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In this extract from the series Report from Britain, writer and Independent MP Alan Herbert remembers his encounters with Churchill in Parliament and gives examples of the prime minister's fine way with words and mastery of badinage.

One example Herbert recalls is of Churchill's comment about his own, controversial, maiden speech in Parliament: "Call that a maiden speech? It was a brazen hussy of a speech."

Alan Herbert wrote a novel, The Secret Battle, which was published in 1919 and told the story of a Gallipoli soldier's nervous breakdown and execution for cowardice. The book enjoyed lasting acclaim and is said to have led to reforms in court martial procedures. Winston Churchill wrote the introduction for a later edition of the work.

From the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Archives. Originally broadcast 05 October 1954.