During the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made an unusual request to Australia: he wanted a live platypus. The creature, named Winston, died just two days before arriving in England in 1943 under disputed circumstances. However, recent research reveals that this was not Churchill's first encounter with a platypus; a stuffed specimen named Splash had previously sat on his desk.
Associate Professor Nancy Cushing, an environmental history specialist at the University of Newcastle, describes the connection as 'weirdly compelling'. Splash was the first platypus successfully kept in captivity in Melbourne, cared for by Robert Eadie at Healesville Sanctuary. Cushing notes that without Splash, the attempt to send Winston would not have been possible, as Eadie's work defined how to care for platypuses in captivity.
Churchill, known for his menagerie of kangaroos and black swans, asked for half a dozen platypuses in 1943. The request was labelled 'magnificently idiotic' by zoo owner Gerald Durrell. Monotremes, which include platypuses and echidnas, are egg-laying mammals with duck-like bills and webbed feet, so unusual that early European scientists thought they were hoaxes.
Academics Cushing and Kevin Markwell argue in their 2009 paper that fulfilling Churchill's request was motivated by a desire to secure his 'personal affection' towards Australia, which felt abandoned by Britain during the war. The successful transfer would have boosted morale and reminded Londoners of their Australian allies.
David Fleay, a pioneering Australian conservationist, was tasked with capturing the platypuses. He initially resisted sending six but eventually caught one, named Winston, and built a special travelling enclosure with burrows and a swimming tank. Fleay's son, Stephen, recalls his father's dedication, saying, 'He was completely, completely devoted to the animal.' The mission was kept secret at the time.
