Churchill Defiant: Fighting On 1945–1955. Barbara Leaming

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СКАЧАТЬ Loudly complaining that he had been seated next to the head delegate from Nicaragua, the would-be leader of the new world peacekeeping organization made no secret of his conviction that he rated a more important dinner partner. He also seemed unhappy that he had been placed in the vicinity of Attlee.

      Dinner began; the Krug 1928 champagne and other wines from the cellars at Buckingham Palace flowed; and George VI, a slight man with prominent teeth who suffered from a nervous stammer that tended to affect him when he addressed the public, spoke of the momentous tasks facing the delegates and of the need to put petty, selfish concerns aside in the interest of making the UN a success.

      After dinner, the company moved to the Queen Anne Room, where the King planned to talk individually with certain guests. He was especially keen to speak to the dark-eyed, sallow-faced Russian, Andrei Gromyko (said to call to mind ‘a badger forced into the daylight’), to urge that the wartime contact between London and Moscow not be lost. George VI’s press secretary, Lewis Ritchie, brought over each of the chosen delegates, and photographs were taken at the King’s request. The bright flashes provoked a new hissy fit from Eden. Using filthy, abusive language, he protested to Ritchie that the camera lights were bothering him.

      Butler, one of a small number of Opposition members present, sprang forward to apologize on Eden’s behalf, pointing out, in case anyone had failed to notice, that the man he hoped to replace as heir apparent had had too much to drink.

      The next day, Lascelles drafted a stinging letter of rebuke to Eden. Realizing that he had ‘made an ass’ of himself, Eden, before he heard from the Palace, wrote an abject letter of apology. Not only had he sabotaged his candidacy for the UN job, but he had also provided ammunition to those who questioned his capacity to lead the Conservative Party.

      As it happened, Churchill was asked for his thoughts on both the secretary generalship and the Tory leadership when the Queen Elizabeth docked in New York on the evening of 14 January. Flags whipped in the frosty Hudson River winds and a US Army band struck up ‘Hail, Hail, The Gang’s All Here’ as he descended the gangplank. Observed by the Canadian troops, whose heads stuck out of many of the ship’s portholes, Churchill made one of his dainty half-bows to a large crowd of press and American, British, and Canadian officials.

      Afterwards, in a heated waiting room on the pier’s upper level, he thanked reporters for coming out on such a cold night and gamely took their questions. Clementine Churchill, swathed in black furs, helped with any words he failed to hear. In the course of bantering with reporters, Churchill addressed topics that had been the subject of speculation and gossip in London for weeks. His remarks were of particular concern to certain personally interested parties at home.

      Did Churchill plan to retire from active politics? ‘I know of no truth in such reports,’ he fired back. Was he going to hand over the Tory leadership? ‘I have no intention whatever of ceasing to lead the Conservative Party until I am satisfied that they can see their way clear ahead and make a better arrangement, which I earnestly trust they may be able to do.’ Was Churchill prepared to serve as the first UN Secretary General? This question appeared to puzzle him. Churchill knew that Eden wanted the job, and before he left the country he had ‘strongly’ advised him to accept were it to be offered. (Eden, for his part, assumed Churchill wished to see him settled elsewhere so he would feel easier in his mind about staying on. Churchill similarly had counselled Eden to take the viceroyship in 1943 on the explanation that he hoped ‘to go on some years yet’.) At the time of the press conference in New York, Churchill had no idea that Eden had already torpedoed whatever chance he might have had to go to the UN. It was only now he discovered that one day previously in London some of the South American delegates had put forth the name ‘Winston Churchill’ as the latest candidate for the post. After a second’s reflection, he swatted the question aside: ‘I never addressed my mind to such a subject.’ The following day in London, Eden chaired a meeting of the Shadow Cabinet. Cranborne hovered about Eden to be sure he made better use of Churchill’s absence. In the wake of Eden’s suicidal performance at the state banquet, Cranborne was pleased to see him act calmly and effectively to consolidate his position in the party. Where Eden had bristled at suggestions that he had yet to prove himself fully, Cranborne saw the deputy leadership as a huge opportunity for their side. Whatever assurances Cranborne had previously offered to Eden in the interest of dissuading him from accepting the post of UN Secretary General, Cranborne did not really believe that Churchill would readily hand over any time soon. He did, however, hope that if the deputy leader performed well, Eden would be in a strong enough position to push Churchill out when the old man came home.

       VI Winnie, Winnie, Go Away Miami Beach, Florida, 1946

      Seated beside a bed of red poinsettias near the pink brick seaside house his wife had arranged to borrow from a friend, Churchill contentedly scanned the coconut palms overhead in search of a ‘paintaceous’ angle. His tropical-weight tan suit fit snugly across his stomach. The deep creases radiating from the centre button, which looked as if it was about to burst, testified that he had grown thicker since he acquired the suit in North Africa during the war. In the white patio chair beside him, Clementine Churchill wore one of her customary headscarves, big round white-rimmed sunglasses and wrist-length white gloves. After the bone-chilling cold they had had to endure in New York harbour and the rain-splashed train windows en route through Virginia and the Carolinas, she proclaimed the intense heat and sunshine on the day they arrived in Miami Beach ‘delicious’. Churchill had lately suffered his share of colds and sore throats, and in keeping with his wife’s wishes he intended to rest and to enjoy the good weather in Florida. Still, from the outset the couple had contrasting perspectives on their stay. She saw their holiday as an end in itself, he as a chance to get in shape for the main event in Missouri.

      The next morning, the Churchills were unhappily surprised. The sky had darkened and the temperature had plummeted. There followed a day and a half of shivering cold and rustling palm fronds until the afternoon emergence of the sun prompted Churchill to rush off with his painting paraphernalia. He worked for hours in the shade on a picture of palms reflected in water. Despite the knitted afghan which Clementine draped around his shoulders when she brought him his tea, he caught another cold and was soon running a slight temper ature. The episode was exactly the sort of thing they had come to Florida to avoid. At a time when he was supposed to be gearing up for Fulton, the usual concerns about pneumonia plunged him into a fit of agitation. For all of his philosophy, he always found it maddening when illness threatened to get in the way of his great plans. Friends affectionately called Churchill the world’s worst patient. This time, he alternated between insisting he wanted no medicine and taking several conflicting remedies all at once.

      His fever broke after thirty-six hours. The perfect weather resumed and Churchill was able to paint again and to swim in the ocean. Welcome news arrived in the form of a message from Truman that he would soon be on holiday in Florida and would be happy to dine with Churchill on the presidential yacht. The prospect freed Churchill from the need to brave any more bad weather were he to have to fly north to confer with Truman. In the meantime, Truman sent a converted army bomber to transport the Churchills to Cuba for a week of painting and basking in the sun. The President and the former Prime Minister were set to meet after that, but when Churchill returned from Havana he discovered that Truman had had to cancel his holiday because of the steel strike. Churchill insisted he would fly to him the next day.

      The exceptionally rough five-hour trip proved to be an ordeal. Churchill was finishing lunch when the B-17 bomber passed into a sleet storm above Virginia. Suddenly, plates and glasses pitched in all directions and Churchill was thrown against the ceiling. Not long afterwards, the aircraft landed safely amid a swirl of ice pellets. Churchill rose amid the shattered glass that covered the cabin and relit his cigar by way of composing himself. He descended the steps at National Airport beaming and waving his hat to Lord Halifax and other official greeters as if he had just enjoyed the most tranquil СКАЧАТЬ