ABSTRACT
The British people, their confidence rebuilt by Mr Churchill’s inspiring oratory and cherubic example upon that native resilience which is the national bedrock, had recovered from the shock of seeing the British Expeditionary Force bundled off the Continent in early June. In London, Boer War veterans living near one big square had given the lead for a Square by Square defence of the capital. In the provincial cities members of the Auxiliary Fire Service built home-made fire engines. The daily newspapers provided tips for the new Local Defence Volunteers: How to turn shot-guns into deadlier weapons. The British were hardening their hearts. They even clamped a nightly curfew on Americans, classing them with Russians, Japanese and other neutrals who would remain suspect while the tide was running so strongly with Germany. The people had braced themselves and nothing had happened. The England of July 1940 would not be recognizable to the young people who were born in that year.
