Main Page

Churchilliad
Online Index

"THE GOVERNMENT
 IS THE SERVANT
 OF THE PEOPLE
 AND NOT ITS MASTER"

Winston Churchill
Oslo 1948

A Message from Chairman Peter H. Russell   

Vol. 15 Issue 2 Fall 2003

John Plumpton’s splendid presentation at the Juno Beach evening at the Munk Centre sent us off for the summer with a deep sense of appreciation for the sacrifice the men and women of our fighting forces made for us on the beaches of Normandy and for Churchill’s leadership in mobilizing that magnificent effort.  

That June evening also sent my wife Sue and I off on an English vacation which we liberally garnished with Churchillian fare. We began in London with a visit to the much expanded Cabinet War Rooms. Among the new parts to be seen are Clementine’s sleeping quarters. Next year, for the 60^th Anniversary of D-Day, the exhibit will be even more extensive. The following day in London, John Plumpton and I attended the launch of Sir Martin Gilbert’s latest book, Churchill At War. It is a marvelous pictorial history of  WSC’s wartime leadership – a coffee table book that would make a wonderful Christmas gift. Look for it at our Dinner on November 18! For me it was a distinct pleasure to meet The Lady Mary Soames for the first time at this event.

A few days later, my cousins in Sommerset took us to visit Longleat, the home of Lord Bath. Longleat is a palatial country home with grounds large enough to accommodate an African Safari Park. It has seven libraries, one of which contains a collection of Churchilliana assembled by the late Lord Bath. The collection includes some remarkable letters and many of Churchill’s books and pamphletts. But let me assure you that it is not nearly as extensive as our collection at Trinity College. Nor will it grow: the current Lord Bath collects wives rather than Churchill. The Longleat gift shop features his books on polygamy.

Using London as our hub, Sue and I made day trips by train to three places of great interest to Churchillians. First to Churchill College, Cambridge where archivist Allen Packwood was a most gracious and informative guide to the Churchill Archives. Now this is the Churchill collection. All of his papers as well as those of many other political and military leaders of his time are housed in the Churchill Archives Centre at the College. A guide to the collection can now be accessed on the internet (www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/). In a spirit Churchill would have admired, Packwood is keen to make the Archives accessible to all who are interested in the study of Churchill and his times.

The next trip took us to Bletchley Park, an hour north of London in Buckinghamshire. This is where Britain’s intellectual warriors cracked the German codes and produced the secret intelligence which it is estimated shortened the war by at least two years. In Churchill’s words – “the geese that laid the golden egg and never cackled.” The achievements and what lay behind them are extremely well presented by Bletchley Park veterans. You even get a chance to play with the Enigma machine and try your hand

We saved our final outing for Chartwell. A train ride from Victoria Station to  Oxted on the border of Kent and a ten-minute taxi ride got us there in less than an hour. Chartwell more than lived up to our expectations. It is magnificently preserved and presented. More than anything else it gave me a sense of the range of Churchill’s gifts and interests, the passion of his art, the industry of his brick-laying, his dogged and indefatigable engineering efforts and, above all, his zest for family life and the company of good friends.

So there you are. Seems like one could organize a Churchill safari. Any takers?     

Peter H. Russell
Chairman