Re:http://www.famous-speeches-and-speech-topics.info/famous-speeches/winston-churchill-speech-the-few.htm
August 20, 1940
Why, Sir, if we had been (confronted) at the beginning of May with such a prospect, it would have seemed incredible that at the end of a period of horror and (disaster), or at this point in a period of horror and disaster, we should stand erect, sure of ourselves, masters of our fate and with the conviction of final victory burning (unquenchable) in our hearts. Few would have believed we could survive; none would have believed that we should to-day not only feel stronger but should actually be stronger than we have ever been before.
Let us see what has happened on the other side of the (scales). The British nation and the British Empire finding themselves alone, stood (undismayed) against disaster. No one flinched or wavered; nay, some who formerly thought of peace, now think only of war. Our people are united and resolved, as they have never been before. Death and ruin have become small things compared with the shame of defeat or (failure) in duty.
We cannot tell what lies ahead. It may be that even greater ordeals lie before us. We shall face whatever is coming to us. We are sure of ourselves and of our cause and that is the (supreme) fact which has (emerged) in these months of trial.
Meanwhile, we have not only fortified our hearts but our Island. We have (rearmed) and rebuilt our armies in a degree which would have been deemed impossible a few months ago. We have ferried across the (Atlantic), in the month of July, thanks to our friends over there, an immense mass of munitions of all kinds, cannon, rifles, machine-guns, cartridges, and shell, all safely landed without the loss of a gun or a round. The output of our own (factories), working as they have never worked before, has poured forth to the troops. The (whole) British Army is at home. More than 2,000,000 determined men have rifles and bayonets in their hands to-night and three-quarters of them are in regular military (formations). We have never had armies like this in our Island in time of war. The whole Island bristles against (invaders), from the sea or from the air.
As I explained to the House in the middle of June, the stronger our Army at home, the larger must the invading expedition be, and the larger the invading (expedition), the less difficult will be the task of the Navy in detecting its (assembly) and in intercepting and destroying it on passage; and the greater also would be the difficulty of feeding and (supplying) the invaders if ever they landed, in the teeth of continuous naval and air attack on their communications. All this is classical and (venerable) doctrine. As in Nelson's day, the maxim holds, "Our first line of defence is the enemy's ports." Now air reconnaissance and (photography) have brought to an old principle a new and potent aid.
Our Navy is far stronger than it was at the beginning of the war. The great flow of new construction set on foot at the outbreak is now beginning to come in. We hope our friends across the ocean will send us a timely (reinforcement) to bridge the gap between the peace flotillas of 1939 and the war flotillas of 1941. There is no difficulty in sending such aid. The seas and oceans are open. The U-boats are contained. The (magnetic) mine is, up to the present time, effectively mastered. The merchant tonnage under the British flag, after a year of unlimited U-boat war, after eight months of intensive mining attack, is larger than when we began. We have, in addition, under our control at least 4,000,000 tons of shipping from the (captive) countries which has taken (refuge) here or in the harbours of the Empire. Our stocks of food of all kinds are far more abundant than in the days of peace and a large and growing programme of food (production) is on foot.
Why do I say all this? Not assuredly to boast; not assuredly to give the slightest (countenance) to complacency. The dangers we face are still (enormous), but so are our advantages and resources.
I recount them because the people have a right to know that there are solid grounds for the confidence which we feel, and that we have good reason to believe ourselves (capable), as I said in a very dark hour two months ago, of (continuing) the war "if necessary alone, if necessary for years." I say it also because the fact that the British Empire stands invincible, and that Nazidom is still being resisted, will kindle again the (spark) of hope in the breasts of hundreds of millions of downtrodden or despairing men and women throughout Europe, and far beyond its bounds, and that from these sparks there will presently come cleansing and (devouring) flame.
The great air battle which has been in progress over this Island for the last few weeks has recently attained a high intensity. It is too soon to attempt to assign limits either to its scale or to its duration. We must certainly expect that greater efforts will be made by the enemy than any he has so far put forth. (Hostile) air fields are still being developed in France and the Low Countries, and the movement of squadrons and material for attacking us is still (proceeding).