Churchill's list was a knight of the Garter (personal gift of the Monarch there are only 24 at any one time), Order of Merit and Companion of Honour, (plus others).
John Major was also a KG and a CH.
I take your points about awards to the Civil Service and the delay here. I suspect in large measure it reflected the lack of recognition generally in the post war years for the contribution many made to the victory in 1945. I think in the twenty or thirty years post war the Country wanted to forget the past and look to the future. Wars were not generally fashionable between 1945 and the Falklands War. Many involved in WWII didn't want to talk about it and their role in it. It is only since the WWII 'heroes' started dying off that the current generations have started to show an inquisitive interest in what their mums and dad''s (or grand parents) did in the war.