Few like to think about it, but one person’s “darkest hour” may well be another person’s “brightest hour”.
And World War Two is no exception. For most of us, just how close Hitler and the Nazis came to world conquest could not possibly be a darker hour. But that’s not how they thought about it though.
So, you either have a moral compass here that always points true north [if only in your head], or you grapple with a frame of mind in which any moral agenda can be rationalized. Merely by embracing a set of assumptions about the human condition in sync with your own particular political prejudices.
Me? I am myself an advocate of democracy and the rule of law. The Nazis were anything but in that boat. So, my own political prejudices are clearly in the camp with those who react to “darkest hour” in this film as basically pitch black.
Just how close did the Allies come to losing this war?
As for the tagline, “He wasn’t their first choice, but he became their last hope”, this prompts you to consider just how much weight should be [can be] given to the focus being placed on the “one man” theory of history. One man in the midst of a conflict that was truly of epic proportions. So much is at stake. You can’t help but ponder what the outcome might have been had another man [or woman] been there in his place.
After all, what if it had been Viscount Halifax? How might that have changed the world we live in today? In a sense it’s like speculating on the difference between President Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump. If only the stakes back then being considerably more grave.
And then of course with films of this nature that enormous gap [as some insist] between what we see up on the screen and what in fact actually unfolded “in reality”.
IMDb
[b]Gary Oldman spent a year studying Winston Churchill and his mannerisms before starting on the film.
By a sad irony, John Hurt was ill with cancer when he was set to portray Neville Chamberlain, Britain’s ousted Prime Minister who was dying of cancer in 1940. However, in an interview Gary Oldman said that because Hurt was so ill, he never made it to a reading and never got to film a scene. The movie was still dedicated to Hurt, as it would have been his final cinematic project.
Gary Oldman revealed on The Graham Norton Show (2007) that he smoked £30,000 worth of cigars on set (about 12 cigars a day) while in character as Churchill, developed nicotine poisoning and had a colonoscopy during the Christmas filming break.
Extensive makeup was used to transform Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill, but to call this “aging” makeup would not be entirely accurate. In May 1940, Churchill was 65 years and six months old. Oldman turned 59 during filming.
In March 2018, the black British historian David Olusoga, known for his presenting work on the BBC, added his voice to criticism of Winston Churchill following his renewed profile in Darkest Hour, blaming him for war crimes in Africa and the Bengal Famine. Referring to Churchill’s heroic portrayal in the film, Olusoga said: “Certain people, we only want to hear the good things that they do. Certain events, we only want to hear the stories that we’re familiar with. And other people want to tell different stories, so we have this conflict. I think these are the history wars we are having.” He also said: "So while I’m personally glad that Churchill overcame Halifax in early 1940 and it was Churchill who faced the Nazis that year and the years that followed, that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t somebody that was responsible, or largely responsible, for the Bengal famine of 1943-44. It doesn’t mean that he wasn’t someone who took part in things we would consider war crimes in Africa. It doesn’t mean that his views, the things he espoused, weren’t shocking to members of his Cabinet, never mind to people at the time. We’re going to have to accommodate the fact that these things are true, and there are two sides to these stories and we’re not good at it.
Winston Churchill often disappeared from Downing Street or the Cabinet War Rooms and appeared somewhere in London, where he would talk to the public and find out what they were thinking. However, there is no record of him ever doing this on an underground train.
Objecting to the way in which Churchill was portrayed in this film, a group of anti-racist protesters demonstrated at the Churchill-themed “Blighty Cafe” in London in late January 2018. Ironically, this protest and the media coverage led to the previously obscure café becoming far more popular.[/b]
trivia at IMDb: imdb.com/title/tt4555426/tr … tt_trv_trv
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkest_Hour_(film
trailer: youtu.be/4pNOCzV5jG0
Darkest Hour [2017]
Directed by Joe Wright
[b]Title card: 9 May 1940. Hitler has invaded Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark and Norway. 3 million German troops are now poised on the Belgian border, ready to conquer the rest of Europe. In Britain, Parliament has lost faith in its leader, Neville Chamberlain. The search for a replacement has already begun.
…
Chamberlain: As the Opposition refuse to join any government headed by me, we must now select my successor, someone with new strength to form a coalition government. I will step down tomorrow, but, uh, I did want my own party, the gentlemen I most respect, to know first.
