Sir Winston Churchill’s doctors on the Riviera 1949–1965: Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson (1885–1967) and Dafydd (David) Myrddin Roberts (1906

Abstract

In May 1940, Sir Charles McMoran Wilson (later Lord Moran) was on the instigation of Lord Max Beaverbrook and Brendan Bracken, (both patients, then friends of Wilson) introduced to Winston Churchill. Thereafter, he remained Churchill’s personal physician until Churchill’s death. In his controversial book detailing Winston Churchill’s health, Lord Moran refers briefly to two doctors resident in Monaco, who were involved in the management of Churchill’s declining health from 1949. One was Scottish, Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson and the other Welsh, Dafydd Myrddin Roberts. The military and civilian careers of these doctors are profiled here.

Keywords

Winston Churchill doctors Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson David (Dafydd) Myrddin Roberts

Introduction

After the Second World War, and unanticipated defeat in the 1945 General Election, Winston Churchill (1874–1965) spent much time on the French Riviera either on the western headland of Monaco at Cap d’Ail in Max Beaverbrook’s villa ‘La Capponcina’, or at ‘La Pausa’ above Menton on the Eastern headland, Cap Martin, the villa of Emery Reves, publisher of Churchill’s books on the continent. Here he could relax and paint in the bright Mediterranean sunlight.

Following the war, Sir Charles McMoran Wilson (1882–1977), (knighted in 1938, ennobled Baron Moran 1943, President of the Royal College of Physicians April 1941–April 1950, and Chair of the Standing Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards 1949–1962), continued as Churchill’s personal physician until Churchill’s death.¹ However, when Lord Moran was not immediately available, the local general practitioners were the first to be called. When on the Riviera, these doctors were initially Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson (1885–1967) and subsequently Dafydd (David) Myrddin Roberts (1906–1977).²

The first significant post-war call came on the morning of 24 August 1949. In his first diary entry for an 18-month period, Moran wrote

Dr Gibson telephoned from Monte Carlo this morning: “I think Mr Churchill has had a stroke. I would like you to see him as soon as you can”. When I arrived at the airfield at Nice, Max [Beaverbrook] told me what had happened: “He was playing cards at two o’clock this morning when he got up and, steadying himself with his hands on the table, bent his right leg several times as if it had gone to sleep”. “I’ve got cramp in my arm and leg,” was all he said. He kept closing and opening his right fist. Then he went on playing, but when he woke this morning- it would be about seven o’clock – the cramp was still present. A little later he found he could not write as well as usual. Dr Gibson was called, and he got on to you. It’s a true bill, I am afraid”, Max added after a pause. ³

It was put about that Churchill had caught a chill while bathing, and the real nature of the illness was kept secret.⁴ Lord Moran consistently kept the true nature of Churchill’s illnesses from the press and public, particularly during his time in office up to 1955.⁵

When subsequently asked by Lord Moran to see Winston Churchill, the neurologist Lord Brain (1895–1966) recorded his first encounter with Churchill, in his bedroom at Chartwell on 5 October 1949. Churchill said ‘The next morning my leg was still numb and I sent for the local doctor, a Scotsman’.⁶ The Scottish doctor who attended on 24 August 1949 was Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson.

Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson (1885–1967)

Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson was born on 12 June 1885 in Dysart, Fife, the youngest of four brothers. His father was John Waugh Gibson (1838–1906) – minister, Dysart Parish Church 1865–1906, and his mother Catherine Elizabeth Gibson, formerly Polson (1854–1931). Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson (‘Gibbie’ to his family) (Figure 1) qualified MB ChB from Edinburgh University on 24 July 1908 when he was 23 years old,⁷ and after a competitive examination for a commission,⁸ he entered the Indian Medical Service (IMS) as Lieutenant 31 July 1909, becoming Captain on 31 July 1912.⁹ With declaration of the First World War, he immediately sailed from Southampton to Bombay (11 August 1914–4 September 1914) on His Majesty’s Hospital Ship (HMHS) Dongola to join the 15th Lancers.¹⁰ He served as Adjutant (Captain) on HMHS Syria (25 November 1914–26 November 1915), evacuating casualties in the Gallipoli campaign (25 April 1915–10 January 1916).^11,12

Figure 1.

Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson April 1903 age 17, seven months before starting at Edinburgh University Medical School (courtesy of Tim Everitt).

He served (November 1915–January 1916) with the Indian Expeditionary Force (IEF) ‘E’ (‘E’ Egypt, Sinai, Palestine) and on Australian Military Ship SS Gracchus with the 15th Lancers (January–July 1916). Further IEF ‘D’ (Mesopotamia) service as Senior Medical Officer (SMO) was with the Bushire Force and Officer Commanding (O/C) Number 51 Indian Stationary Hospital (ISH) (July 1916–May 1920).¹³ (Bushire (Bushehr) was the principal port of Persia in the Persian Gulf, almost an island connected to land by a sand causeway, with a British garrison from August 1915, including a squadron of 15th Lancers in the First World War).

As MO at the Staff College, Quetta (July 1920–April 1921), he advanced as Major on 31 January 1921, and his hospital ship experience gained him MD (Honours) in 1921 at Edinburgh University, for his thesis ‘Military Hospital Ships; practical notes for medical officers, on selection, equipment, organisation and administration of a military hospital ship’.¹⁴ Whilst with the Foreign and Political Department (North West Frontier Province), as Agency Surgeon for Tochi Scouts, and Civil Surgeon, Bannu, Waziristan (April 1922–December 1924),¹⁵ he contracted typhoid and was admitted to a hospital in Bannu on 16 May 1923, followed by three months of leave. In England on 30 April 1925 at St Stephen’s Church, Bournemouth, he married Ellen Cromwell Beaver (five years his senior), widow of Arnold Atwood Beaver.^16,17 For the First World War service as Acting Lieutenant Colonel, he received three mentions in dispatches.^18–21

Retiring on 22 December 1926, with the rank Lieutenant Colonel,²² he initially divided his time between the Winter Palace, Monaco (winter), and 18 Harley Street, London W1(summer),²³ but soon lived exclusively at the Winter Palace.^24–26

After the outbreak of the Second World War, he sailed for India on 20 September 1939. After posting as 2nd I/C, IMH Quetta, as Lieutenant Colonel (aged 55), he became officer commanding HMHS Tairea, 25 August 1940, joining the ship in Bombay (Figure 2).²⁷ After the Italian invasion of British Somaliland in August 1940, the port of Kismayu was recaptured by the British on 10 February 1941, and HMHS Tairea subsequently rescued the wounded, for which period of service Herbert Gibson was mentioned in dispatches.²⁸

Figure 2.

His Majesty’s Hospital Ship (HMHS) Tairea attribution statement for IWM non-commercial licence @ IWM (E18375). ‘Registry of Shipping and Seamen: War of 1939–1945; Merchant Shipping Movement Cards. British Ship name: Tairea. Gross Tonnage 7933’. The National Archives – Board of Trade and Successors. Date 1939–1946 Catalogue Ref BT 389/29/104 Image reference 1098 © crown copyright, The National Archives.

In 1943, the ship took Italian Prisoners of War (POWs) to Smyrna (Izmir), (the Turkish port on the Aegean), returning to Alexandria with repatriated commonwealth soldiers.^29,30 Then with the Allied invasion of Sicily (‘Operation Husky’), 10 July 1943, Tairea rescued survivors from her sister hospital ship Talamba when it was bombed and sunk in the Battle of Gela. Following the campaign in North Africa, in October 1943 HMHS Tairea carried injured German POWs from Port Said to Barcelona, to be exchanged for Allied sick and wounded, for return to Alexandria on 3 November 1943. This episode was vividly documented by Joyce Yencken (wife of the British Minister to Madrid) in March 1944. She described boarding the Tairea and wrote

in the smoking room I found the officer in charge, Col Gibson. He told me that notepaper was badly needed, and that games, playing cards, and some reading matter would be very welcome; also fruit and flowers…for the very sick oranges and lemons would be invaluable in providing palatable drinks.³¹

At the conclusion of the war, HMHS Tairea evacuated liberated allied POWs from Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore – the latter to India.

