Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) 13.5.1965

U.S. 5¢ Churchill Memorial stamp honours the memory of Winston Churchill, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II. He was made an honorary citizen of the U.S. when John Kennedy signed a special Congressional bill. The stamp features the famous“Angry Lion” photograph by Yousuf Karsh of Canada. It was first issued on May 13, 1965  in Fulton, Missouri, where Churchill delivered his famous “iron curtain” speech in 1946.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965). During his long and productive life, Churchill was a noted soldier, war reporter, author, painter, speaker, and statesman. He’s best known for his stubborn – yet courageous – leadership during World War II. As a war-time Prime Minister, he helped pull England back from the brink of defeat by forming strong alliances with world leaders. Churchill’s efforts led to the coordinated military strategy that defeated Adolf Hitler.

One of Churchill’s most famous speeches was given in the United States, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946. Titled “Sinews of Peace,” the speech contained the famous line, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent....”

The Winston Churchill Memorial and Library in the United States is located at Westminster College, in the “reconstructed” Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. This building dates back to the 12th century. Christopher Wren redesigned it in 1677, after it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.

During World War II, an incendiary bomb left the beautiful and historic church in ruins. However, stone by stone, this building was moved to Fulton, Missouri, where the building was pieced back together. This process, which the London Times called “perhaps the biggest jigsaw puzzle in the history of architecture,” began in the spring of 1964. Five years later, on May 7, 1969, the building’s dedication ceremonies were held.

Churchill was very pleased with the idea that an English church, restored in America, would serve as a museum in his honor. He wrote, “It may symbolize in the eyes of English-speaking peoples the ideas of Anglo-American association in which rest, now as before, so many of our hopes for peace and the future of mankind.”

Thank you Merja.