Eighty years ago, Winston Churchill was invited to the Lord Mayor’s reception on the day before the anniversary of the Armistice and spoke about the ongoing war in the Western Desert. The Second Battle of El Alamein had officially ended on 5th November, but Rommel was still fighting a savage rear-guard action as he withdrew through Libya and each gain, such as Tobruk on 13 November, was accompanied by more British killed in action.
In London, Churchill delivered one of his inspiring speeches and with reference to the end of WWI said of the present situation: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” For Remembrance Sunday, he authorised the mass ringing of church bells, not heard in Britain for over two years. Three days later, the Prime Minister visited his alma mater where he said to the assembled school: “Two years have passed since we stood alone…All we knew was that we should fight to the end…Far be it for me to say how long the road will be…but I do feel that the day will shortly come…when we shall reach a broader and brighter light..”
Such powerful words and so appropriate for our Remembrance Sunday in 2022.
The Prime Minister Speaking At Harrow During The Second World War
Rupert Wieloch 