He received five medals for the Second World War service,³² and was released as O/C HMHS Tairea on 2 December 1945 retiring to Monaco once more to the Winter Palace,³³ to practise amongst a predominantly elderly population as reflected in the topics of many of his publications.^34–41 When 20-year-old Scottish swimmer Nancy Riach (1927–1947), competing at the European Swimming Championships, Monte Carlo on 12 September 1947, collapsed and died of an acute neurological condition, Herbert Gibson was one of three doctors who attended her.⁴²

It was two years later that he attended Winston Churchill after his first stroke in 1949.⁴³ We have only Lord Moran’s reference to this, and this may well have been a ‘one off’ encounter between Gibson and Churchill as no other records have been found of the two men meeting. However, Gibson made the diagnosis precisely.

Whilst in London on 3 August 1957, his wife predeceased him. He received the Chevalier Class of the Order of Saint Charles on 18 November 1958, inscribed ‘Deo Juvante’ (with God’s Help),⁴⁴ a reward for service to the State or Prince. He loved food, wine, and the casino. When he visited Tim Everitt’s family in Dundee in 1966, he was already ill with leukaemia,⁴⁵ and died the following year on 29 August 1967 in the Hospital at Monaco. His will⁴⁶ left some furniture, wine cellar of 566 bottles, and £ 1000 to his stepson Robert Atwood Beaver (1906–1975), consultant anaesthetist.⁴⁷ His three nieces were also beneficiaries.

Dafydd Myrddin Roberts (1906–1977)

Dafydd Myrddin Roberts, born in Cardiff on 21 November 1906, was the son of David William Roberts (1873–1940), an assistant school master, and Elizabeth Ann Roberts (1886–1968), of 22 Wellfield Road, Roath, Cardiff.⁴⁸ He attended the Medical School in Cardiff (for pre-clinical studies) and the London Hospital, qualifying BSc (Wales), MRCS, LRCP (London) 1930, and MB BCh (Wales) in 1933. (Whether he chose to undertake clinical studies at the London Hospital, or was ‘forced to go there’ after the ‘lock out’ of clinical students in Cardiff in the session 1928/1929 is not known.) After house posts in medicine, surgery and obstetrics at Cardiff Royal Infirmary (1934–1935), and Senior Resident Surgical Officer at Victoria Hospital, Blackpool,⁴⁹ he married Eileen Vera Roberts on 7 July 1936 at Grange over Sands, then living in Bolton from 1938 to 1943 where his son John David Arthur was born on 22 May 1938. Commissioned in the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 7 February 1941 as Flying Officer Medical Branch RAF Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR), with home postings, he was promoted on 7 February 1942 as Flight Lieutenant, and he relinquished his commission on 5 January 1943 because of ill health.⁵⁰ Whilst District Medical Officer at Poulton-le-Fylde form 1944 to 1949,⁵¹ his daughter Jennifer Jane was born in 1946. After time in Dublin in the early 1950 s,⁵² he moved to the Alpes Maritime, by 1953 living at Villa Sylvie, Cap Fleuri, Cap d’Ail, Monte Carlo.⁵³ His divorce petition in Blackpool became absolute on 27 February 1954.⁵⁴ His mother-in-law Rachel Mary Riley⁵⁵ also moved to Monte Carlo, to look after the children (14 and 6 years old, respectively).

Dr Roberts used David rather than Dafydd, from the time of marriage, but on official registers remained Dafydd Myrddin.⁵⁶ Frequently mistakenly referred to as John Roberts,^57–62 The Times reports⁶³ of his care of Winston Churchill, and nurse Roy Howells⁶⁴ refer correctly to David Roberts. His first contact with Sir Winston Churchill was in 1956. (Winston Churchill had become ‘Sir’ on his appointment as Knight of the Garter in April 1953.) Whilst in office from 1953 to April 1955, Churchill’s visits to Monaco were few, except for a period of recuperation (17–29 September) after the stroke in June 1953. After he retired from office on 5 April 1955, he seems not to have required medical attention whilst at ‘La Capponcina’ (September to November 1955). His next visits were in 1956. Mary Soames quotes the letter of 3 March 1956 from her father Winston to her mother Clementine Churchill from ‘La Pausa’, ‘… nursing a sore throat with aid of Dr Roberts who I think is a good man (I had him last time you will remember)’. The ‘last time’ refers to an earlier visit in January 1956, although there is no record of that attendance. Mary Soames wrote: ‘Dr John Roberts, ex-RAF who had an English practice in Monte Carlo, and who always looked after WSC when he was on the Riviera. Both WSC and CSC liked him very much; Lord Moran was contemptuous of him – and, I suspect, jealous’.⁶⁵ Churchill’s private secretary Anthony Montague Browne (1923–2013) also describes Churchill as attended ‘by a British doctor, Dr Roberts, who was conscientious and prompt’, adding

