Wall Street, for three years and pay off significant associated debts. In September 1938, the Russian Ambassador, Ivan Maisky, made his first visit and recorded his impressions of Chartwell: "A wonderful place! A two-storey house, large and tastefully presented; the terrace affords a breathtaking view of Kent's hilly landscape; ponds with goldfish of varying size; a pavilion-cum-studio with dozens of paintings - his own creations - hanging on the walls; his pride and joy, a small brick cottage which he was building with his own hands". His impression of his host was somewhat less favourable; asked what special occasion would lead Churchill to drink a bottle of wine dating from 1793 from his cellar, Churchill had replied - "We'll drink this together when Great Britain and Russia beat Hitler's Germany". Maisky's unspoken reaction was recorded in his diary, "Churchill's hatred of Berlin really has gone beyond all limits!" 1939 to 1965 Chartwell was mostly unused during the Second World War. Its exposed position in a county so near to German occupied France meant it was vulnerable to a German airstrike or commando raid. As a precaution the lakes were covered with brushwood to make the house less identifiable from the air. A rare visit to Chartwell occurred in July 1940, when Churchill inspected aircraft batteries in Kent. His Principal Private Secretary at the time, Eric Seal, recorded the visit; "In the evening the PM, Mrs C and I went off to Chartwell. One of the features of the place is a whole series of ponds, which are stocked with immense goldfish. The PM loves feeding them". The Churchills instead spent their weekends at Ditchley House, in Oxfordshire, until security improvements were completed at the Prime Minister's official country residence, Chequers, in Buckinghamshire. At dinner at Chequers, in December 1940, John Colville, Churchill's assistant private secretary recorded his master's post-war plans, "He would retire to Chartwell and write a book on the war, which he had already mapped out in his mind chapter by chapter". Chartwell remained a haven in times of acute stress—Churchill spent the night there before the fall of France in 1940. Summoned to London by an urgent plea from Lord Gort for permission to retreat to Dunkirk, Churchill broadcast the first of his wartime speeches to the nation; "Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour...for it is better for us to perish in battle than to