A unique and intimate memento of Winston Churchill's "years in the wilderness", this passport accompanied him during the 1930s as he travelled throughout Europe, Africa and America. The stamps within its page trace his personal and diplomatic journeys, telling the story of how Churchill returned from political exile to become one of the world's most powerful men

Sir Winston Churchill

Born at Blenheim Palace in 1874 to an aristocratic English father and an American socialite mother, Winston Churchill immediately inherited the pedigree that had long defined the British governing elite. The young Churchill attended a number of prestigious boarding schools before being admitted to the Sandhurst, albeit after his third attempt at the entrance exams, when he trained as a cadet in the cavalry. The early years of his subsequent military career took him across the world to Cuba, India and Sudan; alongside his duties as a soldier, Churchill wrote huge amounts during this period. After leaving the army at the age of 25, he continued to work as a war correspondent, travelling to South Africa where he was captured, before managing to escape.
In 1900, Churchill followed in the footsteps of his forefathers and took a seat in parliament as Conservative MP for Oldham. After three years and numerous disputes within the party, Churchill defected to the Liberals, and was later made Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and eventually First Lord of the Admiralty. His disastrous Dardanelles Campaign during the First World War forced Churchill to resign from all his government positions, although he retained his seat as a Member of Parliament. Following the end of the war, Churchill again took on a number of high-ranking positions, but failed to keep his seat in the election of 1922, which may have been a result of his having lost both his mother and a daughter the previous year.
In 1924, Churchill returned to parliament once again as a member of the Conservative party, and despite having no experience in economics, was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Tories lost the next election in 1929, which set in motion Churchill's 'Wilderness Years', as he later termed them. Throughout the 1930s Churchill was generally out of favour with the government due to his unpopular opinions on India and Germany. His warnings about the rise of the Nazi Party were shown to be correct in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War, upon which Churchill was again made the First Lord of the Admiralty. The next year, following Chamberlain's resignation, Churchill became Prime Minister. His resilience and determination soon proved essential characteristics in a wartime leader, particularly in the case of Britain's early defeats.
Remarkably, only two months after the German surrender in 1945, Churchill and the Conservatives lost the election and Britain was led by a Labour government for the next six years. In 1951, the tables were once again turned and Churchill became Prime Minister at the age of 76. He resigned from this role upon turning 80, but remained an MP until he was 90! A few months later, Churchill died of a stroke. His life and achievements were commemorated with the largest state funeral in history, before he was taken to the family churchyard to be buried.

The "Wilderness Years"

Churchill's resistance towards Indian independence and his opposition to Chamberlain's policy of appeasement saw him isolated from Britain's political epicentre during the 1930s. His few appearances in parliament during this time were dedicated to issuing vehement warnings about the prospect of decolonisation and the threat of Nazi expansion, but these were largely overlooked by his contemporaries and his career was thought to be at an end. Churchill's exclusion from government did not stop him from voicing his thoughts, however, and he continued to write books and articles. Many of these were widely read and some even translated into multiple languages. In fact, Churchill wrote a staggering 43 books during his lifetime, ranging from history to autobiography, philosophy to fiction.

Much of Churchill's time 'in the wilderness' was spent abroad, where he could pursue his passion for painting and writing in peace. His extensive network of friends and allies meant that he was hosted by some of Europe and America's elite, enjoying the hospitality of their chateaux on the French Riviera or expensive hotels in the United States. While travelling across the world, Churchill ensured that his funds never dwindled by giving paid lectures and writing articles for a commission. It was not until 1939 that his admonitions were acknowledged to have been accurate and he was invited back into a position of power. Churchill later claimed that after he was reinstated as First Lord of the Admiralty, the Fleet received a signal: "Winston is back".


The Passport

In 1920, the Passport Service was established by the League of Nations to ensure that all passports followed a standard format, one which remained in use in Britain until 1988. The British passport was a 32 page document bound in hard blue wrappers, which subsequently became known as the 'Old Blue' style. In a practice which continues to this day, parts of the printed text appeared in both English and French. All personal details were hand-written and the photograph pasted in, and the 'Old Blue' passports also offered space for a man to fill in the details for his wife and children, which would allow them to travel alongside him without passports of their own.

