March 1, 2011

Location: Churchill Museum, London

A rare telegram and a small Graham Sutherland oil sketch, both on loan, are now on display in the Churchill Museum, housed within the Churchill War Rooms.

The telegram from 12 December 1899 relates to an incident in Churchill’s early career when he escaped from a prisoner of war camp in Pretoria after being captured by the Boers during the South African War. The police circulated his description in this telegram as ‘Pale features. Reddish-brown hair…speaks through his nose and cannot pronounce the letter S’.

Telegram lent by Hugh Bourn.

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024
More

The Sutherland sketch is of Churchill in old age. It is a study for a full-length portrait of Churchill, commissioned by Parliament in 1954. The finished painting was presented to Churchill but was destroyed by his wife Clementine, who hated the portrait. Sutherland’s sketches are all that remains.

Sketch lent by the National Portrait Gallery.

Both exhibits on display until November 2012.

Copyright © Imperial War Museum, National Portrait Gallery

A tribute, join us

#thinkchurchill

Subscribe

WANT MORE?

Get the Churchill Bulletin delivered to your inbox once a month.