John Gilbert Winant standing next to Winston Churchill
It is so rare lately that I can find time to read given the many demands on my time. And yet rarer is it that I find a book that is so enjoyable and well written as is Lynne Olson's Citizens of London. The book chronicles in great detail and many anecdotes the special relation ship that 3 Americans living in London-- John Gilbert Winant, Edward Murrow and Averell Harriman -shared with Churchill and Great Britain during England's living under the reign of terror of Hitler's bombing of London, especially during our country's declared neutrality.
After teaching popular history courses at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, Winant served his state in the House of Representaives.
In 1917, he joined the United States Army Air Service and served his country as pilot commanding the 8th Aero Squadron in France.
Upon returning from war, he was elected to the state senate and twice served as Governor of New Hampshire; he was subsequently tapped by Roosevelt to head the Social Security Board and then was elected to the International Labor Office in Geneva Switzerland.
Winant, a little known figure at the time was appointed by FDR as ambassador to England in March, 1941 to replace Joseph Kennedy who believed that there was no way Britain could survive a Nazi takeover (he famously said "England is lost" as he made his exit). When the bombing raids would start, he would flee London to the countryside.
On his arrival in Bristol, England he immediately endeared himself to the British people by declaring that there was "no other place I'd rather be than in England now." He quickly made friends with King George VI and Winston Churchill. Unlike Harriman who lived in the luxurious Dorchester Hotel with its posh underground shelters, 5 star European cuisine and live orchestral music, Winant chose to live with minimal amenities at 3 Grosvernor Square where, to the consternation of the chambermaids, he subsisted on civilian wartime rations.
What is most poignant in Olson's fine reportage is that during nightime Nazi war raids, Winant would wander the streets and stop ordinary London citizins and ask them what he could do to help them.
This memorable US citizen was one of two to be made an honorary member of the Order of Merit--the other was General Dwight Eisenhower.
Follow this link to see Lynn Olson author of Citizens of London interviewed on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show
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1 comment:
Your information about J G Winant is quite correct, however the picture you have posted is of Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies with Sir Winston Churchill, not John Gilbert Winant.
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