Thanks for these confirmations...! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Riddle White Cottage 4 Sunningvale Avenue Biggin Hill, Westerham Kent TN16 3BT
e-Mail: dpreey...@gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > On 5 Jul 2015, at 00:43, Richard M. Langworth <tcc-...@sneakemail.com> wrote: > > The "Get off you fool!" (not "bloody fool") cat story is authoritative, from > the reliable Elizabeth Nel in Mr Churchill's Secretary (Hodder & Stoughton, > 1958), 74: > > > "On the morning in question Mr. Churchill sat in bed and Smokey sat on the > blankets watching him. The Prime Minister's telephone conversation with the > C.I.G.S. was long and anxious; his thoughts were far away; his toes wiggled > under the blankets. I saw Smokey's tail switch as he watched, and wondered > what was going to happen. Suddenly he pounced on the toes and bit hard. It > must have hurt for Mr. Churchill, started, kicked him right into the corner > of the room shouting, 'Get off, you fool' into the telephone. Then he > remembered. "Oh," he said, "I didn't mean you" and then seeing Smokey looking > somewhat dazed in the corner, 'Poor little thing.' Confusion was complete, > the C.I.G.S. hung up hastily and telephoned the Private Secretary to know > what was happening. It took a long time to get it all sorted out, and Sir > Alan Brooke assured that it was not his fault." > > Churchill owned an African Grey parrot, but story about a Macaw surviving to > a ripe old age and ending up at a pet shop (Reigate, Surrey, the papers > reported) is rubbish, Lady Soames in Finest Hour 117 (Winter 2002-03). We had > picked up a story about a blue and yellow Macaw named Charlie, allegedly > born 1899, acquired by Chartwell in 1937, and still going strong and cussing > hard at 103. Lady Soames wrote: > > "Some weeks ago several of our glorious tabloids carried the story of the > Macaw parrot (FH 116:6). I exploded and did nothing! However, now tthat this > mendacious paragraph appears in a respectable publication I would really like > to put the record straight. My father never > owned a Macaw in the 1930s or at any other time as far as I am aware. He did > own an African Grey Parrot in the mid- to late-Thirties. I > do not know how he acquired it?it may well be as stated in the offending > piece. I cannot remember the parrot's name; it was quite > disagreeable and frequently bit those who tried to curry favour with it > (including WSC). It lived in a large cage in the dining room at > Chartwell. The bird did not spend the war at my father's side; when the > family removed from Chartwell to London in September/October 1939 > I have the impression the parrot had a good hom(e found for it. I would be > glad if Finest Hour would correct this tiresome though trivial > inaccuracy." > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "ChurchillChat" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to churchillchat+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to churchillchat@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to churchillchat+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to churchillchat@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