Man: Yeah. And it must be Halifax.
Man: Hear, hear. There’s no question. Our foreign secretary. Halifax.
Man: Yeah, of course. No contest. Halifax.
Halifax: Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate your confidence in me. However, my time has not yet come.
Man: Then who?
Cabinet secretary: But, on whomever the task may fall, he shall be required to explore every avenue.
Chamberlain: Including that of diplomatic talks.
Cabinet secretary: Indeed. Towards the restoration of peace in Europe.
Chamberlain: Well, gentlemen, there is only one candidate…only one man the Opposition will accept.
Men: Oh no no no. No. No, this is totallly absurd.[/b]
Cue the reason for their reaction.
[b]Elizabeth: Excuse me…there’s a telegram.
Clemmie: Shh…
Elizabeth [after a pause]: It’s from the Palace.
…
Clemmie: You’ve wanted this your entire adult life.
Churchill: No. Since the nursery. But do the public want me?
Clemmie: It’s your own party to whom you’ll have to prove yourself.
Churchill: Ah, I’m getting the job only because the ship is sinking. It-it’s not a gift; it’s revenge.
…
Clemmie: Let them see your true qualities, your courage.
Churchill: My poor judgment.
Clemmie: No, your lack of vanity.
Churchill: And my iron will.
Clemmie: Your sense of humor.
Churchill: Ho, ho, ho.
…
King: Then why have I been forced to send for Churchill?
Chamberlain: Because he is the only member of our party who has the support of the Opposition.
King: His record is a litany of catastrophe. Gallipoli, 25,000 dead, the India policy, the Russian Civil War, the Gold Standard, the abdication, and now this Norway adventure. What’s that, 1,800 men?
Chamberlain: One aircraft carrier, two cruisers, seven destroyers and a submarine.
King: Winston lacks judgment.
Chamberlain: He was right about Hitler.
King: Well, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
…
Anthony: Prime Minister. How is the king?
Churchill: Anxious. He’s never forgiven me for supporting his brother’s marriage to Wallis Simpson.
Anthony: You only have to meet him once a week.
Churchill: Oh, but that’s like saying you only have to have your tooth pulled once a week.
…
Man [in Parliament to another]: Look to Chamberlain’s handkerchief. If he waves it at the end of Churchill’s speech, we show approval. If not, keep quiet.
…
Churchill [addressing Parliament]: We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, “What is our policy?” I say it is to wage war by sea, land and air with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us. To wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. Oh, you ask, uh, “What is our aim?” I can answer in one word. Victory. Victory at all costs. Victory, in spite of all terror. Victory, however long and-and hard the road may be. For without victory, there can be no survival.[/b]
Cue Chamberlain not waving his handkerchief.
[b]Churchill [noting the reaction of Parliament to his address]: Contempt.
Anthony: We have to start somewhere.
Churchill: Snap.
…
Halifax: “Our policy is to wage war.” "At all costs. No survival. " Good God, he’s incapable of even pronouncing the word “peace,” let alone entering into negotiations.
Chamberlain: Awful, the thought that I shall never see my country at peace again. I have cancer.
Halifax: Oh, Neville.
Chamberlain: Uh, Winston must be removed from office.
Halifax: If we can get him to declare that he refuses to even consider peace negotiations with Germany, you and I would perhaps have clear grounds to resign. That would force a vote of no confidence. The party couldn’t countenance that.You’re the chairman, for heaven’s sake. He’d be finished.
Chamberlain: And you would agree to be prime minister.
Halifax: Well…with Winston out of the way, who can say? But the important thing, Neville, is that your policies would be back on the table. Peace and the protection of our nation.
Chamberlain: On record.
Halifax: I beg your pardon.
Chamberlain: He must declare, on record, his refusal to engage in peace talks. We must have it in writing.[/b]
How bleak did things get?
General: Belgium and Holland may fall at any hour.
Churchill: And the French?
General: The entire French Ninth Army, some 200,000 men, have capitulated.
Churchill: All of them?
General: Capitulated. Deserted. It was a rout. All our land forces, roughly 300,000 men, are now in full retreat.
Churchill: Air cover? For our troops?
