{"id":1348,"date":"2015-09-01T15:28:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T15:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=1348"},"modified":"2023-03-04T19:45:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T19:45:54","slug":"the-mysterious-death-of-ashley-wilkes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=1348","title":{"rendered":"The mysterious death of Ashley Wilkes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lesley Howard – middle – played Professor Henry Higgins in the 1938 film\u00a0Pygmalion<\/a><\/i><\/em>.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Leslie Howard<\/a>\u00a0was best known for playing Ashley Wilkes<\/a>\u00a0in 1939’s\u00a0Gone with the Wind<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. (As the man Scarlett O’Hara<\/a> was obsessed with.) At that point Howard was a mere 46 years old. \u00a0And<\/em><\/strong> – while no one could know at the time – he had only four more years to live. In June 1943 his passenger airliner was shot down over the Bay of Biscay, between Portugal and England. According to one theory, “he” got shot down because the Nazis thought he was a British spy.<\/p>\n

Howard’s airliner did<\/em><\/strong> get \u201cshot down by the Luftwaffe<\/a>,” but we may never know if he was really a British spy or if this was a case of mistaken identity. Even so, the question<\/em>\u00a0itself is intriguing.<\/p>\n

\"\"That airliner was shot down some nine months after the release of Howard’s 1942 movie Spitfire<\/em><\/strong>. (A poster is shown at left.) And his death did come about under suspicious circumstances<\/a><\/em>.<\/em>There’s more on that later, but first a word about how I learned about this mysterious death. In August 2015 I’d flown out to Utah for to visit my brother, and the night before I was to fly back we watched “Spitfire.” There’s more detail in the notes, but watching that movie got me on the path to learning about how Howard died so mysteriously.<\/p>\n

Spitfire<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0was originally called The First of the Few<\/a><\/em>\u00a0in Britain. \u00a0(The name was changed to “Spitfire” for American audiences.) \u00a0Howard played “R.J. Mitchell<\/a>, who designed<\/em> the Supermarine Spitfire<\/a>.” The British title alluded to Winston Churchill<\/a>‘s memorable speech, attributing victory in the Battle of Britain<\/a>\u00a0to “the few.” \u00a0(That is, the few<\/em> men who piloted British fighters in the battle, and especially those who flew the Spitfire.) \u00a0As Churchill put it,\u00a0“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few<\/a><\/em>.”<\/p>\n

\"BundesarchivThe film came out\u00a0in Britain on September 12, 1942. \u00a0Less than nine months later – “on or about<\/a>”\u00a0June 1, 1943 – Howard’s airliner was attacked by eight\u00a0Luftwaffe<\/a><\/i> Junkers Ju 88C6<\/a>\u00a0fighter aircraft. \u00a0The airliner – with 16 other passengers and crew – was attacked some 500 miles west of Bordeaux<\/a>, France. The plane – or parts of it – came down in the Bay of Biscay<\/a>, some\u00a0200 miles north of La Coru\u00f1a<\/a>, on the far northwestern tip of Spain.<\/p>\n

As to why<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the Luftwaffe shot down the airliner, here’s what Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0said of Howard:<\/p>\n

He was active in anti-German propaganda and reputedly involved with British or Allied Intelligence, which may have led to his death in 1943[.\u00a0 He] was shot down over the Bay of Biscay<\/a>, sparking conspiracy theories regarding his death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There was<\/em> an alternate theory:\u00a0 That the Germans were really after Winston Churchill.<\/p>\n

During the early years of World War II, Churchill routinely flew over the Bay of Biscay.\u00a0\u00a0By June, 1943, he was just finishing up a month-long trip to North Africa, including an inter-Allied conference in Algiers. \u00a0The\u00a0North Africa Campaign<\/a>\u00a0was just ending, and Allied leaders were planning the invasion of Sicily and Italy. \u00a0The normal stop-over<\/a>\u00a0for such trips from North Africa to London was Lisbon<\/a>, in ostensibly-neutral Portugal.\u00a0 (Often via\u00a0Gibraltar<\/span><\/a><\/em>.)<\/p>\n

