A requirement of political leadership is the ability to take a long term view. Yesterday evening there was a documentary about the involvement of Churchill's personal security officer in an incident which underlined the reality of the task of those holding high political office.
In 1943 Churchill had undertaken several journeys across the Atlantic and also to North Africa. At one point his journey home was delayed and afterwards there was a report that his personal security officer had deliberately and secretly taken action to prevent the departure of the plane. Walter H Thompson was Churchill's bodyguard in two spells between 1921 and 1945 recalled from semi retirement to act privately for £5 a week in August 1939 and then officially on behalf of Scotland yard when Churchill rejoined the Cabinet. The involvement of Walter Thompson who became a close confidant of Churchill only became widely known some two decades after his death with the publication of his memoirs in 2003, and an official autobiography in 2005 which also coincided with a BBC TV series originally shown in November and December 2005, and now available on 13 DVD's.
What emerged in last night's episode is that following the breaking of the code governing all German communications a moral dilemma arose of the highest difficulty because in order to ensure that the knowledge remained secret from the enemy it was important not to reveal the advantage by altering plans in a conspicuous way. This meant that many German operations which led to significant loss of life among the allies had to be allowed to progress unless there was a way of altering or intervening without arousing enemy suspicions.
In the incident in the episode repeated yesterday Churchill delayed his departure because of a technical problem where the evidence emerged after the war that Walter Thompson had removed a key component. This did not mean he knew the Code machine had been cracked or why he had been asked to prevent the plane from flying that day. But it is known that government intelligence was aware of an attempt to kill Churchill and that the enemy believed for a short time that they had got Churchill when the civilian airplane was attacked and shot down.
It is known that one false trail was that Churchill might return home using a civil airliner and it is interesting that one passenger had a Churchill sounding name and a good resemblance and that the film actor Leslie Howard who looked like the body guard was listed in the passenger list next to the Churchill look alike. That this was more than coincidence has two sources, one fact and one fiction. The factual example is 'I was Monty's double,' where the recruited actor, visited Gibraltar, hence my special interest staying with the Governor and attending a dinner at which a suspect agent was invited and then made a tour of the front in North Africa, while Churchill was elsewhere. I cannot remember the fictitious series which was more likely to have been Foyle's War than Poirot, but I believe that the in the fictitious story the actor died whereas Monty's double lived to tell the tale According to information to-date Walter Thompson was involved in preventing thirteen attempts on Churchill's life.
If the official sacrificing of a few to save the greater number is justified in total war of a conventional nature why is it not justified in relation to terrorist advocating a fundamentalist obliteration of all those who dissent?
Today as been long with eight hours at the hospital. On return home for the second time I dried the washing but left the ironing and washing up till the morrow. My DVD club has sent The Greatest Story ever told and I stayed up tired but not exhausted thanking to be reminded of something greater than the situation and my life. I have seen the film before but had no recollection and tonight it was more background as I checked my space communications and was immediately interested in a new request to be included as a friend. I had forgotten that the film is full of tableaux and the tone of the script is appropriate although some contemporary Americanisms find their way. I am very tired and will stop the film and go to bed after posting this as it is. I bought a salmon and a prawn sandwich to take with me and then a beef with noodles, onion and peppers stir fry for the evening meal, having acquired a stir fry pan of sufficient size. My weight was down a few pounds this morning.
I said Catholics prayers on behalf of my mother. Last Autumn I set about rereading the Old Testament, the Worldwide Master Catechism of the Catholic Church and Catholicism for Dummies but I ran out of the available before work in relation to my mother's 100th birthday. I hate leaving things half done especially if they could have an important bearing on my future years. I did not feel what I was doing was hypocritical or without meaning because what I said was on behalf of someone who until the illness took hold appeared to possess a lifelong faith without question or doubt. An intermission curtain has dropped down on the film so it is a good time to stop. Last night in part because I slept for half an hour before midnight I could not sleep on going to bed and needed to get up and write a little. The prayer to St Joseph was appropriate for more than one reason.
