May 12, 2013

Finest Hour 149, Winter 2010-11

Page 7

Datelines



Quotation of the Season

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“…the disposition to hunt down rich men Xas if they were noxious beasts…is a very attractive sport. [But] to hunt wealth is not to capture commonwealth. This money-gathering, credit-producing animal can not only walk—he can run. And when frightened he can fly. If his wings are clipped, he can dive or crawl. When in the end he is hunted down…confidence is shaken and enterprise chilled, and the unemployed queue up at the soup-kitchens or march out upon the public works with ever-growing expense to the taxpayer and nothing more appetizing to take home to their families than the leg or the wing of what was once a millionaire.”
—WSC, “While the world watches,” Collier’s, 1934, Reprinted as “Roosevelt from afar” In Great Contemporaries (Extended edition) 1938.

Provide for your Books

New York, November 1st— “What shall I do with my books?” Churchill asks in Thoughts and Adventures. It is a question we should all ponder, while there is still time.

In an article last November, Neal B. Freeman writes touchingly of the comprehensive library of the late William F. Buckley, Jr.: an eclectic assortment of books, from tomes on the harpsichord to biographies of Elvis Presley, from books inscribed to him to feverishly marked-up tomes relating to his own writing, to the classics he admired. Because he had not thought to leave specific instructions for its disposition, his library was broken up, scattered to the winds. Not everything reached an appreciative owner.

More practically, Freeman serves to remind anyone who has what Lord Morley considered “a few books” (fewer than 5000) to plan for their disposition. He certainly inspired me. Over the winter I will draft specific directions for the disposal of my own library, subject by subject from the Malakand Field Force to my complete run of Classics Illustrated comics. I will try to find the best possible homes.

For time, the churl, is running, and we must all recognize it. Neal Freeman conveys an ineffable sadness, for so many of us who loved and admired Bill, at the scattering of his library—remindful of what Churchill wrote about Arthur Balfour:

“I saw with grief the approaching departure, and—for all human purposes—extinction, of a being high uplifted above the common run. As I observed him regarding with calm, firm and cheerful gaze the approach of Death, I felt how foolish the Stoics were to make such a fuss about an event so natural and so indispensable to mankind. But I felt also the tragedy which robs the world of all the wisdom and treasure gathered in a great man’s life and experience and hands the lamp to some impetuous and untutored stripling, or lets it fall shivered into fragments upon the ground.” —RML

Peck on Website

Webmaster John Olsen has posted a memorable performance by Gregory Peck following the formation of The Churchill Centre in 1995, which was recently digitalized by Gary Garrison. Although we produced this video fifteen years ago, it represents what we set out to do. The filmography was underwhelming, but you can’t beat the voiceover:

Watch Part 1
Watch Part 2

The Pope on the Few

London, September 17th— Speaking at Westminster Hall, Pope Benedict XVI praised Britain’s historical achievements and addressed the current lapse into relativism. Reason and religion needed each other, he argued, if they were not to become ideology and fundamentalism respectively.

Two days later on Battle of Britain Sunday, he praised the young men of the RAF who courageously laid down their lives in 1940 resisting, he said, the “evil ideology” that had oppressed him among millions of others. The British have not been used lately to being praised by outsiders; indeed, they have largely forgotten all but the shameful episodes in their own history. So the Pope’s words had an impact.

Will relativism fall out of favor? Will the rights of conscience be successfully asserted against an implacable egalitarianism? No one will know these things for a long time… Not long after Princess Diana’s showbiz funeral had given the impression that Britain was sinking into a bath of sentimentality, the Queen Mother’s funeral, with its solemnity and religious language, rallied the British to an appreciation of their older and more substantial identity. Pope Benedict sought the same result in religious terms. Whether or not he ultimately succeeds, he has established that there is a large audience for truth and reason— perhaps a larger one than for their cheaply appealing opposites.
—John O’Sullivan in National Review

¡Viva Chile!

London, October 18th— Basking in the glory of the Chilean mine rescue, Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera began a state visit to Britain with a tour of the Churchill War Rooms. Sr. Piñera refrained from repeating the words “blood, toil, tears and sweat” from his boyhood hero’s 1940 speech, which he had kept at his side during the miners’ ordeal. But he sat in Churchill’s wooden chair and pulled from a suit pocket a sack containing a lump of rock taken from the San José mine, from which thirty-three miners were freed after sixty-nine days below ground. He also offered as a gift to the War Rooms’ director Phil Reed a facsimile of the first, red-lettered note saying “Estamos bien en el refugio, los trentetres” (“We are doing well in our refuge, the thirty-three.”) In return, Mr. Reed gave the President a book of Churchill’s quotations.

