WINSTON PREPARING FOR THE ARMY
Winston wrote to his mother that the army class was a bore. He turned to books and became a keen reader, with great interest in history.
But Robert Somervell, who taught Winston English, would stand him in very good stead later in life when he entered politics, as he would say, that skill depended on the majestic command of the English language, as he would write, "the essential structure of the ordinary British sentence -- which is a noble thing."
The everyday grind of the Army class taxed him. It infringed on the subjects he found most interesting, such as history and English. He also hated one of the mandatory subjects -- German -- never able to get his tongue around it. He had trouble as it was with the English "s" sound.
Winston was now to face the preliminary Army exam. He faced it with some dread, but passed in all subjects. He turned 16 ten days before the Army exam.
Winston was now at the age when "girls" interested him, and also smoking. His mother bribed him to stop smoking with the promise of a gun and pony. He gave it up for 6 months.
He and some other boys from Harrow that year were walking by a derelict factory, with some of the windows out, they finished the job. For his part in the smashing he got a caning.
On money matters his parents were not frugal at all, and hence problems with money and his mother continued for years to come.
At the age of 17 he wrote a very pointed letter to his mother, a three page letter, about money problems they and him had. His mother only read the first page, and sent it back to him, telling him its style did not please her. Winston replied, "I can perceive a reason for your not reading it.... I expect you were too busy with your parties and arrangements for Christmas. I comfort myself by this."
PARENT NEGLECT
Throughout Winston's childhood, Jennie his mother, had often been too preoccupied with traveling, visiting or receiving friends, arranging and attending parties to have much time for her children. Both Winston and Jack his brother were regularly sent to relatives for the holidays because they were in the way at home. Randolph his father paid little more attention to his sons that his wife did.
In the spring of 1892 when Winston was competing in a Fencing Championship, his parents went to other fancies. Winston won the competition but the edge was taken off because his parents had decided not to be there, and so see him win.
That summer, Winston prepared to take the entrance exam for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He worked 10 hours a day but still failed the exam, falling 1300 marks short of the standard requirements. Jennie was furious but so made plans for him to enter a business firm...among such people as his parents, a trade was the last resort. It seemed he would be going in that direction as he failed the exam again when he retook it. Little comfort was taken in only failing this time by 351 marks.
FEAR OF AN EARLY DEATH
IN NOVEMBER 1892 Winston's uncle died suddenly at age 48. Winston noticed a disturbing pattern in the family. Life it seemed was all too short for Churchills.
Winston's father had three brother that died in infancy, now a fourth was gone in his 40s. Winston's brother Jack was constantly plagued with illness. All this convinced Winston he would also die young, and be denied the destiny he thought was his and that lay before him. This fear would plague him for many years. When he reached 40 he remarked, "Is it 40 and finished?" Twenty years earlier he was consumed with qualifying for Sandhurst and the first half of 1893 was devoted to that task. At his third attempt in late July 1893 he passed the examination with 6309 marks, not enough to qualify for the infantry, but good enough to place him 4th in the list of cavalry students. He was delighted; he told his mother, "If I had failed, that would have been the end of all my chances, as it is my fate is in my own hands and I have a fresh start."
CHURCHILL ON HIS SCHOOL DAYS:
"I was on thew whole considerably discouraged by my school days. Except in fencing, in which I won the Public School championship, I have achieved no distinction. All my contemporaries and even younger boys seemed in every way better adapted to the conditions of our little world. They were far better both at the games and lessons. It is not pleasant to feel oneself completely outclassed and left behind at the very beginning of the race."
..........
I can understand Winston's thought, as they were mine, at least in academics for the first number of years in school; but I was good at sports, and could run like the wind in the spirit races.
SO IT IS WRITTEN, "BEFORE HONOR COMES HUMILITY." THERE WAS MUCH HUMBLENESS WINSTON CHURCHILL HAD TO ENDURE IN LIFE, BEFORE HE BECAME GREATLY HONORED AS THE MAN OF THE CENTURY, TO INSPIRE AND LEAD THE BRITISH AND ITS COMMONWEALTH AGAINST THE BARBARIC AND EVIL ADOLPH HILTER AND HIS GERMAN CLONES.
AND AS WE NOW KNOW HE LIVED A LONG LIFE.....91 YEARS.
To be continued
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