Jeudi, 19 Février, 2015
Verse of the Day:
« Mes chers
amis, puisque Dieu nous a tant aimés, nous devons, nous aussi, nous aimer les
uns les autres. Dieu, personne ne l'a jamais vu. Mais si nous nous aimons les
uns les autres, Dieu demeure en nous et son amour se manifeste pleinement parmi
nous. » 1 Jean 4.11-12
Quote of the Day:
« Life is a mystery that must be lived, and not a
problem that must be solved.”—Gandhi
« La vie est
un mystère qu’il faut vivre, et non un problème à résoudre. »—Gandhi
French Fun Fact:
France ruled the second largest colonial empire in the world controlling
8.6% of the world’s land.
(
confessedtravelholic.com)
What’s Really
Happening Over Here:
Weather – Mostly
Sunny
Temperature – 51⁰F
News – France
insists Ukraine ceasefire deal not dead (
thelocal.fr)
A Day In the Life:
Last night I saw the movie “American Sniper” with my host
parents. If you know me, you know that in addition to Jesus Christ and Superman
(obviously in that order, and nowhere near on the same level), I LOVE the Navy
SEALs. Unfortunately, that is not the direction in which the LORD has called
me, so I will never have the honor of being one, but I still believe there is
much to be learned from the world’s most elite fighting force. If nothing else,
they deserve our utmost respect and gratitude.
The movie last night really did get me thinking though –
about the sacrifices that our armed forces make for us. There was a scene in
the movie, when Chris Kyle first met his future wife, Taya. She was speaking
about how she thought all SEALs were egotistical (among other things), and
Chris responded immediately by saying:
“How? I would lay down my life for my country.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the greatest country in the world and I’ll do
everything I can to protect it.”
I have met plenty of people here in France who would
seriously disagree with Chris’ last statement, but regardless that resolute
willingness to sacrifice everything for something greater that oneself is rare.
For a Christian, that is as close as we can get to being like Christ. As my Dad
once said to His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down
one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)” I will never be a SEAL, but I am
already a Christian. And each second of my life I have the opportunity to make
the same sacrifice as soldiers like Chris were blessed to make. I can choose to
“ring the bell”, and quit, by choosing myself and my own feelings as a
priority; or I can choose to stick it out by YHWH’s Strength – not to say I did
it, but because it’s not about me. It was never about me.
Their Finest Hour
A Little Background
At 5:30 a.m. on May 10, 1940, Nazi
Germany began a massive attack against Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and
France. Defending those countries were soldiers of the British Expeditionary
Force along with the French, Belgian, and Dutch (Allied) armies.
The Germans relied on an aggressive
battle plan, utilizing modern communications such as radio to
 |
| Sir Winston Churchill |
direct troops in
the field. The Allies, for their part, assumed a defensive posture, just as
they had done at the start of World War I, and in many cases still relied on
hand-delivered messages.
As a result, the German Blitzkrieg
(lightning attack) caught the Allies off-guard. German Panzer tanks staged a
surprise attack through the 'impassable' Ardennes Forest then turned northward
and soon surrounded the bulk of the Allied armies in Belgium. The "Miracle
at Dunkirk" occurred next as 338,000 British and French soldiers were
hurriedly evacuated from the coastline by Royal Navy ships and a flotilla of civilian
boats of every shape and size.
After just a few weeks of battle,
Hitler's armies had conquered Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Paris fell on
June 14th. Three days later, the French requested an armistice.
The following day, June 18th,
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke to the House of Commons about
the disastrous turn of events in Europe amid the stark realization that Britain
now stood alone against the seemingly unstoppable might of Hitler's military
machine.
What Made It Great?
Here, Churchill was able to convince a whole nation that
they were different; that the fate of the world depended on them, and that
they, unlike the other countries who fell to Hitler, could handle it. And that
for me is the definition of leadership: Convincing others to do what they do
not want to do, in order to help them go where they say they want to go.
“Their Finest Hour”
(Full)
For those of you who would like it, I have included the
entire speech.
I spoke the other day of the
colossal military disaster which occurred when the French High Command failed
to withdraw the northern Armies from Belgium at the moment when they knew that
the French front was decisively broken at Sedan and on the Meuse. This delay
entailed the loss of fifteen or sixteen French divisions and threw out of
action for the critical period the whole of the British Expeditionary Force.
Our Army and 120,000 French troops were indeed rescued by the British Navy from
Dunkirk but only with the loss of their cannon, vehicles and modern equipment.
