The Churchill Series - Jan. 4, 2008

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

Here's an amusing anecdote found in the introduction to Martin Gilbert's latest book, Churchill and America(Free Press, 2005):

Churchill was proud of his American ancestry. During a discussion at the Truman White House in 1952, to standardize the type of rifle to be used by the two countries' armies, the following exchange took place between Churchill and the senior British officer present:

Field Marshall Slim: "Well, I suppose we could experiment with a bastard rifle, party American, partly British."

Churchill: "Kindly moderate your language, Field Marshall. It may be recalled that I am myself partly British, partly American."

If any of you reading this are yourselves partly British, partly American be assured you’re referred to at JinC respectfully as "series readers."

I wish all series readers a wonderful first weekend of 2008.

Best,

John