Deadlines

Churchill vs. the optimists.
During the debate that followed the reading of King George‘s throne speech in the English House of Commons yesterday, Prime Minister Churchill delivered a speech in which he said, among other things, that he had already had to put a damper on the optimism of those who expect a swift end to the war, when he stated a few months ago that the war probably would not end before January or February, and probably not until late spring or the first months of summer. If I were to continue this guessing now, said Churchill, I would want to omit the words „the first months“ of early summer and only want to speak of summer. Churchill mainly attributed this to the bad weather conditions and the fierce German resistance. Regar­ding the battles for the Scheldt Estuary in Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen, Walcheren, and South Beveland, the Prime Minister stated that these had been very heavy, and had cost the English and Canadians 40,000 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Churchill then said that the war effort of the Allies must not weaken and that the utmost efforts must be made to achieve victory. – 30-11-44

I am angry with Winston Churchill
Because he just declared,
It will take a long time
Until mankind returns to the

Time of peace,
Almost it seems to me,
That the old guy delights in
Setting further deadlines

To keep us dangling
And to keep us quiet
And I don‘t like that way,
I would prefer to see the

War ended and over,
It shouldn‘t last too long
Or, until you‘re free, you‘ll have
A lot more to endure

The war effort is slow,
That worries me greatly,
No chances are seen for today,
No chances are seen for tomorrow

And we feel that it takes even longer
And feel pushed around by the British
From pillar to post,
Because we have to wait longer.

We have been waiting for years, day and night,
Hoping and fearing,
Thinking a thousand times,
When will there be peace?

It seems like an eternity to us,
We are cooped up
And see Churchill‘s activity,
Extending deadlines.

From month to month from March to May
And then from May to June
And year after year goes by,
Then you come to the conclusion

That Churchill doesn‘t know himself
And has to guess himself,
And those deadlines he offers,
We can do without them

It can last until summer
According to Mister Churchill‘s voice
But I don‘t believe in him anymore,
In a thousand anxious hours

I have learned to take what he says,
With a grain of salt
Nothing will come of this deadline,
I daresay

He gives the umpteenth deadline
And it keeps being extended,
So he doesn‘t seem to be a prophet,
That‘s what I think underwater

And if Churchill isn‘t a prophet,
I have gradually come to think,
Who doesn‘t know much about the outcome,
Why can‘t peace come

Long before he thinks it will
And before he expects it?
Since his deadline is often extended,
In my opinion, it is

Quite possible that our hope
Will be fulfilled earlier
Maybe the course of the war will turn out better
I would like that very much ….