September 30, 1938 - Peace in our time

[Webb]

Peace for our time

[quote]The phrase "peace for our time" was spoken on 30 September 1938 by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his speech concerning the Munich Agreement and the Anglo-German Declaration. The phrase was a tribute to Benjamin Disraeli, who upon returning from the Congress of Berlin

[Hagar]

That might well be correct. I think the quotation "Peace in our time" is taken from the brief speech that Neville Chamberlain gave at Heston Aerodrome on his return from an earlier meeting with Hitler on 24 September. This is a sound recording of the actual speech. http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/ww2outbreak/7903.shtml

Most historians now agree that Neville Chamberlain was not as naive as he's made out to be. Signing the Munich Agreement gave Britain the breathing space she needed to prepare for the forthcoming conflict. In a time of severe defence cutbacks (not unlike now) his decision to concentrate on building fighter aircraft rather than bombers would result in victory in the Battle of Britain. Unfortunately he would never receive the credit he deserved for that. After resigning as PM on 10 May 1940 he briefly served on Winston Churchill's war cabinet before dying from bowel cancer on 9th November 1940.

[olderndirt]

An excellent book about the BoB and the leading role players in pre-battle politics and planning is Michael Korda's "With wings like eagles".