By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/britain-pays-tribute-winston-churchill-50-years-funeral Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Britain pays tribute to Winston Churchill 50 years after his state funeral World Jan 30, 2015 2:46 PM EDT When Winston Churchill died 50 years ago at the age of 90, a million people lined the streets of London to watch the funeral cortege pass by. The man who led Britain to victory against Nazi Germany was honored with a state funeral, something very few politicians in Britain are ever given. Today, the boat that carried his coffin along the River Thames in 1965, the Havengore, re-traced the route to mark the 50th anniversary of his funeral. The ‘Havengore’ makes its way along the River Thames, marking the same route it traveled 50 years ago for Winston Churchill’s funeral. Members of Churchill’s family were onboard and traveled along the route, from the Tower of London to Westminster. Across from the Houses of Parliament, a ceremonial wreath was cast into the water by British Army personnel involved in recent conflicts. Churchill’s grandson and a lawmaker himself, Sir Nicholas Soames, walked behind his grandfather’s coffin in 1965 and today was surprised at the outpouring of support from well-wishers who lined the route. “I was astonished at the faces of many, many people who were literally contorted with grief because I think that for the older people my grandfather had been a friend,” Soames said. “He was someone they knew. And he had led the nation at a very difficult time, with them. And they felt part of that and I think his going was definitively the end of an era.” Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1942. Today’s tribute was an opportunity for the dwindling numbers of World War II veterans to pay tribute to their wartime leader. Britain’s current leaders also paid tribute, laying wreaths at the base of a statue of Churchill in the House of Commons lobby. Prime Minister David Cameron said, “History has been kind to Winston Churchill, not because he wrote it, but because he shaped it. He left a Britain more free, more secure, more brave and more proud, and for that we must always be grateful to him.” The BBC is rebroadcasting the original live coverage of Churchill’s funeral today. An estimated 350 million people around the world watched in 1965. See select moments from the funeral here. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin is an Emmy and Peabody award winning producer at the PBS NewsHour. In her two decades at the NewsHour, Baldwin has crisscrossed the US reporting on issues ranging from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan to tsunami preparedness in the Pacific Northwest to the politics of poverty on the campaign trail in North Carolina. Farther afield, Baldwin reported on the problem of sea turtle nest poaching in Costa Rica, the distinctive architecture of Rotterdam, the Netherlands and world renowned landscape artist, Piet Oudolf. @lornabaldwin
When Winston Churchill died 50 years ago at the age of 90, a million people lined the streets of London to watch the funeral cortege pass by. The man who led Britain to victory against Nazi Germany was honored with a state funeral, something very few politicians in Britain are ever given. Today, the boat that carried his coffin along the River Thames in 1965, the Havengore, re-traced the route to mark the 50th anniversary of his funeral. The ‘Havengore’ makes its way along the River Thames, marking the same route it traveled 50 years ago for Winston Churchill’s funeral. Members of Churchill’s family were onboard and traveled along the route, from the Tower of London to Westminster. Across from the Houses of Parliament, a ceremonial wreath was cast into the water by British Army personnel involved in recent conflicts. Churchill’s grandson and a lawmaker himself, Sir Nicholas Soames, walked behind his grandfather’s coffin in 1965 and today was surprised at the outpouring of support from well-wishers who lined the route. “I was astonished at the faces of many, many people who were literally contorted with grief because I think that for the older people my grandfather had been a friend,” Soames said. “He was someone they knew. And he had led the nation at a very difficult time, with them. And they felt part of that and I think his going was definitively the end of an era.” Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1942. Today’s tribute was an opportunity for the dwindling numbers of World War II veterans to pay tribute to their wartime leader. Britain’s current leaders also paid tribute, laying wreaths at the base of a statue of Churchill in the House of Commons lobby. Prime Minister David Cameron said, “History has been kind to Winston Churchill, not because he wrote it, but because he shaped it. He left a Britain more free, more secure, more brave and more proud, and for that we must always be grateful to him.” The BBC is rebroadcasting the original live coverage of Churchill’s funeral today. An estimated 350 million people around the world watched in 1965. See select moments from the funeral here. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now