General: The Luftwaffe control the skies. We simply don’t have enough planes to challenge them. In fact, I strongly recommend we stop sending our precious fighter planes to be wasted in France. Save them for our own defense.
Churchill: And our navy sits idle, neutralized, useless.
Admiral: Our fleets no sooner come within their range than we come under blistering air attack. Well, their speed is devastating.
General: Panzer tanks moving rapidly westward through the center.
Churchill: Oh. Well, they will have to pause for fuel supplies.
General: This is not the last war, sir. Their tanks can stop for fuel at a petrol station.
Churchill: Petrol station?
General: The road to Paris now lies open. Seven million refugees are on the move. Collectively, we are looking at the collapse of Western Europe in the next few days. Should the public be told?
Churchill: Not yet. First, we must rouse our old friends to an heroic resistance. France must be saved.
We know how that went.
Churchill: I do not believe that this…this, uh…Panzer breakthrough is a real invasion.
French official: Not a real invasion?
Churchill: No. As long as their tank crews are not supported by infantry units, th-they are… merely little flags stuck on a map. Because the tank crews cannot support themselves. No. I-I refuse to see, in this spectacular raid of the German tank, a real invasion.
Members of Pariliament react to Churchill thus far:
[b]Man: He’s an actor, in love with the sound of his own voice.
Man: I love to listen to him. But we must never take his advice. Has a hundred ideas a day. Four of them are good, the other 96 downright dangerous.
Man: His father was the same…great orator, but…
Man: Until he lost his mind to syphilis. How nations suffer for the sins of their fathers. My opinion? At this critical juncture for the empire, we have a drunkard at the wheel. Wakes with a scotch, bottle of champagne for lunch, another one at dinner. Brandy and port until the wee hours. I wouldn’t let him borrow my bicycle.
Man: He’s a Conservative who defects to the Liberals, lobs grenades at us for ten years, then flops Conservative again as it bloody suits him. Sorry, but he stands for one thing. Himself.
…
Halifax: We may have to replace him, Bertie.
King: Replace him?
Halifax We must strive for peace so that every son and daughter of this land can emerge from this crisis with something recognizable as home.
King: Spoken like a true prime minister.
…
Aide: You need to reply to the Lord Privy Seal.
Churchhill: Uh… uh, uh, tell the Lord Privy Seal I am sealed in the privy. And I can only deal with one shit at a time.
…
Churchill: The broadcast is tonight, so don’t spare me, Anthony. Be frank.
Anthony: Mm. I don’t think so.
Churchill: You, uh… you don’t think so what?
Anthony: You’re suggesting we’re somehow winning. We’re not.
Churchill: No, but, uh, it will inspire them.
Anthony: Winston, I know…
Churchill: Anthony, Anthony. I am going to imbue them with a… a-a spirit of feeling they don’t yet know they have.
…
Churchill [addressing the nation for the first time]: Side by side, the British and French peoples have advanced.
Halifax [listening]: “Advanced”?
Churchill: To rescue not only Europe…
Halifax [listening]: How bloody dare he.
Churchill: …But mankind from the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny which has ever darkened and stained the pages of history. But now one bond unites us all. To wage war until victory is won, and never to surrender ourselves to servitude and shame. Whatever the cost and the agony may be, conquer we must, as conquer we shall.
…
Clemmie: Oh, I thought you did marvelously.
Churchill: The last ten years, I was the only one who told them the truth. Until tonight. There is no advance. It’s a shambles. We’re in full retreat.
Clemmie: But would you be serving them tonight by denying them their sleep and…and terrifying their children?
Churchill: What, even if the terror is coming?
Clemmie: Because the terror is coming. There’s time enough for the truth.
…
Elizabeth: Prime Minister. Sir.
Churchill: Yes, what is it?
Elizabeth: Um… perhaps… Um… look, I’m… I’m not sure if you know this, but, um… uh, but the way you’re doing your “V for Victory” sign…
Churchill: Hmm?
Elizabeth: Well, in the poorer quarters, that gesture means something else.
Churchill: What does it mean?
Elizabeth: Well, I wouldn’t like to say, sir.
Churchill: I was captured by the Boer. I spent time in a South African prison.
Elizabeth: Up your bum. Sir.