Churchill's passport, which was valid from 1931, identifies him as a "British subject by birth", lists his profession as a "Member of Parliament", place of birth as "Blenheim Palace", height as "5 foot 9 inches", eye colour "grey" and hair "brown". The opposite page bears a photograph of Churchill, not looking directly at the camera, but instead showing him writing at his desk. What is more, it has been pasted over the space allocated for photograph of the bearer and also that of his wife. Although initially the date of expiration appears as the 23rd July 1936, it is renewed to 23rd July 1939, and then extended once again until 23rd June 1941. On the same page is a stamp stating that the passport is "not valid for Spain or the Spanish zone of Morocco", likely due to the Civil War of 1936 to 1939, although this of course did not stop Churchill visiting the country during these years. Like all cancelled passports, the upper corner of its front and back covers have been cut off, and "CANCELLED" stamped across the majority of pages.


The Stamps

The stamps found in the pages of Churchill's passport illustrate the many personal and diplomatic journeys he took throughout the 1930s. With a single exception, the stamps end in 1940, when he became Prime Minister and began to travel using a diplomatic passport. In 1955, however, he appears to have used his old passport once more to visit the south of France on holiday. By this time, the document had long expired, but what border official would attempt to deny access to Winston Churchill?

1931

31st July - entering France (Normandy)
Churchill was accustomed to spend part of his summer in France, and bank notes from August 1931 attest to his presence in Avignon. He is also recorded to have spent time in Biarritz at the Duke of Westminster's villa.

1st December - visa for USA
In December 1931, after losing his seat as a Member of Parliament, Churchill travelled to America to embark on a lecture tour throughout the States. Shortly after his arrival, he was seriously injured by a car on New York's Fifth Avenue, an episode which he wrote about in an article for the Daily Mail.

1932

27th August - entering France (Calais)
In August 1932, Churchill visited Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, where he came as close as he ever would to meeting Hitler. Writing a biography of his ancestor, the First Duke of Marlborough, Churchill toured the Danubian battlefields before driving to Munich, where he met with many of Hitler's associates.
22nd September - entering Austria (Saltzburg)
After visiting Germany, Churchill holidayed in Austria, where he suffered from a bout of paratyphoid that forced him to return to England on 23rd September, according to contemporary newspaper reports.

27th December - entering France (Calais)
Churchill seems to have spent the new year of 1933 in France, as there are bills and receipts from the Hotel Ritz in Paris, recording his stay on 4th, 9th and 10th January.

1933

July - entering France
July - entering France
There are records of Churchill's presence in France throughout July 1933, including telegrams to the Vice-Chancellor of Bristol University regretting that he would not be able to attend that year's graduation, and notes of a speech he made to the Union Interalliee in Paris.

1934

19th September - visa for France
In September 1934, Churchill and Frederick Lindemann, who was to become his prime scientific advisor during the Second World War, visited the future Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin on holiday at Aix-les-Bains. They pressed him to set up a committee to prepare for possible air attacks on Britain; their visit led to the establishment of the Air Defence Research Committee.

19th September - visa for Egypt
19th September - visa for Greece
19th September - visa for Italy
29th September - entering Italy
2nd October - entering Greece (Athens)
6th October - visa for Tripoli
8th October - entering Port of Beirut
9th October - Jordan
9th October - entering Palestine
12th October - entering Egypt (Cairo)
15th October - entering Greece
18th October - entering Italy
20th October - leaving Italy
In September 1934, Churchill signed a contract to write a 'History of the English-Speaking Peoples' and enlisted a research assistant to prepare a preliminary draft of the chapters. While his assistant took to this task, Churchill and his family spent the following weeks holidaying on the yacht of his friend, Lord Moyne. The Rosaura toured around the Mediterranean and the Middle East, making stops in Italy, Greece, Egypt, Beirut, Palmyra, Damascus, Palestine, Trans-Jordan and Petra.

