![]() By March 1958, protocols had even been drawn up which were to be followed by various Government departments in the event of Churchill’s death, and by 1963, an official committee was formed with the Duke of Norfolk as its chairman. ![]() A letter from David Stephens, a civil servant at No 10, reported a conversation with Sir Michael Adeane, the Queen’s Private Secretary, in which they discussed consulting Lady Churchill. Harold Macmillan, then prime minister, took a serious interest in the funeral planning and even commissioned research into the state funerals of Nelson, Pitt the Younger, Wellington, and Gladstone. ![]() The Churchill papers illustrate that by January 1958 planning for the funeral was well under way. Though he made a remarkable and surprising recovery, the need to develop a plan was clearly highlighted to those around Churchill, including the Queen, who let it be known that when the final moment came, he should be commemorated “on a scale befitting his position in history”. The planning for Churchill’s funeral really began in 1953, during his second term as prime minister, when he suffered a stroke. There were even instructions for how the music should be directed, with pipers beginning to play and fading out after exactly two minutes and 45 seconds. The instructions concerning Churchill’s coffin being placed on the Havengore and taken along the Thames detail every aspect of the journey, including allowing two minutes and 35 seconds for gun salutes. ![]() The complexities of funeral planning were compounded by the fact that the itinerary was timed to the second, including the planes flying overhead. Margaret’s Church, where he got married to Clementine Hozier in 1908, and the Houses of Parliament, where Churchill’s oratory echoed for the better part of a century. The procession was planned so that it passed by major locations which played a role in Churchill’s life. The funeral involved more than 1,000 people, from the various branches of the military and the police to local authorities, all playing key roles. The man responsible for the funeral’s organisation, the Duke of Norfolk, Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, had an enormous task in making sure the elements came together on the day. It took a full committee with military-style planning to implement what became known as “Operation Hope Not". The logistics of this were mind-boggling. Nine military bands played, and the procession included troops from 18 military units, not forgetting to mention a flight of fighter jets. 350 million people across the globe watched on television. Representatives of more than 110 nations were in attendance and crowds estimated at over a million lined the path of the funeral procession. 'Operation Hope Not' had been meticulously considered ever since the great wartime leader suffered a stroke in 1953. Also, there are some chronological events from the day. Unusually, the Queen attended the funeral because Churchill was the first commoner since William Gladstone to lie-in-State.īelow are excerpts taken, both from the era of his funeral (before, on the day and following days) and from the 50 th anniversary of his funeral – 2015. ![]() One of the largest assemblages of statesmen in the world was gathered for the service. By decree of the Queen, his body lay in state in Westminster Hall for three days and a state funeral service was held at St Paul's Cathedral on 30 January 1965. The funeral was the largest state funeral in world history up to that time. While there are still people living who were inspired by his speeches, knew him, worked with him, just shook his hand, queued for hours in the freezing cold to pay their last respects, or simply loved him, he cannot be allowed to rest on a dusty bookshelf. Now, however, there is a new generation, to whom Churchill is only a name in the pages of history, like Nelson and Wellington, Napoleon and Julius Caesar. The generation of war babies, to which I belong, remembers his funeral. Many of you, many years ago, will have watched Sir Winston’s State funeral on TV some of you will be too young to have watched, but may have read or been told about it a few of us, still alive today, even took part in that procession in London !īut how many will remember that on Tuesday, 30th January 2018 will be the 53rd anniversary of this momentous occasion ?Īnyone who lived through the Second World War remembers Winston Churchill. ![]()
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