MONTGOMERY B. L.: (1887-1976) British Field Marshal of World War II. Autograph Manuscript, unsigned (although with the 'signature' Field Marshal Montgomery incorporated into the title), four pages (separate leaves), folio, n.p. (Gstaad?), n.d. (February 1947). The manuscript is entitled 'Address by Field-Marshal Montgomery to the Gstaad Ski Club 16 Feb 1947', and states, in part, 'It is a great pleasure for me to be here tonight to present the "Montgomery Cup" for ski-jumping, and also to give the prizes for the various ski contests that have been held in Gstaad this week-end. I first came to Switzerland in 1903…..the object of that first visit was to learn French, but I also had my first lessons in winter sports……Since that time I have paid many visits to Switzerland and have become very fond of it; yours is a magnificent country, and one which produces a virile people of great character. Swiss history tells us of your long struggle for freedom; your early history especially is a long story of wars against aggression from outside. I have been reading how the Swiss Army defeated the Austrians at Morgarten in 1315 and at Sempach in 1386; I have also read how in the war against Germany in 1499 your Army defeated the German Army under Maximilian I at Dornach, which victory gained you your definite independence of the German Reich. In these and other wars your Swiss soldiers gained a high reputation for military skill and valour. So great were the military qualities of your young men that, even when the independence of the country had been won, they used to enlist in the armies of foreign powers and brought your country great glory on many battlefields. However, the Swiss Government finally decided that the hiring of Swiss fighting men by foreign powers was likely to endanger the home country and must cease. Since then Switzerland has enjoyed peace, and has observed a strict neutrality in the case of wars between two or more of her neighbours…..In your early days you suffered greatly from foreign aggression, and there are probably few nations who understand better than you do the distress that has been brought about in many European countries as a result of the late war……As a British soldier, I thank you for the splendid way in which you looked after our officers and men who escaped to your country from prisoner-of-war camps in enemy countries…..Many nations that have been drawn into war have gained much benefit from the neutrality of Switzerland…..Our two nations would seem to have much in common. We British are an independent and an individual people; our long freedom from oppression has made us self-reliant and our one passionate belief is in the liberty of the individual to go his own way……All nations today are grappling with the problem of how to reconcile this liberty of the individual with the demands of collective good. In Switzerland you seem to have reached a satisfactory solution to that problem and one which suits the nation…..To Switzerland and its people, I wish prosperity and happiness in the years that lie ahead'. Two small file holes to the upper left corner of each page and with some light overall age wear, about VG