Honor & Damnation

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"Do Your Duty." But next day, Sir Winston appeared in Commons in a much different mood. Laborite Emanuel Shinwell apologized for bringing up unpleasant subjects so soon ("Quite right. Do your duty," said Churchill), but Shinwell wanted details of the telegram Churchill had declared he sent to Field Marshal Montgomery in 1945 ordering Monty to stack surrendered German arms so that German troops might use them if necessary against the advancing Russians. Churchill was serious, pale and penitent. Shaking his head remorsefully, he confessed that when he made the statement (TIME, Dec. 6), he was "under the rooted impression" that the telegram had been published in his war memoirs. As for the text: "Indeed, I should be very glad to give that to the House—when I find it . . . Indeed, it may be . . . that it was never sent at all. At any rate, it has not been traced in the official records though a search of the utmost extent has been made." Consequently, said Churchill, "I express my regrets to the House for what I said last week." But he refused to apologize for his intent. "Certainly, it was in my mind. I am not making any concealment of that."

"Stupid Blunder." Attlee seemed content to accept this apology. But more vociferous Labor voices were not: they were ready to turn the previous day's hail into a farewell. "An unbelievably stupid blunder," cried the Laborite Daily Herald. "It leaves Sir Winston no leg to stand on as a negotiator for peace." Other Opposition papers talked of Churchill's "failing powers." At week's end the attack took on real political weight. Ex-Foreign Secretary Herbert Morrison, a moderate who ranks second only to Attlee in the Labor hierarchy, declared bluntly: "If the faux pas was due to a lapse of memory, it is for the Prime Minister himself to consider whether the public interest will be served by his continuing to carry the burdens of his high office."

Other Laborites were disgusted by the demands for Churchill's head. If the Socialists want to get rid of Churchill, said Labor Peer Viscount Stansgate, "I think it's time some cleaner way was found."

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