Dunkirk
`Wars Are
Not Won by Evacuations'
Meanwhile, the British
Expeditionary Force has retreated before the German onslaught to the Dunkirk
bridgehead. With the fate of France still uncertain, the evacuation began
on 26 May 1940. The sea was calm, thousands
of privately owned small boats made the hazardous journey across the Channel,
and the RAF fought heroically to deny the enemy air supremacy. By 4 June, over
330,000 Allied troops had reached England, including 26,000 French soldiers, a
far higher figure than had ever been hoped for.
On the same day, Churchill
reported to the Commons, in a speech lasting just over half an hour. He sought
to temper the mood of national relief and euphoria in the aftermath of such an
unexpected deliverance, to warn that in the future, Britain might well be
forced to fight alone, and to make the first of many appeals, in his
peroration, to the United States.
By common consent, this was an
outstandingly successful performance. 'This afternoon', Harold Nicolson
reported 'Winston made the finest speech I have ever heard. The House was
deeply moved.' Josiah Wedgwood, the Labour MP, thought it 'worth a thousand
guns, and the speeches of a thousand years.' Even Henry Channon,
an inveterate appeaser and an ardent Chamberlain supporter, was impressed. 'He
was eloquent and oratorical, and used magnificent English; several Labour
members cried.' So did Churchill.
The Speech
House of Commons, 4
June 1940
FROM THE MOMENT THAT the French
defences at Sedan and on the Meuse were broken at the end of the second week of
May, only a rapid retreat to Amiens and the south could have saved the British
and French Armies who had entered Belgium at the appeal of the Belgian King;
but this strategic fact was not immediately realized. The French High Command
hoped they would be able to close the gap, and the Armies of the north were
under their orders. Moreover, a retirement of this kind would have involved
almost certainly the destruction of the fine Belgian Army of over twenty
divisions and the abandonment of the whole of Belgium. Therefore, when the
force and scope of the German penetration were realized and when a new French
Generalissimo, General Weygand, assumed command in place of General Gamelin, an
effort was made by the French and British Armies in Belgium to keep on holding
the right hand of the Belgians and to give their own right hand to a newly
created French Army which was to have advanced across the Somme in great
strength to grasp it.
However, the German eruption
swept like a sharp scythe around the right and rear of the Armies of the north.
Eight or nine armoured divisions, each of about four hundred armoured vehicles
of different kinds, but carefully assorted to be complementary and divisible
into small self-contained units, cut off all communications between us and the
main French Armies. It severed our own communications for food and ammunition,
which ran first to Amiens and afterwards through Abbeville, and it shore its
way up the coast to Boulogne and Calais, and almost to Dunkirk. Behind this
armoured and mechanized onslaught came a number of German divisions in lorries,
and behind them again there plodded comparatively slowly the dull brute mass of
the ordinary German Army and German people, always so ready to be led to the trampling
down in other lands of liberties and comforts which they have never known in
their own.
I have said this armoured
scythe-stroke almost reached Dunkirk almost but not quite. Boulogne and
Calais were the scenes of desperate fighting. The Guards defended Boulogne for
a while and were then withdrawn by orders from this country. The Rifle Bridage,
the 60th Rifles, and the Queen Victoria's Rifles, with a battalion of British
tanks and 1,000 Frenchmen, in all about four thousand strong, defended Calais to
the last. The British Brigadier was given an hour to surrender. He spurned the
offer, and four days of intense street fighting passed before silence reigned
over Calais, which marked the end of a memorable resistance. Only thirty
unwounded survivors were brought off by the Navy and we do not know the fate of
their comrades. Their sacrifice, however, was not in vain. At least two
armoured divisions, which otherwise would have been turned against the British
Expeditionary Force, had to be sent to overcome them. They have added another
page to the glories of the light divisions, and the time gained enabled the
Graveline waterline to be flooded and to be held by the French troops.
Thus it was that the port of
Dunkirk was kept open. When it was found impossible for the Armies of the north
to reopen their communications to Amiens with the main French Armies, only one
choice remained. It seemed, indeed, forlorn. The Belgian, British and French
Armies were almost surrounded. Their sole line of retreat was to a single port
and to its neighbouring beaches. They were pressed on every side by heavy
attacks and far outnumbered in the air.
