Winston Churchill

The Life of Winston Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill’s ancestors were both British and American. Winston’s father was the British Lord Randolph Churchill, the youngest son of John, the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Lord Randolph’s ancestor John Churchill made history by winning many successful military campaigns in Europe for Queen Anne almost 200 years earlier. His mother was the American Jennie Jerome. The Jeromes fought for the independence of the American colonies in George Washington’s armies. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30, 1874, at the Duke of Marlborough’s large palace, Blenheim.

Childhood

Winston Churchill was a child during the late 1800s. At that time there weren’t any radios, televisions or electronic devices which children today are accustomed to having. The telephone was not invented when Churchill was born. Children during the late 1800’s spent their time reading books and playing with toys such as toy soldiers. Young Winston would also ride on his donkey. One book that Winston fondly read was Treasure Island. Lady Randolph hired Mrs. Elizabeth Everest as a nanny to care for Winston. Winston fondly called Mrs. Everest “Woomany.” Later Winston Churchill would say that “My nurse was my confidante. Mrs. Everest it was who looked after me and tended all my wants. It was to her that I poured out all my many troubles…” 

Schooling 1882-1888

Winston attended St. George’s School, Ascot, from 1882 through 1884. Of school Winston would write, “It appears that I was to go away from home for many weeks at a stretch in order to do lessons under masters… After all I was only seven, and I had been so happy in my nursery with all my toys. I had such wonderful toys: a real steam engine, a magic lantern, and a collection of soldiers already nearly a thousand strong. Now it was to be all lessons…” From 1884-1888, Winston attended The Misses Thompson’s Preparatory School where he learned things that interested him such as French, history, poetry, riding a horse and swimming.

Harrow 1888-1892 

On April 17, 1888, Winston entered Harrow School, a boy’s school near London. Winston found his years at Harrow challenging. He was not thought of as a good student. Winston wrote, “I was on the whole considerably discouraged by my school days.” However, Winston’s ability to memorize lines was clearly apparent while at Harrow. Winston entered a competition and won a school prize for reciting from memory 1,200 lines from Macaulay’s, long poem Lays of Ancient Rome. 

Sandhurst 1893-1894

When Winston Churchill entered the Royal Military College (now Academy) Sandhurst few could foresee that he would become one of Great Britain’s greatest war leaders. Winston Churchill had failed the Sandhurst entrance examination twice before passing on his third try. At Sandhurst Churchill had a new start. “I was no longer handicapped by past neglect of Latin, French or Mathematics. We had now to learn fresh things and we all started equal. Tactics, Fortification, Topography [mapmaking], Military Law and Military Fortification, formed the whole curriculum. In addition were Drill, Gymnastics and Riding.” Churchill found his work at Sandhurst exciting. He drew contoured maps of the hills in the area, designed paper plans for the advanced guards and rear guards, and even thought up simple tactical schemes. He learned how to blow up masonry bridges and make substitute bridges out of wood. He graduated from Sandhurst with honors, eighth in his class of one hundred and fifty.

Churchill & Technology

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few…” In this famous line, Winston Churchill thanked the pilots of the Royal Air Force, also known as the RAF, for their bravery fighting the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain during World War II. At this time the use of airplanes in war was still thought of as a new technology. Winston Churchill was a forward thinking man who promoted technological developments for the military. During World War I, Churchill promoted the development of the tank. A British Royal Commission credited Churchill “it was primarily due to the receptivity, courage and driving force of the Rt. Honorable Winston Spencer Churchill that… the Tank was converted into a practical shape.” Later Churchill would also promote the development and use of radar and the breaking of the German codes from the Enigma machine. 

The Boer War 1899

In 1899, Winston Churchill headed to South Africa as a newspaper correspondent for the Morning Post to cover the Boer War between British and Dutch settlers. Unfortunately, he was present at an ambush of an armored train and captured by enemy Boer soldiers. On November 18, 1899, Churchill along with the other prisoners arrived in Pretoria at the prison called the State Model Schools. On the night of December 12th, when the prison guards turned their backs on Churchill, he took the opportunity to climb over the prison wall. Wearing a brown flannel suit with £75 (the equivalent of $375) and four slabs of chocolate in his pocket, Churchill walked on leisurely through the night in hopes of finding the Delagoa Bay Railway. So began his great escape and journey to freedom. Churchill jumped onto a train and hid among soft sacks covered in coal dust. Leaving the train before daybreak, Churchill continued on his escape. With luck, Winston Churchill happened upon the home of Mr. John Howard, manager of the Transvaal Collieries. Upon knocking on his door, Mr. Howard’s response to Winston Churchill plea for help was “Thank God you have come here! It is the only house for twenty miles where you would not have been handed over. But we are all British here, and we will see you through.” Mr. Howard first hid Churchill in a coal mine then transported him to safety by having Churchill squeeze into a hole at the end of a train car loaded with bales of wool. Upon reaching Durban, South Africa, Winston Churchill found himself a hero.

