1 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,480 On the night of 29th December 1940, 2 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,560 German bombers struck London with a vengeance. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,000 AIR RAID SIREN WAILS 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,760 NEWSREEL: 'For miles around, the sky was a bright orange red. 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:18,840 'St Paul's Cathedral, 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,600 'all around it the flames were leaping up into the sky.' 7 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:23,760 At this darkest of hours, 8 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,000 Britain's Prime Minister recognised the huge importance 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:28,840 of saving one building. 10 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,080 Winston Churchill immediately realised the symbolic significance 11 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,480 and ordered that, at all costs, St Paul's must be saved. 12 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,520 As fire crews fought the flames all around, 13 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:45,360 a photographer grabbed his camera. 14 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,200 He pressed the shutter and, snap, 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,280 he had a front-page photograph, 16 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:55,560 which has come, for many people, to sum up for ever 17 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,720 something of the spirit of the country they live in. 18 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:00,240 CHORAL SINGING 19 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,280 A quarter of a century later, 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,280 Sir Winston Churchill was back in St Paul's, 21 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,640 at the centre of a magnificent funeral ceremony. 22 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:17,440 No-one who saw it has ever forgotten the farewell the nation gave him. 23 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,680 It was so grand but it was also so personal. 24 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,160 In the building he'd helped to save, 25 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:33,280 the nation gave thanks for a man considered its saviour 26 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,640 and who's been revered ever since as a national hero. 27 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,000 When I saw his coffin, I thought, "God, the man's gone, 28 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,120 "what the hell are we going to do now?" 29 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,600 There were many in my parents' generation, 30 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,960 the war generation, who worshipped Churchill. 31 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:54,600 But times change. 32 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,000 Is he any longer a great national hero? 33 00:01:58,000 --> 00:01:59,640 Or is he irrelevant? 34 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,160 Churchill was entranced by new ideas and new machines. 35 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:05,720 He would be a terrific blogger 36 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,720 and a self-googler of epic proportions, I expect. 37 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,080 No other commoner in modern times has had a send-off 38 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,200 like the one we gave Churchill 39 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,160 that bleak January day in 1965. 40 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,200 And 50 years on, for better or for worse, 41 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,680 we still live in the great man's shadow. 42 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:34,720 CHATTING AND LAUGHTER 43 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,160 The cult of celebrity has a shrine in central London. 44 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:52,240 Here, you can admire, embrace, or sometimes scorn, the people 45 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,000 whose tinselly presence we cannot avoid. 46 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:56,680 LAUGHTER 47 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,280 For 200 years, Madame Tussauds has been making wax figures 48 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,480 of the famous and the infamous. 49 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,240 Today is the launch day of their latest attraction - 50 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,440 the actor Benedict Cumberbatch. 51 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,680 Big smiles. One, two, three. Perfect. 52 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:17,960 As in real life, 53 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,400 celebrity isn't restricted to the world of entertainment. 54 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,960 Of course, the politics section isn't the most popular bit of the 55 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:32,400 attraction but what's interesting is who makes it here and who doesn't. 56 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:34,920 Of course, people like President Obama, 57 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,960 there are up to 2,000 people a day posing for a photograph with him, 58 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,120 and people like Mahatma Gandhi and other world leaders, 59 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,400 of course they're here. British prime ministers, though? 60 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:47,160 Well, there's the current one 61 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,640 and the man who swears blind he doesn't want his job, 62 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,440 and there's Mrs Thatcher. 63 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,920 There is no sign, though, of any other British politician here. 64 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:58,280 Intriguing. 65 00:03:58,280 --> 00:03:59,480 With one exception. 66 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,120 And that one exception is Winston Churchill. 67 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,080 The first figure that we made of Churchill was 68 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,840 put into the exhibition in 1908. 69 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,240 - 1908? - 1908, yes. 70 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,320 That's almost unrecognisable as the Churchill that we know from 71 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,000 - the wartime photographs, isn't it? - Yes, he's quite unique 72 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,160 in the sense that few people actually 73 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,600 relate to the young image of him. But, of course, he was young. 74 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,080 So, one way or another, 75 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,320 - he's been on display here for over 100 years. - Yes. 76 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,760 Well, we modelled Churchill seven times through his lifetime. 77 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:36,560 What we would do is we would 78 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:41,320 refigure him every time there was a marked moment in his life. 79 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:46,520 The last portrait we did while he was still alive was at his easel 80 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,160 and painting and this was put out the year he died. 81 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,160 What's the one on display now? 82 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:58,680 The one on display now is him in the height of the '40s. 83 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,520 And that is because, of all the impressions of Churchill 84 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:04,200 in that very, very long life, 85 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,360 - that is the strongest one that people identify. - Exactly. 86 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,440 So, 50 years after we laid him away 87 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,520 with all the pomp the nation could summon, 88 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:19,080 Churchill remains almost as real as his latter-day imitators. 89 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:22,440 Call someone Churchillian 90 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,480 and most think you're paying them a deep compliment. 91 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:28,440 He's colossal. 92 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,320 He's the Everest of British politicians. 93 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,560 He is miles bigger in scale, 94 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,160 in construction, than any politician 95 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,000 out of the politicians I've studied. 96 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,360 I mean, Margaret Thatcher, the lot of them, 97 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,000 they're absolutely dwarfed by Churchill. 98 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,440 And if you look at what Churchill achieved every day, 99 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:51,160 it is absolutely mind-boggling. 100 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,640 He was running on a different kind of petrol. 101 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:55,440 MUSIC: My Generation by The Who 102 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:00,600 # People try to put us d-down 103 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,000 # Talkin' 'bout my generation 104 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,360 # Just because we get around... # 105 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,440 By the mid-'60s, as Churchill's life was drawing to a close, 106 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,200 another Britain was being born. 107 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:18,360 The new country was pushy, noisy and brash. 108 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,480 It looked forward to fun, not back to past glories. 109 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:30,440 Youth culture rejected the rule of fools in old-style hats and coats. 110 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,880 Why be grand when you could be cool? 111 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,920 In the course of his long career, 112 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,440 Churchill had opposed votes for women 113 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,160 and been pretty sceptical, to say the least, about immigration. 114 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,960 By the time of his death in 1965, 115 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,000 the permissive society was already being born. 116 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,200 I wonder what he'd have made of the miniskirts on the King's Road, 117 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,000 the counterculture, the rise of multiculturalism. 