This loss inevitably took some weeks to repair, and in the first two of those
weeks the battle in France has been lost. When we consider the heroic
resistance made by the French Army against heavy odds in this battle, the
enormous losses inflicted upon the enemy and the evident exhaustion of the
enemy, it may well be the thought that these 25 divisions of the best-trained
and best-equipped troops might have turned the scale. However, General Weygand
had to fight without them. Only three British divisions or their equivalent
were able to stand in the line with their French comrades. They have suffered
severely, but they have fought well. We sent every man we could to France as
fast as we could re-equip and transport their formations.
I am not reciting these facts for
the purpose of recrimination. That I judge to be utterly futile and even
harmful. We cannot afford it. I recite them in order to explain why it was we
did not have, as we could have had, between twelve and fourteen British
divisions fighting in the line in this great battle instead of only three. Now
I put all this aside. I put it on the shelf, from which the historians, when
they have time, will select their documents to tell their stories. We have to
think of the future and not of the past. This also applies in a small way to
our own affairs at home. There are many who would hold an inquest in the House
of Commons on the conduct of the Governments--and of Parliaments, for they are
in it, too--during the years which led up to this catastrophe. They seek to
indict those who were responsible for the guidance of our affairs. This also
would be a foolish and pernicious process. There are too many in it. Let each
man search his conscience and search his speeches. I frequently search mine.
Of this I am quite sure, that if we
open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have
lost the future. Therefore, I cannot accept the drawing of any distinctions
between members of the present Government. It was formed at a moment of crisis
in order to unite all the Parties and all sections of opinion. It has received
the almost unanimous support of both Houses of Parliament. Its members are
going to stand together, and, subject to the authority of the House of Commons,
we are going to govern the country and fight the war. It is absolutely
necessary at a time like this that every Minister who tries each day to do his
duty shall be respected; and their subordinates must know that their chiefs are
not threatened men, men who are here today and gone tomorrow, but that their
directions must be punctually and faithfully obeyed. Without this concentrated
power we cannot face what lies before us. I should not think it would be very
advantageous for the House to prolong this debate this afternoon under
conditions of public stress. Many facts are not clear that will be clear in a
short time. We are to have a secret session on Thursday, and I should think
that would be a better opportunity for the many earnest expressions of opinion
which members will desire to make and for the House to discuss vital matters
without having everything read the next morning by our dangerous foes.
The disastrous military events
which have happened during the past fortnight have not come to me with any
sense of surprise. Indeed, I indicated a fortnight ago as clearly as I could to
the House that the worst possibilities were open; and I made it perfectly clear
then that whatever happened in France would make no difference to the resolve
of Britain and the British Empire to fight on, if necessary for years, if
necessary alone.
During the last few days we have
successfully brought off the great majority of the troops we had on the line of
communication in France; and seven-eighths of the troops we have sent to France
since the beginning of the war--that is to say, about 350,000 out of 400,000
men--are safely back in this country. Others are still fighting with the
French, and fighting with considerable success in their local encounters
against the enemy. We have also brought back a great mass of stores, rifles and
munitions of all kinds which had been accumulated in France during the last
nine months.
We have, therefore, in this Island
today a very large and powerful military force. This force comprises all our
best-trained and our finest troops, including scores of thousands of those who
have already measured their quality against the Germans and found themselves at
no disadvantage. We have under arms at the present time in this Island over a
million and a quarter men. Behind these we have the Local Defense Volunteers,
numbering half a million, only a portion of whom, however, are yet armed with
rifles or other firearms. We have incorporated into our Defense Forces every
man for whom we have a weapon. We expect very large additions to our weapons in
the near future, and in preparation for this we intend forthwith to call up,
drill and train further large numbers. Those who are not called up, or else are
employed during the vast business of munitions production in all its
branches--and their ramifications are innumerable--will serve their country
best by remaining at their ordinary work until they receive their summons. We
have also over here Dominions armies. The Canadians had actually landed in
France, but have now been safely withdrawn, much disappointed, but in perfect
order, with all their artillery and equipment. And these very high-class forces
from the Dominions will now take part in the defense of the Mother Country.
Lest the account which I have given
of these large forces should raise the question: Why did they not take part in
the great battle in France? I must make it clear that, apart from the divisions
training and organizing at home, only twelve divisions were equipped to fight
upon a scale which justified their being sent abroad. And this was fully up to
the number which the French had been led to expect would be available in France
at the ninth month of the war. The rest of our forces at home have a fighting
value for home defense which will, of course, steadily increase every week that
passes. Thus, the invasion of Great Britain would at this time require the
transportation across the sea of hostile armies on a very large scale, and
after they had been so transported they would have to be continually maintained
with all the masses of munitions and supplies which are required for continuous
battle--as continuous battle it will surely be.
Here is where we come to the
Navy--and after all, we have a Navy. Some people seem to forget that we have a
Navy. We must remind them. For the last thirty years I have been concerned in
discussions about the possibilities of oversea invasion, and I took the
responsibility on behalf of the Admiralty, at the beginning of the last war, of
allowing all regular troops to be sent out of the country. That was a very
serious step to take, because our Territorials had only just been called up and
were quite untrained. Therefore, this Island was for several months
particularly denuded of fighting troops. The Admiralty had confidence at that
time in their ability to prevent a mass invasion even though at that time the
Germans had a magnificent battle fleet in the proportion of 10 to 16, even
though they were capable of fighting a general engagement every day and any
day, whereas now they have only a couple of heavy ships worth speaking of--the
Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau. We are also told that the Italian Navy is to come
out and gain sea superiority in these waters. If they seriously intend it, I
shall only say that we shall be delighted to offer Signor Mussolini a free and
safeguarded passage through the Strait of Gibraltar in order that he may play
the part to which he aspires. There is a general curiosity in the British Fleet
to find out whether the Italians are up to the level they were at in the last
war or whether they have fallen off at all.
Therefore, it seems to me that as
far as sea-borne invasion on a great scale is concerned, we are far more
capable of meeting it today than we were at many periods in the last war and
during the early months of this war, before our other troops were trained, and
while the B.E.F. had proceeded abroad. Now, the Navy have never pretended to be
able to prevent raids by bodies of 5,000 or 10,000 men flung suddenly across
and thrown ashore at several points on the coast some dark night or foggy
morning. The efficacy of sea power, especially under modern conditions, depends
upon the invading force being of large size; It has to be of large size, in
view of our military strength, to be of any use. If it is of large size, then
the Navy have something they can find and meet and, as it were, bite on. Now,
we must remember that even five divisions, however lightly equipped, would
require 200 to 250 ships, and with modern air reconnaissance and photography it
would not be easy to collect such an armada, marshal it, and conduct it across
the sea without any powerful naval forces to escort it; and there would be very
great possibilities, to put it mildly, that this armada would be intercepted
long before it reached the coast, and all the men drowned in the sea or, at the
worst blown to pieces with their equipment while they were trying to land. We
also have a great system of minefields, recently strongly reinforced, through
which we alone know the channels. If the enemy tries to sweep passages through
these minefields, it will be the task of the Navy to destroy the mine-sweepers
and any other forces employed to protect them. There should be no difficulty in
this, owing to our great superiority at sea.
Those are the regular, well-tested,
well-proved arguments on which we have relied during many years in peace and
war. But the question is whether there are any new methods by which those solid
assurances can be circumvented. Odd as it may seem, some attention has been
given to this by the Admiralty, whose prime duty and responsibility is to
destroy any large sea-borne expedition before it reaches, or at the moment when
it reaches, these shores. It would not be a good thing for me to go into
details of this. It might suggest ideas to other people which they have not
thought of, and they would not be likely to give us any of their ideas in
exchange. All I will say is that untiring vigilance and mind-searching must be
devoted to the subject, because the enemy is crafty and cunning and full of
novel treacheries and stratagems. The House may be assured that the utmost
ingenuity is being displayed and imagination is being evoked from large numbers
of competent officers, well-trained in tactics and thoroughly up to date, to
measure and counterwork novel possibilities. Untiring vigilance and untiring
searching of the mind is being, and must be, devoted to the subject, because,
remember, the enemy is crafty and there is no dirty trick he will not do.
Some people will ask why, then, was
it that the British Navy was not able to prevent the movement of a large army
from Germany into Norway across the Skagerrak? But the conditions in the
Channel and in the North Sea are in no way like those which prevail in the
Skagerrak. In the Skagerrak, because of the distance, we could give no air
support to our surface ships, and consequently, lying as we did close to the
enemy's main air power, we were compelled to use only our submarines. We could
not enforce the decisive blockade or interruption which is possible from
surface vessels. Our submarines took a heavy toll but could not, by themselves,
prevent the invasion of Norway. In the Channel and in the North Sea, on the
other hand, our superior naval surface forces, aided by our submarines, will
operate with close and effective air assistance.
This brings me, naturally, to the
great question of invasion from the air, and of the impending struggle between
the British and German Air Forces. It seems quite clear that no invasion on a
scale beyond the capacity of our land forces to crush speedily is likely to
take place from the air until our Air Force has been definitely overpowered. In
the meantime, there may be raids by parachute troops and attempted descents of
airborne soldiers. We should be able to give those gentry a warm reception both
in the air and on the ground, if they reach it in any condition to continue the
dispute. But the great question is: Can we break Hitler's air weapon? Now, of
course, it is a very great pity that we have not got an Air Force at least
equal to that of the most powerful enemy within striking distance of these
shores. But we have a very powerful Air Force which has proved itself far
superior in quality, both in men and in many types of machine, to what we have
met so far in the numerous and fierce air battles which have been fought with
the Germans. In France, where we were at a considerable disadvantage and lost
many machines on the ground when they were standing round the aerodromes, we
were accustomed to inflict in the air losses of as much as two and
two-and-a-half to one. In the fighting over Dunkirk, which was a sort of
no-man's-land, we undoubtedly beat the German Air Force, and gained the mastery
of the local air, inflicting here a loss of three or four to one day after day.
Anyone who looks at the photographs which were published a week or so ago of
the re-embarkation, showing the masses of troops assembled on the beach and
forming an ideal target for hours at a time, must realize that this
re-embarkation would not have been possible unless the enemy had resigned all
hope of recovering air superiority at that time and at that place.
In the defense of this Island the
advantages to the defenders will be much greater than they were in the fighting
around Dunkirk. We hope to improve on the rate of three or four to one which
was realized at Dunkirk; and in addition all our injured machines and their
crews which get down safely--and, surprisingly, a very great many injured
machines and men do get down safely in modern air fighting--all of these will
fall, in an attack upon these Islands, on friendly soil and live to fight
another day; whereas all the injured enemy machines and their complements will
be total losses as far as the war is concerned.
During the great battle in France,
we gave very powerful and continuous aid to the French Army, both by fighters
and bombers; but in spite of every kind of pressure we never would allow the
entire metropolitan fighter strength of the Air Force to be consumed. This
decision was painful, but it was also right, because the fortunes of the battle
in France could not have been decisively affected even if we had thrown in our
entire fighter force. That battle was lost by the unfortunate strategical
opening, by the extraordinary and unforseen power of the armored columns, and
by the great preponderance of the German Army in numbers. Our fighter Air Force
might easily have been exhausted as a mere accident in that great struggle, and
then we should have found ourselves at the present time in a very serious
plight. But as it is, I am happy to inform the House that our fighter strength
is stronger at the present time relatively to the Germans, who have suffered
terrible losses, than it has ever been; and consequently we believe ourselves
possessed of the capacity to continue the war in the air under better
conditions than we have ever experienced before. I look forward confidently to
the exploits of our fighter pilots--these splendid men, this brilliant
youth--who will have the glory of saving their native land, their island home,
and all they love, from the most deadly of all attacks.
There remains, of course, the danger
of bombing attacks, which will certainly be made very soon upon us by the
bomber forces of the enemy. It is true that the German bomber force is superior
in numbers to ours; but we have a very large bomber force also, which we shall
use to strike at military targets in Germany without intermission. I do not at
all underrate the severity of the ordeal which lies before us; but I believe
our countrymen will show themselves capable of standing up to it, like the
brave men of Barcelona, and will be able to stand up to it, and carry on in
spite of it, at least as well as any other people in the world. Much will
depend upon this; every man and every woman will have the chance to show the
finest qualities of their race, and render the highest service to their cause.
For all of us, at this time, whatever our sphere, our station, our occupation
or our duties, it will be a help to remember the famous lines:
He nothing common did or mean, Upon
that memorable scene.
I have thought it right upon this
occasion to give the House and the country some indication of the solid,
practical grounds upon which we base our inflexible resolve to continue the
war. There are a good many people who say, 'Never mind. Win or lose, sink or
swim, better die than submit to tyranny--and such a tyranny.' And I do not
dissociate myself from them. But I can assure them that our professional
advisers of the three Services unitedly advise that we should carry on the war,
and that there are good and reasonable hopes of final victory. We have fully
informed and consulted all the self-governing Dominions, these great
communities far beyond the oceans who have been built up on our laws and on our
civilization, and who are absolutely free to choose their course, but are
absolutely devoted to the ancient Motherland, and who feel themselves inspired
by the same emotions which lead me to stake our all upon duty and honor. We
have fully consulted them, and I have received from their Prime Ministers, Mr.
