Lot 166
Churchill, Sir Winston S (1874-1975) English statesman, soldier, and author; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War; winner of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Typed message signed as Prime Minister on official stationery, one page, 9½" x 7½", 10 Downing Street, Whitehall, 1954. Headed "National Conference, Held at Council House, Birmingham on Saturday, 2nd October, 1954," Churchill sends the following message: "I send my greetings to the Annual Conference of the South African War Veterans' Association of which I have the honour to be a Vice-President. May the comradeship we shared as young men on the South African Veld, more than half a century ago, always unite us. When the Boer War ended a magnanimous settlement opened an outstanding period of good will between Britain and South Africa. May this long continue to bring prosperity to the wide and sunlit lands which we shall never forget. Winston S. Churchill." One punch hole at upper left and uneven toning; blank bottom two inches have been folded under, concealing a thin at lower left corner and a tear at lower right corner.
In 1899, Churchill went to South Africa as war correspondent for the Morning Post to cover the Boer War. He was caught in an ambush of an armored train and captured by Boer soldiers on November 18. Sent to a POW camp in Pretoria, he managed to climb over a prison wall on December 12 and began a 300-mile escape with the help of a mine manager. Instead of returning home, where his escape had gained national attention, he joined General Redvers Buller's army on its march to relieve the British at the Siege of Ladysmith and to take Pretoria. As a member of the South African Light Horse, he was among the first British troops into Ladysmith and Pretoria. Churchill wrote about his Boer War experiences in London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (1900). He also devoted several chapters to his Boer War experiences in his 1930 autobiography, My Early Life.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 6,000.
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