"Two questions. (1) When he gave a speech to his Cabinet earlier in the movie the Cabinet applauded him. Did this really happen? English people tend not to applaud as readily as our American cousins do. (2) Also, near the end while he was at the theatre the audience applauded and stood up. Did this really happen?"
Tony: No knowledge on your second question, though in 1945 Britons often cheered him, even if they didn't vote Conservative. To question 1: There are several accounts of the Cabinet on 28 May when Churchill’s words carried the day and convinced his colleagues to fight on. The film combines quotes and action, not necessarily in sequence; but according to Hugh Dalton as well as Churchill, there was a demonstration of the type portrayed at some point. Two quotations from “Churchill by Himself” (http://xrl.us/behhv6) “Leadership” chapter, “Courage” sub-section, p. 485: “If at last this long story is to end, it were better it should end, not through surrender, but only when we are rolling senseless on the ground.” —1940, 28 MAY, DOWNING STREET. (Hugh Dalton, THE FATEFUL YEARS: MEMOIRS 1931-1945. London: Muller, 1957, 335.) Said at a meeting of the Cabinet; Lord Halifax was still arguing for exploring, via Mussolini, Hitler’s ceasefire terms. Another version reads: “If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground.” (Official Biography VI, 420). “Then I said quite casually, not treating it as a point of special significance: ‘Of course, whatever happens at Dunkirk, we shall fight on.’ There occurred a demonstration which, considering the character of the gathering—twenty-five experienced politicians and Parliament men, who represented all the different points of view, whether right or wrong, before the war—surprised me. Quite a number seemed to jump up from the table and come running to my chair, shouting and patting me on the back. There is no doubt that had I at this juncture faltered at all in the leading of the nation I should have been hurled out of office. I was sure that every Minister was ready to be killed quite soon, and have all his family and possessions destroyed, rather than give in. In this they represented the House of Commons and almost all the people. It fell to me in these coming days and months to express their sentiments on suitable occasions. This I was able to do because they were mine also. There was a white glow, over-powering, sublime, which ran through our Island from end to end.” —1940, 28 MAY, DOWNING STREET. (Churchill, THEIR FINEST HOUR. London: Cassell, 1949, 88.) Churchill’s recollection of this “demonstration” by ministers not on the War Cabinet has been challenged by critics, but never by anyone present. While some may have favoured considering German terms, none favoured surrender. See Chapter 18, World War II… 1940/Options. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ChurchillChat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
