The exact words
What Churchill meant in June 1940
Churchill had been Prime Minister for less than four weeks. The German army had broken through in France, and the British Expeditionary Force had been driven back to the port of Dunkirk, where it seemed likely to be destroyed or captured. Instead, over about nine days, more than 330,000 British and French soldiers were taken off the beaches by navy ships and a flotilla of small civilian boats. Britain greeted the news with relief bordering on celebration.
Churchill’s speech to Parliament on June 4 tried to do two things at once. First he cooled the mood: the rescue was a “miracle of deliverance,” but “wars are not won by evacuations,” and the army had lost almost all its equipment. Then, having admitted how bad things were, he ended with a promise that Britain would fight on even if invaded, on the beaches, the landing grounds, the fields, the streets and the hills, and would never surrender. The speech also looked across the Atlantic, ending with the hope that the “New World” would eventually step forth to rescue the old.
How the speech reached the public
Unlike some of his later wartime speeches, Churchill did not broadcast this one himself. Parliament was not recorded in 1940, and that evening a BBC newsreader summarized it and read extracts. The famous recording in Churchill’s own voice was made in 1949 for a record of his speeches. That does not make the words any less his, but it explains why some listeners who were alive in 1940 later said they remembered hearing him when they had in fact heard the record.
How people use it today
The line is shorthand for refusing to give up, and it is quoted by sports teams and politicians alike. It works best when you remember its honesty. Churchill earned the defiant ending by first telling the truth about a disaster, which is a good model for any speech that has to rally people after bad news.
What people get wrong
A rousing victory speech broadcast live to the nation by Churchill himself.
A sober report to Parliament on a military disaster. Churchill warned that “wars are not won by evacuations,” and the public heard it at the time through a BBC newsreader's summary.
Timeline
- May 10, 1940Germany invades France and the Low Countries; Churchill becomes Prime Minister the same day.
- May 26 – June 4, 1940More than 330,000 British and French soldiers are evacuated from Dunkirk by warships and civilian boats.
- June 4, 1940Churchill reports on Dunkirk to the House of Commons and ends with the “we shall fight” passage.
- 1949Churchill records the speech for a gramophone release; most recordings heard today come from this session, not from 1940.
Use it in a speech
Questions people ask
When did Churchill say “we shall fight on the beaches”?
On June 4, 1940, in a speech to the House of Commons reporting on the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk.
Was the speech broadcast on the radio?
Not by Churchill at the time. A BBC announcer read extracts on the news that evening. Churchill recorded the speech himself in 1949, and that recording is the one usually played today.
What is the full quote?
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans... 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.”
Cite this quote
These cite the original source directly, so you can use them in an essay or paper. Always check your teacher's required style.