This was their finest hour

"This was their finest hour" was a speech delivered by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 18 June 1940, just over a month after he took over as Prime Minister at the head of an all-party coalition government.

It was the third of three speeches which he gave during the period of the Battle of France, after the "Blood, toil, tears and sweat" speech of 13 May and the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech of 4 June.[1][2] "This was their finest hour" was made after France had sought an armistice on the evening of 16 June.[a]

  1. ^ Hansard debate, 13 May 1940 "His Majesty's Government"
  2. ^ The Churchill Centre: We Shall Fight on the Beaches
  3. ^ BBC Written Archives quoted in Gilbert, Martin (27 June 1983). Finest Hour: Winston S. Churchill 1939–1941. Heinemann. p. 566. ISBN 978-0434291878.


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