SECRETS OF WINNIE
WINSTON Churchill’s shiny black shoes are coated in concrete as he inspects vital repairs to the nerve centre where he will literally cement his place in history.
It is 1940 and Churchill, Britain’s newly-appointed Prime Minister, is in the War Rooms below Whitehall.
From this bunker he will steer us to victory against Germany, raising a V for Victory sign – while also flashing two fingers at Adolf Hitler.
Churchill declares: “This is a room from which I will direct the war.”
And he does... after a “love-hate relationship” with the bunker from which key military decisions are taken throughout World War Two.
His chair in the Cabinet Room will reveal scratches gouged by an anxious politician with the fate of the country resting in his hands.
Secret calls to American President Roosevelt will be made here and inspirational radio broadcasts to the nation recorded.
And the concrete on his shoes? From reinforcements ordered by Churchill when he feared the bunker was not sufficiently bomb proof.
Author Jonathan Asbury lifts the lid on life in the bunker in a new book, Secrets of Churchill’s War Rooms.
Th e Ma p Room, where officers gathered intelligence and a chalk board recorded casualty numbers, was the hub of operations. Th e Cabinet Room is where Churchill and top brass held vital pow-wows.
Asbury says: “The heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force would be face-to-face with Churchill and they would battle it out between them as to what happened.
“It was where every major decision was made during bombing raids. The Map Room kept working 24/7 for the whole of the war.”
But Churchill – later to become Sir Winston – hated being below ground. And while keen on having an afternoon nap, he slept in his sparsely decorated bedroom – with a map fixed to the wall above his head – a mere handful of nights.
Asbury goes on: “Churchill had a love-hate relationship with the War Rooms. He liked being able to show them off to visiting generals. He’d like nothing more than showing the Map Room to them, which really showed
“However, when there was a bombing raid he’d much rather climb up on to the roof, which he frequently did, and watch the raid himself.”
The author delved into the Imperial War Museums’ archives during his research, revealing tantalising snippets from a world known to few.
He tells how Churchill would announce at short notice that he