Moonraker Posted 1 April , 2021 Share Posted 1 April , 2021 At 2100 on Good Friday on Channel 5: the second episode in "Churchill". "With his wife's support and considerable newspaper coverage, he enlisted, arriving at his battalion riding a magnificent black horse, with valet, two grooms and a bath. He wasn't well received," the Sunday Times "Culture" listings inform us. IIRC he puzzled his men by giving out-of-date parade orders that they couldn't follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 2 April , 2021 Share Posted 2 April , 2021 18 hours ago, Moonraker said: He wasn't well received, By whom I wonder? He left the UK on the 18th November '15 and on the 20th he was already attached to 2nd Grenadier Guards “for instruction” in trench warfare. Their brigade was in the trenches opposite Pierre, and their battalion HQ in a ruined farm near Rue de Tilleloy. There was a hard frost that night. The trenches were all in a bad state; flooded and crumbling breastworks said to be 'not bulletproof'. (WO95/1215 quoted by Gilbert) Enjoy the programme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem49 Posted 2 April , 2021 Share Posted 2 April , 2021 After Gallipoli, he wasn't well received in a few places! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 2 April , 2021 Author Share Posted 2 April , 2021 (edited) Churchill in the Trenches Wikipedia: On 25 November 1915, Churchill resigned from the government, although he remained an MP. Asquith rejected his request to be appointed Governor-General of British East Africa.[177] Churchill decided to join the Army and was attached to the 2nd Grenadier Guards, on the Western Front.[178] In January 1916, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and given command of the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers.[179] After a period of training, the battalion was moved to a sector of the Belgian Front near Ploegsteert.[180] For over three months, they faced continual shelling although no German offensive.[181] Churchill narrowly escaped death when, during a visit by his staff officer cousin the 9th Duke of Marlborough, a large piece of shrapnel fell between them.[182] In May, the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers were merged into the 15th Division. Churchill did not request a new command, instead securing permission to leave active service.[183] Back in the House of Commons, Churchill spoke out on war issues, calling for conscription to be extended to the Irish, greater recognition of soldiers' bravery, and for the introduction of steel helmets for troops.[184] He was frustrated at being out of office as a backbencher but he was repeatedly blamed for Gallipoli, mainly by the pro-Conservative press.[185] Churchill argued his case before the Dardanelles Commission, whose published report placed no blame on him personally for the campaign's failure.[186] Edited 2 April , 2021 by Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 2 April , 2021 Share Posted 2 April , 2021 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Moonraker said: On 25 November 1915, Churchill resigned from the government Churchill's resignation was a little earlier. Asquith reformed the Cabinet War Committee on 11th November 1915 and Churchill had no place in it. He resigned the same day, ending his letter to Asquith thus "With much respect, and unaltered personal friendship, I bid you good-bye." The next day (12th Nov '15) Asquith wrote to WSC "I hoped that you would reconsider your decision and regret to learn from your letter that you have not felt able to do so." The King accepted the resignation that same day; 12th Edited 2 April , 2021 by michaeldr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 In last night's Channel 5 documentary on Churchill's war, there was footage of soldiers in kilts, described as 6th RSF. I assume that this was an error by a researcher, but did 6th RSF ever wear kilts? A photo of WSC and the battalion's officers showed them all in normal service dress trousers. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 22 minutes ago, Ron Clifton said: I assume that this was an error by a researcher, but did 6th RSF ever wear kilts? Not according to Churchill Warrior: How a Military Life Guided Winston's Finest Hours by Brian Lavery - see p. 243 [ https://books.google.co.il/books?id=LyIzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA244&lpg=PA244&dq=did+6th+%22RSF%22+ever+wear+kilts?