The End of the Beginning

Winston S. Churchill

• Publisher: RosettaBooks
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9780795331787
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: Literature

This collection of WWII speeches by the Nobel Prize-winning Prime Minister reflect his determination in the face of a fearsome enemy.
 
1942 was an important turning point in World War II. Britain and its allies had faced considerable challenges thus far. Beset by bombings and devastated by personal loss and the restrictions of war, the British public was losing patience with the war effort—and their prime minister. This collection of Winston Churchill's wartime speeches from 1942 provides an enlightening commentary on this volatile time in history from the point of view of one of its most prominent leaders.
 
Churchill faced an uphill battle in his military efforts as well as in gathering political and public support for the struggle to come. But the tides had turned when the United States joined the war at the end of 1941. Churchill has been quoted as saying he felt certain of the Allied victory with the US on his side—and his speeches reflect this renewed sense of hope and conviction.

“HERE’S TO 1942!”

MR. WINSTON CHURCHILL, TRAVELLING FROM OTTAWA TO WASHINGTON FOR CONFERENCES WITH PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, CALLED HIS STAFF AND THE NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS TO THE DINING-CAR OF HIS TRAIN TO WELCOME THE NEW YEAR. THEN, RAISING HIS GLASS TO THE COMPANY, HE SAID:

[January 1, 1942.

Here’s to 1942, here’s to a year of toil—a year of struggle and peril, and a long step forward towards victory. May we all come through safe and with honour.

“DESERT TOILS AND TRIUMPHS”

A NEW YEAR’S DAY MESSAGE TO THE FORCES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
JANUARY 1, 1942

[January 1, 1942.

From all over the Empire and from the bottom of our hearts we send to the Armies of the Nile and the desert every good wish for the New Year. These armies have behind them a glorious record of victory.

Deserted by their Allies in June, 1940, left only with small and ill-equipped forces, with their communications through the Mediterranean virtually cut, these armies, representing not only the Motherland, but all parts of the Empire, have grown ceaselessly in strength and will still grow with every month that passes. They have marched forward steadfastly upon the path of victory and liberation. All defeats and setbacks have been repaired and repaid with interest. Egypt, the Sudan, and East Africa were first of all successfully defended against heavy odds. Abyssinia has been freed and her Emperor restored to his throne and country, from which he had been wrongfully expelled.

British Somaliland has been regained, and Italian Somaliland and Eritrea conquered, Palestine has been defended. Syria freed of German intrigue, Iraq and Persia brought into effective military alliance. Latest of all is the famous victory manifesting itself more plainly every day in Cyrenaica. More than a quarter of a million prisoners have been taken. This proud record of achievement has won the lasting gratitude of the British Nation and Commonwealth of Nations, and takes its place among the memorable campaigns of history.

At one time you had deep anxiety for loved ones at home compelled to endure the bombardment last winter. They have watched your toils and triumphs with glistening eyes. The task is not yet finished. Even greater days may lie ahead. In all these trials, rest assured of the love and honour of those who sent you forth and long for the day of your victorious return.

To the Mediterranean Fleet we send every good wish. The great victories over the Italian Navy, the constant interruption of the enemy’s supplies, and the continual flow of supplies to our armies have testified to their magnificent work, and constitute a noble page in naval history.

The R.A.F. have made a vital contribution during all this time. Their determination and devotion to duty have overcome all difficulties, and we have watched with admiration their victorious assaults upon the enemy. We are proud of them and wish them all well.

A VISIT TO BERMUDA

A SPEECH TO THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, AT THE SESSIONS HOUSE, HAMILTON, BERMUDA
JANUARY 15, 1942

January 2.		Headed by Mr. Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt, twenty-six States signed a Grand Alliance against the Axis, pledging joint conduct of the war and a fight to the finish. Chinese troops entered Burma to aid British forces. In Libya Imperial troops captured Bardia and in Russia Soviet troops recaptured Malo Yaroslavets.
January 3.		General Wavell made supreme commander of all Allied forces, land, sea and air, in the Pacific.
January 6.		President Roosevelt announced to Congress a huge production programme: 60,000 planes in 1942, 125,000 planes in 1943; 45,000 tanks in 1942; 75,000 tanks in 1943. He also stated that United States forces would take up stations in the British Isles. British troops lost Kuantan aerodrome in Malaya.
January 7.		President Roosevelt presented to Congress the greatest budget in history, expenditure in 1943 to be more than £13,000,000,000.
January 8.		R.A.F. raided Bangkok (Siam). British troops made further withdrawals in Malaya.
January 9.		Cruiser Galatea sunk in the Mediterranean.
January 10.		Officially announced that Mr. Duff Cooper had been recalled from Singapore, where he was Resident Minister.
January 11.		Japanese made landings in North-East Borneo and the Celebes.
January 12.		Imperial troops in Malaya withdrew from Kuala Lumpur.
January 14.		General Wavell established his headquarters in the Dutch East Indies. United States established a unified War Production Board under Mr. Donald Nelson.

