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 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 armored divisions, each of about four hundred armored
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 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withdrawn by orders from this country.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 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 neighboring
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 valor, 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 armored 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
Every morn brought forth a noble chance and every
chance brought forth a noble knight, 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
honor 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 armored 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 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 defense 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 defenses 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 stratagem and every kind of
brutal and treacherous maneuver. 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.
