Printed handbill, with facsimile signature, of statement by Churchill beginning 'On what may be the eve of an attempted invasion or battle for our native land'. Addressed to Surgeon Commander Paterson, H.M.S. Victory.

Printed on one side of a piece of unwatermarked cream wove paper. Dimensions roughly 24 x 19 cm. Folded and lightly creased, and with some staining (not affecting the text, which is entirely legible) to left-hand margin and top left-hand corner. 24 lines of text. According to Churchill's memoirs, this 'admonition' was 'circulated throught the inner circles of the governing machine' and then read to the House of Commons the following day. A rousing and historic document, composed on the eve of the Battle of Britain, in which Churchill states that 'there are no grounds for supposing that more German troops can be landed in this country, either from the air or across the sea, than can be destroyed or captured by the strong forces at present under arms. The Royal Air Force is in excellent order and at the highest strength it has yet attained. The German Navy was never so weak, nor the British Army at home so strong as now. The Prime Minister expects all His Majesty's servants in high places to set an example of steadiness and resolution. [...]' At the foot of the page is the typed address of 'Surgeon Commander A.C. Paterson, MRCS, LRCP., R.N., | H.M.S. VICTORY.' Scarce.