[January 15, 1942.

It is a sudden descent which I have made upon you, and I must express my gratitude that so many members of the Assembly should have found it possible at such very short notice—excusable only by wartime conditions—to attend this meeting. Here I come, as leader of the House of Commons, to call upon you in the second oldest Parliament in the world. Here is a representative parliamentary institution with an unbroken continuity almost as long as that of the House of Commons, an institution which began even before the House of Commons attained its full authority. It is a long way back to 1620. Yet these ideas of parliamentary government, of the representation of the people upon franchises, which extend as time goes on, and which in our country have reached the complete limits of universal suffrage, these institutions and principles constitute at this moment one of the great causes which are being fought out in the world. With all their weakness and with all their strength, with all their faults, with all their virtues, with all the criticisms that may be made against them, with their many shortcomings, with lack of foresight, lack of continuity of purpose or pressure only of superficial purpose, they nevertheless assert the right of the common people—the broad masses of the people—to take a conscious and effective share in the government of their country.

That is one of the great causes which are at stake now. We are confronted with embattled powers not based upon the public will, allowing no freedom of discussion, of speech or even of thought, but seeking to subjugate great nations and, if they can succeed, the whole world, on the basis of a party caucus, on the basis of a military hierarchy, on the basis of tyranny, terror and brute force. We are confronted with totalitarian States which deny as a fundamental principle the right of free debate and the expression of popular opinion.

It is against these evil forces that we have been in arms since the third of September, 1939. At one time it seemed that we should be alone. We were for a long time alone. We have stood alone all through the summer and the autumn and the winter of 1940 and 1941. But we did not flinch, we did not weaken. We did not worry because we could not see our way through. We said we will do our duty, we will do our best. The rest we must leave to Providence. And what a reward has come! What a lesson it is never to give in—never to give in when you guard the cause of freedom. What a moral there is to be drawn from that, because now we see great Powers rising that have come to our aid, not wholly because of association with the British Empire but because of association with the cause of which, I will venture to say in no boastful spirit, the British Empire is the oldest custodian, namely, representative government based on the freedom and the rights of the individual.

We have had some great and blessed accessions of help. In the first place we all see now what a service has been rendered to the cause of freedom by the valiant resistance for four and a half years of the Chinese people, fighting the same kinds of tyranny in Asia as have sought to molest us in the Western World. Secondly, we have had the valiant resistance of the Russian armies and peoples to the cruel and unprovoked invasion of their country and the slaughterous attack which has been made upon them—men, women and children alike. And now we see the United States, which under its great President showed its sympathy with our cause at every stage, set upon by those same three villainous Powers, and assaulted with every circumstance of treachery and malice. And so now the situation is widely different from what it was when we for more than a year alone held high the flaming torch of freedom. It is greatly changed. We are now no longer alone. We are marching in a great concourse.

We signed the other day at Washington the agreement of twenty-six countries, including four of the largest masses of population, comprising altogether much more than three-quarters of the entire population of the globe. And we shall march forward together in comradeship until those who have sought to trample upon the rights of individual freedom, the strong principles inculcated in the birth of the English parliamentary system and by the American revolutionary war, by Hampden and by Washington, are beaten down, and until those principles are finally established.

In this vast world struggle, in this convulsion, you in Bermuda happe...