Churchill: Up your bum? Bum. Up your…
[he bursts out laughing]
Elizabeth: The way you’re doing it, sir, yes, sir. But if you turn it around, that’s fine. I wouldn’t like millions of people to take it the wrong way. [/b]
Things then get bleaker still…
[b]General: As of 2000 hours last night, the Germans have encircled 60 British, Belgian and French divisions. On our part, all our forces under Lord Gort have withdrawn or are trying to withdraw to the French coast, to Dunkirk, where we cannot reach them.
Churchill: How many of our men are trapped?
General: All of them. Our country’s entire professional soldiery. And we can see no clear way to rescue them.
Churchill: General, are-are you telling me that we shall have lost the entire British Army by the next few days?
General: That’s correct. The German force is superior in every regard and only 50 miles from the coast. They are pushing us into the sea.
Churchill: No, the Germans must not reach the sea. Not…not before we evacuate our-our men. Ismay, what have you got for us?
Ismay: As it stands, I cannot see we have much hope of getting any of our forces out in time. Churchill: Not a man?
Ismay: Well, we… well, we cannot be so, uh, totally at their mercy.
Churchill: Wh-What’s our next step?
[no one responds]
Churchill: Anyone? Come on, speak!
…
Halifax: Prime Minister, I have reservations.
Churchill: Well, who is free of reservations?
Halifax: About unnecessary sacrifice, when there is an available alternative.
Churchill: What alternative?
Halifax: Italy has offered to mediate peace talks between ourselves and Germany. I already indicated that, provided the liberty and independence of the British Empire was assured, we would consider any proposal.
Churchill: With, uh…with Hitler holding the…the whip hand. Do you really think he would honor our liberty and independence?
Halifax: It would be in his interest to do so, sir. Because the British Empire…
Churchill: The only thing to do is to show that maniac that he cannot conquer this island, and for that we need an army!!
…
Churchill: I take full responsibility.
Halifax: Really?
Churchill: Really! Yes, sir. It is the reason… I sit in this chair!
Halifax: Well, surely, before you take full responsibility for the deaths of 4,000 men, you’d wish to consider every available avenue. What… what is this? What is your mind on the principle of peace talks, sir?
…
Halifax [now alone with Churchill and Chamberlain]: Winston…we are facing certain defeat on land, the annihilation of our army, and imminent invasion. We must be rational.
Churchill: We are a seagoing nation. Have been since the Bronze Age. The Channel is ours. It’s our moat, our battlement, and the German doesn’t recognize an expanse of water greater than a bloody lake. They have first to reach this island, Edward.
Halifax: Where men, women and children, whom we will have failed despicably in our duty of protection, will be entirely defenseless…
Churchill: And whose fault is that?
Halifax: …against the largest army the world has ever seen. Furthermore, once France falls, Germany can concentrate on aircraft production. They will then have the French fleet as well. What is to stop Herr Hitler then, Winston? Words, words, words alone. If you will not permit any talk of peace, then I shall be forced…
Chamberlain: Might we not allow Edward simply to meet the Italian Ambassador Bastianini, discuss a possible role as mediators between us and Germany, and find out their price? Sir?[/b]
Then this:
[b]Churchill [on the phone]Uh… uh, listen, Mr. President. I’m, uh, uh, telephoning about your, uh, navy ships. If you could loan us just, uh… uh, 50 older destroyers. Or even 40 would do.
Roosevelt: Well, I, uh…I did ask around, but just not possible, I’m afraid. The Neutrality Act we signed last year has tied my hands. Just can’t swing it. I tried.
Churchill: Uh, well, can I, uh, um…Do I have your, uh, permission, uh, to send, uh, an aircraft carrier to pick up the P-40 fighter planes we purchased from you? Mr. President? Well, you-you’ve got me there again. New law preventing transshipment of military equipment. Uh, but we paid for them. We-we paid for them with the money that we…that we borrowed from you.
Roosevelt: I’m so, so sorry, Winston.
Churchill: [more ominously]: I need not impress upon you the…the trouble faced by the Western Hemisphere, uh, without your support in some fashion.
Roosevelt: I know. I know. You are on my mind day and night. Look, we could possibly…
Churchill: Uh, Mr. President…We are facing, uh, the gravest odds.
