April 1, 2013

Finest Hour 155, Summer 2012

Page 52

From Hussar to Painter

Winston Churchill: Oxfordshire Hussar, edited by Stanley C. Jenkins. Lightmoor Press, softbound, illus., 64 pages, £5.50 from Amazon UK.

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By Paul H. Courtenay


This slim brochure was published in 2009 to accompany an exhibition at Woodstock (near Blenheim) about Winston Churchill’s service as a parttime soldier. But it is rather more than that, covering all the well-known features of his life, and especially the history of the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars, so it is therefore inevitably inadequate.

The QOOH was a Yeomanry cavalry regiment whose members undertook military training on evenings, weekends and an annual camp, and were available for national emergencies, as evidenced by their operational service during both world wars. In 1908 the QOOH became part of the newly designated Territorial Force (TF) renamed the Territorial Army (TA) in 1920. The regiment had a number of sub-units around Oxfordshire and Churchill began his service as second-in-command of the squadron at Woodstock, but was soon promoted to the rank of major and took command of the squadron at Henley-on-Thames.

After World War I the QOOH was converted from the cavalry to the artillery role; its name lives on today as a squadron of the Royal Corps of Signals (TA). Churchill had been appointed Honorary Colonel of the QOOH in 1951, and at his State funeral in 1965 a detachment of the regiment had a prominent place in the procession.

This booklet contains only three or four pages of text outlining Churchill’s service with the QOOH, but there are a good number of interesting photographs, in particular a stunning shot of him that we have never before seen, which is so singular that we contemplate using it on an upcoming cover of Finest Hour—yes, in black and white, just like our two covers featuring the photographs of Yousuf Karsh (FH 94, 154). It will be new to nearly everyone.

Given the small scope of this publication, it could not possibly provide a comprehensive look at Churchill as part of the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars. For a more comprehensive study of his part-time service, readers would do better to read Douglas Russell’s excellent book, Winston Churchill—Soldier.

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