Winston Churchill's secret battle after WWII victory - to breed tropical fish at his Chartwell country home

A letter by Winston Churchill has revealed his frustrated attempts at breeding tropical fish at his Chartwell country home just as he was dealing with the start of the Cold War after Britain's victory in WWII.

One would assume that in August 1951 the great wartime leader's mind would be on the forthcoming general election and the increasingly frosty relations with Soviet Russia.

But at the time of writing Churchill was preoccupied with a more domestic issue - the relations between Golly and Cleopatra, his new Siamese Fighting fish.

He hoped the couple would successfully breed in one of several tanks he kept at Chartwell, his country home in Kent.

But, in his letter to Ronald Whitwell, a distributor of tropical fish, he told how he had to give up as Cleopatra played hard to get with Golly.

In the letter dated August 8, 1951, he thanks Mr Whitwell for his latest supply of ‘the most interesting selection of fish’.

He writes: 'The Siamese Fighters, Golly and Cleopatra, both had three days together, but she remained coy, protected in her grove, and would not come out under the nest he had made. 

'I have therefore returned them to their separate apartments and will have another try soon.

'Ought the water in which he made his nest to be changed, or can it be used again?'

However, Churchill had more luck with the Black Molly fish Mr Whitwell had also sent him.

They reproduced at such a rate that Churchill joked he and wife Clementine would have to move out soon.

The letter reads: 'The Black Mollies are breeding at so great a rate and the other children are growing up so fast that we shall soon have to move out on to the lawn. 

'You will I hope let me remind you that I specially asked you to bill me for the fish you sent. 

'I do hope you will do this because I should feel free to ask for more when I wanted them.'

Churchill was a great lover of pets and animals and before the Second World War he started keeping thousands of goldfish in the garden ponds at Chartwell.

His interest in aquarium fish grew when a boy gave him some Black Mollies as a birthday present.

Mr Whitwell, who ran fish wholesalers R J Whitwell of West Bergholt, Essex, regularly supplied him with warm water specimens.

As a thank you, Churchill gave him one of his Cuban cigars which remains to this day unopened and in its original plastic wrapping.

Now the two page signed letter and the La Aroma de Cuba cigar have been made available for sale for the first time by the late Mr Whitwell’s nephew.

The items are are being sold by auctioneers TW Gaze of Diss, Norfolk on April 18 and are expected to sell for £2,500.

Robert Henshilwood, books and amphemera valuer at TW Gaze, said: 'The letter is a great insight into one of Churchill’s many and varied interests and is quite amusing showing his characteristic wit and humour.

'For me it also serves to illustrate his dynamism as a person, with all his responsibilities and all that he achieved as a leader and a statesman, I find it staggering that he was also able to pursue his interests such as this with great vigour and energy, he really is incomparable.'

In a letter of provenance that came with the items, Mr Whitwell's nephew said: 'This Churchill letter and cigar belonged to my uncle who owned a tropical fish business.

'One day he received a phone call from Sir Winston Churchill’s office asking if he would like to pop over to Chartwell to discuss and give advice on how to keep tropical and freshwater fish.

'My uncle duly went to Chartwell, met Sir Winston Churchill and was asked if he would like to stay the night at Chartwell to talk some more.

'Before my uncle left the next morning, Sir Winston Churchill gave him a cigar "to smoke on the way home" but my uncle kept it as a keepsake of his visit.

'A few weeks later my uncle received an order for some fish which he duly sent and then he received the letter from Sir Winston Churchill asking him to invoice him for the fish.'