Table of contents

• COVER
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT
• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
• CONTENTS
• “HERE’S TO 1942!” A toast in a train. January 1, 1942
• “DESERT TOILS AND TRIUMPHS.” A New Year’s Day Message to the Forces in the Middle East. January 1, 1942
• A VISIT TO BERMUDA. A Speech to the House of Assembly, at the Sessions House, Hamilton, Bermuda. January 15, 1942
• BROADCASTING OF PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES. A Statement to the House of Commons, January 20, 1942
• TRIBUTE TO THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT. A Speech to the House of Commons. January 20, 1942
• SECRET SESSIONS. A Statement in reply to Questions in the House of Commons. January 22, 1942
• THE WAR SITUATION. Two Speeches in a House of Commons debate on a Vote of Confidence, which was carried by 464 votes to 1. January 27 and 29, 1942
• THE DEFENCE OF RANGOON. A Message sent to Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, the Governor of Burma. February 2, 1942
• IMPERIAL WAR CABINET. A Reply to a Question in the House of Commons. February 5, 1942
• SERVICE PAY AND ALLOWANCES AND THE MINISTRY OF WAR PRODUCTION. Statements to the House of Commons. February 10, 1942
• “THROUGH THE STORM.” An Address broadcast. February 15, 1942
• THE WAR SITUATION. A Statement to the House of Commons. February 17, 1942
• HEART OF AUSTRIA. A Speech outside No. 10, Downing Street, when Sir George Franckenstein, formerly Austrian Minister in London, presented on behalf of Austrians in Britain a trailer canteen to the Women’s Voluntary Service. February 18, 1942
• RED ARMY’S ANNIVERSARY. A Message to Premier Stalin. February 23, 1942
• CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT. A Speech to the House of Commons. February 24, 1942
• SPEED UP THE SHIPS. A Message to a Conference of Employers and workers in the Transport Industry. February 27, 1942
• SIR STAFFORD CRIPPS’ MISSION TO INDIA. A Statement to the House of Commons. March 11, 1942
• DUTIES OF THE MINISTER OF PRODUCTION. A Statement to the House of Commons. March 12, 1942
• THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. A Statement in the House of Commons. March 19, 1942
• DEFENCE OF A CONVOY. A Message sent to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, following the successful defence of a convoy from Alexandria to Malta. March 24, 1942
• THE OUTLOOK FOR 1942. A Speech to the Central Council of the Conservative Party at Caxton Hall, London. March 26, 1942
• FREE DENMARK. A Speech at No. 10 Downing Street when receiving a cheque for £38,300 presented by the Free Danes to provide Great Britain with fighter aeroplanes. April 9, 1942
• A MESSAGE TO SIR STAFFORD CRIPPS IN INDIA. April 11, 1942
• THE WAR SITUATION. A Statement to the House of Commons. April 13, 1942
• A GREAT DAYLIGHT RAID. A Message to Air Marshal Harris, Chief of the Bomber Command, after the great daylight attack by the R.A.F. on Augsburg. April 20, 1942
• ANZAC DAY, 1942. A Message to Mr. Curtin, the Prime Minister of Australia. April 25, 1942
• POLAND’S FIGHT. A Message to General Sikorski, the Polish Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief, on the 151st anniversary of the Polish Constitution. May 4, 1942
• “EVATT IS WITH US.” A Message to Mr. Curtin, the Australian Prime Minister, on the occasion of the visit to London of Dr. H. V. Evatt, the Australian Minister for External Affairs. May 6, 1942
• THE LANDING ON MADAGASCAR. A Statement to the House of Commons. May 7, 1942
• PRIME MINISTER FOR TWO YEARS. A World Broadcast. May 10, 1942
• THE HOME GUARD. A Speech to the Palace of Westminster Home Guard. May 12, 1942
• “WE SEE THE RIDGE AHEAD.” A Speech from the steps of Leeds Town Hall during a tour of the City with Dr. H. V. Evatt, Australian Minister for External Affairs. May 16, 1942
• AIRGRAPHS FROM SOUTH AFRICA. The Prime Minister’s reply to General Smuts’s airgraph letter on the opening of the airgraph Service from South Africa to Great Britain. May 24, 1942
• 1,000 BOMBERS RAID COLOGNE. A Message to the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Bomber Command, following the first 1,000-bomber raid on Germany. May 31, 1942
• THANKS TO LABOUR. A Letter to Mr. W. H. Green, M.P., Chairman of the Labour Party Conference, who at the close of the Conference had assured the Prime Minister of the continued loyalty and support of the Labour Movement in the prosecution of the War. May 31, 1942
• THE BATTLE IN LIBYA. A Statement to the House of Commons. June 2, 1942
• THE ANGLO-SOVIET TREATY. A Message to M. Stalin on the signing of the treaty. June 11, 1942
• FEWER GIFTS FROM AMERICA. A Letter to President Roosevelt. June 14, 1942
• UNITED NATIONS DAY. A Message issued on June 14, 1942
• ALL POSSIBLE HELP TO THE SOVIET UNION. A Message to M. Stalin on the Anniversary of the German attack on the Soviet Union. June 22, 1942
• THE UNITED STATES ARMY. A Speech to American troops during a visit to a southern army camp in the United States. June, 1942
