Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s “Despatch” Box

During my recent trip to Los Angeles, I stayed aboard my favorite place in the world:  The RMS Queen Mary. I will be posting some pictures soon of this magnificent ship.  Due to the popularity of the movie, “Darkest Hour” (and academy award-winning performance by Gary Oldman as “Prime Minister Winston Churchill”), the Queen Mary currently has a phenomenal exhibit of what life was like for Churchill during WWII.  There are many artifacts (and some replicas) depicting what was seen in the movie:  an underground British headquarters waging strategic moves against the enemy.

The picture above is that of the actual “Despatch” box that Churchill used during WWII.  Secretaries would put important (and often classified) papers into the box, lock it, and deliver it to Churchill.  Do you see the letters, “GR” on top of the box? That was the official symbol for King George VI, or, “George Royal” as the initials note.

I find Churchill an absolutely fascinating person.  He stayed aboard the Queen Mary many times, and planned part of the WWII “D-Day” invasion during one of his cross-Atlantic voyages.

There is a particular suite on the ship he frequented, and I was lucky enough to stay there during this visit.  How surreal it was to be sitting in the same living room area as Churchill had done on many cross-Atlantic voyages.  I’ll be posting more pictures from the exhibit soon!