I don’t think Lord Moran much liked anyone but himself so much as laying a thermometer on his August (sic) Patient, but he did not come out unless summoned and this was infrequent. CSC tried in vain to get Dr Roberts some sort of official recognition, not so much for his attentions to her husband as for those to the British community.⁶⁶

Whatever Lord Moran’s views of general practitioners,⁶⁷ in his communications with Lord Moran, David Roberts for his part was always polite, courteous and completely professional.

Winston wrote to Clementine on 19 September 1956, ‘Dr Roberts has examined me and finds me in very good health (…)’.⁶⁸ When one month later at ‘La Pausa’, Churchill on 20 October fell and lost consciousness for 20 min, Dr Roberts attended and telephoned Lord Moran to advise him of the situation, but as Lord Moran wrote,⁶⁹ Roberts said ‘No, he did not think it was necessary for me to see him’. Subsequently in his letter of 25 October to Lord Moran, Dr Roberts wrote in detail:

As you will know from my telephone conversation with you, Sir Winston has had an attack of cerebral spasm… he lost the use of right leg, right arm, left side of face and Broca’s area. After an injection… of coramine the signs of spasticity passed….⁷⁰

Predictably newspapers reported the indisposition as a ‘cold’ or ‘chill’.⁷¹ Winston and Clementine returned to England on 28 October, and as was often her custom, Clementine sent a letter of gratitude on 3 November 1956 to Dr Roberts:

Since our return, Winston seems really on the whole well. He is being very good about the diet. I want you to know the gratitude I feel for all you have done for him, not only for your professional skill, but for your infinite kindness and patience.⁷²

On 21 January 1957, Winston wrote to Clementine referring to his sore throat being cured by tablets Dr Roberts provided, and his satisfaction with a pill prescribed for sleep after lunch, which Churchill judged far superior to the ‘English version’.⁷³ Churchill’s confidence in David Roberts was emphasised to Clementine a few months later: ‘… Dr Roberts is a vy (sic) nice fellow and he looks me over with a reassuring air which has a beneficial effect’.⁷⁴

When in early 1957 Winston Churchill’s hearing was troublesome, David Roberts arranged an audiogram, and assessment by Jacques Vialle, Chef de Service de Laryngologie in Nice, 19 January 1957. After further correspondence, in December Churchill wrote to David Roberts thanking him very much for what he had done.⁷⁵ Dr Roberts replied to Churchill on 10 December 1957, indicating he was sorry that the hearing aid was not up to expectations, but hoped that Lady Churchill has now fully recovered from her operation, sending them both very best wishes for a happy Christmas and for the coming year.^76,77

On 18 February 1958, at ‘La Pausa’, Churchill developed fever and a cough, and Dr Roberts telephoned Lord Moran, who flew out on 19 February and stayed for two weeks. Pneumonia and pleurisy were mentioned in their first medical bulletin⁷⁸ and subsequent bulletins^79,80 charted slow progress. Lord Evans the Queen’s physician, holidaying on the Riviera from Friday, 21 February, thought the illness could resolve in a few days.⁸¹ But progress was disappointingly slow and on 19 March 1958, David Roberts wrote to Churchill, from Victoria, Monte Carlo, in what could be considered a model of communication between doctor and patient:

Dear Sir Winston,

In the past three weeks you have had two attacks of basal pneumonia, the first with pleurisy, the second without. The second attack was a relapse owing to tiredness of effort. The fertile soil of this type of pneumonia is a wetness of the lower parts of your lungs in which a low grade infection has been able to thrive. From this you will see that in order to avoid another relapse we must wait until your lungs are dry before we can allow you to do too much. The lower part of your left lung is dry this morning, but you must still take care not to do too much. I know that this convalescence is tedious for you, but a lasting result can only be obtained by waiting a little longer before returning to your normal mode of life

