(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)
Scotland Yard’s Detective Inspector Walter Thompson, Churchill’s principal bodyguard throughout WW II, described Churchill’s reactions to the news first, of Mussolini’s death, and then, Hitler’s:
Winston had just arrived at Chequers for the weekend, and as he entered the Great Hall he was informed of Mussolini’s death. He was elated and with much emphasis he said: “Ah, the bloody beast is dead.”____________________________________________________
Three days later he received the news of Hitler’s death, but on this occasion he went to a window and looked our, remaining there for some time without any remark. …
In view of some doubt existing in people’s minds as to whether or not Hitler was dead, I asked him if he thought Hitler had committed suicide. Quietly he replied: “That is the way I should have expected him to have died. That is what I should have done under the same circumstances.”
Tom Hickman, Churchill’s Bodyguard: The Authorized Biography of Walter H. Thompson. (p. 232)
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