17. Churchill was re-examined by physicians after his return to London
When Churchill returned to London Dr. John Parkinson examined the 67-year old Prime Minister, giving him a full battery of the then available tests, in the presence of Dr. Wilson. His findings did not support the diagnosis than Churchill had a cardiopulmonary event in the White House. Nor did his findings support a diagnosis of angina. So, what had happened the night of December 26 in the White House? Several possibilities have been proposed in the years since, but Churchill never had another such attack. He came to believe he had strained a muscle overexerting himself in an attempt to open the window. Dr. Wilson remained firmly of the opinion he had suffered a mild heart attack, and he did not record Dr. Parkinson’s findings in the medical diary he kept regarding his patient. After Churchill’s death, the “fact” he had suffered a heart attack in 1941 emerged.
Churchill’s doctors did advise him to slow down. Shortly after his return to London, he began planning several other trips; to India to meet with Chiang Kai-Shek, and to Cairo, to address the situation regarding the British troops in the Middle East. In March he confided to Anthony Eden that he was considering a trip to Teheran, as it was then spelled, in order to meet with Joseph Stalin. He mentioned that he may consider going all the way to Moscow should Stalin hesitate to leave Russia during the critical counterstrikes that Spring against the German Army. Far from slowing down, Churchill increased his workload, entering into the detailed planning for the proposed invasion of North Africa, designated Operation Torch by the Combined Chiefs of Staff. And he maintained his extensive correspondence with FDR in Washington.