I’VE not yet seen the film Darkest Hour but look forward to watching it. Gary Oldman deserves his Oscar not just for the incredibly realistic snippets I’ve seen in his portrayal of Churchill, but also for the work put into playing the part.

Getting up when some were just venturing to bed to face three hours in the makeup chair isn’t the lifestyle normally associated with the acting profession.

Churchill, though, intrigues me, which is why I look forward to seeing the movie. I’m old enough to remember watching the funeral procession on television with the gun carriage and coffin.

It’s grainy and black and white but still something I recall as the mood was sombre and palpable even to a young boy. However, like many I grew up in a household where he was more reviled than revered.

Certainly, he was recognised as a great war leader but his sins against the working class, never mind arbitrary actions whether in Ireland or India, tainted his reputation. Respect was given for his huge contribution to the war against fascism but less fond memories were held from before that, for example of the General Strike and other instances.

My mother was more strident in her denunciation, perhaps because she was more outspoken than my father on politics. Perhaps this was because he had served in the Second World War, fighting in North African and Europe. He was a working-class boy from a poor background who had gained a scholarship to university just as war broke out.

Joining the Officer Training Corps at university meant he entered the army as a junior officer, a rank he maintained throughout the war. He was proud of his service in the Royal Artillery. I am proud of it too.

I recall, though, receiving when he died a very kind letter from a friend from military days who said how overjoyed my Dad been when Labour won the General Election in 1945. Apparently, most other officers were astonished, if not angered at the slight to Churchill from his defeat. That held no sway with my father who respected his war leadership but opposed him beyond that.

Those were the views I inherited and I have always held even if they’ve often bemused American friends. From across the Atlantic they view Churchill as a stalwart who saved the UK but they have no knowledge of Tonypandy or Cork, let alone events in the Middle East or colonial India, places where there was infamy in which Churchill was implicated.

They’re as incredulous that he was ousted, as they are when I express a lack of interest about the royal family.

They don’t know tales I was told of threats, though some seem embellished, to have machine gunned strikers. But certainly, he was ruthless against trade unions and strikers with scant sympathy for the poor. That was replicated in actions abroad whether in the Bengal famine or the use of poison gas against Arabs and Kurds. Even to those who had served him well he showed little loyalty. When the Irish Free State was established he ensured that soldiers were marched safely to treaty ports or north to Ulster.

No such arrangements were made for the Royal Irish Constabulary, where he coldly ignored pleas and left some to their fate.

But it was Britain’s darkest hour that he is recalled for and rightly so. It’s doubtful anyone else could have pulled of continuing in the war after the evacuation of Dunkirk. I’ve an old friend who was a confidante of Lord Beaverbrook who, besides being a media mogul, was minister for aviation during the war.

He recounted how Beaverbrook told him how difficult it was for Churchill to win the cabinet round.

Many were for a deal that had been offered by Germany that was to see King George abdicate and head for Canada, replaced by the erstwhile King Edward. The Royal Navy would be surrendered but the colonies would be retained. For many high Tories that was as good as it would get and they wanted to take it.

Fortunately for the world, Churchill remained implacably opposed to surrender, supported by Labour leader Clement Attlee, who saw the round-up of the Left all across Europe. His opposition to Neville Chamberlain, who was damaged after Munich, was also implacable. Churchill this time held firm.

For that we owe him our deepest gratitude. So-called “surrender monkeys” at that time weren’t to Europe Europhile liberals or the radical Left but much of the British establishment.

It’s ironic that it is scions of those who opposed Churchill then who are most strident in supporting Brexit at present. Churchill even offered unification with France to keep that country in the war.

I was also impressed recently when reading the biography of Atlee, whom I greatly admire, and how favourably disposed towards Churchill he was. He was his deputy and should therefore know.

So, I’ll watch the film and pay tribute but I still can’t forget the wider picture.