almost
a year has passed since
the war began and it is natural for us i think to pause on our journey at this milestone and survey the dark wide field it is also useful to compare the first year of this second war against german aggression with its forerunner
a quarter of a century ago
although this war is in fact only a continuation of the last very great differences in its character are apparent
in the last
war millions of men fought by hurling enormous masses of steel at one another men and shells was the cry and prodigious slaughter was the consequence in this war nothing of this kind has yet appeared it is a conflict of strategy of organisation of technical apparatus of science mechanics and morale the british casualties in the first 12 months of the great war amounted to 365,000. in this war i am thankful to say british killed wounded prisoners and missing including civilians do not exceed 92,000, and of these a large proportion are alive as prisoners of war looking more widely around one may say that throughout all europe for one man killed or wounded in the first year perhaps five were killed or wounded in 1914-15. the slaughter is only a small fraction but the consequences to the belligerents have been even more deadly we have seen great countries with powerful armies dashed out of coherent existence in a few weeks we have seen the french republic and the renowned french army beaten into complete and total submission with less than the casualties which they suffered in any one of half a dozen of the battles of 1914-18. the entire body it might almost seem at times the soul of france has succumbed to physical effects incomparably less terrible than those which were sustained with fortitude and undaunted will power 25 years ago although up to the present the loss of life has been mercifully diminished the decisions reached in the course of the struggle are even more profound upon the fate of nations than anything that has ever happened since barbaric times moves are made upon the scientific and strategic boards advantages are gained by mechanical means as a result of which scores of millions of men become incapable of further resistance or judge themselves incapable of further resistance and a fearful game of chess proceeds from check to mate by which the unhappy players seem to be inexorably bound there is another more obvious difference from 1914.
the whole of the
warring nations are engaged not only soldiers but the entire population men women and children the fronts are everywhere the trenches are dug in the towns and streets every village is fortified every road is barred the front line runs through the factories the workmen are soldiers with different weapons but the same courage these are great and distinctive changes from what many of us saw in the struggle of
a quarter of a century ago
there seems to be every reason to believe that this new kind of war is well suited to the genius and the resources
of the british nation and the british empire and
that once we get properly equipped and properly started a war of this kind will be more favourable to us than the sombre mass slaughters of the somme and passchendaele if it is a case of the whole nation fighting and suffering together that ought to suit us because we are the most united
of all the
nations because we entered the war upon the national will and with our eyes open and because
we have been
nurtured in freedom and individual responsibility and are the products not of totalitarian uniformity but of tolerance and variety if all these qualities are turned as they are being turned to the arts of war we may
be able to
show the enemy quite a lot of things that they have not thought of yet since the germans drove the jews out and lowered their technical standards our science is definitely ahead of theirs our geographical position the command of the sea and the friendship
of the united states
enable us to draw resources from the whole world and to manufacture weapons of war of every kind but especially of the superfine kinds on a scale hitherto practised only by nazi germany hitler is now sprawled over europe our offensive springs are being slowly compressed and we must resolutely and methodically prepare ourselves for the campaigns of 1941 and 1942. two or three years are not a long time even in our short precarious lives they are nothing in the history of the nation and when we are doing the finest thing
in the world
and have the honour to be the sole champion of the liberties of all europe we must not grudge these years or weary as we toil and struggle through them it does not follow that our energies in future years will be exclusively confined to defending ourselves and our possessions many opportunities may lie open to amphibious power and we must be ready to take advantage of them
one of the
ways to bring this war to a speedy end is to convince the enemy not by words but by deeds that we have both the will and the means not only to go on indefinitely but to strike heavy and unexpected blows the road to victory may not be so long as we expect but we have no right to count upon this be it long or short rough or smooth we mean to reach our journey's end it is our intention to maintain and enforce a strict blockade not only of germany but of italy france and all the other countries that have fallen into the german power i read in the papers that herr hitler has also proclaimed a strict blockade
of the british
islands no one can complain of that i remember the kaiser doing it
in the last
war what indeed
would be a
