We shall fight on the beaches.. we shall never surrender-Winston Churchill

[00:00.31]When, a week ago today, [00:04.37]I asked the House to fix this afternoon as the occasion for a statement, [00:10.99]I feared it would be my hard lot [00:13.89]to announce the greatest military disaster in our long history. [00:20.80]I thought-and some good judges agreed with me [00:26.19]-that perhaps 20,000 or 30,000 men might be re-embarked. [00:31.10]But it certainly seemed that the whole of the French First Army [00:35.13]and the whole of the British Expeditionary Force north of the Amiens-Abbeville gap [00:44.42]would be broken up in the open field [00:47.61]or else would have to capitulate for lack of food and ammunition. [00:51.63]These were the hard and heavy tidings for which I called upon the House [00:57.77]and the nation to prepare themselves a week ago. [01:01.48]The whole root and core and brain of the British Army, [01:08.11]on which and around which we were to build, and are to build, [01:13.94]the great British Armies in the later years of the war, [01:18.47]seemed about to perish upon the field [01:21.52]or to be led into an ignominious and starving captivity. [01:25.42]The enemy attacked on all sides with great strength and fierceness, [01:32.78]and their main power, the power of their far more numerous Air Force, [01:38.95]was thrown into the battle or else concentrated upon Dunkirk and the beaches. [01:45.36]Pressing in upon the narrow exit, both from the east and from the west, [01:52.73]the enemy began to fire with cannon upon the beaches [01:56.48]by which alone the shipping could approach or depart. [01:59.71]They sowed magnetic mines in the channels and seas; [02:03.93]they sent repeated waves of hostile aircraft, [02:07.38]sometimes more than a hundred strong in one formation, [02:11.01]to cast their bombs upon the single pier that remained, [02:15.79]and upon the sand dunes on which the troops had their eyes for shelter. [02:23.26]Their U-boats, one of which was sunk, [02:26.94]and their motor launches took their toll of the vast traffic which now began. [02:33.44]For four or five days an intense struggle reigned. [02:37.14]All their armored divisions-or what Was left of them [02:41.18]together with great masses of infantry and artillery, [02:44.53]hurled themselves in vain upon the ever-narrowing, [02:47.74]ever-contracting appendix within which the British and French Armies fought. [02:54.61]Meanwhile, the Royal Navy, with the willing help of countless merchant seamen, [03:00.83]strained every nerve to embark the British and Allied troops; [03:05.45]220 light warships and 650 other vessels were engaged. [03:13.81]They had to operate upon the difficult coast, often in adverse weather, [03:19.34]under an almost ceaseless hail of bombs [03:22.53]and an increasing concentration of artillery fire. [03:26.94]Nor were the seas, as I have said, [03:30.43]themselves free from mines and torpedoes. [03:32.82]It was in conditions such as these that our men carried on, [03:38.21]with little or no rest, for days and nights on end, [03:42.78]making trip after trip across the dangerous waters, [03:46.93]bringing with them always men whom they had rescued. [03:52.27]The numbers they have brought back are the measure of their devotion and their courage. [03:58.61]The hospital ships, which brought off many thousands of British and French wounded, [04:03.45]being so plainly marked were a special target for Nazi bombs; [04:09.42]but the men and women on board them never faltered in their duty. [04:13.73]Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force, [04:16.86]which had already been intervening in the battle, [04:21.13]so far as its range would allow, from home bases, [04:25.84]now used part of its main metropolitan fighter strength, [04:30.81]and struck at the German bombers and at the fighters which in large numbers protected them. [04:39.02]This struggle was protracted and fierce. [04:44.10]Suddenly the scene has cleared, [04:47.10]the crash and thunder has for the moment-but only for the moment-died away. [04:53.64]A miracle of deliverance, achieved by valor, by perseverance, [05:00.48]by perfect discipline, by faultless service, by resource, [05:06.48]by skill, by unconquerable fidelity, is manifest to us all. [05:11.98]The enemy was hurled back by the retreating British troops. [05:18.90]He was so roughly handled that he did not hurry their departure seriously. [05:26.39]We must be very careful not to assign [05:31.11]to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. [05:34.94]Wars are not won by evacuations. [05:39.38]But there was a victory inside this deliverance, which should be noted. [05:43.58]It was gained by the Air Force. [05:46.68]Many of our soldiers coming back have not seen the Air Force at work; [05:52.43]they saw only the bombers which escaped its protective attack. [05:57.21]They underrate its achievements. [05:59.89]I have heard much talk of