It was the speech which cemented Winston Churchill’s position as Prime Minister after the miraculous evacuation of British forces from the beaches of Dunkirk.
The rousing words of defiance about how Britain would ‘never surrender’ after Britain’s humiliating retreat from marauding Nazi troops are the best-known utterances of the wartime PM.
But a new documentary sheds light on how giving speeches ‘did not come naturally’ to Churchill, so he would slave over them for hours until they were ‘pin perfect’.
He dictated his words to secretaries who had a ‘tough time trying to keep up with what the final version was’.
Churchill, who had become PM in May 1940 after a decade in the political wilderness, was under intense pressure from his war cabinet to sign a peace deal with Adolf Hitler after the Nazi leader’s forces stormed through Europe and encircled Britain.
It meant that, in the speech which he gave to the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, he needed to convince both ordinary Britons and sceptical figures such as his Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax that Britain should fight on.
In Channel 5’s Churchill: A Gathering Storm, viewers hear from leading historians as well as Lady Williams of Elvel – the secretary who worked for the politician from 1949 until 1955 – about how the politician crafted his words.
A new documentary sheds light on how giving speeches did not come naturally to wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The words he uttered in June 1940 after the evacuation of British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk would have been rehearsed until they were ‘pin perfect’
Operation Dynamo saw around 338,000 British and Allied troops evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk over the course of eight days
Churchill became Prime Minister on May 10, 1940, after previous incumbent Neville Chamberlain was forced to resign following the failure of his appeasement strategy and the declaration of war on Germany in September 1939.
Churchill had initially returned to the Government in September 1939 as First Lord of the Admiralty after a decade as a backbench MP.
Less than a week after becoming Prime Minister, Churchill travelled to France, where he learned that German troops were only 110 miles east of Paris.
Historian Dr Tessa Dunlop explains in Channel 5’s documentary how Churchill was ‘staggered’ at how the Nazis ‘went through the French like a knife through butter’.
It meant that an operation needed to be launched to try to rescue around 400,000 British and Allied troops who were trapped in Dunkirk.
Alan Packwood, the director of the Churchill Archives, said: ‘Churchill is fighting desperately and simultaneously on two fronts.
‘He is fighting to salvage everything he can from the beaches of Dunkirk but he’s also having to fight a rear guard action against his own foreign secretary who is now proposing peace negotiations.’
The initial estimates were that Operation Dynamo – the name given for the Dunkirk evacuation – would only manage to save 50,000 men.
But incredibly, 338,000 British and Allied troops were ultimately rescued from the French beaches over the course of eight days.
The feat was accomplished using Royal Navy and civilian vessels, with the help of air support from the RAF and the good fortune of clouds which hampered Nazi efforts to attack ships and troops from the air.
Mr Packwood said: ‘Churchill was obviously relieved but he does not see this as a moment of great triumph. Quite the reverse.’
Professor Andrew Stewart explained how Churchill then used the success of the evacuation as the basis of his speech.
‘He sees it as being almost a form of salvation,’ he said.
Churchill, who had become PM in May 1940 after a decade in the political wilderness, was under intense pressure from his war cabinet to sign a peace deal with Adolf Hitler after the Nazi leader’s forces stormed through Europe and encircled Britain. Pictured: Churchill giving a speech during his time as Prime Minister
‘From little hope or anticipation of getting many troops away to having the rump of the army back in Britain, this gives him something that he can actually use.’
However, Sonia Purnell, the author of a biography of Churchill’s wife Clementine, explained how giving speeches ‘did not come naturally’ to the PM.
‘He would labour over speeches, again and again and again and rehearse them,’ she said.
‘So his speeches had to be absolutely pin perfect before he was prepared to stand up and give one.’
Churchill needed to use the speech to convince sceptical members of his cabinet, as well as ordinary Britons, that the country could carry on fighting despite its perilous position.
The words would also need to warn the British people about the threat of Nazi invasion whilst not casting doubt on eventual victory.
In Channel 5’s Churchill: A Gathering Storm, viewers hear from leading historians as well as Lady Williams of Elvel – the secretary who worked for the politician from 1949 until 1955 – about how the politician crafted his words
After Hitler’s forces invaded Poland in September 1939 and the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (right with Churchill) declared war, Churchill was recalled to the Government to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty, where he was in charge of the Royal Navy
Churchill’s Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax wanted to sign a peace deal with Hitler
Lady Williams, who served as his secretary during his second stint as Prime Minister from 1951 to 1955, said: ‘He always dictated. He would dictate it the whole way through. It might be a speech of 40 minutes.
‘Then from that speech which was then typed up he would correct it probably four or five times. And so each speech was perfection.’
Mr Packwood added: ‘When the speech was in its final form, it would have been taken away by the duty secretary and re-typed.