But also during the war, Lisbon was a hotbed<\/a>\u00a0of “trade, conspiracy, and subterfuge.”\u00a0\u00a0(Note that Lisbon was the destination of refugees and reprobates alike in the movie\u00a0Casablanca<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

When Churchill<\/em> took such flights – to and from London and\/or North Africa via Lisbon – he was accompanied by a single bodyguard, Detective Inspector Walter H. Thompson<\/a>. \u00a0Thompson was tall and slender, and looked much like Howard. But in a strange twist, when Howard took his<\/em> flight from Lisbon, he was accompanied by a close friend and business manager,\u00a0Alfred Chenhalls<\/a>. And to some<\/em> people, Chenhalls looked “Churchillesque.” \u00a0Which brings up this:<\/p>\n

A long-standing hypothesis states that the Germans believed that Prime Minister<\/a>\u00a0Winston Churchill<\/a>, was on board the flight.\u00a0 Churchill, in his autobiography, expressed sorrow that a mistake about his activities might have cost Howard his life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See also “Churchill’s Bodyguard<\/a>,” the BBC\u00a0television series\u00a0that suggested German intelligence<\/a> agents knew of Churchill’s comings and goings from the area. \u00a0On that note, Detective Thompson<\/a>\u00a0later wrote that Churchill often seemed clairvoyant<\/a>\u00a0about threats to his safety. \u00a0And according to Thompson, Churchill had a premonition about his proposed flight over the Bay of Biscay on June 1, 1943, and so changed his departure to the following day.<\/p>\n

Thus because of a perceived threat to his safety, Churchill changed his planned flight home:<\/p>\n

Full of confidence, the Prime Minister flies home.\u00a0 And unwittingly causes a tragedy.\u00a0 Aware of his presence in North Africa, the Germans have prepared a trap.\u00a0 Their watchful agents in Lisbon report the departure of a thickset gentleman smoking a big cigar aboard a commercial aircraft leaving on a scheduled flight.\u00a0 Shortly after take-off it is pounced on by a German fighter [sic] and shot down with ridiculous ease.\u00a0 Among its fourteen passengers is film star Leslie Howard.\u00a0 The innocent cause of their death is a brilliant accountant and amateur musician called Alfred Chenhalls, whose resemblance to Churchill is superficial merely.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Boeing(TVY 186) \u00a0William Manchester<\/a>‘s book\u00a0The Last Lion<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0added some telling details. \u00a0He indicated that on June 4<\/em><\/strong>, 1943, Churchill boarded an Avro York<\/a>\u00a0for the flight to Gibraltar, from\u00a0Algiers<\/a>. \u00a0He said Churchill planned to transfer at Gibraltar to a more-comfortable “Boeing flying boat [seen at left<\/em>] for the final leg of the trip,” to London. \u00a0But bad weather forced him to transfer to a B-24 Liberator<\/a>\u00a0instead. \u00a0And there was some other confusion:<\/p>\n

That day, a German spy at the Lisbon airport reported to his superiors that a thickset man smoking a cigar had been seen boarding a commercial flight, another flying boat, destination London.\u00a0 Phone calls were made, German fighter aircraft scrambled.\u00a0 The hapless aircraft was shot down over the sea, killing all fourteen passengers, including the popular screen actor Leslie Howard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Manchester, when Churchill got back to London he noted the brutality of the Germans, as exemplified by the attack on Howard’s airliner. \u00a0But – he said – their brutality “was matched only by the stupidity of their agents.”<\/p>\n

(Just as an aside, Manchester said this latest incident “unsettled Britons,” who “felt ill at ease” about Churchill’s being away from the country for a full month. \u00a0They were equally ill at ease about his taking such unprotected flights so close to enemy territory.)<\/p>\n