118 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,080 I suspect that he'd have harrumphed. 119 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:03,760 But the irony is, of course, 120 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,560 that by leading the fight against fascism he'd given us all 121 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,840 the chance to choose what sort of society we wanted to live in. 122 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,880 As Churchill's physical strength ebbed in the last years of his life, 123 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,600 he fought the black dog of depression 124 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,640 by taking breaks abroad with friends and family. 125 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:41,320 In June 1962, Churchill was staying at the Hotel de Paris 126 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,680 in Monte Carlo when he fell from his bed and broke his hip. 127 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,880 His private secretary, Anthony Montague Browne 128 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,440 and his grand-daughter Celia were sent for. 129 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,000 We got to the hospital and he looked awful, 130 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,920 absolutely awful. 131 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,520 And Grandpapa just dismissed 132 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,600 all the medical people in the room. 133 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:06,280 Whether they were doctors or nurses, 134 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,760 he said, "Would they all go out of the room, please?" 135 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:14,400 And he turned to Anthony and said, "I want to die in England. 136 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,680 "You'll make sure of that, won't you?" 137 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:20,600 And Anthony said, "Yes," 138 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,280 and then Grandpapa said, "You promise?" 139 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:26,440 And he said, "I promise." 140 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:27,720 Anyway, the next day, 141 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:32,080 Harold Macmillan sent an ambulance plane from the RAF. 142 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,520 My grandfather was on the stretcher bed in the middle of the, 143 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,560 I suppose, the body of the aeroplane and I was sitting on a chair 144 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:44,360 next to him, just holding his hand and hoping and praying he'd make it. 145 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,120 NEWSREEL: 'After 54 days in Middlesex Hospital, 146 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,800 'he was coming out and returning home. 147 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,960 'When has there been a man to compare with Winston Churchill? 148 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,920 'And what a crush there was to be among the first to see him. 149 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:02,640 'The old warrior was about again 150 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,720 'after the toughest fight of his life.' 151 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:08,600 The ambulance began the short journey across London 152 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,400 to Hyde Park Gate, where waiting crowds who cheered him home. 153 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,000 Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's decision to order the RAF 154 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,440 to fly home his ailing predecessor wasn't entirely 155 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,400 the spontaneous act of kindness that it seemed to many of the crowds 156 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,360 outside Churchill's London home here. 157 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:35,120 In fact, the Air Force had been working for years on a secret plan 158 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,600 to bring Churchill back home. 159 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:42,200 The only thing was that Operation Hope Not, as it was called, 160 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,600 didn't envisage returning a sick former Prime Minister 161 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:47,920 but a dead body. 162 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:51,840 The fact was that behind the scenes, 163 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:53,840 and without Churchill knowing, 164 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:55,600 the government had been preparing 165 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:57,760 for what they might do when he died. 166 00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,120 ..in this file here, 167 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,440 there had actually been an enormous amount of planning. 168 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:07,080 It starts in January 1958, 169 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,120 a full seven years before the state funeral, 170 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:14,600 and what you're looking at here are the very first plans 171 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,560 drawn up by Anthony Montague Browne, 172 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:19,640 Sir Winston Churchill's private secretary, 173 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:21,240 working with his counterparts 174 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,400 in the Cabinet Office and in the Palace. 175 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:26,840 This is almost exactly seven years before he died. 176 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:28,480 Why had they started then? 177 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:32,320 Well, of course, you have to remember that Churchill is already 178 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,400 well into his 80s by this point. 179 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:36,200 His health is starting to fail 180 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,400 and I think there is a fear amongst his inner circle 181 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,600 that the worst could happen at any time from now on. 182 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,680 Did the family know that these plans were being made? 183 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:47,440 What we've got here is a wonderful handwritten letter 184 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:49,160 from the summer of 1958, 185 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,480 so we're still very early on. 186 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,680 And what you're seeing here is Anthony Montague Browne writing 187 00:10:55,680 --> 00:11:00,120 what must have been a very difficult letter to Clementine Churchill, 188 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:01,680 Lady Spencer-Churchill. 189 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:03,040 "The Queen's intimated that 190 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:05,280 "if it is in accordance with the wishes of the family 191 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,440 "there should be plans for Sir Winston to have a state funeral. 192 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,160 "It is suggested there should be a lying in state 193 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,680 "in Westminster Hall, followed by the service at St Paul's. 194 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:19,400 "This is thought to be more fitting than Westminster Abbey 195 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:23,480 "as St Paul's has the precedence of comparatively recent 196 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,880 "great national heroes such as Nelson and the Duke of Wellington." 197 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:32,360 So, suddenly, this is becoming a huge enterprise. 198 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,200 And it's at that point, of course, that the operation 199 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,880 is given its codename, which is Operation Hope Not. 200 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,280 And then the end saying, "I'm bidden to seek your views. 201 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,720 "You will realise how I hate distressing you with all this 202 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:51,040 "but I know you will understand the desirability. Far off may it be." 203 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,920 So at first she knows that her husband is going to be buried, 204 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:55,840 effectively, by the state. 205 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,920 A state funeral at St Paul's was a way of the nation saying 206 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,920 thank you and, in the entire 20th century, Winston Churchill 207 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,320 was the only commoner to be given this honour. 208 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,360 What was less known, though, was that the Dean of St Paul's 209 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,720 some years previously had suggested he actually be buried 210 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,880 in the very building he fought so hard to save from German bombers. 211 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,600 In the crypt beneath the great cathedral are memorials 212 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,520 to many of the admirals and generals who led British forces 213 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:44,880 during World War II - 214 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:49,200 a Valhalla filled with the commanders whom Churchill had known 215 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:50,920 at the height of their powers. 216 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,400 It's the tombs of the Duke of Wellington 217 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:59,080 and Admiral Lord Nelson which dominate this place. 218 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,640 There had been talk of Churchill having his own tomb here, too. 219 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,120 But he had other plans. 220 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,840 Churchill had fallen in love with Chartwell, 221 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:13,880 a country house in Kent, in the 1920s. 222 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:21,280 Over the next two decades, he made it his family home. 223 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,480 "A day away from Chartwell," he said, "was a day wasted." 224 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:34,040 It was the place he most loved in the whole world. 