Field marshall Viscount Montgomery visited Guernsey in May 1947. At the official luncheon given in his honour he gave this speech.
This information appeared in 'The Quarterly Review of the Guernsey Society' in July 1947 Vol 3, No 3.
" I am deeply grateful to the States and People of Guernsey for inviting me to spend a few hours with you on your historic Island. I have heard and read much about the channel Islands, but unfortunately I have never before had the opportunity to visit them.
The people of your island were very much in my thoughts when I sailed for Normandy--not so very far from your shores--in 1944 on the last leg of my journey from Alamein to the Baltic.
There were military reasons why the islands were not invaded, and when I flew over them this morning I thought they looked too good to invade. Only when one has seen what has happened in France and in Germany is it possible to realise what invasion means.
Holland at one time did not understand why the western part of that country was left alone by the Allied Forces. They felt neglected when our forces pushed on to Germany. But if we had fought there Holland, a land of dykes, would have been destroyed. Military commanders had to realise the qualities of a country, and concentrate more on the destruction of enemy forces than the land in which they were fighting.
It is difficult to believe that scarcely two years have elapsed since this Island was liberated. For many centuries, your peoples have enjoyed the freedom of government of which they have been rightly proud. The privations and humiliations of enemy occupation must, therefore, have been doubly hard to bear. It is to your credit that you did not allow the trials and sufferings of those years to break your spirit.
I know that in the war, despite all your difficulties, you played your part in bringing about the final downfall of the Axis Powers. In the dark days of 1940, when it was clear that nothing could stop the enemy from siezing your island, your fighting men were evacuated and taken to England; there they joined the ranks of the 11th Battalion Hampshire Regiment, so they could continue the struggle: this Battalion served under me in the South of England in 1940 and 1941. And although it did not proceed overseas as a unit, many of your men fought in battle against the enemy in foreign lands and played their part in bringing about the utter and complete defeat of the Axis Powers. None fought more bravely than your men: the award of the Victoria Cross to Major Le Patourel for his great gallantry at Terbourba in Tunisia bears ample witness to the courage of the men of Guernsey.
The clouds of war have now rolled by, and our thoughts turn naturally to the future, and what is in store for us. There are some people who go about with long faces and who say we have nothing to look forward to. I do not hold this opinion. Youth should not grow up with a black outlook. They should venture courageously, which they cannot do if the outlook seems hopeless.
I agree that there are many formidable problems still to be faced. But when we take stock of our assets, we find that we have a good credit balance. We have all the things that really matter. We are part of a great Commonwealth of Free Nations, which produces virile peoples of gerat characters . Our aims are honest, our conscience clear. We can look the whole world in the face."
Location: Guernsey
