Amazing Leaders by Katerina Mestheneou

Author:Katerina Mestheneou [Mestheneou, Katerina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007557042
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2014-04-17T00:00:00+00:00

Winston Churchill

1874–1965

the Prime Minister who led Britain to victory in the Second World War

I had many roles in life. Some were political, some were military. I had many friends and even more enemies, but I am best remembered as being the cigar-smoking Prime Minister who led Britain to victory in the Second World War.

I was born two months early on 30th November 1874, at my parents’ home, Blenheim Palace, near Oxford in England. My father, Sir Randolph, came from an aristocratic family, the Dukes of Marlborough, and it was a family tradition for the men to become officers in the British army. My full name was Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, but like my father, I used the surname Churchill in my professional life. My mother, whose name was Jennie, was born in the USA and was the beautiful daughter of a millionaire. When I was between the ages of 2 and 6, we lived in Dublin in Ireland because of my father’s job.

I didn’t see very much of my parents – this was not pleasant, but not uncommon either in aristocratic families. My nanny, Elizabeth Everest, was far closer to me than my family and I loved her as if she were my mother. I stayed in touch with her until she died in 1895, when I was 21 years old. I was educated at home by a governess until I was sent to boarding school at the age of 8. I felt unloved by my parents who did not come to visit me, despite the fact that I wrote to them and asked them to. Even in the holidays I didn’t see much of them. Perhaps as a result, I developed speech problems, a lisp and a stutter. I survived school but I can’t say that I enjoyed it or that I was a good pupil. School seemed so dull compared to what was happening in the world. I saw the arrival of electricity, and the telephone, which stopped faraway places from being so far away. The most important lesson I learnt at school was the ability to stand up for myself, something that was of great use to me all my life.

In 1883, I left school and had to face the outside world. Coming from a military family, I felt that I should also serve my country, so I applied to the Royal Military College, at Sandhurst. I passed the entry exams on my third attempt and enrolled in the Cavalry – the group of soldiers in the army that ride horses. In 1895, after two years of hard training, I became an officer. It was a great achievement and one which even my parents recognized. The pay, however, was rather low and I was not able to afford the kind of lifestyle I was used to when my family had been supporting me. The annual salary was £300 and I estimated that I needed at least another £500 in order to live as well as the officers around me did.

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