225 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:35,200 It was his headquarters 226 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:36,600 for everything that he did. 227 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,120 For painting, writing, 228 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:42,760 for seeing his political friends. 229 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,920 You know, for everything. Chartwell was his headquarters. 230 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:53,480 He loved it. 231 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:55,640 He loved the garden. 232 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,400 He was, he said, "At peace in my own habitation." 233 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:08,360 Scarcely a weekend would go by at Chartwell without Churchill 234 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,920 surrounded by his children, grandchildren 235 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:13,520 and his beloved animals. 236 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,000 Chartwell, I think, meant everything in the world to him. 237 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,600 He felt that 238 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:28,160 the burdens of the world 239 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,600 were lifted from his shoulders 240 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,520 when he went through those gates at Chartwell. 241 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,120 Like most politicians, Churchill wasn't overburdened with 242 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,440 a sense of modesty, yet he told his family that 243 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,320 when he died he didn't want a grand funeral 244 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,440 with mausoleums and monuments, 245 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:51,160 he wanted his last mortal remains to end up on the lawn. 246 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,640 Churchill cared enough about mortality to change his will 247 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,000 several times after the war. 248 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,920 But he never wavered in his desire to be cremated 249 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:10,240 and to have his ashes strewn at Chartwell. 250 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,960 Specifically, he wanted his ashes scattered near the croquet lawn, 251 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,640 next to the graves of his dogs, Rufus I and Rufus II. 252 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,560 In the 1930s, the period known as his wilderness years, 253 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:30,400 Churchill had spent much time here at his desk at Chartwell, 254 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:35,120 warning of the rise of Nazi Germany and the need for rearmament. 255 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:44,080 Chartwell looked out across unmistakably English countryside 256 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:48,240 and it was in the skies above the Kentish Weald that young pilots 257 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:49,920 fought the Battle of Britain. 258 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,960 CHURCHILL: 'Never in the field of human conflict 259 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,640 'was so much owed by so many to so few.' 260 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:03,200 Churchill, the new Prime Minister, rallied the nation during the Blitz, 261 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,520 encapsulating an idea of a people standing alone 262 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,320 and refusing to surrender. 263 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,400 CHURCHILL: 'If the British Empire and its Commonwealth 264 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,080 'last for 1,000 years, 265 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:21,640 'men will still say, "This was their finest hour."' 266 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:29,160 In time, and at huge cost, survival became victory. 267 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,160 With that came pride in being a nation willing, 268 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,000 if necessary, to stand alone. 269 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,040 Bloody-minded perhaps, but certain. 270 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,280 CHURCHILL: 'What kind of people do they think we are? 271 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:49,560 'Is it possible they do not realise that we shall never cease to 272 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,040 'persevere against them until they have been taught 273 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,760 'a lesson which they and the world will never forget?' 274 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:57,800 APPLAUSE 275 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,440 It was Churchill's genius to find the words that 276 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:08,160 spoke for England at a very, very difficult time in its history. 277 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:12,880 How resonant those words are that, 50 years after his death, 278 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,760 they still seem to conjure up an idea of who we are. 279 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,240 It is this identification of man and nation 280 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,320 that gives Churchill his unique status. 281 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,960 But the country he led has become a very different place. 282 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,600 He would have been depressed by the way Britain 283 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,320 seemed to have been reduced. He said towards the end of the life, 284 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,760 "I've worked so hard and achieved so much only, in the end, 285 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,840 "to achieve nothing." I think he was basically fishing for compliments. 286 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:50,600 But I think he did regret the loss of empire, the loss of India 287 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,680 and all the rest of it but I think he would have been very, very amazed 288 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:56,760 by how people live today. 289 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,640 But as far as young people are concerned, 290 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:00,560 he doesn't mean anything much nowadays. 291 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:02,840 I don't think that's true. I think that... 292 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,840 Yes, you read the statistics that, yes, everybody thinks he's the dog 293 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,040 in the insurance advertisement. 294 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:10,720 I think that actually he's a very powerful figure in 295 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:12,760 the imaginations of many young people 296 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,400 because they identify him as the guy who won the war 297 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,360 and beat Adolf Hitler. 298 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,480 As he approached his death, Churchill told a friend 299 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,200 that he had "no appetite for life" 300 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:36,480 and that "when it comes to dying I shall not complain". 301 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,800 He knew his reputation rested on his wartime premiership, 302 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,160 particularly 1940. 303 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,040 Much of the remainder of his life was a catalogue of failure. 304 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,360 His misgivings were expressed in a story he wrote, 305 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:55,280 which was discovered only after his death. 306 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:04,320 In 1947, Churchill was painting here in his studio at Chartwell. 307 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,600 He was trying to do a copy of that portrait of his father, 308 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,440 Randolph Churchill, when suddenly he became aware of another presence 309 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:15,560 in the room and there, sitting in that red leather armchair, 310 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,920 he said that he saw his father. 311 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:22,640 His father asked his son what had happened in Britain 312 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,040 since he'd died at the end of the 19th century 313 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,760 and Winston Churchill gave him a potted history 314 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,360 of the first few decades of the 20th century - 315 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:32,840 the Boer War, income tax, the First World War - 316 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,960 but he hadn't got as far as the Second World War 317 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,560 when his father interrupted him, saying, 318 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,200 "I'm surprised you didn't go into politics. 319 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,280 "You could have done something to help. 320 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,240 "You might even have made a name for yourself." 321 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,520 And then, just like that, he was gone. 322 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,800 With no time to talk of his wartime achievements, 323 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,800 Churchill's dream highlighted a deep sense of unease 324 00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:59,880 over a troubled relationship 325 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,640 with a father who had died when Churchill was only 20. 326 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:06,920 I think that he was... 327 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,000 In the back of his... 328 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,840 very back of his consciousness was 329 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:14,880 the thought of his father 330 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,840 and how he could have pleased him, 331 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,080 was with him all his life. 332 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,840 That's a remarkable thing, though, by the age... 333 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,400 by the time you knew him, he was into his 70s, 334 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,880 - that that should still be present in his mind even then. - Yes, yes. 335 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:33,120 - That's remarkable. - I think it was an overwhelming... 