matter of general complaint would be if we were to prolong the agony of all europe by allowing food to come in to nourish the nazis and aid their war effort or to allow food to go in to the subjugated peoples which certainly would be pillaged off them by their nazi conquerors there have been many proposals founded on the highest motives that food should be allowed to pass the blockade for the relief of these populations i regret that we must refuse these requests the nazis declare that they have created a new unified economy in europe they have repeatedly stated that they possess ample reserves of food and that they can feed their captive peoples in a german broadcast of 27 th june it was said that while mr hoover's plan for relieving france belgium and holland deserved commendation the german forces had already taken the necessary steps we know that in norway when the german troops went in there were food supplies to last for a year we know that poland though not a rich country usually produces sufficient food for her people moreover the other countries which herr hitler has invaded all held considerable stocks when the germans entered and are themselves in many cases very substantial food producers if all this food is not available now it can only be because it has been removed to feed the people of germany and to give them increased rations for a change during the last few months at this season of the year and for some months to come
there is the
least chance of scarcity as the harvest has just been gathered in the only agencies which can create famine in any part of europe now and during the coming winter will be german exactions or german failure to distribute the supplies which they command there is another aspect many of the most valuable foods are essential to the manufacture of vital war material fats are used to make explosives potatoes make the alcohol for motor spirit the plastic materials now so largely used in the construction of aircraft are made of milk if the germans use these commodities to help them to bomb our women and children rather than to feed the populations who produce them we may be sure that imported foods would go the same way directly or indirectly or be employed to relieve the enemy of the responsibilities he has so wantonly assumed let hitler bear his responsibilities to the full and let the peoples of europe who groan beneath his yoke aid in every way the coming of the day when that yoke will be broken meanwhile we can and we will arrange in advance for the speedy entry of food into any part of the enslaved area when this part has been wholly cleared of german forces and has genuinely regained its freedom we shall do our best to encourage the building up of reserves of food all over the world so that there will always be held up before the eyes of the peoples of europe including i say deliberately the german and austrian peoples the certainty that the shattering
of the nazi power
will bring to them all immediate food freedom and peace rather more than
a quarter of a year has passed since
the new government came into power
in this country
what a cataract of disaster has poured out upon us since then the trustful dutch overwhelmed their beloved and respected sovereign driven into exile the peaceful city of rotterdam the scene of a massacre as hideous and brutal as anything in the thirty years war belgium invaded and beaten down our own fine expeditionary force which king leopold called to his rescue cut off and almost captured escaping as it seemed only by a miracle and with the loss of all its equipment our ally france out italy in against us all france in the power of the enemy all its arsenals and vast masses of military material converted or convertible to the enemy's use a puppet government set up at vichy which may at any moment be forced to become our foe the whole western seaboard of europe from the north cape to the spanish frontier in german hands all the ports all the airfields on this immense front employed against us as potential springboards of invasion moreover the german air power numerically so far outstripping ours has been brought so close to our island that what we used to dread greatly has come to pass and the hostile bombers not only reach our shores in a few minutes and from many directions but can be escorted by their fighting aircraft why sir if we had been confronted
at the beginning of
may with such a prospect it would have seemed incredible that
at the end of
a period of horror and disaster or at this point in a period of horror and disaster we should stand erect sure of ourselves masters of our fate and with the conviction of final victory burning unquenchable in our hearts few would have believed we could survive none would have believed
that we should
to day not only feel stronger but should actually be stronger than we have ever been before let us see what has happened
on the other
side of the scales
the british nation and the british empire
finding themselves alone stood undismayed against disaster no one flinched or wavered nay some who formerly thought of peace now think only of war our people are united and resolved as they have never been before death and ruin have become small things compared with the shame of defeat or failure in duty we cannot tell what lies ahead
it may be
that even greater ordeals lie before us we shall face whatever is coming to us we are sure of ourselves and of our cause and that is the supreme fact which has emerged in these months of trial meanwhile we have not only fortified our hearts but our island we have rearmed and rebuilt our armies in a degree which
