That was Randolph Churchill , at some stage the Chancellor of the Exchequer ( the UK ’ s Minister of Finance ). And Randolph ’ s son ? Sir Winston Churchill , of course , who would become the Prime Minister of Britain , twice .
If the story concluded here , it would already be a captivating tale . However , there is one more twist that completes the narrative . The story continues and , years later during World War II , penicillin saves Churchill ’ s life when he falls seriously ill .
Is it not fascinating how a single act of kindness can ripple through history , saving so many lives and connecting individuals in unexpected ways ?
Admittedly , historians have disputed for many years whether this story is fact or fiction with many concluding that it is indeed fiction , for a few reasons :
• There is no account of Sir Winston Churchill almost drowning in Scotland when he was a child . ( There is the story of him having to swim the “ mighty Apies ” river in Pretoria after escaping from captivity during the Anglo Boer War but it is highly unlikely that he almost
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We do not know how the good that we do today might come back to bless us in future .
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drowned in the process . What is true is that he did escape ( from the State Model School in what is now Pretoria CBD ), fled north and crossed the river . However , the Apies river was most likely not in flood at the time and Churchill probably waded through !)
• There is no record of Lord Randolph paying for Alexander ’ s education .
• There is also no evidence that Churchill received penicillin for any of his wartime sicknesses . He was treated for very serious pneumonia in 1943 but with “ M & B ”, a short name for sulfadiazine produced by May and Baker Pharmaceuticals . Typically , Churchill found that the most agreeable way of taking the drug was with whisky or brandy !
What should be noted is that in the 1930s , Fleming temporarily focussed his work on prontosil over penicillin . The tweaking of the prontosil formula led to the development of M & B in 1938 . Hence , the story may have a grain of truth after all ! It is also documented that Churchill consulted with Sir Alexander Fleming in 1946 about an infection that had apparently resisted penicillin . So there was a link between the two gents .
Historians trace the story ’ s first appearance to the December 1944 issue of the general interest magazine Coronet . The article , titled “ Dr . Lifesaver ”, was written by Arthur Gladstone Keeney , an American journalist who served in the Office of War Information during World War II .
So , is the story fact or fiction ? Of course , we wish it to be true ! Whether it is true or not , what is fact , is that Churchill and Fleming both saved many lives . Of course , as a war leader , one can argue that Churchill also sent many to their deaths . But overall , he saved the world from great evil . If you choose to believe the altruistic account , I cannot blame you !
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