D M Roberts.⁸²

For several days, Churchill had to stay indoors and David Roberts saw him twice daily, up to 1 h in the morning and afternoon.⁸³ When Churchill became jaundiced, Lord Moran was contacted on 23 March 1958, who spoke to Dr Roberts and Lady Churchill and returned to Nice the next day. Dr David Roberts examined Winston Churchill on 2 April and judged him fit to fly back to London. During this worrying episode, Clementine sent a handwritten note dated 2 April 1958, to Mrs Riley, Roberts’ mother-in-law, which read: ‘We are so grateful to Doctor Roberts, not only for his great professional skill, but for his kindness & understanding. He has been wonderful in getting my Husband through this troublesome and dangerous illness’.⁸⁴ She also wrote by telegram to David Roberts ‘Winston stood the journey very well and is in good spirits Thank you so much for all you have done’.⁸⁵

At the age of 84, Sir Winston still loved to swim, even after the pneumonia, but getting out of the water was potentially risky. His staff would then ask Dr Roberts to dissuade Sir Winston from bathing.⁸⁶ Around this time, David Roberts wrote to Lord Moran regarding Churchill’s toothache and the extraction of the upper left second molar.⁸⁷

Early in their relationship, Winston Churchill expressed gratitude to David Roberts by presenting him with First Editions of the volumes of a History of the English Speaking Peoples, Volumes I and II in Christmas 1956, and later Volume III, and Volume IV in March 1958 inscribed ‘David Myrddin Roberts from Winston S Churchill’.⁸⁸ When Churchill at the age of 87 fell at Hôtel de Paris, Monte Carlo on 28 June 1962, Roy Howells summoned Dr Roberts from Cap d’Ail two miles away. David Roberts diagnosed Sir Winston’s fractured leg, arranged a portable X-ray which confirmed the femoral fracture, to which Dr Roberts applied a splint. Churchill was moved to the Princess Grace Clinic, and Professor Chatelain under anaesthetic set the bone, encasing the left leg in plaster.⁸⁹ Anthony Montague Browne graphically describes the commotion around Churchill thus: ‘Loud was the fury of the local doctors, with the notable exception of Dr Roberts’.⁹⁰ Winston Churchill was flown home 29 June for definitive surgery, and in the small ambulance that drove the 13 miles of tortuous Riviera road to Nice airport, ‘Dr Roberts sat in the back with the patient and I sat in front with the driver’.⁹¹ Three days later, Clemmie sent Roberts a telegram ‘Thank you Dear Doctor Roberts for all your skill and care am thankful that my husband is making good progress’.⁹²

In a post-script to this incident, Montague Browne wrote to Churchill: ‘The three doctors who looked after you when you broke your leg (other than Dr Roberts) have asked if they may have one cigar each to remind them of the occasion !’.⁹³ In his final telegram of 3 December 1964 to David Roberts, Winston Churchill wrote (clearly relating to birthday greetings sent by David Roberts for Churchill’s ninetieth birthday on 30 November), ‘Thank you so much all good wishes. Winston’.⁹⁴ Several weeks later, in January 1965 Winston Churchill died after a major stroke, and David Roberts attended Sir Winston Churchill’s State Funeral in St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday, 30 January 1965. David Roberts continued to practice in Monaco at Le Victoria, and as Physician at Princess Grace Hospital.⁹⁵ He returned to England in the 1970s, and although it is not known where he lived for the following years, he died on 28 July 1977 (six months after the death of Lord Moran) at the Querns Hospital Cirencester of Bronchopneumonia, Parkinsonism and cerebrovascular disease.

