The Loser

To London flew Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to give King George VI a firsthand report of the Big Three meeting. Then, back at No. 10 Downing Street, he waited for the election count. Next evening, when defeat was sure, he went back to Buckingham Palace to resign and hand over to the King the seals of office. His Majesty offered him the Order of the Garter. Churchill refused the dignity. An hour later he issued a statement:

"The decision of the British people has been recorded in votes counted today. I have therefore laid down the charge which was placed upon me in darker times. I regret that I have not been permitted to finish the work against Japan. For this, however, all plans and preparations have been made and results may come much quicker than we have hitherto been entitled to expect.

"Immense responsibilities abroad and at home fall upon the new Government and we must all hope that they will be successful in bearing them. It only remains for me to express to the British people, for whom I have acted in these perilous years, my profound gratitude for the unflinching and unswerving support which they have given me during my task and for the many expressions of kindness which they have shown toward their servant."

The Tribute. Next day the press replied. Said the London Times: "Never in our history have the hopes and resolves of people and their authority among nations been so summed up in a single commanding personality. ... In the sense that he has been during the war years a temporal embodiment to his age of eternal England, Winston Churchill can have no successor. . . ." Said Labor's Daily Herald: "There is not the slightest doubt that gratitude to Churchill as a war leader, admiration for his genius, and reverence for his courage is shared by every party and every social class."

The Debt. Thirty years before, Winston Churchill, made the scapegoat for the bungling of his Gallipoli expedition plan, had been heaved out of the Admiralty. In the darkest hour of his defeat he received an unexpected visit from a caustic critic. Lord Kitchener. Said "K. of K."; "There's one thing they can't take away from you--the Fleet was ready!"

Again, in defeat, there was one thing no one could take from Winston Churchill: seldom had so many owed so much to one man.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.