Winston Churchill 1944
10 Downing Street
Whitehall
December 15th 1944
My Dear ,
To continue from my El Alamein speech of 1942 - now is not the end but it is, perhaps, the beginning of the end!
Clemmie suggested that this year we might include a brief synopsis of events with our Christmas card and then suggested that, with my experience of writing, I might like to compose it on the family’s behalf.
In January, like a Websters dictionary I was Morocco bound and, as I was still recovering from that nasty bout of pneumonia, took some time out in Marrakech at La Mamounia to paint. Harris informed me that this month his men dropped two thousand eight hundred tons of bombs on Berlin and that he could win the war without a ground assault. Following Teheran last November we are turning our attention to Europe post war and I must make a mental note to “clip his wings” before he does something completely abhorrent.
A German air raid in February blew out many of the windows in number ten. We were unharmed and the mess was quickly cleared up with little or no damage. Charlie the parrot showed the right spirit and was particularly vociferous after the raid repeating “f*** Hitler” much to everyone’s delight.
We had a family party for Clementine’s fifty-ninth birthday and Diana, Sarah and Mary were with us at Chartwell. Randolph could not join us as he was in Yugoslavia helping Tito’s partisans. In November the red army liberated Belgrade and: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia (including Herzegovina), Macedonia, Montenegro, Vojvodina and Kosovo were made into the new Yugoslavia. I fear for the long-term future, as must anyone who has read the history of the Balkans. Given the proximity of this new state to Greece we are planning to fly out to Athens this Christmas in the hope that we may stop Josef from excessive expansionism.
June of course saw the liberation of Rome on the 4th with the operation Overlord Normandy landings on the 6th. I had wanted to go over with the first wave but H.M. prevailed and we visited Monty on the 10th. I wrote to Uncle Joe who had been asking for the western front that the enemy is now bleeding on every front at once; perhaps this will stop his perfidy.
In August I visited Pope Pius XII and we discussed the dangers of communism, which in light of the treatment before this war of the Orthodoxy in Russia was a subject close to his heart. This month also saw the liberation of Paris much to the delight of my “bete noir” General De Gaulle. I have already made arrangements that, if he outlives me, my funeral cortege should stop at Waterloo station to give the radio announcers something to relish.
Following Teheran last year I had hoped that Roosevelt, Stalin and I might meet together but in the eventuality I sailed to Canada in September and flew via Cairo to Moscow in October. Although Stalin made a large tick on my piece of paper (Romania 90% Russia 10% rest, Hungary 50:50, etc.) we left after the usual dreadful rounds of interminably long, drunken (even by my standards) dinner parties with no formal solution to either the Balkans or Poland. If and when Russia takes the lot it will be interesting to see how long it retains them, my money is on considerably less time than our Empire has already lasted.
November saw us in Paris to mark the Armistice, Franklin won a record fourth term in office and I celebrated my seventieth birthday and even His Majesty King George stayed until after one in the morning. The three events combined to make me question what next? Europe is already preparing for the peace but what of the Albion and the Conservatives? Although my party colleagues assure me that once the war is won we will be returned to government I am less convinced. Beveridge’s “Full employment in a free society” will remind the populace of the general strike and depression rather than the homes for heroes campaign.
Whichever way next year’s election goes I believe in destiny and am sure I will be PM again. In the meantime, if people ask me what I will do if not re-elected I will tell them that when this war is over history will be kind to me as I intend to write it!
Yours always,
Winston S Churchill
Whitehall
December 15th 1944
My Dear ,
To continue from my El Alamein speech of 1942 - now is not the end but it is, perhaps, the beginning of the end!
Clemmie suggested that this year we might include a brief synopsis of events with our Christmas card and then suggested that, with my experience of writing, I might like to compose it on the family’s behalf.
In January, like a Websters dictionary I was Morocco bound and, as I was still recovering from that nasty bout of pneumonia, took some time out in Marrakech at La Mamounia to paint. Harris informed me that this month his men dropped two thousand eight hundred tons of bombs on Berlin and that he could win the war without a ground assault. Following Teheran last November we are turning our attention to Europe post war and I must make a mental note to “clip his wings” before he does something completely abhorrent.
A German air raid in February blew out many of the windows in number ten. We were unharmed and the mess was quickly cleared up with little or no damage. Charlie the parrot showed the right spirit and was particularly vociferous after the raid repeating “f*** Hitler” much to everyone’s delight.
We had a family party for Clementine’s fifty-ninth birthday and Diana, Sarah and Mary were with us at Chartwell. Randolph could not join us as he was in Yugoslavia helping Tito’s partisans. In November the red army liberated Belgrade and: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia (including Herzegovina), Macedonia, Montenegro, Vojvodina and Kosovo were made into the new Yugoslavia. I fear for the long-term future, as must anyone who has read the history of the Balkans. Given the proximity of this new state to Greece we are planning to fly out to Athens this Christmas in the hope that we may stop Josef from excessive expansionism.
June of course saw the liberation of Rome on the 4th with the operation Overlord Normandy landings on the 6th. I had wanted to go over with the first wave but H.M. prevailed and we visited Monty on the 10th. I wrote to Uncle Joe who had been asking for the western front that the enemy is now bleeding on every front at once; perhaps this will stop his perfidy.
In August I visited Pope Pius XII and we discussed the dangers of communism, which in light of the treatment before this war of the Orthodoxy in Russia was a subject close to his heart. This month also saw the liberation of Paris much to the delight of my “bete noir” General De Gaulle. I have already made arrangements that, if he outlives me, my funeral cortege should stop at Waterloo station to give the radio announcers something to relish.
Following Teheran last year I had hoped that Roosevelt, Stalin and I might meet together but in the eventuality I sailed to Canada in September and flew via Cairo to Moscow in October. Although Stalin made a large tick on my piece of paper (Romania 90% Russia 10% rest, Hungary 50:50, etc.) we left after the usual dreadful rounds of interminably long, drunken (even by my standards) dinner parties with no formal solution to either the Balkans or Poland. If and when Russia takes the lot it will be interesting to see how long it retains them, my money is on considerably less time than our Empire has already lasted.
November saw us in Paris to mark the Armistice, Franklin won a record fourth term in office and I celebrated my seventieth birthday and even His Majesty King George stayed until after one in the morning. The three events combined to make me question what next? Europe is already preparing for the peace but what of the Albion and the Conservatives? Although my party colleagues assure me that once the war is won we will be returned to government I am less convinced. Beveridge’s “Full employment in a free society” will remind the populace of the general strike and depression rather than the homes for heroes campaign.
Whichever way next year’s election goes I believe in destiny and am sure I will be PM again. In the meantime, if people ask me what I will do if not re-elected I will tell them that when this war is over history will be kind to me as I intend to write it!
Yours always,
Winston S Churchill
posted by Author designate at 9:41 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home