Details
WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL (1874-1965)
A coloured lithograph map entitled: "British Battles During 1918 (8th Aug. To 11th Nov., 1918), signed by Churchill in blue ink at the head, the right hand margin signed by, General Sir Hubert Gough, Field-Marshal Haig, General Rawlinson, General Erich Ludendorff, Field-Marshal French, Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, General Henri Joseph Eugéne Gouraud and General Plumer, the reverse signed by General Sir Walter N. Congreve V.C., 17½ x 13½in.
A coloured lithograph map entitled: "British Battles During 1918 (8th Aug. To 11th Nov., 1918), signed by Churchill in blue ink at the head, the right hand margin signed by, General Sir Hubert Gough, Field-Marshal Haig, General Rawlinson, General Erich Ludendorff, Field-Marshal French, Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, General Henri Joseph Eugéne Gouraud and General Plumer, the reverse signed by General Sir Walter N. Congreve V.C., 17½ x 13½in.
Provenance
Given to the vendor by Major Christopher Congreve, the youngest son of General Sir Walter N. Congreve V.C (1862-1927) who originally met Churchill during the Boer war (See Lot 39).
Literature
Churchill at this time was minister of munitions in Lloyd George's Government, concentrating on the production of thousands of tanks (largely his own brain-child). The map illustrates the following period of the war
On August 8 the British Fourth Army, commanded by General Rawlinson, launched a new offensive; British, Canadian and Australian troops all took part ... By night fall on August 8 the tank attack had broken through the German front-line trenches; 400 German guns and nearly 22,000 soldiers were captured ... By August 10 the British Army had made further advances, taking another 10,000 prisoners. 'The tide has turned,' Churchill wrote to Clementine that day ... With each British advance Churchill went to the scene to see how his shells, mustard gas, and tanks had been used, or misused ... On October 15, exhausted by the blood-letting, faced with widespread starvation as a result of the Allied sea blockade, and fearing a total collapse of the Balkan front, the Germans asked for an armistice ... On November 7 a German delegation crossed into the French lines ... On November 10 Lloyd George invited Churchill to a special Cabinet meeting to discuss the course of these negotiations ... At 5 o'clock the next morning the Germans accepted the Allied terms" (Martin Gilbert, Churchill, 1991, pp. 393-402).
On August 8 the British Fourth Army, commanded by General Rawlinson, launched a new offensive; British, Canadian and Australian troops all took part ... By night fall on August 8 the tank attack had broken through the German front-line trenches; 400 German guns and nearly 22,000 soldiers were captured ... By August 10 the British Army had made further advances, taking another 10,000 prisoners. 'The tide has turned,' Churchill wrote to Clementine that day ... With each British advance Churchill went to the scene to see how his shells, mustard gas, and tanks had been used, or misused ... On October 15, exhausted by the blood-letting, faced with widespread starvation as a result of the Allied sea blockade, and fearing a total collapse of the Balkan front, the Germans asked for an armistice ... On November 7 a German delegation crossed into the French lines ... On November 10 Lloyd George invited Churchill to a special Cabinet meeting to discuss the course of these negotiations ... At 5 o'clock the next morning the Germans accepted the Allied terms" (Martin Gilbert, Churchill, 1991, pp. 393-402).