June 10, 2013

UK & CANADA NEWS: Finest Hour 134, Spring

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Secretaries Reunite in London, ICS Canada Has New Website

ICS (UK) LONDON, NOVEMBER 6TH— The Churchill Museum celebrated its receipt of the highly prestigious 2006 Council of Europe Museum Prize. Guests at a reception at the Cabinet War Rooms included Lady Soames, the Hon. Celia Sandys, Minnie Churchill and Duncan Sandys.

Two notable guests were former secretaries to Sir Winston. Honorary member Elizabeth Layton Nel was a secretary during 1941-45; after the war she married and moved to South Africa where she still lives, and she turns 90 in 2007. Her charming memoir, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1958. Lady Williams of Elvel—formerly Jane Portal—filled the same position during 1949-55; two of her uncles were R.A. Butler and Marshal of the RAF Viscount Portal of Hungerford; she was well connected with “life at the top.”

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OTHER UK NEWS

Membership is currently 424, but ought to be higher; all members are again urged to try to recruit friends and other contacts. There were 99 new Churchill Fellows in 2006 (following their travels and projects sponsored by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust); one was already a member and four others have joined.

Study Pack for Schools. Robert Courts is devoting much time and effort to devising this ambitious project, which aims to assemble a large number of writings by and about WSC, culled from books, articles, speeches etc. These will be collated in a pack and made available to schools; teachers will be able to draw on it for sources, while the comprehensive coverage of the many facets of WSC’s life will be conveniently available to both teachers and students.

The 2007 Annual General Meeting will take place on Saturday 21 April at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford (on the M11, about eight miles south of Cambridge); among the attractions is the American Air Museum. Particulars will be circulated.

An Annual Dinner in London was proposed last year at a probable cost of about £50 a head, with a notable speaker. February was suggested as a suitable month, as not much else is usually in the cards at that time of year. Owing to limited support by the membership, however, this idea has been shelved.

ICS (CANADA)

OCTOBER 15th – The new ICS Canada website is up and running. We hope you find it interesting and useful.

Included is a brief history of ICS Canada as part of The Churchill Centre, and of Churchill’s connection to Canada; activities past and future; important dates in Churchill’s life; and a membership application, to which we ask Canadians to refer friends. We appreciate comments on improving this important method of communication to widen the interest in Churchill and his relevance in the 21st Century.

An “Evening with Sir Winston” was held in January and included the final episode of Sir Martin Gilbert’s BBC Film Biography “Never Despair.” This follows the very well received Volume 3 (“The Beginning of the End”), shown at our event on October 30th. Thanks to Director Peter Allen for arranging that program and providing the film. Full details were noted in a flyer to be mailed to members and included on the website. See also Chartwell Bulletin 12, April.

“From Winston to Western” was the heading in the Globe and Mail, announcing that Sir Martin Gilbert had “been lured to the University of Western Ontario as an adjunct research professor”. (See Finest Hour 133:7, “Sir Martin Heads West.”) ICS Canada will invite Sir Martin to join us when his schedule permits.

From the Bookshelf. One of the most controversial books about Churchill, by his doctor, Lord Moran, was recently republished (see FH 132: 46). The Churchill family was critical of what they held an abuse of the doctor/patient relationship, but Moran said historians told him he would be failing the public by not writing about WSC’s health, which was an important facet of his life and his actions.

A discussion and excerpts appeared in our newsletter. Comments, suggestions and articles would be much appreciated by newsletter editor Terry Reardon, 182 Burnhamthorpe Road, Toronto, ON M9A 1H6 ([email protected]), telephone (416) 231-6803.