A colleague (DMB) shared the following comments from Winston Churchill's "Home Defence" chapter of his World War II memoirs (Volume II, Their Finest Hour) re June 1940:

This was a time when all Britain worked and strove to the utmost limit and was united as never before. Men and women toiled at the lathes and machines in the factories till they fell exhausted on the floor and had to be dragged away and ordered home, while their places were occupied by newcomers ahead of time. ... The Cabinet and Government were locked together by bonds the memory of which is still cherished by all. The sense of fear seemed entirely lacking in the people, and their representatives in Parliament were not unworthy of their mood. ... Vast numbers were resolved to conquer or die. There was no need to rouse their spirit by oratory. They were glad to hear me express their sentiments and give them good reasons for what they meant to do, or try to do. The only possible divergence was from people who wished to do even more than was possible, and had the idea that frenzy might sharpen action.

TopicSociety - 2001-10-30

Comment

Prosewise, this was not his finest moment. But saving
Britain and maybe the world from the Nazis excuses
many sins, including wishful thinking. I doubt that
the public was ever entirely as gung-ho as he dreamed,
especially with memories of the WW1 meatgrinder that
he played an incompetent part in (see Gallipoli), but
all's well that ends well. - Tom B.

(correlates: Comments on Free Will Facts, ThirdPlace, OnAcclimation, ...)