No, I had no idea Churchill did that, Tink...but I did know about the significance of crossing the Rhine in 1945, because one of my good friends in Iowa was there!
At the old folks' apt. where I resided for four years, there were many WWII veterans, and I cherished the friendship with each of them. One of my very best friends was Billy, who received a knee injury on that campaign crossing the Rhine. The old injury bothered him a great deal in Iowa, but it had not kept him from active duty in Korea! He died in spring 2016; I don't think any of the wonderful veterans I knew are still alive now...but I remember that Joe had actually fought in three wars -- WWII (Africa), Korea, and a touch of Vietnam. When I knew him in his 90's, the army still requested his guest lectures, teaching young military inductees.
Kenny was in the Navy. And from him I learned about sending unarmed sailors onto beachheads about to be invaded by American troops, to clear the way and make the beaches as safe as possible for the soldiers. Extremely dangerous, many sailors were killed on that duty. Kenny's ship had been broken up for scrap metal after the war, but I was able to find a photo of it on my computer, and I printed it off and gave it to him, a cherished memento for him.
And Hank -- he had open sores of skin cancer on his head, because of duty in the tropics, I think he was at airfields, where you never stopped for your hat; you just ran out to help the planes as quickly as ever you could.
Anyway, when I was in Iowa we always had wonderful celebrations on Veterans' Day, and I am so glad for those memories now.