The Museum of Hoaxes
Flemming-Churchill link?
Posted By:

Jul 29, 2004
 I received a forwarded e-mail from someone. I get these sorts of e-mails all the time, and quite often the authenticity is suspect. But this one I don't have an answer for. Anyone know? The short version goes like this: A boy is saved from death in a bog by a Scottish farmer. The boy's father turns out to be a noblemen, named Churchill, who offers to put the farmer's own son through the best schools as a reward (he wouldn't take cash). Yeah, the sone who was saved was none other than Winston himself. And wouldn't ya know it--the boy who was given the education grew up to be the inventor of penicillin. Final coincidence (or poetic justice): Churchill's life was later saved by...penecillin.


Category: ; Replies: 9

Comments
The Curator
in San Diego
 Member
Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 | 07:02 PM
Dave, I've heard that story before, and I know that it's false. But I can't remember where I read the info that debunked it. I might have to pass this on to my 90-year-old Uncle Rudy who knows where to locate all this kind of info. I'll get back to you.
The Curator
in San Diego
 Member
Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 | 07:07 PM
Dave, actually if you just do a google search for 'penicillin churchill fleming' you'll find lots of sites that debunk this story:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%2Bpenicillin+%2Bchurchill+%2Bfleming&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Dave
Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 | 08:02 PM
Thanks!
Petter Finne
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 | 04:42 AM
I can't utterly de-bunk it, but the version I received says that the farmer's son was about the same age as the nobleman's son.
Winston Churchill was born in 1874, Alexander Flemming was born in 1881, and therefore the two boys would have never have seemed to be about the same age!
Howard Green
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 | 10:02 PM
Dave
These guys are wrong and have no idea what they are talking about. This is quiet a well known story that I have researched extensively. Some of the details are a little vague however the guts of the story is completely True. Drag out the history books and check it out. Dont trust everything you read on the Net.
Bonza
Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 | 03:21 AM
Howard

not wanting to debunk your research, but the people at the Churchill Centre don't agree. Perhaps you can let then have your evidence and they can update their site http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=102
Bert Maverick
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 | 08:29 AM
I like this type of thing, it makes for a good story. This one is no different to most, and for a good site that investigates all these types of things, visit http://www.snopes.com

From Wikipedia -
The popular story of Winston Churchill's father's paying for Fleming's education after Fleming's father saved young Winston from death is false. According to the biography, "Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution" by Kevin Brown, Alexander Fleming is quoted as saying that this was "a wonderful fable". Nor did he save Winston Churchill himself during WWII. Churchill was saved by Lord Moran, using sulphonamides, since he had no experience with penicillin, when Churchill fell ill in Carthage in Tunisia in 1943. The Daily Telegraph and The Morning Post on 21 December 1943 wrote that he had been saved by penicillin. It is probable that, as sulphonamide was a German discovery, and there was a war with Germany, that the patriotic pride in the miracle cure of penicillin had something to do with this error in reporting.
David
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 | 04:20 PM
Re Bonza

I guess they move the page
Churchill Centre and Museum

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/myths/myths/fleming-saved-him-from-drowning

Shame .. it would have made a great real life storry
paul hammond
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 | 05:00 PM
Yes, it would appear that this story is not true. And what a shame, as this story was a corner stone for my belief that our co-operation as a species was the very thing that made us the dominant species- that the survival of the fittest was us humans sticking together.

Given that, has anyone heard of a story like this Flemming-Churchill fable that is actually true?

Note: This thread is located in the Old Forum of the Museum of Hoaxes.