Letter From Winston Churchill to Viscount Northcliffe plus Other Correspondence between Moore-Brabazon and Northcliffe

Winston Churchill: Typed Signed Letter (T.S.L.) with holograph salutation and subscription, one page, 4to, Air Ministry, Kingsway, 2nd July 1920, to Viscount Northcliffe, on the blind embossed stationery of the Secretary of State for Air.

Churchill states that it was kind of Northcliffe ‘to have taken so much trouble over my proposed Air Conference’ and adds that his memorandum ‘is most valuable and comprehensive’. Churchill further adds that he appointed a committee, with Lord Londonderry as Chairman, to consider where the conference should be held and on what date, remarking ‘It is improbable that Parliament will re-assemble before October 15th, and therefore I propose to have the conference in the second week of October…instead of on the dates suggested by the committee.’ He concludes ‘Your suggestion that all information as to what has been done in the development of civil aviation should be circulated to those invited, should certainly be adopted, and I hope that you will consent to take the Chair on the day allotted for the discussion on Civil Aviation.’ With blank integral leaf. A couple of pencil and blue indelible pencil annotations to the left margin. An 8vo typed summary of Churchill’s letter is neatly affixed to the upper left corner.

Together with two original typed carbon copies of letters to Churchill from Northcliffe, 5th June & 8th July 1920, both directly relating to Churchill’s letter.

Also including John Moore-Brabazon (1884-1964) English Aviation Pioneer & Politician, the first Englishman to pilot a heavier-than-air machine under power in England, Minister of Transport and Minister of Aircraft Production during World War II. T.L.S., J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon, one page, 4to, Kingsway, 29th July 1920, to Viscount Northcliffe, on the blind embossed stationery of the Air Ministry, regarding the proposed Air Conference and stating ‘Mr. Churchill desires me to ask whether you would be so good as to preside on the first day of the Conference, which it is proposed to devote to Civil Aviation’ and a second T.L.S., J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon, one page, 4to, Kingsway, 6th August 1920, to Viscount Northcliffe, on the blind embossed stationery of the Air Ministry, stating that he has shown Northcliffe’s letter to Churchill ‘and he is much upset’, further writing ‘He has told me to write you again to see whether you could see your way to alter your decision, as he considers that for you not to preside on the first day would be a calamity and prejudice the whole Conference. He suggested that anything you would have said at the opening could be read out, so as not to tax your throat. I do hope, as a great patron of Aviation, you will try and alter your mind and come, to avoid, so to speak, the performance of Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark’. The letters are accompanied by the original typed carbon copies of the letters to Moore-Brabazon from Northcliffe, 3rd & 12th August 1920. Further including two original typed copies of Northcliffe’s Notes for Syllabus, sixteen pages, 4to, n.p., n.d. (1920), stating, in part, ‘It would seem desirable that members of the Conference, before assembling, should have an opportunity of studying, in the form of circulated abstracts and summaries, what has and is being done in the development of civil aerial transport, not only in this country but in others. It is a short time only since the Armistice. Yet what has already been accomplished is very suggestive as to future progress…The Conference might…quite usefully discuss how best to shorten the period of inertia between the provision of air transport on a comprehensive scale and its general and unhesitating use by the community…in order to obtain greater reliability and safety, pilots require the assistance of a more perfect land organisation. Here, obviously, the Conference will have a fruitful field for inquiry…the factors which…govern the speed of commercial aircraft…the next stages in aircraft design…night-flying…the selection and training of pilots…the use of aeroplanes for urgent business journeys at short notice and in any direction…the sporting and competitive aspects of flying…the general development of European flying…the development of mail services…aerial law, national and international…aerial transport in undeveloped countries…our Cairo-Cape Town route…special types of aircraft, such as flying boats and amphibious machines…the long-distance commercial airship, and its place in the general scheme of aerial transport…the recent progress with the wireless telegraph and wireless telephone, which are being applied already in the direction and control of traffic…meteorology…commercial navigation of the air at great heights…’ Also including an original typed Report of the Air Conference Committee, six pages, folio, n.p. (London), n.d. (1920), detailing possible dates and venues for the conference, who should be invited to attend, and a proposed agenda. Accompanied by a T.L.S. by Group Captain A. J. L. Scott, Air Secretary to the Secretary of State, one page, 4to, Kingsway, 28th February 1921, to Viscount Northcliffe, on the blind embossed stationery of the Air Ministry, forwarding the Proceedings of the Air Conference with Churchill’s compliments ‘and his best thanks to you for having done so much towards making the conference a success’. An interesting archive of letters and documents. Some light overall age wear, generally VG, 11

Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865-1922) British Newspaper and Publishing Magnate. Northcliffe was a keen aviation enthusiast and between 1907 and 1925 his newspaper, the Daily Mail, awarded numerous prizes for achievements in aviation. The newspaper would stipulate the amount of a prize for the first aviators to perform a particular task in aviation, or to the winner of an aviation race or event. The most famous prizes were the £1,000 for the first cross-channel flight awarded to Louis Bleriot in 1909 and the £10,000 given in 1919 to Alcock and Brown for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between North America and Ireland. Northcliffe’s initiative in awarding the prizes is credited with advancing the course of aviation during the early years, with the considerable sums offered becoming a much-coveted goal for the field’s pioneers.

Churchill served as Secretary of State for Air from 1919-21.

Excellent Condition

Item #606