TLS, one page, 8 x 9.75, Chartwell, Westerham letterhead, January 15, 1937. Letter to A. F. Seymour, with Churchill handwriting the greeting at the top, “My dear sir.” In full: “If you will read the speech I delivered in the House of Commons on the 12th November 1936 you will see that I drew attention in the most public manner to the kind of neglect to which your letter refers. For more than four years past I have been trying to get preparations made, and I shall continue to do my best.” Before his signature, Churchill adds, “Yours faithfully.” In very good condition, with central vertical and horizontal folds, one through a single letter of signature, scattered foxing, toning, and creasing, and a repair to a small area of paper loss near top.
Churchill’s speech on the floor of the House of Commons, the one in which he “drew attention in the most public manner to the kind of neglect” which the recipient’s original letter refered, was the politician’s plea for an apathetical Britain to cease turning a blind eye to the growing military strength—and restlessness—of Germany. In the speech, Churchill asserted that ‘from the beginning of 1933, when Herr Hitler came into power, it was general public knowledge in this country that serious rearmament had begun in Germany....Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have now entered upon a period of danger...The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.’ Despite Churchill’s best efforts “to get preparations made,” the United Kingdom would soon face incredible hardships in the face of Nazi tyranny. Insightful content from the man whose leadership during World War II proved invaluable. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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