My
husband, Andrew, and I started the weekend with Winston Churchill, and ended
the weekend with Winston Churchill, which is not a bad way to bookend a
weekend.
I’ll
explain. Friday night we finally got around to seeing “The Darkest Hour,” which
is all about when Churchill took office as Prime Minister when Great Britain
was on the brink of war with Germany. I don’t envy him the enormous
responsibility he inherited. It wasn’t even certain he would be the one chosen
as Lord Halifax was the first choice, but he declined due to ‘lack of
experience’ I think is what he said in the movie.
“The
outcome, however, was clear. Halifax, who was Chamberlain’s preferred choice
and the 'Establishment' candidate, turned down the offer to become prime
minister. Halifax probably believed he could restrain Churchill more
effectively by serving under him rather than as his leader. If it all went
wrong, he could step in from a position of strength.”
At
any rate, Churchill eventually took office after receiving a telegram from King
George VI with an official appointment. It goes without saying that Churchill
and the King met on a quite frequent basis – both at Buckingham Palace, 10
Downing Street, and another odd bedroom of Churchill’s that looked a bit like a
storage room of some sort.
The
first war-related issue Churchill had to deal with was what to do about Dunkirk
(rent that film if you haven’t seen it, but keep the sound down low as it’s
quite a loud film; some say the movie was louder than the actual battle). Although
Dunkirk was a virtual bloodbath, a lot fewer died than might have had it not
been for Churchill’s strategic plan to send in civilians with boats and planes.
That’s perhaps simplifying things a bit, but see the movie for yourselves and
you’ll understand.
Winston
Churchill was a man of many flaws and charms. It’s his many memorable quotes
and speeches that make him beloved in the eyes of many. In fact, I even ordered
a couple books about Churchill after I got home from seeing the movie. One of
my favorite sayings has something to do with “tummy time” which was when
Churchill was said to take his meals (rather than go by set meal times). This
was something I learned when touring the Cabinet War Rooms in London many, many
moons ago.
On
the topic of Churchill and mealtimes, there’s a scene where he’s dining with
King George at Buckingham Palace and we see Churchill slip a Corgie table
scraps. I quite honestly can’t imagine him wanting to share his food in such a
way, so that might be a bit of creative license on behalf of the movie makers.
There’s
also an interesting scene where Churchill boards the Underground (partly to
escape the traffic above ground and perhaps to prove a point that he’s capable
of doing things that ordinary people do). I can’t imagine Churchill really
doing this, and am curious whether it is fact or fiction. If that happened today
people would be tweeting and instagramming it so fast there would be no doubt
at all.
Sunday
evening we tuned in to our weekly episode of “The Crown” on Netflix (I figured
it might be appropriate after seeing the movie, and I couldn’t be more right).
This episode almost entirely revolved around Churchill and his lack of action
when it came to dealing with the Great Smog of (London) 1952. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog_of_London
In
1952 a weather anomaly occurred that caused the toxic particles released by
coal to be trapped under a layer of fog that hung over London from Friday December
5 to Tuesday, December 9 1952. It was estimated that approximately 4,000 people
died from the breathing in the toxins. Later that estimate was realized to be
closer to 12,000 (though I think the episode said 30,000).
What’s
somewhat tragic about all this is that some of the damage could have been
prevented. Weather forecasters received ample warnings (and had a precedent
since this had also happened in Donora, PA in 1948) and tried to warn Churchill
to advise people to lessen or cease their use of coal until the fog lifted.
They knew Churchill probably wouldn’t even read the written warning, so they
weren’t surprised when he ignored it. Churchill thought everyone was over
reacting to what was simply an “Act of God.” He said something to the effect, “Fog
is weather, and like all weather, it will eventually pass.” Perhaps Churchill
believed in being English and keeping a stiff upper lip; “Keep Calm and Carry
On” and all that.
It
was only when his personal secretary died rather tragically in a fog-related
accident that he finally seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
Luckily for Churchill the fog lifted just in time to save his career as Queen
Elizabeth was about ready to oust him from office (due to other reasons as well
as his inaction on the fog situation).
Whether
or not you all agree that Winston Churchill was a great and fascinating man, he
certainly changed history (for the better I think) and is worthy of our
respect.
By British Government - This is photograph NYP 45063 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums., Parth Cyhoeddus, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3884361
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