MILITARIA COLLECTING
’Cometh the hour, cometh the man’ goes the old adage − and in 1940, that man was Winston Churchill. This giant of British history did not win the war single− handedly, but his words and actions played a great part in the eventual victory. Indeed, his influence on the nation is reflected in a myriad of associated collectables, now known as Churchilliana. Austin J Ruddy looks at the wartime objects reflecting Churchill’s ‘finest hour’.
SIR WINSTON Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) is no doubt well known to readers. Born into an aristocratic Oxfordshire family, the young Churchill was educated at several private schools including Harrow, where, although academically capable, his mind was elsewhere: this is perhaps the first sign of his characteristic bulldog independence.
As a young man, he joined the army, seeing action in Cuba, India and Africa. Later, he became a journalist and during the Boer War was captured and escaped. He then became an MP – first for the Conservative party, then the Liberals, but later, returned to the Tory fold. He saw high office as Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty, although he developed a reputation with his peers as an adventurer. The in…
