FINEST HOUR

T1-E BULLETIN OF THE \IT NSTON S. CHURCHILL STUDY tnrrr OF THEAHERIGn..N TOPICAL ASSOCIATION

VOLUME I CHURCHll·

----_._-.-___ FIRST DA Y-C;

NUMBER 1

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Th:l'e i.n " t"lsI-: of t,ics'I'ha t cat c li~,o\:e ;~cijl.Ci.t '..:;i1C feet of ,:)0.:1,

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And for .t.:1C r.~Vl.i.1.Jrc.~ I.Liol1~3 ..i,n .AC~1C S<'l~~:.:rc.

'Tl, ':0 John \'Cllc';"; ,,1.1-- 1.4C 1. n. [ .:J.J. .l.J.u.o ..•.._... '-'~_I....l.

Poet Laur-aa t e of theUni ted Li~lgdom

';"henin th c even i.nr; ,The Black \v'asi: \:O.J·~e r-ound thc IslandL'1 an cvi.L £1,ood."'rilly do ~{C :.;tand?flWLat, out of all, is secure?"\iht'lt wor-k i~ not vcrn d01..'T1)Is not r.iadc ~and;'1l

Then your voice s;:,oke,Out Q1'-.die heilrt of ano thcr ccntury ,n- .,. n1 d1I\eltera't.Jng ,bng .....'..1.:1 •

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I\ .~fieBulletin of the Winston SG

FINEST HOUR 1

Churchill Study Unit, American Topical Assoco

FINEST HOURThe n~me of this publication is up to you. The above is only temporary, un-less you feel. it should become permanent.. In the meantimeg well, we had t6call it somet.hd ng , vle didn't much like the Churchill family motto," F.ielPero Desd:lch:"do n __" Raithful But Unfortunate "--because in most of his 90years, Sir \'linntonwas as fortunate (he said so himself) as he was faithful e

I hope you can send me some alternative names 9 so."itTt:' can offer a "slate" ina future issue, from which to choose~DUE S tt!

\"ell, we have to tackle this somet tme ; might as well get it over! Dues .for.the W. S. Churchill Study Unit are at present fixed at Two Dollars ($2,,00)

per member per year. Our only expense at this time is tEIs newslettero How-ever, if you feel this l?altry sum is minimal, by all means contribute what.;.ever you think proper! (I tried to set the moo4 with $5eOO). On the otherhand, if $2.00 is all you wish to subscribe, that is all that's necessary toassure you the newsletter for the coming yearo (And I hope it will soon bea monthly occurrence!) \tJe are establishing a bank account, so you may makeout your personal check to the Vlinston S" Churchill Study Unit, and mail to:

. 1 Jl:Tr. J. R. StyJes; Treasurer Box #35~L Greenville, S e C. 2960i! U ..S.A •••..r.'

OfFICERSThe pr(~sent officers are all voLunt eer-s , among the earliest to express in--terest in the Unit. For your information, they are listed be Low ••Their du~ties at this time are rather nebulous, although the constitution and the bylaws, now being framed for your appr-ova l.,'''filldef'Ln e these responsibil:it:iesin detnil.Chairman:ATA ~118318cg,·253 E.Camp Hill,

Richard H. Langwor-th\1SCSU #1

Crestwood DrivePennsylvania 17011

Vice Chairman, acting: Martin HoffATA #10819 WSCSU #259-16 Grove StreetBrooklyn, New York 11227

Secretary: r"TS. Beverley Fow l.er-ATA Ir~~hatsitBev? WSCSU #34900 Buckingham \'laySpenard, Alaska 99503

Treasurer:ATA #19360Post OfficeGreenville,

JG R. Styles't1SCSU 116Box #3 51l ~South Carolina

THIS BULLETIN 'NILL BE PUBLISH!m Dr Et:cn,ISH!

