A Prime Minister Calls It Quits – Chamberlain Resigns – May 10, 1940 – Past Daily Reference Room
Click on the link here for Audio Player – BBC – Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain quits as Prime Minister – May 10, 1940
On a day seemingly overwhelmed with news of German invasions in Europe. London was rocked, this May 10th in 1940, with the added news that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had called it quits. After three years in office, Neville Chamberlain announced, in a broadcast heard worldwide, that it was time for him to leave office and to make way for his successor, Winston Churchill. A new government was to be formed immediately.
In the midst of all this came news bulletins about Holland, about German bombers flying over England, striking several towns in the process, and wonders when the U.S. would finally join in. After the Chamberlain address, bulletins come in at a rapid pace.
A nervous and anxiety-ridden day in history. One which no one had the faintest clue as to how it would resolve, but a historic day nonetheless.
And here is how it came down, as it was happening via the NBC Blue Network and the BBC World Service for May 10th 1940.