This account has been possible by a study of publically available documents. No record has been found of these doctors breaching their duty of doctor–patient confidentiality, other than in formal press bulletins agreed by Winston Churchill.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

These biographies have been made possible by the generous help I have received from various sources. Rona Morrison, Centre for Research Collections, Edinburgh University Library, Main Library, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LJ kindly provided Herbert Gibson’s medical school records (EUA/1NI/ADS/STA/8). Tim Everitt, great nephew of Herbert Gibson, has been very generous in giving details of the Gibson family and Herbert Gibson specifically, and provided the photograph of Herbert Gibson. I am grateful for the help of Jesse Armstrong, Learning and Teaching Technology Adviser, Corporate Information and Computing Services, University of Sheffield for enhancing the clarity of . The staff of the British Library provided those service records for Herbert Gibson. The staff of the Churchill Archives, Churchill College, Cambridge have helped greatly in identifying correspondence relating to Dr David Roberts. POM Harrington of Peter Harrington Booksellers, London generously provided information attached to the four volume book gift from Winston Churchill to David Roberts.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author biography

Richard W Griffiths, MS, FRCS, held the post of Consultant Reconstructive Plastic Surgeon at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, and is now retired and has an interest in medical history and genealogy.

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11.

ibid., Appendix C, p.166, HMHS Syria, service 2 October 1914–10 February 1920.

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HMHS Syria served as a hospital ship in Mesopotamia with accommodation for 397 casualties.

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23.

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Registered Practitioners Resident Abroad, Herbert Robt Burnett Gibson. The medical directory. London, UK: J & A Churchill Ltd, 1938, p.1978.

26.

Tim Everitt (2015, personal communication). His relocation to Monaco possibly reflecting his preference for hot climates; he also spoke fluent French; also his wife may have been acquainted with Monaco, prior to 1924 when her first husband died there.

27.

Plumridge, op. cit.(Note 10) Appendix E, p.171, SS Tairea in 1940 converted into Hospital Ship No 35 (506 beds, 120 medical staff, 175 crew).

28.

Mentioned in Recognition of Distinguished Services in the Middle East, during the period February 1941–July 1941, Supplement to the London Gazette, 30 December 1941, p.7356.

29.

Repatriated war prisoners. Arrival in Alexandria. The Times, 24 April 1943, p.4.

30.

British and Italian prisoners. Another exchange. The Times, 11 May 1943, p.3.

31.

Yencken J. An exchange of prisoners of war in Spain. Australian Diplomat’s wife describes a very human scene in Barcelona. The Argus (Melbourne, Vic: 1848–1957), 4 March 1944, Supplement, p.3.

32.

Everitt, op. cit. (Note 26), 1939–1945 Star with rank Lt- Col, Africa Star with 8th Army Bar clasp with rank Lt- Col, Italy Star rank Lt- Col, Defence medal rank Lt- Col, War Medal 1939–1945 with oak-leaf (mentioned in dispatches) rank Lt -Col. All medals marked IMS.

33.

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41.

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42.

Nancy Riach’s death may not be due to paralysis. Aberdeen Journal, 16 September 1947, p.4.

43.

Moran, op. cit (Note 2), p.357.

44.

Archives Palais Princier de Monaco (2015, personal communication).

45.

Everitt, op. cit. (Note 26).

46.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, Will and Probate, Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson.

47.

Anonymous. Dr RA Beaver. BMJ 1975; 3: 103–103.

48.

1911 census, England and Wales, The National Archives.

49.

The Provinces, Dafydd Myrddin Roberts. The medical directory. London, UK: J & A Churchill Ltd, 1938, p.1127.

50.

Dafydd Myrddin Roberts. Service Record, RAF Disclosures, Trenchard Hall, RAF Cranwell.

51.

The Provinces, Dafydd Myrddin Roberts. The medical directory. London, UK: J & A Churchill Ltd, 1946, p.1127.

52.

Dafydd Myrddin Roberts, 14 The Rise, Mount Merrion, Dublin. The medical register. London, UK: General Medical Council, 1952, p.1689.

53.

Dafydd Myrddin Roberts. Villa Sylvie, Cap Fleuri, Cap d'Ail, Alpes Maritime, The medical register. London, UK: General Medical Council, 1953, p.1725.

54.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. Divorce decree absolute 27 February 1954 Blackpool County Court Records (No: 53 D 90).

55.

She died on 16 January 1969 at Princesse Grace Hospital, Monaco.

56.

The Medical Register and Medical Directory.

