"FINEST HOUR."

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 144, 19 June 1940, Page 7

" FINEST HOUR."

BRITAIN'S ORDEAL. Dominions United In Grave Crisis. GENERAL SMUTS' PLEDGE. British Official Wireless. (Received 2 p.m.) RUGBY, June 18. The Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, in a broadcast speech this evening discussed, in much the same terms as he had done earlier in his House of Commons statement, the possibilities of the invasion of Britain by aii enemy. Mr. Churchill continued, "Wβ have fully informed all the self-governing Dominions, and we have received from all "the Prime Ministers messages couched in the most moving terms, in which they have endorsed our decision and have declared themselves rvady to share in our fortunes and |>ersevere to the end. Tfaait is what we are croing to I do."

He said, "If -.ve can stand up to the enemy all Europe may be freed and th? life of the world may move forward into broad, tntnlit uplands. But if we fail the whole world, including the United States, and all we have known and cared for will sink into the abyss of a dark age made more sinister and, perhaps, more prolonged by the lights ,of perverted science. Let ue, therefore, brace ourselves tq our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and the Empire last for thousands of years, men will still say, 'this was their finest hour.'"

The attitude of the Dominions was generally appreciated as the most eloquent testimony of the unity of the British Empire in the grave crisis, declared Mr. Churchill, and was an emphatic answer to any threats or cajoleries which might reeult from the Munich meeting of Hitler and Mussolini.

General Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa, broadcasting to-night, said: "France herself may go out of the fight. Britain" and the Dominions may be the last champions of the cause for which they took up arms. It has not come to that yet. It cannot be assumed that France will submit to dishonourable or inglorious terms, which would not only compromise her Allies, l)ut make her a vassal State of Germany. As to our decision, there can be no doubt that the British Prime Minister has already declared the unalterable resolve of Britain to continue the war even if she has to stand alone. The Dominions are unstintingly ranging themselves alongside Britain in this resolve, not least South Africa."