336 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:40,920 ..affection and maybe it was also an anxiety 337 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,240 that he hadn't done enough to please him. 338 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:48,800 CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK 339 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,360 There's little doubt that this troubled relationship 340 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:01,360 with his dead father would remain with Churchill till the end. 341 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,080 As an old man, he changed his will again. 342 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,440 Instead of having his ashes scattered besides his pets 343 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,440 at Chartwell, he decided he'd be buried at Bladon in Oxfordshire, 344 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,200 in the shadow of Blenheim Palace, where he'd been born. 345 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,920 Significantly, the place he chose to be buried 346 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,240 was next to the grave of his father. 347 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,120 In the last five years, I think, he was definitely getting tired 348 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:38,120 and probably tired of life. 349 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:41,760 How did that show itself? 350 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,320 Well, he would sit 351 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,040 looking into the fire 352 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,200 and he would sit looking at the view. 353 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:48,640 I mean, he was quiet. 354 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,760 And then suddenly he might... you know, he would be more energetic. 355 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,920 But on the whole, the last few years were definitely... 356 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:00,840 ..quiet, peaceful and... 357 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,400 ..really contemplative, I suppose. 358 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,480 I mean, he'd had his 90th birthday party only six weeks before 359 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,920 and we all knew that this couldn't go on much longer. 360 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,400 By the lights of modern health puritans, 361 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,320 it was astonishing he had gone on for so long. 362 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,600 But his life was testament to the benefits of luxury. 363 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,800 In 1911, Churchill had co-founded The Other Club 364 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,040 where, over the years in this room, 365 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:43,400 he indulged his enormous capacity for work and for pleasure, 366 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,040 insulated from a changing Britain 367 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:50,440 by decorative panelling, silverware and fine food. 368 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,200 So much of Churchill's life seems to come 369 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:57,080 straight from the pages of an Edwardian ripping yarn. 370 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,600 He'd fought on the North West Frontier, 371 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,720 he'd taken part in one of the last British Empire cavalry charges, 372 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,360 he'd been a prisoner of the Boers 373 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:10,200 and then later he'd been in the trenches during the First World War. 374 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,440 Politically, he had been both Prime Minister 375 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,000 and he had been an MP, 376 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,920 over six decades. 377 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,760 As 1964 drew to a close, 378 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,640 Churchill had finally given up his seat in Parliament. 379 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:30,680 CORK POPS 380 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,720 But he wasn't going to give up every pleasure in life. 381 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,000 Churchill had a gargantuan appetite. 382 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,880 He's reckoned to have smoked over a quarter of a million cigars 383 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:48,040 and who knows how many countless gallons of champagne he drank? 384 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:54,720 His diary for early 1965 includes an engagement for dinner in this room. 385 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,680 It was an appointment he was unable to keep. 386 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,560 On Sunday January 10th, 1965, 387 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,840 Churchill suffered a stroke at his London home 388 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,680 from which his doctors believed he was unlikely to recover. 389 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,640 It wasn't long before the news leaked out 390 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:24,360 and, in the following days, Hyde Park Gate was under siege 391 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:27,240 from both the press and well-wishers. 392 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:31,520 Among the family visiting that January were Churchill's son 393 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,440 Randolph and his son Winston, 394 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,600 as well as Churchill's daughter Mary Soames 395 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,120 and her 16-year-old son Nicholas. 396 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:43,240 I remember it very, very well. 397 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,840 It was an extraordinary period of time 398 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:47,640 and my siblings and I 399 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,800 came to say goodbye to him. 400 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,680 Hyde Park Gate was absolutely crammed with people. 401 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,880 Very...immensely quiet and respectful. 402 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,600 And it wasn't a sad death, really. 403 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,040 You couldn't be sorry for him. 404 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,400 Throughout the vigil, Lord Moran - Churchill's doctor - 405 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,680 provided regular bulletins about his patient, 406 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,400 who was now close to death. 407 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,680 NEWSREEL: 'After a restless start, 408 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,200 'Sir Winston has had a peaceful day... 409 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,640 '..but he has lost ground.' 410 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,200 We sort of gathered round the bed. 411 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,000 I remember that, um... 412 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,960 my grandmother was sitting on one side holding his hand, 413 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:38,640 with the doctor beside her, 414 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,760 and Randolph and Winston were the other side, 415 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,960 and my two aunts and I, we all knelt at the bottom of the bed, 416 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:47,640 and, um... 417 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,520 ..there was... He was breathing, 418 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,200 there was a sigh and, literally, 419 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:56,640 without one noticing, 420 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,760 no-one knew when, actually, the difference between life and death, 421 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,440 but my grandmother turned to Lord Moran and said, "Has he gone?" 422 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,200 and he said yes. 423 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,360 NEWSREEL: 'We announce the death of Sir Winston Churchill. 424 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:20,520 'The announcement came from 28 Hyde Park Gate a few minutes ago. 425 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,960 'It said that Sir Winston died 426 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,640 'shortly after eight o'clock this morning.' 427 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,600 'Here in the Soviet Union, 428 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,800 'the Soviet government is sending condolences to Sir Winston's family 429 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,640 'and to the British Government...' 430 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,280 'Australian regard for Churchill's sheer greatness, 431 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,720 'courage and vision as wartime leader and postwar prophet...' 432 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,080 In accordance with the tradition of state funerals, 433 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:48,200 Churchill's body was placed on a catafalque in Westminster Hall. 434 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:55,000 He would lie in state for three days before the funeral. 435 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,200 Over 300,000 people came to pay their respects. 436 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:04,480 My mother said, you know, from the moment his coffin left 437 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,560 Hyde Park Gate to come here to lie in state, 438 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,080 she said to us, "He doesn't belong to us any more. 439 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:11,640 "He belongs to the nation." 440 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:20,880 It was, above all, 441 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,360 intensely moving... 442 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,960 er, I suppose, principally, because I'd known him, 443 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,680 I felt a very close connection there, 444 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:40,040 but also, it was the grandeur and the ceremony of Westminster Hall, 445 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,440 with the soldiers with their arms... 446 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,680 round the coffin. 447 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:49,800 I went many times, 448 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,200 just to pay my respects. 449 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,760 NEWSREEL: 'The people waiting tried to keep warm 450 00:27:57,760 --> 00:27:59,280 'by stamping their feet, 451 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,200 'huddling ever closer into their overcoats and scarves 452 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,440 'and blankets. Some of them had to wait two-and-a-half hours...' 