A goodly company had assembled at the Soviet Embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens. Winston Churchill's Clemmie was there, ageless and bright-eyed, looking and listening for her husband. Sir Archibald Sinclair, Britain's Air Secretary, beamed at little Ivan Maisky, the Soviet Union's bearded Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, the most popular foreigner in England. Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, grim as always, and Air Marshal Sir William Sholto Douglas had come to acknowledge a Soviet tribute to the R.A.F.
Mr. Maisky did not let them off with a tribute. He duly presented the U.S.S.R.'s second highest decoration, the Order...
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