Overseen by Piñera in a 22-hour operation, at the end of which he hugged each miner as he emerged from the emergency chute bored 622 metres under the Atacama desert, the extraordinary rescue lifted his poll ratings and Chile’s international standing, providing the ideal springboard for his long-planned tour of Europe.

A billionaire businessman, the Harvard-educated economist hoped his visit would underline Chile’s transition from an insular dictatorship to a democratic economic power, and attract investment. He is also hoping to banish any lingering memories of Augusto Pinochet, the last Chilean head of state to make headlines in the UK during his arrest twelve years ago for murdering civilians during the 1970s.

President Piñera gave HM The Queen and Prime Minister Cameron fragments of the mine in bags bearing the legend: “In your hands are rocks from the depths of the earth and the spirit of thirty-three Chilean miners.” He later brought similar gifts to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But he chose the War Rooms for his first day in Europe.

The 60-year-old, who said he was currently re-reading Churchill’s The Second World War, was shown the Cabinet Room, the Map Room, WSC’s private quarters and the Churchill Museum. He also met Churchill’s granddaughter, Celia Sandys, 67. “Chile,” Piñera said, “has given a good example of the real meaning of commitment, courage, faith, hope and unity. We did it because we were united. We did it because we were convinced. We did it because we would never leave anyone behind, which is a good principle for Chile and for the world.”
—Martin Hickman in The Independent

Somervell Award 2010

Chicago, October 15th— Neville Bullock’s “Eye-Witness to Potsdam” (Finest Hour 145) was selected by the FH editorial board for the 2010 Somervell Award, for the best article appearing over the past year (numbers #144-47).

There were many strong contenders among those four issues, including Martin Gilbert’s “A Plan of War Against the Bolsheviks” and Warren Kimball’s “The Real ‘Dr. Win-the-War.'” But Bullock’s recollection of his time at Potsdam impressed our board with its insight.

“It is always good to hear a worm’s-eye view from an intelligent and observant worm,” wrote senior editor Paul Courtenay. David Freeman added: “I found it to contain a good deal of strong, impressionable material that could be incorporated into my lectures.” Said Terry Reardon: “I liked the articles on Ed Murrow and Harry Hopkins. But I give my vote to this firsthand account: informative and highly entertaining.”

The Somervell Award, formerly the Finest Hour Journal Award, was renamed at the suggestion of David Dilks for the Harrow master who taught young Churchill English. Previous winners were: Paul Alkon for the Lawrence of Arabia features, FH 119; Larry Arnn for “Never Despair,” FH 122; Robert Pilpel for “What Churchill Owed the Great Republic,” FH 125; Terry Reardon for “Winston Churchill and Mackenzie King,” FH 130; David Dilks for “The Queen and Mr. Churchill,” FH 135; Philip and Susan Larson for “Hallmark’s Churchill Connection,” FH 137; and David Jablonsky for “The Churchill Experience and the Bush Doctrine,” FH 141.

Stalin Correspondence

Moscow, April 15th— Russian historian Vladimir Pechatnov has received major funding from the Russian government to support a new annotated edition of Stalin’s correspondence with Roosevelt and Churchill, using archival memos and papers that indicate what Stalin and company were really thinking. He claims full access to dig out the kind of material that Oleg Rzheshevsky produced in an initial way in his War and Diplomacy. Petchatnov is also working to arrange an English translation. One of FH‘s contributors had a long talk with Petchatnov in Moscow about this project. It will be helpful to have a new collection to replace various editions of the correspondence compiled without access and/or references to Russian archival material.

The Youth Vote

We were asked recently what we’ve been doing to promote interest in WSC among young people. A troll through the past two years of Finest Hour and the Chartwell Bulletin provides a list of events and people responsible, though there are more:

First Teacher Institute with NEH grant support, Ashland University, Muller/Lyons/Sigman, 2007.

Churchill in Advance Placement History, Bob Pettengill, CB 17.

Churchill’s Scotland Tour at Dundee University, CB 17.

Peacock College Students re-erect first Churchill Statue, CB 17.

Education Programs at Vanderbilt University, Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta, CB 17.

