The Churchill Series - July 23, 2007

(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

In last Friday's post I said I'd post further today concerning Churchill's attitude - really hatred - toward the Bolsheviks and Communists.

In August 1929 Churchill sailed to Canada along with his brother and their two sons. Also on board was Leopold (Leo) Amery.

Churchill and Amery were schoolmates at Harrow and had served together in Parliament. In the 30s they were part of the small group of Commons members who opposed the government's policy of attempting to appease Hitler. During WW II Amery served in Churchill's Cabinet.

On the ocean crossing the two got to talking about the existence of God. As recorded by Amery in his diary, Churchill told him he believed in God and that one reason for his belief "was the existence of Lenin and Trotsky, for whom a hell was needed."
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Historian Martin Gilbert provides background for this post and Amery's diary quote in In Search of Churchill: A Historian's Journey (John Wiley & Sons, 1994. (p. 227)