Roy Jenkins made a similar point in his biography of Churchill.\u00a0 He wrote that Churchill flew back to London “on the night of 4-5 June (1943),” and that the journey was without incident, except for bad weather.\u00a0 That in turn meant that Churchill couldn’t transfer to a “more comfortable flying boat,” but had to continue by un<\/em><\/strong>comfortable bomber. \u00a0(The B-24.)<\/p>\n

Later that same day however another Pan American flying boat did take off from Lisbon for Plymouth and was shot down with the deaths of a full load of passengers, including Leslie Howard of Scarlet Pimpernel<\/a> fame.\u00a0 In the same month a Liberator bomber (a companion to Churchill’s plane) flying from Gibraltar to England was also shot down, with the death of General Sikorski, the head of the Polish forces, and two accompanying British MPs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The point being that Churchill appeared to be taking unnecessary<\/em> <\/strong>risks.\u00a0 (Note also that the two\u00a0“MPs” in this case were\u00a0Members of Parliament<\/span><\/a><\/em>.)<\/p>\n

But there were other theories as well. \u00a0According to the “Churchill” theory, the German intelligence agents in and around Lisbon were really stupid<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0But according to some alternate theories, those agents knew exactly what they were doing.\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"One such theory had it that Howard was on a top-secret mission – for<\/em> Churchill – to persuade Spain’s\u00a0Francisco Franco<\/a>\u00a0not<\/strong><\/em> to join the Axis powers<\/a>, Germany and Italy. \u00a0(Spain was officially neutral at the time.) Howard’s go-between was said to be Conchita Montenegro<\/a>\u00a0(at right), with whom he’d ostensibly had a torrid love affair.<\/p>\n

(Not to mention\u00a0Tallulah Bankhead<\/a>\u00a0and Merle Oberon<\/a>, two of his other\u00a0leading ladies<\/a>. \u00a0 While he was said to be something of a ladies’ man<\/a>\u00a0at the time, Howard once quipped that he “didn’t chase<\/em><\/strong> women but \u2026 couldn’t always be bothered to run away” from them either.)<\/p>\n

Other sources indicate that Howard’s successful anti-Nazi activities in the early years of World War Two “enraged Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels<\/a>, who called Howard ‘Britain\u2019s most dangerous propagandist,’\u201d and<\/strong> <\/em>that Howard also worked for British Intelligence.<\/p>\n

Still other sources note another passenger\u00a0on Howard’s airliner, “leading anti-Nazi activist Wilfrid Israel<\/a>, who had helped Jewish refugees escape from the Holocaust.” You can see even more theories about this or these mysterious death(s) in the notes, but all of them lead to this thought: To think,\u00a0some people thought those years were better and simpler times…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *\u00a0\"Leslie“Ashley Wilkes,” anti-Nazi agitator?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Leslie Howard (actor) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0I changed to this image on January 5, 2016, after reviewing the post for a New Year’s “retrospective<\/a>.” \u00a0That look-back showed a foul-up in the image-transfer, originally from\u00a0The First of the Few – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0That’s where the image to the left of the paragraph beginning “His airliner\u00a0was shot down” came from.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note also that while some sources said Howard’s airliner was shot down on June 1, others give the date as June 4, 1943. \u00a0Thus the phrase “on or about” June 1, 1943.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s what I wrote in the original post, back in 2015. “In case you hadn\u2019t noticed, I\u2019m back in the saddle<\/a> after three weeks out of town. (Part of that time was spent on the\u00a0Columbia River<\/a>,\u00a0near\u00a0Astoria<\/a>,\u00a0on unfinished\u00a0canoe<\/a>-trip business…)\u00a0And it\u00a0was only during that three-week\u00a0hiatus<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 from home and daily routine \u2013 that I found out\u00a0there\u00a0were<\/strong> mysterious circumstances around Leslie Howard\u2019s death. (Aboard an\u00a0airliner like the one below right.) That happened because my brother is more\u00a0delightfully retro<\/a> than [me…]<\/em><\/p>\n