"We were considered such dunces that we could only leann English.~e.Asremained in the Third Fourhh (form) three times as long as anyone else,Ithree times as much of it 0 I learned it t.hor-oug hLy , Thus I g~ into~ones the essential structure of the ordinary British sent~-which is

\ J,ble thing." .'.,., -----VioSVCOI ~ Earl}!:Life (1930)

Ihadmy

a

i \ FINESTHOUR2 I

EON. RANDOLPH S. CHURCHILLRandblph Frederick Edwaz-d Spencer Churchill wa s born in 1911 in London andC .oday lives in East Bergho~t in Suffolk. Edu~ate~ at Eton and Christ Chun::h

. jOxford, he has been Captal.n and Temporary :MaJorl.n the Queen's Own Hus-sars' and was a memberof Parliament from 1940 to_ 1945~ During World WarII he was a General Staff Officer (Intelligence) in North Africa, Italy andYugoslavia.. Since the end of the war, he has been a professional writerandjournalist 0 '

The literary world now anxiously awa.i.t.sthe tt.ird volume of 'f<Tr. Churchill'sdefinitive biography, llTinston S. Churchil11 the first tv.TO volumes of "t'lhichhave been published under the SUbtitles Youth 1874-1901 and Young Statesman1901-1914. Whencomplete, this five--volume series v-riIT form the most accu-rate and ~uthoratative biog:raphyof Sir Winston. The importance of this

_work is amplified by 1JJro Churchill's dynamic sear-ch f'or- accuracy, his readyaccess, to the Churchill papers, his undying quest for documentation in all .areas, and particu,larly by his personal philosophy for the wor-k r He ShallBe His _OemBaographer-, ft By completing this biography, I1Tr. Churchill .v-1ill;be follm-'Ting the tradition of his father, who himself set forth the .lifeo:f',his father in Lord Randolph. Churchill (1906) <>, _ ...

, -It was with some doubt that I••rr & Langwor-t h wrote Mr , Churohf.L'l, in January, toacquaint the latter ''lith the W. S•• Churchill Study Unit. Certainly the au-thor has more important things to do; his five volumes are far from ',' com---plete, and his time is dedicated to a large portion of professional jour-nalistic pieces. Nr .• Churchill wou.ld have been within his rights to ignorethe,plea for assistance in so relatively minor a project as the W.S.C.S.U.

('.hi~. was not the case" -Mr. Churchill wr ot e a kind reply, stating that aI--though he knew "nct.h Lng about stamps, tr he wou.Id nevertheless tttry to answer,any questions (we) have in mind."

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This was "Telcomenews , The assistance of Sir t"linsto-nf s foremost biographerand heir will prove invaluable to stamp collectors also trying, through themedia of philatelY1 to appropriately honor the memoryof the greatest fi-gure of the twentieth century.. Most important, IVir .• Churchill may be ableto correct erroneous biographical notions we might otherwise have incorpo--rated into our collections, through the reading of lesser and inaccurate

.biographers~".,:' , .'1-- - ," ", ,-We:,'are certain that many of you will have cause to refer to I.rr.' RandolphS~~Churchill more than once. Already, there area half-dozen questions in-volving stamp designs (photographs used) and matters of' biographical accu-racy, However, 1·!r 0 Churchill's time is precious" It will not do for indi-

. viduals to bombard him with individual questions, .many of which may be re":.petitive.. Wetherefore ask you to 'f'oritlard all queries to ~1fre; Langworth;whowill attempt to answer them from already-puEITshed biographical volumes,andforward the rest (when a reasonable amount accumulate) to Mr. ChurchilloForqa d:irect reply, you may enclose with your question a stamped, self-addres-sed envelope" However, the question and its answer \llill be published in afuture issue of FIlmST HOURas soon as it is available.'·

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FINEST HOUR 3' ,

, CHURCHILL CHECKLIST r.'.'

