1940: Churchill's First Broadcast as PM
There was an error
This content is not available in your location.
In his first broadcast as prime minister, Winston Churchill announces that Germany has broken through the French defences and he has formed a wartime coalition government to "wage war until victory is won and never surrender...to servitude and shame".
As the French army retreated, Churchill dispatched additional fighter squadrons to France and flew to Paris to investigate further. On learning there was little prospect of a counter-attack, he aimed to prevent the BEF from becoming encircled by German forces and so ordered the retreat towards Dunkirk.
Negotiations with Hitler were out of the question.
Originally broadcast on 19 May 1940.