• THE WAR OUTLOOK. A Statement issued jointly by Mr. Winston Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt on the Prime Minister’s return to London from Washington after his third Conference with the President. June 27, 1942
• GENERAL AUCHINLECK TAKES COMMAND. A Statement to the House of Commons. June 30, 1942
• ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. June 30, 1942
• THE CENTRAL DIRECTION OF THE WAR. Speeches in the Debate on the Motion of “No-Confidence,” House of Commons. July 1 and 2, 1942
• THE R.A.F. IN EGYPT. A Message sent to Air Chief Marshal Tedder, C.-in-C. of the R.A.F. in the Middle East. July 4, 1942
• A PLEDGE TO CHINA. A Message to Chiang Kai-Shek on the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of war between China and Japan. July 5, 1942
• ARMY AND R.A.F. CO-OPERATION. Answers to Questions in the House of Commons. July 7, 1942
• A MOTTO FOR SCOUTS. A Message to a Conference of County Commissioners of the Boy Scouts Association. July 16, 1942
• ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. July 21, 1942
• RETRIBUTION ON NAZIS. A Message to a New York demonstration by Jewish Societies against German atrocities. July 21, 1942
• DEFENCE OF IRAQ. A Message to General Nuri El Said, Prime Minister of Iraq. August 29, 1942
• ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
• THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF KENT. A Speech to the House of Commons. September 8, 1942
• THE WAR SITUATION. A Speech to the House of Commons. September 8, 1942
• AIRGRAPHS TO SOUTH AFRICA. A Message to Field-Marshal Smuts on the opening of the Airgraph Letter Service from England to South Africa. September 9, 1942
• THE SITUATION IN INDIA. A Speech to the House of Commons. September 10, 1942
• THE PEN AND THE SWORD. A Speech at an Inspection of the London Civil Service Battalion of the Home Guard. September 10, 1942
• MADAGASCAR OPERATIONS RESUMED. A Statement to the House of Commons. September 11, 1942
• CHINA’S INSPIRATION. A Reply to a Message from General Chiang Kai-Shek on the Third Anniversary of the outbreak of the War between Great Britain and Germany. September 16, 1942
• 500 VICTORY SHIPS IN A YEAR. A Message in praise of the Shipbuilders of the United States, sent to Mr. J. G. Winant, the American Ambassador to Great Britain, and read by him in a broadcast to his countrymen. September 27, 1942
• MADAGASCAR OPERATIONS REVIEWED. A Statement to the House of Commons. September 29, 1942
• ANSWERS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
• PLANNING FOR VICTORY. A Message to the Central Council of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations at Caxton Hall, Westminster. October 1, 1942
• “KEEP RIGHT ON TO THE END.” A Speech in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, when the Prime Minister received the Freedom of the City, October 12, 1942
• DEFENCE OF A CITY. A Speech at an Inspection of Edinburgh Civil Defence Workers. October 12, 1942
• CHAINING OF PRISONERS OF WAR. A Statement to the House of Commons. October 13, 1942
• BOOKS FOR THE FORCES. An Appeal issued on October 13, 1942
• GENERAL SMUTS’S VISIT. A Statement to the House of Commons. October 15, 1942
• “BE PREPARED.” A Message sent to a parade of Civil Defence Workers at Wembley and read by Mr. Herbert Morrison, Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security. October 18, 1942
• TRIBUTE TO GENERAL SMUTS. A Speech of thanks after General Smuts had addressed an assembly of both Houses of Parliament in London. October 21, 1942
• MESSAGES:
• COAL AND WAR. Speech to the Conference of Coal Owners and Miners at the Westminster Central Hall. October 31, 1942
• MESSAGES:
• “THE END OF THE BEGINNING.” A Speech at the Lord Mayor’s Day Luncheon at the Mansion House, London, November 10, 1942
• ARMISTICE IN MADAGASCAR. A Statement to the House of Commons, November 10, 1942
• THE WAR SITUATION. A Speech to the House of Commons. November 11, 1942
• HARROW SCHOOL SONGS. A Speech to the Boys of Harrow School. November 18, 1942
• “WATCH OVER VICTORY.” A Message to Freedom House, Washington, on the First Anniversary of an Association formed to promote the “Four Freedoms” enumerated by President Roosevelt: “Freedom from Want and Fear and Freedom of Expression and Worship.” November 19, 1942
• VICTORY AS A SPUR. A Broadcast to the World. November 29, 1942
• SIXTY-EIGHTH BIRTHDAY. Messages in Reply to Dominions’ Prime Ministers greetings. November 30, 1942
• ONE GREAT FAMILY. A Speech to the People of Bradford from the steps of the Town Hall. December 5, 1942
• RETRIBUTION FOR JAPAN. A Message to the British Far Eastern Territories on the First Anniversary of Japan’s Assault on the British Empire and the United States of America. December 7, 1942
• MESSAGES:
• FIGHTING THE U-BOATS. A Statement to the House of Commons. December 15, 1942
• THE CHURCHILL TANK. A Statement to the House of Commons. December 15, 1942
• MESSAGES:
• BEWARE OF LOGIC! An Answer in the House of Commons, December 17, 1942
• BONDS WITH AMERICA. Message to President Roosevelt in reply to greetings from the United States Congress to Great Britain’s Armed Forces. December 25, 1942