Winston Churchill

Posted on by Thor

This statue of  Winston Churchill by Jean Cardot was inaugurated in the grounds of the Petit Palais on the Avenue Winston Churchill in Paris France. The 10 foot high statue was funded by 3,000 donations totaling the equivalent of £250,000. It is based on a photograph of Churchill marching with De Gaulle down the Champs-Élysées on November 11, 1944. This one of the few statues of a foreigner in Paris.

Winston Churchill made several high-profile visits to the Western Front to witness the final Allied push into Germany. Key events included the Yalta Conference in February 1945, crossing the Rhine River with Montgomery on March 25, 1945, inspecting the Siegfried Line, and touring the ruined city of Berlin Germany in July 1945. He attended the start of the Potsdam Conference in July. He also toured the ruins of Berlin and Hitler’s bunker in July before losing the general election. These visits were designed to sculpt the post war world, boost morale, show defiance, and directly observe the collapse of the Nazi regime.

Churchill led Britain to victory in Europe in May 1945 but was stunningly removed from office months later. Despite high personal popularity, voters favored the Labour Party’s platform for social reform, resulting in his resignation on July 26, 1945, after a landslide election defeat. Churchill called the transition from war time leader to opposition leader an “anticlimax”. After Winston Churchill’s Conservative Party suffered a landslide defeat in the July 1945 general election, King George VI offered  him the Order of the Garter, the highest honor of knighthood in the King’s honor’s system. Churchill declined the honor, famously remarking that he could not accept it because the British people had just given him “the order of the boot”.

Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin gathered in Potsdam, near the heavily bombed Berlin, to discuss the end of the war in the Pacific and the fate of the postwar world. After nine meetings over eight days, and with another week of the conference remaining, Churchill had to return to London for the results of the general election. Millions of British servicemen were casting their ballots from overseas. Churchill’s personal physician, left most of Churchill’s baggage behind in anticipation of a swift return. The opposing Labor party won the election in a sweeping victory. To add insult to injury, a large majority of the service vote went for Labour, deserting the man who had led them for five years and sung their praises in historic speeches. Churchill did not return to Potsdam. He had led Britain through its darkest hours and achieved final victory only to be booted from office.

Leaving Montgomery, Alabama

Posted on by Thor

While in Montgomery, Alabama, Pam and I came across a women’s’ march demonstration that ended at the capitol steps. There were a few rainbow flags. Tents had been set up on the capital steps and speeches and chanting resonated from there.  There was one hateful counter protester. He had a loud voice and tried to shout over the loud speakers. This counter protester made it clear that Montgomery still has deep roots of hate. He wanted to shout about hell and damnation rather than love and acceptance.

On the second day in Montgomery, Pam and I were looking for something to do. The few museums that were open wouldn’t open until after noon. We switched our attention to breakfast. We settled on a place called Goat Haus Biergarten. The building was old with chipping paint on the front porch. It would have made a great sketch but I figured we would be in and out pretty fast. Service however was insanely slow. Half of Pam’s dish was inedible.

I have a horrible sense of smell, but as we sat outside having breakfast, I started to notice a sulfur smell that might have been the smell of a paper production plant. We considered going to the Montgomery Art Museum, but would only have an hour to look around before rushing off to the airport, so instead we went straight to the airport and hung out there until our flight boarded.

There are only 6 gates at the Montgomery airport and the airplanes are little puddle jumpers. I focused my attention on the aviation fuel trucks parked across the way. It was overcast and cold. I wore at least 6 layers of sweaters the entire time I was in the city.

Saint Pete’s Roman Catholic Church

Posted on by Thor

After sketching at the Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, I wandered the empty streets in search of another subject. I settled in to sketch Saint Pete’s Roman Catholic Church, but discovered the major problem of using a digital sketchbook on location… the battery dies.

A small wooden church was built on the site in 1833 and was dedicated in 1834.  A brick building which is part of the present structure was built in 1852. The current Spanish style tower and facade were added in 1882.

After the battery died I searched for a lunch spot where I might be able to recharge. I found Chris’ Hot Dogs which was opened by a Greek immigrant in 1917. Until the 1960s he offered curb side service which resulted in long lines of cars waiting to be served. The dogs are served with a secret chili sauce only known by a few family members. Millions of customers were served in the first 10 decades. President Franklin D. Roosevelt often ordered boxes of hot dogs when his presidential train traveled through town. Other presidents included Truman and George Bush one and two. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Hank Williams Jr., and Elvis Presley all sampled these delicious hot dogs. My two dogs were soggy with chili sauce, but quite good. People in the know, lined up at the bar and had their dogs within minutes.  I sat at the bar, which reminded me of the many bars in the south where sit-ins were held during the civil rights era.

I eventually found a plug in a public park, but by the time the pad was recharged, I decided I didn’t have time to go back to complete the sketch. It had to stay the way it was. It shows my loose thought process early in a sketch before details are added.