would have been
deemed impossible a few months ago we have ferried across the atlantic in the month of july thanks to our friends over there an immense mass of munitions of all kinds cannon rifles machine guns cartridges and shell all safely landed without the loss of a gun or a round the output of our own factories working as they have never worked before has poured forth to the troops the whole british army is at home more than 2,000,000 determined men have rifles and bayonets in their hands to night and three quarters of them are in regular military formations we have never had armies like this in our island in time of war the whole island bristles against invaders from the sea or from the air as i explained
to the house
in the middle of june the stronger our army at home the larger must the invading expedition be and the larger the invading expedition the less difficult
will be the
task of the navy in detecting its assembly and in intercepting and destroying it on passage and the greater also would be the difficulty of feeding and supplying the invaders if ever they landed in the teeth of continuous naval and air attack on their communications all this is classical and venerable doctrine as in nelson's day the maxim holds our first line of defence is the enemy's ports now air reconnaissance and photography have brought to an old principle a new and potent aid our navy is far stronger than it was
at the beginning of the war
the great flow of new construction set on foot at the outbreak is now beginning to come in we hope our friends across the ocean will send us a timely reinforcement to bridge the gap between the peace flotillas of 1939 and the war flotillas of 1941.
there is no
difficulty in sending such aid the seas and oceans are open the u boats are contained the magnetic mine is up to
the present time
effectively mastered the merchant tonnage under the british flag after a year of unlimited u boat war after eight months of intensive mining attack is larger than when we began we have in addition under our control at least 4,000,000 tons of shipping from the captive countries which has taken refuge here or in the harbours of the empire our stocks of food of all kinds are far more abundant than in the days of peace and a large and growing programme of food production is on foot why do i say all this not assuredly to boast not assuredly to give the slightest countenance to complacency the dangers we face are still enormous but so are our advantages and resources i recount them because the people have a right to know that there are solid grounds for the confidence which we feel and that we have good reason to believe ourselves capable as i said in a very dark hour two months ago of continuing the war if necessary alone if necessary for years i say it also because
the fact that the british empire
stands invincible and that nazidom is still being resisted will kindle again the spark of hope in the breasts of hundreds of millions of downtrodden or despairing men and women throughout europe and far beyond its bounds and that from these sparks there will presently come cleansing and devouring flame the great air battle which has been in progress over this island for the last few weeks has recently attained a high intensity it is too soon to attempt to assign limits either to its scale or to its duration we must certainly expect that greater efforts will be made by the enemy than any he has so far put forth hostile air fields are still being developed in france and the low countries and the movement of squadrons and material for attacking us is still proceeding it is quite plain that herr hitler could not admit defeat in his air attack on great britain without sustaining most serious injury if after all his boastings and blood curdling threats and lurid accounts trumpeted round the world of the damage he has inflicted of the vast numbers of our air force he has shot down so he says with so little loss to himself if after tales of the panic stricken british crushed in their holes cursing the plutocratic parliament which has led them to such a plight if after all this his whole air onslaught were forced after a while tamely to peter out the fuehrer's reputation for veracity of statement might be seriously impugned we may be sure therefore that he will continue as long as he has the strength to do so and as long as any preoccupations he may have in respect of the russian air force allow him to do so
on the other hand the
conditions and course of the fighting have so far been favourable to us i told the house two months ago that whereas in france our fighter aircraft were wont to inflict a loss of two or three to one upon the germans and in the fighting at dunkirk which was a kind of no man's land a loss of about three or four to one we expected that in an attack on this island we should achieve a larger ratio this has certainly come true it must also be remembered that all the enemy machines and pilots which are shot down over our island or over the seas which surround it are either destroyed or captured whereas a considerable proportion of our machines and also of our pilots are saved and soon again in many cases come into action a vast and admirable system of salvage directed by the ministry of aircraft production ensures the speediest return to the fighting line of damaged machines and the most provident and speedy use
of all the
spare parts and material
at the same time