1935

1st September - France (Calais)
Churchill visited France numerous times in 1935, and a receipt from the Hotel Ritz in Paris on 13th September shows that he spent 350 francs on a single night stay.

10th December - entering France (Le Havre)
11th December - Spain
11th December - Spain (Barcelona to Palma ferry)
23rd December - Tangier
23rd December - leaving Algiers
26th December: leaving Spain
26th December: illegible
26th December - entering Morocco (Arbaoua)
In the final month of 1935, Churchill visited Marrakech, travelling through Paris, Barcelona, Majorca and Tangier.

1936

23rd January - Tangiers
On 20th January 1936, King George V died and the proprietor of News of the World immediately contacted Churchill, who was travelling in Morocco at the time, to write a tribute. Churchill composed an article while on the train between Morocco and Tangier. Upon reaching Tangier, he telegraphed his obituary to the editor, and it was published in Britain on 26th.

23rd Feb - entering Spain
In February 1936, Churchill was holidaying in Spain when news of Germany's reoccupation of the Rhineland hastened his return home to Britain. He met with a divided government, split between those who advocated economic sanctions on Germany, and those who supported Chamberlain's policy of appeasement.

24th August - entering France
In February 1936, Churchill sent a letter to Katherine, Duchess of Atholl MP, who had asked him to attend her constituency fete in August of that year. He regretted that he would not be able to make an appearance, since 'I do not know where I shall be in August'. It transpired that he would once again be travelling in France, entering the country on 24th.

1937

16th Feb - leaving France
Churchill made frequent visits to France during the 1930s, favouring the Riviera and Paris. Bills and receipts from the hotel Ritz in Paris record Churchill's stay there on 3rd February 1937.

8th May - entering France (Normandy)
Churchill travelled to France in May 1937, and is recorded to have stayed at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the Riviera. In 1956, he would be made an honorary citizen of the commune in which he spent many summers.

1938

10th March - France (Normandy)
With the threat of German expansion growing daily, Churchill travelled to Paris in March 1938 to discuss a mutual defence pact with French politicians. Only days later, Germany annexed Austria, hastening his returned to Britain, where he made a speech to the House of Commons condemning the Prime Minister for his policy of appeasement.

2nd July - leaving France (Normandy)
Churchill spent time in Paris during the summer of 1938, apparently enjoying its retail opportunities. A receipt from July records that he purchased a handbag for the princely sum of 2,500 francs, more than he spent on his four-night stay at one of the city's grandest hotels!

19th July - entering France (Normandy)
22nd July - leaving France (Normandy)
Churchill visited the capital once again in the summer, when he is recorded to have stayed at the Hotel Prince de Galles. He also seems to have spent much of August in France, staying at the art-deco villa of his friend, the actress, Maxine Elliot. Churchill looked to travel directly from there to the United States for another lecture tour.

21st September - leaving France (Normandy)
In September, Churchill was invited to France's annual military review and to visit the Maginot Line, a series of fortifications that had been built throughout the 1930s as a deterrent, and later a defence, against German invasion.

1939 to 1940

[September to May] - Military Permit valid for British Military Zone in France
3rd January to 4rd April - diplomatic visa for France
As First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill frequently travelled to France, preparing to carry out Operation Winifred, a naval endeavour in which Britain and France attempted to stop iron shipments from Norway to Germany. Disagreements between the British and the French forces brought a stop to the operation in April; Churchill was named Prime Minister only two weeks later on 10th May. From that point on, he would visit France many times, no longer using a standard passport but the Prime Minister's diplomatic pass. His trips increased during the Battle of France, which culminated in the Dunkirk evacuation, referred to by Churchill as a 'miracle of deliverance'.

1955
14th September - leaving France (Normandy)
Churchill had retired from his second term as Prime Minister in April 1955 due to his failing health, and a few months later he travelled to France to take a holiday at the house of his friend Lord Beaverbrook in Cap-d'Ail.