In 1943 Churchill had undertaken several journeys across the Atlantic and also to North Africa. At one point his journey home was delayed and afterwards there was a report that his personal security officer had deliberately and secretly taken action to prevent the departure of the plane. Walter H Thompson was Churchill's bodyguard in two spells between 1921 and 1945 recalled from semi retirement to act privately for £5 a week in August 1939 and then officially on behalf of Scotland yard when Churchill rejoined the Cabinet. The involvement of Walter Thompson who became a close confidant of Churchill only became widely known some two decades after his death with the publication of his memoirs in 2003, and an official autobiography in 2005 which also coincided with a BBC TV series originally shown in November and December 2005, and now available on 13 DVD's.
What emerged in last night's episode is that following the breaking of the code governing all German communications a moral dilemma arose of the highest difficulty because in order to ensure that the knowledge remained secret from the enemy it was important not to reveal the advantage by altering plans in a conspicuous way. This meant that many German operations which led to significant loss of life among the allies had to be allowed to progress unless there was a way of altering or intervening without arousing enemy suspicions.
In the incident in the episode repeated yesterday Churchill delayed his departure because of a technical problem where the evidence emerged after the war that Walter Thompson had removed a key component. This did not mean he knew the Code machine had been cracked or why he had been asked to prevent the plane from flying that day. But it is known that government intelligence was aware of an attempt to kill Churchill and that the enemy believed for a short time that they had got Churchill when the civilian airplane was attacked and shot down.
It is known that one false trail was that Churchill might return home using a civil airliner and it is interesting that one passenger had a Churchill sounding name and a good resemblance and that the film actor Leslie Howard who looked like the body guard was listed in the passenger list next to the Churchill look alike. That this was more than coincidence has two sources, one fact and one fiction. The factual example is 'I was Monty's double,' where the recruited actor, visited Gibraltar, hence my special interest staying with the Governor and attending a dinner at which a suspect agent was invited and then made a tour of the front in North Africa, while Churchill was elsewhere. I cannot remember the fictitious series which was more likely to have been Foyle's War than Poirot, but I believe that the in the fictitious story the actor died whereas Monty's double lived to tell the tale According to information to-date Walter Thompson was involved in preventing thirteen attempts on Churchill's life.
If the official sacrificing of a few to save the greater number is justified in total war of a conventional nature why is it not justified in relation to terrorist advocating a fundamentalist obliteration of all those who dissent?
Today as been long with eight hours at the hospital. On return home for the second time I dried the washing but left the ironing and washing up till the morrow. My DVD club has sent The Greatest Story ever told and I stayed up tired but not exhausted thanking to be reminded of something greater than the situation and my life. I have seen the film before but had no recollection and tonight it was more background as I checked my space communications and was immediately interested in a new request to be included as a friend. I had forgotten that the film is full of tableaux and the tone of the script is appropriate although some contemporary Americanisms find their way. I am very tired and will stop the film and go to bed after posting this as it is. I bought a salmon and a prawn sandwich to take with me and then a beef with noodles, onion and peppers stir fry for the evening meal, having acquired a stir fry pan of sufficient size. My weight was down a few pounds this morning.
I said Catholics prayers on behalf of my mother. Last Autumn I set about rereading the Old Testament, the Worldwide Master Catechism of the Catholic Church and Catholicism for Dummies but I ran out of the available before work in relation to my mother's 100th birthday. I hate leaving things half done especially if they could have an important bearing on my future years. I did not feel what I was doing was hypocritical or without meaning because what I said was on behalf of someone who until the illness took hold appeared to possess a lifelong faith without question or doubt. An intermission curtain has dropped down on the film so it is a good time to stop. Last night in part because I slept for half an hour before midnight I could not sleep on going to bed and needed to get up and write a little. The prayer to St Joseph was appropriate for more than one reason.
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