Churchill (Winston Spencer)

Typed final part of the speech delivered by Churchill in the House of Commons on October 8th, 1940, reading "There is another country much nearer home which has for some months past seemed to hang in the balance between peace and war. We have always wished well to the Spanish people, and in a glorious period of our history we stood between the Spaniards and foreign domination. There is no country in Europe that has more need of peace and food and the opportunities of prosperous trade than Spain, which has been torn and tormented by the devastation of a civil war, into which the Spanish nation was drawn by a series of hideous accidents and misunderstandings, and from the ruins of which they must now rebuild their united national life of dignity, in mercy and in honour. Far be it from us to lap Spain and her own economic needs in the wide compass of our blockade. All we seek is that Spain will not become a channel of supply to our mortal foes. Subject to this essential condition, there is no problem of blockade that we will not study in the earnest desire to meet Spain's needs and aid her revival. Even less do we presume to intrude on the internal affairs or Spain or to stir the embers of what so lately were devouring fires. As in the days of the Peninsular war, British interests and policy are based on the independence and unity of Spain, and we look forward to seeing her take her rightful place both as a great Mediterranean Power and as a leading and famous member of the family of Europe and of Christendom, which, though now sundered by fearful quarrels and under the obsession of grievous tyrannies, constitutes the goal towards which we are marching and will march across the battlefields of the land, the sea and the air. Because we feel easier in ourselves and see our way more clearly through our difficulties and dangers than we did some months ago, because foreign countries, friends or foes, recognise the giant, enduring, resilient strength of Britain and the British Empire, do not let us dull for one moment the sense of the awful hazards in which we stand. Do not let us lose the conviction that it is only by supreme and superb exertions, unwearying and indomitable, that we shall save our souls alive. No one can predict, no one can even imagine, how this terrible war against German and Nazi aggression will run its course or how far it will spread or how long it will last. Long, dark months of trials and tribulations lie before us. Not only great dangers, but many more misfortunes, many shortcomings, many mistakes, many disappointments will surely be our lot. Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment; constancy and valour our only shield. We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible. Our qualities and deeds must burn and glow through the gloom of Europe until they become the veritable beacon of its salvation", four pages pasted onto larger blue-lined sheets, with a note by John Rupert Colville reading "The end of the PM's speech in the House on Oct 8th. These pages are flimsy copies of the actual text from which he spoke and are those from which I checked and followed the speech as it was delivered. The PM also has them typed in this curious way- like the Psalms, as Lord Halifax says!", five pages in total, some staining due to rusty paperclip, some toning and foxing, 4to, October 1940; with a typed wartime memorandum from the Prime Minister regarding brevity "To do our work, we all have to read a mass of papers. Nearly all of them are far too long. This wastes time, while energy has to be spent in looking for the essential points. I ask my colleagues and their staffs to see to it that their Reports are shorter", one page, some foxing to lower part, folio, 9 August 1940 (6)

***Sir John Rupert Colville (28 January 1915 – 19 November 1987) was a British civil servant. He was Assistant Private Secretary to three Prime Ministers: Neville Chamberlain 1939-1940; Winston Churchill, 1940–41 and 1943–45 (and Joint Principal Private Secretary, 1951–55) and Clement Attlee, 1945