Never was so much owed by so many to so few

Never was so much owed by so many to so few is the name commonly given to a speech made by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill at the height of the Battle of Britain on August 20, 1940. The actual line in the speech is Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few, although the abbreviated form is commonly used in popular culture.


The speech is said to have originated after Churchill visited 11 Group’s operations room at RAF Uxbridge on August 16 during a day of battle. Afterwards, Churchill told Major General Hastings Ismay ‘Don’t speak to me, I have never been so moved’. After several minutes of silence he said ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.’ The sentence would form the basis of his speech to the House of Commons on August 20.

The speech was given as the United Kingdom prepared for the expected German invasion. In it, Churchill tried to inspire his countrymen by pointing out that although the last several months had been a series of monumental defeats for the Allies, their situation was now much better. Churchill's argument was in fact correct; shortly thereafter the British won the battle – the first significant defeat for the hitherto unstoppable Nazi war machine.

This speech was a great inspiration to the embattled United Kingdom during what was probably the most dangerous phase of the entire war. Together with the three famous speeches that he gave during the period of the Battle of France (the "Blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech of 13 May, the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech of 4 June, and the "This was their finest hour" speech of 18 June) they form his most stirring rhetoric.

At the end of the speech, he introduced the first phase of the growing strategic alliance with the United States, and referred to the coming agreement for establishing U.S. bases on various British territories


The speech is also well remembered for his use of the phrase "the few" to describe the Allied aircrew of the RAF, whose desperate struggle gained the victory; "The Few" has come to be their nickname.


Rather more than a quarter of a year has passed since the new Government came into power in this country. What a cataract of disaster has poured out upon us since then!… Meanwhile, we have not only fortified our hearts but our Island. We have rearmed and rebuilt our armies in a degree which would have been deemed impossible a few months ago.… The whole Island bristles against invaders, from the sea or from the air. …the stronger our Army at home, the larger must the invading expedition be, and the larger the invading expedition, the less difficult will be the task of the Navy in detecting its assembly and in intercepting and destroying it in passage; and the greater also would be the difficulty of feeding and supplying the invaders if ever they landed… Our Navy is far stronger than it was at the beginning of the war. The great flow of new construction set on foot at the outbreak is now beginning to come in.







See also



  • Document in the custody of The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom, document reference ZHC 2 / 873

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