On his arrival in Durban in December 1899, Churchill was hailed a war hero. His new fame allowed him to override the objections of the War Office and he continued to assume the dual role of officer – with a local volunteer unit, the South African Light Horse – and war correspondent. For the next six months, he encountered fire, took part in the bloody and unsuccessful battle of Spion Kop in January 1900 and, as the war turned in Britain’s favour, was present at the relief of Ladysmith and the occupation of Pretoria. Returning to England in July 1900, Churchill was feted on the streets of Oldham. Having been defeated there in the by-election of 1899, he now prepared to contest the seat again as a celebrity. Now a well-known and celebrated figure, he won a seat in the next election and was elected to the House of Commons, for the Conservatives, in October 1900 just before his twenty-sixth birthday. Victory was followed by a speaking tour of the United Kingdom and North America. Although he was of course to return to the front lines of war in later life, his youthful career as a soldier was over.

Breakfast cereals, self-raising flour, yeast, baking powder, jelly, custard powder, lentils, pickles, margarine and dried vegetables were all 'invented' during the twentieth century.

In 1922, Churchill found himself out of Parliament for the first time in twenty-two years, after losing his seat in the General Election. He retired to the South of France to take up writing but couldn't stay away from politics for long.

World War II saw the rationing re-introduced to Britain and, as the war progressed, food shortages became even more severe. Shortages in this period saw creative inventions such as carrot jam and also lead to spam becoming an iconic wartime symbol.

copyright: IWM...

Statue of Churchill by Ivor Roberts-Jones in Nám?stí W Churchilla (Winston Churchill Square), behind the main train station in Prague, Czech Republic copyright: Niels Bjerre...

This document from the Churchill Archives is Churchill’s commission as a 2nd Lieutenant It is signed by Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, Secretary of State for War in the 1892–95 Liberal government...

A postcard, titled ‘Offensive against Antwerp’ depicting the scene on 8 October 1914 Private collection of Wolfgang Sauber copyright: By Anonymous (private collection of Wolfgang Sauber (Xenophon)) [Public domain or...

Churchill ‘during one of his darkest hours’, 1916, by Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, oil on canvas copyright: Lent by the Churchill Chattels Trust; Image National Portrait Gallery, London...