In his address, given in Parliament, he praised the Battle of Britain aircrews who had fought off the threat of Nazi invasion during the summer of 1940. It became known as "The Few". 72 Years Ago. The Few BBC News - Anniversary of Winston Churchill's 'The Few' speech
Interestingly, however, if you read Churchill's original text carefully it is not at all clear that he was singling out fighter pilots specifically as 'the Few'. He has far more to say about Bomber than Fighter Command, which gets barely a sentence devoted to it in the whole speech. Churchill was far more interested in stressing offensive than defensive action in August 1940. The definitive association between fighter pilots and 'the Few' seems to have taken place later, as a result of the Air Ministry's 1941 history of the Battle of Britain. David Reynolds discusses this in his fascinating analysis of Churchill's war memoirs, In Command of History. Best, Alan
Hi Alan, Your comments are very interesting indeed, and probably well worth looking into, but, even as a Bomber Command enthusiast, i could not, even if true, see anything in Churchills words, that does not describe anything other, than the actions and sacrifice, of all the airmen that took part in the Battle of Britain. Notice that i do not state Fighter Command in general, because those who fought, were drawn from all Commands at the time concerned.
I was about to sit down and read the speech after Gage's first post, but Allan's comment made me read it more carefully. It is interesting when read in that light. Not sure we can know what Churchill specifically meant (I'm not game for ploughing through the assorted memoirs and biographies again), but it is a very interesting point: The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to the fighter pilots, whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes day after day; but we must never forget that all the time, night after night, month after month, our bomber squadrons travel far into Germany, find their targets in the darkness by the highest navigational skill, aim their attacks, often under the heaviest fire, often with serious loss, with deliberate careful discrimination, and inflict shattering blows upon the whole of the technical and war-making structure of the Nazi power. On no part of the Royal Air Force does the weight of the war fall more heavily than on the daylight bombers who will play an invaluable part in the case of invasion and whose unflinching zeal it has been necessary in the meanwhile on numerous occasions to restrain.
It's important to remember that Churchill was speaking as much to the USA as he was the UK in his radio broadcasts, and it was critical that he not only reassure his listeners that Britain would survive but that it had a plan to win the war. With the expulsion of the BEF from France, it seemed in August 1940 that the only way this could be done was by strategic bombing. Hence Churchill's desire to emphasize the counterattack as much as possible. He portrayed what was going on not as a one-sided assault on the British Isles, but as a duel of opposing bomber fleets - a highly unrealistic view, as we now know, but one that played an important role in public opinion both at home and abroad in 1940. It's interesting that if you look at the popular British press during the BoB there are almost as many stories about bombing raids on Germany as there are attacks on the UK. Best, Alan
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/all-anniversaries/6873-day-during-ww2-374.html#post524063 Churchill's speech 'The Few' August 20, 1940 House of Commons
