The Heart of England.

In 1940 England was at the edge of something she had never experienced. Something that for centuries she had fiercely protected without hesitation and in some cases with brutal force. She had handed it to other armies, nations, empires, navies, and countries. Her nearly 1,700 year old proud history lay in most serious jeopardy, she faced defeat. As the bombs fell, her Majesty Queen Mary was being pushed to the brink. Hitler’s 3rd Reich had systematically annihilated what lay in its path having destroyed the last remaining country to separate her from its fury, France. With Roosevelt and America uncommitted, and all allies gone, a battered and bloodied England stood alone.

Her capital city lay in ruins, her people huddled beneath ground in make shift bomb shelters, her children had been sent north where the protection of the open countryside offer some sort of protection from German unguided V2 rockets. 19 miles of water is all that separated her from absolute destruction.

At the final moment, when hope had been nearly lost, a royal proclamation was sent from Buckingham Palace to all remaining and available outlets in England. The Queen would speak in defiance as she protected her country from utter evil. Her message was short and to the point. She said, "The children will not go without me, I will not go without the king, and the king will not go for any reason what so ever."

There are points in time when one decision changes everything. Those decisions usually change history. In this case a Queens decision changed the fate of a nation, its peoples future, and the future of who would control the world.

This is her strength. This is her history. This is the heart England.

Footnote: Defeat stings. The lion in the picture above was cast from melted guns taken from captured French ships after their defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar.