Quarterly Journal of the International Churchill Society

THE GREAT WINSTON"SOME "EXTRA" TURNS

AUTUMN 1985 • NUMBER 49

Quarterly Journal of the International Churchill Society Established 1968 N. 49 Autumn 1985

FEATURES

Mr. Churchill: A Portrait From 1901 6Did They Really Kill a Boer at Witbank?by John Hulme in The Temple Magazine, January 1901

By the Way 9A Column of Miscellaneaby James Bell

About Books: Trial by Jewry? 10The New Randolph Churchill StudyThe Power of Eloquence

by H. Ashley Redburn & Richard M. Langworth

Bibliomania and the Literary Churchill 13A Look at Collectors and Their Librariesby Wallace H. Johnson

Stamp News 18Checklist Addenda & Philatelic Auctionby Sidney Altneu & W. Glen Browne

Churchill on Stamps: Part 7 20South Africa to Parliamentby the Editor

DEPARTMENTS

Immortal Words/3 Despatch Box/3 International Datelines/4 AboutBooks/10 Churchill Collectors Handbook/center Stamp News/18Classified/19 Reviewing Churchill/22 ICS Stores/23 Action ThisDay/24Note: Woods Corner will resume next issue with foreign " A " titles.

COVER

A whimsical cartoon by H.H. Harris, from Everyweek, the 28February 1918 number. Winston Churchill was then Minister ofMunitions, having been "taken back" by Lloyd George in 1917 aftera hiatus following his departure as First Lord of the Admiralty in May1915 and military service in France. His fetish for hats was alreadywell known(see also "By the Way.")

FINEST HOUR

Editor: Richard M. LangworthPost Office Box 385, Contoocook, New Hampshire 03229 USA

Senior Editor: John G. Plumpton130 Collingsbrook Blvd, Agincourt, Ontario, Canada M1W 1M7

Bibliographic Editor (Works by Churchill): Ronald I. Cohen5 Murray Avenue, Westmount, Quebec, Canada H3Y 2X9

Bibliographic Editor (Works about Churchill): H. Ashley Redburn7 Auriol Drive, Bedhampton, Havant, Hants. PO9 3LR, England

Contributors:George Richard, 7 Channel Hwy, Taroona, Tasmania, Australia 7006Stanley E. Smith, 155 Monument St., Concord, Mass. 01742 USASidney Altneu, 2851 NE 183rd St., N. Miami Beach, Fla. 33160 USA

THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCHILL SOCIETY

A non-profit association of scholars, historians, philatelists, collectorsand bibliophiles, the Society was founded in 1968 to promote interestin and knowledge of the life and thought of Sir Winston Churchill, andto preserve his memory. ICS is certified as a tax-free charity underSection 501(c) (3) of the US Internal Revenue Code, is Affiliate #49of the American Philatelic Society, and is a study unit of the AmericanTopical Association. Finest Hour subscriptions are included in a mem-bership fee of $15 US, $20 Canadian, £13 Sterling, $22 Australian, or$19 US elsewhere. Member applications and changes of address wel-comed at any of the offices listed below. Editorial correspondence: POBox 385, Contoocook, NH 03229 USA. Permission to mail at non-pro-fit rates granted by the U. S. Postal Service. Produced free of charge byDragonwyck Publishing Inc. Copyright © 1985.

HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY

The Duke of Marlborough, DL, JPThe Marquess of BathThe Rt Hon The Earl of Stockton, OMThe Rt Hon The Lord Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBEThe Lady Soames, DBESir John Colville, CB, CVOGovernor W. Averell HarrimanThe Hon Caspar W. WeinbergerThe Hon. Winston S. Churchill, MPAnthony Montague Browne, CBE, DFCMartin Gilbert, MA

In Memoriam:The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, 1900-1979The Baroness Clementine Spencer-Churchill of Chartwell, 1885-1977Randolph S.Churchill, 1911-1968Dalton Newfield, 1918-1982Oscar Nemon, 1906-1985

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Australia: Peter M. JenkinsCanada: Arthur Cload, Ronald I. Cohen, Ronald W. Downey,

John Plumpton, George E. TempleNew Zealand: R. Barry CollinsUnited Kingdom: Peter Coombs, Geoffrey J. WheelerUnited States: W. Glen Browne, Derek Brownleader, Sue M. Hefner,

Richard M. Langworth, George A. Lewis, David MarcusEx-Officio Directors: Wallace H. Johnson, Jon S. Richardson

MEMBERSHIP & BOARD OFFICES

Australia: 8 Regnans Avenue,Endeavour Hills, Victoria 3802

Canada: 20 Burbank Drive.Willowdale, Ontario M2K 1M8

United Kingdom: 88A Franklin Avenue,Tadley, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG26 6EU

United States: 1847 Stonewood Drive,Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816

Chairman of the Board: Richard M. Langworth, Putney House,Contoocook, New Hampshire 03229 USA

I would say to the House,as I said to all who have joined this Government:

1 have nothing to offerbut blood, toil, tears —and sweat.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grevious kind.We have before us many, many long months

of struggle and of suffering.You ask, what is our policy?

I can say:It is to wage war, by sea, land and air,

with all our mightand with all the strength that Cod can give us;

to wage war against a monstrous tyranny,never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue

of human crime.

That is our policy.You ask, what is our aim?

I can answer in one word;It is victory.

Victory at all costs,victory in spite of all terror,

victory however long and hard the road may be;for without victory there is no survival.

Let that be realised;no survival for the British Empire,

no survival for all that the British Empire had stood for,no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages,

that mankind will move forward toward its goal.But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope.

I feel sure that our cause will not be sufferedto fail among men.

At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all,and I say,

"Come then, let us go forward togetherwith our united strength."

—House of Commons, 13 May 1940

DespatchBox

I so enjoy Finest Hour. I'm certain the GreatMan feels as I do about it.

A revised version of my Irrepressible Churchillis being reprinted in Britain by Robson Books Ltd.,London, sometime this autumn. It will contain over100 witticisms that did not make the 1966 edition,including a few naughty ones (which don't seem sonaughty as they are so clever). Lady Soames, whowas staying with me, "sat up all night" reading thebook, which had never been published in England,and she was captivated. I am still working on Chur-chill Clairvoyant. What guidelines it presents thatwould help our leaders of today.

With admiration for Finest Hour,—Kay Murphy Halle, Washington

The "Ladysmith" article (FH #A1) exceeds myexpectations. Thanks for your editing and design.I'm quite proud. Your cover is excellent.

—David Druckman, Chicago

I am glad you thought well of my speech lastSpring at Fulton. Please do by all means use any ex-tracts that appeal to you in Finest Hour.

My War Diaries, which are mainly about Chur-chill, are being published by Hodder & Stoughtonon 30 September and a few weeks later by W.W.Norton in the U.S.A. They are subtitled "TheFringes of Power/10 Downing Street Diaries/1939-1955."

—Sir John Colville, Stockbridge, Hants.

CHURCHILL LITERARY FOUNDATIONYour proposals in issue #47 are excellent. I

would suggest adding one feature. When someonewishes to donate a book collection to a college, etc.,there are the risks you point out, that only a fewworks may be retained and the rest sold. It might bethat the collection could be donated to the Founda-tion, but specified as to where it would reside. Thusno work could be disposed of except by the Founda-tion, and then only per the bequest, with the fundsrealized going to the Foundation and not the col-lege. The Foundation acts as an executor/custodian,as it were.

—Mat Fox, Chicago

A good point. Our object with a bequest depart-ment is to see that the right titles get into librarieswhich need them. Unfortunately, many donors havein the past stipulated that their entire collection ofbooks must remain intact. This has resulted in vastduplication at popularly chosen institutions such asWestminster College. It is the opposite extreme frombooks being donated to a library or institution thatputs 95 percent of them into the trade. The Founda-tion would deal with the books individually,avoiding both calamities. Malakand Field Force istoo scarce to allow one library to hold 20copies. —Ed.

I am very impressed by the Literary Foundationproposal in FH #47. As a fledgling librarian I canconfirm some of your conclusions. Libraries areoften reluctant to accept books and they neverguarantee what they will keep or discard. At thepublic library where I work we receive many bookdonations but keep few. They are often of poorquality; space considerations are involved; or they

continued on page 5 . . .

i

CHURCHILLS BACK IN WESTERHAMWESTERHAM, KENT—Winston S. Churchill, MP,grandson of the village's once most famous resi-dent, has purchased Squerryes Lodge, thebeautiful 17th Century manor house in LodgeLane. An historic building which dates back toNorman times, the Lodge is believed to havebeen built as a priory. In the 16th century itwas owned by Edward, First Earl of Herseywhen he was Lord Chamberlain.

The Churchills have been associated withWesterham since 1922 when Sir Winston pur-chased Chartwell. The family moved in during1924 and made Chartwell their home for over40 years. The arrival in Westerham of SirWinston's grandson and his family will delightthe town, said Mr. Anthony Leslie of the estateagents.

Mr. Churchill is Conservative Member forDavyhulme, Manchester, and a writer and com-pany director. An Honorary Member of theSociety, he addressed a dinner meeting of 1CSin Woodstock, Oxon., on 22 September.

POSTPONEMENTNEW HAMPSHIRE—We regret that the first of ourresearch papers, "Churchill and the Baltic," hasbeen postponed until our next issue. 1 havefound a great deal more material that must beanalyzed and collated, and have been pressedby last-minute arrangements for the UK tour.My apologies.

1 can confirm that this article will be fol-lowed rapidly by the second research paper, byJohn Plumpton, which will be entitled, "TheWriting of Lord Randolph Churchill."—RML

ELIZABETH MAC PHAILSAN DIEGO, 4 JULY—Elizabeth MacPhail, 72,prominent San Diego historian and attorney,died suddenly today. An ICS member for manyyears, Mrs. MacPhail and her husband werelooking forward to joining our visit to "Chur-chill's England" in September.

Elizabeth practiced law in San Diego for 30years and wrote many books and articles on thecity's history. "She felt the Anglo history of thecity had been neglected, so in the Sixties she satdown and began to write it," her husbandAlfred said. Her Story of New San Diego maderesidents aware of San Diego founder AlonzoHorton's role in creating what is often called"America's Finest City." Our deepest sym-pathies to Alfred and the family.

FINEST HOWLERS?ROME—Italy is buzzing over recent publication ofDear Benito, purportedly the secret letters ofChurchill to Mussolini, assembled by oneArrigo Petacco. The book is an Italian best-seller. The "letters" praise Mussolini even afterhis defeat. Petacco has implied that after thewar, Churchill acted to nobble the release ofthese damning documents, which would have

given the lie to his characterization of Musso as"this whipped jackal."

Rubbish, says Sir John Colville: "If Winstonhad written any of these letters I'd have knownabout it." We agree. The forgeries aren't evengood; typing errors abound and letter dates areinconsistent with WSC's movements.

AT THE NATIONAL GALLERYLONDON—Visitors to the National Gallery shouldtake a look at the vestibule floor, which is madeup of 50 mosaic plaques featuring famouspeople. WSC, wearing tin helmet and siren suit,and is making a V-sign at a swastika-shapedmonster approaching from the sea. The plaqueis appropriately entitled, "Defiance!"

Other celebrities include Greta Garbo("Tragedy"), T.S. Eliot ("Leisure," on a terracegazing at the Loch Ness monster), and BertrandRussell ("Lucidity," pulling Truth out of a welland undressing her). The mosaics are by BorisAnrep, a former law professor at St. PetersburgUniversity. A booklet is available.—James Bell

CELIA SANDYS MARRIESLONDON, 24 JULY—The marriage took place todaybetween Major General Ken Perkins and theHon. Celia Sandys, granddaughter of SirWinston and daughter of Diana ChurchillSandys. Celia has been active in promoting thehopefully forthcoming WW2-based musical"Winnie" on the London stage, together withher sister Edwina. Celia advises that theyhope the play will open next year.

HITLER GETS BETTER OF WSCLONDON, 4 JUNE—The Third Reich was knockeddown again, this time by an auctioneer, as apassel of villain-effigies including Goering, Hessand Himmler led the bidding in the now-closedTheatre of War at the Whitehall Theatre. Whileauctioneer Andrew Hilton managed only L220for two statues of WSC, Rommel brought L360,Goering L650 and the Fiihrer L700. Onewonders what the prices would have been hadthe other side won . . . Also at the auction, Lon-don property dealer Rob Lamplough spentL.73,000 to buy three WW2 fighters; a Spitlire, aMustang and a Messerschmidt. Lamploughhopes to install these historic aircraft in amuseum in the former RAF Station at NorthWeald, Essex.

MRS. T. ON MR. CLONDON—The Prime Minister has told sup-porters recently that she did "not intend to putmy feet up" and that she still wanted a thirdterm. She rejected the view of some colleaguesthat she had taken on too much during her tourof southeast Asia. (Although she had to inter-rupt one speech to take a drink of water duringa record heatwave, she delivered the entire 35minute address. She got through every engage-ment on the tour.)

Mrs. Thatcher was speaking in a worldwideBBC radio phone-in programme, during whichshe demonstrated that her zest for politics isundiminished after 10 years as Conservativeleader, despite the programme presenter'sreminder that her 60th birthday occurs thisOctober.

She recalled that Winston Churchill, heridol, had become PM at 66, and that there wereU.S. Presidents who had attained office whenthey were older than that. "I hope to go on,"she added. "I really think I would like to carryour policies forward. We have changed somany attitudes, including the trade unions andtheir ballots." The next General Election, atwhich the PM hopes to win a third term, is upto 2Vi years away.—Daily Telegraph

ON FOOLSRICHMOND, VIRGINIA—A mail order company, A.H.Robins, carries a WSC quote we can't place:"The greatest lesson in life is to know that evenfools are right sometimes." The editor wouldappreciate attribution.

DIXON ON WINSTONBy far one of Sir Pierson Dixon's best

stories concerned Churchill's call to the homeof Lord Lovat, whom he wished to appointDeputy Undersecretary of State at the ForeignOffice in his caretaker government of June1945. WSC's secretary dialed Lovat, but couldonly get a stem female response: "His lord-ship's asleep and I daren'a wake him."

Finally the secretary played his trump card:"Please call his lordship at once, I am passingthe telephone to the Prime Minister." It didn'twork. "Is that Lord Lovat?" said Mr. Churchill.The voice and the reply were the same. "Youmust wake him," said WSC. "This is the PrimeMinister speaking and 1 wish to make him aminister in my new government."

Back came the reply: "His lordship's asleepand 1 daren'a wake him, but if there is anyquestion of his doing his duty by the state, I cantell you he'll say yes in the morning. I'm his oldnurse and I ken."

The confidence of an old nurse was un-doubtedly more than enough to satisfy theformer charge of Elizabeth Everest.

A WEEK OF PERSPIRATIONBATH. 1945—As Chancellor of the University ofBristol, WSC was attending a private luncheonhere when Edgar Clements, mayor of Bath,passed him a menu card on which Mr.Clements had written: "The citizens of Bathwho remember their great fellow citizens ofyears ago—William Pitt, Earl of Chatham,William Pitt the Second and Wolfe—greet theirgreat successor." At the bottom the mayor hadadded, "Do you, sir, remember your first publicspeech in 1897 at Claverton?"

Churchill, having read this message, turnedto Clements and said, "Do I remember thatspeech, Mr. Mayor? Indeed I do! I spent a weekof perspiration over it."

On that occasion Mr. Clements was alsoable to get Mr. Churchill's promise to accept theFreedom of the City, which the Corporation ofBath unanimously offered him. The honor wasduly bestowed in 1950. (On 20 September,members of the Society visited the site of theClaverton speech.)—James Bell

WRIGHTS WRONGEDSANTA BARBARA, CALIF—According to ProfessorAlfred Gollin of the University of California, theBritish government considered an offer by a topRolls-Royce executive to give the governmentwhatever secrets he could leam of the WrightBrothers' aircraft designs in 1909. Opposingwhat he called "industrial theft" was WinstonChurchill, President of the Board of Trade, whosuggested that the government go directly to theWrights themselves. Gollin, a scholar of Britishaviation history, unearthed the details inminutes of the Committee of Imperial Defensefor February 1909.

Apparently, Charles S. Rolls had madefriends with the Wrights and boasted to theBritish government that he "could draw themout." He thought he could save Britain themoney needed to buy a fleet of Wrightairplanes by learning all their secrets.

Churchill considered his proposalamateurish, saying airplanes were too impor-tant to be left to such schemes: "We shouldplace ourselves in communication with Mr.Wright himself, and avail ourselves of hisknowledge."

WSC was overruled and Rolls received anairstrip and hangar, but soon killed himself inan airplane crash. The government did not thengo to the Wrights, but tried and failed to buildan aircraft themselves.

Gollin's findings will be published byWilliam Heinemann, Ltd., London, inSeptember, in a book titled No Longer an Island:Britain and the Wright Brothers.

CHURCHILL CAMPAIGNS AGAINTEL Aviv—Israeli member Hillel Shnaps sent usthe newspaper advert which appears here, fromthe election campaign of Yigael Hurwitz lastyear. Known as a hardliner, Hurwitz resignedas Finance Minister when the previous govern-ment objected to his inflation-cutting policies.Writes Hillel: "His famous saying was, 'Wemust cut into the flesh' in order to bring infla-tion down. He proposed severe budget cutswhich were not accepted." (Sounds familiar.)

Hurwitz was reelected as a Member olParliament in July 1984, running as an indepe-dent. He is now a member of the coalition."The name of his movement is 'Ometz,' whichmeans 'courage' or 'bravery,' " Hillel writes.

CHURCHILL DESK REPRODUCTIONTAPPAN. NY—The National Trust has authorized afine reproduction of WSC's 18th Centurywriting desk in his Chartwell library, in alimited edition of 250, to be sold in the U.S. for$5960 delivered. Part of the cost will be a tax-deductible contribution to the Royal Oak Foun-dation, U.S. branch of the National Trust. Thedesk was reproduced by permission of LadySoames, and the first of the series waspresented to the Churchill Memorial in Fulton.We should point out that this is not the famous"stand-up desk" on which WSC researched hislater works, but the smaller, more conventionalpiece on which he kept his telephone andmany framed photographs. (The stand-up deskat Chartwell was built as a birthday gift from hischildren, to replace an earlier, roughly built ex-ample created to -WSC's specifications.

Anyone interested in further informationon the reproduction desk may write HeritageArts Ltd., 77 Main Street, Tappan, New York10983 USA. In the Commonwealth, consultlocal National Trust branches.

Despatch Box Continued

might not fit the collection development criteria.[The Foundation acting as an intermediary wouldprevent Churchill works being wasted in this man-ner. Ed.]

In my own library I am trying to build theChurchill collection slowly, step by step, examiningwhich titles are most often requested. I found somesurprises. Young Winston's Wars (Woods A143)

has a very good circulation. I think its attractivejacket plays a role. I think your idea of attractivereissues of Churchill's works such as the Malakandis an excellent one. And wouldn't it be grand ifsomeday the articles that Churchill intended for abook on American impressions were at lastcollected and published?

I think my greatest satisfaction lies in introduc-ing new readers to Churchill. My Early Life is thebook I recommend to young readers who have neverencountered WSC but have to "do a dumb book

report." I've taken pleasure talking with olderpatrons about the latest Churchill biographies. Oneman told me how enthralled he was with Man-chester's Last Lion. Every time he sees me he askswhen the next volume will appear.

I see it as my opportunity to enlighten some ofmy fellow librarians of the information and delightto be found in Sir Winston's life and works. It is anoble endeavor on your and ICS' part to provideChurchill books for libraries.

—Paul Kaplan, Chicago

Mr. CfiurcfiiiC:A Portrait From 1901

= •• BYJOHNHULME

Z}^ They Realty Kill a Boer at Witbcmk?EDITOR'S NOTE

We are indebted to member Henry E. Crooks oj Wantage,Oxfordshire, for the following article which appeared inThe Temple Magazine in 1901. Aside from a fascinatingportrait of young Winston, Mr. Crooks and 1 were surprised tofind that author Hulme laid out the whole story of WSC'sescape from the Boers, even revealing the name of Mr. Dewsnap, whohelped him escape, and the location of the colliery where he washidden. (In London to Ladysmith, 1900, WSC avoided these details,saying that "a man's life" depends on his discretion.) Churchill him-self did not break this silence until the publication of My Early Life in 1930.

On the other hand, it is recorded that Dewsnap's wife was givena public greeting by Churchill in Oldham during WSC's second campaignthere in 1901. But nowhere is there any indication that Churchill'sWitbank collaborators actually killed a Boer who had learned theywere hiding him.' Nor does any other account mention that WSC collapsedafter identifying himself at the colliery.

Since none of the considerable biographies published since haverepeated Hulme's statements, readers should take this article with theproverbial grain of salt. We nevertheless found it fascinating, and hopereaders do as well.

In July 1899, Winston Churchill unsuccessfully fought a by-election at Oldham and, a few months later, sailed for South Africa inthe capacity of war correspondent. His subsequent career needs norecapitulation here, since it has loomed largely enough in the publiceye to be easily read by an express-train passenger. It was during Mr.Churchill's by-election contest at Oldham that I was first afforded anopportunity of studying him at close quarters. A friend of mine hap-pened to be on a visit to Oldham, and we both joined in putting in alittle work on behalf of Mr. Churchill, whom my friend often saw, andfrequently conversed with; 1 also meeting him, but less frequently.

Months afterwards we compared notes. "What is your opinion ofChurchill?" I enquired.

"Began at the wrong end. Ought to have started with sweeping thestage instead of playing leading parts," was the gruff though kindly-meant reply of my amateur-theatricals-loving companion.

To this reply 1 made no answer. Frankly, I was puzzled. For I hadread a certain novel which I was informed was written by WinstonChurchill when a mere boy of 22.

"Twenty-two years! Almost a Plato in petticoats," was my mentalremark concerning the writer, after I had finished his last chapter, forthe tale is undoubtedly interspersed with more philosophy on womenand politics than one usually associates with the experience of ayoung man of two-and-twenty. It was precisely written, too, andhence, after glancing at other work to which Mr. Churchill's name ap-peared, expectancy ran moderately high, whilst making my way forthe first time to hear him speak, anticipating that his discourse would,at least, have a literary flavor, if not embellished with oratorical grace.

But it had neither; and close quarters had brought its first shock ofdisappointment.

His escape from Pretoria, and letters on the British-Boer campaigninvested him with a halo of interest that again raised the expectationsof many who, like myself, were desirous of noting any improvement

that might have taken place either in the manner or matter of hisspeeches. And again disappointment has followed in the wake of thecloser view.

Mr. Churchill and oratory are not neighbors, yet; nor do I think itlikely they ever will be.

Under ordinary circumstances, he uses carefully prepared notesproperly arranged according to the effect intended. His temperament ishighly nervous, which may explain his tendency to over gesticulate. Afavorite platform attitude, used whenever he has made a point, is toplace both hands on his hips, what time he beams the smile ofsatisfaction. At other times, when excited, he seems to be hammeringhome his words with both hands raised aloft.

But if he does not yet exhibit any striking, all round acquaintancewith political questions, it must be borne in mind that he had had novery great opportunity for acquiring it, for he had finished his schoolcareer and professional training when he was but four months overthe age of twenty, an age when the average professional man is onlybeginning his course of study, and most of the five years and ninemonths since then has been spent in savage or semi-savage lands.

One suffers another disillusion on seeing Mr. Churchill enter asmall room (say where his committee meet). The idea one forms ofhim enveloped with a seven-thousand-miles-away atmosphere, andfrom descriptions that from time to time have been given of him, isthat of a broad-chested, well set-up, bright eyed, brown faced youngman with a military carriage, a ringing voice, and infectious smile. Butthe junior member for Oldham is rather slightly built, and his stoopdispels our preconceived notions of his soldier-like bearing. Light un-tanned complexion, faintly brown hair, rather dreamy eyes that fre-quently droop, a cleanly cut chin, shapely hands, and a quicklyvanishing smile constitute the picture of his external appearance.

One day, whilst returning from the Terrace of the House of Com-mons, my friend the late Louis J. Jennings, then M.P. for Stockport,and myself passed the present Colonial Secretary.

"What a world of care Mr. Chamberlain seems to have on hisshoulders!" said the author of "Field Paths and Green Lanes," and theremark returns to me as I watch Mr. Churchill's movements. He seemsto be always steeped up to the eyes in business; and to manifest attimes a strange forgetfulness. One evening, he informed me, to mysurprise, that he had forgotten the names of the principal towns wherehe has to lecture this winter in America.

It would hardly be correct to allude to either his wit or humor asprominent, whilst on general subjects he is but a middling conversa-tionist. Yet his eye brightens whenever either painting, politics, orsoldiering is mentioned, and his best expressions come out whendiscussing campaigns, kit-cats, and Cabinet Ministers.

"Will you accompany me to Paris?" said the Duke of Marlboroughto him one day, not long ago.

"I will; but in that case I shall, when at the Exhibition, spend mostof my time among the pictures," was Mr. Churchill's reply.

He is certainly fond of painting, although, judging from one or twoof his remarks, I should imagine his taste inclined towards thoseworks that expressed, rather than suggested, detail. An admirer ofnovels dealing with soldier life, he is also very accurately informed as

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to contemporary military history, and on one occasion surprised aconstituent who had been through the Franco-German war, by notonly putting him right on a disputed point regarding a certain engage-ment, but also by repeating the number of killed, wounded andprisoners in every important battle in that campaign—from Worth andGravelotte to the downfall of Paris.

The spirit to dare and the determination to do must also be placedto the credit side of his account, whilst on the other hand an impa-tience of opposition has laid him open to the charge of being lackingin deference to the ideas of others.

But in passing the above opinions on Mr. Churchill I wish it to beunderstood that I am criticising him by a high standard; a standardhowever, no higher than the pedestal on which recent events haveplaced him. He is the man of the psychological moment.

His lucky star is in the ascendant. To attract the notice of andsecure the electioneering assistance of Mr. Chamberlain was in itself afortunate achievement, but an achievement to be followed by an eventquite as remarkable.

At the close of the meeting, and a wait of an hour being necessarybefore Mr. Chamberlain could start on his return journey, he deter-mined to spend the time at the railway station. So into the salooncompartment of the special train by which he was to travel, he went,accompanied by Mr. Churchill, Mr. Crisp, and a friend of my ownwho is an enthusiast on the question of supporting the indigent aged.After the company had lit up, and the symbolic rings had begun tomake their appearance, one of the party said:

"Now, Mr. Chamberlain, seeing that your party is once more inpower, I hope you won't forget to deal promptly with the question ofold age pensions."

"Of course they will," remarked Mr. Churchill, looking enquiringlyat Mr. Chamberlain.

"I know of no more interesting or likely field of legislation," con-tinued my friend the first speaker.

"It is certainly a very important one," added Mr. Churchill, "thevisits I paid to the Oldham workhouse and the sights I have witnessedelsewhere having impressed me deeply on the matter."

The Master of Highbury turned his eyes upon both his ques-tioners, knocked the ashes off his cigar, gazed forth into the night for amoment, then throwing himself back into his seat, he, with a good-humored smile, and in a half-interrogative, half-exclamatory tone, said,

I". Wi l l ' . \ - M s : ] II I !!•• HOME FROM THE WARS

"What! From South Africa to the Submerged Tenth!""Yes, for the welfare of the latter is of importance quite equal to

the former," rejoined my friend.Again the same roll of the cigar between the lips of Mr. Churchill,

and again the same smile of amusement. But this time not a word ofreply. He seemed to have gone into a train of thought.

"Of course," said another member of the little party, "of course,Mr. Chamberlain will bring in a Bill dealing with the matter?"

But the Master of Highbury would promise to do no such thing."Why, the British people look upon you as pledged to it!""I know they do," said Mr. Chamberlain, rousing himself and

becoming animated, "I know they do. And yet in no speech I haveever uttered will it be found that I have definitely pledged myself toany such thing."

"But how has the idea got abroad, then?""Well, it was just in this way: During the last time I was out of of-

fice, I began turning over in my mind this problem of providing forthe declining days of the poorer class. I had no definite scheme of myown in view; but clung to the notion that if a number of capable in-tellects were brought to bear upon the question, something feasiblemight be evolved.

"So I began discussing the matter with several of my friends, and,after a while, succeeded in getting sanctioned the formation of a com-mittee, which any member of the House of Commons who took aninterest in the subject was asked to join. Now, how many of theLiberal Party do you think responded to the invitation?"

"I don't know.""A solitary one!" said Mr. Chamberlain, throwing up his hands

with a gesture of amazement. "However, we went on with our work,and no doubt you know all about our taking evidence from therepresentatives of Friendly Societies, and also from others. As a resultof our labors I recommended the granting of five shillings a week bythe Government to such as had attained a certain age, and shownthemselves deserving such aid by their own endeavours. This,however, did not, for some reason, meet with the approval of theFriendly Societies, and now, 1 acknowledge, 1 see no way out of thedifficulty. Therefore, to say I definitely pledged myself to do anything

continued overleaf

THE MINE WHERE MR. CHURCHILL WAS HIDDEN.

in the matter is a mistake. I voluntarily grappled with the question tothe best of my ability, but definitely pledged myself to nothing."

Mr. Churchill looked puzzled but remained silent.And now, in beginning the painting of the remaining portion of

this portrait's background, I must ask the reader to step inside Im-agination's car and journey with me to a scene in South Africa. Tis awild looking place, exploited by the Transvaal and Delagoa BayCollieries Company, about three miles from Witbank, in theneighborhood of Middleburg.

A number of rough miners are congregated around the fire of oneof the huts dotted about this bleak spot—a spot not too inviting atbest, but less so now, when the times are as tempestuous as theelements raging without.

"Lord help any poor fellow out of doors tonight!" exclaimed oneof the miners.

Scarcely had the sound of the assent, chorused by the rest, diedaway when a knock is heard at the door.

Every man springs to his feet and seeks his arms, for in thatneighborhood friends are few, foes plentiful, spies everywhere.

The knocking being repeated, the door is opened, whereupon aman, haggard and tattered in appearance, staggers in, uttering as hedoes so the question: "Are you English?" Upon receiving an affirm-ative answer the stranger's strength gives way, and he falls to theground exhausted. The application of a flask of spirits revives him,and then in answer to their questions he states that he is a prisoner ofwar escaped from Pretoria. Some of the company are, however, in-clined to doubt his story; but one of them, having received satisfactoryanswers to certain questions he had put, exclaimed: "It's all right,mates. This man is what he says he is—Winston Churchill, who putup for Oldham, this last summer. 1 know the very house where hestayed during the election, for it is opposite my own home. Lads, wemust stand by him."

"Aye! that we will, Dan, now you've proved him to be a right'un." So it was decided to put him down the mine until they couldmake provision for getting him away on a Delagoa Bay bound train.At Witbank a truck laden with bales of wool was noticed, and selectedas the one in which to secrete their man; the bales being arranged oneither side of a two feet space along the center. Across this space otherbales of wool are placed, a few tiny openings being left for the admis-sion of air.

Churchill, stowed away in the mine, was in ignorance, and in ig-norance subsequently remained (until a short time ago) of the tragedywhich was enacted to secure his freedom. About the third day of theirpreparations, a mounted detective—a well-known Boer spy—rode upto them and after announcing his suspicions, demanded the surrenderof the refugee.

WITBANK, TUB STATION AT-WHICH MR, CHURCHILL TOOKRKFCGE IS A GOODS TRAIN.

"Now look here, Trichardt, we and you, although Britons andBoer, have lived on friendly terms for some time now; and if you canjust bear that little fact in mind, and close your eyes until we havefinished this business, you needn't hesitate about naming a good sumas the recompense for your blindness."

"I want none of your money; but I do want the man I'm after, andI'll have him, even if I flood the whole place with soldiers, for I have aduty to my country to perform."

"We too, have a duty to our country, and 1 to my townsman inparticular, and I tell you, Ghert, you may flood the place, but we'll notbetray our man."

I think it were better, here, to draw a veil over my narrative. Whatis left to the imagination is terrible; but as one of these rugged minersputs it: "Was one man to stand in our way? No. Many a better manthan he had died in the war." •

WINSTON CHURCHILL; LADY RANDOLPH; MR. AND MRS. WHITTAKER, THEIR HOSTS ATOLDHAM. AT REAR LEFT IS MR. HUGHES, A FRIEND OF MR. CHURCHILL.

APOLOGY The caption on page 8, FH#48, seemed merelyjocular when written, but looks flippant and insensitive intype next to a rather sad photo of Sir Winston c. 1964.Also, the suit was fawn, not white. I apologise for this cap-tion and ask the reader's indulgence.—RML

fBy the Way

BY JAMES BELL

QUOTATIONSSir Winston loved quotations. In My Early

Life he writes, ' 'Bartlett 's Familiar Quotationsis an admirable work, and I studied it intently.The quotations when engraved upon the mem-ory give you good thoughts."

I recall a quotation from the late LadyViolet Bonham-Carter, daughter of PrimeMinister Asquith and Sir Winston's lifelongfriend. When, in 1963, she was invited to bethe first woman to give the Romane Lecture atOxford University, she chose as her subject"The Impact of Personality on Politics." Itwas a memorable occasion. Drawing on hervast personal experience of political life sheended with a denunciation of "the fallacy ofHistoric Fatalism" with these words:

"In all ages great human beings haveovercome material odds by the inspiration theyhave breathed into their fellow men."

Can there be any doubt that Sir Winstonwas one of those she had in mind?

MUSICChurchill did not inherit his mother's love

of classical music.As a girl, Jennie Jerome has been taught

piano by Stephen Heller, a friend of Chopin.Heller told her that if she practiced seriouslyenough she might someday be a concertpianist, and in fact, later in life, she gave manypublic performances. In private she andArthur Balfour frequently played Beethovenand Schumann piano duets. She organized par-ties to visit Bayreuth for the Wagner Festivaland helped bring about the first performanceof "The Ring" in London. Afterwards, at aparty in honor of the composer's son, sheastonished guests by naming Bach andBeethoven as her two favorites. Siegfriedsmiled and said, "My father would also havechosen them."

But Winston preferred Victorian music-hall songs, for which he had a prodigiousmemory, and he could recite dozens of themwithout apparent effort. Two favorites were acomic song, "Poulmy" and a heroic balladentitled "Who's in charge of the clatteringtrain?" He also liked the patter songs from theSavoy operas, which he sang in a soft, lightvoice.

During weekends at Chequers during theSecond World War he would pace up anddown to a background of Sousa marches orGilbert & Sullivan on the gramaphone, whilehe grappled with problems, often thinkingaloud. A scratched and ancient record he fre-quently asked for was of Eddie Cantor singing,"Build a Little Home" and "Keep Young andBeautiful."

Benno Moiseiwitsch, the distinguishedpianist, on one occasion gave a recital of

classical music on the piano in the Grand Hallat Chequers. He intrigued the PM by callingfor two oranges. Rolling them up and downthe keyboard he played a succession of populartunes without his fingers ever touching thekeys. And in his later years, of course, SirWinston enjoyed the annual "Songs" at hisold school, Harrow.

What, one wonders, might have been ifthe young Winston had developed the devotionto music which Lady Randolph shared withher son Jack and her grandson Peregrine?

HATSIt was said of Winston Churchill that he

was possibly the only man who owned morehats than his wife. His large and varied collec-tion was often the cause of press commentsand, at times, rather bizarre goings-on.

Take for instance the time in November1929 when he was returning from the UnitedStates on the liner Berengaria. The question ofwhat hat he would wear at the ship's fancydress ball so intrigued his fellow passengersthat a sweepstake was organized. The night ar-rived and all waited for Mr. Churchill's ap-pearance. In he walked, wearing a little red fezperched saucily on the top of his head! No onewon the sweep and the money was returned.

At a student's rag-day at Bristol Univer-sity, on his first visit there as Chancellor, hewas seen wearing a "pudding" hat decoratedwith long green ribbons. He was promptlyplaced "under arrest" by the students, whofound him ' 'guilty of acquiring a new hat andneglecting to supply forenoon coffee andbiscuits" for the undergraduates.

On a visit to America in 1942 he wore hisfamous yachting cap, which confused andbewildered people there. It was said that thecap showed Mr. Churchill to be a member ofTrinity House. Jim Preston, a sculptor whohad recently done a papier mache bust ofPresident Roosevelt, wanted to do a com-panion bust of the Prime Minister. But hesuspected that the cap and uniform had nothingto do with Trinity House.

British naval officers in America weren'tcertain of the cap's origin so enquiries weremade in London. It was found that the cap,worked in gold thread, was that of the RoyalYacht Squadron. Thus the Churchill bust, inHyde Park Museum, is accurate even to thecap badge.

As former Lord Rector of two univer-sities, Chancellor of a third, and recipient ofnumerous honorary degrees, Sir Winston hadworn many academic mortar-boards andhoods. When in 1948 he received an honorary

Doctorate of Law from Oslo University, itsstudents presented him with yet another: a capsimilar to that worn by themselves. Of blackmaterial with a peak, it had a wide billowingcrown from which hung a tasselled cord. Itjoined the ever growing number of his velvet,silk and felt hats; deerstalkers; panamas; som-breros; a Stetson given him by American ad-mirer Amon Carter; and, of course, his ownspecial bowler.

The latter started a new Anglo-Americancontroversy in January 1952, when Churchillwore it to meet President Truman atWashington airport. Some U.S. officials in-sisted it was a sawn-off stove-pipe hat orDerby of Mr. Churchill's own design. TheBritish, on the other hand, maintained that itwas a Westbury—a standard, if unusual, formof headgear once extensively worn in the U.K.

As though anticipating that Mr.Churchill's hat would be of an unusual kind.Mr. Truman had discarded his usual trimHomburg in favor of a light tan broad-brimmed affair, often described as a five-gallon hat but more correctly a "plains-man's."

Hearing of Mr. Churchill's "extraor-dinary headgear," the managing director ofJames Lock & Co., Hatters, in St. James',London, put the record straight. He said hehad sold nearly 100 similar hats the yearbefore, not including a large order for the staffof a famous London hotel. It was a version ofthe bowler or coke known in the trade as the"square-crown" or the "Cambridge." Thiswas related to the "Cockburn" and the"Russell," but had a slightly domed top,while the Cockburn was flattish and theRussell in between. Their great period hadbeen 1865-1900, and they had probably beennamed after members of the peerage.

According to Locke's order book Mr.Churchill had last bought a "Cambridge" in1919, although they were still available fromstock in 1952 at 13.5/or about $9 at the time.But the matter didn't end there.

An elderly reader of The Daily Telegraphrecalled that as a boy he had known of thisstyle as a "Muller Cutdown." One FranzMuller, a German living in London in the1880s, had murdered a bank clerk in a trainand thrown the body out of the railway car-riage around Bethnal Green. Unfortunately forMuller, his square-topped hat with his nameinside fell on the line. He was convicted andhanged.

Years ago hat sellers used to advertisewith the slogan, "If you want to get ahead, geta hat." In cases like Muller's it should haveread, "If you want to keep your head, don'tlose your hat!"

The last word on this occasion went toMr. J. Roy dance of Scotts Ltd., anotherfamous hatters in St. James', who had in factsupplied Mr. Churchill with the very hat thatcaused the fuss in 1952. He maintained that hisstaff never used any special name for it, andgenerally referred to its as "Mr. Churchill'shat." Posterity, he ventured to suggest, wouldsimply call it the "Churchill."

Trial by Jewry?{Or, Nothing Succeeds Like Excess)CHURCHILL AND THE JEWS, by Michael J. Cohen; Lon-don, Frank Cass and Co. Ltd., June 1985, U.S. distributionby Biblio Distribution Centre, Totowa, NJ £22.50. Availableto ICS members from Churchillbooks, PO Box 385, Con-toocook, NH 03229 USA for $22 postpaid.IN THIS avowedly revisionist book Professor Cohen claims he didnot set out to destroy or reverse the popular image of Churchillas patron of the Jews and Zionism, yet he has succeeded indoing so. It is all very well to claim that "if anything the statureof the man is enlarged by an honest confrontation of his errorsand weaknesses," but if in the end we are left with a Churchillwho resembles Shelley's Ozymandias in the desert—a colossalwreck—we must question at least the honesty implied and howfar the inconoclasm is justified.

This reviewer found the first chapter, "Churchill theMan," irrelevant, and questions whether this is history or apolemic, or perhaps a trial without defense or jury. If the punmay be forgiven, it is certainly not trial by Jewry.

A cloud of witnesses is called to show that here is Churchillthe Imperfect, the Flawed Man. Since J. H. Plumb is cited, whynot Maurice Ashley; if Alanbrooke, why not Ismay? The second-hand psychiatric diagnosis, relying on Anthony Storr, addsnothing to the. original, except that Storr's caveat, that his con-clusions were for good reasons tentative, is omitted. Likehistory, psychiatry is hardly an exact science. How intriguing itwould be if every aspiring MP or Congressman had to be ex-amined by a psychiatrist before election. One can only supposethat legislatures would be smaller.

That the book contains very little which is new about Chur-chill and his dealings with the Jews and Zionism is not acriticism; indeed, the author has done a great service in bringingtogether all the issues within one book for the first time. Never-theless, it is disappointing, because not all aspects are coveredadequately or evenly, and there is much conjecture.

In expressing admiration for the ancient Greeks and theJews in their similarities, Churchill said that wherever threeJews are assembled together you find two Prime Ministers andone Leader of the Opposition. Professor Cohen appears not tobe a political animal and so does not appreciate the ways ofpoliticians, whose first aim is to get votes, the least to retainthem. This can lead to apparent—or real—inconsistency in theiractions. But did not the Jews, inside and outside Palestine, likeall pressure groups, try to manipulate Churchill as MP and

Colonial Secretary? "Politics is the art of the possible," andwhile one can understand the single-mindedness of the author in1985, he should recognize that Churchill could not ignore in histime the Moslem world within and without the British Em-pire—particularly the Arabs, when dealing with Palestine. Longbefore the ' 'Winds of Change,'' Britain had lost the will and thewealth to maintain the Empire, and Churchill's support of Bevinin withdrawing from Palestine after the war had more merit thanProfessor Cohen is willing to concede.

Again, it is naive to contend that because it was possible tosupply aid to beleaguered Warsaw in 1944 (its cost and almosttotal failure are ignored), Auschwitz could have and shouldhave been "relieved" by Allied bombing. War consists of anumber of choices of evil options, but bombing Auschwitz wassurely not one of them.

Professor Cohen quite properly writes with zeal on behalfof his nation but is apt to ignore the plight of others. The Naziregime produced holocausts for many Gentiles, too. In exposingfailed heroes, revisionist historians should never forget thevillains who created the problems.

Still, it cannot be gainsaid that the author presents a for-midable indictment of Churchill's failures to accomplish muchfor the Jews. It may well be that after the assassination of LordMoyne, Churchill lost some of his zest for the Jewish cause. Hewas always a fighter who believed battle should be with face tothe foe, and the subject deserves further study.

The author's researches have revealed the reasons forChurchill's political impotence, but he seems reluctant to acceptor even to state these. He quotes A. J. P. Taylor: " . . . Thereis nothing more striking in the story than the total failure of thesupposedly all-powerful Prime Minister to enforce his will onnumerous occasions." Yet he omits Taylor's reasons for thatstatement: Churchill was not the dictator of myth. He workedwithin the constraints of Parliamentary and Cabinet practice,even over the Jewish problem. The extremes of executive powerProfessor Cohen demands of Churchill were and are incom-patible with Parliamentary government. Churchill could notpossibly regard the Jewish problem as paramount. What wasparamount was Victory: "Victory at all costs—Victory in spiteof all terror."

It is tendentious of the author to ask the reader to decide ifthe Jews, during the holocaust and in their struggle to obtaindiplomatic recognition, should have or might have expectedmore of Winston Churchill. He has, in fact, presented themwith his own answer. Dr. Cohen's verdict on the Churchill syn-drome (grand delusion of achievement) warrants a second opin-ion: the evidence really merits more review. Of the greatestJew of them all it was said, ' T find no fault with this man.'' CanZionists not say of a great Gentile, ' 'There was some good in SirWinston Churchill?"

Martin Gilbert may provide a more balanced appraisal. His1974 lecture, "Churchill and Zionism" (published London1974) covered precisely the many points and queries raised byProfessor Cohen. It was based on material collected with a viewto publishing a comprehensive volume on Churchill and theJews after the Official Biography is completed. May that workappear soon.

—H. Ashley Redburn

10

"Poor, Dear Randolph"

COUSIN RANDOLPH/A STUDY OF CHURCHILL'S SON(London, Hutchinson); RANDOLPH/THE BIOGRAPHYOF WINSTON CHURCHILL'S SON (New York,Beaufort), by Anita Leslie. US edition $16.95; availablefrom Churchillbooks, Burrage Road, Contoocook, NewHampshire 03229 for $14.50 postpaid to ICS members.

It is a shame that the American publishers used the word"biography" in their title. "Cousin Randolph" is far more ap-propriate. As Edwin Yoder wrote of the book, "its strikingquality is a point of view perhaps best described as Mitfordian:the light-hearted, entre-nous approach of Nancy Mitford'scomic novels, 'Love in a Cold Climate' and 'The Pursuit ofLove.' " (Randolph was kin to the Mitfords and once fanciedhimself in love with Diana, later Mrs. Oswald Mosley.)

It is the third book on Randolph Churchill. Kay Halle's"The Young Unpretender" comprised tributes by his friendsafter his death in 1968; Brian Roberts' recent "Randolph" isconventional biography. Leslie's work is the one to read if youwant an intimate understanding of a complex being, aboutwhom we might borrow Winston's lament for BrendanBracken: "Poor, dear Randolph."

He was a combination of two vivid qualities: generousloyalty to those he loved, and an acid tongue and pen for thosehe didn't—most of the latter, I tend to think, richly deservedwhat they got. "I am an explosion," Randolph said of himself,"that leaves the house still standing." Naturally his publicreputation was based on the latter quality. (When surgeryrevealed that a tumor on his lung was benign, his friend EvelynWaugh made the famous quip at White's: "So they've cut outthe only part of Randolph that isn't malignant!")

Overriding those two qualities was a sense of despair overmissed opportunities: the failure to get into Parliament (exceptin 1940-45 when he held an uncontested seat), and the longdelay in being assigned his father's biography. When "TheGreat Work" finally came in 1960, Randolph devoted himselfsingle-mindedly to its completion, knowing that he had alreadywrecked his body, that the process of disintegration was far ad-vanced. He achieved nearly 5000 pages on his father's earlylife—wonderful pages as perhaps only Randolph could writethem. When his doctor told him that any more hard liquor wouldkill him in six months he stopped cold—but cirrhosis is not areversible disease. At his death in June 1968 the doctor didn'tknow how to put down the cause. " . . . with Randolph theanswer is everything . . .He 's worn out every organ in hisbody at the same time." Poor, dear Randolph.

Leslie digs at his roots: Randolph was spoiled by his father,who "could not resist holding up his famous cigar for silencewhenever Randolph held forth," and worse, who taught him todrink, and drink hard, in the company of famous friends likeF. E. Smith. The outspoken, sarcastic and often boorish resultof that upbringing alienated his mother, and relations betweenthem, Leslie says, were generally frosty. Clementine lived forWinston, she adds, and caring for Winston was full-timework. When, much later, Lady Churchill reprimanded Randolphfor taking a fancy to an older woman he shot back, "I don'tcare, I need her. She's maternal and you're not." What no one

really appreciated, the author says, "was Randolph's cravingfor affection . . . He had to hide his sensitivity, not realizingeither that others could be as sensitive as he."

He never entered the House through a contested electionbecause, prewar, he insisted on battling official Tory can-didates, often splitting a vote and giving a seat to Labour. Partyresentment at Winston's prewar role as gadfly was tempered byWSC's wartime leadership, though it never really vanished.With Randolph they had no reason to hide their dislike, andafter the war they never forgot. Randolph betimes was unwillingto put up with local committee humbug, and that too preventedhim from being assigned the longed-for safe seat. It was a greatloss: his debating skills were even sharper than Winston's.

He had all his father's qualities including absolutefearlessness. During the war he nagged for a combat assign-ment, while superiors kept him sidelined for fear of damagingthe PM's son. Finally he talked his way into Fitzroy Maclean'sBritish mission to Tito's partisans and parachuted into occupiedYugoslavia, where his exploits earned him a recommendationfor the Military Cross. He had to be satisfied with the MBE:Authority dared not be generous for fear of being accused ofpartiality.

The chatty Leslie style is at its best exploring RSC's manyand varied lady loves, for whom his prewar beauty and hispostwar affection were alluring qualities. None of them couldreally handle him; but those who understood him, like NatalieBevan in his later years, were indispensible to Randolph, as hewas to them. With his lady friends he was usually absolutelysincere. When Madame Pol Roger resisted his advances, sayingjokingly that he needed to lose "Un peu pres douze kilos," hewent home, dieted hard and obtained a weighing machine ticketto prove he'd lost 14 kilos. With this he raced back to France,accosted her in her garden, "snatched her up and proceeded tocarry her into the house looking for her bedroom . . . Madameescaped with difficulty and Randolph was very hangdog. ThePol Roger family dined out on this story for many a year."

My own encounter with Randolph Churchill came almost atthe end of his life when I wrote him at Stour, the Suffolk homehe loved, asking if he could answer any questions membersmight have relating to their philatelic biographies. "I regret torecord I know nothing about stamps, but I shall be pleased toassist in any way," he promptly replied. A very smallgesture—but he didn't even have to answer. Martin Gilbert is

Three generations: WSC, RSC and RSC's son Winston, c. 1951.

fe-

quoted as saying, "his highlight was generosity rather thanhonesty." I am sure this is a misquote. He was tremendouslygenerous, but also honest. Writing the biography, Martinrecalls, he would constantly tell his "Young Gentlemen"assistants, "I am interested only in the truth."

That same concern brought him into constant disputes withthose less interested in truth, not a few of which ended in court,most of which he won. No one can say that honesty wasn't oneof Randolph's great qualities.

One sees life at Stour through Anita Leslie's lense as almostquintessentially English-Country-House: the furnishings tradi-tional, comfortable, a bit frowzy at the edges; Captain Boycott,the spoiled pug, making water on the sofa for the umpteenthtime; Lady Diana Cooper, magnificently gowned, sitting in thesame sofa a few nights later and sniffing vaguely at the pillows;Randolph sparing no expense to provide guests with the bestfood—"a notable soup"—even though he himself had longsince lost interest in eating; the wonderful gardens, lovinglytended (sometimes over-lovingly, as when RSC applied somuch fertilizer that the grass turned black); the garden strong

RSC meets his father in Middle East, 1942.

room stacked high with archives for The Great Work, whereRandolph would direct any sincere researcher of a related sub-ject, usually leaving the key in the door and the researcheralone.

His enemies condemned him for his disregard of their sen-sitivities, for his blunt speech and writing, and for his egotism.But every great man who ever lived was at times insensitive andblunt and egoistic. Their greatness was that they gave far morethan they took for themselves. By this measure Randolph Chur-chill was truly great. Those who knew him best miss him themost.

Reading this excellent work I was struck with the subject'sparallels to Sir Winston's longtime friend Brendan Bracken.And Randolph's own epithet might well be the same words hehimself wrote of Bracken:

"Despite the ups and downs I had with him over 35 years, Ihave no hesitation or lack of breath in this valedictory fanfare:'You were always on the good side: you loved truth and honour:you hated cruelty and injustice: fare thee well, my gifted, trueand many-sided friend.' "

—Richard M. Langworth

On PuBtic

Speaking

THE POWER OF ELOQUENCE/MAGIC KEYS TO SUC-CESS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING, by Thomas Montalbo,Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall, 278 pages, $6.95paperback, $19.95 hardbound.

Longtime ICS member and member of Toastmasters Inter-national, Thomas Montalbo has written a book any aspiringpublic speaker needs to enchant, excite and entertain anaudience—to commence with an eloquent opening, carry onsuccessfully, and leave listeners wishing at the end that youwould continue. Drawing on the techniques of eminentspeakers, Montalbo's forte is some 200 samples of actualspeeches and quotations, intermingled with proven techniquesfor effective introductions, pauses, transitions and conclu-sions—a total system approach to preparation and delivery.

There is a long list of index references to Winston Churchillthat make the book equally important to those interested in theGreat Man. The author shows how WSC turned his earlyhandicap of stuttering and lisping to an advantage, and exploresSir Winston's six principals of good speaking: diction, rhythm,argument, analogy, examples and extravagance. As an exampleof the latter WSC's invocation of Chatham, glorifying thefreedom of English citizens, is quoted: "The poorest man mayin his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It maybe frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; thestorms may enter; the rain may enter—but the King of Englandcannot enter! All his forces dare not cross the threshold of theruined tenement."

Other sections on Churchill include his well-known exten-sive rehearsals, his mastery of the loaded pause, his facialexpressions and his uncanny ability to sum up brilliantly. "Evenif you don't have his lofty aspirations," writes Montalbo ofWSC, "the lessons from his life and speeches can help youachieve eloquence in your own public speaking." Stronglyrecommended. —RML

NEXT ISSUEWe take a hard look at a pair of strident revisionists-

Francis Neilson ("The Churchill Legend") and R. W. Thomp-son ("Churchill and Morton")—as Stanley Smith, GeorgeRichards and Tom Sherman analyze their famous critiques ofSir Winston Churchill as Prime Minister in the Second WorldWar. Interestingly, Neilson in 1960 claimed to have knownWSC longer than anyone else alive, back to the days of the"Khaki Election" and Churchill's first crossing of the floorwhen he joined the Liberal Party. More interesting, Thompsonreferred to Neilson in his correspondence with Desmond Mor-ton, and perhaps relied overmuch on Neilson's prejudices.

12

CHURCHILL COLLECTORS HANDBOOK, SECTION I, PART 5

Section 1A: German Propaganda Feldpost Cards

BY JACK SYMONDS

The propaganda postcards of Germanyduring the Second World War form an in-teresting branch of philately. Most of thempicture Nazi leaders or military scenes, whichdo not concern us here. What interests theChurchill collector and student are thosepostcards depicting Sir Winston—along withChamberlain and Stalin, both of whom camein for the occasional kick.

According to well-known philatelic prop-aganda specialist Herbert A. Friedman, theearliest mention of the cards was by the lateProfessor Vernon McKenzie, in an article inthe German Postal Specialist for May 1951.McKenzie noted that the cards were printedfor prepaid use of the German forces; hencethe name "Feldpost Cards" or "Feldpost-karten." He classified them as postallygenuine.

"I have two different types," wroteMcKenzie. One shows an amusing and typicalcaricature of Neville Chamberlain in orangeand black, with the figure " 1 " in the upperright corner, crossed out with the text 'WertKeinen Pfennig' (Worth Not a Penny). On thefront of the card, along a line dividing that por-tion which may be used for the address from

| the part that may be used for the message is'Entwurf: Heinz Fehling, gesch. G. 4503,Bild 1.'

"Another item in this same series issimilar to the above, except that it is acaricature of Churchill in orange and blue.Winston is shown with his customary massivecigar, in naval uniform, with a merchant ship(presumably torpedoed by a U-boat) crashingon his head. The vertical inscription indicatesthat this is 'Bild 2 ' . "

Professor McKenzie illustrated a Chur-chill card to prove the legitimacy of the itemfor postage. Actually the broken ship on Chur-chill's head appears to be a cruiser ordestroyer rather than a merchant ship; theuniform is obviously intended to suggest thedress of a British admiral and apparently stemsfrom WSC's position as First Lord in 1939-40.

This preliminary study of the cards islimited to their differences only as far as thesetting of the type and/or the design of the"stamp" are concerned. Minor variations arelegion, involving for example the ship itself—guns, cracks in the hull, etc. Tear drops, promi-nent or faint on the face; long or short hairs;eyeballs bulging or barely visible are othervarieties. But these minor defects are scarcelyvisible in photographic reproductions.

The original feldpostkarten were printedby Ashelm, who established the type, eightvariations of which exist. One was printed byGerst in Bremen; the different Type 8 saw two

different printings by Matthes in Leipzig. Theseveral variations of the "Ashelm" typewould lend support to the theory that the cardsemanated from different printers, or morelikely from different press runs.

I traced Ashelm's whereabouts in 1970,but he declined to give any information as tothe origin of the cards or of others who mayhave printed them.

While this study deals particularly withthe Churchill cards, the Chamberlain cardsshow variations too. I have only seen one typeof Stalin card, printed by Gerst in Bremen,and include it here as a matter of interest.

—J. C. SymondsReading, Berkshire, December 1970

Editor's note: Jack Symonds was an early andstalwart member of the old Winston S. Chur-chill Study Unit until his death in themid-1970s. His excellent compilation whichforms this handbook supplement is the mostdetailed study of the Churchill propagandacards on record. Addenda and corrigenda areencouraged and may be sent to the editor.

Type 1.(Actual size)

CCH 1.17

1. Black, no date on examplePrinted by Ashelm, size 148 x 105mm,

grey white smooth paper of prewar quality.Presumed to be the first issue.

Vertical overprint: Small type, length45mm, flat top to ' 3 ' .

Control Number: 3503 25 lower center.Stamp: Taken as basis for future com-

parisons. Water drops prominent. W.C.black.

1A. Black, example date 9.5.1940Printed by Ashelm, size 148 x 105mm,

white smooth paper of prewar quality.Vertical overprint: Small type, length

45mm, flat top to ' 3 ' .Control Number: 3503 25 lower center.Stamp: Copy of #1 but cigar and right

epaulette altered. Right wing of 'W in ' W . Ctoo high. W.C. black. Facial water drops prom-inent.

2. Black, example date 16.8.1940Printer probably Ashelm, size 148.5 x

103.5mm, light straw smooth paper.Vertical overprint: Large type, length

47mm, insignia redrawn,round top to ' 3 ' .Control Number: 3503 25 (larger).Stamp: Light blue, W.C. black, water

drops prominent.

3. Black, no date on examplePrinter probably Ashelm, size 148 x

103mm, grey-white smooth paper.Vertical overprint: Small type, length

45mm flat top to ' 3 ' .Control Number: 3503 25 lower center

and 1/1023 lower lefthand corner.Stamp: Looks like a copy of Type 1.

W.C. black, water drops prominent.

4. Black, no date on examplePrinter probably Ashelm, size 147.5 x

103.5mm, buff smooth paper.Vertical overprint: Large type, length

47mm. Round top to ' 3 ' , insignia redrawn,control number large.

Control Number: 3503 25 lower center.Stamp: Possibly a copy of 2. Colors

misplaced, muddy blue color, much heavieroutline to chin, various imperfections inepaulettes, etc. W.C. black, water drops prom-inent.

5. Blue, example date 26.8.1940Printer probably Ashelm, size 148 x

104.5mm, buff rough paper.Vertical overprint: Smaller type, length

46mm, round top to ' 3 ' , insignia redrawn.Control Number: 5503 25 lower center.Stamp: Redrawn. No hatching to cigar,

which is wrong shape. WKP too thin. 'W'closed at right ear. Red outline to chin. W.C.black. Water drops very weak.

Above: Type 1A. Below: Type 2. Below: Type 3.

ir

fel&poft

?" ; ,

$etb$>oft

felbpoft

Below: Type 5.

fitopoft

-

— •*

Above: Type 4.

•

CCH 1.18

6. Blue, example dates 15.3.1942,18.3.1942and a third, from Paris, 28.5.1942

Printer probably Ashelm, size 148 x105.5mm, buff smooth paper.

Vertical overprint: Small type, length44.5mm, flat top to ' 3 ' , insignia redrawn.

Control Number: 3503 25.Stamp: Redrawn. No red outline to chin,

WKP too thin, W.C. blue, cigar as in Type 5,water drops weak.

6A. Blue, example date 13.7.1940Printer probably Ashelm, size 147 x

105mm, buff, rough paper.Vertical overprint: Small type, length

44.5mm, flat top to ' 3 ' .Control Number: 3503 25.Stamp: Similar to Type 6 but W.C. black.

7. Blue, example date 4.4.1942Printed by Ed. Gerst, Bremen, size 149.5

x 106mm, straw smooth paper.Vertical overprint: Long, 90mm.Control Number: None.Stamp: Redrawn. Cigar wrong shape,

altered nose, epaulettes, etc. Very heavy color-ing of the face. WKP rewritten. Water dropslarge and prominent, W.C. blue.

8. Black, example date 26.10.1943Printer unknown, dark buff rough paper.Vertical overprint: None. Replaced by

horizontal overprint with 'Feldpostkarte' in-stead of 'Feldpost' in Gothic script.

Control Number: None.Stamp: Redrawn. Dot over 'e' in

'Keinen.' . 'W closed at right ear. Orangebackground to cigar and chin. Traces only ofwater drops.

Note: Originally reported as a forgery butnow accepted as genuine, this example ap-pears to have been genuinely used. Seereverse.

9. Black, example not datedPrinted by Ashelm, size 142 x 102mm

folded, straw, smooth paper.Vertical overprint: On left of paper

downwards normal, length 45mm; upwards inheavier type in two lines for address andFeldpost number as illustrated.

Control Number: 5110 20.Stamp: Similar to Type 1, water drops

prominent, W.C. black.

10. Black, example not datedPrinted by R. Matthes, Leipzig, size

149.5 x 105mm, straw, smooth paper withoutstamp.

Vertical overprint: On the large side,length 45mm.

Control Number: None.Stamp: Adhesive label completely dif-

ferent in design from any previous issue, bear-ing the inscription 'Wertlose Marke' (Worth-less Mark) and an airplane descending on thehead of Winston Churchill from upper left-hand corner. No water drops, cigar cropped.

E

• • ^ • r e r l

Kt '3• * " • i i

KPAKAU

g

( \

iiorry.

3A-.-:t

artc !

•

-••• c . u

urmfSihre

i.ch -n

'VWI RTP F E W W 1 T,

>•

•

Above, from top to bottom: Types 6, 6A, 7. Middle: Type 8, posted Cracow.Below: Types 9 and 10.

2I

5elbpoftbtief

Jel&poftharte

CCH 1.19

11. Black, example not datedPrinted by R. Matthes, Leipzig, size

147.5 x 104mm, light straw smooth paperwithout stamp.

Vertical overprint: Reset to readdownward.

Control Number: M/0889.Stamp: Adhesive label as in Type 10.

CHAMBERLAIN TYPES

A. Black, example dated 19.7.1940Printed by Ashelm, size 149 x 105mm,

buff rough paper.Vertical overprint: Small type, length

44.5mm, flat top to ' 3 ' .Control Number: 3503 25 lower center.Stamp: Taken as the basis for future com-

parison.

B. Black, example not datedPrinter not known, size 149 x 105mm,

light buff, smooth paper.Vertical overprint: Type reset, round top

to ' 3 ' , length 46mm.Control Number: 5 503 25 lower center.

Possible misprint. See Churchill Type 5.Stamp: Redrawn, W.K.F. much heavier,

various changes in hair, mouth, moustache,etc.

STALIN TYPE (ONLY ONE OBSERVED)

C. Black, date not discernible but certainlypost-22 June 1941

Printed by Ed. Gerst, Bremen, size andpaper type not registered.

Vertical overprint: Gothic type, length 91mm.

Control Number: None.Stamp: Taken as the basis for future com-

parison. Reports of other examples would bewelcome.

Note: This is the most difficult Feldpostcard to find in genuine postally-used con-dition.

OTHER CHURCHILL TYPEA hand sketch is illustrated of yet another

type of Churchill propaganda Feldpostkarten,from which, presumably, a printing block wasmade. There was no inscription on the stampat this stage, but this was added later with asoft lead pencil and reads "Churchill'n wird'swarm." ("It's hotting up for you, Churchill,old man" would be the colloquial translation.)The cover appears to have been genuinelyused, posted in Schweidenitz, Silesia to an ad-dressee in Posen, as it was then (now Pozan).The coloring of the stamp is lead grey with ared coloring to the end of the nose. This item isclassified in the trade as very rare.

reldposikarle

Above: Type 11. Below: The Chamberlain versions, Types A and B.

Below: The Stalin type is very scarce in postally-used condition.

Below: Hand sketch of a third Churchill design, said to be very rare.

CCH 1.20

Bibliomaniaandihe

Literary Churchiii

BY WALLACE H. JOHNSON

OMAHA, NEBRASKA—Hard as it may be to believe, there is a Chur-chillophile whose respectable library and collection is housedhere. Omaha is famous for many things—cattle, corn and In-dians. People also associate Nebraska with the Strategic AirCommand, Nebraska's "Big Red" football program, grainsales to the Soviet Union, the Union Pacific Railroad and the"Golden Spike," the College World Series and The Wall StreetJournal's Omaha Livestock Market quotes.

Few match Omaha with Winston Churchill or book collect-ing. Yet it is a part of a network of persons interested in thehistory of the literary Churchill and his "magic" as an authorand businessman.

I propose to share some of my thoughts, and those ofseveral other bibliophiles, on recent developments affectingChurchill book collecting, as well as the pleasure of being partof this affiliation of individuals from various backgrounds andhomelands, all linked by a common interest in book collecting,and in Sir Winston.

I have been a Churchill book collector since my collegedays when I first perused the four volume History of the EnglishSpeaking Peoples. I read and reread those volumes, coming toenjoy not just the history reported, but the craftsmanlike styleand literary grace of the author. Now, 25 years later, as alawyer/businessman traveling to many parts of the world, I havetaken advantage of the chance to indulge my interests bybuilding a serious book collection. It is very much "our" col-lection—a project pursued vigorously by almost all members ofthe Johnson family. My wife, Donna, watches for Churchill ap-pearances at garage sales while my son, Todd, regularly surveyscertain New York book dealers while attending college in thecity. This collective attention occasionally produces the unex-pected treasure where least expected and at a modest cost.

To my delight, I have met many others with similar, if notalmost identical, interests. Most are members of the Interna-tional Churchill Society, and most share the pleasure of collect-ing and exchanging information and research about the literaryChurchill. Most recognize, as I do, that "sensibilities are usefulthings when it comes to buying a house, a car, choosing a careeror picking shoes. Book collecting, however, when properlydone, requires discarding your sense of proportion. If you say toyourself, 'it's only a book,' you haven't caught the spirit of thething at all.

"Assembling the extraordinary collection is something thatcannot be done with extensive agonizing at each and every step.Instinct and decisiveness, coupled with the judgment that ex-perience and knowledge accumulate, are the essential attributesof the great collector. A little money doesn't hurt either." (TheBuilding of a Sherlock Holmes Collection, Peter L. Stern, AB, 6May 1985.)

Some of us work closely with the numerous dealers in NewYork (Glenn Horowitz or Chartwell), London (Sawyers andRota), Contoocook (Churchillbooks) and Sacramento (Chur-chilliana Co.) that specialize in Churchill. Others prefer toshop in out-of-the-way places for undiscovered bargains. I doboth.

In the beginning, I lacked both instinct and decisiveness aswell as money, a commodity still in short supply. My hesitancyto take the plunge resulted in the loss of several good "finds" aday or two after their discovery. These experiences convincedme that book collecting is an art, not an analytical science. Norcan books be pursued strictly as investments. Instead, the col-lector must follow his acquisitive instinct and pursue qualitywhile also looking out for the unique and hitherto unknownvolume. The hunt and the find both satisfy the true collector andhis acquisitive urge.

True, books are an investment, and certainly can cost agreat deal of money. But I now obtain as much pleasure fromposssessing the first impression of the first edition of Malakandin pristine condition (obtained at a price known only to the sellerand me, and hopefully not to my wife) as finding the sevenvolume Source Records of the Great War for $7 at a garage saleright here in Omaha. (And just an hour before penning theseparagraphs.)

As a collector, I am a devoted reader of Finest Hour whichunder Richard Langworth's able editorship regularly yieldsvaluable information about Churchill books. Appearing regularlyin Finest Hour is the "Woods Corner," authored by RonCohen. We all know Ron as being devoted to revising Woods'Churchill bibliography. One may suspect, given the obvioustime and effort involved in this task, that Ron spends full timeon the study of Churchill literature. Not at all.

Wallace H. Johnson is president and chief executive officerof Summit Limited, an agri-business specializing in trade withthe U.S.S.R.; and a senior partner in the Omaha office of theKutak Rock & Campbell law firm. Mr. Johnson was formerlyan assistant Attorney General of the United States in charge ofthe Land and Natural Resources Division of the Department ofJustice and a Special Assistant to the President of the UnitedStates.

13

sion, the American and Canadian editions and the recent SouthAfrican version of London to Lady smith. I have the first, secondand a special lending library edition of Ian Hamilton and itsCanadian and American editions, as well as the very special ex-library Canadian edition which was never once circulated.

Part of Mr. Johnson's growing " C " section—periodicals contain-ing articles by WSC, many done for Colliers.

Bibliphile's shrine in darkest Omaha (very dark: WHJ keeps blindsdrawn to prevent spine-fade.)

A Canadian residing in Montreal, Ron Cohen is a Harvardgraduate who later earned his law degree from McGill. He hasserved as senior counsel to the Quebec Police Commission In-quiry into organized crime (a subject of mutual interest sincethis writer acted at one time as chief of the Organized CrimeStrike Force for the U.S. Justice Department in Miami,Florida), as a director and vice-president of the ConsumersAssociation of Canada, and as a member of the McGill LawFaculty.

Ron's latest venture (or adventure to those of us with moreroutine and less exciting occupations or professions) is as a filmproducer, policy advisor and film industry representative ingovernment. His successes include Power Play starring PeterO'Toole, Ticket to Heaven starring Nick Mancuso, Runningstarring Michael Douglas, Middle Age Crazy with Bruce Dernand Ann Margret and Draw! starring Kirk Douglas and JamesCoburn.

Ron began collecting Churchill in 1968 and believes theunique feature in his collection is its breadth. "By 'breadth', Irefer to several things," Ron told me. "First, I collect all edi-tions and most impressions. I also collect variants. Thus, I havea first of the Malakand, the Colonial edition and a SilverLibrary edition. I also have the first British, the new impres-

Woods Corner editor, bibliomaniac,constant milker of bookshops world-wide, computer whiz, country storeproprietor, film producer and all-around good guy, Ronald I. Cohen.

' 'I have the original Strand parts, the Strand bound volumesand the first British, Canadian and American editions of MyAfrican Journey, as well as the plain bound (but inscribed) pre-publication(?) U.K. edition and a variant pictorial-cloth boundBritish first. I also have most of the editions and impressions of thevarious World Crisis volumes and the individual volumes ofWar Speeches (including, for example, eight of the 12 editionsof Into Battle). I could cite many additional examples of this sortof scope.

"The library also extends to foreign language editions. I amquite strong in the area of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Frenchand Russian translations, although I also have some pieces inDutch, Italian, Japanese and Serbo-Croatian.

"The most unique item is undoubtedly the card-wraps copyof My African Journey with the original rhinoceros woodcutcover. It is unknown to Woods, to Harry Cahn and to Sawyerand Rota as well. I have a very unusual copy of the firstMalakand. It is the only one which I have ever seen without thecatalogue in the back.

' 'In terms of Woods Section A there is no volume which isnot represented in my collection and usually, as I have in-dicated, they exist in multiple copies. I guess that the only 'first'which I am missing is Savrola, although I have a fine Americansecond impression inscribed by Churchill and a nice Britishsecond impression (as well as the Colonial edition, a lovelyHodder and Stoughton Sevenpenny Library edition and abeautiful 1956 Random House)."

It is obvious why Ron has taken the lead in cleaning up"Woods." I have visited his home and examined his librarywhich is, of course, filled with books and other Churchillmemorabilia. But Ron has another interest as well. He hascreated and assembled an early Canadian "country store"which spills from the lowest level of the Cohens' home.

Ron recently observed to me that, while his collection wasdramatic in its breadth with respect to books by Chur-chill—known to collectors as Section " A " books—many holesremained among his " C " list items, the "Press andPeriodicals." He believes that these are virtually impossible tocomplete. This facet of Sir Winston's writing is often overlooked.Building my own " C " list collection has offered me many op-portunities to obtain previously unknown Churchill ap-pearances, and to contribute to the development of the newbibliography.

The "Woods" bibliography was a major aid to collectorsand scholars when first published. But inherent in any complex

14

effort of this nature is the potential for technical errors andomissions. Many of these appear in "Woods," making its valuequestionable and its use difficult. But that will be remediedthrough the ICS/Cohen bibliographic project. For example, onemajor omission by Woods was very many of Churchill'sAmerican magazine appearances. As we know, he was widelypublished in Cosmopolitan and Colliers. We are just learningthat he was published in many other U.S. periodicals as well. Alittle effort, and the ability to visit different parts of our country,has netted me many such American magazines which are notreferred to at all by Woods. Trips to New York City, SantaBarbara, California, Washington, D.C., and even Bismarck,North Dakota, have yielded treasured additions to my " C " listcollection.

There is a certain dignity to most antiquarian bookshops.Some are downright elegant. Nothing could be further from thecase, however, in places where one finds "old" magazines.These are found in dusty, forgotten, back corners of antiqueshops or book stores. I have found several at flea markets.Perseverence on my part has yielded The U-Boat Menace, TankTactics, and Our Friendship with America, all appearing in se-quence during May, 1941 in Liberty; as well as / Ride MyHobby and Over The Top At Omdurman, 1961 appearances inCosmopolitan and Argosy. None of these is listed in Woods! Allwill appear in the new bibliography.

Ron Cohen is no exception in his dedication or interest.L.L. "Tom" Thomas, who lives at Warlingham, SurreyEngland, one of the "proofers" for Companion Volume V ofthe official biography, has a copy of every book that Churchillpublished. He possesses at least a copy of every Woods " C "item. He has read every word on every page of each. He par-ticularly treasures his copy of The Report on Middle East Con-ference, held in Cairo and Jerusalem, March 12-30, 1921,which in some 211 pages contains letters, speeches andtelegrams from Churchill.

Mat Fox, a Chicago native and fellow collector, called myattention to a rare and bizarre item in his library, the possession'of which will make all of us envious.

L.L. "Tom" Thomas working on the proofs for a CompanionVolume to the official biography at his home in Surrey. Many " B "titles are ranged behind him.

We all know that there are many foreign language editionsof Churchill's works. To a certain degree, most of us havesome. The easy expansion of a collection is to pick up some"Colonials" or Canadian editions of the war speeches publishedby McClelland and Stewart. This is how I began expandingbeyond English and American editions. The foreign languageeditions followed quite naturally.

Mat, however, has one of Churchill's war speech booksprinted in Dutch—interesting, but not particularly so, until youlearn that it was printed by the French Underground during theSecond World War for the Dutch Underground. Printed in Parison coarse wrapping paper stock with bizarre ink, it is unfor-tunately deteriorating rapidly and Mat has had conservatorsworking overtime to figure out how to save it.

Mat's collection, almost complete when measured againstWoods' " A " list in first British and American editions, also in-cludes several Churchill letters and some items from Churchill'sown library, inscribed to him by the authors.

As a companion to his Churchill collection, Mat also col-lects Arthur Conan Doyle, not just Sherlock Holmes (as I do),but all Doyle. "There were several places where the two menoverlapped," according to Mat "Doyle set up a hospital inSouth Africa during the Boer War; men from Churchill's unitwere treated. WSC's brother Jack was wounded in that war. Hismother served on a hospital ship in it, patterned after Doyle'sportable hospital—her first patient was Jack. Doyle wrote aboutChurchill in his account of the war. He also wrote a fascinatingpiece on 'England in the Next War,' focusing clearly on the im-pact submarines would have. WSC as First Lord had to dealwith what Doyle predicted—now come true.

"Both were ardent colonialists. In this regard, a fascinatingbit of reading is WSC's India and a book printed in the early1700s on behalf of the East India Co. on India's potential.Reading the two, from viewpoints 300 years apart, is eerie.WSC could easily have written both."

Mat Fox's affinity for Sir Winston relates to the fact that asan officer in the U.S. Navy he was detached and served for aperiod with the Royal Navy aboard HMS Newcastle, at Suez in

Mat Fox's library in Chicago requires step-ladder, includes a vastcollection of Conan Doyle as well as Churchill; they often wrote onthe same subjects.

15

Wallace Johnson has commissioned extra shelves to handle the in-creasing overflow. Magnificent jacketed editions of Savrola andAmid These Storms are facing out.

1956. A ship in Mat's U.S. Navy squadron was theOakhill—built for the British as HMS Tomahawk but turneddown by Churchill as unsuitable for use in the English Channel.

Another former military man, now turned collector with anextraordinary background is William R.Schulz from Phoenix,Arizona. Bill describes himself as "an unemployed, bald-headed businessman who's seeking an elective job." He may beonly temporarily unemployed. A West Pointer who became anapartment building tycoon, Bill plans to run for Governor ofArizona as a Democrat in 1986.

In 1980, Bill challenged Barry Goldwater for the U.S.Senate seat occupied by Goldwater since 1952. (Those in-terested in political trivia will be fascinated to learn thatGoldwater has occupied this seat for every term but the one inwhich he ran for President.)

Apparently Bill spent many months during the campaignbuilding an 18-foot long, 18-foot wide, 45-foot high library tohouse his 11,000 books, as an addition to his Scottsdale home.He considers the most unique feature of his collection "arespectable accompanying collection of Churchill biography,contemporary biography and history—in addition to what I nowthink is a complete collection of Churchill's works."

Bill regards Richard Langworth as his most influential men-tor (not I hope "political" mentor). No discussion of collectorsand libraries would be complete without mentioning Dick andhis library, fqr he not only edits Finest Hour but is presentlychairman of ICS, as well as proprietor of Churchillbooks.

I think Contoocook, the location of the Lang worths' home,Putney House, is as remote as many may regard Omaha. Dick'shome and office, however, are located in a beautiful NewEngland valley, an historic dwelling whose grounds once ac-commodated a guest house constructed from the crate in whichthe "Spirit of St. Louis" was shipped back to the States afterLindbergh's historic flight to Paris. The library at Putney Housecontains one of the most complete Churchill collections I havebeen privileged to observe.

Richard began collecting seriously after he and DalNewfield revived the ICS in 1981. A writer and publisher byprofession, Dick deals in Churchill largely to improve his owncollection. He began collecting in 1968, soon after founding theold Winston S. Churchill Study Unit (predecessor to ICS).

Dick's collection doesn't stop with first editions. "It travelson into foreign languages, very late editions and even paper-backs, because it will some day constitute an ICS workinglibrary, and I would hope there will be plenty of editions withlow replacement costs for people to handle and use, not just toadmire.

Standard accoutrements of any well-rounded library: the American editions ofMarlborough, the British Great Contemporaries. Putnams U.S. firsts, Book-of-the-Month-Club Blood, Sweat and Tears.

"The most thoroughly documented title is My Early Life. Iconsider this to be Sir Winston's best single title from a literarystandpoint, and I am endeavoring to obtain not only every edi-tion, but every impression from 1930 to date. I have justcounted and there are presently 30 British, 18 American, 2 Por-tuguese, a Swedish and a Danish edition. Silly! Still, I figurethat what with all the foreign language editions/impressions, Iam only about halfway to my goal.

"The Early Life collection has been of great help to usbibliographically. For example, it is fascinating to view thechanges that occur to the American editions {A Roving Commis-sion) as they add and then drop the Dorothy Thompson (Mrs.Sinclair Lewis) introduction, and then gradually change theirtitle to My Early Life."

As I examine my own acquisitions and learn more about myfellow collectors, I regularly wonder what motivates us. Mostcollections seem to have a beginning but no end. DickLangworth's is a good example: "I strive for every majorEnglish-language edition of every volume, plus every impres-sion of My Early Life," he says. "By that I mean every distinctform of every Section A hardbound book. On foreign languages,I would like to have every edition but will probably never ac-complish that. I do try to pick up anything I don't have. This re-quires a fair amount of shelf space. There are, besides the 52Early Life, 11 Great Contemporaries, 16 Second World War,nine Marlborough, eight Savrola and 20 various forms or spin-offs or abridgements of History of the E.S. Peoples. Al-together, Section A now takes up 50 feet of shelf space."

And this just describes his " A " list. Altogether, Dick has100 percent of the Section " A " books, 20 percent of the Section" A " pamphlets, 70 percent of the books with contributions byChurchill, 200 " C " Section periodicals, and half of the worksabout Churchill listed in the Ashley Redburn bibliographypublished by ICS.

Even with this impressive library, I doubt that Dick willslow his acquisitive pace. (In fact, he is currently trying tobarter several copies of Early Life from me.) I know I won't.My first goal was to amass all Churchill first editions. Then Ithought, "Well, you should get the American firsts, too." Prettysoon, I acquired some Canadian and Colonial editions, followedby several very attractively bound Swedish and Danish editions.(Interesting is that I have found several English treasures inStockholm and Copenhagen, including the hard-to-find four

16

The Langworth library uses the "ell" or their colonial home, chosen "becauseit had plain walls on three sides. It is large enough to house the collection in cor-rect bibliographic order," says Dick, "but the Churchill material is inexorablyeating into its capacity. Right now it takes just over half the room's limit of 5000volumes. I keep squirreling the other books here and there as the collection

expands."

volume set of The Great War). I can hardly wait to visit shops asfar away as the steppes of Russia, knowing I will possibly find atreasure there.

Do we collectors pursue this quest because Churchillbooks are a good investment? Almost certainly not. The pur-chase price is generally not the object. Many of us would notpart with our collections at any price. Perhaps RichardLangworth sums it up best: "All this background means that mypersonal fascination with WSC stems from his marvelous careeras a writer. His greatest accomplishments will forever stand. Ashe said, 'nothing surpasses 1940.' But in that immortality weoften lose sight of Winston the man, Winston the writer.

"As a journalist he was superb—simply unmatched. I don'tmean he could write well; of course he could, but a lot of otherscould too. He had an uncanny ability to get the most out of a sub-ject. He was able to take one story for a newspaper, parlay thatup to several other publications perhaps in other countries, andwind up using the same piece in a couple of books. Amazing!

"Take Painting as a Pastime for example. Could we everfigure out how many appearances that essay has had? He wasequally adept at dealing with publishers. A 33 percent royalty isunheard of—Winston got it. A dollar a word is still a very higharticle rate today—Winston got it in 1925.

"It would be easy to misunderstand this point, which I donot make in any commercial sense — rather to point out justhow far above the pack Winston Churchill ranked, not as astatesman in this case but as a journalist.

"Granted, to some extent, he was a unique artist: a politi-cian who could write beautifully. But still, in the long run, hisworks commanded such heavenly rewards because they were sogood. His research methods; his division of each 24 hours so asto get twice as much out of them as anyone else gets; the wayhe dictated all his books from The World Crisis; his work in themidst of all his toys and distractions at Chartwell—these are theaspects which fascinate me.

"None of his books in my library are for decoration. I'veread almost all of them at least once. The World Crisis, with itssix fat volumes, looks formidable—but take up any one at anyplace and start to read. You can't put it down. Sure it's biasedand self-serving. But it's also, most of the time, right on thebeam. I think you could build a case for Winston Churchillbeing the most effective writer in this Century, maybe of alltime. It is this facet, Winston the journalist, that is mainlyresponsible for my book collection."

There is a mystique to collecting Churchill not attached tomost book collecting. Perhaps it's the personality of the man,the impressiveness of his political credentials, the many decadeshe occupied center stage in the performance of world events.Perhaps it's nostalgia. It could be, as Richard suggests, Chur-chill's "uncanny ability to get the most out of a subject."

It matters not what the reason. I know that tomorrow I willbegin to look for volumes like Ron Cohen's card-wraps copy ofMy African Journey, Mat Fox's Dutch War Speeches and TomThomas' Report on the Middle East Conference. I may evenfind a 45th appearance of Early Life for Dick. This is thepleasure of collecting. And, if fate takes any of you to Omaha,Contoocook, Chicago, Montreal, Scottsdale, or Warlingham,Surrey, I am sure you will be welcome to visit and discuss a sub-ject which holds a fascination that my fellow collectors willshare for many years to come. •

17

CHURCHILL STAMP CHECKLIST AUCTION 2-85 & FINAL

HANDBOOK SECTION 1. CORRECTIONSPlease note the following corrections and additions to the checklist of Chur-

chill stamps, pages 1.1 through 1.16. arc supplied by Sidney Altneu,. Miami,Florida. (For additional corrections please refer to FH #t3 page 13, FH #45page 12, and FH #48 page 15.)

AjmanPage 1.2, 15 Dec 71 Famous Men Airmail

Cams numbers for the 1R (perf/imperf) are 1198; for full set (per/imperf),Cams 1197-1201,

FujieraPage 1.6, 1967 Commemoratives Revalued

Set was also produced imperforate. Overprints were in both silver andblack.

Page 1.6, 1969 Famous Men Airmails on Gold FoilMinkus 371 shows WSC (value 25d). Minkus 371A is souvenir sheet ofone value. Available perf and imperf. Full set is Minkus 369-72,souvenir sheets 369A-372A. (Other values portray DeGaulle, Eisenhower,JFK)

Page 1.7, 1969 Famous Men Gold Foil Airmail ReissueCams 458 portrays WSC (value 25d); Cams 462 is souvenir sheet. Full setis Cams 456-63. Same subjects as before.

Page 1.7, 1972 DefinitivesCams numbers are 1096-1116; WSC value is Cams 1106

ManamaPage 1.10, Nov. 1968 Heroes of Humanity

Silver foil coin set is Minkus 105A-C or Michell 239-240 (?-Ed.) WSCvalue is Michell 239. Perf, imperf, etc.

Page 1.10, 1970 DeGaulle Overprint/1 (black ovpt)Minkus numbers are 363-68, WSC is 367, S/S is 369.

Page 1.10, 1970 De Gaulle Overprint/2 (gold ovpt)Date should be 1971. See Minkus catalogue page 55.

Page 1.10, 1970 25th Ann. Casablanca ConferenceAll items listed are also found imperforate.

Ras Al KhaimaPage 1.12, 1969 WSC & EFIMEX Commemoratives

Churchill issues in regular postage set Minkus 195-202, Cams 243-50plus S/S Minkus 206, Cams 256. Perf and imperf. No WSC issues inairmails, Cams 251-55.

SharjahPage 1.13, 26 Apr 65 Churchill Overprints

The souvenir sheet, SG 129a, also issued imperforate.Page 1.14, 1973 (est.) Prominent Persons (New Entry)

A set in gold and silver foil, perf and imperf, with perf and imperfsouvenir sheets, pictures WSC on 4R value. S/S used V-sign with stamp.

TogoPage 1.14, 7 Aug 65 Churchill Commemoratives

Souvenir sheet, Scott C47a, also issued imperforate.Page 1.14, 20 Feb 71 DeGaulle Commemoratives

Both the regular set, Scott 767-70, and airmails, Scott C144^t5, werealso issued imperforate.

Yemen (Kingdom)The following overprints were in red: 5 Apr 65 Churchill Overprints,26 June 67 Poison Gas Victims, 1967 Jordan Refugee Relief Fund. (De-sign shows Prince Ali.)

ICS AUCTION 2/85Closing date for bids is 31 December 1985. Bidding increments 25C to $2, 50c to$10, $1 to $20, $2.50 above $20. This will be the final ICS auction. Send yourbids to W. Glen Browne, PO Box 5171, Canyon Lake, California 92380. Pleasebid in U.S. dollars. Members in Australia, Canada and UK may pay in personalhome currency cheques. You will be notified of winning bids and billed foritems you have won in January. Winning bidders are also responsible forpostage. Key to abbreviations: # =Scott, SG = Stanley Gibbons, R = Rosencatalogue numbers.

LOT ITEM (Min. Bid)1. Cvr USA #1264/1281 SG 1246/1262 Truman death date, rare ($4)2. Same as above except only #1264 ($4)3. Cvr USA #1264/1393, SG 1246/1383, pm June 30, 1971, last day USPO

Dept., blue cachet (Browne), scarce ($3)

4. Cvr USA #1264/1499 SG 1246/1500 lOOtn ann Truman birth pm Lamar,MO, black cachet (Browne), mailer's permit pm ($1.25)

5. Cvr USA #899 (2) SG 896 pm Cleveland, Oh Apr 26, 1943. Mult colorcachet RAF Spitfire & "Never before" etc. quote, addressed ($3)

6. Cvr Canada #254 SG 380 pm May 1, 1944 w/city blacked out by censor.Red & blue cachet WSC & Brit flag, "We shall never surrender." Ad-dressed ($3)

7. Cvr Canada #254 SG 380 pm May 11, 1943, London, Canada. Cachet 3blue Spits "Never in the history etc" quotation. Open @ top, addressed($3)

8. Cvr Canada #249(2), 250 SG 375(2)/376 pm May 4, 1943 Winnipeg, Man.Mult color cachet RAF Spit & "Never before etc" quote, addressed ($3)

9. Items 6, 7, 8 as a set ($10)10. Cvr Canada #440/719/918 SG565/877/? pm Nov 30, 1984, Toronto.

Cachet Westchester NY (WESPENX) show, brn picture of WSC. At ICSmeeting Martin Gilbert & Paul Robinson, US Amb to Canada, signed cover(2 exist). ($25)

11. Cvr USA #1264/1849, SG 1246/? pm Mar 5, 1985 Silver Springs, MD.Attractive ICS new cachet of WSC red & green. 1st day of use signed byDave Marcus, addressed ($1.50)

12. Same as above except pm Mar 7, 1985 ($1.50)13. USA pi #blk of 4, #1264 SG 1246, PI #28107(UR), VFNH (30c)14. Same as above (30c)15. Same as above except (LL) (30c)16. Anguilla #193-8 SG 181-6, cent VFNH ($1.50)17. Burundi #B31-33 SG 304-06 ovpt Lions Int, used (40c)18. Cameroon #C211 SG 721, cent VFNH (25C)19. Cook Is. #417-21 SG 506-10 cent VFNH ($3)20. Dahomey #C203 SG 541 cent VFNH (30c)21. As above (30c)22. Germany #982 SG ? SS VFNH ($1.50)23. Jersey #103-06 SG 111-14, annivers. VFNH (30c)24. Mauretania #C147 SG 458, cent VFNH (50c)25. Crown agents Centenary omnibus (17 nations, 38 stamps, 12SS) cat val $75

($20)26. Upper Volta #346-50 cent VFNH ($2.25)27. Albania (Free), 1945 FDR/WSC Airmail comm, 4 vals VFNH ($2)28. As above, but 1952 and new colors VFNH ($2)29. Davaar RD77-80, WSC & scenes, perf, 1967 VFNH ($1)30. Davaar RD87, SS, WSC/JFK, 1967 VFNH ($1)31. Davaar WSC cent, in gold foil, 3 vals VFNH ($3)32. Davaar WSC cent, in large gold foil, 2 val, VFNH ($3)33. Herm Is. RH86-91, 20th ann Liberation, 1965 VFNH ($2)34. Calf of Man RCA84-88 TT Races Diamond Jub, red VFNH ($1)35. Calf of Man RCA108-12, Mex Olym, brown, 1968 VFNH ($1)36. Calf of Man RCA 114-18, Mex Olym, orange, 1968 VFNH ($1)37. Lundy RLU 154-56, 3 commems, WSC 1965, VFNH ($2)38. Lundy RLU 154-56, 3 comms in min. sheets of 12 stamps w/marginal

marks, attractive VFNH ($16)39. Nagaland, 2 commem ovpt on JFK, 7th ann of death WSC, VFNH ($1)40. Nagaland 1 SS ovpt on JFK, 7th ann of WSC death, VFNH ($1)41. Pabay RPA 197-200, "Emer. Strike Post," VFNH ($1)42. As above imp, VFNH ($2)

continued

18

MEMBERS CLASSIFIEDClassified ads of any reasonable size are free to

members. Please type your ad on a plain sheet ofpaper or print clearly. Deadline for advertisementcopy: Winter issue (#50) 1 December, Spring issue(#51) 1 March.

WANTEDWinston S. Churchill/His Memoirs & Speeches

1918-1945, London Records 1964, Decca RecordCo., London. Would like to purchase entire recordcollection. Paul S. King, Three Wells, Georgetown,Mass. 01833 USA. Telephone (617) 352-7473 after8 PM.

Churchilliana Co. Book Bulletins from 1974through 1977, originals or photocopies.Marlborough US first Vol 5 (swap for Vol 6 orBritish Vol 2 fine); Lloyd George's War MemoirsUS first Vol 6; Second World War 1954 ChartwellEdition; Macmillan's Pointing the Way US first/dj.R. Langworth, Putney House, Contoocook, NH03229 USA, (603) 746-5606 days.

FOR SAL*,Memorabilia: small toby jug (mint); Huntley &

Palmers biscuit tin, 8x10, full portrait (excellent);Churchill issue 8/65 of National Geographic, finewith record. Best offer. Van Roubaud, PO Box 702,Laconia NH 03247, (603) 524-8524.

The Finest Hours, Jack LaVien's documentaryon the life of WSC, features newsreel footage alongwith some feature film clips and original locationshooting, color and B&W. British, 1964. Was$59.95, now $19.95. Specify VHS (#87301X) orBeta (#873001), add $2.50 postage and handling.Publishers Central Bureau, 1 Champion Avenue,Avenel, New Jersey 07001.

' 'My Early Life'' on Cassette. More than 1500other titles, call for free brochure, toll free (800)626-3333 or write Books on Tape, Box 7900,Newport Beach Calif. 92660.

Books by and about Sir Winston Churchill.Malakand Field Force, bound sets, ephemera,photographs, letters, books about, et al. Send forlist to David B. Mayou, 30 Denmark Road. LondonW13 8RG, England.

ANNOUNCING COVER #26: 40TH ANNIVERSARY, END OF WW2

Despite many celebrations of the D-Dayand V-E Day Anniversaries, hardly anyonebesides ourselves marked 2 September1945—the day Japan signed the final surrenderwhich ended the Second World War. We hadplanned to issue one cover, postmarked first inLondon, then flown to Washington via Con-corde to be postmarked again with a new set ofUS stamps. The lack of a Concorde flight onthe day prevented this, so we teamed with Ar-lington Supplies in London to produce about240 each of a separate British and Americancover. (Had we known we'd have to do that,we would have run off a few in Ottawa andCanberra!)

Dave Marcus produced a striking cachetin raised thermo-engraved dark blue ink, usingthe design of the 1942 USA "Win the War"stamp, which is one of the stamps affixed tothe US covers. (The other two are the Chur-

chill commemorative and a 14C definitive.)The British cover uses the appropriate 1984Europa commemorative with colors that strik-ingly match the cachet art. The explanatorystuffer inside each cover is also in dark blue.

How to obtain: Covers are free tomembers. If you write for this pair, we willput you on the automatic mailing list for futurecovers so that you will not have to write againas they appear. Where to write: In UK, 88AFranklin Ave., Tadley, Basingstoke RG266EU. In Australia, 8 Regnans Ave.,Endeavour Hills, Victoria 3802. Everywhereelse: Dave Marcus, 221 Pewter Lane, SilverSprings, MD 20904 USA.

Many earlier covers are also availablefrom ICS Stores. See listing under"philatelic" heading on page 23. Please writeto ICS Stores for all back-issue covers and notto Dave Marcus.

NEW MEMBERSAUSTRALIANSW/Strathfield, E.J. Britton

CANADABC/Vancouver, Frank P. Bernard, Thos. E. Ladner;Albta/Calgary, Capt. Chris Krisinger, Lt. J.R.Grodzinski (both new addresses); Ont/Gloucester,Mrs. Joanne Johnston; Ont/Toronto, E.R.Moorhouse II (moved), Silas S. Salter.

ISRAELRishon Le-Zion, Shmuel Rotem

UNITED KINGDOMKent/Tonbridge, The Viscount De L'Isle, VC, KG

UNITED STATESCA/Canoga Park, Steve Peters; CA/Hawthorne,E.P. O'Brien; CA/Sepulveda, Francis L. Harding;CT/Woodstock, Richard F. Potter; DE/Wil-mington, Chas. Brandt, Jr.; GA/Valdosta, J.E.Jarvis, Jr.; IL/Savannah, Walter I. Shrake;KS/Lawrence, Hal Elliott Wert; MA/Eastham,Ian Aitchison (moved); MA/Orange, Robt. W.Leach; NJ/Bridgewater, Richard C. Evans;NJ/Mendham, Shirley J. Stake; NJ/Rutherford,Anthony Lancia; NY/NY Edwin F. Russell;NY/Staten Island, Roger Femenella; OH/Cincin-nati, Thomas Brinkman, Jr. & Patrick McElhaney;TN/Memphis, Don Acree; TN/Nashville, DonaldBathrick, Jr. & Joseph C. Bullock; WI/Milwaukee,William P. Straub; Wl/Silver Lake, Paul Konicek.

UPCOMING EVENTSToronto, 30 November 1985: The Chur-

chill Society for the Advancement ofParliamentary Democracy holds its SecondAnnual Dinner at the Royal York Hotel,Toronto, with guest speaker Dr. J. AustinRanney of the American Enterprise Institutefor Public Policy Research, Washington.CASPD will present its second "Award forExcellence in Parliamentary Service" to theRt. Hon. Roland Michener, former CanadianGovernor General. For ticket informationplease contact F.B. Watt, 174 SheldrakeBlvd., Toronto, Ontario M4P 2B5.

Vancouver, 3-5 October 1986: The Inter-national Churchill Society is pleased to announcethat its 1986 Annual General Meeting will takeplace on October 3-5th, hosted by the SirWinston S. Churchill Society of Vancouver,all of whose members are members of ICS.The convention, which will hopefully coincidewith Expo '86, will be highlighted by the Van-couver Society's traditional black tie dinnerwith military band. Watch Finest Hour for fur-ther details and guest speaker announcements.

43. Pabay RPA 57-60 WSC, JFK gold foil, 1967 VFNH ($2)44 Pabav RPA 61, SS as above, VFNH ($2)45' Pabay RPA 33-36, 4 vals ovpt for WSC VFNH ($1)46 Pabay RPA 80-83 WSC London views, VFNH ($1)47' Pabay PA 84, SS WSC, London views, VFNH ($1)48 Sanda RS34-37, WSC, London scenes, VFNH ($1)49 Sanda as above, SS VFNH ($1)50 Sanda RS93-96, WSC & scenes, 1967 VFNH ($1)51 Sanda RS97, as above SS VFNH ($1)52' Soay RSY17-22 comm, Europa ovtp WSC, 1965 VFNH ($1)

53. Soay, as above SS VFNH ($1)54. Staffa 4 commen, 1969 issue ovpt in silver for WSC, 1972 VFNH ($1)55. Staffa SS, Apollo XV module & WSC VFNH ($1)56. Stroma RST44-SS, imp ovpt WSC VFNH ($1)57. Stroma RST47-50, WSC London scenes, 1968 VFNH ($1)58. Stroma RST47-50, WSC London scenes, imp VFNH ($1)59. Stroma ST 128-33, dog iss., ovtp WSC 5th ann death, 1970 VFNH ($1)60. Stroma RST134-39, fish iss, ovtp 5th ann death WSC VFNH ($4)61. Stroma RST160-63, Emer Strike Post, imp VFNH ($1)62. Thomond 3 SS diamond shape stamps, ovpt WSC VFNH ($1)

19

Churchill in StampsBY RICHARD M. LANGWORTH

PACKS 37-42: SOUTH AFRICA TO PARLIAMENTThe first three pages (omplete Section I of the biography: the last

three begin Section 2, entitled "Ascendancy, " which will run all thewa) to 1940. Concerning Churchill's Boer War adventure's there isplenty of material available among standard WSC commemorative1,; todocument Ins lecture tour to America and entry into Parliament, there nnone—but some excellent Churchill-related stamps suffice. Cataloguenumbers are Scott (#) and Stanley Gibbons (sg).

37. South Africa #79-80 and #112 fsg 80-81 and 111) appropriate!) il-lustrate the Great Trek, the Boers' traditional claim to their territory,source of pride to a nation in rebellion against the British bmpire. TheIsle of Man Churchill Centenary stamp, #48 (sg 54). covers the stagger-ing defeat at Colcn.su where Manx bugler Dunne became a hero. TheBhutan Churchill overprints of 1965 (#42•44/45. sg 45/46/48) have norelation to the subject but serve to till space.

38. Agreement now seems general that the famous '"Wanted" posterwas a latterday souvenir, but I wish someone would explain why thisis. I realize copies were printed with a later caption at the bottom, butdid not WSC have a copy of the original at Chartwell? The famousphoto of WSC at the lime has him with moustache (Fujiera Minkus 69.sg 69) and without (Great Britain #731. sg 965).

39. The famous escape route is neatly provided via Antigua #352 (sg411) and its Barbuda overprint. Minkus 208 (sg 201). South Alrica#235 (sg 184) conveniently depicts Botha and Smuts at left; both wouldbe mixed up wiih Churchill tor many years and Botha's troops (but notBotha himself, despite erroneous claims) were those who arrestedChurchill after the armoured train incident. South Africa #1 (sg 1) com-memorates the first Union Parliament in 1910 while Cape of GoodHope #59/61 (sg 67'9). Natal #79 (sg 111) and Transvaal #170 wereUnion republic stamps current at the time. (I still need one from theOrange River Colony.)

40. Section 2 begins with WSC's entry into Parliament via the Oldhamby-eleclion, adequately illustrated by Sharjah Minkus 214 (sg 202). Thephoto is of Winston arriving at the Durban quayside from LourcncoMarques after escape.

41. Aside from Brunei #193 (sg 203) -which shows an older Churchillstriking a WW2 pose, but seemed close enough in demeanor to youngWinston—all slumps illustrating his American lecture lour are C-relatedtypes. Those he met in USA included Teddy Roosevelt, who didn'tmuch like him (Cuba #610. -.« '.'): Mark Twain, who failed him "theperfect man" (USA #863, .sg 860); and then-current President WilliamMcKinley whom he '"considerably impressed" (USA #559, sg 567).Canada's colorful Christmas 1898' issue, showing the '"world paintedred," illustrates the extent of ihe Hnipirc at this time: it is #86 (.sg 167):Canada #85 also works.

42. The lack of Churchill commenioratives portraying a younger WSCcontinues to plague philatelic biographers of the early period. Anguilla#197 (sg 185) is obviously out of place chronologically, but the skylineof Parliament and St. Stephens Tower are appropriate. C-ieljteit stampsideal for the entry into Parliament are all British: #753 (sg 988) is anoverhead view; #705 (sg 939) is a schematic plan drawing of appealingdesign; #422-23 (sg 663-64) commemorate the 700th Anniversary ofParliament in 1965.

A continuing scries

37

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ASCENDANCY

WINSTON ACROSS THE VELDT!

At large in Pretoria, Churchill hopped the first freight trainout of town. His destination: the Portuguese colony of LourencoMarques, and the coast. Hidden in a mineshaft by the only pro-British resident in his path (the typical Churchill luck), hearrived safely across the border buried in a boxcar. He returnedhome a hero, and in his next election, he couldn't lose.

AMERICA 1900: "PROFIT, NOT PLEASURE"

To provide himself with a financial base (for Members of Par-liament were not then salaried), Winston arranged a strenuouslecture tour for his second visit to America. The Empire wasat its height, and he came as an Imperialist; but his sense offairness and admiration of the Boers won over his audiences.

Churchill1sroute fromDurban tothe ambush,from Pretoriato the coastand back toDurban.

Boer GeneralLouis Botha•stroops hadcaptured WSC.By 1906 theyhad becomefirm friends,and Bothainsured Boerloyalty whenthe Republicof SouthAfrica wasformed in1910.

41

Left: Louis Botha. Secondfrom left: Jan Smuts,another longtime colleague.

He met TeddyRoosevelt,who took, anInstant dis-like. TR saidWSC was "arather cheapcharacter."But TR likedWSC's books!

Mark Twainintroduced WSCin New York,alluding tohis mixedparentage: "Ipresent toyou the per-fect man."

In WashingtonChurchill methis first USPresident. Hewas "consider-ably impressed"with McKinley.

The ContemporaryBritish Empire

ASCENDANCY

THE ESCAPE INTO FAME

The bands were still playing "See! The Conquering Hero Comes!"when, six months after his escape, Churchill ran again forParliament. He won handily. He was, H.A. Grunwald wrote, "Thehero of the hour. A press hungry for good news blazoned thetale of the one plucky Englishman whou could outwit the Boers.Dignitaries pumped his hand; crowds lined the streets to cheerhim.1' From that day forward, he was never far from the spotlight.

AT HOME

He knew the House of Commons as few newcomers knew it, andwithin himself he realized he was home. He took easily to thetime honored language of the House: "Rt Hon Friend" for membersof his own party, "Rt Hon Gentleman" for members of the Oppo-sition, "Rt Hon and Gallant Gentleman" for members who held theQueen's Commission, "Rt Hon and Learned Gentleman" for thosewho possessed special academic qualifications.

40

Postal portraitsof WSC in thisperiod are rare,but he is oftenpictured incompany withParliament. Achild of theHouse of Commons,1'John F. Kennedywould say 63 yearslater, "he becameits father."

Tumultous crowdslined the quay-side at Durbanto welcomeChurchill afterhis long trekto freedom.

42

Long studyof Hansard,the Parlia-mentaryDebates, hadgiven youngWinston agrasp andlove forParliamentwhich wouldexpress it-self all hislife. Fromthe begin-nlng, he wasa "House ofCommons Man."

Reviewing Churchill Edited by John G. Plumpton130 Collingsbrook Blvd, Agincourt, Ont. M1W 1M7

The River War

Various River War editions. Left to right: Volume I of the first edition, published 1900; the secondcheap edition of 1933; a 1951 reprint of same (with remainder jacket—WSC was not knighted in1951); and New English Library paperback (just reprinted in 1985.)

The River War, An Historical Account OfThe Reconquest Of The Soudan. Edited byCol. F. Rhodes, D.S.O. Published in 2volumes by Longmans, Green and Co. inLondon on 6 November 1899 and in NewYork on 9 December 1899. (Woods A2)

The Athenaeum, London, 2 December 1899This lengthy work is of most unequal

merit. The first volume which supplies "ageneral survey of the geography, aspect andhistory of the country" and relates the firsttwo years of the reconquest of the Soudan, isdecidedly good; the style also is of remarkableexcellence. The second volume, which givesthe author's own experience of the Omdurmanportion of the war, is markedly inferior. Hisaggressive criticisms are of little value and heposes conspicuously as a military critic, but hisexperience has been short and for the mostpart that of an amateur. Had three-fourths ofthe contents of the second volume, occasionallyquite irrelevant, been eliminated, the workwould have gained largely in value.

Although several instances justify his un-sympathetic portrayal of General Charles Gor-don, many will think he has been distinctly un-just to their hero. While some will endorse hisremarks on the character of the Dervish Em-pire, they are in strange contrast with hisobservations on the Mahdi and his more brutalsuccessor, the Khalifa. The explanation, per-haps, is to be found in his anxiety to prove thathe rises above the prejudices of older men.

Readers should be cautious as to accepting

without examination all Mr. Winston Chur-chill's views about Lord Kitchener. The writerand the performer have little in common, andit is possible that the former may be misledsometimes by ignorance or biased by personaldislike or perhaps a casual snub.

The author rode with the 21st Lancers intheir headlong charge at Omdurman. Asregards his personal experience, Churchillwrites:

' 'The whole scene flickered exactly likea cinematograph picture; and, besides, Iremember no sound. The event seemedto pass in absolute silence. The yells ofthe enemy, the shouts of the soldiers, thefiring of many shots, the clashing ofsword and spear, were unnoticed by thesenses, unregistered by the brain. Severalothers say the same. Perhaps it is possiblefor the whole of a man's faculties to beconcentrated in the eye, bridle-hand andtrigger-finger, and withdrawn from allother parts of the body."

The public are apt to think that after Omdur-man nothing of importance took place. In addi-tion to the Fashoda incident there was sharpfighting which was decidedly creditable to theofficers who led the troops who followed.

The Nation, New York, 15 February 1900The reconquest of the Egyptian Sudan was

a military achievement remarkable first of allfor the fact that unvarying and complete suc-

cess attended every movement during the ad-vance from 1896 to 1899. The success wasmainly due to one man endowed with extraor-dinary organizing genius, seconded by ableand zealous subordinates. The obstaclespresented by the Nile, the desert, climate,cholera and, above all, a foe well-armed andably led and always in superior numbers, wereformidable indeed.

The salient features of the "river war"are clearly brought out in Mr. Winston Chur-chill's interesting volumes. His qualificationsfor his task as an historian are a militaryeducation, active service in the Indian frontierwar, of which he wrote an account, goodpowers of observation, and the gift (a clear in-heritance from his father, Lord RandolphChurchill) of a facile descriptive style,somewhat boyishly exuberant and discursive,but highly graphic. We are also reminded ofhis father in the entire frankness of hiscriticisms of the strategy of the generals—notexcepting Lord Kitchener himself—an act ofrare courage in a subaltern.

A brief sketch of the rebellion of theMahdi, Gordon's part in it, the history of theDervish Empire and the preparations for itsoverthrow, is followed by an account, ingreater or lesser detail, of every important stepin the advance of the Anglo-Egyptian army.The attention is mainly directed, of course, tothe actions.

Our author is not at his best when describ-ing the campaign in which he took part. Notunnaturally he dwells at too great length on theincidents, sometimes trivial, of which he wasan eye-witness. His account of the battle ofOmdurman, especially, suffers for this reason,though there are some striking pictures to befound in it.

The impression of the Sirdar [Kitchener]left by the narrative is forcible and not marredby too indiscriminate praise. He appearsthroughout a stern, unsympathetic man, un-moved in threatened disaster or in brilliantsuccess, fertile in resources, with eye keen toobserve the smallest details in every depart-ment; a martinet but not a slave to red tape. Inthis particular his methods are in marked con-trast to those of some other English com-manders.

The history appropriately ends with atribute to one whose name seldom appears inits pages, but to whom possibly even morethan to the Sirdar, belongs the chief credit of agreat achievement. In developing and civiliz-ing the Sudan, Churchill says, "To persevereand trust Lord Cromer is the watchword of theEnglishman in Egypt."

22

ICS STORESSpecial Prices to Members on Churchilliana, Sundries & Ephemera. Proceeds help support the work of the Society.

Order from: ICS, c/o Sue Hefner, 134 North Woodlawn, Lima, Ohio 45805 USAPostpaid prices are given in USA, UK, Canadian & Australian currency; your personal cheque in these currencies welcome.

NEW CHURCHILL NEEDLEPOINT 'ACTION THIS DAY" LABELS

Beautiful original needlepoint kit created byDonna Johnson of ICS. Makes a lovely wallhanging —or a perfect throw-pillow to warnpoachers off your favorite easy-chair. WSCappears in traditional profile with bowtie,initials, dates and slogan as above. Color:black on white. Size: l ivi x 15 inches.• #103 Canvas alone, postpaid: USA $25,UK £21, Canada C$36, Australia AS40.• #104 The full kit (yarn, needle, canvas,instructions). Postpaid: USA $39, UK £33,Canada C$55, Australia A$60.

EFFANBEE CHURCHILL DOLL• #101 In stock for immediate shipment, ahandsome, hand-crafted collector doll by thefamous New York producer, Effanbee. Sir Win-ston wears his spotted bowtie, Homburg,correct formal attire and gold watchchain,carries a cigar in one hand and flashes a V-signwith the other. Low production limited editionassures that its value will appreciate. Our supplylimited—order soon. Size: 16% inches. Listprice $100+. ICS postpaid price: USA $68,UK £56, Canada C$92, Australia A$103.(Overseas sent surface-parcel.)

NEW ICS CHRISTMAS CARDSAND NOTE CARDS

• #108 Reproductions of WSC's famous war-time label. Perfect for tax returns! Black &orange, 3 x 1% inches. Pad of 1Q0 postpaid:USA $3, UK £3, Canada C$4, Australia A$5.

MIRRORPIC CIGARETTE CARDS

• #109 Rare originals by Mirrorpic/England,full set of 50 depicts WSC life scenes, Ppd:USA $20, UK £17, Canada C$27, Aus. A$32.

WSC LIBRARY CREDO

W O W 111 all llmr uarttljl urr uftn

tl|r mrnllB till mlmh riiitluattiiu mail

br tarriri"! trtilmtiliaiilUi fiirumrtl.

• #113 Printed on buff parchment. Postpaid:USA $2, UK £2, Canada C$2.75, Aus. A$3.

FINEST HOUR BACK ISSUES• #114 Full set numbers 1-40 (some early onesphotocopied) postpaid: USA $98, UK £80,CanadaC$133, Australia A$150.• Single copies: Numbers #17, 24, 26, 30-36,38 to date. Each, postpaid: USA $3, UK £3,Canada C$4, Australia A$5.

Silhouette artist Elizabeth Baverstock (see FH#48p. 6) has kindly donated her elegant Churchillsilhouette art to our UK chapter for use on thesehandsome Christmas and note cards. Each measures4x6" with the cover silhouette framed by an em-bossed border.

#115 Christmas Cards. Inside is a Christmasgreeting at right, facing Sir Winston's Christmas1941 greetings as broadcast from the White House.Packets of 10 cards and envelopes, postpaid: USA$5, Canada $6. (In UK & Australia, order directfrom your local ICS office—see page 2 for address.These cards omit the White House greeting.)

#116 Note Cards. As above but blank inside fornotes/letters. Packets of 10, same prices as above:USA $5, Canada $6.

ICS HANDBOOK SUPPLEMENTSEach 4-page supplement, postpaid: USA $1,

UK £ l , Canada C$1.50, Australia A$2:• Section I (Stamps) Numbers 1,2,3, &4.• Section II (Books) Numbers 1,2,3,4,5.• Section III (Membership) Number 1

CACHETED ENVELOPES• New all-purpose ICS cachet 3V2X6, thermo-engraved, pack of 25.

Each pack, postpaid: USA $7, UK £5.80,Canada C$9, Australia A$10.

PHILATELIC

ICS COMMEMORATIVE COVERS. Limited edition covers issued by ICSin the past, all of which have long been collectors items. Supplies of somevery limited. Each cover bears a special cachet, plus Churchill or C-re-lated stamps of the country of issue, and contains a descriptive insertwith information on the anniversary celebrated. Postpaid including over-seas airmail: USA $3, UK £2.75, Canada C$4, Aus. A$5.

#5 30th Anniv. 1st UN Conference, Washington 28 Dec 71#8 10th Anniv. Honorary US Citizenship, Washington 3 Apr 73-- Unveiling WSC Statue, hand-drawn cachet, London 19~73 (25 exist)#9 Opening Centenary Exhibit, Somerset House London 10 May 74#10 10th Anniv. WSC's Last Visit to Commons, London 27 Jul 74#1 la Hoover-Churchill Centenary, London 10 Aug 74#12 100th Year of WSC's Birth, hand cancel, London 9 Oct 74.#12a As above, but Somerset House postmark in blue ink.#12b As above, but Somerset House postmark in black ink.#13 Last Day of Centenary Exhibit, hand cancel, London 14 Oct 74#15 100th Anniv. WSC's Birth, Washington 30 Nov 74#17 100th Anniv. WSC's Birth, Jersey, Channel Isles 30 Nov 74

#20 40th Anniv. El Alamein, Battleground, Virginia 4 Nov 82#20a As above but limited edition Churchill, Maryland cancel.#21 75th Wedding Anniv., Winston/Clementine, London 12 Sep 83.#22 40th Anniv. D-Day, Normandy Beach, New Jersey 6 June 84#23 40th Anniv. Battle of the Bulge, Patton, California 26 Dec 84#24 85th Anniv. Escape from Boers, 6 S. Africa stamps/cancels, 1984#25a 40th Anniv. V-E Day, Churchill, Ont. 8 May 1985#25b As above, Dominica stamps & cancel, 8 May 1985

PHILATELIC ODDS AND ENDS: Each of the following packages costsUS $3, UK £3, Canada C$4, Australia A$5, postpaid, airmail overseas:• El Alamain blank covers, ICS cover #20, green cachet, lot of 17.• Art Craft Churchill Maxi-Cards, thcrmo-engraved WSC portrait, witheither US or UK stamps, canceled at Fulton or London.• Isle of Man Churchill Centenary 1974 first day covers• Essex Stamp Show Churchill Centenary valid postcard June 1984• Australia Churchill Stamp on Nov 1973 cacheted covers, 2 different• Cover marking 20th Anniv. WSC's funeral, 30 Jan 1985• Cafe Royal cancel Centenary cover, octoganal machin S/Sheet• Turks & Caicos & Gibraltar Centenary cacheted envelopes, in pairs.

23

Action This Day BY JOHN PLUMPTON130 Collingsbrook Blvd.

Agincourt, Ontario M1W 1M7

AUTUMN 1885: AGE 11As Secretary of State for India, Lord Randolph Churchill became in-

creasingly irritated as Queen Victoria lobbied to have her son, the Dukeof Connaught, appointed to the Bombay Command. Winston laterreported that Lord Randolph "resisted the appointment with anobstinate determination." What the son could not reveal, for obviousreasons, was that his father had developed an active distrust of theRoyal Family. In Randolph's view, "in actual hostilities Royal Dukes area source of great embarrassment, discontent and danger." This disputeoccasioned Lord Randolph's first resignation from Lord Salisbury'sCabinet, but it was quickly withdrawn.

A more important issue was the question of Home Rule for Ireland.Churchill thought it impossible but agreed to meet the Irish half wav.When they declined to reciprocate, he kept his own counsel and saidlittle publicly on the issue.

In the November General Election, Lord Randolph was defeated byJohn Bright in Birmingham despite the active involvement of LadyRandolph and the Duchess of Marlborough. One voter told Lady Ran-dolph, "I like your husband and I like what he says. But I can't throwoff John Bright like an old coat." Churchill was elected in South Pad-dington the next day.

Back in school in Brighton, Winston asked his mother for "half aquid or 10 bob if you know what that is." He also enquired about avisit from his lather, but after Lord Randolph made a political trip toBrighton without visiting his son, Winston wrote him, "1 cannot thinkwhy you did not come to see me . . . I was very disappointed, but 1suppose you were too busy."

AUTUMN 1935: AGE 61On 1 September Churchill left for a holiday at Maxine Elliot's villa

in the south of France. For relaxation he painted.World news was dominated by Mussolini's threat to invade

Abyssinia. Churchill advocated British support of League of Nations,action. But the real threat was still Nazi Germany which he saw as "anarmed camp . . . with a population being trained from childhood forwar." The Germans, anticipating his inclusion in a Baldwin Cabinet,gave prominence to his speeches. In response to a Churchill article inStrand, "The Truth About Hitler" (Woods C282), the Nazi leader ispurported to have said, "What is to be the fate of the Anglo-GermanNaval Agreement if the writer of this article is to be made a Minister ofthe British Navy?"

After the Tory victory in the November general election, however,WSC was not made a Minister. He had wanted to be First Lord, butBaldwin said to others, "If there is going to be war . . . we must keephim fresh to be our Prime Minister."

Before leaving for a Mediterranean holiday to work on Volume III ofMarlborough (A40) and draft chapters of A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (A138), he reviewed Duff Cooper's Haig, Volume I(C278): "Haig's mind . . . was thoroughly orthodox and conventional.He does not appear to have had any original ideas." He charged thatHaig did not make effective use of tanks, nor was he aware of othertheatres of war.

In an article in Collier's on Charlie Chaplin, Churchill wrote, "He isno mere clown. . . . He is a great actor who can tug at our heartstringsas surely as he compels our laughter."

AUTUMN 1910: AGE 36Social unrest dominated British political life at this time and, as

Home Secretary, WSC carried primary responsibility for governmentresponse to the ferment. Worker riots centered on the Welsh miningtown of Tonypandy. Churchill's actions earned him severe criticism ofboth the Left and the Right. The Left attacked him for excessive use offorce; the Right charged that he should have used troops, not police, toquell the disturbances.

The calling of an election killed the Conciliation Bill or theParliamentary Franchise (Women) Bill. On what the suffragettes calledBlack Friday (18 November) many women were beaten in ademonstration on Parliament Square. Despite Churchill's desire to pre-vent this, he was held responsible. On 22 November he supervisedpolice action in another demonstration at Downing Street. A lew dayslater, he was physically attacked by a male supporter of the suffragettes.For many years he was perceived as a special villain by many Laboursupporters and suffragettes.

He made prison reform a personal concern. He noted that sons ofthe working class faced jail terms for offenses which were perceived tobe manifestations of exuberant spirits in sons of other classes. He pro-posed time to pay debts instead of jail sentences. Capital punishmentcases caused him much anguish.

Bonar Law challenged Churchill to run against him in Manchester,the loser to stay out of the succeeding Parliament. Winston declined,ran and won in Dundee. Clementine helped, even to the extent ofmaking a short speech on the danger of an increased cost of living ifTariff Reform was introduced.

AUTUMN 1960: AGE 86In late summer Sir Winston and Lady Churchill flew to Venice to

join Aristotle Onassis' yacht Christina, for their second cruise, this timearound the Greek islands. Before embarking on Christina, they touredVenice's Grand Canal, to the delight of large crowds.

A favorite fellow-guest on the tour was Dame Margot Fonteyn, thecelebrated ballerina. A main occasion was a meeting with President Titoof Yugoslavia. Special events were an automobile tour of Crete, a dinnerparty given by the Crete Liberal leader, and visits to the ruins of KingMinos' palace at Knossos and the ruins at Corinth. The cruise ended atAthens, where the Churchills flew home to London.

After celebrating their 52nd Wedding Anniversary at Chartwellthey went to France to spend a month at the Hotel de Paris in MonteCarlo. Visitors to the Churchill suite included Charles de Gaulle, PrinceRainier and Princess Grace of Monaco and Somerset Maugham.Sometimes Sir Winston went out to visit Lord Beaverbrook's villa, orthe gaming tables at the Casino.

Following their return to London, Sir Winston suffered a fall atHyde Park Gate that resulted in his admission to St. Mary's Hospital,Paddington. Despite the fact that he had broken a small bone high up inhis neck he was up and walking again in three weeks, but he wasunable to attend the wedding of Edwina Sandys, his granddaughter.