June 29, 1962 - Sir Winston Churchill (pictured arriving in London early this morning) underwent a successful operation today to mend his broken left thigh. A bulletin issued at Middlesex Hospital in London stated: “The fixation of the fracture of the femur was carried out this evening successfully, and Sir Winston’s condition after the operation is satisfactory.” The operation began at 6:10 p.m. It lasted about an hour. Brig. G.P. Hardy-Roberts, the superintendent of the hospital, said that when Sir Winston came out of the anesthetic “he would fall into a natural sleep.” On his arrival at London Airport in a Royal Force Comet this afternoon, Sir Winston held aloft his first two fingers in the “V” sign he made famous in World War II. When he was carried on a stretcher from the ambulance to the hospital, a crowd of about 600, cheering and shouting, broke through police lines to catch a glimpse of Britain’s wartime Prime Minister.