When a week ago today I asked the
House to fix this afternoon as the occasion for a statement, I feared it would
be my hard lot to announce the greatest military disaster in our long history.
I thought and some good judges agreed with me that perhaps 20,000 or 30,000
men might be re-embarked. But it certainly seemed that the whole of the French
First Army and the whole of the British Expeditionary Force north of the
Amiens-Abbeville gap, would be broken up in the open field or else would have
to capitulate for lack of food and ammunition. These were the hard and heavy
tidings for which I called upon the House and the nation to prepare themselves
a week ago. The whole root and core and brain of the British Army, on which and
around which we were to build, and are to build, the great British Armies in
the later years of the war, seemed about to perish upon the field or to be led
into an ignominious and starving captivity.
That was the prospect a week ago.
But another blow which might well have proved final was yet to fall upon us.
The King of the Belgians had called upon us to come to his aid. Had not this
Ruler and his Government severed themselves from the Allies, who rescued their
country from extinction in the late war, and had they not sought refuge in what
has proved to be a fatal neutrality, the French and British Armies might well
at the outset have saved not only Belgium but perhaps even Poland. Yet at the
last moment when Belgium was already invaded, King Leopold called upon us to
come to his aid, and even at the last moment we came. He and his brave,
efficient Army, nearly half a million strong, guarded our left flank and thus kept
open our only line of retreat to the sea. Suddenly, without prior consultation,
with the least possible notice, without the advice of his Ministers and upon
his own personal act, he sent a plenipotentiary to the German Command,
surrendered his Army and exposed our whole flank and means of retreat.
I asked the House a week ago to
suspend its judgement because the facts were not clear, but I do not feel that
any reason now exists why we should not form our own opinions upon this pitiful
episode. The surrender of the Belgium Army compelled the British at the
shortest notice to cover a flank to the sea more than 30 miles in length.
Otherwise all would have been cut off, and all would have shared the fate to
which King Leopold had condemned the finest Army his country had ever formed.
So in doing this and in exposing this flank, as anyone who followed the
operations on the map will see, contact was lost between the British and two
out of the three corps forming the First French Army, who were still farther
from the coast than we were, and it seemed impossible that any large number of
Allied troops could reach the coast.
The enemy attacked on all sides
with great strength and fierceness, and their main power, the power of their
far more numerous air force, was thrown into the battle or else concentrated
upon Dunkirk and the beaches. Pressing in upon the narrow exit, both from the
east and from the west, the enemy began to fire with cannon upon the beaches by
which alone the shipping could approach or depart. They sowed magnetic mines in
the channels and seas; they sent repeated waves of hostile aircraft, sometimes
more than a hundred strong in one formation, to cast their bombs upon the
single pier that remained, and upon the sand dunes upon which the troops had their
eyes for shelter. Their U-boats, one of which was sunk, and their motor
launches took their toll of the vast traffic which now began. For four or five
days an intense struggle reigned. All their armoured divisions or what was
left of them together with great masses of infantry and artillery, hurled
themselves in vain upon the ever-narrowing, ever-contracting appendix within
which the British and French Armies fought.
Meanwhile, the Royal Navy, with
the willing help of countless merchant seamen, strained every nerve to embark
the British and Allied troops; 220 light warships and 650 other vessels were
engaged. They had to operate upon the difficult coast, often in adverse
weather, under an almost ceaseless hail of bombs and an increasing
concentration of artillery fire. Nor were the seas, as I have said, themselves
free from mines and torpedoes. It was in conditions such as these that our men
carried on, with little or no rest, for days and nights on end, making trip
after trip across the dangerous waters, bringing with them always men whom they
had rescued. The numbers they have brought back are the measure of their
devotion and their courage. The hospital ships, which brought off many
thousands of British and French wounded, being so plainly marked were a special
target for Nazi bombs; but the men and women on board them never faltered in
their duty.
Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force,
which had already been intervening in the battle, so far as its range would
allow, from home bases, now used part of its main metropolitan fighter
strength, and struck at the German bombers, and at the fighters which in large
numbers protected them. This struggle was protracted and fierce. Suddenly the
scene has cleared, the crash and thunder has for the moment but only for the
moment died away. A miracle of deliverance, achieved by valour, by
perseverance, by perfect discipline, by faultless service, by resource, by
skill, by unconquerable fidelity, is manifest to us all. The enemy was hurled
back to the retreating British and French troops. He was so roughly handled
that he did not hurry their departure seriously. The Royal Air Force engaged
the main strength of the German Air Force, and inflicted upon them losses of at
least four to one; and the Navy, using nearly 1,000 ships of all kinds, carried
over 335,000 men, French and British, out of the jaws of death and shame, to
their native land and to the tasks which lie immediately ahead. We must be very
careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are
not won by evacuations. But there was a victory inside this deliver-ance, which
should be noted. It was gained by the Air Force. Many of our soldiers coming
back have not seen the Air Force at work; they saw only the bombers which
escaped its protective attack. They underrate its achievements. I have heard
much talk of this; that is why I go out of my way to say this. I will tell you
about it.
This was a great trial of
strength between the British and German Air Forces. Can you conceive a greater
objective for the Germans in the air than to make evacuation from these beaches
impossible, and to sink all these ships which were displayed, almost to the
extent of thousands? Could there have been an objective of greater military
importance and significance for the whole purpose of the war than this? They
tried hard, and they were beaten back; they were frustrated in their task. We
got the Army away; and they have paid fourfold for any losses which they have
inflicted. Very large formations of German aeroplanes and we know that they
are a very brave race have turned on several occasions from the attack of
one-quarter of their number of the Royal Air Force, and have dispersed in
different directions. Twelve aeroplanes have been hunted by two. One aeroplane
was driven into the water and cast away, by the mere charge of a British
aeroplane, which had no more ammunition. All of our types Hurricane, the
Spitfire and the new Defiant and all our pilots have been vindicated as
superior to what they have at present to face.
When we consider how much greater
would be our advantage in defending the air above this island against an
overseas attack, I must say that I find in these facts a sure basis upon which
practical and reassuring thoughts may rest. I will pay my tribute to these
young airmen. The great French Army was very largely, for the time being, cast
back and disturbed by the onrush of a few thousands of armoured vehicles. May
it not also be that the cause of civilization itself will be defended by the skill
and devotion of a few thousand airmen. There never had been, I suppose, in all
the world, in all the history of war, such an opportunity for youth. The
Knights of the Round Table, the Crusaders, all fall back into the past: not
only distant but prosaic; these young men, going forth every morn to guard
their native land and all that we stand for, holding in their hands these
instruments of colossal and shattering power, of whom it may be said that ...
Every morn brought forth a noble chance
And every chance brought forth a noble
knight,
... deserve our gratitude, as do
all of the brave men who, in so many ways and on so many occasions, are ready,
and continue ready, to give life and all for their native land.
I return to the Army. In the long
series of very fierce battles, now on this front, now on that, fighting on
three fronts at once, battles fought by two or three divisions against an equal
or somewhat larger number of the enemy, and fought fiercely on some of the old
grounds that so many of us knew so well, in these battles our losses in men
have exceeded 30,000 killed, wounded and missing. I take occasion to express
the sympathy of the House to all who have suffered bereavement or who are still
anxious. The President of the Board of Trade [Sir Andrew Duncan] is not here
today. His son has been killed, and many in the House have felt the pangs of
affliction in the sharpest form. But I will say this about the missing. We have
had a large number of wounded come home safely to this country, but I would say
about the missing that there may be very many reported missing who will come
back home, some day, in one way or another. In the confusion of this fight it
is inevitable that many have been left in positions where honour required no
further resistance from them.
