The coming 'battle of Britain'

18th June 1940: Churchill rouses the nation for the fight ahead in his 'Finest Hour' speech to Parliament

Winston Churchill in June 1940.

On 18th June, Churchill made another rousing speech to the House of Commons¹, following his earlier 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat' and his 'We will fight them on the beaches'. Single-handedly, he was changing the mood of the nation with some of the most memorable rhetoric ever to appear in the English language. Now, the phrase 'This was their finest hour' encapsulated the defiant mood of the nation as it fought on alone.

… if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'

In what was described as a “grand speech - defiant, reasoned and confident”², Churchill surveyed Britain’s military prospects.