One of my earliest and largest postage stamp portraits was of the great war time leader Winston Churchill. On the band around his hat I pictured words from his famous quote; ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few‘. He was paying tribute to the enormous efforts made by the fighter pilots and bomber crews to establish air superiority over England in the Battle of Britain in 1940.
As we celebrate VE Day it is fitting we honour and pay tribute to the Second World War generation from across the United Kingdom and Commonwealth and remember the nation’s debt to them. Winston Churchill was their Prime Minister who led the nation from May 10, 1940, to July 26, 1945. It was his leadership that led the way to victory in the Second World War. On the 8 May 1945 he made a radio broadcast to the nation announcing Victory in Europe Day, marking the end of the Second World War in Europe in 1945. He was a great orator who spoke with conviction and passion.
80 years ago on 8 May 1945 he addressed the celebrating crowds in London with these words;
“God bless you all. This is your victory! It is the victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best. Everyone has tried. Neither the long years, nor the dangers, nor the fierce attacks of the enemy, have in any way weakened the independent resolve of the British nation. God bless you all…”
“My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not victory of a party or of any class. It’s a victory of the great British nation as a whole. We were the first, in this ancient island, to draw the sword against tyranny. After a while we were left all alone against the most tremendous military power that has been seen. We were all alone for a whole year.
“There we stood, alone. Did anyone want to give in? Were we down-hearted? The lights went out and the bombs came down. But every man, woman and child in the country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London can take it. So we came back after long months from the jaws of death, out of the mouth of hell, while the entire world wondered. When shall the reputation and faith of this generation of English men and women fail?
“I say that in the long years to come not only will the people of this island but of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human hearts, look back to what we’ve done and they will say ‘do not despair, do not yield to violence and tyranny, march straightforward and die if need be-unconquered.’