Footnotes

A FINE PHOTOGRAPH OF WINSTON CHURCHILL, TOGETHER WITH TWO OF HIS CIGARS (with original Habanos Por Larrañaga bands, each 140mm. long, some drying and flaking). The photograph and cigars were given by Churchill to Inspector Len Trevallion of the Metropolitan Police, a former Blenheim pilot and veteran of the North African and Italian campaigns. With the photograph is a typed letter signed by Churchill's last secretary, Anthony Montague Brown, written from Chartwell on 22 August 1963: "Sir Winston Churchill has heard that you are retiring. He has asked me to convey to you his warm thanks for all the assistance you have given him during your tenure at Kensington, and his very good wishes for the future. Sir Winston hopes you will accept the enclosed photograph which he has signed for you".

In his autobiography, Mr Trevallion describes his visits to Churchill: 'My work brought me into contact with one of the best-loved men in the country – Sir Winston Churchill. He lived at 28 Hyde Park Gate, and through the closing years of his life, when he was rather frail, I called on him regularly. I would sit on the side of his bed, and we chatted about ordinary mundane matters. He would ask me to get his cigars from the cupboard – not the large ones which I called his ceremonial ones, but the smaller ones he smoked at home – and I would light one for him. He always offered me one, but I didn't smoke them. The only time we digressed from domestic matters was once when I was wearing my medal ribbons and he said "I see you were in Italy". I told of my time in the RAF, and that at one time we had thought the next move would have to be up through the Balkans. He replied to the effect that "one must always have an alternative plan in case the first should not succeed"... Those memories of chatting to him, usually about domestic matters, and never about politics, are among those I treasure most. Some time later, as I was preparing for retirement, I was thrilled to receive an autographed photo of Sir Winston, with a letter from his secretary, Anthony Montague Brown... This letter, written just seventeen months before Churchill's death, has become one of my most treasured possessions. It shows a thoughtfulness and kindness that were truly remarkable' (Policeman, Pilot and Guardian Angel, 2008).