453 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:11,440 Reporting for the BBC was a young journalist, Martin Bell. 454 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:12,880 I just described 455 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:14,640 the size of the crowd 456 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:15,760 and the quietness 457 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:17,320 and the sense of purpose, 458 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,680 and they were going to stay there for as long as it took. 459 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,040 What was it that they were turning out for? 460 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:29,000 Obviously, it was a funeral, but was it something more than that? 461 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,560 I think they were turning out because they recognised 462 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:37,720 the passing of someone very special in the life of the nation. 463 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,040 I don't think the sort of revisionist historians 464 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,280 had really chipped in by then, 465 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,400 and I think people had probably forgotten the wilderness years 466 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,480 and the errors of judgment and all the things that 467 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,080 now are in every history. We just remembered the passing of 468 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,960 a very great man, and this was the last time to pay tribute to him. 469 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,560 I would have thought that that event - 470 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,720 the funeral, the lying in state, the great crowds - 471 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,800 they represented the passing of the old Britain. 472 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,880 General salute! 473 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,400 COMMAND SHOUTED 474 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,240 On 30th January, 1965, 475 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,960 the coffin of the man who had led Britain through the war 476 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,440 emerged from Westminster Hall. 477 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:33,200 7,000 servicemen waited for the start of the biggest procession 478 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,120 London had witnessed 479 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,080 since the Queen's Coronation 12 years earlier. 480 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,160 Commanding the bearer party 481 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:46,200 carrying the coffin was a young lieutenant - Anthony Mather. 482 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,040 The bearer party consists of eight bearers, 483 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:55,640 with the tallest at the rear and the shortest in the front, 484 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,440 and on this occasion, 485 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,080 because it was a state occasion, 486 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,640 there was warrant officer in front 487 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,360 and I was bringing up the rear, 488 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,360 giving the words of command and encouraging them 489 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:14,000 to do as they were trained to do. 490 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,640 Among the bearers was Lance Sergeant Lincoln Perkins. 491 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,880 The guardsmen were astonished by weight of the burden 492 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,040 on their shoulders. 493 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:26,800 The coffin, we were led to believe 494 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:27,920 by the undertakers, 495 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:29,160 was lead lined. 496 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:31,200 We all said, "Wow! 497 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:34,960 "We've not practised with a weight like this before." 498 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,160 It was just a surprise that he was so heavy. 499 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,960 NEWSREEL: 'There have been funeral processions before, 500 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,440 'there have been state funerals of...' 501 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,240 Narrating the television coverage for the BBC 502 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,040 was the veteran broadcaster Richard Dimbleby. 503 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:54,400 'There has not been, I think, 504 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,360 'in the whole history of our land 505 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,160 'a state funeral or an occasion 506 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,880 'which has touched the hearts of people 507 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,840 'quite as much as this one is doing today.' 508 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,800 RHYTHMIC TICKING 509 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,000 BIG BEN CHIMES 510 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:22,680 At 9.45, Big Ben chimed to mark 511 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,800 the start of the procession to St Paul's. 512 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,960 The bell would remain silent for the rest of the day. 513 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,160 MILITARY BAND PLAYS 514 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,160 There had been seven years of planning beforehand. 515 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,920 The state funeral was organised in six days. 516 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:49,200 I marched behind the coffin with my father and my younger brother Jeremy. 517 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:52,880 I always remember, Jeremy was... 518 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,600 12, I think, and he was the only one who didn't wear a top hat. 519 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,080 He wasn't old enough to wear a top hat. 520 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:01,440 And it was a freezing-cold day 521 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,160 and I thought he must have frozen alive. 522 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,680 Strangely enough, you are very focused on what is going on 523 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,840 in front of you, and your eyes are not swivelling around 524 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:18,400 seeing too much, but it was patently obvious that every side 525 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:25,160 of the road, the crowds were 10, 12 deep, very sombre 526 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:29,760 and very respectful of the coffin as it passed them. 527 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:44,360 Just marching down Whitehall, you saw these extraordinary faces. 528 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,760 I mean, I've never seen such collective grief 529 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:53,640 and, of course, people 10, 20 deep on the pavement the whole way. 530 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,440 It was just sort of heartbreaking, really. 531 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:00,040 It was just so moving. 532 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,640 My sister and I were sitting in the carriage together 533 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,880 and you could practically touch the people if you'd wanted to, 534 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,160 and you could see their faces. I mean, it was extraordinary. 535 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:13,600 I mean, you could see the tears pouring down their faces, 536 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:18,040 you could... I mean, the emotion that we saw on that journey, 537 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,360 I mean, it was true raw emotion, 538 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,440 and I mean not just tears trickling, 539 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,840 I mean...with real anguish on their faces. 540 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,800 Over 3,000 people had been invited to St Paul's 541 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,000 for the funeral service. 542 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,800 111 countries would be represented, 543 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,760 including five monarchs, six heads of state 544 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,640 and 16 prime ministers. 545 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:53,680 The family wanted the funeral to have 546 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,760 as personal a feel as possible, 547 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,000 so a seat was found for the woman 548 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,040 who baked Churchill's birthday cake every year, 549 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:05,360 another for Odette Pol-Roger, the woman whose company had made 550 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:09,920 so much of the many gallons of Champagne that Churchill had drunk, 551 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:14,200 and another, because he enjoyed building brick walls at Chartwell 552 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:18,040 and carried a union card, for a representative 553 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,120 of the National Union of Bricklayers. 554 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,640 Churchill wasn't just Britain's hero. 555 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:28,600 International statesmen, like former President Eisenhower 556 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,000 and President de Gaulle, came too, 557 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,040 recognising Churchill's role in 558 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:36,440 saving the Western world and democracy. 559 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,680 Churchill's comrades from the country's finest hour 560 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:46,800 tottered in too - the politicians who'd schemed and dreamed 561 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,480 that one day they'd replace him, 562 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,120 and the unlucky ones who did, and were found wanting. 563 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:57,880 The hour had made the man, 564 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:01,080 and the hour, thank God, has not come again. 