| The League of Nations Intelligence Agency |
| Geneva, Switzerland |
| Mission Europe Hostilities |
| TOP SECRET |
| The Speeches of Victory |
This is Your Victory
God bless you all. This is your victory! It is the victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best. Everyone has tried. Neither the long years, nor the dangers, nor the fierce attacks of the enemy, have in any way weakened the independent resolve of the British nation. God bless you all.
The V-E Day Crowd
My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not victory of a party or of any class. It's a
victory of the great British nation as a whole. We were the first, in this ancient island,
to draw the sword against tyranny. After a while we were left all alone against the most
tremendous military power that has been seen. We were all alone for a whole year.
There we stood, alone. Did anyone want to give in? [The crowd shouted "No."]
Were we down-hearted? ["No!"] The lights went out and the bombs came down. But
every man, woman and child in the country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London
can take it. So we came back after long months from the jaws of death, out of the mouth of
hell, while all the world wondered. When shall the reputation and faith of this generation
of English men and women fail? I say that in the long years to come not only will the
people of this island but of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human
hearts, look back to what we've done and they will say do not despair, do not yield
to violence and tyranny, march straightforward and die if need be-unconquered. Now
we have emerged from one deadly struggle-a terrible foe has been cast on the ground and
awaits our judgment and our mercy.
But there is another foe who occupies large portions of the British
Empire, a foe stained with cruelty and greed-the Japanese. I rejoice we can all take a
night off today and another day tomorrow. Tomorrow our great Russian allies will also be
celebrating victory and after that we must begin the task of rebuilding our
health and
homes, doing our utmost to make this country a land in which all have a chance, in which
all have a duty, and we must turn ourselves to fulfill our duty to our own countrymen, and
to our gallant allies of the United States who were so foully and treacherously attacked
by Japan. We will go hand and hand with them. Even if it is a hard struggle we will not be
the ones who will fail.
Speeches by Winston Churchill: