Evening star., 1940-05-20
BY the Associated Press.

of Prime Minister Churchtlps dd-
dress yesterday to his nation:
I speak to you for the first
time since becoming Prime Min
lister in a solemn hour in the life
of our country, OF our empire, Of
our allies, and above all, Of the
cause of freedom.
A tremendous battle is raging
in France and Flanders. The
Germans, by a remarkable COM
bination of their bombing and
heavily armored tanks, have
broken through the French de-
fenses north of the Magihot
Line and strong columns of their
armored vehicles are ranging the
open country, which for the first
day or two was without de-
tenders.
They have penetrated deeply
and spread alarm and confusion
in their tracks. Behind them are
now appearing infantry in lor-
ries and behind them again the
large masses are moving forward.
The regroupment Of the French
armies to make head against and
also to strike at this intruding
wedge, has been proceeding for
several days, largely assisted by
the magnificent efforts of the
royal air force.
Confident That Front
Will Be Stabilized.
We must not allow ourselves to
be intimidated by the presence
of these armored vehicles in un-
expected places behind our lines.
If they are behind our front the
French are also at many points
fighting actively behind theirs.
Both sides are, therefore, in an
extremely dangerous position,
and if the French Army, and
our own army. are we'll handled,
as I believe they will be, and
if the French retain that genius
in recovery and counter attack,
for which they have so long been
famous, and If the British Army
shows the dogged endurance and
solid fighting power of. which
there have been so many exam
Piles in the past, then a sudden
Transformation of the scene
might spring into being.
But it would be foolish, how
ever, to disguise the gravity Of
the hour. 1t would be still more
foolish to lose heart and courage
or to suppose that well-trained,
well-equipped armies numbering
three or four millions of men can
be overcome in the space of a
few weeks, or even months, by a
swoop, or raid, of mechanized
vehicles, however formidable.
We will look with confidence to
the stabilization of the front in
France, and to the general en-
gagement of the Nazis, which
will enable the qualities of the
French and British soldiers to
be matched squarely against
those of their adversaries.
For myself, I have invincible
confidence in the French Army
and its leaders. Only a very
small part of that splendid army
has yet been heavily engaged, and
only a very small part of France
has yet been invaded. There is
good evidence to show that prac-
tically the whole of the special
lied and mechanical forces Of the
enemy have already been thrown
into the battle, and we know
that very heavy losses have been
inflicted upon them.
Calls for Unrelenting
Spirit of Assault.
No officer or man, no brigade
or division, which grapples at
close quarters with the enemy
wherever encountered, can fail
to make a worthy contribution to
the general result. The armies
must cast away idea of resisting
attack behind concrete lines or
natural obstacles, and must real
ize that mastery can only be re-
gained by furious and unrelent-
ing assault! And this spirit must
not only animate the high COM
mand, but must inspire every
fighting man.
In the air, often at serious
odds, hitherto thought over
whelming, we have been clawing
down three or four to one of our
enemies. And the relative bal
ance of the British and German
air forces is now considerably
more favorable to us than at the
beginning of the battle.
In cutting down the German
balance we are fighting our own
battle, as well as that Of France.
My confidence in our ability to
fight it out to the finish with
the German air force has been
strengthened by the fierce en-
counters which have taken place
and are taking place.