Antiques Roadshow expert blown away by priceless unearthed snaps of Winston Churchill
In a D-Day special of BBC's Antiques Roadshow, viewers got to see a collection of rare images of the late Winston Churchill.
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In an episode of BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, expert Paul Atterbury met with two siblings with an extraordinary tale about their father, George. During a D-Day special of the programme, viewers learnt that their dad had joined the Navy in 1940.
The man explained that his dad was living in the centre of Birmingham which was getting bombed on a regular basis. This resulted in him deciding to take his chances in the forces instead.
However, BBC fans learnt that three weeks after he joined, his entire family had been killed in the Blitz. Fast-forward four years and Paul had joined HMS Kelvin, which was part of a special mission.
Speaking about the ship her father was on, the woman explained: “It was to take Churchill over to France after D-Day.”
As Paul highlighted it was Churchill’s first visit to the beaches, the woman confirmed before explaining more about the images she had.
She added: “He (Churchill) saw my dad with his little camera and posed for dad.”
Both siblings had brought the camera which was used along with a string of images which blew the Antiques Roadshow host away.
Opening a photo album, he said: “Here is Churchill, catching him with his camera, instead of looking away, he’s standing there in a very Churchillian pose. I think that’s a remarkable picture.”
As Paul highlighted Churchill would've known cameras shouldn’t have been used on the operational voyage, although it appeared as though he didn’t seem to mind.
The BBC star added: “He couldn't resist standing there and showing off in a way, which is a wonderful informal image, isn't it?”
After looking at other images in the album, the BBC star pointed out one in particular of the crew around the deck which also featured Churchill.
Paul continued: “Your dad labelled it, ‘The Great Thinker’ Lo and behold what is he doing? He’s smoking one of his cigars. It couldn’t be more typical could it?”
As the woman confessed her father often spoke about his time in the navy, she told the host that every time they had visitors, the photo album would come out.
The man added: “It was a very proud moment for him.”
Agreeing, Paul said: “Of course! Not everybody gets Churchill to pose for them.
“What we’ve got here is a remarkable and very informal record of a great event—Churchill’s visit to the beaches.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
