When Churchill Dissed America

History resource article by Mary Harrsch

William Churchill at Madame Tussauds in London.
Photographed by Mary Harrsch © 2006

I found this article in The Smithsonian Magazine about Winston Churchill's real feelings about the U.S. during the Second World War absolutely fascinating.

A synopsis provided by the publisher:

"Throughout a political career that spanned two-thirds of a century, Churchill never publicly criticized the United States or the American people. Yet, as author, Andrew Roberts discovered while writing his new biography, Winston Churchill: Walking With Destiny, Churchill took a very different stance in private. From a variety of different sources—including the wartime diaries of King George VI in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, opened to Roberts by the gracious permission of the Queen—it is clear that Churchill regularly expressed searing criticism of the United States, and especially the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.

Roberts writes, “[Churchill’s] public reticence to criticize the United States reflected two aspects of his character that were often to the fore throughout his political career. The first was his capacity ruthlessly to sacrifice the trivial and the short-term for the greater prize. The second was his powerful sense of personal and national destiny. He foresaw a time when Britain would need the United States desperately.”

Roberts book is available for Preorder now from Amazon.

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New clue to the location of the USS Indianapolis

History resource article by Mary Harrsch © 2016 .

Survivors of the USS Indianapolis rescued by the USS Tranquility arrive at Guam
August 8, 1945.  Image courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

In the final days of the war, the U.S.S. Indianapolis completed a top secret mission to deliver components of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima to U.S. forces in the theater. After dropping those components off at Tinian in the Marianas Islands, Indianapolis headed to Leyte, an island in the Philippines, when it was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine just after midnight on July 30, 1945. Around 800 of the ship’s 1,196 Sailors and Marines survived the sinking, but after four to five harrowing days in the water, suffering exposure, dehydration, drowning, and shark attacks, only 316 survived.

While reviewing the Navy’s holdings and other information related to Indianapolis, NHHC historian Richard Hulver, Ph.D., found a blog post and photo online that recounted the story of a World War II Sailor whose ship passed Indianapolis less than a day before the ship was sunk. This corroborated an account by Indianapolis Captain Charles McVay, III that his ship passed an unspecified LST approximately 11 hours prior to the sinking. Hulver located the Sailor’s service record from the National Personnel Records Center which identified the Sailor as a passenger on tank landing ship USS LST-779 during the period in which Indianapolis sank. That sent Hulver to the National Archives where LST-779’s deck logs confirmed the story.

 The meeting between Indianapolis and LST-779 has been seemingly overlooked in previous studies of Indianapolis.

 
 Hulver continued, “The LST-779 data sheds new light on where Indianapolis was attacked and sunk.” This brings us closer to discovering the final resting place of the ship and many of her crew. 

Although the location of Indianapolis is known to be in the Philippine Sea, two previous attempts to find the wreck have failed. In July–August 2001, an expedition sought to find the wreckage through the use of side-scan sonar and underwater cameras mounted on a remotely operated vehicle. Four Indianapolis survivors accompanied the expedition, which was not successful. In June 2005, a second expedition was mounted to find the wreck. National Geographic covered the story and released it in July. Submersibles were launched to find any sign of wreckage. The only objects ever found, which have not been confirmed to have belonged to Indianapolis, were numerous pieces of metal of varying size found in the area of the reported sinking position.

Hulver summarized the historical literature, conducted archival research, and prepared a report incorporating the new information gleaned from LST-779’s brief encounter with Indianapolis. NHHC’s summary was published online as part of a project to consolidate the entirety of NHHC’s holdings on Indianapolis into an easy-to-navigate, online resource (http://go.usa.gov/xr57m) prepared in advance of the 71st anniversary of the ship’s loss July 30. 

The USS Indianapolis National Memorial  was dedicated on 2 August 1995. It is located on the Canal Walk in Indianapolis. The heavy cruiser is depicted in limestone and granite and sits adjacent to the downtown canal. The crewmembers' names are listed on the monument, with special notations for those who lost their lives. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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Churchill - De Gaulle Exhibit opens in Paris

A history resource article by Mary Harrsch © 2015

Winston Churchill at Madame Toussaud's Wax
Museum in London.  Photographed by
Mary Harrsch © 2006

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of famous British statesman Winston Churchill and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of France during World War II, the Musée de l'Armée in Paris is hosting a joint exhibition examining the intertwined careers of Churchill and Charles de Gaulle.

The exhibit begins with the Munich agreement, a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation "Sudetenland" was coined. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. Today, it is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938 (but dated 29 September).

"In 1938, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle did not know yet each other. Their notoriety, for which they were responsible, was not in proportion with one another. However, they shared a very close vision of the rising dangers of the Thirties, as well as the strategic and diplomatic shortcomings of their respective countries. But the politician “in the wilderness” and the military theorist ignored by the military hierarchy were isolated and in the minority in the face of public opinion which was convinced that the Maginot line and the concessions granted to the dictators would prevent a new war. Both therefore react very strongly following the signing of the Munich accords, a simple of this policy of renunciation and cowardice."

Servicemen and politicians, Churchill and De Gaulle were also writers, orators and even, in Churchill’s case, a journalist and a painter. The intersecting paths of these major figures - both allies and enemy brothers - will be explored through objects, paintings, uniforms and archives, some never before exhibited or published. Multimedia displays will provide the military and historic context.

The exhibit will be accompanied by lectures on Churchill and De Gaulle in the media, in North Africa and as subjects of sculptors.  There will also be concerts and a film festival including the late Sir Richard Attenborough's 1972 film "Young Winston", the 2009 Thaddeus O'Sullivan film "Into the Storm" as well as the popular films "The Eagle Has Landed" and "The Day of the Jackal".

The exhibit will be on display until July 26, 2015.

The last time I was in Paris in 2008, I didn't have an opportunity to visit the Musée de l'Armée but I hope one day to return and will place this museum on my itinerary.

Related articles

• Churchill and De Gaulle, Liberty Lovers

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