[The_Media_never_lie]

Churchill's quote on the three traditions of the Royal Navy: "rum, buggery, and the lash".

Wasn't Churchill an Army guy? Should he be believed?

[JasonC]

Before WW I, Churchill was a cavalry officer, and served in Afghanistan, Sudan, and South Africa. After the Boer war, he was elected to Parliament and resigned his commission. During WW I, Churchill was in the cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty - like the secretary of the navy over here. He was forced from that office after the Dardenelles invasion attempt failed. He promptly volunteered from the western front, where he rose to command an infantry brigade by the end of the war. In the interwar years he had some government posts in the 20s, but spent the 30s as a backbencher. Then the war he had long predicted broke out, and he was invited into the government. He was minister of war early in WW II, then became Prime Minister when Chamberlain resigned after the fall of France. Churchill signed his cables to FDR "former naval person".