December 1, 2019

By BRIAN KRAPF

On 14 July 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed Britain in a BBC radio broadcast declaring in part: “Should the invader come to Britain, there will be no placid lying down of the people in submission before him, as we have seen, alas, in other countries. We shall defend every village, every town and every city. The vast mass of London itself, fought street by street, could easily devour an entire hostile army; and we would rather see London laid in ruins and ashes than that it should be tamely and abjectly enslaved. I am bound to state these facts, because it is necessary to inform our people of our intentions, and thus to reassure them.” The Battle of Britain had begun just four days earlier.

Recognizing the magnificence of Churchill’s speech and the public’s reaction of unification and bolstered spirits, manufacturers published a series of postcards utilizing Churchill’s words. A template was made, wherein photos of different villages, towns, and cities were inserted. Within a short time, a series of postcards existed portraying almost every locale in Britain. The postcard shown here depicts Wisborough Green.

These postcards appear on the market with some frequency, and one could spend years building an entire set. Given that they were all published utilizing the same template design, however, a representative example suits a collection quite nicely.