hoar Memorial Hall, Church House, Dean’s Yard, London 2014

A panel in Hoar Memorial Hall, unveiled in 1948 by Prime Minister Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill, reads as follows.

THIS HALL OF CHURCH HOUSE WAS AS OCCASION REQUIRED DURING THE YEARS 1940 1941 & 1944 THE CHAMBER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. WITHIN ITS WALLS THE PRIME MINISTER WINSTON CHURCHILL IN THE DARKEST DAYS OF THE WAR SPOKE TO THE COMMONS AND TO THE NATION THE WORDS HERE RECORDED.

Today, in inaugurating the new Session of Parliament, we proclaim the depth and sincerity of our resolve to keep vital and active, even in the midst of our struggle for life, even under the fire of the enemy, those parliamentary institutions which have served us so well, which have proved themselves the most flexible instruments for securing ordered unceasing change and progress: which, while they throw open the portals of the future, carry forward also the traditions and glories of the past and which, at this solemn moment in the world’s history, are at once the proudest assertion of British freedom and an expression of an unconquerable national will. 21st November 1940

On May 24th 1941, Prime Minister Churchill took to the stage in Hoar Hall to announce the sinking of the Bismark. “Great as is our loss in the Hood, the Bismark must be regarded as the most powerful as she is the newest battleship in the world, and this striking of her from the German Navy is a very definite simplification of the task of maintaining the effective mastery of the Northern seas and the maintenance of the Northern blockade.”

Recalling 1941, Churchill addressed the House of Commons in October 1943. “On the night of May 10, 1941, with one of the last bombs of the last serious raid, our House of Commons was destroyed by the violence of the enemy, and we have now to consider whether we should build it up again, and how, and when. We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us. Having dwelt and served for more than forty years in the late Chamber, and having derived very great pleasure and advantage therefrom, I, naturally, should like to see it restored in all essentials to its old form, convenience and dignity.”

During World War II, Parliament met at Church House in November-December 1940; April-June 1941, when the House of Commons Chamber was destroyed; and June-August 1944, when London was threatened by V1 flying bombs.

To learn more about events of 1944, please visit the BBC World War II Timeline. This BBC summary, prepared by Bruce Robinson, was last updated in 2011.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: Prime Minister’s Bathroom, Ditchley Park

Prime Minister’s Bathroom, Ditchley Park 2014

While he was Prime Minister during World War II, Winston Churchill followed his usual daily routine. Whether he was at 10 Downing Street, the Annexe, Chequers, Chartwell or Ditchley Park, he woke to breakfast in bed between 8:00 and 8:30. He then worked in bed all morning: reading the newspapers; dealing with government business delivered in his boxes; and dictating letters, directives and speeches to his personal secretaries, often Miss Elizabeth Layton. Around noon hour, Churchill’s valet Sawyers would draw a bath, ensuring that it was the desired temperature, and then help him dress just before luncheon.

Much later in the afternoon, Churchill always took a nap. He is quoted as saying: “Nature has not intended mankind to work from eight in the morning until midnight without that refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts twenty minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces.” He also said: “You must sleep sometimes between lunch and dinner and no halfway measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed, that’s what I always do. Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination.”

Following his afternoon nap, Churchill would take a second bath before dressing for dinner. The bathroom shown above is the one he used at Ditchley Park during the weekends he spent there in 1940 – 1942. Elizabeth Nel (née Layton) was the Prime Minister’s personal secretary from 1941 to 1945. In her book Winston Churchill by his Personal Secretary (2008), she described Ditchley Park as “the other place,” a heavily guarded secret. Although Churchill spent his last weekend there in 1942, Nel recalled a trip from Chequers to Ditchley Park, a drive of about 40 miles, on March 7th 1943. Churchill was recovering from pneumonia at Chequers, but he decided to go to Ditchley Park for a luncheon. As usual, he dictated to Miss Layton in the car all the way there and back.

To learn more about events of 1943, please visit the BBC World War II Timeline. This BBC summary, prepared by Bruce Robinson, was last updated in 2011.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: Garden Front of House, Ditchley Park

Garden Front of House, Ditchley Park 2014

Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s official country residence, Chequers, was considered too dangerous on moonlight nights during the Blitz. Having been advised not to visit Chequers when the moon was high, Churchill spent a dozen weekends at Ditchley Park during World War II.

When at Ditchley Park, Churchill slept in the second floor Yellow Bedroom on the garden side of the house, overlooking the lawns and lake; Mrs. Churchill had an adjoining room. Their windows can be seen in the centre of this photograph.

