One of the many things that Sir Winston Churchill failed to mention in his many published works was that, not only was he a talented amateur painter, but that he also had a profitable side line as a tattoo artist.
Yet to be released documents at the National Archives show that in the dark days of the 1917 U boat campaign, Winston would, by prior arrangement, tattoo sailor's wives in the basement of the Admiralty building for a fee of 2/- or a half bottle of brandy.
It soon became common knowledge in both Chatham and Portsmouth, that wives were coming back from London with unusual souvenirs in the shape of fouled anchors or dagger pierced hearts on their forearms. As so often happens with sensational rumours, it wasn't long before the murkier denizens of Fleet Street got hold of the story. The Daily Sketch arranged a classic sting involving a spurned bar maid from the Sailor's Rest in Chatham. They managed to obtain a photograph of our future Prime minister tattooing, Gott Mitt Uns on the unfortunate lady's upper torso and it is this photograph that you can see in the original post.
The whole sordid affair was known to the then Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who ordered a press cover up in exchange for Winston's silence on one or two foibles of his own.
Plus Ca Change.
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