We Shall Never Surrender 我们誓不投降 Winston Churchill 温斯顿·丘吉尔

• [00:00.52]When, a week ago today,
• [00:03.52]Mr.Speaker
• [00:04.89]I asked the house to fix this afternoon
• [00:08.67]as the occasion for a statement,
• [00:11.25]I feared it would be my hard lot
• [00:14.06]to announce the greatest military disaster
• [00:18.41]in our long history.
• [00:21.79]I thought and some good judges agreed with me
• [00:26.71]that perhaps 20,000 or 30,000 men might be re-embarked.
• [00:31.61]But it certainly seemed that
• [00:34.19]the whole of the French first army
• [00:35.30]and the whole of the British Expeditionary Force
• [00:40.21]north of the Amiens-Abbeville gap
• [00:44.32]would be broken up in the open field
• [00:47.98]or else would have to capitulate
• [00:49.90]for lack of food and ammunition.
• [00:52.27]These were the hard and heavy tidings
• [00:55.25]for which I called upon the house
• [00:58.30]and the nation to prepare themselves a week ago.
• [01:02.10]The whole root and core and brain of the British army,
• [01:08.16]on which and around which
• [01:10.68]we were to build, and are to build,
• [01:13.87]the great British armies in the later years of the war,
• [01:18.42]seemed about to perish upon the field
• [01:21.05]or to be led into an ignominious and starving captivity.
• [01:26.51]The enemy attacked us on all sides
• [01:30.58]with great strength and fierceness,
• [01:33.42]and their main power,
• [01:35.59]the power of their far more numerous air force,
• [01:38.91]was thrown into the battle or else concentrated
• [01:43.38]upon Dunkirk and the beaches.
• [01:45.60]Pressing in upon the narrow exit,
• [01:49.69]both from the east and from the west,
• [01:52.13]the enemy began to fire with cannon
• [01:55.37]upon the beaches by which alone
• [01:57.34]the shipping could approach or depart.
• [01:59.98]They sowed magnetic mines in the channels and seas;
• [02:03.46]they sent repeated waves of hostile aircraft,
• [02:07.27]sometimes more than 100 strong in one formation,
• [02:11.22]to cast their bombs upon the single pier that remained,
• [02:15.31]and upon the sand dunes
• [02:17.59]on which the troops had their only shelter.
• [02:23.32]Their U-boats, one of which was sunk,
• [02:26.20]and their motor launches took their toll
• [02:29.40]of the vast traffic which now began.
• [02:33.45]For four or five days an intense struggle reigned.
• [02:37.19]All their armoured divisions
• [02:39.24]or what was left of them
• [02:41.07]together with great masses of infantry and artillery,
• [02:44.11]hurled themselves in vain
• [02:45.79]upon the ever-narrowing, ever-contracting appendix
• [02:50.03]within which the British and French armies fought.
• [02:54.93]Meanwhile, the Royal Navy,
• [02:56.77]with the willing help of countless merchant seamen,
• [03:00.46]strained every nerve to embark the British
• [03:03.61]and allied troops
• [03:05.79]220 light warships
• [03:09.13]and 650 other vessels were engaged.
• [03:13.69]They had to operate upon the difficult coast
• [03:16.92]often in adverse weather
• [03:19.25]under an almost ceaseless hail of bombs
• [03:22.29]and an increasing concentration of artillery fire.
• [03:26.83]Nor were the seas, as I have said,
• [03:30.43]themselves free from mines and torpedoes.
• [03:32.66]It was in conditions such as these
• [03:34.65]that our men carried on,
• [03:37.58]with little or no rest
• [03:39.40]for days and nights on end,
• [03:42.03]making trip after trip
• [03:43.99]across the dangerous waters,
• [03:46.59]bringing with them
• [03:48.27]always men whom they had rescued.
• [03:51.92]The numbers they have brought back
• [03:53.68]are the measure of their devotion
• [03:56.13]and their courage.
