I have a few favorite historical characters, among which is Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England
during World War II. Among the books I inherited from my father is the six-volume set of Churchill’s
memoirs of WWII. I have read that collection through twice. I love all things Churchill.
Winston Spencer Churchill was an interesting character. Although there are many who would disagree, I
believe it would be safe to say that Mr. Churchill, “Winnie,” as he was affectionately called, was the world’s
savior during WWII. There were many countries that fought on the allied side against the axis powers of
Germany, Japan, and Italy, but among those who fought among the allies I personally feel like the British
were the most important.
Sure, had the United States not intervened, thanks to an untimely blunder by the Japanese when they
bombed the U. S. naval installation at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the world might still be embroiled in a world-
wide war. Were it not for the U. S., the Germans might not ever have been defeated. But although we do
offer our thanks to the many countries who fought on the side of the allies, I dare say that had it not been
for the British, the world would definitely be marching to the drum beat of a Nazi jackboot to this day.
The courage and tenacity of the British is what kept the Germans from conquering the world long enough to
allow the United States to decide to enter the war and put an end to things.
Unless I am terribly mistaken, and I always entertain that possibility, had it not been for the salient fact that
Winston Churchill was their prime minister at the time, the British may have caved in to the axis powers,
and the world might never have been able to extricate itself from that great world conflict, which was to
claim the lives of some 50 million souls.
Ah, the great Winston Churchill. But he was not without his flaws. We don’t have time to go into all of his
virtues and all of his vices here, but there was this one: For all his strengths, and for all his human frailties
– and there were many that he managed to hide from the general public –Winston Churchill had a mistress!
Ordinarily one would want to keep such a thing a secret – especially if he is a person of such public
awareness as Winston Churchill, but Mr. Churchill had more pressing matters with which to concern
himself, so he didn’t care. He did not care that each morning when his personal assistant entered his room
to awaken him, he would be found in bed and right along beside would be her: his mistress. Churchill often
gave dictation while in bed. As Mr. Churchill would dictate his letters and his instructions to his cabinet,
the secretary taking dictation would be subjected to the indignity of having to watch Mr. Churchill lying in
bed, and right there in bed with him was his …, his mistress!
How scandalous! How is it that anyone among us, or anyone among anyone, for that matter …, how is it that
such a person as one who would blatantly and openly carry on such a relationship survive the scrutiny that
would surely ensue upon such a discovery? Yet, somehow Winston Churchill survived the scrutiny and
continued to execute his duties as leader of the country in the face of such scrutiny. Only Winston
Churchill could get by with it. Right?
Well, as it turns out the whole country eventually would find out. And even though you might expect that
there would be a rebellion at such a revelation, it turned out that Churchill’s mistress, although scrutinized
herself, and talked about all over the country …, Churchill’s mistress would become some sort of heroine –
a model of decorum behind which the country could rally and realize that for all the dangers the country
faced, and for all the deprivation that they might have to endure, there was still life to be lived and love to
be given. Even Mrs. Churchill didn’t mind. No, Mrs. Churchill herself found no discomfort in the knowledge
that Mr. Churchill was sleeping each night with a female that was not her.
We look back on that time, and we laud the exploits of our heroes of that day. We laud the exploits of our
many allies, and we laud the tenacity and courage and strength of the British people who held together
against the power and might of the Nazi war machine, which was intent on dominating the world. We look
back and we marvel at the strength and the bulldog tenacity of Great Britain’s eccentric leader, Winston
Churchill, and to him we pay homage for what he did and for what he led his people to do.
We page homage to Mr. Churchill when perhaps we should consider some appreciation for his mistress …,
for the female companion who slept each night with Mr. Churchill, and whose very existence, once
uncovered, instilled within the British consciousness that unexplainable strength and courage to believe in
a man who was constantly imploring them to not give up, to stay the course, to believe in him and in
themselves.
So we shall. We shall here and now and hereafter pay homage to the one overlooked character in this
story. The one to whom perhaps we all owe a manner of peace and security. Her name was Margate. And
from whence came Margate? Why, Margate was among the homeless. Margate was among the dregs of
society. Margate was a street-dweller; a vagabond; an unloved and unwanted and uncared for wastrel. She
just so happened to have the good fortune one morning, while on one of her errands of begging for her
daily bread to light upon the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, London, right at the moment that Mr. Churchill
was exiting the building.
Mr. Churcill was on his way to deliver a speech – perhaps the most important speech of his life. And as he
was leaving his home in London he nearly stepped on the street vagabond. Mr. Churchill managed to miss
the waif, but as he did so he stumbled awkwardly, and frightfully, but then he gained his balance and
screamed out: “What was that?”
Mr. Churchill had nearly stepped on one of the many displaced, one of many abandoned and homeless
vagabonds, which populate nearly every village and hamlet the world over. But had managed to just miss
by no more than a mere whisker, thus sparing what could have been serious damage to either him or his
victim.
Mr. Churchill stood there staring at the pitiful and neglected wastrel and the more he thought about it the
more it occurred to him that this beggar bum had been sent to him as a sign. Yes, Mr. Churchill took it as a
sign that being “nearly stepped on” is the same thing as being “missed by a mile,” and with this lesson he
was able to give one of the great speeches of all time and to encourage his people as well as those around
the world that we could all survive the perils of the day.
Winston Churchill: politician, statesman, warrior. Just who was this Winston Churchill? Winston Churchill
was a leader and one of the greatest speakers in all of history. One has to wonder from where he received
such motivation to deliver such forceful and such powerful and such stirring speeches as: “we shall fight
on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,” that Churchill delivered to Parliament following the
miraculous retreat from Dunkirk in May of 1940?
Or what about the famous “chicken speech,” which Churchill delivered to the Canadian parliament in
December of 1941? In part Mr. Churchill proclaimed: “[the Germans] generals told their Prime Minister and
his divided Cabinet that ‘In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken,’" whereupon after
a short pause Mr. Churchill offered the following retort: “Some chicken! Some Neck!”
Well we now know where Mr. Winston Churchill received inspiration for at least one of his great speeches.
And to show his appreciation Mr. Churchill took the wastrel in and gave her a home and gave her a name
and .., and even invited her into his bedroom.
Well, I believe that in this case, this one vice of the great Winston Spencer Churchill can be overlooked and
forgiven. After all, how can you fault a man for sleeping with his cat?
| The Mistress Daniel Taylor |
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