the splendid nay astounding increase in the output and repair of british aircraft and engines which lord beaverbrook has achieved by a genius of organisation and drive which looks like magic has given us overflowing reserves of every type of aircraft and an ever mounting stream of production both in quantity and quality the enemy is of course far more numerous than we are but our new production already as i am advised largely exceeds his and the american production is only just beginning to flow in it is a fact as i see from my daily returns that our bomber and fighter strength now after all this fighting are larger than they have ever been we believe
that we shall be able to
continue the air struggle indefinitely and as long as the enemy pleases and the longer it continues the more rapid will be our approach first towards that parity and then into that superiority in the air upon which in a large measure the decision
of the war
depends the gratitude of every home in our island in our empire and indeed throughout the world except in the abodes of the guilty goes out
to the british
airmen who undaunted by odds unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger are turning the tide
of the world
war by their prowess and by their devotion never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few all hearts go out to the fighter pilots whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes day after day but we must never forget that all the time night after night month after month our bomber squadrons travel far into germany find their targets in the darkness by the highest navigational skill aim their attacks often under the heaviest fire often with serious loss with deliberate careful discrimination and inflict shattering blows upon
the whole of the
technical and war making structure
of the nazi power
on no part of
the royal air force
does the weight
of the war
fall more heavily than on the daylight bombers who will play an invaluable part in the case of invasion and whose unflinching zeal it has been necessary in the meanwhile on numerous occasions to restrain we are able to verify the results of bombing military targets in germany not only by reports which reach us through many sources but also of course by photography i have no hesitation in saying that this process of bombing the military industries and communications of germany and the air bases and storage depots from
which we are
attacked which process will continue upon an ever increasing scale until
the end of the war
and may in another year attain dimensions hitherto undreamed of affords one at least of the most certain if not the shortest
of all the
roads to victory even if the nazi legions stood triumphant on the black sea or indeed upon the caspian even if hitler was at the gates of india it would profit him nothing if
at the same time
the entire economic and scientific apparatus of german war power lay shattered and pulverised at home
the fact that
the invasion of this island upon a large scale has become a far more difficult operation with every week that has passed since we saved our army at dunkirk and our very great preponderance of sea power enable us to turn our eyes and to turn our strength increasingly towards the mediterranean and against that other enemy who without the slightest provocation coldly and deliberately for greed and gain stabbed france in the back in the moment of her agony and is now marching against us in africa the defection of france has of course been deeply damaging to our position in what is called somewhat oddly the middle east in the defence of somaliland for instance we had counted upon strong french forces attacking the italians from jibuti we had counted also upon the use of the french naval and air bases in the mediterranean and particularly upon the north african shore we had counted upon the french fleet even though metropolitan france was temporarily overrun there was no reason why the french navy substantial parts of the french army the french air force and the french empire overseas should not have continued the struggle at our side shielded by overwhelming sea power possessed of invaluable strategic bases and of ample funds france might have remained
one of the
great combatants in the struggle by so doing france would have preserved the continuity of her life and the french empire might have advanced with
the british empire
to the rescue of the independence and integrity of the french motherland in our own case if we had been put in the terrible position of france a contingency now happily impossible although of course it
would have been
the duty of all war leaders to fight on here to the end it would also have been their duty as i indicated in my speech of 4 th june to provide
as far as
possible for the naval security of canada and our dominions and to make sure they had the means to carry the struggle from beyond the oceans most of the other countries that have been overrun by germany
for the time being
have preserved valiantly and faithfully the czechs the poles the norwegians the dutch the belgians are still in the field sword in hand recognised by
great britain and the united states
as the sole representative authorities and lawful governments of their respective states that france alone should lie prostrate at this moment is the crime not of a great and noble nation but of what are called the men of vichy we have profound sympathy with the french people our old comradeship with france is not dead in general de gaulle and his gallant band that comradeship takes an effective form these free frenchmen have been condemned to death by vichy but the day will come as surely as the sun will rise to morrow when their names will be held in honour and their names will be graven in stone in the streets and villages of a france restored in a liberated europe to its full freedom and its ancient fame but this conviction which i feel of the future cannot affect the immediate problems which confront us in the mediterranean and in africa it had been decided some time before
