Speech by The Prime Minister Mr. Winston Churchill Delivered in the House of Commons, June 18, 1940.

On June 5, 1940, the German Army initiated Fall Rot, the operation to complete the conquest of France beginning with a preliminary attack over the river Somme on the Channel Coast to the Seine. Five days later, Italy entered the war and it seemed inevitable that that Hitler would attack and soon invade Great Britain. Faced with this, Churchill addressed the Commons on June 18 and delivered one of his most famous speeches, ending with this peroration: "What General Weygand called the 'Battle of France' is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say: 'This was their finest hour'".