Politics 1900-1955

Winston Churchill’s long political career began in October 1900, when he was elected to take the seat for Oldham as Member of Parliament or MP in the House of Commons. Later, Churchill represented, as MP, the areas of Manchester Northwest (1906-08); Dundee (1908-22); and Woodford (1924-64). Between 1906 and 1940, Churchill served in the British Cabinet in charge of Board and Trade, Home Office, Admiralty (twice), and the Munitions, War and Air Ministries. From 1924 to 1929 he headed the Treasury as Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position once held by his father. Churchill’s career had its ups and downs. During World War I, as First Lord of the Admiralty, he was blamed for a failed attempt to seize the Dardanelles and Gallipoli Peninsula, which guarded the connection between the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Success would have aided Russia, while providing an alternative to the terrible slaughter in western Europe. The episode would haunt Churchill’s political career for years to come. He learned, he said, never to undertake a key operation of war without full authority to carry it out. Winston Churchill is forever remembered for his contributions as Prime Minister (PM) during World War II. On May 10, 1940, with the Germans attacking western Europe, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and King George VI asked Churchill to become Prime Minister and form a government. Churchill formed a coalition with the Labour, Liberal and Conservative parties. He later wrote, "I felt as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial." Developing the “Grand Alliance” with Russia and America, he became a symbol for victory among the oppressed and conquered peoples. In 1945, with the war in Europe over but the war with Japan still being fought, the Labour party defeated the Conservatives in an election. Churchill was no longer Prime Minister. However, he was easily reelected to his seat and became Leader of the Opposition. After World War II, Churchill lobbied for peace. At Fulton, Missouri in 1946, Churchill warned of the “Iron Curtain” in Europe and urged Anglo-American preparedness. In 1951, the Conservatives triumphed again and Churchill returned as Prime Minister. Worried over the possibility of nuclear war, he urged “a meeting at the summit” with the new leaders of Russia while maintaining peace through strength. Ironically, the first postwar summit conference was held a few months after he retired as Prime Minister in April 1955. He would remain an MP for nine more years.

Churchill’s Books 1898-1958

Winston Churchill, a gifted writer, was a master of the English language. He wrote forty-three books that filled seventy-two volumes. Throughout his life, Winston Churchill found the writing of books and articles a means of supporting himself and his family. Churchill's first book about an uprising in India, The Story of the Malakand Field Force, was published in 1898. About writing, Winston Churchill wrote “It was great fun writing a book. One lived with it. It became a companion.” Many of Winston Churchill’s forty-three books are about events of historical importance. To this day, Winston Churchill’s reprinted books can still be purchased! Winston Churchill was bestowed the great honor of winning The Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. 

World War II 1939-1945

When Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler invaded the country of Poland on September 1, 1939, many people were surprised by Hitler‘s boldness. But Winston Churchill was not. Since 1933 he had warned the leaders and people of Great Britain about Hitler's relentless aggression but few believed him. The time period of fall 1939 to spring 1940 has been referred to as the Phony War since the major battles and bloodshed of World War II had not yet begun. Things changed suddenly for the worse on May 10, 1940, when Hitler’s troops invaded Luxembourg, Holland and Belgium in a single day. On that day, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain. Soon France was also invaded and falling back before the German armies. 

Soon British troops were driven out of Europe and retreated to Great Britain. France surrendered to Germany and its people fell under strict German rule. Great Britain was left alone to face the awesome power of Germany. Winston Churchill, the orator, rallied the people of Great Britain to fight Hitler’s aggression. Churchill never gave up and he helped the people of Great Britain to be brave against the German Nazi regime. One of the ways Churchill encouraged people was to display the “V for victory” sign of two fingers raised. 

January 24, 1965 

In June of 1963, President John F. Kennedy made Winston Churchill an honorary citizen of the United States, a very rare honor. A year and a half later, Winston Churchill died on the morning of January 24, 1965, surrounded by family members. According to his family, Churchill had predicted that he would die on the anniversary of his father’s death. This became reality when Winston Churchill died seventy years to the day after his father Lord Randolph passed away. To honor Winston Churchill a State Funeral was held in London on January 30th. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was buried in a churchyard at Bladon. His simple grave is close to Blenhiem Palace, the place of his birth. Winston Churchill rests next to his parents Lord Randolph Churchill and Lady Randolph Churchill, the once Jennie Jerome.