THUNDER BAY – Sir Winston Churchill served as Prime Minister of Great Britain during the Second World War. He came to power as Prime Minister during difficult times. From his seat in the British House of Commons, for years Churchill had warned of the growing might of Nazi Germany and of the German dictator Adolf Hitler.
From the darkest days of the war, Churchill took heart and through his words, put the English language into the battle. From the evacuation of British and Allied troops from Dunkirk through the Battle of Britain, and through the entire war, Churchill’s words served to rally the people of Britain and the free world.
Through October 1940, the Battle of Britain represented the first defeat of Nazi German might. The Luftwaffe attacks from the air were the prelude to what was a planned invasion of Britain by Germany.
Nightly the Luftwaffe bombed London and other cities in Great Britain. There is a blog, Battle of Britain Blog which offers a daily overview of the battle that 71 years ago, was happening right now.
There is a Thunder Bay connection to the Battle of Britain. The Hawker Hurricane fighter which helped to defeat the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain was manufactured in Fort William at what today is the Bombardier Manufacturing Facility on Montreal Street. Read Hawker Hurricane Vital in Battle of Britain.
Prime Minister Churchill, speaking of the brave pilots of the RAF said, “Never the the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few”. His words have carried down through the years.
Hear is the audio versions of some of Churchill’s greatest speeches; Click the arrow to go through some of the greatest speeches delivered by Churchill.