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Militaria and Political Auction
Lot 1322:
[Winston Churchill]
[World War III
Manu 7.5" J 9.5" 24p. [March 19441
[London] File Foreign
Churchill was Prime Minister of England during World War I and the most dominant British political figure this century. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1900, served as the First Lord of the Admiralty and minister of Munitions during World War I, was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1920s, and opposed appeasement in the 1930s. He was elected Prime Minister in 1940, and bravely led England through the Battle of Britain. After the war, his party was defeated, but he was reelected Prime Minister from 1951 to 1955. In 1955, he resigned from active politics at age 81, yet remained a member of Parliament until 1963.
Winston Churchill Corrected Draft Reading Copy for a Radio Speech in 1944.
Churchill speaks of the war in Europe and the Pacific – "Mussolini indeed escaped to eat the bread of affliction at Hitler’s table, to shoot his son-in-law, and to help the Germans wreak vengeance upon the Italian masses …
Description:
Typed Manuscript unsigned, 24 separate pages in carbon on lightweight paper, of a 30 page working manuscript, 7.5" 9.5" of the 47-minute radio address given by Prime Minister Churchill in London on March 26, 1944. Pages 1-3 and
10-30 are present. Minor flaws. Ten pages have pencil edit markings. Two pages have penciled words in an unknown hand: "to what we were planning to" (Page 14) and "an account of" (page 19. From the Collection of Churchill’s secretary, Kathleen Hill. Fine condition.
"The New York Times" headlined on March 27, 1944, "Hour of Action Nearing, Says Churchill / Sees Victory Sure Present is a transcript of the entire speech.
Excerpts from this working manuscript:
Churchill begins, "I hope you will not imagine that I am going to try to make you some extraordinary pronouncement tonight and tell you exactly how all the problems of mankind in war and peace are going to be solved…"
"We shall require from our people here, from Parliament, from the Press, from all classes, the same cool, strong nerves, the same toughness of fibre which stood us in good in the days when we were all alone under the blitz."
"Mussolini indeed escaped to eat the bread of affliction at Hitler’s table, to shoot his son-in-law, and to help the Germans wreak vengeance upon the Italian masses whom he had professed to love and over whom he had ruled for more than 20 years.
"This fate and judgment more terrible than death has overtaken the vainglorious dictator who stabbed France in the back and thought that his crime had gained him the empire of the Mediterranean."
"The conquest of Sicily and Naples bought in their train the surrender of Sardinia and the liberation of Corsica, islands which had been expected to require for themselves a serious expedition and a hard campaign. We now hold one-third of the mainland of Italy …”
"The American victories in the Pacific and in particular their latest conquest and liberation of the Marshall Islands, constitute superb examples of the combination of naval, air and military force. It is possible that the war in the Pacific may progress more rapidly than was formerly thought possible. The Japanese are showing signs of great weakness."
"The attrition of their shipping, especially their oil tankers, and of their Air forces, on all of which President Roosevelt dealt with sure foresight a year ago, has become not merely evident but obvious. They have not felt strong enough to risk their Fleet in a general engagement for the sake of their outer defence line. In this they have been prudent, considering the immense expansion of the United States naval power since the Japanese treacherous assault on Pearl Harbor."
"What fools the Japanese ruling caste were to bring against themselves the mighty, latent war energies of the great Republic for the sake of carrying out a base and squalid ambuscade ..
"When I spoke a year ago I drew attention to the possibility that there would be a prolonged interval between the collapse of Hitler and the downfall of Japan. I still think there will be an interval, but I do not consider it will necessarily be as long an interval as I thought a year ago. But be it long or be it short, we shall go through with our American brothers with our utmost strength and to the very end…
"We may ourselves be the object of new forms of attack from the enemy. Britain can take it. She has never flinched or failed. And when the signal is given, the whole circle of avenging nations will hurl themselves upon the foe and batter out the life of the cruellest tyranny which has ever sought to bar the progress of mankind."
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