A shot-down German bomber Junkers 88 near Marsh Farm, Earnley, Sussex, on the evening of 21 August 1940. It had been intercepted by No. 17 Squadron Hurricanes during an attack on RAF Brize Norton. Such pictures were intended to boost the morale of the people while English cities were suffering heavy attacks.

 

September 6, 2024

 

 

What should pupils do ?

 

 

Part One: Britain in WW2

 

1 | “Their finest hour” ?

 

➣ Why was Britain in such a dire situation in June 1940 ?

 

Subject discussed in class: № 1. “Their finest hour”. See the annotated version.

 

In the dark early days of the Second World War Churchill had few real weapons. He attacked with words instead. The speeches he delivered then are among the most powerful ever given in the English language. His words were defiant, heroic and human, lightened by flashes of humour. They reached out to everyone in Britain, across Nazi-occupied Europe, and throughout the world. As journalist Beverley Nichols wrote, 'He took the English language and sent it into battle.' (Picture and comments: Imperial War Museum)

“Never surrender!”
 
This is the end of Churchill's speech on 4 June 1940, following the successful evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk. It is in that speech that Churchill said “wars are not won by evacuations”. Note Churchill's insistence on the eventual US involvement in the war, to which he alluded again on 18 June in his “Finest hour” speech (document 2 of subject № 1).
 
“Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight 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 the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a 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, would carry on the struggle, until in God's good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”