• [03:59.21]The hospital ships,
• [04:00.17]which brought off many thousands of British
• [04:01.74]and French wounded
• [04:03.31]being so plainly marked
• [04:05.28]were a special target for Nazi bombs;
• [04:08.82]but the men and women on board them
• [04:10.89]never faltered in their duty.
• [04:13.77]Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force,
• [04:16.60]which had already been intervening in the battle,
• [04:20.29]so far as its range would allow,
• [04:22.97]from our home bases,
• [04:25.66]now used part of its main metropolitan fighter strength
• [04:30.67]and struck at the German bombers
• [04:34.94]and at the fighters
• [04:36.45]which in large numbers protected them.
• [04:40.25]This struggle was protracted and fierce.
• [04:43.59]Suddenly the scene has cleared,
• [04:46.46]the crash and thunder has for the moment
• [04:50.56]but only for the moment
• [04:52.32]died away.
• [04:54.25]A miracle of deliverance
• [04:57.23]achieved by valor
• [04:58.69]by perseverance
• [05:00.46]by perfect discipline,
• [05:02.29]by faultless service,
• [05:04.42]by resource
• [05:05.93]by skill,
• [05:06.44]by unconquerable fidelity,
• [05:09.88]is manifest to us all.
• [05:12.76]The enemy was hurled back
• [05:16.45]by the retreating British troops.
• [05:19.38]He was so roughly handled
• [05:21.78]that he did not hurry their departure seriously.
• [05:26.89]Sir,We must be very careful
• [05:29.10]not to assign to this deliverance
• [05:32.48]the attributes of a victory.
• [05:35.46]Wars are not won by evacuations.
• [05:39.37]But there was a victory inside this deliverance
• [05:42.66]which should be noted.
• [05:44.42]It was gained by the air force.
• [05:47.46]Many of our soldiers coming back
• [05:50.09]have not seen the air force at work;
• [05:52.87]they saw only the bombers
• [05:54.74]which escaped its protective attack.
• [05:57.48]They underrate its achievements.
• [06:00.00]I have heard much talk of this;
• [06:02.78]that is why I go out of my way to say this.
• [06:07.49]I will tell you about it.
• [06:09.51]This was a great trial of strength
• [06:11.62]between the British and German air forces.
• [06:15.01]Can you conceive a greater objective
• [06:19.41]for the Germans in the air
• [06:21.68]than to make evacuation from these beaches impossible
• [06:25.68]and to sink all these ships
• [06:28.10]which were displayed, almost to the extent of thousands
• [06:32.30]Could there have been an objective
• [06:34.84]of greater military importance and significance
• [06:37.84]for the whole purpose of the war than this
• [06:41.12]They tried hard, and they were beaten back;
• [06:44.71]they were frustrated in their task.
• [06:47.85]We got the army away;
• [06:49.98]and they have paid fourfold
• [06:52.00]for any losses which they have inflicted.
• [07:00.02]Sir,when we consider how much greater
• [07:02.34]would be our advantage
• [07:03.71]in defending the air above this island
• [07:05.29]against an overseas attack,
• [07:08.07]I must say that I find in these facts a sure basis
• [07:10.82]upon which practical and reassuring thoughts may rest.
• [07:15.77]I will pay my tribute to these young airmen.
• [07:19.87]The great French army was very largely,
• [07:22.96]for the time being,
• [07:25.70]cast back
• [07:27.22]and disturbed by the onrush of a few thousands
• [07:31.42]of armored vehicles.
• [07:34.15]May it not
• [07:35.61]also be
• [07:37.03]that the cause of civilisation itself
• [07:39.41]will be defended by the skill
• [07:41.59]and devotion
• [07:43.88]of a few thousand airmen?
• [07:46.87]There never has been,
• [07:48.94]I suppose, in all the world,
• [07:51.47]in all the history of war,
• [07:53.49]such an opportunity for youth.