\"BOAC“[T]he night before I took my own commercial flight back home to <\/span>God\u2019s Country\u00a0\u2013 the outskirts of\u00a0<\/span>Atlanta<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 we\u00a0watched an old black-and-white movie: \u00a01942\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Spitfire<\/strong>, starring Leslie Howard… <\/span><\/em>On VHS<\/a> no less, while enjoying some of Utah\u2019s famed 3.2<\/a> beers\u2026”\u00a0<\/em>The “airliner” image is courtesy of<\/em> BOAC Flight 777 \u2013 Wikipedia<\/span><\/em><\/a>, noted further below.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: \u00a0“The film was released …\u00a01942.” \u00a0See\u00a0First of the Few (1942) | Inafferrabile [sic] Leslie Howard<\/a>. The site said in the U.S., Spitfire<\/strong> was released on June 12, 1943, “a few days after Leslie\u2019s death.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re:\u00a0 3.2 beer.\u00a0 See\u00a0The Legacy of 3.2% Beer | The Society of Wine and Jurisprudence<\/a>.\u00a0 The site said\u00a0such beer is a “relic” of\u00a0Prohibition.\u00a0 “In an attempt to limit the availability of higher-octane beverages, 3.2% is currently the only beverage allowed for sale at grocery stores in Colorado, Utah<\/strong>, and several other states.” (E.A.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “German fighters,” as to the Junkers Ju 88C6<\/a>. As Wikipedia<\/a> noted, a fighter aircraft<\/a> is\u00a0a “military aircraft<\/a> designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers<\/a> and attack aircraft<\/a>.”\u00a0 The Ju 88C6 was a “twin-engined multirole combat aircraft<\/a>,” designed to be “too fast for any of the fighters of its era to intercept.”\u00a0 It was used in roles including but not limited to “night fighter<\/a> … heavy fighter<\/a> and even, during the closing stages of the conflict in Europe<\/a>, as a flying bomb<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

That there were eight Ju 88C6s\u00a0<\/em>came from the article,\u00a0List of airliner shootdown incidents – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

“Full of confidence … TVY.”\u00a0 See<\/em> Winston Churchill:\u00a0 The Valiant Years<\/strong>, Jack Le Vien and John Lord, Bernard Geis and Associates (1962),<\/em> at page 186.\u00a0 Note also:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1)\u00a0\u00a0 Manchester’s “Last Lion<\/strong>…”\u00a0 See The Last Lion[:]\u00a0 Winston Churchill Defender of the Realm 1940-1965<\/strong>, William Manchester and Paul Reid, Little, Brown and Company (2012),\u00a0pages 688-89.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2)\u00a0 William Manchester –\u00a0noted American author, biographer and historian – died in 2004, while still at work on\u00a0Last Lion<\/strong>.\u00a0 He chose his friend Paul Reid to finish the work.\u00a0 As Reid himself noted, Manchester began this\u00a0“third and final volume of his biography of Winston Churchill” in 1988.\u00a0 Reid indicated that Manchester’s research on the book was complete but that he’d written\u00a0only\u00a0some 100 pages between 1988 and 1998, due to increasingly poor health.\u00a0 After Manchester died, Reid began the process of completing the book.\u00a0 See also Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

Following the death of his wife in 1998, Manchester suffered from two strokes.\u00a0 He announced that he would not be able to complete his planned third volume of his three part-biography of Churchill, The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965<\/a><\/i>.\u00a0 He was also initially reluctant to collaborate with anyone to finish to work.<\/sup>\u00a0 In October 2003, Manchester asked Paul Reid, a friend and writer for The Palm Beach Post<\/a><\/i>, to complete the Churchill biography.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Re: Roy Jenkins.\u00a0 See Churchill[:]\u00a0 A Biography<\/strong>, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux (2001), at pages 712-13. For what it’s worth, Jenkins put the “cumulative risk to which Churchill’s manifold journeys exposed him” at some 30 per cent. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “flying boat.” \u00a0The airliner in question was built by Boeing, flown by Pan American Airways and called the Clipper<\/strong>: \u00a0“Twelve Clippers were built; nine were brought into service for Pan Am<\/a> and later transferred to the U.S. military<\/a>. \u00a0The remaining three were sold to British Overseas Airways Corporation<\/a> (BOAC) by Pan Am and delivered in early 1941. \u00a0(BOAC<\/a>‘s 3 Short S.26<\/a> transoceanic flying-boats had been requisitioned by the RAF<\/a>).” See\u00a0Boeing 314 Clipper – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

