Speech by The Prime Minister Mr. Winston Churchill On War Problems Facing Britain Delivered in the House of Commons, November 5, 1940
New York: The British Library of Information, 1940. First edition, only printing. Pamphlet. This is the first edition, only printing of Churchill's speech to the House of Commons of 5 November 1940, reporting on wartime challenges after six months as Prime Minister. The eight-page, wire-stitched pamphlet in self-wraps measures 9 inches tall x 6 inches wide (22.9 x 15.2 cm). It is the only stand-alone contemporary publication of this speech. Condition is better than near fine, crisp, clean, and complete with no tears, no losses, no creasing, no previous ownership marks, and no wear or soiling. Both binding staples remain firmly intact and bright, with no corrosion. Some age-toning is the only defect noted. The pamphlet is protected within a clear, removable, archival mylar sleeve.
In November 1940 Britain’s war was still not so much a struggle for victory as a struggle to survive. Churchill had become prime minister on 10 May 1940, and his six first months in office saw, among other near-calamities, the Battle of the Atlantic, the fall of France, evacuation at Dunkirk, and the Battle of Britain. France had capitulated to Nazi Germany in late June 1940 and by the second week of July Hitler’s Luftwaffe had begun a massive, sustained aerial assault across the English Channel, the preparatory effort to gain air superiority before a planned invasion of England.
Churchill reported in his speech that “Fourteen thousand civilians have been killed and 20,000 wounded, nearly four-fifths of them in London.” The night before this speech was delivered, on 4 November 1940, “London had its first night free of air raids for eight weeks – but only because “The Luftwaffe had decided to extend its raids to industrial centres and ports around the country.” In view of the ongoing danger to London, “In November, for the first time, the Commons met at Church House in Westminster, because it was considered safer than the Palace of Westminster… It was the first time the Commons had sat anywhere else since the fire of 1834…” (Roberts, WWD, p.616)
Churchill composed his speech at Chequers while listening to Strauss waltzes played on his daughter’s gramophone. As this speech was delivered, Churchill was contemplating the plight of Greece – which Britain would fail to prevent – and, with far greater anxiety and import, the outcome of the American election, hoping that Franklin Roosevelt would be re-elected, giving the American President a freer hand in supporting Britain’s war effort. Only after delivering his speech did Churchill receive “indescribable relief” with the news that Roosevelt had been re-elected. (Roberts, WWD, p.615-16)
In his speech Churchill conveyed the extent of the loss of life and property, but also carefully mitigated the impact: “…little damage has been done to our munitions and aircraft production… None of the services upon which the life our great cities depend… has been broken down…” Churchill took pains to point out how Britain had taxed German aggression in the form of severely disproportionate loss of German aircraft and pilots, favorably comparing the tallies to his previously stated hopes “to destroy three enemy machines to one of our own lost, and six pilots to one.” The balance of the speech was a ranging survey of the Battle of the Atlantic, the state and necessity of the Home Guard, and a warning “against relaxation”, as well as surveys of the British position in North Africa and the plight of Greece. It was a sober speech, soberly concluded and explicitly without promises: “We will do our best. That is all I can say.”
This pamphlet is one in a series of Churchill's speeches printed by the British Library of Information in New York. The British Library of Information published thirty-four editions of statements, speeches, and broadcast addresses by Prime Minister Winston Churchill (that number including some variant publications of the same speeches), beginning with his first speech as Prime Minister of 13 May 1940 and ending with the broadcast address of 29 November 1942.
Reference: A134, Woods A62. Item #005308
Price: $350.00