Copyrig

ht ©

20

04, T

he G

uy F

ox H

istory

Pro

ject.

Registe

red C

harity #

108

48

69. A

ll rights re

serv

ed.

ww

w.g

uyfo

x.o

rg.u

k D

uplic

atio

n perm

itted fo

r

educatio

nal

use

on

ly.

The W

insto

n C

hurc

hill

Leadersh

ip P

rogra

mm

e w

as d

eve

loped in

asso

ciatio

n

with

the C

hurc

hill M

use

um

Learn

ing D

epartm

ent.

Fact File

WINSTON

CHURCHILL

Did You Know

?

Winston C

hurchill smoked his first cigar in C

uba in 1895.

He loved singing but hated w

histling.

He w

as hit by a car in New

York City in 1931.

His favourite subject in school w

as History.

He died exactly 90 years after his father.

He alm

ost drowned in Lake Lausanne, in

Switzerland in 1895.

He failed his entrance exam

s to Sandhurst twice –

but passed on his third attempt.

He w

as the first honorary citizen of the USA

.

He took a nap every day and often w

orked from bed.

He w

as a qualified bricklayer.

He collected hats.

He hated staples. A

nd paperclips.

He w

rote and published lots of books. He even w

onthe N

obel Prize for Literature in 1953!

As a boy, he sold his father’s autographs to earn pocket m

oney.

© C

opyrigh

t 2004, T

he G

uy F

ox H

istory P

roje

ct. A

ll rights re

serv

ed. w

ww

.guyfo

x.org.u

k

Developed by the G

uy Fox History Project for the

Churchill Leadership Program

me in association w

iththe C

abinet War Room

s Learning Departm

ent.

Here

’s som

e in

form

atio

n

about W

insto

n C

hurc

hill.

Page A

Who W

as Winston C

hurchill?W

inston Churchill was Prim

e Minister of Britain during W

orldW

ar II ( 1940 to 1945 ). He w

as a cantankerous politician,w

ho took a stand, inspired hope among the people, and w

henconfronted w

ith the threat of devastation, led Britain to victory.

Winston C

hurchill was a m

an of contradictions: a guy with

a lisp and a stamm

er who becam

e one of history’s best speakers.A

man w

ho had bouts of depression, yet inspired millions. A

poor student who didn’t attend university, but w

ho won the

Nobel Prize for Literature. A

leader who’d m

ade plenty ofm

istakes, but in whom

the people placed their faith and theirlives.

Many people say that W

inston Churchill w

as the greatestB

riton ever. They say he was an extraordinary m

an inextraordinary tim

es – and perhaps thisis true. But perhaps his greatness cam

eabout because he knew

how to appeal

to the greatness inside everyone.

9. It’s 1915. Your country is at war, and you are a m

ember of

the Council of War. Your big idea is to send troops into Turkey

to capture part of the country and force Turkey out of theW

ar. If the plan succeeds, it will help w

in the war. You send

troops in, and thousands of soldiers are killed. A m

ilitarydisaster. W

hat would you do? W

hat qualities of leadership arerequired?

10. It’s 1933. You recognise the threatw

hich Adolf H

itler poses to world

peace, and you speak againstG

ermany’s grow

ing military strength.

Nobody w

ants to hear your speeches,but you believe that B

ritain needsto prepare for W

ar. What w

ould youdo? W

hat qualities of leadership arerequired?

1952 Polio vaccine is created

1945-64M

P forW

oodford

1951-55Prim

e Minister

(Again!)

1965D

ies on 24thJanuary

30th Novem

ber 1874W

inston Churchillis born

Win

ston C

hurc

hill

pain

ted o

ver 5

00

pain

tings in

his life

!

1888-92At H

arrowSchool

1893-94At Sandhurst

Page B

7. It’s 1910. As H

ome Secretary, you are responsible for law

and order. Protests by Suffragettes (wom

en campaigning for

the right to vote) are disruptive. Although you personally

support the right of wom

en to vote, you know your party w

illlose seats in Parliam

ent if they win

their campaign. W

hat would you do?

What qualities of leadership are

required?

8. It’s 1911. You become First Lord

of the Adm

iralty (the Navy) at a tim

ew

hen Germ

any’s navy is strong andB

ritain’s navy is weak. You know

that Britain needs to do som

ething.You don’t know

where to begin. W

hatw

ould you do? What qualities of

leadership are required?

Why D

o YOU

Think We N

eed to LearnA

bout Winston C

hurchill?

1945 World W

ar II ends1947 P

olaroid Cam

era is invented

1940-45Prim

e Minister and

Minister of D

efence

1945-51Leader of the

Opposition

1896- 1899M

ilitary service inIndia &

the Sudan

1891-1900W

ar Correspondent inSouth Africa

1900M

P forO

ldham

Young W

insto

n d

id

poorly a

t Math

s, Latin

and G

reek. H

e like

d

History a

nd E

nglish

, and

he d

id w

ell in

these

subje

cts.

His E

nglish

teacher

Robe

rt Som

erve

ll help

ed

him

develo

p h

is writin

g

and sp

eakin

g skills.

Young W

insto

n d

id

poorly a

t Math

s, Latin

and G

reek. H

e like

d

Histo

ry and E

nglish

, and

did

well in

these

subje

cts.

His E

nglish

teacher

Robe

rt Som

erve

ll help

ed

him

develo

p h

is writin

g

and sp

eakin

g skills.

Page C

1874 – When C

hurchill Was B

orn...

• Queen Victoria w

as on the throne.

• Britain w

as an Empire.