• [07:55.97]The Knights of the Round Table,
• [07:57.79]the Crusaders, all fall back into the past
• [08:02.49]not only distant but prosaic;
• [08:07.10]these young men, going forth every morn
• [08:10.34]to guard their native land
• [08:11.95]and all that we stand for,
• [08:13.27]holding in their hands
• [08:15.44]these instruments of colossal and shattering power,
• [08:19.64]of whom it may be said that
• [08:21.97]every morn brought forth a noble chance,
• [08:26.01]And every chance brought forth a noble knight,
• [08:29.90]deserve our gratitude, as do all the brave men
• [08:36.47]who, in so many ways and on so many occasions,
• [08:39.96]are ready, and continue ready
• [08:42.59]to give life and all for their native land.
• [08:47.33]Nevertheless,
• [08:49.55]our thankfulness
• [08:51.37]at the escape of our army
• [08:53.34]and so many men,
• [08:54.60]whose loved ones have passed through
• [08:56.59]an agonising week,
• [08:58.92]must not blind us to the fact
• [09:01.44]that what has happened in France and Belgium
• [09:04.53]is a colossal military disaster.
• [09:08.72]The French army has been weakened,
• [09:10.86]the Belgian army has been lost,
• [09:13.33]a large part of those fortified lines
• [09:16.13]upon which so much faith
• [09:17.39]had been reposed is gone,
• [09:20.23]many valuable mining districts and factories
• [09:23.17]have passed into the enemy's possession,
• [09:26.15]the whole of the Channel ports are in his hands,
• [09:30.10]with all the tragic consequences that follow from that,
• [09:33.90]and we must expect another blow to be struck
• [09:36.95]almost immediately at us or at France.
• [09:41.69]We are told that Herr Hitler
• [09:45.24]has a plan for invading the British Isles.
• [09:48.48]This has often been thought of before.
• [09:51.67]When Napoleon lay at Boulogne for a year
• [09:54.49]with his flat-bottomed boats
• [09:56.58]and his Grand Army,
• [09:59.00]he was told by someone,
• [10:01.43]"There are bitter weeds in England."
• [10:05.32]There are certainly a great many more of them
• [10:08.30]since the British Expeditionary Force returned.
• [10:12.76]I have, myself, full confidence
• [10:14.68]that if all do their duty,
• [10:16.75]if nothing is neglected,
• [10:18.83]and if the best arrangements are made,
• [10:20.85]as they are being made,
• [10:23.02]we shall prove ourselves
• [10:24.64]once more able to defend our island home,
• [10:28.21]to ride out the storm of war,
• [10:28.86]and to outlive the menace of tyranny,
• [10:33.85]if necessary for years,
• [10:37.57]if necessary alone.
• [10:41.61]At any rate,
• [10:42.58]that is what we are going to try to do.
• [10:44.96]That is the resolve of His Majesty's government
• [10:47.85]every man of them.
• [10:49.37]That is the will of parliament and the nation.
• [10:51.85]The British Empire and the French republic,
• [10:54.52]linked together in their cause
• [10:56.75]and in their need,
• [10:58.80]will defend to the death their native soil,
• [11:01.37]aiding each other like good comrades
• [11:04.00]to the utmost to their strength.
• [11:06.18]We shall go on to the end,
• [11:08.46]we shall fight in France,
• [11:10.58]we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
• [11:13.53]we shall fight with growing confidence
• [11:17.80]and growing strength in the air,
• [11:19.48]we shall defend our island,
• [11:21.97]whatever the cost may be,
• [11:24.10]we shall fight on the beaches,
• [11:25.98]we shall fight on the landing grounds,
• [11:28.47]we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
• [11:32.66]we shall fight in the hills;
• [11:34.43]we shall never surrender,
• [11:36.95]and if, which I do not for a moment believe,
• [11:40.80]this island or a large part of it
• [11:44.00]were subjugated and starving,
• [11:46.62]then our empire beyond the seas,
• [11:50.32]armed and guarded by the British fleet,
• [11:53.60]would carry on the struggle,
• [11:55.82]until, in God's good time,
• [11:58.47]the new world, with all its power and might,
• [12:01.90]steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.