Roosevelt: We could take your planes to about a mile from the Canadian border. And then, if you send across a team of horses from Canada…nothing motorized…then you could pull them over the border yourself. How does that sound?
Churchill [more or less incredulous]: Horses? Um, you-you did say, uh, a-a team of horses?
Roosevelt: Well, I guess you could push them yourself. Damn things have wheels. Up to you. We could do that, Prime Minister. Prime Minister?
Churchill: Uh, uh, anything you could do at this time, uh, Franklin, would be most welcome.
Roosevelt: Good night to you, Winston. It must be late there.
Churchill: In more ways than you could possibly know.
…
Churchill [on the phone]: Uh, listen, Bertie. Uh, we need to evacuate our boys. Uh, the Navy is saying that with one cruiser and six destroyers and with the… the Luftwaffe controlling the skies above, we-we’ll be lucky to get ten percent out. I want you to order a-an assembly of boats.
Admiral: Boats?
Churchill: Uh, yes. Um…Civilian boats. Uh, as many as you can get your hands on. Uh, Longley’s clipper, Fearnley’s gin palace, anyone with a pleasure craft bigger than 30 foot that can get to France. Bertie, you still there?
Admiral: Um, right.
Churchill: Help me stage this thing, Bertie. Huh? We must at least try to bring some of our boys home.
Admiral: Well, I’ll have the BBC issue the order.
Churchill: Good. Oh, and-and, Bertie…We need a name for this operation.
…
King: How do you manage drinking during the day?
Churchill: Practice.
…
King: Your position in Parliament, I…I’m told, is not strong.
Churchill: Uh, my party… resents the way Chamberlain was pushed aside. And many others doubt me. They want Halifax still, but why get rid of the organ grinder and replace him with the monkey?
…
King: Perhaps it’s because you scare people.
Churchill: Who?
King: You scare me.
Churchill: What nonsense. What could possibly be scary about me?
King: One never knows what’s going to come out of your mouth next. Something that will flatter, something that will wound.
…
Halifax: Prime Minister. The question of peace talks.
Churchill: Oh, we must hold our nerve. Signal only that we intend to fight it out until the end. A peace offer, uh, - telegraphs our weakness.
Anthony: Agreed.
Churchill: And even if we were beaten, we should be no worse off than we should be if we were now to abandon the struggle. Let us therefore avoid being dragged down the slippery slope with talk of a negotiated peace.
Halifax: Slippery slope? The only…
Churchill: I suspect Italy and Germany…
Halifax: The only slippery slope…
Churchill: …wish to get us so deeply involved in negotiations that we should be unable to turn back.
Halifax: Nonsense. Bastianini informed me…
Churchill: I propose…
Halifax: The only slippery slope…
Churchill: Would you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you?!!
…
Halifax: The deadly danger here is this romantic fantasy of fighting to the end. What is the end, if not the destruction of all things? There’s nothing heroic in going down fighting if it can be avoided. Nothing even remotely patriotic in death or glory if the odds are firmly on the former. Nothing inglorious in trying to shorten a war that we are clearly losing.
Churchill: Losing?! Europe is still…
Halifax: Europe is lost…And before our forces are wiped out completely, now is the time to negotiate, in order to obtain the best conditions possible. Hitler will not insist on outrageous terms. He will know his own weaknesses. He will be reasonable.
Churchill [enraged]: When will the lesson be learned? When will the lesson be learned?! How many more dictators must be, uh, wooed, appeased…good God, given immense privileges before we learn? You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth!
…
Halifax [now alone with Churchill]: If you will not permit further exploration of a peace agreement, then you will have my resignation.
Churchill: Oh, don’t be absurd, Edward. I need you. You know I do.
Halifax: I will not stand by to watch another generation of young men die at the bloody altar of your hubris.
Churchill: Oh, and you would have us die as lambs! Was Gallipoli not enough for you? How dare you! Our troops were chewing barbed wire in Flanders, and I saw it! Opening a second front, outflanking the Turks was a…a serious military idea, and it could have damn well worked if the… if the admirals and the First Sea Lord hadn’t dithered away our element of surprise.
Halifax: Choice is yours, Winston. You have 24 hours to enter into peace talks, or I shall resign.