Mackenzie King of Canada, Mr. Menzies of Australia, Mr. Fraser of New Zealand,
and General Smuts of South Africa--that wonderful man, with his immense
profound mind, and his eye watching from a distance the whole panorama of
European affairs--I have received from all these eminent men, who all have
Governments behind them elected on wide franchises, who are all there because
they represent the will of their people, messages couched in the most moving
terms in which they endorse our decision to fight on, and declare themselves
ready to share our fortunes and to persevere to the end. That is what we are
going to do.
We may now ask ourselves: In what
way has our position worsened since the beginning of the war? It has worsened
by the fact that the Germans have conquered a large part of the coast line of
Western Europe, and many small countries have been overrun by them. This
aggravates the possibilities of air attack and adds to our naval
preoccupations. It in no way diminishes, but on the contrary definitely
increases, the power of our long-distance blockade. Similarly, the entrance of
Italy into the war increases the power of our long-distance blockade. We have
stopped the worst leak by that. We do not know whether military resistance will
come to an end in France or not, but should it do so, then of course the
Germans will be able to concentrate their forces, both military and industrial,
upon us. But for the reasons I have given to the House these will not be found
so easy to apply. If invasion has become more imminent, as no doubt it has, we,
being relieved from the task of maintaining a large army in France, have far
larger and more efficient forces to meet it.
If Hitler can bring under his
despotic control the industries of the countries he has conquered, this will
add greatly to his already vast armament output. On the other hand, this will
not happen immediately, and we are now assured of immense, continuous and
increasing support in supplies and munitions of all kinds from the United
States; and especially of aeroplanes and pilots from the Dominions and across
the oceans coming from regions which are beyond the reach of enemy bombers.
I do not see how any of these
factors can operate to our detriment on balance before the winter comes; and
the winter will impose a strain upon the Nazi regime, with almost all Europe
writhing and starving under its cruel heel, which, for all their ruthlessness,
will run them very hard. We must not forget that from the moment when we
declared war on the 3rd September it was always possible for Germany to turn
all her Air Force upon this country, together with any other devices of
invasion she might conceive, and that France could have done little or nothing
to prevent her doing so. We have, therefore, lived under this danger, in
principle and in a slightly modified form, during all these months. In the
meanwhile, however, we have enormously improved our methods of defense, and we
have learned what we had no right to assume at the beginning, namely, that the
individual aircraft and the individual British pilot have a sure and definite
superiority. Therefore, in casting up this dread balance sheet and
contemplating our dangers with a disillusioned eye, I see great reason for
intense vigilance and exertion, but none whatever for panic or despair.
During the first four years of the
last war the Allies experienced nothing but disaster and disappointment. That
was our constant fear: one blow after another, terrible losses, frightful
dangers. Everything miscarried. And yet at the end of those four years the
morale of the Allies was higher than that of the Germans, who had moved from
one aggressive triumph to another, and who stood everywhere triumphant invaders
of the lands into which they had broken. During that war we repeatedly asked
ourselves the question: 'How are we going to win?' And no one was able ever to
answer it with much precision, until at the end, quite suddenly, quite
unexpectedly, our terrible foe collapsed before us, and we were so glutted with
victory that in our folly we threw it away.
We do not yet know what will happen
in France or whether the French resistance will be prolonged, both in France
and in the French Empire overseas. The French Government will be throwing away
great opportunities and casting adrift their future if they do not continue the
war in accordance with their treaty obligations, from which we have not felt
able to release them. The House will have read the historic declaration in
which, at the desire of many Frenchmen--and of our own hearts--we have
proclaimed our willingness at the darkest hour in French history to conclude a
union of common citizenship in this struggle. However matters may go in France
or with the French Government, or other French Governments, we in this Island
and in the British Empire will never lose our sense of comradeship with the
French people. If we are now called upon to endure what they have been
suffering, we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our
toils they shall share the gains, aye, and freedom shall be restored to all. We
abate nothing of our just demands; not one jot or tittle do we recede. Czechs,
Poles, Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians have joined their causes to our own. All
these shall be restored.
What General Weygand called the
Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to
begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it
depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and
our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on
us.
Hitler knows that he will have to
break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe
may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit
uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States,
including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a
new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of
perverted science.
Let us therefore brace ourselves to
our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its
Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their
finest hour.'
