![]() While the speech is most well remembered for its praise of fighter pilots, it also commended bomber crews for their work and urged the public not to forget their actions. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. He praised British fighter pilots and aircrews, using the phrase that he had first said several days before: Looking more widely around, one may say that throughout all Europe, for one man killed or wounded in the first year perhaps five were killed or wounded in 1914–15.Ĭhurchill then spoke about Britain's military preparedness, noting that production of aircraft had increased significantly and would allow the United Kingdom to "continue the air struggle indefinitely and as long as the enemy pleases". ![]() ![]() In this war, I am thankful to say, British killed, wounded, prisoners and missing, including civilians, do not exceed 92,000, and of these a large proportion are alive as prisoners of war. The British casualties in the first 12 months of the Great War amounted to 365,000. Speech Ĭhurchill's speech lasted nearly fifty minutes, in which he first remarked that, so far, there had been many fewer casualties than at the same point in the First World War, stating that the war was not a "prodigious slaughter", but instead a "conflict of strategy, of organisation, of technical apparatus, of science, mechanics and morale". However, Hitler knew that any invasion attempt would only be successful if the Royal Air Force was weakened or destroyed. Near the end of June 1940, codebreakers at Bletchley Park deciphered a message containing a request from a Flakcorps unit for detailed maps of the UK, suggesting that the Germans intended to land mobile anti-aircraft guns in Great Britain and Ireland. The speech was given as the United Kingdom prepared for an impending German invasion. After the fighting had slowed that evening and Churchill and Ismay had departed for Chequers, Churchill said, "Don't speak to me I have never been so moved." Several minutes later, he told Ismay, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." 11 Group RAF operations room during the day of a battle, where at one point every squadron in the group was engaged while more waves of German planes were crossing the coast. ![]() Background Ĭhurchill apparently first said the famous sentence to Major General Hastings Ismay after exiting the Battle of Britain Bunker at RAF Uxbridge on 16 August, four days before the speech was given. The speech has become one of Churchill's most famous, along with " we shall fight on the beaches", "their finest hour", and "blood, toil, tears, and sweat". Pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain have been known as " the Few" ever since, at times being specifically commemorated for Battle of Britain Day, on 15 September. At the end of June 1940, the Luftwaffe had a large numerical superiority over the Royal Air Force, with around 2,550 planes compared to the only 750 planes of the RAF. The speech came amidst German plans for an invasion. The name stems from the specific line in the speech, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few", referring to the ongoing efforts of the Royal Air Force and other Allied aircrew who were fighting in the Battle of Britain, the pivotal air battle with the German Luftwaffe. "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" was a wartime speech delivered to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by British prime minister Winston Churchill on 20 August 1940. World War II poster containing the famous lines by Winston Churchill - all members of Bomber command ![]()
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