. , Family "Weekly j May u.mi
By FIELD MARSHAL MONTGOMERY
I rntST MET Sir Winston Churchill in June, 1940, after returning from Dun
kirk in command of the Third Division. In those days I knew few. poli
ticians and was suspicious of most of that profession; J reckoned they were
largely responsible for the troubles which had descended upon us. But he
impressed me at once as a man of decision and action, knowing what should
be done and having the courage and determination to do it
Churchill has both kinds of courage, physical and moral. Sometimes his
courage was aggressive and sometimes modest. But over-all it was a clearly'
denned quality which shone forth in wartime, and in peacetime in the House
of Commons and also during periods of illness, when he fought so bravely.
It was as a national leader in critical times that he rose to the greatest
heights. When Britain's very existence as a nation was threatened in 1940,
he knew well that the British spirit was there but needed to be called forth.
So he spoke to us through the BBC and brought the crisis home to the na
tion in words which rang and thundered like the Psalms. All will recall the
eagerness with which we looked forward to his broadcasts and speeches in
the early days of Hitler's war. I doubt if any man in history has ever made
such grim utterances and yet given so many people such a feeling of strength
and exuberance even cheerfulness and lightheartedness and a sense of
having got one's teeth into something. He was British to the core, with a
sturdy refusal to be carried away by the storms and stresses of the moment
He was a rocklike figure in an emergency, on whom all could lean.
Never has any land found any leader who so matched the hour as did
Winston Churchill in 1940. He towered head and shoulders above the lead
ers of all other nations. He inspired us all. There was a certain magnificence
about him which transformed the lead of other men into gold.
And then the war ended, and he was discarded by the British people. I
well remember the first visit I paid him after the general election of 1945;
he was like a man who had been poleaxed; he couldn't understand it But
I reckoned it was for the best. He who had carried Britain through the
weary years of war was completely worn out and needed a rest although
he would never have admitted it Anyhow, he had the rest he needed and
returned six years later to lead the nation again this time in peace.
Our Friendship Deepened
It wasn't until the war ended that I began to know him really well and
our true friendship began; we have now been close friends for 16 years,
since mid-1945, and I reckon I know him better than most others I mean
"as a man," not only as a wartime prime minister.
He is a very good friend, at least I have always found him so. He has his
. enemies and detractors, of course, and I know some of them; but all they
can say will never dim my affection for him. He is a wonderful storyteller.
It is a real delight to get him talking about the past and to listen to stories
of his Sandhurst days, or about the battle of Omdurman, or how he was
captured by the Boers and of his subsequent escape.
I have often sat with him until the small hours of the morning listening
to his accounts of bygone days, forgetting that my normal bedtime is early
and glad to forget He can be very interesting about the personalities,
political and military, of his own lifetime. But all in all, he is a very fair
critic, and a man had to be pretty bad before he would comment adversely.
Lately it has not been so easy to get him to talk, and if you ask him to
tell you about some contemporary of his earlier days he will perhaps say
a few words and then shrug and stop but you can generally guess his opin
ion from the nature of the shrug!
Churchill has his faults, like all humans. He is impatient; he can be very
intolerant; he can be suspicious; and dare I say it? a touch of jealousy
has appeared at times. But when you weigh up the virtues and the faults,
what a tremendous balance of virtue is found.
He is intensely loyal. He reveled in responsibility. He could listen, but
with considerable impatience if he did not agree with what you were say
ing! And he could decide, but as Hitler's war drew to a conclusion he
seemed to find it increasingly difficult to give quick decisions.
He has a great sense of humor. Of late years this has become of the quiet
type. For instance, when I stay at Chartwell he will offer me wine at dinner
as the gesture of a host, but also as a joke. He knows well what the reply
will be, and when it comes he will look at me with a shy smile and say:
"You don't mind if I do!"
I visit him frequently, and I reckon the more his friends rally round him
and keep him interested the better because he is now old and tired and
must not be allowed to feel we have no further use for him. We discuss the
past a great deal; he delights in talking about his visits to my headquarters
during the war. And occasionally I try and get him on to the future, but
that is not so easy; he seems to think that the future is for others to handle
and so it is.
Sir Winston Was a Slew Starter
An interesting point occurs to me about Winston Churchill. In his school
life at Harrow and at Sandhurst, he cut no ice at all; he didn't like either
place. This shows perhaps that it is a mistake to develop your powers too
early, since they may fizzle out He developed his powers in no uncertain
manner in due course! But it is interesting to reflect that if it had not been
for Hitler's war, he would very possibly have gone down in history as a polit
ical failure! His reputation would, of course, have been firmly established
as an author and painter.
How was it then that when the call came in 1940, Winston Churchill was
able to play his part as a national leader?
Of course, he had tremendous experience with the governmental machine.
He had held many ministerial appointments, and he understood the fighting
services better than any other minister of his time. He had been a successful
war correspondent and knew what went on at the headquarters of a C.-in-C.
(commander-in-chief) in the field or perhaps I should say, what formerly
went on! He had traveled widely and had a good knowledge of the British
Dominions and Colonies. He knew the people of Britain better than most,
and he knew how to speak to them.
All these things are well known, but there must have been something else.
I have often talked with him on this subject in order to extract from him
the information I wanted what was that "something" which completed his
equipment and ensured he was ready when the call came? Here is the
. answer to the conundrum:
Winston believes with Machiavelli that whereas fortune or fate will decide
one half of our life, the other half will depend on ourselves. If we prepare
. ourselves for what might come, master' our professions, and study how the
great men of the past overcame their problems then all will be well.
So he read widely and in particular studied the lives of great men. When
studying their problems, he didn't bother overmuch about details; what he
wanted to know was the conditions of the problem facing the man and what
were the reasons which influenced the statesman or military commander
to reach the decision he made.
This study taught him, when faced himself with some difficult problem, to
consider the actual facts of the situation as they appeared to him at that
time; he refused to allow himself to be influenced by a decision given on a
similar problem at some other time, because the conditions of that other
problem were different from those surrounding the problem he now faced.
Then he is a master at finding out what others think. He would make some
quite outrageous statement to the Chiefs of Staff, just to arouse their heated
opposition and get their real views. I suppose this might be termed "teasing,"
but it gave him the information he wanted..
Lady Churchill Beautiful and Talented
It would be wrong to talk about Winston Churchill as known per
sonally to me without mentioning also Lady Churchill who to me, and
to her many friends, is always "Clemmie." She is a beautiful and talented
lady, and I am one of her most devoted admirers. She is very well read
and has great wisdom, and it is a real delight to talk with her. And she has
courage, which quality has been needed at times.
I recall particularly the dinner party at No. 10 on the night of April
4, 1955, when the Queen and Prince Philip dined with Sir Winston and
Lady Churchill. Clemmie was in great pain from neuritis, but only a few
of us knew; she stuck it out and was a most gracious hostess the whole
evening. It was one of the bravest acts I have seen. She had to be brave for
another reason; it was her last party at No. 10, since Winston was to resign
as prime minister the next day.
I will never forget that evening. I was living in France because of my
NATO appointment at SHAPE, and I came over to London for the dinner.
(Continued)
Exempted from "TtM.rotti to Uodmhip," copyright 1961 by lornwd low, Vbcownt Moatgonnry of Akmoin; mprintod by pombtlon of O. P. Puhnon'l Son. Tamil)) Wftkly, May 14, 1N1 7