South Yorkshire Times — Saturday, 12 June 1943
Mr. Churchill’s Return
Mr. Churchill seems to derive additional vitality from travels which would be trying to a much younger man. The physical effort involved in these journeys is considerable, without the accompanying dangers which dog every mile of the Prime Minister’s route. Country as well as Cabinet experienced acute anxiety until it was officially announced that he was home again.
As he passes over vast seas in battleship or plane, or skirts perilous coasts, Mr. Churchill is obviously military objective number one in the eyes of the enemy. The crews and craft which have safely transported him on this last and other trips deserve the nation’s gratitude, and it is satisfactory to see that their unrelaxed efforts have not gone unrecognised. But in the face of all the hazards entailed by these visits to strategic places at strategic times, there is no questioning the value of the Prime Minister’s exertions. His example is in itself a wonderful inspiration to a nation which must live dangerously to earn the crown of victory, and which has existed even more precariously in the past when disaster loomed over it like a great cliff of crushing doom.
And so in addition to the usefulness of his personal consultations with President Roosevelt we have to weigh the worth of Mr. Churchill’s contacts with our fighting men. To them his appearance must epitomise the gratitude and pride of those at home who have watched the fighting from afar with bated breath, but with an ingrained feeling that such a cause as ours must ultimately prevail, and that properly equipped and disposed men were just the men to achieve this happy consummation.
Tuesday’s speech to Parliament must be classed as one of Mr. Churchill’s best. His punctilious regard for the symbolic institution of British democracy has never been more aptly shown. Mr. Churchill is steeped in the traditions of Westminster and never forgets that his first responsibility is to the House, to whom he speaks as a body closely representative of the country at large. Naturally he was not able to divulge very much, either of his trans-Atlantic discussions or their impending sequel. Actually he said more than many may have expected, but his mastery of words is such that he was able to hearten and confirm the House in its expectancy without passing on anything of the least value to the enemy.
He gave outright expression to the hopes that the people of the United Nations have long cherished, for how else could the phrase “amphibious operations of peculiar complexity and hazard,” be interpreted? It was a masterly statement and was delivered in a vein of such confidence that, high as the morale of the nation was, it appreciably soared several points higher as Press and Radio disseminated the text.
The sane and sober note of caution was inevitably introduced. Mr. Churchill is too old a campaigner, militarily and politically, to be carried away by a picture of events which presents an unquestionably cheerful aspect. Even the U-boat war seems, for the time being at any rate, to be swinging our way. The most confirmed realist would hardly deny that the Prime Minister was able to report on a position where every prospect pleased. It is dangerous, however, to take such a situation at its face value, when so much remains for hard endeavour to achieve. As Mr. Churchill shrewdly remarked, “We have still to show that we can keep ourselves at the height and level of successful events.” Now for the test.