C','t'h,anks largely to !~!rS8 Ada Stefani #5, lye haV6'atairly accurate, checklist

, _,p offer you irmnediately. 'Vie know there are mistakes, and invite your' cri-ticism.. Note, in cases of Ttblack blotlt (questionable validity) i$sueslONLYTHE MAJOR DESIGn (usually the original perforated variety) is included ,rlththe general list. For completeness, the other "varieties" are found underthe heading "Supplementary Questionable Issues.f1 In the next issue of FI-NESTHOUR,we will explain ~1hythe A.P.S. coined the term nblack blot,tt \'lnycertain issues are so labeled while others are not, and Nhat ChurchiJ,l col-lectors are doing ctbout them. All numbers are from Scott's Catalogue.

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Acl'e'n Kathiri Se Lyun 11'c'ornmemoratives "lith W.S.C. bet't:lleen 1,192. and r-1108 '"Ad't:ht -Kathiri Seiyun $ paintings by "1•.3 .•C. M92 t.hr-ough H9$'.A.d-enE:athiri Seiyun "1corr ••memor-atLve bearing British \1.S •.C. nalfcro'W"!lAden'Quaiti.- ' 3 overprinted in memory of ~1•.S.C. IvT68 to M70

'Ajman. . 8com:tnemoratives ,64 through 71 ,>:>, ,,c.'

"Albania ',6 ,semi-postals(not catiaLoguea ) WSG,FDR,Kastrioti"'Ant.igua 4' British Empire Churchill Omnibus .Lssue 157 to 160,Ascension' 4 .ErnpLr-e Omnibus 96 to '99 _"Australia "1 commernor-at. i.ve 389 ;......,.,' '.Bahamae <:4 Omnibus 224 through 227Barbados '" ",' ' "'-4 Onmibus281 through 284Basuz o'Land (Lesotho) ,,;4 OmnIbus :105 through 108 ,Bechuanaland .s-: • 4. Omnibus 206 through 209Be·rmuda ,.",4. Omrri.hus 201 through 204Bhutan 5 ov?rprintcommemoratives 42 through 46

, Brazil 1 commemor-at.t ve 1005('1rit ish Antarctic 4.;Omnibus 16 through 19

,;;ritish Guiana", 2' commemor-a t.Lves 217. and 218'British Honduras 4 Omnibus 191-194-British Solomons 4H Omnihus145-148B-rur,tei ' ,.' lr,Omnibus 120 through 123Burundi, '}-ccomInemoratives B28 through B30

. Cameroons ,2commemoratives C55 and C56Canada ,1 commemorative 440Cayman Islands '4. Omnibus 176 through 179

"Chad (Tchad) : 1 commemorati veC24Colombia, :'".' ,"~' overprinted ttBig Three" 520 through 522,c.'?o~ Islands 6 overprinted In f"Iemoryo:f 164,thro1;lgh 169

..,:,!ilii~~a '.":"<i{~:;~§~;i;g!;~;~~~f~IlP05t~.~~"," .·l;~~~}S~:{-,,',EGuador ~4~~ttW~jl*i~s,:'';, 2;/commemoratives,., part of f'amous men set 15'02-1503' ,

~;l~f~~dIS1~nds ->,~~'~~I~~st~;$~~~~~lg~5~~1 and 1503,,' " ':'~,;';'~;::";:f\;'Fed. .of' South Arabia 4,Omnib:q,s19 throttgh 22 ", •.;"~;;,,<:",:~'~,, Fi-ji i 4'Omnihus 215 through 218 " ',.'Fujiera "8biographieal sketcho£'WSC , s li£e 56 through 63Gabon .1c ommeznor-at; ive C38 ,'"

,Gambia -.':3 commemor-at.Lves '212 through 214

,~f'rpart Fed. 'R,epublie i~tr.~~e:~auer,set,just ,issu.e,;"d"":"'""'i'

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FINEST· HOUR 4, (.CHURCHILL CHECKLIST continued

(...rr~braltari~lbert & Ellice Is.

