"ACTION THIS DAY"

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 301, 21 December 1939, Page 6

"ACTION THIS DAY"

ADMIRALTY CHIEF.

BRITAIN'S FIRST HUSTLER.

MR. WINSTON CHURCHILL.

(By JOHN FISHER.)

After 25 years Mr Winston Churchill:

"the most unpopular man in Germany," is again in charge of the British Navy, which in the first few weeks of war swept the German merchant fleet from the seas, safeguarded British trade routes, and is strangling Germany's "submarine blockade.-' Mr. Churchill's versatility is almost bewildering. He has fought as a soldier in no less than seven campaigns; he has been a journalist and war correspondent; he has held most of the high offices of State; he is a distinguished historian and is probably Britain's greatest living orator.

Air. Churchill's clay starts rather before two o'clock in the morning, when the two stylo pens which he uses are refilled and put out on the table by his bed in case something occurs to him during the night. He normally wakes about 7 a.m., and prefers to get some work done before breakfast. He has a news editor's eagerness for the latest "flashes" in Admiralty telegrams, and he also scans the newspapers eagerly for news of every type—but particularly in order to follow the presentation of naval news.

The Churchi'lls live in a section of Admiralty House, the two top floors of which have been converted into a flat. It would, I suppose, be symbolic if the bedroom in which Churchill wakes faced towards the great Admiral Nelson's statue, which stands a few yards away in Trafalgar Square. Actually the room looks on to the rather less noisy Horse Guards Parade. In the bedroom are two tables, one bearing a silent typewriter so that work can be begun at- once.

Simple Breakfast. The First Lord's breakfast is simple. He wakes without the aid of coffee; his tea is the China variety, and the "chaser" of plain iced soda water that he tsrkes_ before his first cigar is his one eccentricity. What is more important is that he can be up and dressed in 15 minutes, though he usually adds on in order to say "Good morning" to his family. His work comes to him in an official Admiralty "box." This is of red leather, 18in long, a foot broad and sin high. It has a brass handle on top and one at the side. It is numbered in gold so that it could never disappear unnoticed, and it is self-locking. It is usually full up with papers. On the top is the agenda for the War Cabinet meeting, followed by eight or 10 different files and ending up more melodramatically than one might expect with the "Spy Docket." In the lid of the box, kept in place by black criss-cross tape, are supplies of three kinds of gummed label which the First Lord pastes on to the papers as he reads them.

One says (in red ink), "Action This Day;" the second says, "Report in Three Da ye," and the third, "Report in One Week."

"Action This Day" is what Churchill likes best. The directness of shorthand or of a dictaphone is distasteful to him when correspondence has to be dealt with. He prefers dictating letters straight on to a typewriter and signing them at once, and feels it better that ft note should go off even with slight manuscript corrections than that it should be held up for recopying and signature. And if a letter is to be sent—it does not wait until that evening's post; it goes off right away. In marking memoranda, he saves time by using a little abbreviations. "Write civil reply f.m.5.," he will put, "f.m.a. meaning "for my signature." His

style of writing is short and direct. He hates the delays in the handling of documents produced by the pins which fasten them together, and sees that all papers brought to him are holed with a "clop" (as he calls the punching machine) and tagged with tape. War Cabinet Meeting. Churchill's principal morning engagement is the meeting of the War Cabinet at 11.30; its deliberations usually last till lunch-time. Churchill has lunch at home and prefers plain English food to more elaborate cooking. After luncheon he sometimes takes a short nap, having a theory that a few minutes' rest then is worth an hour at the end of the day. He hates noise, and his rooms are protected from the outer world 'by green 'baize doors. "Let the utmost silence reign," he 6ays, as he retires for his brief siesta. This habit, and that of having his rooms at an almost orchid-house temperature, he may have picked up while serving in India. Two afternoons a week he goes to the House of Commons, once to answers questions and once to hear Mr. Chamberlain's regular statement on the progress of the war. Keeps Programme Flexible. Apart from this he likes to keep his programme as flexible as possible. His staff would find it hard to say in advance whether a given interview will last 20 minutes or five. He reacts quickly to ideas, and takes considerable pains to elaborate and develop the "winners." His politeness is the most natural thing in the world. He likes people to he at their ease with him and admires those who can argue with hjm logically. At the meetings and conferences that fill Churchill's days, appointments of higher officers, strategy, technical construction, store supplies, communications, methods of publicity, all come up for review. And the talks continue long after dinner—often until after midnight. And what about Churchill's spare time ? As it happens, he is one of those people who get along well enough without exercise, though he regularly out- ' paces his men and women secretaries on his walks to and from his office. His week-ends off duty, if he has them, are ' short and his pastime of bricklaying is neglected.

He k far too busy now with the many papers which he marks with the label'"Action This Day."