The First Month Of War Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[Gm]From the BBC in London,
Winston Churchill speaks on the
first month of war,
October 1st 1939,
a world broadcast.
[F#m]The British Em[Gm]pire
an[F#m]d the Fren[Gm]ch Republic
[G]have been at war with Nazi Germany
[G]for a month tonight.
[Gm]We have not yet come at al[G]l
to the severity of fighting
which is [F#m]to be expected.
[G]But three important things
have happened.
First, Poland has been again overrun
by two of the great powers
which held her in bondage
for 150 [F#m]years,
[G]but were unable to quench
the spirit [C#m]of the Polish nation.
[G]The heroic defense of Warsaw
shows that the soul of Poland
is indestructible,
and that she will rise again like a rock
which may for a spell be submerged by a tidal wave,
but which remains [G]a rock.
What is the second event
of this first month?
It is, course,
the assertion of the power of Russia.
Russia has pursued a cold policy
of self -interest.
We could have wished that
[A]the Russian armies
[G]should be standing on their present [F#m]line
[G]as the friends and allies of Poland,
in[Em]stead of [G]as invaders.
But that the Russian armies should stand
on this line was clearly necessary
for the safety of Russia
against the Nazi menace.
At any rate, the line is there.
And an Eastern Front has been created
which Nazi Germany does
not dare [F#m]assail.
[G]What is the [F#m]third event?
[G]Here I speak as First Lord
[F#m]of the Admiralty,
[G]with a spe[F#m]cial caution.
It [G]would seem that the U -boat attack
upon the life of the British Isles
has not so far proved [F#m]suc cessful.
It [G]is true [F#m]that when they sprang out upon u[F#]s
an[F#m]d we were[G] going about
[C#m]our ordinary busi[F#m]ness
With 2 [G],000 ships
in constant movement
every day upon the [F#m]seas,
they [G]managed to do some
[F#m]serious damage.
[G]But the Royal Navy
has immediately attacked [F#m]the U -boats,
and is hunting them night and day.
[G]I will not say without mercy,
[F#m]because God fo[G]rbid we should ever part
company with that.
[F#m]But at[G] any rate, wi[F#m]th zeal,
[G]an d not alto[A]gether without [F#m]rel ish.
[F#]An d it looks, t[F#m]onight, ve[G]ry[F#m] much,
[G]as if it is the U -boats
[A]who are feeling the weather,
[G]and not the Royal Navy,
or the World Wide Commerce [F#m]of Britain.
A [G]week has passed...
Mr Churchill then went on... take
over [F#m]here.
Corrections have been
given by the government
[F#]to prepa[C]re for a war of
[G]at least three [F#m]years.
That does not [G]mean that
victory may not be gained
in a [F#m]shorter time.
[G]How soon it will be gained
depends upon how long
Herr Hitler and his group of wicked [C#m]men,
[F#m]
[G]whose hands are stained with blood
and soiled with corruption
[F#m]can ke[C#m]ep their grip on[G] the doci[C]le,
unhappy Ger[G]man people.
[F#m]It was[G] for Hitler to say
when the war would [F#m]begin,
but [G]it is not for him or for his successors
to say when it [F#m]will end.
[C#m]It began when [F#m]he wanted it,
and it will end [G]only when we are
convinced that he has had [F#m]enough.
We may [G]remember the
words of old John [C#m]Bright,
after [B]the American Civil [G]War was over,
when he said to an audience
of English working [F#m]folk,
[C#m]at last, after the smoke of
[C#m]the battlefield had cleared away,
the horrid shape which
had cast its shad[C#m]ow
over the whole continent had
vanished and was gone forever.