'GreeceHondurasHong KongJamaica .Khor FakkanLiberiaLiberiaMalir~lta1Ylaldive Islandsr-w.uretania~Iaurit i l1SlYliddleCongoMontserratNew Hebrides (British)New Hebrides (French)New ZealandNicaraguaNicaraguaNicaraguaNigerPanamaPanamaParaguay

(~9.raguay~",'itcair:rlIslandsQuatarRas'al Kh'maRhodesia (colony)Rhodesia (republic)Saint HelenaSaint Kitts, Nevis,Ang.Saint LuciaSaint VincentSeychellesSalvadorSharjahSharjahSierra LeoneSierra LeoneSierra Leone" "SW'azd Land - ':.,..l. °1-;/:" .: ;'

Togo.Tristan da CunhaTurks and Caicos Is.Ummal Qiw'nUnited KingdomUnited K~ngdomUnited S~ates

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4 Omnibus 171 through 174.4. Om'" bus 106 through 1.09. '6 co.' emorati ves 568t.hrough 573 .4 ov rprinted In Memoriam' C3.77 through C3804. 0, ibus 225 t.hrough228 .2 c~mmemoratives 252 and 2534- biographical co:rr.memorativas, silver foil4 commemoratives 432 and 423'; C170 and C1711 souvenir sheet, different value, perforated1 co~~emorative C31 .'4coID.'TIemoratives344 through 3476 commemoratives 201 throuF-:h2061 c ommemor-a tive C43 ~.4. omnibus 295 through 2981 commemorative C302 Omnibus 178 through 1814 OIIh'"libU5112 through' 1154 Omnibus 112 through 1151 e ommemor-at fve 3713 pictorials, part of conference set7 biographical sketch7 as above, on special sheet1 commemorative C51 .1 commemorative, part of J.F.K. set1 as above, color change and imperforate2 commemcr-at.Lve s, part of JFK set rvI1363 and lVIt3662 as above, color change and imperforate,4 Omnibus. 56 through 59 . '1 overprint3 biographical sketch M15 through M171 commemorative 2061 as above, overprinted 1tindependence" 2224 Omnibus 184 through 187 . .4 Omnibus 167 through 1704 Omnfbue 201 t.hrough 204.4 Omnibus 241 through 244-4 OIIlnibus·222 through 225 _.2 commemoratives, part. F.D .•R. set 609 andC115

,) overprints on J.F.K. set, gold edges 127 to 129 ....4 biographical sketch, gold .foil 222 through 225 '..1 . over-or-i.nt.ed on flower issue' " '. -' - ."l:as above, with second overprint, "TvlO Leones":2'overprints, W.S.C. on regular issues 302 and 3054. ,Omnibus 119 through 122 . ' " , '-.' ..:,''-5 commemoratives 529 through 532 and C47 ", .4. Omnibus $9 through 92 .'4. Omnibus 146 throUgh 149 '.

10 biographical sketch 59 through oS2 commemoratives420 and 421 .2 as above , with phosphar bars 420 and 421 ',1 commemorative, Karsh photog~aph portrait 1264·

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FINEST HOUR 5"'.--QHURCHIT...L CHECKLIST cant inued

UruguayC ;mezuelatTpper VoltaVirgin Islands of UKYemen (Kingdom)Yemen (Kingdom)Yemen (Kingdom)Yemen (Republic)

2 commemoratives 728 andC2841 commemorative C1921 commemorative C324- Omnibus 163 through' 1661 commemorative 1266 commemor-atrives, ne\"{ designs, '5 c cmmemor-at.Lves , second new designs2 commemoratives

,S~pplementary Questionable issu~s"'{;f:;{ix;:r,1..d~en:Kathiri Seiyun 20 all three designs, Lmper-I's and'A5riaa.n :;':1,8 commemcrat.Lve s. imperf,1 . s ouv ,Bhutan ' ":,:):1:",~imDerforate " '" ~'Burundi ,"';t:;~'J:;comm~morative~imperforate'.C.ameroons, :::,'2 commemoratives imperforate, 1 souvenir sheet

cCha~r (Tchad )1commemorati ve imperforate, 1 souvenir sheetDahomey 1 cormnemorati ve: Lmpez-f'o r-at.e ;;'Dubad, 8 as listed, imperforate and, 2 souvenir sheets'Fujiera 8as listed, Lmper-I'or-at.e and 2 souvenir. sheetsGabon ': 1 commemorative imperforate, 1 souvenir sheetLiberia . 3' commemor-at.Lves imperforate and on sheets '

