| 1st Lord of the Admiralty Winston S. Churchill (November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965) arrives at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (March 18, 1869 – November 9, 1940). Churchill was remarkably consistent in his attire. He occasionally substituted a white or tan cane, and striped pants. But throughout archival photos he wears business suits like the 1 in this view. Churchill was a “backbencher” in Parliament in the 1920s and 1930s, excluded from cabinet administration positions. Chamberlain helped to rehabilitate Churchill’s reputation after the Gallipoli disaster and brought him back into his administration at 1st Lord of the Admiralty when the war started. Yet their relationship remained complicated; Churchill had opposed appeasement and counseled Chamberlain against signing the 1938 Munich protocols dismembering Czechoslovakia. Increasingly seen as a fighting politician, the Labour government called for a national coalition the day before the Nazis invaded France and refused to serve with Chamberlain after the fall of Norway, which actually originally stemmed from Churchill’s operational plan. Churchill was called before the King to form a war cabinet for the duration of the conflict. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0380.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.02 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2172 x 5129 |
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| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 1, 1939 |
| Location | |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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