565 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,560 It was from this bunker, deep beneath the streets of London, 566 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:17,640 that Churchill commanded armies, navies and aircrew 567 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,480 all over the world. 568 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,600 It was decisions made here and implemented here 569 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,800 that determined the future of the world. 570 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,320 When those dignitaries processed into St Paul's Cathedral 571 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:34,840 in January 1965, they were paying tribute to the leadership 572 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,320 of this country at a time when the rest of the world 573 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,880 critically depended upon it. 574 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:49,400 But had the events of the early 1940s ever really been forgotten? 575 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:51,920 When we venerate Churchill, 576 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,760 do we, in a sense, expect to maintain for ever 577 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,840 the position at the top of international affairs 578 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:02,040 as we had when he was Prime Minister? 579 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:04,800 Doesn't he represent an idea of Britain 580 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:08,640 in the world that is actually profoundly unhelpful? 581 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:10,000 Actually, I think that 582 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,320 Churchill's vision of Britain's role 583 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:14,760 in the world is the most valid 584 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:16,200 and useful guide 585 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:18,320 for how we should think of ourselves. 586 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:23,320 He wanted, obviously, Britain to have a close relationship 587 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,520 with the former imperial countries of the Commonwealth, sure, 588 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:32,000 but he also thought that Britain should be deeply intertwined 589 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,720 with the United States, but he also thought 590 00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:37,960 that it was our destiny to be 591 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:40,720 involved in what took place in Europe. 592 00:36:40,720 --> 00:36:43,120 Winston Churchill was one of the founders 593 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:45,000 of the idea of the European Union. 594 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,680 He was one of the great campaigners, 595 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:51,720 and that vision of Britain as the centre of these three 596 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:57,320 interconnecting sets - Europe, the Commonwealth, America - 597 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,760 that's still a very powerful and attractive vision 598 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:03,800 of how this country ought to position ourselves. 599 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,040 MILITARY BAND PLAYS 600 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,800 NEWSREEL: 'Back again. St Paul's Cathedral at the moment. 601 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:14,120 'You can see the first arrival of members of our own Royal Family. 602 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,600 'The Queen. With her, the Prince of Wales, 603 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,760 'who has come from school at Gordonstoun for this day, 604 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:25,800 'and, of course, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 605 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,320 'in his uniform as Admiral of the Fleet. 606 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,600 'Passing the gorgeous tabards of the heralds, 607 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,960 'the darker greatcoats of the Household Cavalry. 608 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,400 The bearer party, 609 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:41,720 now carrying the coffin from the gun carriage to the cathedral, 610 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:45,600 were about to face potentially huge public embarrassment. 611 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,160 We had difficulties, occasionally, 612 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,520 particularly on the steps of St Paul's - 613 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,200 that was really the worst time - 614 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:58,320 and we brought in on that occasion two swing men at the back, 615 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:02,640 who helped to keep it steady on the shoulders, 616 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,920 so not letting it slip downwards. 617 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,520 Just ahead of the bearer party was Lord Attlee, 618 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,120 the former Labour Prime Minister, 619 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:17,920 who'd insisted on attending the funeral against medical advice. 620 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:25,680 Halfway up the second flight of stairs, when Lord Attlee stumbled... 621 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:28,000 This was going into St Paul's? 622 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,720 Yes, going into St Paul's, 623 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:32,360 and we had to come to a stop... 624 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,800 ..and it did actually slide off the two front shoulders 625 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:42,480 of the two bearers, and it was very lucky that we'd got the two gentlemen 626 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:45,040 at the back, who were pushers, what we call pushers, 627 00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:46,200 who push us up. 628 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,160 What went through your mind? 629 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,040 Telling Sir Winston Churchill, 630 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,560 "Don't worry, sir, we'll look after you." 631 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,760 Of course, I was really talking to myself 632 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,640 but apparently I was talking out loud, 633 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:11,640 because you could actually feel him sliding off the shoulders. 634 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:15,160 If we had have dropped him, we'd have been... 635 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,440 I don't know what we'd... It would have been very embarrassing. 636 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:20,160 But we didn't. 637 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:27,920 NEWSREEL: 'And in a huge oaken coffin surmounted by a Union Jack, 638 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:33,360 'the body of Winston Churchill is borne for his funeral service 639 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:38,680 'into the great mother church of the Commonwealth.' 640 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,360 CHOIR SINGS 641 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:48,280 High up in the cathedral that morning 642 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,600 was the St Paul's bell-ringer, Jim Phillips. 643 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,120 We went up into the ringing chamber, 644 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:56,800 where we ring the bells, 645 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,000 made ourselves comfortable 646 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,400 and then we went along the triforium 647 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,160 to a gallery under the dome 648 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:07,880 to watch the funeral from there. 649 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,040 It was quite interesting - we passed a garden shed, 650 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,600 and there was dear old Richard Dimbleby in this garden shed 651 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:16,840 doing the commentary from there. 652 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,040 NEWSREEL: 'So the setting is complete 653 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:21,800 'as the sentences come towards their end.' 654 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,480 The service was... 655 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:28,320 It wasn't harrowing, 656 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:29,520 because it was 657 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,280 just magnificent, really. 658 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,760 # ..Then fancies fly away 659 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:43,080 # We'll fear not what men say... # 660 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:49,320 It was very, very moving and overwhelming with these great hymns. 661 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:54,760 It was so grand but it was also so personal. 662 00:40:57,240 --> 00:40:59,120 There was Winston Churchill 663 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:00,520 in his coffin... 664 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,320 ..and he was with us. 665 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:05,800 I mean, there was a great sense 666 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,440 of his presence at the ceremony. 667 00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:14,480 Brethren, we are assembled here to join in prayer 668 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:18,920 on the occasion of the burial of a great man 669 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:22,720 who has rendered memorable service to his country 670 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:25,480 and to the cause of freedom. 671 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:28,240 CHOIR SINGS 672 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:32,360 Of course one cried, I suppose, 673 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:37,480 but we were swept along on this tidal wave of splendour 674 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,400 and splendid grief. 675 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:44,600 The most wonderful, wonderful music 676 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:47,840 I've ever heard anywhere in my entire life. 677 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:58,400 TRUMPETER PLAYS LAST POST 678 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,720 And when the Last Post was played, I mean, you know, 679 00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:21,200 there wasn't a person in that... in St Paul's Cathedral 680 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:24,240 who wasn't just standing bolt upright. 681 00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:25,640 It was just extraordinary. 