August 30, 2021

Churchill Allies


Churchill Allies is a collection of organisations with a common interest in Winston S Churchill. The content from the websites of each of these partner organisations is collected together to create one authoritative source on the Internet to search for information about Churchill.

Using Churchill Allies is just like doing a standard Google search; your search will present you with a list all of Google’s search listings but you will only see content on our verified, partner sites.

The International Churchill Society

The International Churchill Society is the most comprehensive Churchill site on the Internet. Our website includes news and current events, Churchill facts and speeches, even a section on “leading Churchill myths.” Critical articles are published alongside those praising Sir Winston. The Centre’s journal, Finest Hour, and other publications are posted here. There is a search engine to index hundreds of articles on every Churchill subject. This is a useful site to send students for their research projects.

Churchill War Rooms and Churchill Museum

Churchill War Rooms

2024 International Churchill Conference

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Shortly after becoming Prime Minister in May 1940, Winston Churchill visited the Cabinet War Rooms to see for himself what preparations had been made to allow him and his War Cabinet to continue working throughout the expected air raids on London. Here in the underground Cabinet Room, he directed crucial wartime cabinet meetings when air raids became hazardous. The War Rooms first opened to the public in the 1980s, have now acquired considerably more of their original area, which houses The Churchill Museum, the world’s first major museum dedicated to the life of Winston Churchill. The Learning department offers video conference sessions about World War II for schools. Also offered is an interactive Churchill Speech Player. One can hear an entire speech, investigate its context, and view commentary and historical documents. Visit the IWM website.

Churchill and the Great Republic – A Library of Congress Exhibit

churchill-home-image1The exhibition came decades after Churchill’s death in 1965 and was even further removed from the D-Day allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France in 1944, during World War II. It commemorates both of these events. This exhibit was “live” in 2005 and now resides online. Exceptional site.

Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge University

Churchill Archives Centre

Home to the papers of Sir Winston Churchill and to over 570 collections of personal papers and archives documenting the history of the Churchill era and after. The Churchill Papers consist of the original documents sent, received or composed by Winston Churchill during the course of his long and active life. The Churchill Papers comprise an estimated 1 million individual documents, catalogued in a project lasting over six years. This catalogue, containing over 70,000 entries, is now available online. You can find out more about the collection in the area of this site dedicated to the Papers:

Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy

The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy is a non-partisan charitable organization that honors the life of Sir Winston S. Churchill by advancing the cause of Parliamentary democracy in Canada. Its events present awards to prominent Americans and Canadians who have advanced Churchill’s principles of democracy.

National Churchill Library and Center at the George Washington University

The National Churchill Library and Center (NCLC) at George Washington University will be the first major research facility in the U.S. capital dedicated to the study of Sir Winston Churchill. The new Center, through its collections, interdisciplinary academic programmes and educational exhibits, will offer GW students, faculty, researchers and the public the opportunity to come together as a community and immerse themselves in discussions and scholarship infused with the ideas of citizenship and leadership exemplified by Churchill.

National Churchill Museum

National Churchill Museum
Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldmenbury in Fulton, MO

The Memorial is on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech. It was founded in 1969 and housed within the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, a 12th century London church, redesigned by Sir Christopher Wren in 1677, that was relocated to Fulton after suffering badly in the London Blitz. The undercroft of this beautiful building is a museum of artifacts and information relating to the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill. New interpretive exhibits tell his story, concentrating on World War II and the 1946 Fulton speech. Other world leaders who spoken here include Presidents Reagan, Ford, and Bush; British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Polish President Lech Walesa; and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.


Web Sites of Locations Central to Churchill’s Life

Bladon

Bladon lies on the south side of Blenheim Park with many quaint cottages. St Martin’s Church is a Victorian reconstruction of 1894 on the site of an earlier church rebuilt in 1801. In January 1965 Sir Winston Churchill was buried in the churchyard at the head of the grave of Lady Randolph Churchill, his mother. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, is buried alongside.

Blenheim Palace

blenheim palace -12

In reward for his services in defending Holland and Austria from invasion by the French in the early 1700s, a grateful Queen Anne granted to John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough, the Royal Manor of Woodstock. The house was called Blenheim after the Duke’s most famous victory, in 1704, during the war of Spanish Succession. In 1874 Blenheim became the birthplace of Winston Churchill. Special exhibitions educate visitors on the inspiration that Churchill took from his illustrious ancestor, and his long connections with this famous house.

