He may have faced down Hitler but the great statesman had trouble facing up to his own hearing loss.

Winston Churchill’s response to his fading hearing was a very familiar and very human reaction. He simply refused to admit it or talk about it. Most of what we know about his struggle comes from the memoirs of his personal physician Lord Moran.

Moran’s first mention of the problem was in 1944 when during a phone conversation a frustrated Churchill declared, “I can’t hear a word you’re saying”. His hearing continued to decline and in 1950 he had his ears tested and was found to have high frequency loss. At some point after that he got a hearing aid.

But he hated wearing it and in 1955 Moran made a poignant observation.

“It does not seem a long time since Winston did all the talking at every meal; now he sits all huddled up in silence; he can no longer hear what is being said, he is outside the round of conversation and not a part of it, though at times, it is true, when there is a burst of laughter, someone will explain to him what it is all about.”

By 1958, Moran notes, “Our combined efforts to get him to use a hearing aid have come to nothing; he would not persevere with any instrument.” But one day, Churchill complained that he was having more trouble than usual following the debates in the House of Commons.

What Churchill didn’t know was that the PA system in Parliament that he relied on was broken that day. But Moran did and it inspired him to have a similar system installed in Churchill’s official residence, likely a microphone attached to an amplifier and a small speaker. Churchill tested it out with his wife Clementine.

“He was able to hear what she said, even when she spoke in a low voice, and was ready to admit that this was a great advance.” After he retired Churchill had a similar system installed in his home.

For more on Churchill’s struggle with hearing loss see Dr. Wayne Staab’s excellent piece in Hearing Health Matters