Article

2004-09-18 Britain

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Posted by badanov 2004-09-18 12:05:42 AM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 This quote is from The River War, young Churchill's eyewitness account of the 1898 Sudan campaign against Islamic fanatics who had seized the territory in 1885. The climax was the Battle of Omdurman, near Khartoum, in which the Islamozoids learned the hard way about "the strong arms of science," in the form of the Maxim machine gun and quick firing artillery.

Believe it or not, I met Mr. Churchill in 1956, when I was seven years old. He came to our school for a visit and shook my hand. Our teacher had told us that he was the most important person in the world, the Queen not excepted, and that we should behave accordingly or face dire consequences^TM. I remember that he seemed very old and had a ruddy complexion. I blurted out that my dad had been in the RAF during the war and gave him the squadron number. Mr. Churchill said he had visited there and he correctly named the station and my father's commanding officer. I was impressed even then, since it had been 11 years and he must have visited hundreds of airfields and squadrons and met thousands of RAF men. He asked my dad's named, looked pensive for moment when I told him, and then apologized for not being able to remember him.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-09-18 3:02:48 AM|| 2004-09-18 3:02:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 AC - you shook hands with Winston Churchill?!?1? I'm forty-eight kinds of impressed.

Posted by Matt 2004-09-18 11:14:34 AM|| 2004-09-18 11:14:34 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Damn I am impressed! I always figured WSC should have been named Times Man of the Century. Reading now Meacham's Franklin and Winston, good stuff. Good long quote from Ike at Casablanca aluding to Churchill's ability to quote new American street slang and Donald Duck in a speech.

Posted by Shipman 2004-09-18 11:49:32 AM|| 2004-09-18 11:49:32 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 We need another one these now, please. Of course, his drinking would disqualify him from the job today.

Posted by VAMark 2004-09-18 2:27:57 PM|| 2004-09-18 2:27:57 PM|| Front Page Top

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