Death and state funeral of Winston Churchill

Death and state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill
Funeral procession in London, 1965
Date24 January 1965 (1965-01-24)
(date of death)
30 January 1965
(date of state funeral)
LocationSt Paul's Cathedral, London
(official funeral ceremony)
CauseStroke
BurialSt Martin's Churchyard, Bladon

Sir Winston Churchill, the British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War, died on 24 January 1965, aged 90.[1][2][3] His was the first state funeral in the United Kingdom for a non-member of the royal family since Edward Carson's in 1935.[4][5] It was the last state funeral until Queen Elizabeth II's on 19 September 2022.[6] The official funeral lasted for four days. Planning for the funeral, known as Operation Hope Not, began after Churchill's stroke in 1953 while in his second term as prime minister. After several revisions due to Churchill's continued survival (mainly because "the pallbearers kept dying", explained Lord Mountbatten), the plan was issued on 26 January 1965, two days after his death.[7]

By decree of Queen Elizabeth II, his body lay in state at Westminster Hall for three days from 26 January. On 30 January, the order of funeral was held at St Paul's Cathedral. From there the body was transported by water along the River Thames to Waterloo station, accompanied by military salutations. In the afternoon he was buried at St Martin's Church, Bladon, the resting place of his ancestors and his brother. Attended by representatives from 120 countries, 6,000 people, and (unusually) by Queen Elizabeth II, the funeral involved more than 1,000 police and security personnel, nine military bands, 18 military battalions, 16 English Electric Lightning fighter jets of the Royal Air Force, a special boat MV Havengore, and a funeral train hauled by Winston Churchill, homage paid by 321,360 people, and witnessed by over 350 million people. It was the largest state funeral in British history, and was noted "as demonstrating the British genius for public spectacle".[8][9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Lewis, Anthony (24 January 1965). "Churchill is Dead at 90; The World Mourns Him; State Funeral Saturday". The New York Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Remembering Winston Churchill: About this collection". BBC. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Remembering Britain's WWII hero Winston Churchill". British Heritage. 24 January 2022 [2019]. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  5. ^ Farnsworth, Clyde H. (25 January 1965). "Churchill to Get a State Funeral; Will Be First Commoner So Honored Since Gladstone". The New York Times. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Television was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Dockter, Warren (30 January 2015). "Winston Churchill's funeral was 12 years in the planning". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  8. ^ Jukes, Eric (2016). "British royal and state funerals: music and ceremonial since Elizabeth I". Reference Reviews. 30 (8): 29–31. doi:10.1108/RR-07-2016-0183. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  9. ^ Dodds, Laurence (30 January 2015). "As it happened: The state funeral of Winston Churchill, January 30, 1965". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.