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.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

So how would Germany attack?

Britain is an island....

BRITAIN VS. GERMANY

• British Royal Air Force (RAF)

• German Air Force (Luftwaffe)

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

Bombing of London, England

Firemen battling flames of

bombed buildings.

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

MAP OF BATTLE AREAS:

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

SIGNIFICANCE:

• First major campaign to be fought

entirely by air forces

• The most sustained aerial bombing

campaign up until that date