Churchill's Last Surviving Child Dies

Mary Soames passes just ahead of 70th anniversary of D-Day
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 2, 2014 1:03 AM CDT
Churchill's Last Surviving Child Dies
In this Friday, March 3, 2006 photo, Lady Mary Soames, the youngest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, listens to a speaker at a forum at the Westminster campus in Fulton, Mo.    (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson, File)

Mary Soames, the last surviving child of British World War II leader Winston Churchill, has died. She was 91. "She was a distinguished writer and led a distinguished life, with her service in the war, and is part of that generation which is passing," her son, Nicholas Soames, said yesterday. He said it was "extraordinary timing" that Churchill's last remaining child died just before the 70th anniversary of D-Day, which falls on June 6. "It is the great swing of history," he said.

Born Sept. 15, 1922, Mary Soames was the youngest of five children of Churchill and his wife, Clementine. As her father led Britain's fight against Nazi Germany during World War II, she joined first the Red Cross and later military units. She served in London, Belgium, and Germany with anti-aircraft batteries of the army's Auxiliary Territorial Service. She also accompanied her father on several overseas journeys, including the postwar planning conference in Potsdam, Germany, attended by US President Harry S. Truman and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. (More Winston Churchill stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X