June 1, 2015

Finest Hour 107, Summer 2000

Page 29

By EDWARD W. FITZGERALD

Young Winston was a devoted collector of diminutive military, as we know from his collection on display at Blenheim. We can only imagine what he would make out of latter-day collections built entirely out of miniature Churchills—clad in khaki as well as mufti.

William Manchester describes Winston Spencer Churchill as “adventurer, aristocrat, soldier, statesman.” Add to these: author and politician. But above all, we know Winston Churchill as the wartime prime minister who, at age 66, led England and inspired her allies to victory against the Axis powers.

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Referring to himself as “an English-Speaking Union,” Churchill was born to the former Jennie Jerome of New York and Lord Randolph Churchill of Oxford, at Blenheim Palace on 30 November 1874. He died in London on 24 January 1965- In the intervening ninety years he twice served as prime minister of Great Britain and wrote over forty books, winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953. His wit was legendary, as witness his description of Clement Attlee, who succeeded him as prime minister (1945-1951): “A modest man, with much to be modest about.” The American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, whose words were later used by President John Kennedy in making the then-Sir Winston an honorary U.S. citizen, said Churchill “mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.”

As a youngster Churchill had a considerable collection of toy soldiers which he frequently arranged into elaborate battle scenes. How appropriate then to review the figures depicting Churchill in his many miniature appearances as a soldier and statesman.

Churchilll’s myriad roles were nicely summarized in 1993, when Gerry Ford Design produced the set of four figures shown above. Here Churchill appears in a variety of guises that represent distinct phases of his career:

1897—Young Winston as a Lieutenant of the 4th Hussars. Later, Churchill was seconded to the 21st Lancers, where he led a charge of cavalry against the Dervish hordes at the Battle of Omdurman.

1900—Lt. Churchill in the uniform of the South African Light Horse in the Boer War, following his capture and storied escape from the Boers in December 1899.

1916—After resigning from the government in May 1915 over the Gallipoli operations, Churchill, now a Lt. Colonel, was appointed to command the Sixth Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in the trenches of France. He served at the front until he resumed his presence in the House of Commons in April 1916. The French poilu‘s blue helmet was his preferred headgear during this period.

1940—Now in mufti, Churchill appears as Britain’s prime minister attired in his typical dress of morning suit, bow tie and Homburg, with the omnipresent cigar. Speaking in the Commons on 4 June 1940, he rallied his people with his famous, “….We shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…”

Young Winston

In 1993, Britains Ltd, produced 54mm mounted sets of the 4th Hussars (left) and the 21st Lancers (right) as Churchill may have appeared when commissioned from Sandhurst into the 4th Hussars (light cavalry) or in the field with the 21st Lancers (heavy cavalry) at Omdurman.

In the early 1990s, Trophy of Wales marked the upcoming centenary of the Battle of Omdurman with a vignette of Churchill as a 21st Lancer in September 1898. He was portrayed mounted, firing his model 98 Mauser pistol with effect at one of the 50,000 dervishes arrayed against the Anglo-Egyptian army. In the event, he dispatched at least three of the enemy with the Mauser which he was forced to utilize instead of his sword because of an injured shoulder. He later credited this fact with possibly saving his life. As war correspondent he later wrote, “The weapons, methods and fanaticism of the Middle Ages were brought…into dire collision with the organization and inventions of the 19th century.”

In the same period Trophy made a figure of Churchill dismounted, holding his pistol, which was supplied with a wooden holster that could be fitted to the pistol as a stock to form into a carbine.

In 1996, Carl Hoegermeyer made limited edition figures of Winston the war correspondent, now armed with a pencil and writing tablet. Churchill started as a correspondent for London’s Daily Telegraph in 1897 with the Malakand Field Force, made famous later by the book he wrote in 1898. When the Boer War broke out in late 1899, Churchill was engaged by the Morning Post to cover it for the excellent sum of £250 per month. It was while he was “covering” the Boer War that he heroically helped save the wounded during a Boer ambush and was captured in the melee. His subsequent escape by train from prison in Pretoria made him famous. In his Story of the Malakand Field Force, Churchill wrote, “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”

World War II

Nothing exists portraying Churchill between the Boer War and 1940 except Gerry Ford’s miniature with French helmet (page 29). But much, of course, was inspired by Churchill’s World War II premiership. In 1998, Fusilier produced an elegantly turned out figure depicting Churchill c. September 1939 when he had just returned to the British government as First Lord of the Admiralty. A signal was allegedly flashed to the fleet: “Winston is back.” Observe the light grey waistcoat and trousers, which would be very unusual attire for Churchill, who preferred darker hues.

In 1994, Messrs. Chas. Stadden produced a large, 90mm figure of Churchill in his customary civilian garb, but carrying gloves instead of a cigar. This was part of their “Leaders of World War II” series to commemorate Allied success in 1944, including the Normandy landings which were supported by the Mulberry Harbours which Churchill had helped to conceive. Stadden’s figure is finished in matte, the pose taken from a picture of Churchill on 3 September 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland.

Sphere of St. Petersburg, Russia produced a matte-finished 54mm figure of Churchill in 1999. Inspired by a famous photograph, the PM is striding purposefully on his way to the Admiralty, cane and gloves in hand, his cigar clenched firmly in his mouth. The standard of painting is so outstanding that a ring even appears on his right hand as he was accustomed to wearing it!

In 1995, Paul LeGreco of The Toy Soldier Collection in Galena, Illinois made a 54mm figure inspired by the famous picture of Mr. Churchill “inspecting a Tommy gun,” taken on 31 July 1940. The Germans used this photograph to make an Al Capone-like “wanted” poster of the Prime Minister, but the picture was regarded in Britain as symbolic of resistance to Nazi tyranny.

