"Let us brace ourselves to our duties," declared Churchill on the eve of the Battle of Britain. No group of combatants ever did their duty more triumphantly than the men of Fighter Command, who changed the course of history with their valour.
But in addition to the sorrow at the passing of this undaunted warrior of the air, it's impossible not to feel a sense of profound loss at the erosion of the country he defended so bravely. Britain in 1940 was a united, well-ordered society, with a strong tradition of liberty, a stable, democratic system, a universally shared heritage, a powerful industrial base and a proud spirit of national identity. None of those features exist today in our fractured, indebted land.
Nor is it meaningful to talk today of the "British character", given the demographic revolution we are experiencing. But there was certainly a distinct British character in 1940. Among its elements were an innate reserve, a keen sense of humour, a suspicion of authority and an attachment to fair play. Above all, in the context of the war, a high value was placed on resilience, stoicism and fortitude in adversity. Hemingway was the personification of those qualities. Shot down four times, he once walked 70 miles through Belgium to return to his fighter base, despite severe shrapnel wounds to his legs.
In Britain today, toughness is giving way to victimhood, the stiff upper lip to the tremble of anxiety. Minor setbacks are now translated into personal traumas, while ordinary human emotions are medicalised as mental health conditions.
In 1940, there were no safe spaces aboard Royal Navy vessels or trigger warnings before Churchill's speeches. Nothing better illustrates the courage of the wartime generation than the astonishingly low incidence of cowardice or desertion in Bomber Command, despite the lethal risks. More than half of those who served in bombers were killed, yet less than 1% of crewmen were charged with "lack of moral fibre". The change in the public mood over the last eight decades was thrown into sharp relief this week by Government's welfare reform proposals. As set out by the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, the package is extremely modest, shaving just £5billion of a social security bill that this year will cost £313billion, including pensions.
Yet even her limited p...
But in addition to the sorrow at the passing of this undaunted warrior of the air, it's impossible not to feel a sense of profound loss at the erosion of the country he defended so bravely. Britain in 1940 was a united, well-ordered society, with a strong tradition of liberty, a stable, democratic system, a universally shared heritage, a powerful industrial base and a proud spirit of national identity. None of those features exist today in our fractured, indebted land.
Nor is it meaningful to talk today of the "British character", given the demographic revolution we are experiencing. But there was certainly a distinct British character in 1940. Among its elements were an innate reserve, a keen sense of humour, a suspicion of authority and an attachment to fair play. Above all, in the context of the war, a high value was placed on resilience, stoicism and fortitude in adversity. Hemingway was the personification of those qualities. Shot down four times, he once walked 70 miles through Belgium to return to his fighter base, despite severe shrapnel wounds to his legs.
In Britain today, toughness is giving way to victimhood, the stiff upper lip to the tremble of anxiety. Minor setbacks are now translated into personal traumas, while ordinary human emotions are medicalised as mental health conditions.
In 1940, there were no safe spaces aboard Royal Navy vessels or trigger warnings before Churchill's speeches. Nothing better illustrates the courage of the wartime generation than the astonishingly low incidence of cowardice or desertion in Bomber Command, despite the lethal risks. More than half of those who served in bombers were killed, yet less than 1% of crewmen were charged with "lack of moral fibre". The change in the public mood over the last eight decades was thrown into sharp relief this week by Government's welfare reform proposals. As set out by the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, the package is extremely modest, shaving just £5billion of a social security bill that this year will cost £313billion, including pensions.
Yet even her limited p...
You're reading a preview of
Daily Express (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 21, 2025