Winston S. Churchill | Typed letter signed ("Winston Churchill") to Lieutenant General H.H. (”Hap”) Arnold, 7 January 1946

Winston S. Churchill

Typed letter signed ("Winston Churchill") to Lieutenant General H.H. (”Hap”) Arnold, regarding a gift, dated 7 January 1946

1-page (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.; 191 x 241 mm), on 28, Hyde Park Gate, London stationery, dated 7 January 1946, with a significant “P.S.” in Churchill’s hand; old folds, hole punched at the upper left former, penciled date of receipt (“1/23/46”) in the lower left corner.

"My Dear Arnold, [In ink, in Churchill’s hand.] I am indeed grateful to you for sending me the three reports of the commanding General of the Army Air Forces to the Secretary of State for War, the first of which you have inscribed. I value these a great deal, and they will have an honoured place in my War Library…" Added [In ink, all in Churchill's hand]: "P.S. Thru all the storms I always remember our day with the Czechs!"

Henry H.Y. “Hap” Arnold was commander of the Army Air Forces in World War II and the only air commander ever to attain the five-star rank of general of the armies. He and Winston Churchill first met in Britain early in 1941 when Arnold visited on a personal mission from President Roosevelt. Their relationship continued at each of the Big Three conferences, which Arnold attended accompanying both Roosevelt and Truman. Arnold appears throughout Churchill’s Second World War memoirs, beginning in Volume II. After a lengthy career as an Army aviator and commander that spanned the two World Wars, he retired from active service in 1945.

PROVENANCE:

From the family of "Hap" Arnold by direct descent