Winston Churchill Gives Permission to Publish a Map of His Historic Travels During World War II

Margaret, Lady Rhondda inherited her father’s empire of mines, shipping and newspapers to become the foremost woman of business in the British Empire, sitting on 33 boards, and in 1926 becoming the first female president of the Institute of Directors. She threw herself, and her money, into a life of promoting women’s rights and equality. She is primarily remembered for her suffrage activities, and for her battle to allow women into the House of Lords.

Lt. Commander Frank A. De Vine Hunt was one of the Naval Staff Officers attached to Churchill’s famous War Rooms during World War II, rooms that had maps at every corner. He developed the idea of publishing a map showing Churchill’s travels during the war, and interested Lady Rhondda in the project. He wrote Churchill for permission to publish such a map, and Churchill approved.

Typed letter signed, on his letterhead, London, April 18, 1946, to Hunt. “Thanks you for your letter of April 17. I have no objection at all to Lady Rhondda’s publishing a map of my journeys. I only wondered whether there would be sufficient public interest to justify the expense which she would incur, but if she is satisfied about that, and it is your desire and hers, I should be very glad indeed.”

The idea bore fruit, as Hunt’s “Dunkirk to Berlin. June 1940 – July 1945. A Map of the Historic Wartime Journeys undertaken by the Right Honourable Winston S. Churchill…in Defence of the British Commonwealth and Empire” was published, and copies remain available today. It shows Churchill’s trips to the United States and Canada, and to conferences such as Casablanca.