By Winston Churchill, as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II, played a crucial role in rallying the British people with his inspiring speeches and unwavering resolve. His famous speeches, such as “We shall fight on the beaches” and “Their finest hour,” conveyed a sense of determination and unity in the face of adversity and carried on Britain, and the world, as they faced the Nazi onslaught.
Churchill’s leadership and strategic acumen were instrumental in navigating the challenges of the war and fostering international alliances against the Axis powers.
And now you could be the proud owner of something near and dear to the great leader. His teeth.
Churchill, Britain’s prime minister during World War II, had several sets of upper dentures that were specifically constructed to maintain his natural lisp and were mounted on gold, according to the Cotswold Auction Company, which is holding the sale in Cheltenham on February 6, writes CNN.
After losing several teeth while still in his 20s, Churchill carried two sets of the dentures with him all the time, allowing him to make the rousing speeches for which he was so famous.
This set was probably made at the start of World War II, the auction house said, and “must be among the most unusual items we have ever sold,” director Liz Poole added in a statement.
“According to Nigel Cudlipp, his father said he could always tell how the war was going from the distance Winston hurled the teeth,” Andrew Bullock of Keys auction house in Aylsham, eastern England, told CNN in 2010. “They were prone to breaking, especially when Churchill got a bit angry.”
According to the BBC, Churchill likely used the dentures as he delivered many of his rousing speeches, such as his “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” address in June 1940 after the fall of France.
“Churchill’s false teeth must be among the most unusual items we have ever sold,” Liz Poole, director of the auction house, told British news service.
Next month’s auction will also show other World War II artifacts, including the microphone Churchill used to declare the war’s end and a Battle of Britain Book of Heroes signed by over 100 pilots of the Royal Air Force.
The Messenger reports that a “second pair of Winston Churchill’s dentures is currently in the possession of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London, as reported by the auction house. It is also believed that another set was buried with Churchill.”