Against this loss of over 30,000
men, we can set a far heavier loss certainly inflicted upon the enemy. But our
losses in material are enormous. We have perhaps lost one-third of the men we
lost in the opening days of the battle of 2I March 1918, but we have lost
nearly as many guns nearly one thousand and all our transport, all the
armoured vehicles that were with the Army in the north. This loss will impose a
further delay on the expansion of our military strength. That expansion had not
been proceeding as fast as we had hoped. The best of all we had to give had
gone to the British Expeditionary Force, and although they had not the numbers
of tanks and some articles of equipment which were desirable, they were a very
well- and finely equipped Army. They had the first fruits of all that our
industry had to give, and that is gone. And now here is this further delay. How
long it will be, how long it will last, depends upon the exertions which we
make in this island. An effort the like of which has never been seen in our
records is now being made. Work is proceeding everywhere, night and day,
Sundays and weekdays. Capital and labour have cast aside their interests,
rights and customs and put them into the common stock. Already the flow of
munitions has leapt forward. There is no reason why we should not in a few
months overtake the sudden and serious loss that has come upon us, without
retarding the development of our general programme.
Nevertheless, our thankfulness at
the escape of our Army and so many men, whose loved ones have passed through an
agonizing week, must not blind us to the fact that what has happened in France
and Belgium is a colossal military disaster. The French Army has been weakened,
the Belgian Army has been lost, a large part of those fortified lines upon
which so much faith had been reposed is gone, many valuable mining districts
and factories have passed into the enemy's possession, the whole of the Channel
ports are in his hands, with all the tragic consequences that follow from that,
and we must expect another blow to be struck almost immediately at us or at
France. We are told that Herr Hitler has a plan for invading the British Isles.
This has often been thought of before. 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.
The whole question of home
defence against invasion is, of course, powerfully affected by the fact that we
have for the time being in this island incomparably more powerful military
forces than we have ever had at any moment in this war or the last. But this
will not continue. We shall not be content with a defensive war. We have our
duty to our Ally. We have to reconstitute and build up the British
Expeditionary Force once again, under its gallant Commander-in-Chief, Lord
Gort. All this is in train; but in the interval we must put our defences in
this island into such a high state of organization that the fewest possible
numbers will be required to give effective security and that the largest
possible potential of offensive effort may be realized. On this we are now
engaged. It will be very convenient, if it be the desire of the House, to enter
upon this subject in a secret Session. Not that the Government would
necessarily be able to reveal in very great detail military secrets, but we
like to have our discussions free, without the restraint imposed by the fact
that they will be read the next day by the enemy; and the Government would
benefit by views freely expressed in all parts of the House by Members with
their knowledge of so many different parts of the country. I understand that
some request is to be made upon this subject; which will be readily acceded to
by His Majesty's Government.
We have found it necessary to
take measures of increasing stringency, not only against enemy aliens and
suspicious characters of other nationalities, but also against British subjects
who may become a danger or a nuisance should the war be transported to the
United Kingdom. I know there are a great many people affected by the orders
which we have made who are the passionate enemies of Nazi Germany. I am very
sorry for them, but we cannot, at the present time and under the present
stress, draw all the distinctions which we should like to do. If parachute
landings were attempted and fierce fighting attendant upon them followed, these
unfortunate people would be far better out of the way, for their own sakes as
well as for ours. There is, however, another class, for which I feel not the
slightest sympathy. Parliament has given us the powers to put down Fifth Column
activities with a strong hand, and we shall use those powers, subject to the
supervision and correction of the House, without the slightest hesitation until
we are satisfied, and more than satisfied, that this malignancy in our midst
has been effectively stamped out.
Turning once again, and this time
more generally, to the question of invasion, I would observe that there has
never been a. period in all these long centuries of which we boast when an
absolute guarantee against invasion, still less against serious raids, could
have been given to our people. In the days of Napoleon the same wind which
would have carried his transports across the Channel might have driven away the
blockading fleet. There was always the chance, and it is that chance which has
excited and befooled the imaginations of many Continental tyrants. Many are the
tales that are told. We are assured that novel methods will be adopted, and
when we see the originality of malice, the ingenuity of aggression, which our
enemy displays, we may certainly prepare ourselves for every kind of novel
strategem and every kind of brutal and treacherous manoeuvre. I think that no
idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered and viewed with a
searching, but at the same time, I hope, with a steady eye. We must never
forget the solid assurances of sea-power and those which belong to air power if
it can be locally exercised.
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
again 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. 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.
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