']'1alb, ',,',,;1 souvenir sheet,.,Mauretania ,.:1 commemorative imperforat.e and, 1 souvenir sheet!llicidle Congo , .• l' souvenir sheet ,~>',; "Nicaragua' " 1. souvenir sheet "'",' .:

C-''rfger", , :\:1 corruuemorative imperforate and 1 souvenir sheet,'uatar' ,"';';':'1'as list,ed imperf, 2' same red ovpt and imperf, 155Ra-sal Kh+ma ',' ';\;3 co.mmemor-at Lves surcharged" 2 souvenir sheetsSharjah " " 30vpts imperf, 1 ss;4 gold imperf, 1ss, 4 same 5U'1'-/",;1';,,;1": ,;~'.charged and imperf,' with 1 souvenir sheetT'6~O ' 5: commemoratives imperforate, 1 souvenir sheetUrnm a1 Qiw'n 10 comrnemorati ves imperforate, 1 3) uvenirsheetYemen (Kingdom) imperfs and souvenir sheet of' each design varietyYemen (Republic). 2 com:nernorativesimperforateand 1 s ouv , sheetEcuador ';', .' --2 commemimpert', t souv.. sheet; same for tete-bechesfi;iJ:~~:,kil~;{,-,X,f·t !!l~~~v~O!;;"~=::ti:~::fi=~,s~~:n!~u!~e:t~~t"....

,,~:iHILL:',A!c!!~.LY;~~:~ECTION~.t~;;:~'~~:'2'•.,'.",~i!i~'t~~\""::~~~,," .'~•••'.."~.,"-"~~e"'had a disconcerting'::way of looking at: me' and eayd.ng'<notih Ing', 'i< He.fi11ed':;r<·':

nie'*~~TitbarpTe~':';;His,pla:yroom contained from one end to the other a plank ta-. ';,hle~.'on trestles,," upon which were thousands ,of lead soldiers arranged £or b~ \:ttle. He organized' war-s, The lead battalions were manoeuvred into action, '::,peas and pebbles committed great, casualties, forts were stormed, " cavalry>"charged, bridges were destoryed--real 'VTater tanks engulfed the advancing e-nemy., Altogether it was a, most impressive show, and played with an' int'e-·rest that was no ordinary child game••.••• Wip..ston became a verfimportantperson in my(e:Jtimatlon.~ ' . ' "':',:~:i(J~:}~;f~i~i~X':,- t~i~/: .'c':." "*. .

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FINEST HOUR ,6 I"

~ETTERS FRO],'\. ]''l:El·mERS

" -Dear ~1r. Langworth:( { I fro interested in the Winston Churchill Unit. ,I've:a very fine 001-

-ding, using White Ace pages and page binders.. I have fourteen volumes sofar, s LngLe s mint and used, blocks of four mint also, most on first day co-vers. Sincerely 1 Ed L. Br-owne #4 Pompano Beach, Florida

11r',,'Browne f s collection is prime material for a long feature in afuture Lssue , May we have more description l!tr~ Browne?--Ed.

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Dear IiII'. Langworth: '-I share your concern about the so-called "black blot" issues hono-

ring Churchill. And I think it particularly curious that, until- the is-suance of the Adenauer sheet by Germany only last week, no ~'lesternEurope-an nation for whom Churchill t s leadership was to mean so much has issued,a stamp in his memory! And then, Germany ',flaS Britain v s enemy in llTorld,War'II! Oe~t Is Guerre! Very truly yours,Stuart C. Hall #7 San Jose, Calif.

A good point. The only other nations in Europe honoring Churchillbesides the U.K. were Gibraltar, with her 4 value 'ommibus' issueand Albania (of all nations) with a 6 value semi-postal issue sho~tly after the war , But the latter were semi-postalsand not notedby Scott's catalogue!--Ed.

