"All I want is compliance with my wishes, after reasonable discussion."
--Winston Churchill, as reported by a general named Dwight Eisenhower
Winston Churchill probably uttered 12 of our Top 20 favorite quotes of all time. And he was something of a writer, too. Opinionated, cantankerous, snarky at times--he would have made a great editorial writer. (Complaining about de Gaulle: "He thinks he's Joan of Arc. But I can't get my bloody bishops to burn him.")
There's a new movie out featuring Churchill and World World II, and we're not talking about Dunkirk. It's a movie set for a smaller release, and maybe it'll even get to Arkansas. It's called Churchill, and it stars the talented Mr. Brian Cox. We've seen the trailers. And we can't wait to see it.
If the trailers are any indication--and that's a big if these days--then the movie tells the story of how Mr. Churchill was completely opposed to the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. There may even be a scene in which Eisenhower shouts him down, Montgomery threatens to resign, and Churchill himself prays to God for bad weather to thwart the invasion.
Oh, Lord. According to one Churchill historian, never in the course of movie-making have so many errors been made in so long a film by so few people.
One must note, in reading the massive volumes of his thoughts on the war, that Winston Churchill did say history would be kind to him, for he intended to write it. After the smoke has cleared, victory assured--and years pass by--it would be easy to say you were always in favor of strategies that worked. But in Closing the Ring, as with his other volumes, Winston Churchill was adamant about printing the correspondence that he had with FDR, Uncle Joe, his generals, American generals, other politicians and his family from the time he wrote them, including dates. When addressing President Roosevelt, he began each missive with "Former Naval Person to the President . . . ." And then lectured/begged/suggested/harangued/joked about the issues of the day. (He wasn't that familiar with Premier Stalin.)
We aren't privy to the private discussions between the characters all those years ago, and it is well-known that Ike wasn't a big fan of politicians even after he became one. So the American general's books might have had a different take on Churchill's suggestions. But there is a record, there are minutes, of the prime minister's thoughts about the invasion of western France.
In a word, he was nervous. Like everybody else.
The Italian campaign was moving along at a slow pace in mid-1943. And those planning Operation Overlord began taking troops out of that country and transporting them to England to prepare for D-Day the following year. But that didn't seem to bother Churchill, he said, as much as the thought of moving some of the equipment back home, too.
The landing craft made famous in Saving Private Ryan were called, in military jargon, Landing Ships--Tanks, or LSTs. (We've heard grunts call them Large Slow Targets.) Winston Churchill watched with confusion as the military types began moving the LSTs out of Italy in mid-1943, to be put in storage until the spring of the following year, at least. Why? he wondered, when the small boats could be used on Italian shores to go around strong lines of enemy defense. Perhaps time after life-saving time. Until the Germans, and what was left of the Italian enemy, had to retreat to the Alps.
He couldn't see the military necessity of moving the LSTs before they were needed in France, and said so. Repeatedly. Maybe so many times that folks began thinking he was against the Channel crossing.
Or as he put it, "We had invaded Italy in strong force. We had an army there which, if not supported, might be entirely cast away, giving Hitler the greatest triumph he had had since the fall of France. On the other hand, there could be no question of our not making the 'Overlord' attack in 1944 . . . . If some of the landing-craft earmarked for 'Overlord' were allowed to stay in the Mediterranean over the winter, there would be no difficulty in making a success of the Italian campaign."
And here are some of the things he said at the time to various players, dated, by Churchill, for the reader's convenience:
"The reason why we are getting into this jeopardy [the stalemate in Italy] is because we are moving some of our best divisions and a large proportion of vital landing-craft from the Mediterranean in order to build up for 'Overlord,' seven months hence. This is what happens when battles are governed by lawyers' agreements made in all good faith months before, and persisted in without regard to the ever-changing fortunes of war."--Oct. 26, 1943
"Yet in the Mediterranean alone are we in contact with the enemy and able to bring superior numbers to bear upon him now. It is certainly an odd way of helping the Russians, to slow down the fight in the only theatre where anything can be done for some months."--Late November, 1943
At the time he was writing this particular book, in 1951, he noted that a "myth" had arisen on American shores that he was against the cross-Channel invasion. But, he insisted, the Western armies were in it "up to the hilt," but he wanted Rome first. And, he also insisted, it could have been done if everybody had just complied with his wishes after reasonable discussion.
So are we looking forward to Churchill? Are you kidding? It's a movie about Churchill! We'll be the first in line.
Somebody once said if you get your history from movies, you deserve what you get. Just look at anything by Oliver Stone. And there are probably enough 20-somethings out there who really think that Hitler was gunned down in a movie theater in France by the "inglourious basterds." Movies ain't history.
But they certainly are entertaining. And with a subject like Winston Churchill, how could you not make an entertaining picture show?
Now then, where's the popcorn?
Editorial on 06/24/2017