Churchill, Achievement and Liberty, by Bill Clinton & George W. Bush, FH 140.

Baylor University Student Seminar, Kimball/Muller, CB 17.

William & Mary Student Seminar, Sigman/Muller, CB 17.

Changing Views of WSC since 1968, by twenty authors, FH 140.

Second NEH-TCC Teacher Institute, Cambridge and London, Muller/Sigman, CB 18.

Churchill and Family, by Mary Soames, FH 140.

Churchill and Statesmanship, Pittsburgh Teacher Seminar, Suzanne Sigman, CB 19.

Thought and Action in the Life of WSC, San Diego Seminar, Muller/Kambestad, CB 19.

Churchill for Today, 2009 Conference, Myers/Kambestad, CB 19.

Finest Hour Online, by Justin Lyons, FH 143.

Young Winston’s Writings Shaped a Hero, by undergraduate Allison Hay, FH 143.

Hillsdale College H.S. Teacher Seminar, Bob Pettengill, CB 20.

Graduate Seminar at Chicago, Muller/Rahe, CB 20.

Williams College Leadership Program, Warren Kimball, CB 20.

High School Seminars in Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan and Chicago, Suzanne Sigman, CB 20.

Interviews with Churchill aged 31 and 35, by Bram Stoker and Herbert Vivien, FH 144.

What I Admire about Churchill, by student Timon Ferguson, CB 21.

Going Live with the New Website, John Olsen, CB 21.

Placing Churchill in Classrooms and Curricula, Suzanne Sigman, CB 21.

Churchill’s Futurist Essays and Churchill for Today, FH 146.

Churchill College, Illinois, Phil & Susan Larson, FH 146.

Vancouver student speakers Timon Ferguson/Kieran Wilson, CB 23.

Young Winston on Afghanistan, Then and Now, FH 147.

How Bad a Student Was Young Churchill?, CB 24.

Students’ Choice, Best Recent Churchill Books, John Rossi, FH 148.

Googleworld: New Generations and the Concept of Joining, FH 148.

Third Teacher Institute, Sigman/Muller, Summer 2010 (p. 45).

Errata, FH 148

Page 4: The letter on “…Prayers and the Lash was from James Mack in Ohio, not Don Abrams—sorry.

Page 7: Sidney Allinson reminds us that the Duke of Hamilton did not personally arrest Rudolf Hess, who was held by ploughman David Maclean for the Home Guard. The Duke interviewed Hess, confirmed his identity and spoke to Churchill; one source says he was “summoned to Ditchley.” The Duke was appalled at the thought that his loyalty might be questioned.

USS Churchill Rescue

Aden, September 27th— At least thirteen African migrants were dead after a U.S. Navy rescue mission in the Gulf of Aden went awry. USS Winston S. Churchill was coming to the aid of eighty-five people adrift in an overcrowded motor skiff in the busy shipping lanes between the coasts of Yemen and Somalia. The boat was initially discovered by a Korean vessel, which passed its location to the Churchill, whose crew members went to the skiff and tried to repair broken engines but were unsuccessful. The crew then began towing it out of the sea lanes toward the coast of Somalia. As the crew of the Churchill attempted to provide them with food and water, the passengers rushed to one side of the vessel, which capsized, throwing all of them into the water. Sailors from the Churchill rescued sixty-one.

The Gulf of Aden is an important shipping route between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Somali pirates have lately hijacked several cargo vessels. In addition, the United Nations estimates 74,000 Ethiopians and Somalis fled to Yemen as refugees in 2009. Most cross the Gulf of Aden in overcrowded vessels run by smugglers. —NBC News

Butterflies Return

Chartwell, Kent, August 19th— The butterfly house where Sir Winston would indulge his passion for breeding rare insects has been rebuilt. As a youth, WSC was an avid lepidopterist, collecting and pinning specimens from then-teeming fields around Harrow. He returned to the hobby periodically, with travels through South Africa, India and Cuba. At Chartwell, new breeding cages allow visitors to experience his butterfly garden with its insect-friendly lavender borders and buddleia jungles, just as WSC enjoyed them in the Forties and Fifties.

Matthew Oates, the National Trust conservation adviser, said Churchill contacted L. Hugh Newman, a towering figure in the butterfly world, in 1939 after Newman moved to within five miles of Chartwell. Newman persuaded an eager Churchill to reintroduce species such as the black-veined white and European swallowtail, and to convert the under-used summer house. Sadly, the attempt was not a success, Oates said: “He started off with a plan to breed species which were native to southern England but then overreached himself with these attempts, which ended in rather spectacular failure.”

Since Churchill’s death, half a dozen butterfly species have disappeared from the Weald of Kent and populations of survivors have more than halved in number. The new breeding attempts, concentrating on common species, will not restore depleted populations, ravaged by consumption of habitats for farming and building. Instead they are intended to give a more authentic history experience for visitors to Chartwell.

More serious conservation work is taking place amid the swathes of grassland in the grounds, which are being left unmown through the growing season in an attempt to stimulate insect numbers.

This is what the great man would have wanted, said Mr. Oates. “I would argue very strongly that Churchill was a pioneer wildlife gardener, and view him as a bit of a champion of wildlife and butterflies.” Nigel Guest of the CC Chartwell Branch, and a volunteer at Chartwell, writes: “I can confirm that the revitalised butterfly house is a terrific innovation and attraction. Last year was a superb year for butterflies and negotiating the butterfly walk was difficult because there were so many of these beautiful creatures adorning the plants and the ground.”

Churchill’s Favourites

Peacock: This feature of summer gardens camouflages itself against tree trunks and can face down predators such as mice by hissing and flashing the striking “eyes” found on its hindwings.

Small Tortoiseshell: hundreds of tortoiseshells added colour to garden parties at Chartwell. They have declined in recent years, possibly affected by a parasitic fly which thrives in warmer, wetter conditions.

European swallowtail: A rare migrant from the continent, it is related to Britain’s largest, rarest butterfly. Churchill failed to breed these at Chartwell.

Painted Lady: A North African visitor which makes a late summer migration to Britain when its numbers become unsustainable in native habitat.

Black-veined White: A large white species recorded in the 17th century, it disappeared in Britain around 1925, probably a victim of disease or predation. Churchill’s efforts to establish it at Chartwell failed.
—Jonathan Brown, The Independent
Republished by kind permission; full article is at http:// xrl.us/bh5vi9. Photos by Etoile and Kathyscola on Flickr and the Scottish Rock Garden Club (www.srgc.org.uk).

See also Hugh Newman, “Butterflies to Chartwell” (FH 89: 34-39); and Ronald Golding, “Guarding Greatness,” (FH 143: 32), where bodyguard Golding recalls how Churchill responded to Newman when he became a little too patronizing.

Garter Ceremony 2010

Windsor, June 14th— In 1348 King Edward III created the Most Noble Order of the Garter; in addition to The Queen and other royal persons, the complement is restricted to twenty-four members, who are termed Knights Companion (KG) and Ladies Companion (LG). Chosen personally by The Queen, they are among the most eminent people in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries of which she is also Queen. Since 1348, 1002 members have been appointed, notably Sir Winston Churchill in 1953; his daughter, Lady Soames, was admitted in 2005.

There is a romantic legend about the Order’s origin: at a court ball, the Countess of Salisbury’s garter slipped to the floor and the King, retrieving it, wrapped it round his own leg; as onlookers sniggered, the King said, “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (Shame on him who thinks evil of it). This became, and remains, the motto of the Order of the Garter. But the more likely explanation is that the Garter is a badge of unity and concord, possibly representing a sword-belt.

Each June, Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Garter accompany The Queen to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for their annual service. A magnificent procession is formed, led by the Military Knights of Windsor, and the officers of the College of Arms (kings-of-arms, heralds and pursuivants), with the Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Garter following them. The Queen’s Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms and The Queen’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard are also on duty.

This year Lady Soames invited my wife and me to be present in St. George’s Chapel. We had a splendid front-row view of the panoply of state as it made its way into the chapel and—at the end—out again. Although the spectacle was unforgettable, the purpose of the event could not be overlooked. It was a religious observance, in which the Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Garter held their annual service of thanksgiving. I can do no better than record one of the Anglican prayers:

“Almighty God, in whose sight a thousand years are but as yesterday: We give thee most humble and hearty thanks for that thou didst put into the heart of thy servant, King Edward, to found this order of Christian chivalry, and hast preserved and prospered it through centuries until this day. And we pray that, rejoicing in thy goodness, we may bear our part with those illustrious Companions who have witnessed to thy truth and upheld thine honour; through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, himself the source and pattern of true chivalry; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen.”
—Paul H. Courtenay

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