Bletchley Park

During World War II, Germany’s top secret codes were broken at Bletchley Park, providing the Allies with vital information towards their war effort. Situated 50 miles north-west of London, the site played host to a diverse group of code breakers. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, they successfully read enemy codes, often within a few hours of the messages being received. Colossus, the world’s first semi-programmable computer was invented here. Bletchley Park offers a wide range of exhibits and special events catering for cryptography experts and the merely curious.

Chartwell

The home of Winston Churchill from 1922 through his death in 1965 is the leading Churchill shrine in the world. The house where he composed and wrote many of his books and speeches and created his paintings has an unrivalled collection of Churchill art, photographs and memorabilia. Since the Churchills were unpretentious, Chartwell is a “livable” house in which the visitor feels at home rather than overawed by grandeur. The grounds include beautiful rose and water gardens commissioned by the Churchills. Nearby are countryside walks with stunning views over the Weald of Kent to the English Channel. Churchill once said, “I bought Chartwell for that view.” On another occasion he mused, “A day away from Chartwell is a day wasted.”


Books and Other References

Hundreds of books by and about Churchill are widely available your local or online bookseller. There are also speciality sellers where collectors second-hand editions are available.

Winston S. Churchill: The Official Biography by Randolph Churchill and Sir Martin Gilbert

Sir Martin Gilbert
Several years before his death in 1965—and after much lobbying—Winston Churchill agreed to allow his son Randolph to write his official biography. Randolph immediately set to work and hired a team of researchers to assist with the project. One of the assistants he hired, Martin Gilbert, was then a young student of history at Oxford University. When Randolph died at the age of 57 in 1968 after having completed the first two volumes, Gilbert was asked to take over and finish the remainder of the project. 

Gilbert spent the rest of his career writing about Churchill, in addition to a number of other subjects.

Sir Martin Gilbert

The official biography that Martin Gilbert completed is eight narrative volumes. The biography also includes companion volumes, The Churchill Documents, of which Gilbert finished the first 17. The biography Winston S. Churchill is the longest one ever written.

There are many bookshops where you can find first editions and several very reputable ones are listed below.

In 2008, Hillsdale College Press (HCP) in Michigan undertook the work of publishing of new set of editions, which are available from their website. HCP is also finishing off the remainder of Sir Martin’s work by completing the final document companion volumes.

Find out more on Sir Martin Gilbert’s website here. 


Chartwell Booksellers

chartwellbooksellers

Although primarily a bookseller website, Chartwell Booksellers in New York City regularly hosts speakers on Churchill topics. On the site is A Collector ‘s Guide to Winston Churchill’s Books, containing a detailed description of all his titles and editions, along with notes about the book and excerpts from contemporary reviews.

WSC Books: The Churchill Book Specialist

This online bookshop has one of the largest stocks of Churchill material anywhere. They sell the rarest first editions as well as reading copies.


Memorials to Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill Foundation

The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States was established in 1959 as an expression of American admiration for Churchill. With the endorsement of Sir Winston, the Foundation undertook to encourage the exchange of knowledge and the sharing of ideas in science and technology between the United States and Great Britain through two programs: (1) The Churchill Scholarship Program to enable outstanding American students to do graduate work at Churchill College, Cambridge; (2) The Churchill Fellowship Program, offered in the Foundation’s early years, to enable American professors to spend a period of time in research at Churchill College. In addition the Foundation raised funds from American admirers of Sir Winston to construct the Archives Center at Churchill College. It also confers the Winston Churchill Award from time to time upon men and women of great achievement. To date, recipients of the Award include W. Averill Harriman, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, H. Ross Perot, and former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Winston-Churchill-Memorial-Trust 02

The Trust is a living tribute to Sir Winston, whose example is the inspiration. Many thousands of people, in respect for the man and grateful for his inspired leadership, gave generously to a public subscription to fund Traveling Fellowships. The Fellowships are to enable men and women from all walks of life to acquire knowledge and experience abroad. Churchill Fellows can be of any age and in any occupation. Past award winners have included nurses, artists, scientists, engineers, farmers, conservationists, careers, craft workers, artisans, members of the emergency services, and sportsmen and women.

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