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Details
CHURCHILL, Winston S. Autograph letter signed ("Winston") TO HIS BROTHER JACK CHURCHILL, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, In the Field, 14 January 1916. 2 pages, 4to, splits at edges of center crease.
"HISTORY WILL VINDICATE THE CONCEPTION & THE ERRORS IN EXECUTION WILL ON THE WHOLE LEAVE ME CLEAR"
CHURCHILL SPEAKS OF THE DARDANELLES DISASTER FROM THE TRENCHES, having taken to the field after losing his cabinet post. "Well it is all over now & as the Lokalanzeiger joyfully remarks 'Churchill's dream of a victorious march on Constantinople is at an end.' History will vindicate the conception, & the errors in execution will on the whole leave me clear. My one fatal mistake was trying to achieve a gt enterprise without having the primary authority wh cd so easily have carried it to success." In November 1915, after eight months of trying, the British abandoned Churchill's scheme of forcing a combined land and sea force (which included his brother Jack) through the Dardanelle Straits. Many hands contributed to the failure, but Churchill became the scapegoat and he resigned in disgrace. He requested a command in France and after Asquith reneged on a plan to make him a general officer, he joined the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers as a Lt. Col.
"The whole division was shot to pieces at Loos," he writes, "& only 2 of the original officers remain. Average age 23." He will "go into the line towards the end of the month. I am looking forward to this... The political crisis at home disturbed me but it is now ended and I feel again glad to be here. You know I am always happy with soldiers & in the field." He saw front line action at Ploegsteert, near Messines on the Franco-Belgian frontier, and "proved a good commanding officer, combining leadership and inspiration with a great solicitude for the welfare of the ordinary soldier" (DNB). But he could not stay away from politics for long, and in March he was back in London. In May he resigned his commission, and in July 1917 he was back in Lloyd George's war cabinet as minister of munitions.
"HISTORY WILL VINDICATE THE CONCEPTION & THE ERRORS IN EXECUTION WILL ON THE WHOLE LEAVE ME CLEAR"
CHURCHILL SPEAKS OF THE DARDANELLES DISASTER FROM THE TRENCHES, having taken to the field after losing his cabinet post. "Well it is all over now & as the Lokalanzeiger joyfully remarks 'Churchill's dream of a victorious march on Constantinople is at an end.' History will vindicate the conception, & the errors in execution will on the whole leave me clear. My one fatal mistake was trying to achieve a gt enterprise without having the primary authority wh cd so easily have carried it to success." In November 1915, after eight months of trying, the British abandoned Churchill's scheme of forcing a combined land and sea force (which included his brother Jack) through the Dardanelle Straits. Many hands contributed to the failure, but Churchill became the scapegoat and he resigned in disgrace. He requested a command in France and after Asquith reneged on a plan to make him a general officer, he joined the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers as a Lt. Col.
"The whole division was shot to pieces at Loos," he writes, "& only 2 of the original officers remain. Average age 23." He will "go into the line towards the end of the month. I am looking forward to this... The political crisis at home disturbed me but it is now ended and I feel again glad to be here. You know I am always happy with soldiers & in the field." He saw front line action at Ploegsteert, near Messines on the Franco-Belgian frontier, and "proved a good commanding officer, combining leadership and inspiration with a great solicitude for the welfare of the ordinary soldier" (DNB). But he could not stay away from politics for long, and in March he was back in London. In May he resigned his commission, and in July 1917 he was back in Lloyd George's war cabinet as minister of munitions.