C~" - :. ,Dear Dick,This hobby is getting progressively more

ted with collecting,used stamps" Now one really InUand the latest fad, of course, is that they shouldI had thought of using crystal mount or showgard fobut for the rest, ignore the whole business. The nthat I can't see why I must play ball with mounts tof their ~~nufacturerso Best regards, Mrs. Ada Ste

It all star-t have only mint sets,ever be hinged either.

the expensive stampsw hinges peel so well

the financial gainani #5 Non-Talk, Conn.hing, this unit shallefani for sticking toai.rr from f'o'LLowf.ngthedual appr-oachesbo the

unique.--:Ed.

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Despite this age, where "consensus" is theencourage individuality. Trleapplaud :Mrsa Sher guns and hope that all members will refherd in.composing their collections. Indivsubject will help make Churchill collection

BULLETIN ADDRESS1>tr o' Richard M. Langwor-t h is the acting editor of _~""""""""',",""",,,,",,,,is a limit to what he can provide himself. WE NEPlease address~,all correspondence to Mro LangtJl1orth,rt; ,

" G-5, 253 E. Cre:5twQod Drive, Camp Hill, Penn~ylvania 17011 U.S.A!,

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", - .-. . .~.., .T8i llJlMORTALWORDS

(This, we hope, ,-Till be an enduring feature of our Bulletin. We shall at-

}mpt in each issue to print accurate quotes from the speeches' or writingsof Sir vlinston S. Churchill, and his contemporaries. Sir Winston's owncomments will follow a general chronological order.--Ed.

FIRST 11ENORIES

"Whendoes' one first begin to remember? ~fuen do the wav i.ng lights and theshadows of dawm ng consciousness cast their print upon the mind of a child?My earliest metlories are Ireland •••••

'::'-:::~.. " - '- ~':'."

"I have clear and vivid imuressions of some events. I reme~ber my grand-father, the Viceroy, unveiiing the Lord Gough statue in 1878. A great andb Lackrcr-owd, scarlet soldiers on horseback, strings pulling away a br-ownshiny sheet, the old Duke, the formidable grandpapa, talking loudly to thecr owd, I recall even a phrase he used: 'and ~;j.th 0. withering volley, heshattered the enemy's line. f I quite understood that he Vias speaking about.'warr.and fighting and that a 'volley' meant what the black-coated soldiers ••. '•• 0 used to do with loud bangs so often in. the Phoenix Park where I wa s ta-ken, for my morning waLks, This, I think, is my firs.t coherent memory ••••• n

'}iJi!" ij~!j:[ c·~~---w.s.c. My ~arll Life~ 1930 j .•. .•AN "ENDURING PRECOCITY . /~ ~--'~--.-. '. ,.. ~.•.

rr •• '~ •• He may and he may not possess the qualities whf.ch make a great gene-ral ••••• ln any case, they will never be developed for, if they exist, theyare overshadowed by qualities which might make him, almost at will, a greatpopular leader, a great journalist, or the founder of a great advertisingbu,siness ••••• : ...." ,\,:~:":,,.'" ,.' ',"

ff~~l~~\~\;he~'lill become, who ~h~il say? At the rate he gv~s there will hard-ly-be: room for .ham in, Parliament at thirty or in England at forty. It isapace that cannot last, yet already he holds" a vast lead of his contempo-r-aries. ":~1~;~~:~~2~:<' '<>~::~'i:"~' ",,' ',.", r::',::-&~,:·""iff -.:iJ(i;," ;t:"i;.:---i~o~:o~~yD;I!~Sf~iFi~9loungest ~~n ..

AND AN APPP•..6.ISAL..... :

no.:' •• I used tothip_l< he was the naughtiest smaLl, boy in the world."

-:-~---Vera Moor-e, W.S.C. 's' dancing teacher, , 't"1henhe was eight years of age, 1882

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