682 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:27,720 - Good morning. - Good morning, sir. 683 00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:29,920 Nice to see you. Thank you for coming. 684 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:31,960 How does it feel to be back? 685 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:34,120 Yes, it's all coming back, actually. 686 00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:37,600 'There were two trumpeters playing at the funeral that day.' 687 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:39,960 ..From what I can remember, anyway. 688 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:44,600 'Peter Wilson and Basil King haven't seen each other in 50 years 689 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,200 'since playing together here at St Paul's.' 690 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,160 Did you feel this was a special occasion? 691 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:52,520 Oh, this was definitely special. Definitely special. 692 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,440 Did you get a sense you were being part of history? 693 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:57,200 No, I didn't, no. No, no. 694 00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:58,960 All I was worried about 695 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:00,720 was my knocking knees. 696 00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:02,480 THEY LAUGH 697 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,720 After Peter had finished the Last Post, 698 00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:14,320 Basil answered with reveille. 699 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:23,480 It's the very easiest thing in the world to crack a note 700 00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:25,120 playing these type of trumpets, 701 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:26,960 As people say, it's easy 702 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:28,760 to crack a note on them, 703 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:31,040 and his was superb, 704 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,360 and I thought, "Well, mine's got to be exactly the same," 705 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:37,960 so I fixed my eye on something on the wall 706 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:40,360 and got the nod to go 707 00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:44,640 and there it was, and it went very well, thankfully. 708 00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:55,960 There were lots of people in the congregation that day 709 00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:58,720 among the mourners, particularly family members, 710 00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:01,760 who cried when they heard you two play. 711 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:06,200 Did you get any sense of how people were reacting to hearing you play? 712 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:09,920 The Last Past always gets them, doesn't it, really? 713 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,040 It doesn't matter where you are, 714 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:17,680 or what funeral, the Last Post, they start to cry. Yeah. 715 00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:31,040 MUFFLED BELLS PEAL 716 00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:35,520 NEWSREEL: 'The muffled bells of St Paul's, 717 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,880 'rung by the Ancient Society of College Youths, 718 00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:39,760 'the bell-ringers of the cathedral, 719 00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:43,640 'ring out now high above the church over London.' 720 00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:50,920 Oh, it was tense, very tense. It was an atmosphere, 721 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:54,360 an atmosphere of sadness, this great man had gone. 722 00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:58,120 When we pulled the bells off to peal them, 723 00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:01,000 every sinew and muscle was strained 724 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:02,960 and my legs were shaking. 725 00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:05,040 The world was listening to us. 726 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:08,320 The focus was on St Paul's at that particular hour. 727 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:16,160 It was one of those things we had to do for the man, 728 00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:19,160 and I think we did it very well. 729 00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:33,000 From St Paul's, the gun carriage travelled to Tower Bridge, 730 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:37,480 where the man who'd been First Lord of the Admiralty in two world wars, 731 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,680 was carried onto the Havengore, 732 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:44,520 a Port of London Authority launch now waiting at Tower Pier. 733 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:50,720 The state funeral was about to end 734 00:45:50,720 --> 00:45:54,520 and the private ceremony for the family would shortly begin. 735 00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:12,080 River traffic on the Thames had been stopped for an hour 736 00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:15,760 as the Havengore pulled out and headed upstream. 737 00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:19,920 What was the Havengore's role in the funeral? 738 00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:23,080 Well, this was the final part of the state funeral. 739 00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:25,040 It was moving the coffin 740 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:26,360 from Tower Pier 741 00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:28,720 up the river to Waterloo Station, 742 00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:31,240 a journey of some 15, 20 minutes. 743 00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:34,720 And this is the plaque which says this is where the coffin was? 744 00:46:34,720 --> 00:46:37,000 - That's right. - Was the coffin alone on the boat? 745 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:38,680 No, there was a bearer party, 746 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,520 to obviously carry the coffin on board and off. 747 00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:44,760 There was also the chief mourners, so that was Lady Churchill 748 00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:48,440 and the immediate members of her family, in this cabin here. 749 00:47:05,640 --> 00:47:09,640 Above the Havengore that day, as if from nowhere, 750 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:11,960 roared 16 Lightning aircraft - 751 00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:14,680 a tribute from RAF Fighter Command. 752 00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:21,440 Of the many emotional scenes on that charged day, 753 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:26,000 one sight which really stuck in the minds of those who saw it 754 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,600 was the spectacle of the cranes of the Port of London 755 00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:33,160 lowering their jibs as the barge passed. 756 00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:37,120 It seemed a spontaneous gesture of respect 757 00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,160 from a people in a part of Britain 758 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:43,200 that had really suffered from Hitler's bombers during the Blitz. 759 00:47:57,720 --> 00:48:03,400 We were all undone by the cranes dipping in salute to his coffin. 760 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:07,120 That was just... I mean, that undid us all, really. 761 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:16,280 What an emotional sight that was, to finish off, 762 00:48:16,280 --> 00:48:18,720 so everybody's paying their respects 763 00:48:18,720 --> 00:48:21,080 by doing a half-mast crane. 764 00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,600 Amazing sight. 765 00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:25,360 Marvellous. 766 00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:27,440 Tear to the eye. 767 00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:39,320 Those Thames cranes have long since gone, 768 00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:42,280 but one of the workers from the time 769 00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:45,520 remembers the dockers' gesture somewhat differently. 770 00:48:47,320 --> 00:48:49,680 You know the scene at the funeral 771 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:53,640 - when the dock cranes lower their jibs? - Yeah. 772 00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:57,280 Talk to anyone who watched the television coverage in particular, 773 00:48:57,280 --> 00:48:59,280 that's the thing they remember 774 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:02,640 - and they all found it very, very moving. - Yeah. 775 00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:05,680 - Hmm. - Do you find it moving? 776 00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:08,120 Not really, cos I knew what had happened. 777 00:49:08,120 --> 00:49:10,720 - What had happened? - The didn't like Churchill... 778 00:49:10,720 --> 00:49:12,880 I think I can speak for most of them, 779 00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:14,680 they didn't like him 780 00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:17,120 and when they were asked to do it, the atmosphere was no, 781 00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:18,840 but then when they were paid to do it, 782 00:49:18,840 --> 00:49:21,200 because we didn't work Saturday afternoons. 783 00:49:21,200 --> 00:49:22,800 They wouldn't have been there. 784 00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,160 - So that was not a spontaneous gesture of... - No way, no way. 785 00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:28,000 They were paid to do it? 786 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,440 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 787 00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:33,040 What was the feeling among the dockers 788 00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:36,600 about the men who were prepared to operate the cranes, then? 789 00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:39,720 I know that there was a lot of arguments and rows about it 790 00:49:39,720 --> 00:49:42,080 and the atmosphere... or the attitude seemed to be, 791 00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:44,640 if you respected a man you would have done it for nothing, 792 00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:47,400 if you didn't respect him you shouldn't have done it at all. 793 00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:50,320 The atmosphere was that Churchill wasn't a working-class person, 794 00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:53,840 he wasn't a working man's representative at all. Absolutely. 