On 13 May 1940, Winston Churchill gave his first speech as prime minister to the House of Commons: “You ask what is our aim?…Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be.” Two generations later, 54mm figures were produced flashing the signature “V” for Victory sign by Marlborough in 1987 and King and Country in 1995. The 75mm figure in the center is a composition made by Durso of Belgium, ca. 1944-1947.

The Big Three at Teheran

The capital of what Churchill invariably called Persia (Iran), is located about 100 miles south of the Caspian Sea. Here the Big Three, Generalissimo Josef Stalin (1879-1953), President Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945) and Churchill met together for the first time. (The trio was to meet once again at Yalta in 1945.)

For months leading up to the Conference, Stalin had been badgering his British and American allies to open up a second front in Europe to take the pressure off the Red Army. The principal agreement of the Teheran Conference was to target Spring 1944 for the cross-channel attack on Normandy, later known as Operation Overlord, which took place on June 6th. As an inducement to the Western Allies, Stalin pledged that the USSR would declare war on Japan following victory in Europe. The Generalissimo redeemed this promise on 8 August 1945—two days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

The Big Three at Teheran were recreated in 1/18th scale by Russian sculptor Sergey Zemkov, who lives in St. Petersburg. Zemkov portrayed Stalin smoking his familiar pipe; President Roosevelt, legs crossed, holding a cigarette; and Churchill with his familiar cigar and walking stick. It is an accurate depiction of this famous “photo op” almost six decades ago. The 3-inch-tall seated figures are finished in matte. Only Roosevelt is wearing civilian attire, a light grey double breasted suit. Stalin is in Soviet uniform with blue trousers striped in crimson, grey tunic and blue peaked cap. His only decoration appears to be the Star of a Hero of the Soviet Union. Churchill wears his blue RAF honorary Air Commodore’s uniform with a full array of ribbons. Working from photographs, Zemkov accurately captures Churchill’s slouched posture. Marking an important event in the war, this work is unique.

Although Zemov’s is the most famous portrayal of Churchill in his Royal Air Force uniform, it appears on at least two other miniatures, both 54mm. Alymer of Spain portrayed WSC flashing a “V” sign, and an unknown maker showed him with a cigar. In August 1940, as it was becoming apparent that the Battle of Britain was being won by the RAF, Churchill spoke of the nation’s gratitude, saying, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed, by so many, to so few.”

Painting and Retirement

In 1932, Churchill wrote, “Cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is therefore a policy of first importance to a public man.” Painting was his chief hobby. He started painting in 1915 and continued until the early 1960s. He refused to show his works in amateur shows as he thought of himself as a professional. Here in 54mm we see Churchill painting a picture of his home, Chartwell, another charming vignette produced in the 1990s by Red Box Soldiers. (I hope he doesn’t get ashes from the cigar in the paints.)

In 1999, Madame Tussaud’s and Corgi, the diecast vehicle manufacturer, combined to produce a “special edition sculpted hand-painted figure” in their new ICON series, showing Winston Churchill as he appears at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. The 75mm figure, attired in dark blue vest and coat with dark grey trousers and the signature polka dot bow tie, stands on a Perspex base. This pose must be from the end of the war, for he looks stooped and tired.

From Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Winston Churchill was a giant of the century. It is nice to find so many representations of him among soldierly miniatures.

Churchill Stores Figures

Tradition of London has recently issued three 60mm figures depicting Winston Churchill as Prime Minister, hatless, in typical poses: flashing the “V” for Victory sign, holding his cigar and grasping his walking stick. Each of this triumvirate, sculpted by David Scheinemann, is mounted on a nice round wooden base and is finished in matte. The painting is superbly detailed, probably with single-hair brushes; it includes even striped trousers and polka-dot bow ties and a white carnation adorning the lapels, though I can’t recall any photos of WSC sporting flowers. Each of these figures sells for $60 postpaid, a discount price, and proceeds support the work of The Churchill Center and Societies.

In February 1895, Churchill was gazetted as a subaltern to the 4th Hussars, a cavalry regiment which was formed in 1685. The regimental motto, “Mente et Manu” (Of Mind and Hand) was apposite, given Churchill’s wit and conspicuous writings.

Tradition of London has produced a splendid 90mm figure of a trooper in his dress 4th Hussars uniform, armed with a cavalry sabre. Copious gold braid adorns this dark blue uniform, complete with a brilliant red feather atop the seal fur busby, all finished in matte save his shiny black boots and sabre. At the request of Churchill Stores, Tradition has removed the earlier moustache, providing a clean-shaven figure more closely resembling young Winston.

A second 90mm Tradition figure is Churchill topped off with a homburg, striding along with cane and an enormous 13mm cigar in his right hand. It was no doubt about this cigar that Churchill said to his son, Randolph, “…of two cigars, pick die longest and strongest!” The figure is finished in matte and finely painted right down to the striped grey trousers. Both 90mm figures are attractively mounted on round wooden bases, and Churchill Stores offers them for $135 each in support of the Center and Societies.

Please order by number from Churchill Stores, PO Box 96, Contoocook NH 03229, tel. before 5PM: (603) 746-3452. Visa or Mastercard are accepted.

60mm figures: 550 (V-sign), 551 (Walking stick), #552 (holding cigar), $60 each, on wooden bases.

90mm figures: 553 (Civilian dress), 554 (4tli Hussar), $135 each, on wooden bases.

Mr. Fitzgerald is Vice President for Financial Planning of Boy’s Town, the pioneer home for boys in Omaha, Nebraska. A founding member of The Churchill Center, he has organized several meetings of CC members in Omaha. This is an extended version of a piece which first appeared in Old Toy Soldier, which we recommend to collectors: 209 North Lombard, Oak Park IL 60302-2503, tel. (708) 383-6525.