this; [06:03.43]that is why I go out of my way to say this. I will tell you about it. [06:10.32]This was a great trial of strength between the British and German Air Forces. [06:15.93]Can you conceive a greater objective for the Germans in the air [06:22.56]than to make evacuation from these beaches impossible, [06:26.79]and to sink all these ships which were displayed, [06:31.15]almost to the extent of thousands? [06:33.89]Could there have been an objective of greater military importance [06:38.10]and significance for the whole purpose of the war than this? [06:41.87]They tried hard, and they were beaten back; [06:45.50]they were frustrated in their task. [06:48.62]We got the Army away; [06:51.31]and they have paid fourfold for any losses which they have inflicted. [06:58.13]When we consider how much greater would be our advantage [07:04.57]in defending the air above this Island against an overseas attack, [07:08.14]I must say that I find in these facts a sure basis [07:11.67]upon which practical and reassuring thoughts may rest. [07:15.82]I will pay my tribute to these young airmen. [07:20.32]The great French Army was very largely, [07:23.95]for the time being, cast back and disturbed [07:30.38]by the onrush of a few thousands of armored vehicles. [07:34.49]May it not also be that the cause of civilization itself [07:41.18]will be defended by the skill and devotion of a few thousand airmen? [07:47.12]There never has been, I suppose, in all the world, [07:52.26]in all the history of war, such an opportunity for youth. [07:56.92]The Knights of the Round Table, the Crusaders, [08:01.29]all fall back into the past-not only distant but prosaic; [08:08.48]these young men, going forth every morn to guard their native land [08:13.59]and all that we stand for, holding in their hands these instruments [08:18.98]of colossal and shattering power, of whom it may be said that: [08:23.90]Every morn brought forth a noble chance [08:27.42]And every chance brought forth a noble knight, [08:31.34]deserve our gratitude, as do all the brave men who, [08:38.45]in so many ways and on so many occasions, [08:41.57]are ready, and continue ready to give life and all for their native land. [08:47.37]Nevertheless, our thankfulness at the escape of our Army [08:54.65]and so many men, whose loved ones have passed through an agonizing week, [08:59.49]must not blind us to the fact that what has happened in France and Belgium [09:06.59]is a colossal military disaster. [09:09.89]The French Army has been weakened, the Belgian Army has been lost, [09:14.65]a large part of those fortified lines upon which [09:17.87]so much faith had been reposed is gone, [09:21.67]many valuable mining districts and factories have passed into the enemy’s possession, [09:27.27]the whole of the Channel ports are in his hands, [09:31.19]with all the tragic consequences that follow from that, [09:35.15]and we must expect another blow to be struck almost immediately at us or at France. [09:42.45]We are told that Herr Hitler has a plan for invading the British Isles. [09:50.13]This has often been thought of before. [09:52.52]When Napoleon lay at Boulogne for a year [09:56.26]with his flat-bottomed boats and his Grand Army, he was told by someone. [10:02.46]“There are bitter ****s in England.” [10:06.34]There are certainly a great many more of them [10:10.23]since the British Expeditionary Force returned. [10:13.28]I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, [10:17.94]if nothing is neglected, [10:20.14]and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, [10:24.51]we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, [10:29.49]to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, [10:35.48]if necessary for years, if necessary alone. [10:41.53]At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. [10:46.17]That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. [10:51.01]That is the will of Parliament and the nation. [10:53.55]The British Empire and the French Republic, [10:56.43]linked together in their cause and in their need, [11:00.18]will defend to the death their native soil, [11:03.56]aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. [11:07.71]We shall go on to the end, [11:09.92]we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, [11:15.38]we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, [11:20.58]we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, [11:25.74]we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, [11:30.45]we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; [11:36.25]we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, [11:42.99]this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, [11:48.52]then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, [11:55.58]would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, [12:02.29]with all its power and might, [12:04.46]steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. [12:09.16]June 4, 1940