Winston Churchill : Polo Player

Polo Player

Winston Churchill Polo Player

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can)

30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965

A British politician known chiefly for his leadership of Great Britain during World War 2. He served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman, orator and strategist, Churchill was an officer in the British Army. A prolific author, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his historical writings.

During his army career Churchill saw combat with the Malakand Field Force on the Northwest Frontier, at the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan and during the Second Boer War in South Africa. During this period he also gained fame, and not a small amount of notoriety, as a correspondent. At the forefront of the political scene for almost sixty years, Churchill held numerous cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary during the Liberal governments. In the 1st World War Churchill served in numerous positions, as First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. He also served in the British Army on the Western Front and commanded the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. During the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

He took up Polo around 1893 to 1894, after he arrived at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. From private letters he had written there is evidence he considered taking up polo some time around this period. He failed the infantry entrance exams 3 times, but gained a high enough score for the Cavalry. His career in Cavalry, as was as for so many soldiers of the era, was a encouragement to his participation in the sport.

He became part of the 4th Hussars in Aldershot in February 1895.

In 1895, Churchill traveled to Cuba to observe the Spanish fight the Cuban guerrillas, he had obtained a commission to write about the conflict from the Daily Graphic. To Churchill's delight, he came under fire for the first time on his 21st birthday.

In early October 1896, he was transferred to Bombay, India, with the Hussars. He was considered one of the best polo players in his regiment and led his team to many prestigious tournament victories. He wrote home to ask for money to buy a polo pony, as he often had to practice on other people's polo ponies.

The 4th Hussars were a newly formed regiment, so it I was traditional to expect new regiments to perform poorly as it took time to develop the pony stable. Yet the regiment's soldiers took an interest in the sport with subscriptions to fund the side, so they punched above their natural weight. Toward the end of 1896 Winston's side played for the silver cup in Hyderabad, where they defeated a Indian side.

He lived at home for 6 months in London and played polo at the famous Hurlingham, and Ranelagh.

From private letters it is clear he maintained a keen interest in the sport through 1897, when he returned to Bangalore.

In 1898 he got to compete in the Inter - Regimental Polo Tournament, which was based in Meerut, for the 4th Hussars. They were put out by the Durham Light Infantry, who were one of the finest polo sides in the army.

In 1899 he played with his regiment the 4th Hussars for the last time but, lifted the Inter - Regimental Polo Tournament, at Meerut, India.

This same year he stood for, but failed to win, to become a MP, in by - election for Oldham. He moved to the Light Horse Regiment in South Africa to report on the Boer war.

Churchill has also been transferred to Egypt in 1898 where he visited Luxor before joining an attachment of the 21st Lancers serving in Sudan under the command of General Herbert Kitchener. Yet he had continued to play for the 4th Hussars in India.

In 1900 the general election. He stood for Oldham again. He won, but before taking his seat in the Houses of Parliament, he embarked on a speaking tour through Britain and the US raising £10,000 for himself.

He continued to play polo in his early parliamentary years. He considered it as good physical exercise for what he regarded as the sedentary life of a politician. In 1901 he played for the House of Commons versus the Guards. In 1902 he complained to the Secretary of State at the proposal to stop inter regimental polo. His decision to defect to the liberals in 1904 from the Tories was the cause, in his view, of him being black balled by the famous Hurlingham club.

When in 1922 he bought a new house at Chartwell, he kept his own stable of polo ponies.

He took part for the commons in the 1922 Lords vs. Commons match. In 1925 he helped the commons win against the lords.
He gave up polo in 1927 At age 52.

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