‘His words set out in a blank verse format like poetry, designed to give him the rhythm, to give him the pauses, to give him the emphasis for his delivery.’
The most famous part of Churchill’s speech is when he said Britain would ‘go on to the end’ and would ‘fight on the beaches’ and ‘in the streets’.
But the PM also spoke of the Dunkirk evacuation being the ‘greatest military disaster in our long history’.
Churchill needed to use the June 1940 speech to convince sceptical members of his cabinet, as well as ordinary Britons, that the country could carry on fighting despite its perilous position
Churchill was closely supported by his wife Clementine (seen right) during his time as PM and in the years leading up to taking on the role
Historian Tim Bouverie, the author of Appeasing Hitler, said of Churchill’s words: ‘Almost no politician could get away with the language that Churchill used.
‘And the only reason that it worked so well for Churchill is that it matches the extreme drama of the moment.’
Mr Packwood added: ‘This speech is the most important and greatest that Churchill ever produced. What Churchill did was to mobilise the English language and to send it in to battle.’
He said that Churchill was the ‘right man’ to be Prime Minister at the time because of his ‘inner confidence’ and ‘self-belief in adversity’.
His previously political failures – which saw him toil as an unpopular backbench Member of Parliament for most of the 1930s – were a ‘rollercoaster’ which might have ‘destroyed’ another politician.
Dr Dunlop said his failures ‘helped make the man that history recognises in World War Two.’
The documentary also sheds light on how Churchill had become a political outcast before the war.
Mr Packwood said he was someone who was ‘considered a bit of a maverick, a loner and a bit of a dinosaur.
‘This is someone who had made his name in the Edwardian era before the First World War.’
Churchill lost support when he supported King Edward VII over his desire to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
The political consensus at the time was that Edward could not remain King if he proceeded with the union.
Professor Richard Toye said: He makes a serious political mistake because he romanticises monarchy. He is friends with the King.
‘He wasn’t going to rush to condemn.’
Churchill was also ‘vehemently’ opposed to moves to grant India – which was then part of the British Empire – more independence.
Dr Diya Gupta said: ‘Churchill’s views for the 30s are extremely conservative. He is an old school imperialist.’
She described how Churchill called the non-violent Indian independence campaigner Mahatma Gandhi a ‘fanatic’.
Churchill’s status fell so far that he was considered a ‘has been’ in political circles.
Mr Bouverie said: ‘It would seem inconceivable to most people that this man would ever return to frontline politics, let alone become Prime Minister.’
Churchill’s luck began to improve when he established his Kent home Chartwell as an alternative seat of power. His wife Clementine worked to support him.
There, he campaigned against the British policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany.
Ms Purnell said: ‘They have an intelligence network of their own across Europe. People are meeting secretly at their home down in Kent to talk about it and she’s right there with him.
Katherine Carter, the curator at Chartwell, said: ‘Chartwell becomes a hub of intelligence.
‘A huge amount of the information that he was beaming about German rearmament and Nazi preparations for the war were brought to him at Chartwell.
‘In Chartwell’s visitor’s book you see a real dip in signatories, even though you have more people visiting.
‘Because at that point people are aware that by visiting Churchill at Chartwell, they are risking a great deal to be seen to be associated with [him] and providing him with information and evidence about German rearmament.’
Incredibly, 338,000 British and Allied troops were ultimately rescued from the French beaches over the course of eight days
The most famous part of Churchill’s speech is when he said Britain would ‘go on to the end’ and would ‘fight on the beaches’ and ‘in the streets’. Pictured: Churchill outside Number 10 Downing Street
Mr Bouverie said: ‘Many of Churchill’s sources are secret sources coming from the Government.
‘These are civil servants or members of the armed forces who are deeply concerned by what is happening in Germany and are leaking information to Churchill.’
Among the people who visited Churchill at his home was the scientist Albert Einstein, who had fled from Germany.
Ms Carter added: ‘Chartwell’s role really does warrant the phrase the most important country house in Europe at that time.’
After Hitler’s forces invaded Poland in September 1939 and Chamberlain declared war, Churchill was recalled to the Government to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty, where he was in charge of the Royal Navy.
Mr Bouverie said: ‘It is the ultimate vindication of the warnings that he has been giving for nearly ten years and yet there’s very little satisfaction for Churchill that Britain does end up going to war.’
Mr Packwood said the return marked a ‘homecoming’ to the ‘front rank of British politics’.
In May 1940, Churchill met with Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, who was his only other rival to become Prime Minister.
Whilst Halifax was the favourite to replace Chamberlain, Churchill ended up becoming PM when Halifax turned down the role.
Dr Dunlop said: ‘What he needs is for Halifax is to write himself out of the equation, which will then lead to him automatically being seen as the right choice.’
Churchill: A Gathering Storm airs tonight at 9pm