Richard Langworth responds to my post “The limits of Churchill’s magnanimity.” Mr. Langworth writes:
Many thanks to Scott Johnson for the kind reference on May 19th. You may like to note that “embalm, cremate and bury” was not said specifically about Baldwin, and the actual words were:
As the man whose mother-in-law had died in Brazil replied, when asked how the remains should be disposed of, “Embalm, cremate and bury. Take no risks!”
Churchill, “Britain’s Deficiencies in Aircraft Manufacture,” Daily Telegraph, London, 28 April 1938. Rep. in Churchill, Step By Step (London: Butterworth, 1939), 226.
John Reith of the BBC was indeed an admirer of Hitler–for an embarrassingly long time. In the end like most of them he came round, and Churchill was magnamimous toward him, too. See “Great contemporaries: Reith of the BBC.”
Best wishes
Richard M. Langworth
Editor, The Churchill Centre
www.winstonchurchill.org
PO Box 740, Moultonborough NH 03229
Thanks to Mr. Langworth for his correction and amplification.
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