Churchill Still Sinking Slowly

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30653, 20 January 1965, Page 15

Churchill Still Sinking Slowly

(N Z.P.A.- Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, January 19. Sir Winston Churchill’s condition has deteriorated after a restless night, a dawn medical bulletin said today.

The 90-year-old war-time leader’s doctor, Lord Moran, issued the bulletin after spending five hours at his bedside.

He was called suddenly at 2.10 a.m. and did not emerge from Sir Winston Churchill’s Hyde Park Gate home until 7.30 a.m.

His face drawn, he announced: “Sir Winston had a very restless night and his condition has deteriorated.” Lord Moran’s call to the Churchill home had heightened fears the end was near. Sir Winston Churchill was stricken by a stroke last Friday. Rumour of Death The crowd outside his house grew as a rumour spread that he had taken a turn for the worse. As time passed without any word from inside it was thought that Sir Winston Churchill had died. At 4 a.m. the front door opened and a police inspector announced: “Lord Moran says there is nothing imminent. “Because Lady Churchill is going to have a heavy day tomorrow and is sleeping at the front (of the house) he (Lord Moran) would like you to disperse and be a lot quieter.

“He doesn't want this hubbub to wake her up.”

The crowd of about 200 reporters and photographers moved quietly up the dark, wind-swept cul-de-sac away from the house.

Medical experts said the latest crisis brought death even closer to Sir Winston Churchill. A British Medical Association spokesman commented: “I think one must view with a good deal of concern that it was necessary for Lord Moran to stay during the night.

“I think there must have been extreme anxiety about his condition. "This is even worse than we have had all the time.”

The spokesman said what had happened so far today fitted in with the general pattern of this sort of case.

He thought that for the next two days Sir Winston Churchill’s condition would deteriorate rapidly. When Lord Moran arrived in the middle of the night Lady Churchill was with one of her two daughters, Mary (Mrs Christopher Soames). Her son, Randolph, and elder daughter, Sarah, had left earlier in the evening. Events Postponed

The Prime Minister, Mr Wilson, postponed a state-

ment he had planned to make in Parhament today. He also put off a nationwide television broadcast on a Government plan to stimulate exports. Mr Wilson is also likely to postpone his visit to Bonn and Berlin, scheduled for January 21-23, although no firm moves have yet been made.

Also postponed until June—was a joint celebration this week by both Houses of Parliament to mark the seven hundredth anniversary of the first British Parliament to have popular representation.