July 24, 2013

AMPERSAND: FINEST HOUR 124, AUTUMN 2004

==================

Finest Hour 102 exploded the myth that Sir Alexander JL Fleming or his father (renditions vary) saved Churchill’s life twice. The first time is supposedly when the Flemings rescue young Winston from drowning in a Scottish loch. In gratitude Lord Randolph pays for young Alexander’s education, which in turn allows Fleming to save Churchill’s life again in 1943 by inventing penicillin.

Though neither part of it is true, the story has a life of its own, especially on the Internet. So we were pleased to see on the Churchill Centre Listserv a posse of wide-awake members who opted to reduce the latest outbreak to absurdity, combining the Fleming story with the tall tale of Churchill’s alleged parrot who is supposedly still alive and over 100 years old (FH 116:6, 117:4).

2024 International Churchill Conference

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

“And in gratitude for his education, Fleming gave Churchill a parrot…” —Todd Ronnei

“…and the parrot has lived so long because it received penicillin when ill.” —John Danielson

“The parrot went on the BBC and imitated Norman Shelley imitating Churchill reading his speeches, because Churchill was busy plotting the Pearl Harbor attack with Roosevelt and Yamamoto…” —Jonah Triebwasser

“…but the parrot’s great act was convincing Churchill to firebomb Dresden after failing to convince him to evacuate Coventry before the impending bombing of which Enigma had warned him.” —Conrad Risher

“The parrot, aged only 27 in 1926, earlier caused the General Strike by issuing a broadcast, purportedly from Prime Minister Baldwin, accusing the mineworkers of a socialist uprising. This resulted when as Chancellor of the Exchequer Churchill returned Britain to the Gold Standard as part of a plot to bankrupt capitalist Britain. Churchill only pretended to be anti-communist, as his 1941 pact with Stalin proved.” —RML 

 

A tribute, join us

#thinkchurchill

Subscribe

WANT MORE?

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