Winston, Belgian-baiter
From Lord Hartwell Sir: Frank Johnson's masterly appreciation (Shared opinion, 17 July) of the lessons of military history regarding the organisation of an alliance to fight a future war in cen- tral Europe included a 'suspicion' that some Europhiles advocated a 'European army'. This army would consist not of sepa- rate national contingents but of a single European army under control of Brussels.
He might have added that there are indeed such people and that some of them advance the support of Sir Winston Churchill for such a zany idea. If refutation were required, I am in the position to provide it.
The occasion was a small party in the pri- vate rooms of Downing Street on the day of the 1954 Budget, after which he was to retire. My wife, daughter of his best friend F.E. Smith, and I had been asked to make up numbers to entertain a young Belgian who had presumably been given an intro- duction to the great man.
The lunch started with Churchill making conversation (a thing he normally never did) and showing off a new hearing aid he had been given by a former Cabinet col- league, Lord Chandos, now head of the English Electric Company. He placed on the table a large black object like a light meter. He explained that a wire ran up his sleeve ending in a switch on his braces.
The Belgian, however, was keen to talk about serious subjects and tried to enlist Churchill's support for a European army. 'No, no,' said Churchill, unwilling to waste adrenalin, 'the French march to the Mar- seillaise, the British march to Roll out the Barrel, the Belgians march to. . . He couldn't think of any song the Belgians marched to, and I knew that he had never forgiven the Belgians for surrendering in 1940. The Belgian was not to be silenced but Churchill then leant towards him with his bulldog look, spitting out: 'I'm off now.'
The Belgian blushed scarlet until Churchill received a furious look from Lady Churchill. He leant forward again with what he imagined to be a charming smile and said 'And now I'm on again.'
My wife sought to change the subject, asking Churchill, as all the newspapers including the Evenings were on strike, whether he could not tell us what would be in the Budget. My wife was not easily put out and even the Belgian smiled when Churchill started to sing a little ditty to himself; 'I won–der what they'll have in the b u d–g e t.'
On this happy note the party broke up. He had convinced us he was against a European army and breaches of national security.
Michael Hartwell
36 Broadway, London SW1
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