As to other theories, including that Howard’s plane was shot down because another passenger was \u201cleading anti-Nazi activist\u00a0Wilfrid Israel<\/a>:\u00a0Israel was a \u201cfriend of Albert Einstein<\/a>, the philosopher\u00a0Martin Buber<\/a>, and\u00a0Chaim Weizmann<\/a>, later the first president of the state of Israel.\u201d \u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0indicated that in the wake of Kristallnacht<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the 1938\u00a0pogrom<\/a> or \u201cnight of broken glass\u201d in Germany \u2013 Wilfrid Israel took an active role, contacting among others \u201cthe Council for German Jewry in London, informing them that extraordinary measures must now be taken to save at least the children.\u201d\u00a0<\/sup>Regardless of such theories\u00a0why<\/strong>\u00a0this particular airliner was shot down, this\u00a0fact remains:\u00a0 The tragedy made Howard \u201cthe first cast member from\u00a0Gone With The Wind<\/a>\u00a0to die.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Misfits3423.jpg\"But other cast members lived long and productive lives. <\/em>For example,\u00a0Vivien Leigh<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 who played\u00a0Scarlett O\u2019Hara<\/a>) \u2013 lived on until 1967. Olivia de Havilland<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 who played\u00a0Melanie Hamilton<\/a>, Scarlett\u2019s rival and the cousin Ashley married \u2013 is still alive and has been living in Paris since 1960. \u00a0And it was only in 1960 that\u00a0Clark Gable<\/a>\u00a0died.<\/em><\/p>\n

Gable played Rhett Butler<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0GWTW<\/strong>, but went on to numerous other movie roles including\u00a0The Misfits<\/a>, his\u00a0final screen appearance. \u00a0That movie also starred\u00a0Marilyn Monroe<\/a>. \u00a0(At the time she was going through a \u201cbreakdown\u201d of her marriage to\u00a0writer\u00a0Arthur Miller<\/a>. \u00a0Miller wrote the\u00a0Misfits\u00a0screenplay, and \u201crevised the script throughout the shoot as the concepts of the film developed.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

Monroe herself died on August 5, 1962 \u2013 at age 36 \u2013 a little over a year after the release of\u00a0Misfits\u00a0on February 1, 1961. \u00a0The coroner listed the cause of death as\u00a0\u201cacute\u00a0barbiturate<\/a>\u00a0poisoning\u201d and\/or \u201cprobable suicide,\u201d but there were other theories here too:<\/em><\/p>\n

Many theories, including murder, circulated about the circumstances of her death and the timeline after the body was found.\u00a0 Some conspiracy theories involved\u00a0John<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Robert Kennedy<\/a>, while other theories suggested\u00a0CIA<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Mafia<\/a> complicity.\u00a0 It was reported that President Kennedy was the last person Monroe called.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The “Conchita” image is courtesy of\u00a0www.flickriver.com\/photos<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0added this:<\/em><\/p>\n

