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D A T E L I N E S AROUND & ABOUT Police at Tonypandy, Wales, 1910 TONYPANDY: THERE THEY GO AGAIN LONDON, JULY 21ST— Reader Alistair Cooke (no relation to “the” AC) picked up on a comment in the Daily Telegraph by a Labour MP, that, a century on, “the people of Tonypandy remember Churchill in relation to the Tonypandy riots.” Few myths, Cooke wrote, have proved as tenacious as the unfounded Labour belief that Home Secretary Churchill had used the Army to suppress Tonypandy rioters. Finest Hour senior editor Paul Courtenay seconded Cooke’s motion and raised him one. The Telegraph truncated Paul’s response. We reprint it in full: “Mr. Cooke is quite right to puncture the myth of Winston Churchill and Tonypandy. In November 1910, during disturbances and looting at Tonypandy, the police were thought to have enough officers available to contain the situation, but the Chief Constable of Glamorgan asked for 400 cavalry and infantry as a reserve in case his men were overwhelmed or became exhausted. The General Officer Commanding Southern Command despatched these, pending further instructions. “When Churchill, the Home Secretary, heard that these military forces were on their way, he immediately gave orders that they were to be halted wherever they were and to go no further. The cavalry were initially halted in Cardiff, but were later allowed to advance as far as Pontypridd (five miles short of Tonypandy), and the infantry were halted in Swindon, which was not even in Wales and was as close as they got. “If anyone finds this hard to believe they should read the leading article in The Times of 9 November 1910, in which that newspaper >> Illustrating the reason for the late Winston Churchill’s appeal to the nation (FH 147 back cover), the Royal Air Force may shrink to its smallest size since the First World War under unprecedented cuts being proposed at the Ministry of Defence, according to Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. In the most significant changes to Britain’s defences since the post-Suez review of 1957, ministers and officials plan to scrap large parts of the British armed forces. The services will lose up to 16,000 personnel, hundreds of tanks, scores of fighter jets and half a dozen ships, under detailed proposals passed to the Daily Telegraph. This is a rather interesting development, since the new Government ran on the promise of quite the opposite with regard to the military. Harding continues: “...the RAF will bear the brunt of the planned cuts. The Air Force will lose 7000 airmen—almost one sixth of its total staff—and 295 aircraft. The cuts will leave the Force with fewer than 200 fighter planes for the first time since 1914. In addition, the Royal Navy will lose two submarines, three amphibious ships and more than 100 senior officers, along with 2000 sailors and marines. The Army faces a 40 percent cut to its fleet of 9700 armoured vehicles and the loss of a 5000-strong brigade of troops. “The Telegraph has also learnt that the ‘black hole’ in Ministry of Defence finances, caused by orders which have been made but cannot be paid for, is approaching £72 billion over the next decade—double the amount previously suggested. “While the Strategic Defence and Security Review is yet to be finalised, officials have drawn up a series of likely options to meet cuts of 10 to 20 percent demanded by the Treasury. By the end of August the Defence Strategy Group, comprising ministers and military chiefs, will receive a number of recommendations that they will refine and pass to the National Security Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, in September. In October, after agreement with the Treasury, an announcement will be made in Parliament on precisely what cuts the Forces face as part of the comprehensive spending review of Whitehall budgets. “If implemented, the cuts will mean that Britain will almost certainly depart the world stage as a major military power and become what military chiefs call a ‘medium-scale player.’” kkkkk Telegraph readers commented: “It is madness to cut defense considering the number of unstable countries wishing us harm; we did the same thing in the 1930s and look how that turned out” ... “To cut the navy is suicide; it should be increased; we are an island and must have secure sea lanes; as for the ‘EUSSR’ we all know we cannot depend on the French or Germans to defend us, we have to be able to stand on our own” ... “When exactly were the RAF last involved in dogfights etc. in defence of the UK” ... “They are still scrambled when the Russians test our response times with long-range bombers—reducing our capacity simply shows how inadequate the broke-back coalition is.” ... “From time to time Her Majesty’s Government is embarrassed by the excess of zeal displayed by armament salesmen. It has accordingly signed solemn agreements with other major governments, undertaking to stamp out abuse. I am sure that HMG is capable of noble gestures. After all, it has a foreign aid budget in the region of £7 billion, for which the recipients do not always express effusive thanks.” We report, you decide. , FINEST HOUR 148 / 8
