On 4 June, 1940 Winston Churchill made his famous We shall fight on the beaches speech to the House of Commons of the British Parliament, shortly after taking over as Prime Minister in the first year of World War II.
It was given in the wake of the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force from France at Dunkirk, after it was cut off by the massive German breakthrough at Sedan, France, and as France reeled (shortly to be overcome). In it he tried to temper the national euphoria engendered by this seemingly miraculous delivery (almost the entire army was rescued, a feat thought most improbable beforehand), and send a message to the rest of the world that there would be no negotiated settlement:
- 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.
This speech, and others by Churchill, including the "This was their finest hour" speech of 18 June, were a great inspiration to the embattled United Kingdom.
The phrase "we shall fight them on the beaches" arose as a common misquotation from this speech.
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