A SUCCESSFUL TRIP COMPLETED - An original press photograph of British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill on 7 February 1943, being greeted by his wife, eldest daughter, and first grandson upon his arrival back in Britain following his Casablanca Conference with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
London: International News Photo, 7 February 1943. Photograph. This original Second World War press photograph captures British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, with his wife, eldest daughter, and first grandson, on 7 February 1943, upon his arrival back in Britain following his Casablanca Conference with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The composition of the image is terrific, Churchill in the center, in military uniform, cigar in his mouth, clearly weary but with a hint of a smile as he turns to his left to regard his daughter, Diana, and she him. Below his right arm is his first grandson, Julian, unabashedly beaming at the camera as Clementine, to Churchill’s right, looks down at him.
The image, printed on an 8.5 x 6.625 piece of glossy photo paper, approaches very good condition, clear and unfaded, the paper complete, though with minor superficial blemishes. Black ink notation at Julian’s feet reads “19 965 17”. The verso of the photograph features the copyright ink stamp of “INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO, Inc.” mostly obscured by the original printed caption. Below the heading “KY965417 – WATCH YOUR CREDIT.. INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO SLUG.. (CHURCHILL GRP)” the image is titled “A SUCCESSFUL TRIP COMPLETED”. The caption reads, in full: “ENGLAND……. PUFFING AWAY ON HIS CHARACTERISTIC CIGAR, PRIME MINISTER WINSTON CHURCHILL POSES WITH MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY UPON HIS ARRIVAL BACK IN BRITAIN FOLLOWING HIS TRIP TO CASABLANCA, WHERE HE CONFERRED WITH PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT; TURKEY, WHERE HE NEGOTIATED A PACT; TRIPOLI, WHERE HE VIEWED ILDUCE’S FALLEN EMPIRE AND CAIRO, WHERE HE WAS RECEIVED TRIUMPHANTLY. WITH HIM ARE MRS. CHURCHILL (LEFT), A DAUGHTER, MRS. DUNCAN SANDYS AND MASTER JULIAN SANDYS, HIS GRANDSON. (B-2-20-43) – 3A YEM”. The photograph is protected within a clear, removable, rigid sleeve.
From 14-24 January 1943, two months after the Anglo-American landings in French North Africa, Roosevelt and Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco, to plan Allied military strategy. Stalin was invited but declined to attend allegedly due to the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad. The Conference determined that invasion of Sicily would follow North Africa, addressed force deployments and lines of attack in the Far East, and agreed on concentrated bombing of Germany. Perhaps most important, Roosevelt and Churchill resolved to demand “unconditional surrender” from Germany, Italy, and Japan as the necessary precursor to postwar peace – a policy that aroused criticism and controversy both during and after the war.
Churchill did not return immediately to Britain after the Conference. He first went to Marrakech with Roosevelt, then traveled to Cairo, met Turkish President nönü at Adana, and stopped in Cyprus, Tripoli (where he reviewed the Eighth Army), and Algiers before flying back to England.
Churchill had been away from England for nearly four weeks. As he was preparing to leave Algiers on the night of 5 February 1943, his plane was delayed by engine trouble. On the following morning, Clementine wrote: “Thank god engine trouble discovered before you started I shall come to station to meet you. Please let me get into train before you come out. I like to kiss my Bull-finch privately & not be photographed doing it!” Ostensibly, that wish was accommodated just before this image was captured.
Shortly after midnight in the early hours of Sunday, 7 February, Churchill’s Liberator flew from Algiers to Lyneham, a flight of eight and a half hours. At one o’clock he reached London. His family were not the only ones awaiting him. “At Paddington were thirteen Ministers, including Attlee, Eden and Bevin. Later that same day, “Churchill presided over his first War Cabinet in four weeks, giving an account of his journey and impressions.”
Reference: Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, Vol. VII. Item #009024
Price: $275.00