GAZING UPWARDS: ROBERT HARDY AT 85 Richard M. Langworth • Written for his Birthday on 25 October 2010 L-R: Addressing Churchill Tours, 1986, 2006; as WSC in Susskind’s “Leaders”; as Cornelius Fudge, with Dumbledore in “Harry Potter.” We have all heard about the art of Timothy Robert Hardy, even though we don’t need to do so, since it is self-evident. But that really doesn’t matter, does it His three-decade involvement with the Churchill saga provides a balsamic reiteration of what we know, are glad that we know, pity those who do not know, and are proud to be associated with. It began with his peerless portrayals of Sir Winston in the “Wilderness Years” TV documentary; David Susskind’s “Leaders” series; a London stage play; the mini-series “War and Remembrance”; and—just this August 20th—a brilliant reading from Churchill’s tribute to “The Few” on its 70th annniversary. See our website: http://xrl.us/bhwuip. We can only begin to imagine the prodigious effort Tim made to master this part—to find, as he put it, “a way in.” But playing Churchill, he said, was “one of the best things that has ever happened to me.” Speaking to us in 1986 he likened the job to scaling Everest: “I shall never look down from the peak, but as long as I live I shall delight in gazing upwards toward those towering rocks.” The Churchill Society thought enough of his mountaineering to offer him the Blenheim Award, its highest accolade. But his acceptance honored us much more. Robert Hardy has the distinction of having been on both sides in the Churchill story—for he played von Ribbentrop to Richard Burton’s Churchill in “The Gathering Storm.” He told me he yearned to direct the great Anthony Hopkins as Churchill, but I said this must never occur until he is too old. And he still isn’t! Long before he played Winston Churchill, this devoted student of Shakespeare played many of the Bard’s heroes and villains—roles he savored. He once remarked to an interviewer: “I have to keep saying to myself, ‘To play Hamlet at your age is out of the question. Stop it!’” Others know him best for his superb role as Siegfried Farnon in “All Creatures Great and Small.” My wife once said to him, “You’ll always be Siegfried to me.” Tim quickly replied, “You’ll always be Barbara to me.” Nowadays, we all know him as Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter films. He admitted to Barbara that his only regret in that role is that he was not equipped with his personal owl. His knowledge of archery and his scholarly book, Longbow, led to his becoming archery consultant to the Mary Rose Trust: studying the longbows and arrows found in the famous ship, now being restored in Portsmouth. Through his intervention, one of our Churchill tour parties was given a private tour of the ship by its curator, who explained the lengthy process of drying ancient timbers. The unfailing quality of Robert Hardy’s work is equaled by the unfailing courtesy of his manner. Those who meet him for the first time are struck by his gentility, as of course by his wit and erudition. There is something about him that is a dramatic betrayal of the persona one expects from a public reputation. He has said that Winston Churchill was the one man last century who could lead us through the worst of times by the force of his mesmerizing speeches, monumental courage and personal charisma. I say in reply that Robert Hardy’s work expresses all the Churchillian qualities. Through his skill, the true Churchill emerged for out of the blue distance of time, for new generations to contemplate. That is something for which Churchill admirers are deeply grateful and honored—as I am to be part of this tribute to Timothy Robert Hardy, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. , TONYPANDY... attacked the Home Secretary, saying that he had no business interfering with the arrangements made by the Chief Constable. On the following day, The Manchester Guardian took the opposite view and said that Mr. Churchill had acted correctly and never wavered in his determination not to employ the troops unless the disorders FINEST HOUR 148 / 9 passed beyond the control of the police [which they never did]. Some infantry did later arrive in the locality and remained there for a year, but they never engaged with the strikers.” ,
Page 1 and 2: THE JOURNAL OF WINSTON CHURCHILL AU
Page 3 and 4: The Journal of Winston Churchill ,
Page 5 and 6: R I D D L E S , M Y S T E R I E S ,
Page 7: wrote about what it was like to be
Page 11 and 12: Getting There: Churchill’s Wartim
Page 13 and 14: Above: A Boeing 314A flying boat of
Page 15 and 16: Small Craft, Short Visits On at lea
Page 17 and 18: Air and Sea AIRCRAFT Listed alphabe
Page 19 and 20: L-R: Radioman Russ Holmes, Co-pilot
Page 21 and 22: had proven that the North Atlantic
Page 23 and 24: Staying There: Mena House, the Summ
Page 25 and 26: Churchill sites like this are avail
Page 27 and 28: the Personality of the Century, whi
Page 29 and 30: “Nearly always it came about that
Page 31 and 32: Books, Arts & Curiosities Below:
Page 33 and 34: Charles Morin great pleasure to kno
Page 35 and 36: Gilman, Robert Bevan, John Nash and
Page 37 and 38: once again by Sangorski & Sutcliffe
Page 39 and 40: ole of Eisenhower’s wartime chauf
Page 41 and 42: elieves that Churchill’s behavior
Page 43 and 44: Churchill’s Ever-Readable The Unk
Page 45 and 46: In 1988 we mounted a direct mail ca
Page 47 and 48: 1 2 5 - 1 0 0 - 7 5 - 5 0 Y E A R S
Page 49 and 50: Churchill Quiz JAMES LANCASTER Each
Page 51 and 52: the 1932 collection Thoughts and Ad
Page 53 and 54: Giant Marauders: Scientific War and
Page 55 and 56: “Mass Effects” and the Great Ma
Page 57 and 58: description of Pitt, one cannot mis
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Thoughts and Adventures: A Reader
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writing as well as his other activi
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REGIONAL AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS Ch
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