['Ribbentrop's Speech on the Occupation of Norway 1940'.] Duplicated copy of typescript of the speech (in 'diplomatic French'), as 'found by W/Cdr S. John Peskett OBE in 1945', with English translation by him and covering note.

Three items, all typed. In good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Covering note, probably by Peskett. 1p., 12mo. Headed 'Ribbentrop's Speech on the Occupation of Norway 1940'. Beneath the heading is an eight-line quotation from Low's 'Years of Wrath', followed by: 'The document herewith, issued by the German Foreign Office, is the Italian ambassador's copy of a number issued to those present on the occasion of Ribbentrop's speech to the Heads of Foreign Missions and members of the German and foreign press in Berlin in 1940. | This is the full text of his speech, in which he announced the evidence mentioned above of Britain's intention to invade Norway. In this Ribbentrop states that the Reich government can prove that Britain and France had long planned the occupation of Norway and that it was only by the last-minute intervention of Germany that the plan failed. He refers to the British attack on the ALTMARK in January 1940 and to British units engaged in the other operations, notably the Sherwood Foresters. The document appears to have been put together in a hurry. It has been annotated here and there and underlined in places by the Italian ambassador, in whose room at the Italian Embassy in Berlin it was found by W/Cdr S. John Peskett OBE in 1945. [...] A translation from the diplomatic French by W/Cdr Peskett is attached.' TWO: The text of Ribbentrop's speech, in 'diplomatic French'. 29pp., 8vo. Stapled. With the annotations described above. Begins: 'Excellences! | Messieurs des missions diplomatiques et messieurs de la presse etrangere et allemande, | Je vous ai invites a venir aujourd'hui pour vous communiquer directment une serie de documents politiques qui, de l'avis du gouvernement du Reich, sont de la plus grande importance pour l'opinion publique mondiale, et notamment pour les gouvernement des pays neutres.' THREE: Peskett's translation of Item Two into English. 7pp., 8vo. At end: 'Translation by W/Cdr S. John Peskett OBE.' With emendations using correction fluid. From the papers of Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris (1892-1984).