57.

Moran, op. cit. (Note 2), p.859.

58.

Gilbert

. Winston S Churchill. Never Despair Vol VIII 1945–1965, London, UK: Minerva, 1990, pp. 485, 1424.

59.

Lovell, op. cit. (Note 1), p.355.

60.

Brain, op. cit. (Note 6), p.9.

61.

Soames

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62.

Beasley

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63.

Bulletin on Sir W. Churchill. The Times, 20 February 1958, p.8.

64.

Howells

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65.

Soames, op. cit. (Note 61), p.605.

66.

Browne

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67.

Lovell, op. cit. (Note 1), pp.361–362.

68.

Gilbert, op. cit. (Note 58), p.1211.

69.

Moran, op. cit. (Note 2), pp.739–740.

70.

Churchill Archives, CHUR 1/54, image 52, David Roberts to Lord Moran 25 October 1956.

71.

Sir Winston Churchill “going on well”. The Times, 22 October 1956, p.8.

72.

Churchill Archives, CHUR 1/149, image 23, Clementine Churchill to Dr Roberts, 3 November 1956.

73.

Gilbert, op. cit. (Note 58), p.1230.

74.

Ibid., p.1243.

75.

CHUR 2/530 A-B ,image 59, Winston Churchill to Dr Roberts, 5 December 1957.

76.

CHUR 2/530 A-B, images 57/58, Dr Roberts to Winston Churchill, 10 December 1957.

77.

Invalids. Lady Churchill has had a minor operation to her right foot, and is recovering in a London hospital. The Times, 4 November 1957, p.10.

78.

Op. cit. (Note 63). Bulletin on Sir W. Churchill “Pneumonia at base of lung”. The Times, 20 February 1958, p.8.

79.

Sir W. Churchill gains strength. Satisfactory progress. The Times, 26 February 1958, p.8.

80.

Sir W. Churchill s progress. No more bulletins. The Times, 27 February 1958, p.8.

81.

Op. cit. (Note 79), Lord Evans comments.

82.

Churchill Archives, CHUR 2/530 A-B, image 48/49, David Roberts to Winston Churchill 19 March 1958.

83.

Sir

. Churchill progressing doctor’s visits after relapse. The Times. 24 March 1958, p.8.

84.

Harrington POM (2015, personal communication) handwritten letter from Clementine Churchill to Mrs Riley, David Roberts’s mother in law, 2 April 1958.

85.

CHUR 1/149, image 24, Telegram Clementine Churchill to Dr Roberts, 3 April 1958.

86.

Howells, op. cit. (Note 64), p.30.

87.

CHUR 1/149, image 30, undated, refers to extraction left second upper molar tooth.

88.

Harrington POM (2015, personal communication). In 2014, these volumes came on the market and were sold by David Roberts’ son John David Arthur Roberts. The books were accompanied by three Christmas cards, from Winston and Clementine, with paintings by Churchill, one of them signed by Clemmie.

89.

Sir Winston Churchill to Fly Home. Condition good last night. Thigh operation in Monaco. “Resistance is Churchillian”. The Times, 29 June 1962.

90.

Browne, op. cit. (Note 66), p.312.

91.

Howells, op. cit. (Note 64), p.91.

92.

Harrington POM (2015, personal communication), Telegram from Clementine Churchill to David Roberts June/July 1962.

93.

CHUR 1/149, image 25, Anthony Montague Browne to Winston Churchill 20 April 1963 – cigars but not Dr Roberts.

94.

Harrington POM (2015, personal communication), Telegram Winston Churchill to David Roberts, 3 December 1964.

95.

Practitioners Resident Abroad, Dafydd Myrddin Roberts. The medical directory, Part 2 M-Z. London, UK: J & A Churchill Ltd, 1969, p.1616, Le Westmacott, 8 Rue Bellevue MC, M, Phys Princess Grace Hospital, Monaco.

Sir Winston Churchill’s doctors on the Riviera 1949–1965: Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson (1885–1967) and Dafydd (David) Myrddin Roberts (1906–1977)

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Herbert Robert Burnett Gibson (1885–1967)

Dafydd Myrddin Roberts (1906–1977)

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

Author biography

References