the beginning of the war
not to defend the protectorate of somaliland that policy was changed when the french gave in and when our small forces there a few battalions a few guns were attacked by all the italian troops nearly two divisions which had formerly faced the french at jibuti it was right to withdraw our detachments virtually intact for action elsewhere far larger operations no doubt impend in the middle east theatre and i shall certainly not attempt to discuss or prophesy about their probable course we have large armies and many means of reinforcing them we have the complete sea command of the eastern mediterranean we intend to do our best to give a good account of ourselves and to discharge faithfully and resolutely all our obligations and duties in that quarter
of the world
more than that
i do not think
the house would wish me to say
at the present time
a good many people have written to me to ask me to make on this occasion a fuller statement of our war aims and of the kind of peace we wish to make after the war than is contained in the very considerable declaration which was made early in the autumn since then we have made common cause with norway holland and belgium we have recognised the czech government of dr benes and we have told general de gaulle that our success will carry with it the restoration of france
i do not think it would be
wise at this moment while the battle rages and the war is still perhaps only in its earlier stage to embark upon elaborate speculations about the future shape which should be given to europe or the new securities which must be arranged to spare mankind the miseries of a third world war the ground is not new it has been frequently traversed and explored and many ideas are held about it in common by all good men and all free men but before we can undertake the task of rebuilding we have not only to be convinced ourselves but we have to convince all other countries that the nazi tyranny is going to be finally broken the right to guide the course of world history is the noblest prize of victory we are still toiling up the hill we have not yet reached the crest line of it we cannot survey the landscape or even imagine what its condition will be when that longed for morning comes the task which lies before us immediately is at once more practical more simple and more stern i hope indeed i pray
that we shall
not be found unworthy of our victory if after toil and tribulation it is granted to us for the rest we have to gain the victory that is our task there is however one direction in which we can see a little more clearly ahead we have to think not only for ourselves but for the lasting security of the cause and principles for
which we are
fighting and of the long future
of the british
commonwealth of nations some months ago we came to the conclusion that the interests
of the united states and of the british empire
both required that
the united states
should have facilities for the naval and air defence of the western hemisphere against the attack of a nazi power which might have acquired temporary but lengthy control of
a large part of
western europe and its formidable resources we had therefore decided spontaneously and without being asked or offered any inducement to inform the government
of the united states
that we would be glad to place such defence facilities at their disposal by leasing suitable sites in our transatlantic possessions for their greater security against the unmeasured dangers of the future the principle of association of interests for common purposes between
great britain and the united states
had developed even before the war various agreements had been reached about certain small islands in the pacific ocean which had become important as air fuelling points in all this line of thought we found ourselves in very close harmony with the government of canada presently we learned that anxiety was also felt
in the united states
about the air and naval defence of their atlantic seaboard and president roosevelt has recently made it clear that he would like to discuss with us and with the dominion of canada and with newfoundland the development of american naval and air facilities in newfoundland and in the west indies there is of course no question of any transference of sovereignty that has never been suggested or of any action being taken without the consent or against the wishes of the various colonies concerned but for our part
his majesty's government
are entirely willing to accord defence facilities to
the united states
on a 99 years leasehold basis and we feel sure that our interests no less than theirs and the interests of the colonies themselves and of canada and newfoundland will be served thereby these are important steps undoubtedly this process means that these two great organisations
of the english speaking
democracies
the british empire and the united states
will have to be somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage for my own part looking out upon the future
i do not
view the process with any misgivings i could not stop it if i wished no one can stop it like the mississippi it just keeps rolling along let it roll let it roll on full flood inexorable irresistible benignant to broader lands and better days