During World War Ⅱ, John Colville served as Winston Churchill's private secretary. He gave the following account.
Churchill had no love for the Foreign Office, one of the very few departments of which he had never been head. He suspected them of pursuing their own policy, irrespective of what the government might wish, and he mistrusted their judgment.
One evening, after he had abused the Foreign Office（which was my own department, and for which I felt both loyalty and affection）with unusual vehemence, I reminded him that during the afternoon he had been equally harsh about the Treasury. Which, I asked, did he dislike the most? After a moment's thought, he replied: "The War Office!"✽
第二次世界大戰期間，約翰．科爾維爾任溫斯頓．邱吉爾私人秘書。以下是他的記述。
邱吉爾很不喜歡外交部：那是他未曾主掌的少數政府部門之一。他懷疑外交部不管政府意旨如何，都會奉行其本身政策。他不信任外交部的判斷。
一天晚上，邱吉爾駡外交部駡得特別狠。我是外交部的人，忠於這部門，也愛護這部門。我提醒邱吉爾說，那天下午，他駡財政部，駡得同樣兇。我問他最不喜歡哪個部門。他想了想，回答說：「陸軍部！」✽
✽陸軍部本為英國政府一個部門，一九六四年併入國防部。