Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches” Speech: June 4...
Transcript of Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches” Speech: June 4...
Churchill’s
“We shall fight on the beaches”
Speech: June 4, 1940
Click image to link to video of Winston Churchill’s famous speech.
When Napoleon lay at Boulogne for a year with his flat-bottomed boats and his
Grand Army, he was told by someone. "There are bitter weeds in England."
There are certainly a great many more of them since the British Expeditionary
Force returned.
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected,
and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall
prove ourselves once more able to defend our island home, to ride out the
storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if
necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the
resolve of His Majesty's Government – every man of them. That is the will of
Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked
together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native
soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.
We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and
on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing
strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we
shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We
shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this
island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire
beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the
struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might,
sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old.
GERMAN PLAN OF INVASION
1. Destroy ship convoys in the English Channel
2. Dogfights with RAF
3. Destroy airfields, factories
4. Blitz (terror bombing of cities as a last resort)
5. Sea invasion with ground troops with weapons
OVERALL:
• Even after the Miracle at Dunkirk, Britain, with the
support of their empire, continued fighting against
the Germans
• In August and September of 1940, the Battle of
Britain raged in the skies (RAF versus Luftwaffe)
• Luftwaffe could not subdue RAF, so ...
• Germany began the BLITZ: bombing Britain from
September 1940 to May 1941, to crush morale
• British RAF began bombing Germany in retaliation
Civilians were being killed!
CAUSES:
• Britain declared war on Germany when they
invaded Poland
• Britain sent troops to “help” in Belgium and France
• British troops were “trapped” at Dunkirk
• Britain continued to fight against Germany
• Hitler needed to disable Britain first and then focus
on the Eastern Front (USSR)
EVENT:
• German bombing progressed:
• shipping convoys and ports
(military targets)
• RAF airfields and factories
• areas of political significance
• TERROR BOMBING TACTICS
• On August 24, 1940, a German bomber fell off
course and accidentally bombed central London!
A spotter scans the
skies of London
EVENT:
• Prime Minister Winston Churchill
retaliates with 3-night bombings
on Berlin
• Hitler responds with 57-day
TERROR bombing campaign on
London – THE BLITZ (day and
night)
A spotter scans the
skies of London
• Britain used their newly-installed radar detection to
help counter-act the German attacks
• Britain does not surrender
• A German sea invasion is never launched
RESULTS:
• On November 14, 1940, 449 German bombers dropped 1,400 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiaries on Britain, leaving 50,000 buildings destroyed, 568 people killed, and 1,000 people badly injured
• Britain DOES NOT SURRENDER
• Germany failed to achieve its goals of destroying Britain’s air defenses, negotiating an armistice, or overtaking Britain
• This was Germany’s first major defeat