Following a rare interview with Montenegro shortly before her death, Spanish author Jos\u00e9 Rey-Ximena claims that British actor Leslie Howard<\/a> used her to get close to Spanish dictator Franco<\/a> after being given the special mission by Winston Churchill<\/a>. \u00a0She claimed that she used her husband’s influence to secure a meeting between the British actor and the Spanish dictator. \u00a0“Thanks to him … Spain was persuaded to stay out of the war<\/strong>.”\u00a0 (E.A.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Re:\u00a0 Franco and Spain’s neutrality. See Francisco Franco – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0 which noted that on “23 October 1940 Hitler and Franco met in Hendaye<\/a>, France, to discuss the possibility of Spain’s entry on the side of the Axis<\/a>. \u00a0However, Franco’s demands, which included food, military equipment, and Spanish control of Gibraltar<\/a> and French North Africa<\/a> proved too much for Hitler.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Note that an agitator<\/a> is someone who “actively supports some ideology<\/a> or movement with speeches and especially actions.”\u00a0 The term originally referred to elected soldier-representatives of “the New Model Army<\/a> of Oliver Cromwell<\/a>, during the English Civil War<\/a>.\u00a0 They were also known as adjutators<\/strong>.”\u00a0 See Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Other sources for this post include Leslie Howard (actor)<\/a>, Ashley Wilkes<\/a>, and Gone with the Wind (film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a>, as well as the following:<\/em><\/p>\n

See<\/em>\u00a0Clarecolvin.com\/ian-colvin\/flight-777-the-mystery-of-leslie-howard<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n

He was travelling with his tax adviser, cigar-smoking Alfred Chenhalls, who bore a resemblance to Winston Churchill \u2013 Churchill was at that time about to fly back from an Allied conference in North Africa. \u00a0Also on board was leading anti-Nazi activist Wilfrid Israel, who had helped Jewish refugees escape from the Holocaust.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See also\u00a0BOAC Flight 777 – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>, which noted that<\/em> “the Douglas DC-3 lost in this attack had twice survived attacks by Luftwaffe<\/a> fighters in November 1942 and April 1943.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Shootdown of Leslie Howard | Defense Media Network<\/a> listed the date as June 1, and added:<\/em><\/p>\n

Never entirely comfortable with Hollywood life, when war broke out, Howard, a Jew, decided to return to England and apply his fame and talent to a higher calling\u00a0\u2013\u00a0helping his country fight the Axis. \u00a0Howard starred, directed, and produced anti-German war films [like Spitfire<\/strong>] and radio broadcasts, and conducted lecture tours. \u00a0His success enraged Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who called Howard \u201cBritain\u2019s most dangerous propagandist…\u201d \u00a0What the public didn\u2019t know, though the Nazis did, was that Howard also worked for British Intelligence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note also the critical British base at\u00a0Gibraltar<\/a>, which played a key role in Churchill’s travels to and from North Africa. \u00a0The base guarded the entrance to the\u00a0Mediterranean Sea<\/a>, where the\u00a0Strait of Gibraltar<\/a>\u00a0is a mere eight miles wide or less. \u00a0The base was “used primarily as a training area … and as a stopover for aircraft and ships\u00a0en route<\/em>\u00a0to and from deployments\u00a0East of Suez<\/a>\u00a0or Africa.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And finally see\u00a0The actor, the Jew and Churchill’s double. – Eye on Spain<\/a>, and also\u00a0<\/em>Churchill \u00a0A Photographic Portrait<\/strong>, by Martin Gilbert, Houghton Mifflin (1974): \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1)\u00a0 Photograph 292 in Portrait<\/strong> shows Churchill standing between U.S. General George Marshall and Field Marshal Montgomery, with the caption: \u00a0“While in Algiers, Churchill finalized the plans for the invasion of Sicily and Italy with the British and American leaders. \u00a0This photograph, taken on 3 June 1943, was annotated by General Montgomery.” \u00a0Montgomery later recalled, “Winston wanted me to say the Sicilian invasion would be all right. \u00a0But I wouldn’t.” \u00a0Despite Montgomery’s doubts, the\u00a0Allied invasion<\/a><\/em>\u00a0liberated Sicily in some six weeks. \u00a0(July 10-August 17, 1943.) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lesley Howard – middle – played Professor Henry Higgins in the 1938 film\u00a0Pygmalion. * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * Leslie Howard\u00a0was best known for playing Ashley Wilkes\u00a0in 1939’s\u00a0Gone with the Wind. (As the man Scarlett O’Hara was obsessed with.) At that point Howard was a mere 46 years old. \u00a0And – while no one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1348"}],"version-history":[{"count":209,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14383,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348\/revisions\/14383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}