CHURCHILL: THE HERO OF AN AGE

Taupo Times, Volume III, Issue 149, 3 December 1954, Page 6

CHURCHILL: THE HERO OF AN AGE

PHRASES TOUCHED WITII FREEDOM S FIRE On Tuesday, November 30, Sir Winston Churchill celebrated his 80th birthday. It was an occasion which brought forth trlbutes from all parts of the world where the ideals of democratic freedom are still cherished. * As soldier, war, correspondent, author, Parliamentarian and leader of heroic quality, Winston Churchill has been his people's exemplar as well as their servant. He stands, the greatest Briton of his time, among the greatest in the long history of Jiis nation. During the years of the Second World War he gave the nation, and the whole free world, not only leadership and direction, but faith and inspiration as well. Below arq ext^acts from some' of his memorable speeches, whose phrases, as they came to the ears of the listening world, seemed touched with the very^ fire of freedom. "Do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning." — To the House of Commons, October 10, 1938, after the Munich Agreement. "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." — To' the House of Commons, May 13, 1940, on becoming Prime Minister. "Come then : let us to the task, to the battle, to the toil — each to our part, each to our station. Fill the armies, rule the air, poifr out munitions, strangle the U-boats, sweep the mines, plough the land, build the ships, guard the streets, succour the wounded, uplift the downcast, and' honour the brave. Let us go forward together . . . — An address in Manchester, January 27, 1940. . . we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone;1' — To the House of Commons, after Dunkirk, June 4, 1940. "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire! and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.' " — To the House of Commons, (and later broadcast), June 18, 1940. ". . . We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight . . . on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strengthun 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 even if — which I do not at the moment believe — this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guardecj 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 liberation of the Old." — To the House of Commons, June 4, 1940. "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." — To the House of Commons, during the Battle of Britain, August 20, 1940.