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Historical figures #12N

Sir Winston churchill

Another person that you have all heard of but how well do
you know him? I will do a short and maybe a bit quirky
summary here but I would urge you all to read his
Wikipedia entry, it is fascinating
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill He was
clearly one of the biggest over-achievers of his time.

Winnie, as he was fondly known as during WWII, was born
in Blenheim Palace in 1874. He was part of the family of
the Dukes of Marlborough but not in line for the title,
although he was Knighted in 1953 with the highest class,
The Order of The Garter.

He started his ‘working life’ as a soldier, being
commissioned in 1895, and served with distinction in a
number of theatres until leaving the military in 1899.
Strangely, by today’s standards, he was also acting as a
journalist during this period. Later that year he first stood
for parliament, and lost. It was obvious that the Boer war
was kicking off again in South Africa and he went there as
a journalist, which did not stop him being captured and
treated as a prisoner of war. He escaped two months later
and re-joined the military for 6 months.

Late in 1900, and still only 25, he finally got a seat in the House of Commons for an Oldham
constituency, the first of 6 he would represent in his career. In 1904 he switched from the
Conservatives to the Liberals then back again in
1924. He held various ministries during this period,
including that of Home
Secretary. However he is
best known in this part of the
world as the First Lord of The
Admiralty, where he oversaw
the disastrous 1915 Gallipoli
campaign. This was ill
advised as the allies were
attacking Turkish troops on
Turkish soil and, of course
they faced very stiff and
patriotic opposition (just like
the Ukrainians). Thousands
of Australian, New Zealand,
British and French troops
died and thousands more
were wounded for no gain at
all. Churchill lost the
Admiralty job and was
demoted.

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