London's Strangest by Iain Spragg

Author:Iain Spragg
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910232408
Publisher: Pavilion Books
Published: 2015-02-19T16:00:00+00:00

WINSTON’S FINAL FAREWELL

1965

It was in 2002 that the BBC’s 100 Greatest Britons programme anointed Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill as the nation’s most cherished, most significant and most influential figure after a nationwide poll that saw the former prime minister fend off challenges from the likes of William Shakespeare, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

It was, in truth, no great surprise. Defeating Hitler and the Nazis, successfully defending European democracy and enjoying the odd drink or five go a long way to endearing a chap to an otherwise fickle British public.

Churchill joined the choir invisible in 1965. Surprisingly for a man famed for his dubious diet and seemingly incessant imbibing, he lived to the ripe old age of 90 but when news of his death broke, the country went into mourning and planning for a state funeral befitting a national hero began in earnest. It was an event that would rewrite the funereal record books and in which the Thames would play a central role.

By decree of Queen Elizabeth II, Winston’s body lay in state in Westminster Hall for three days. Following that his lead-lined coffin was transferred to a boat called the Havengore and on 30 January the vessel made its solemn journey along the Thames from Tower Pier to Festival Pier ahead of the funeral service at St Paul’s.

After business was concluded in the cathedral the coffin was taken to Waterloo Station, respectfully loaded onto a specially painted carriage and carried by rail to Hanborough Station near Oxford and finally to the graveyard of St Martin’s Church in Bladon, where, as per his wishes, Churchill was buried in the family plot.

Thousands lined the side of the tracks to pay their last respects as the train made its journey from the capital to Oxfordshire but it was the sheer scale of the day’s sad events that makes it noteworthy; for a man who made such a profound impression on the country via the radio during the Second World War, it was ironic that Winston’s funeral was the television event of the era.

An estimated 350 million people worldwide (or one in ten of the global population) watched as the Havengore carried the coffin along the Thames. In Europe only Ireland declined to broadcast live coverage of the funeral and 25 million Britons unable to attend the event in person are believed to have tuned in to witness Winston’s farewell. It was a staggering reflection of the man’s enduring legacy in the UK and beyond, and the largest state funeral the world had seen at that time.

An interesting footnote to the story is the fate of the Havengore. Built in the 1950s by Tough’s Boatyard in Teddington, the same firm Churchill commissioned to make boats used in the Dunkirk evacuation during the war, the 87-foot (26.5-m) barge is still in operation today after being restored in the 1990s.

It was part of the 40th-anniversary procession on the Thames to mark Churchill’s death in 2005, as well as the pageant held to mark the 200th

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