Sir Winston Churchill died 50 years ago, on 24 January 1965. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, Churchill served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.
IBTimes UK takes a pictorial look at the life of one of our Greatest Britons.
Winston is pictured in 1881 aged 7, and as a Harrow schoolboy in 1889Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesLeft: Churchill in the uniform of the Fourth Queen's Own Hussars in 1895 at the age of 19, when he left the Royal Military College in Sandhurst, as a second lieutenant. Right: 1898: Churchill as a war correspondent for the Morning Post in South Africa in 1898Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesLeft: Winston Churchill (right) with other prisoners after he was captured during the Second Boer War in South Africa. Right: A wanted poster issued after he escaped from a POW camp in PretoriaHulton Archive/Getty Images1908: Winston Churchill with his fiancee Clementine, at the time of their engagementHulton Archive/Getty Images3 January 1911: Winston Churchill observes the Siege of Sidney Street. Hundreds of heavily-armed City and Metropolitan police fought a pitched battle against two anarchists in Stepney, London, following an armed robbery in December 1910. The Siege ended with the deaths of two members of a politically motivated gang of burglars, three policemen and a firefighter, and sparked a major political row over the involvement of the Home Secretary, Winston ChurchillHulton Archive/Getty ImagesCirca 1914, just before World War I: Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, in flying helmet, stands beside an early army biplaneAFPBudget Day 1927: Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill, on his way from 11 Downing Street to present his Budget to the House of CommonsFox Photos/Getty Images10 October 1932: Winston Churchill is carried on a stretcher out of a nursing home past a group of well-wishers, following his return from America where he was involved in a motor accidentHulton Archive/Getty Images3 September 1939: Winston Churchill arrives at the Admiralty at the start of World War II to begin his second term as First Lord of the AdmiraltyCentral Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images10 May 1940: Winston Churchill leaves a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street after his appointment as prime minister. With him are Air Minister Sir Kingsley Wood and Foreign Secretary Anthony EdenH. F. Davis/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images12 June 1944: Winston Churchill lights a cigar in the back of a jeep while touring the Normandy beaches with General MontgomeryImperial War Museums1944: General Dwight Eisenhower, allied commander-in-chief of second front forces organising in Britain, General Harold Alexander, allied commander-in-chief in Italy, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, wearing a dressing gown while recovering from an illness, meet somewhere in the Mediterranean areaUnited States Library of Congress11 November 1944: Winston Churchill and General Charles de Gaulle walk down the Avenue des Champs-Elysee in Paris during the French Armistice Day paradeImperial War MuseumsFebruary 1945: Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin pose at the Yalta Conference, a meeting to discuss the reorganisation of post-war EuropeHulton Archive/Getty Images5 March 1945: Prime Minister Winston Churchill chalks the message "A Present for Hitler" onto a shell which he then fired from a 9.2mm gun at the eastern edge of Goch, GermanyImperial War Museums8 May 1945: Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the crowds from the balcony of the Ministry of Health in Whitehall on VE Day. From left to right, Ernest Bevin, Churchill, Sir John Anderson, Lord Woolton and Herbert MorrisonCentral Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images1 July 1945: During his visit to a conquered Berlin, Winston Churchill sits on one of the damaged chairs from Hitler's bunkerFred Ramage/Keystone/Getty Images26 July 1945: Prime Minister Winston Churchill steps into his car at the rear of Downing Street on his way to hand in his resignation to King George VIKeystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images1 October 1946: Winston Churchill paints a landscape beside Lake GenevaFox Photos/Getty ImagesCirca 1950: Sir Winston Churchill at the controls of an aeroplaneKeystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images26 October 1951: Winston Churchill, accompanied by Lady Clementine, gives his famous 'V for victory' sign after hearing the results of a poll returning him as MP in the general electionJ. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images1 June 1954: Roger Bannister shakes hands with Prime Minister Winston Churchill outside Downing Street, as fellow runners Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway look onCentral Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images5 April 1955: Winston Churchill, the Conservative prime minister, gives the V-sign as he leaves No 10 Downing Street for the last timeKeystone/Getty Images30 July 1964: Sir Winston Churchill leaves London for his country home, Chartwell in KentJohn Waterman/Fox Photos/Getty Images29 November 1964: Former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and his wife Lady Clementine Churchill celebrate his 90th birthday at their home in Hyde Park, LondonTerry Fincher/Express/Getty Images30 January 1965: Dignitaries attend Sir Winston Churchill's funeral ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral in LondonAFP
