Transcription:

THE PASSING OF A HERO

Just after 8.00am, on the 24th January 1965, Sir Winston Churchill passed away. 

His wife, Lady Churchill, and his surviving children,

Randolph, Sarah and Mary, were beside him. 

Remarkably, Winston had predicted the exact date of his death 12 years earlier. 

In a conversation with his secretary, Jock Colville, 

he had stated that he would die on his father’s anniversary. 

And, indeed, his father, Lord Randolph, had died on the 24th January 1895. 

The mourning of Winston Churchill’s passing was worldwide 

and among people from every walk of life. 

Crowds congregated at British embassies 

to pass on their personal messages of condolences. 

General Charles de Gaulle wrote to the Queen: 

“In the great drama- he was the greatest of all!”. 

Premier Kosygin of Russia sent the message: 

” The Soviet people remember the great effort of Sir Winston Churchill 

in the years of the war against Hitlerite Germany.” 

Former President Eisenhower said he had lost 

“…a dear and close friend” and that the world had lost 

“…one of the great men of our time”.