“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in 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 for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded 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 the liberation of the old.”
Winston Churchill
We shall fight on the beaches (Primary source)
Churchill’s defiant address following the Dunkirk evacuation, declaring Britain would continue fighting Nazi Germany across every battlefield—beaches, streets, fields, hills—and never surrender. The speech transformed military disaster into moral victory, rallying Parliament and the nation for the struggle ahead.
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“You do your worst—and we will do our best.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
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— Winston Churchill Secondary sourceMore quotes by Winston Churchill →
“No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. I could not foretell the course of events. I do not pretend to have measured accurately the martial might of Japan, but now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all! […] Hitler’s fate was sealed. Mussolini’s fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“I don’t drink tea. I hate it. It’s mud. Moreover it’s one of the main reasons for the downfall of the British Empire. Be a good girl and make me some coffee.”
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— Winston Churchill DisputedTenacity Courage Defiance Perseverance