…
Halifax [to Chamberlain]: I told him. It shook him. Gave him 24 hours. I don’t expect he’ll agree, so I shall resign first. You then follow…that’s critical if we’re to trigger a vote of no confidence in the House. I shall announce it. The king will back us.
…
Elizabeth: May I be excused?
Churchill [seeing tears in Elizabeth’s eyes]: You may not. What is this about?
Elizabeth: No one tells us anything. It’s all classified. We hear scraps, and it’s worse than knowing nothing.
Churchill: What would you like to know?
Elizabeth: How many men will survive?
Churchill: Come with me.
…
Churchill [to Elizabeth in the map room]: The German army controls every French port except Dunkirk here and Calais here to the west, where the garrison under Brigadier Nicholson is drawing fire and delaying the German advance on Dunkirk. At both points, our troops are encircled. Now, we are still trying to clear Dunkirk Harbor of wrecked ships so that we can then land the boats we need to get our… our boys off those beaches. But enemy aircraft is attacking us constantly. Our-our only hope in Dunkirk is thick cloud cover to thwart these attacks, but the skies remain clear. And even then, I am told we will need a… a miracle to get even ten percent of our men out. Courage, Miss Layton. Courage.
…
General [to Churchill]: We must prepare for the imminent invasion of our island. We recommend that the country should be warned and roused to the immediate danger, and that all personnel required to put Britain in a state of defense should be mobilized without a moment’s delay.
…
Chamberlain: You are refusing to grasp the realities of how precarious our position is. Our entire army is about to be wiped out. Terms must be struck.
Churchill: Anthony?
[Anthony says nothing]
Churchill: Then it seems we…we-we have no choice but to at least consider the path of negotiation. If-if Hitler’s peace terms are, um, overlordship of Central Europe, return of certain German colonies, a-and if he will leave us our independence, th-then I-I’d be grateful to get out of our present…difficulties. But it is unlikely that he will make such an offer. But-but if I were told what the German terms were…well, then I-I’d be prepared to-to consider them.
Halifax: Thank you, Prime Minister.
…
Churchill [more to himself as he stares down at a newspaper headline, HITLER DEFIANT RUTHLESS IN ATTACK]:…that corporal…that child. Monster of wickedness. That butcher. That savage. Monstrous savage. That wicked…housepainter. Housepainter!
…
Churchill [looking down at a photograph]: Uh, your beau?
Elizabeth: My brother.
Churchill: Where is he now?
Elizabeth: He was falling back on Dunkirk. But he never made it.
…
King: Belgium? Collapsed. Norway? Holland. France any hour. And the mood of Parliament?
Churchill: Fear. Panic.
King: And you? Are you not afraid?
Churchill: I am, most terribly. Support in the War Cabinet for the campaign of resistance has collapsed. Uh, later today, I-I will address the House accordingly.
King: You have my support.
Churchill: Your Majesty?
King: You have my support. I confess, I…had some reservations about you at first, but while some in this country dreaded your appointment, none…none dreaded it like Adolf Hitler. Whomever can strike fear into that brute heart is worthy of all of our trust. We shall work together. You shall have my support at any hour. Beat the buggers.
Churchill: I will go to Parliament. But without support in my own party, I must sue for peace.
…
Churchhill [in the war room]: There is no doubt that if we falter at all in the leading of the nation, we should all be hurled out of office. I am sure now that every minister on both sides of the House is… is ready to be killed quite soon, and have all his family and possessions destroyed, rather than give in. In this, they represent almost all the people. And it falls to me in these coming days and months to express their sentiments. There shall be no negotiated peace. And you must each do now as you see fit. If you will excuse me, gentlemen…I believe I am due to address Parliament. And I have yet to write a word of my speech.
…
Halifax: We must both now resign, force a vote of no confidence.
Chamberlain: Well, let us go to the Commons first, uh…join our colleagues. Then speak after the prime minister’s address.
…
Churchill [to the Parliament]: Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous states have…have fallen or may fall into the…the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of the 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 the oceans. We shall fight with…with growing confidence and growing strengths 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 if… And if…And if…which I-I-I do not for a moment believe, this island or large part of it were… were-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! [/b]
Cue Chamberlain’s handkerchief.
[b]Man: What just happened?
Halifax: He just mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.
Title card: Almost all of the 300,000 troops at Dunkirk were carried home by Winston’s civilian fleet.[/b]