Rule 1, on page I of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow". Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler, and it is no good. That is the first rule. I do not know whether your Lordships will know Rule 2 of war. It is: "Do not go fighting with your land armies in China". It is a vast country, with no clearly defined objectives...

If we lose the war in the air we lose the war and lose it quickly.

Decisions! And a general, a commander in chief who has not got the quality of decision, then he is no good.

The harder the fighting and the longer the war, the more the infantry, and in fact all the arms, lean on the gunners.

As God once said, and I think rightly.

I was well beaten myself, and I am better for it.

Every soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole.