SPEECH BY THE PRIME~ MINISTER, THE RT. HON.
SIR ROBERT MENZIES KT CH QC MP, FROM
THE CRYPT OF ST. P1AUL' CA' 1EDLAL,' 1ONDON
OVER BBC TELEVISION ON THE OCCASION OF THE
FUNERAL OF TIE LATE SIR a~ INSTON CHURCHILL 3OTA AIY16
As this historic procession goes through the stp'eets
of London to the Tower pier, I have the honour of speaking to
you from the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, I do this in two
capacities. One is that I, Prime Minister of Australia, happen
to be, in point of time, the senior Commonwealth Prime Minister,
and therefore speak on behalf of a remarkable world organisation
which owes more than it can ever express to our departed leader.,
Sir Winston Churchill. He is one of the famous men whom we
thank and praise. My second capacity is more personal and more intimate.
I am sure that you, mo st of you, have thought about Sir Winston
Churchill a great deal and with warmth in your hearts and in
your recollections. dome day, some year, there will be old
men and women whose pride it will be to say " I lived in
Churchill's time"; some will be able to say, " I saw him, and
I heard him the unforgettable voice and the immortal words."
And some will be able to say " I knew him, and talke~ d with him,
and was his friend." This I can, with a mixture of pride and
humility, say for myself.
The memory of this moves me deeply now that he is
dead, but is gloriously remembered by me as he goes to his
burial amid the sorrow, and pride, and thanks, of all of you
who stand and feel for yourselves and for so many millions.
Many of you will not need to be reminded, but some,
the younger among you, the inheritors of his master-strokes
for freedom, may be glad to be told that your country, and mine,
and all the free countries of the world, stood at the very
gates of destiny in 191+ 0 and 194+ 1, when thu Nazi tyranny
threatened to engulf us, and when there was no " second front"
except our own. This was the great crucial moment of modern history.
' dhat was at stake was, not some theory of government but the
whole and personal freedom of men and women and children. And
the battle for them was a battle against great odds, That
* battle had to be won not only in the air and on the sea and in
the field, but in the hearts and minds of ordinary people with
a deep capacity for horoism,
It was then that Winston Churchill was called, by
Almighty God, as our faith makes us believe, to stand as our
leader and our inspirer.
There were, in 194+ o, defeatists who felt that
prudence required submission or such terms as might be had.
There were others who, while not accepting the inevitability
of defeat, thought that victory was impossible. Winston Churchill
* a0./ 2
2-
scorned to fall into either category, and he was right. *. U-ith
courage, and matchless eloquence, and hUman understanding, he
inspired us and led us to victbry,
In the whole of' recorded modern history this was, I
believe the one odcasion when one mani with one soaring
imaginahion, with one fire burning in him, and with one unrivalled
capacity for conveying it to others, won a crucial victory not
only for the forces ( for there were many heroes in those days)
but for the very spirit of human freedom. And so, on this great
day, we thank him, and we thank God for him.
. There are two other things I want to say to you, on
a day which neither you nor I will ever willingly forget.
One is that Winston Churchill was not an institution,
but a man a man of wit and chuckling humour, and penetrating
understanding, not a man who spoke to us as from the mountain
tops, but one who expressed the simple and enduring feelings of
or~ dinary men and women. 1t was because he was a great Englishman
that he was able to speak for the English people. It was because
he was a great human being that, in our dark-, st days, he lit the
lamps of hope at many firesides and released so many from the
chains of despair, There has been nobody like him in our lifetimes.
We must, and do, thank God for him, and strive to be worthy of
his example. And the second thing I will never forget is this.
Winston Churchill's iw-ife is with us here in London, a great and
gracious lady in her own right. Could I today send her your
love, and mine? She has suffered an irreparable personal loss.
But she has proud and enduring memories, happy memories, I venture
to say& We share her sorrow, but I know that she would wis i us
to share with her those rich remembrances which the thought of
the great man evokes.
There have been, in the course of recorded history,
some men of power who have cast shadows across the world.
Winston Chiurchill, on the contrary, was a fountain of light and of
hope. As I end my talk to you from the crypt of St. Paul's,
with its reminders of Nelson and "! ellington, those marvellous
defenders of long ago, the body of Winston Churchill goes in
procession through the streets of London, hi London, our Lo'ndon,
this most historic city, this ancient home of freedom, this
place thr~ ough which, in the very devastation and fire of war,
his tojcde rang with courage, and defiance, and hope, and rugged
confidence, His body will be carried on the Thames, a river
full of history. WIith one heart we all feel, with one mind we all
acknowledge, that it will never have borne a more precious burden,
or been enriched by more splendid memories.