&source=bl&ots=1zC8J1BTSc&sig=ACfU3U0-njndFYcLtKgEIV4z0lv60UzKWg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAjqaF6OHvAhWc8LsIHekSC_0Q6AEwBXoECA0QAw#v=onepage&q=did%206th%20%22RSF%22%20ever%20wear%20kilts%3F&f=false ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripeyman Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 The picture editor should not be left near any job that requires doing properly. One photo showed the Houses of Parliament with a saloon car of the late 1930'/early1940's and a camouflaged Utility vehicle. A bit of film shows British soldiers coming over a rise, they then turn into Germans..... A date appears, January 1915, then the narrator says Churchill is to go to the Western Front after the Gallipoli caper. Can we believe anything these clever Dicks give us ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 On 02/04/2021 at 10:28, stevem49 said: After Gallipoli, he wasn't well received in a few places! This website brings up an interesting point in relation to that made here earlier by Steve in his post (No.3) https://www.scottishmilitarydisasters.com/index.php/titles-sp-26803/66-churchill-in-the-trenches “His fellow officers, almost all diehard Tories, had not forgotten his defection to the Liberal Party in 1904.” I would go a little further, and say that not only did the Tories regard him as a traitor to their cause because of his switch to the Liberal Party in 1904, but they felt, perhaps even more keenly, what they saw as his more recent betrayal of their cause. In 1913/4 Churchill has been prepared to back his new party's proposed Home Rule for Ireland, and thus he further stoked the ire of what was and is the Conservative & Unionist Party. The Tories and their allies in the press never forgot and never forgave. They bided their time, and in 1915 they struck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 On 02/04/2021 at 10:28, stevem49 said: After Gallipoli, he wasn't well received in a few places! Nor before. A legacy that still persists to the present day: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/towns-wales-were-churchill-loathed-14150135 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 I do not doubt that you are right and that he had enemies-a-plenty; which politician doesn't? However, only one group had the power to satisfy that enmity by driving him from office Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 But fortunately he had the last laugh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 3 April , 2021 Share Posted 3 April , 2021 7 hours ago, stripeyman said: The picture editor should not be left near any job that requires doing properly. One photo showed the Houses of Parliament with a saloon car of the late 1930'/early1940's and a camouflaged Utility vehicle. A bit of film shows British soldiers coming over a rise, they then turn into Germans..... A date appears, January 1915, then the narrator says Churchill is to go to the Western Front after the Gallipoli caper. Can we believe anything these clever Dicks give us ? No. One of the experts also referred to him as a Loo-tenant-Colonel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 4 April , 2021 Author Share Posted 4 April , 2021 On 03/04/2021 at 13:25, stripeyman said: ... A date appears, January 1915, then the narrator says Churchill is to go to the Western Front after the Gallipoli caper. Can we believe anything these clever Dicks give us ? 20 hours ago, GWF1967 said: No. One of the experts also referred to him as a Loo-tenant-Colonel. I think that "1915" may have been a typo? 1916? Another expert mispronounced "Marlborough". Some footage showed premature use of steel helmets. Was it really necessary to show modern, speeded-up river and road transport in one of the clips of the Houses of Parliament,? But, having picked at nits, I can say that overall I found it interesting enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 4 April , 2021 Share Posted 4 April , 2021 4 hours ago, Moonraker said: Another expert mispronounced "Marlborough". How? As Marlburg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 5 April , 2021 Author Share Posted 5 April , 2021 Pundits agree that it's "... borough", but a few mispronounce the first syllable: Wrong Correct My Googling to find the above led first to a Spanish gentleman telling me how the New Zealand version is pronounced: Listen up (To digress even further, two miles east of Marlborough, Wiltshire, is the village of Mildenhall, often pronounced and sometimes spelt "Minal".) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 5 April , 2021 Share Posted 5 April , 2021 You Inglesis have some pretty crazy place names... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 5 April , 2021 Author Share Posted 5 April , 2021 What about Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Dai? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Regiano Posted 5 April , 2021 Share Posted 5 April , 2021 10 hours ago, Moonraker said: Correct like Baaaaaath or Bath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interested Posted 5 April , 2021 Share Posted 5 April , 2021 Isn't Chumley out there somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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