According to Ashley Jackson: “Busy days gave way to busy evenings at Ditchley, as the house adapted to the pace of life favoured by Churchill, interlacing work and leisure, office time, busy mealtimes, and late night films, conferences, and dictation.” (Winston Churchill, Oxfordshire, and Ditchley Park) In addition to his personal staff, Churchill had countless visitors at Ditchley Park. These included: Harry Hopkins, Averell Harriman, Lord Rothermere, General Henry “Hap” Arnold, Anthony Eden, Polish Prime Minister General Vlatislav Sikorski, Czechoslovakian Prime Minister Eduard Beneš, and even the actor David Niven.

For the Prime Minister, the business of running the war went on as usual. Various meetings at Ditchley were attended by General Sir Alan Brooke (Chief of the Imperial General Staff), Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal (Chief of the Air Staff), Admiral Sir Dudley Pound (First Sea Lord), General Sir Robert Haining (Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff), Vice Admiral Sir Tom Phillips (Vice Chief of the Naval Staff), General Sir Hastings ‘Pug’ Ismay (Deputy Secretary of the War Cabinet).

On May 11th 1941, the Duke of Hamilton visited Churchill at Ditchley Park to inform him about the arrival of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s Deputy Führer. He had flown solo from Germany the previous day and parachuted into Scotland. His plan had been to meet with the Duke of Hamilton and through him bring Britain to the negotiating table. The walls at Ditchley Park could tell amazing tales.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: The House at Ditchley Park

The House at Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire 2014

As Prime Minister, Winston Churchill’s official country residence was Chequers. However, during the Blitz, it was considered too dangerous, especially on bright moonlight nights. “The broad gravel drives at Chequers looked, from the air, almost like an arrow cut in the lawn and pointing at the house.” (Martin Gilbert) Having been advised not to visit Chequers when the moon was high, Churchill asked Ronald and Nancy Tree if he might use Ditchley Park, their exquisite country home, as a weekend retreat. During the war, Churchill spent a dozen weekends there between November 1940 and September 1942.

The estate is located in Oxfordshire, very close to Blenheim Palace where Churchill was born. On several occasions, the Prime Minister made brief visits to Blenheim while staying at Ditchley Park. It was a welcome change from London for Winston, Clementine and their daughter Mary. Of course, Churchill continued to work while there, morning, noon and night; but he also enjoyed many guests, wonderful meals, walks in the gardens, and film screenings almost every night. The entire estate was equipped with telecommunications similar to those in London, and it was guarded by the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry when Churchill was in residence. Ashley Jackson has written a detailed account of wartime Ditchley Park entitled Winston Churchill, Oxfordshire, and Ditchley Park. To read this article, please visit The Churchill Centre.

By the end of 1942, German bombing raids had diminished considerably, and the Churchills spent their last weekend at Ditchley Park in September of that year. Soon after, on November 9th 1942, Churchill made a speech at the Lord Mayor’s Day Luncheon in London. He said: “Rommel’s army has been defeated. It has been routed. It has been very largely destroyed as a fighting force… Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

To learn more about events of 1942, please visit the BBC World War II Timeline. This BBC summary, prepared by Bruce Robinson, was last updated in 2011.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com

Charting Churchill: Hut 8, Bletchley Park

Hut 8, Bletchley Park 2014

In 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill received a letter requesting more resources for top-secret Bletchley Park where hundreds were now working on breaking the German code Enigma. Churchill immediately directed his Chief of Staff, General Ismay, as follows: “ACTION THIS DAY Make sure they have all they want on extreme priority and report to me that this has been done.”

The first break in the naval Enigma code came in 1941. Information decrypted in Hut 8, shown above, helped reduce losses caused by German U-Boats when convoys from North America were bringing supplies to Great Britain, as she stood alone in Europe against Hitler. The staff of Hut 8, working under Alan Turing and Hugh Alexander, played a significant role in the development of machines to help with the decryption process. This eventually led to the creation of the first computers.

The United States did not enter the war until the end of 1941. During that grave year, Churchill made a number of remarkable speeches. As Edward R. Murrow said: “Now the hour had come for him to mobilize the English language, and send it into battle, a spearhead of hope for Britain and the world.” To see a list of Churchill’s speeches, please visit The Churchill Centre. Two of his speeches from 1941 are highlighted here.

Never Give In, Never, Never, Never – 29 October 1941, Harrow School “… the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

“Some Chicken; Some Neck” – 30 December 1941, Canadian Parliament “When I warned them that Britain would fight on alone whatever they did, their generals told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinet, ‘In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken.’ Some chicken; some neck.”

To learn more about events of 1941, please visit the BBC World War II Timeline. This BBC summary, prepared by Bruce Robinson, was last updated in 2011.

To view more photographs, please visit Leslie’s website. lesliehossack.com