Did the Tube defy Hitler?
QUESTION
There is a scene in Darkest Hour when Churchill uses the Underground and, recognised by fellow passengers, talks to them to gauge their opinions as to whether the country should sue for peace with Germany or fight on. Did this happen or is it poetic licence? THE scene is a fabrication. Lord Moran was Churchill’s personal doctor from May 1940 to his death in 1965. He quotes Churchill’s wife Clementine as saying in 1945, ‘You probably don’t realise, Charles, that he knows nothing of the life of ordinary people. He’s never been in a bus, and only once on the Underground. That was during the General Strike [in 1926] when I deposited him at South Kensington. He went round and round, not knowing where to get out, and had to be rescued eventually.’
Andrew Golds, London E4. JOE Wright’s Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman as the wartime PM, tells the story of the intense period between May 9 and June 4, 1940, when Winston Churchill seized political power and rallied the country to the anti-Nazi cause.
The film has won critical praise but is, to some, let down by this highly contrived scene. Following the King’s advice ‘to let his people lead him’, Churchill goes to St James’s Park station and asks a selection of salt-of-the-earth Londoners whether he should sue for peace with Hitler. To a man they declare that they’re ready to fight, whether in Piccadilly or Trafalgar Square (Churchill likes the sound of ‘The Battle of Trafalgar Square’.)
Moved by the reaction of the people, Churchill begins quoting Thomas Babington Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome: ‘To every man upon this earth / Death cometh soon or late. / And how can man die better / Than facing fearful odds ...’ A young black man cuts in and finishes the quote: ‘For the ashes of his fathers / And the temples of his gods.’
Wright’s use of the Lays is historically correct. Macaulay’s ballads of ancient Rome were standard reading in British public schools for more than a century. Churchill memorised all 70 stanzas while at Harrow to inspire himself to develop courage, and would recite the poem throughout his life.
However, it is well known that he never took public transport. Further, it is highly unlikely he would have found such a bullish crowd. In May 1940 most Britons were very fearful, and understandably so, of carrying on the war. It had not been that long ago that Neville Chamberlain was met by a rapturous crowd when he returned from Munich having signed his now notorious non-aggression pact with Germany, declaring ‘peace for our time’.
The country was still scarred by the carnage of the trenches of World War I. It was only after the unexpected deliverance at Dunkirk and the subsequent Battle of Britain that the British rallied behind Churchill. The scene undersells Churchill. His strength was that he did not tell the public what they wanted to hear; he used the power of his meticulously crafted speeches to rally parliament and the people behind him.
Finally, there is the time-tabling issue. Only a madman would consider travelling from Downing Street via St James’s Park station to get to Westminster.
Justin Hinds, Malvern, Worcs.
QUESTION
The old photographic process was the world’s largest user of silver. Now we’ve gone digital, what effect has this had on the silver trade? THE introduction of the Kodak camera in 1888 began a centurylong boom in the demand for silver. However, it has in the main been market forces and speculation rather than demand that has driven the price of the commodity.
Traditional film photography relied on the light sensitivity of silver halide crystals present in film. When exposed to light, they change to record a latent image that can be developed into a photograph. By the late Nineties the use of traditional film was in sharp decline due to digital cameras, and this led to the bankruptcy of Kodak in 2012.
Ironically, Kodak actually invented the first digital camera in 1975. However, it deliberately held back the technology for fear of hurting its film business.
At the turn of the millennium the photographic market was to hit its peak of silver production. Total global consumption was said to have been more than 267,000,000 ounces of silver per annum. In 2003, photographic consumption worldwide represented roughly a little over 32% of total demand. Now it is down to just 9%.
This has not resulted in a terminal decline in the demand for silver. Demand has been supplanted by a host of new technologies, in particular solar panels, but also cell phones and computers, and demand is still running at around 90% of that in 2003.
What has really driven the silver price is market speculation. At the height of photographic production, it was $5 dollars per ounce. Following the financial uncertainty in 2011 silver was trading at record highs, reaching $49.80 per ounce at one stage. It then plunged in 2013 to $11 dollars, rising to around $17 today. Iain Dunn, Liverpool.