• William

Gladstone and B

enjamin D

israelidom

inated Parliament.

• There was no electricity.

• People traveled by train, and most

took holidays in British seaside

resorts like Blackpool.

• The big political question was if

the Irish should rule themselves.

• Guns and horses w

ere thew

eapons of war.

• People entertained themselves by

reading, attending public lecturesand going to m

usic halls.

4. It’s 1899. While serving in the m

ilitary in South Africa,

you are captured and taken Prisoner of War. W

hat would you

do? What qualities of leadership are required?

5. It’s 1904. You are a Conservative

Mem

ber of Parliament representing

the town of O

ldham. The

Conservatives w

ant a tariff on goodsim

ported from outside the Em

pire,but a tariff w

ill hurt your voters.W

hat would you do? W

hat qualitiesof leadership are required?

6. It’s 1908. You are the Presidentof the B

oard of Trade, responsiblefor com

merce &

industry. You want

to tackle poverty and poor livingconditions, to help hardw

orkingpeople live better lives. W

hat would

you do? What qualities of leadership

are required?

Win

ston C

hurc

hill

was a

qualifie

d

bric

klaye

r!

He b

uilt lo

ts of b

rick

walls a

t his h

om

e,

Chartw

ell.

Win

ston C

hurc

hill

was m

ade a

priso

ner

of w

ar d

urin

g the

Boer W

ar.

He e

scaped, w

rote

a b

ook a

bout it a

nd

becam

e fa

mous.

1901Queen V

ictoria dies1903 W

right Brothers’ first flight

1939 World W

ar II Begins

1924-25M

P forEpping

1925Rejoins

Conservatives

1930'sW

ildernessYears

1939-40

First Lord of theAdm

iralty(Again!)

1904Leaves the ConservativeParty to join the Liberals

1903Under-Secretary of State

for the Colonies

Page D

... When C

hurchill Died – 1965

• Queen Elizabeth II w

as on the throne.

• The Age of the B

ritish Empire had declined.

• Harold W

ilson was Prim

e Minister.

• Most people travelled by bus, car or train – andoccasionally jet plane.

• The political issue was Rhodesia’s illegal claim

toindependence.

• Atom

ic Bom

bs were the

weapons of w

ar.

• The Beatles w

ere taking thew

orld by storm w

ith theirunique type of Rock ’n Roll.

• People listened to the radioor w

atched television.

Take A W

alk in Winston Churchill’s Shoes

Each of the following is a situation w

hich Winston Churchill encountered

in his lifetime

What w

ould you do if it happened to you?

1. It’s 1893. You don’t enjoy school, particularly Maths and

Latin. You want to go to Sandhurst M

ilitary Academ

y, but youfail the Entrance Exam

– twice. W

hat would you do? W

hatqualities of leadership are required?

2. It’s 1895. You are a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th Hussars,

earning a salary equal to £7,500 per year. You will be traveling

around the world w

ith the British m

ilitary. You need some

way to supplem

ent your income. W

hat would you do? W

hatqualities of leadership are required?

3. It’s 1896. You’re posted to India on a boring military

assignment. You don’t see m

uch action, except on the polofield. You w

ant to become a poltician, but your education

won’t get you very far. W

hat would you do? W

hat qualitiesof leadership are required?

1909 Invention of Plastic

1927 BB

C is founded

1921-22Secretary of State for

the Colonies

1922-24O

ut ofParliam

ent

1924-29Chancellor of the

Exchequer

1906-1908M

P for North-W

estM

anchester

1908M

arriesClem

entine Hozier

1908-1910President of theBoard of Trade

Win

ston C

hurc

hill

took flyin

g lesso

ns,

but h

e n

eve

r learn

ed

how

to fly.

Page E

1912 The T

itanic sinks1914 - 1919 W

orld War I

1908-12M

P for Dundee.

1910-11H

ome Secretary

1911-15First Lord of the

Admiralty

1915-16O

n active war

service in France

1917-18M

inister ofM

unitions

1919-21Secretary of State

for War and Air

Winston C

hurchill’s SpeechesI w

ould say to the House, as I said to those w

ho have joined thisgovernm

ent: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

May 13th, 1940

You ask, what is our aim

? I can answer

in one word: It is victory, victory at all

costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory,how

ever long and hard the road may

be; for without victory, there is no

survival....M

ay 13th, 1940W

e shall fight in France,w

e shall fight on theseas and oceans... w

eshall defend our Island,w

hatever the cost may

be, we shall fight on the

beaches, we shall fight

on the landing grounds,w

e shall fight in thefields and in the streets,w

e shall fight in the hills;w

e shall neversurrender....

June 4th, 1940

Let us ... so bear ourselves that, if the British Em

pire and itsC

omm

onwealth last for a thousand years, m

en will still say,

"This was their finest hour."

June 4th, 1940

Never in the field of hum

an conflict was so m

uchow

ed by so many to so few

.A

ugust 20th, 1940

This is the lesson: never givein, never give in, never, never,never, never —

in nothing,great or sm

all, large or petty—

never give in except toconvictions of honour andgood sense.

October 29, 1941

God bless you all. This is your victory! It is the victory of the

cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history w

ehave never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, m

an orw

oman, has done their best. Everyone has tried. N

either thelong years, nor the dangers, nor the fierce attacks of theenem

y, have in any way w

eakened the independent resolveof the B

ritish nation. God bless you all.

Victory in E

urope Day, M

ay 8, 1945

Win

ston C

hurc

hill w

rote

and

deliv

ere

d so

me o

f the b

est

speeches in

all o

f histo

ry.

Page F