Never in the field of human endeavour...

Heroes Remember

Never in the field of human endeavour...

Transcript

After the Battle of Britain, I think that young men, not only in Britain and in the Common Wealth, but almost across the world, wanted to become fighter pilots. And you can understand that, because it had been such a tremendous effort that the RAF and of course, at that time there were very many Canadians, who served with the RAF. Many of the pilots, in the Battle of Britain were Canadians. And people admired what they had done. And Churchill, as you remember, had said, "Never in the field of human conflict . . ." And so on, that wonderful statement of his. But he also said later on and I think this was a very telling expression, that whereas fighters may well sort of stop the attack it required bombers to make the attack on Germany and to win the war that way. So fighters could do and had done, what they needed to do and now there was the chance and opportunity and need for bombers to, bomber aircraft to be involved. He was the voice for the free world, I think, at that time. And whereas, we had suffered I think, long enough on the leaders who were kind of wishy washy. When Churchill took over, people felt that at last we got a leader, who would do something. And he proved to be just that sort of person. And I think people regarded him in that way. They regarded him as a figure, that they admired and would follow.

Description

Mr. Yeomans describes British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's practicality and strength.

John Yeomans

Mr. Yeomans was born in Manchester, England. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was an apprentice electrical engineer. Too young to enlist, he was still involved as a firewatcher during the German air raids on his city, during which time he witnessed heavy destruction and numerous deaths. In 1941, Mr. Yeomans volunteered for the RAF, and went to South Africa, where he took Navigator training. His combat activity saw him take part in the bombing campaign against Berlin. Mr. Yeomans was the lone survivor when his Lancaster bomber was shot down and after spending a year in several different POW camps, he escaped and finally returned to England. After the war, he spent time in the RAF before moving to Canada as a flight instructor for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:17
Person Interviewed:: John Yeomans
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Battle/Campaign:: Germany, The Berlin Series
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 156 Pathfinder Squadron
Rank:: Wing Commander
Occupation:: Navigator

Language selection

Never in the field of human endeavour...

Heroes Remember