MOROCCAN VILLA

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 97, 20 January 1944, Page 5

MOROCCAN VILLA

Recent Convalescence Of Mr. Churchill • LONDON, January 18. The Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, was received in audience by the King at (Buckingham Palace today and remained for lunch with His Majesty. ' Further details of Mr. Churchill s recent movements which are now given show that he nrrivksd at Carthage from Cairo on December 11, meaning to stay a day or so with General Eisenhower before visiting the Italian front. However, he was taken ill, and only on December 27 had he sufficiently recovered to make the air journey. On that day he flew over the Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh, where he had been invited by the American 'High Command to spend his convalescence. A villa with a beautiful garden (kept by the American authorities for the mse of distinguished guests was placed at his disposal. It was the same villa where he stayed with Mr.- Roosevelt after the Casablanca conference. Though Mr. Churchill remained constantly in touch with London and affairs ■of .State, he spent as much time as possible out of doors. Leaving the villa at about noon, it was his practice to motor with Mrs. Churchill and his daughter, Section-Officer Oliver, Lord Moran, and members of his staff and lunch in an olive grove or by the side of a mountain stream. On one occasion he drove 'high into the mountains above' the snowline and left his car at various points ■to admire the scenery. Even on. days ‘when he did not go for a picnic the weather was such that he could lunch in the garden of the villa. Lord Beaverbrook' was with Mr. Churchill throughout the visit. Generals Montgomery, Eisenhower, and Bedell iSmith visited him at the villa, as well as General Georges, Dr. Benes, and the Russian Ambassador to Czechoslovakia, iM. Lebedev, remained for a night en route ’to England. Other visitors included General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, General Alexander. Mr. Duff Cooper, Mr. Harold Macmillan, and General de Gaulle. 'Extraordinary precautions were taken for Mr. Churchill’s safety on his arrival in England. .Few service officials at the place where he arrived knew of his impending arrival, and all points were closely guarded. The Prime Minister left for London in a special train, all the windows of which were covered. He then went'direct to the House of Commons.