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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 realised. 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 20
divisions and the abandonment of the whole of
Belgium. Therefore, when the force and scope of the
German penetration were realised 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 armored and mechanised
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for a while and were then withdrawn by orders from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 Brigade, 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
30 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
armored 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 water lines 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 was 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 Leopard
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 judgment 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
Belgian 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 armored
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 by 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 deliverance, 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-the 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 has 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 deserve our gratitude,
as do all 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 21st 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
far 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
week days. Capital and Labour have cast aside their
interests, rights, and customs and put them into the
common stock. Already the flow of munitions has
leaped 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 program.
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 Bologne 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 organisation that the fewest possible
numbers will be required to give effective security
and that the largest possible potential of offensive
effort may be realised. 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 stratagem and
every kind of brutal and treacherous maneuvre. 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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