795 00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:55,360 I mean, we were going to... 796 00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:58,920 I remember going to school with holes in my shoes and bits of cardboard, 797 00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:01,520 and we used to see him with a great big cigar in one hand 798 00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:03,320 and sometimes a drink in the other. 799 00:50:03,320 --> 00:50:05,520 It just didn't associate with us at all. 800 00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:07,360 But it was a very moving gesture. 801 00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:10,480 - It was, yeah. - Were you moved by it? 802 00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:13,920 I was. I was, to be honest, I was, even though... 803 00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:17,320 - You didn't like Churchill. - No, no, I didn't like Churchill. 804 00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:20,240 - You were moved by the gesture. - I was moved by that, yeah, yeah. 805 00:50:20,240 --> 00:50:24,560 I was moved by the whole funeral, but I didn't like him at all. 806 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:32,440 Churchill had certainly been no friend of militant trade unionism 807 00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:35,720 and had even sent in the Army against strikers, 808 00:50:35,720 --> 00:50:39,920 but he had led the fight against German fascism. 809 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:44,680 TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS 810 00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:49,560 Churchill's coffin would leave London by train 811 00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:51,360 on the next stage of the journey 812 00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:54,000 towards the small Oxfordshire churchyard 813 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,480 where he was to be buried that afternoon. 814 00:50:56,480 --> 00:51:00,920 Appropriately, the engine chosen to pull the funeral train 815 00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:03,960 was a steam locomotive from an earlier era. 816 00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:07,640 It was named Winston Churchill. 817 00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:11,520 The engine has been restored 818 00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:14,600 by a group of railway buffs in Hampshire 819 00:51:14,600 --> 00:51:18,160 to mark the anniversary of Churchill's death. 820 00:51:23,720 --> 00:51:26,560 At Waterloo Station, a new bearer party, 821 00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:30,320 made up of soldiers from Churchill's old cavalry regiment, 822 00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:33,840 bore his coffin onto the train waiting at platform 11. 823 00:51:39,720 --> 00:51:41,960 Just after 1.30 in the afternoon, 824 00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:45,840 the funeral train and mourners pulled out. 825 00:51:45,840 --> 00:51:49,360 It was the start of a 70-mile journey, 826 00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:51,240 which would take two hours, 827 00:51:51,240 --> 00:51:54,520 to reach the tiny station of Hanborough, 828 00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:57,240 close to the churchyard at Bladon. 829 00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:08,280 The moment that we left Waterloo, 830 00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:11,200 we saw so many people, 831 00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:13,640 thousands and thousands of people, 832 00:52:13,640 --> 00:52:15,360 along the line, 833 00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:17,320 in some of the strangest places, 834 00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:20,120 even in the countryside. They were in the fields, 835 00:52:20,120 --> 00:52:21,960 all along the line, 836 00:52:21,960 --> 00:52:27,680 and that was the most telling thing, I felt, personally, about it, 837 00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:31,040 but the other thing was all the old soldiers, 838 00:52:31,040 --> 00:52:35,880 all in their battledress, saluting as that train went by. 839 00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:38,200 Quite something. Never forget that. 840 00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:49,000 I remember going down in the train to Bladon. 841 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:51,320 There was a lockkeeper, I remember, 842 00:52:51,320 --> 00:52:54,200 with all his medals on, standing there, saluting. 843 00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:18,760 At Bladon, they had been preparing for the burial 844 00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:20,880 from the moment, six days earlier, 845 00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:25,560 when they first received news of Churchill's death. 846 00:53:25,560 --> 00:53:30,800 The passing of an historic figure merited an ancient village rite. 847 00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:32,920 When you heard the news, 848 00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:35,480 you came across to the church and tolled the bell? 849 00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:37,320 - Yes. - Why did you do that? 850 00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:39,680 Well, it used to be the old-fashioned way, 851 00:53:39,680 --> 00:53:44,000 that when anybody passed away in the village, 852 00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:46,200 you used to go and toll the bell 853 00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:50,760 and you used to toll the bell three threes for a man 854 00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:53,120 and two threes for a lady, 855 00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:57,760 and anybody in the village then knew that somebody had passed away 856 00:53:57,760 --> 00:54:01,040 and it was either a man or a lady. 857 00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:03,000 Was that because you thought 858 00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:05,600 that Churchill belonged to the village, or what? 859 00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:08,040 Well, I thought it was a respect, 860 00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:11,520 to let people know that Winston had died, you know, 861 00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:15,120 cos we always knew that he was going to be buried here, 862 00:54:15,120 --> 00:54:17,520 cos that was what he always said. 863 00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:21,600 He was coming back to... with his mother and father. 864 00:54:25,120 --> 00:54:27,760 'For the day of the funeral, Lady Churchill had 865 00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:31,800 'asked for the press and cameras to keep away from Bladon. 866 00:54:33,040 --> 00:54:35,080 'Only villagers were allowed to witness 867 00:54:35,080 --> 00:54:38,120 'the arrival of the coffin for the private burial.' 868 00:54:38,120 --> 00:54:40,520 Now, where's this picture? 869 00:54:40,520 --> 00:54:44,280 This must be one of the very last photographs taken at the funeral. 870 00:54:44,280 --> 00:54:47,720 That is. That was right here, where we're standing. 871 00:54:47,720 --> 00:54:51,360 That is, there, because there's the house, there. 872 00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:54,080 Here's the coffin, coming down... 873 00:54:54,080 --> 00:54:56,920 It came down here and stopped here. 874 00:54:56,920 --> 00:54:59,440 So, it's taken from that window up there? 875 00:54:59,440 --> 00:55:04,200 Taken from that window, and this is the wall that's coming down here. 876 00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:07,320 This is the coffin actually going into the churchyard. 877 00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:08,920 That's right, that's right. 878 00:55:10,480 --> 00:55:13,720 I don't know how I got them 879 00:55:13,720 --> 00:55:18,880 but different people usually give you different photographs. 880 00:55:18,880 --> 00:55:21,640 And then these little photographs here, 881 00:55:21,640 --> 00:55:23,600 these tiny, tiny ones, 882 00:55:23,600 --> 00:55:27,280 these must be the last photographs of the lot, I suppose? 883 00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:30,960 That's right, as they went from here through the lych gate. 884 00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:33,720 - Into the churchyard. - Yeah, yeah. 885 00:55:38,040 --> 00:55:40,160 Were you very moved that day? 886 00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:43,040 Yes, I was. Yes, I was. 887 00:55:45,400 --> 00:55:47,640 I bet you were, actually. 888 00:55:56,520 --> 00:56:01,280 It was the most beautiful day, beautiful, beautiful ice-cold day, 889 00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:03,920 and he was committed... 890 00:56:05,040 --> 00:56:08,000 ..with his whole family standing around him. 891 00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:16,000 And as the coffin was lowered into the grave, 892 00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:19,000 a Spitfire flew right over his head. 893 00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:21,800 I've never forgotten that. 894 00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:39,360 So the journey that had taken him all over the world 895 00:56:39,360 --> 00:56:42,600 ended in an English country churchyard. 896 00:56:42,600 --> 00:56:45,840 There's no grand monument, no eternal flame, 897 00:56:45,840 --> 00:56:48,240 no ringing declaration, 898 00:56:48,240 --> 00:56:52,120 just a stone slab inscribed with his name 899 00:56:52,120 --> 00:56:55,960 and that of his wife, who joined him a few years later. 900 00:57:00,560 --> 00:57:05,160 On that icy January day, back in 1965, 901 00:57:05,160 --> 00:57:08,560 more than a million people lined the London streets 902 00:57:08,560 --> 00:57:12,040 to honour the passing of a man who had stood firm 903 00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:14,200 when others might have buckled. 904 00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:20,640 He WAS just a human - mortal and fallible like the rest of us - 905 00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:23,400 but the people had seen in his spirit 906 00:57:23,400 --> 00:57:27,000 something they hoped to see in themselves. 907 00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:31,040 History isn't made by great men 908 00:57:31,040 --> 00:57:33,680 but sometimes a man or woman 909 00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:36,880 may so come to express the spirit of the age 910 00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:39,000 that they become great. 911 00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:41,640 Winston Churchill was such a figure. 912 00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:46,040 He looked a bit like a bulldog and, when the nation needed it, 913 00:57:46,040 --> 00:57:49,480 he expressed the determination of a bulldog. 914 00:57:49,480 --> 00:57:53,600 Sure, he was a chancer, an egotist, a workaholic 915 00:57:53,600 --> 00:57:56,360 and sometimes a bit of a charlatan, 916 00:57:56,360 --> 00:57:59,360 but in this age of political miniatures, 917 00:57:59,360 --> 00:58:02,520 there is no-one who can hold a candle to him. 918 00:58:02,520 --> 00:58:04,560 For the sake of the nation, 919 00:58:04,560 --> 00:58:09,080 we must hope that the old cliche about never seeing his like again 920 00:58:09,080 --> 00:58:13,280 isn't true because, one day, we may need his like, 921 00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:15,400 but in the 50 years since his death, 922 00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:18,240 there has been no sign of such a figure.