"This country is now at war with Germany." The House of Commons heard the pronouncement of these fateful words by the Prime Minister yesterday in an atmosphere of resolute calm.
Germany, Mr Chamberlain stated, had ignored the final warning. At 9 a.m. yesterday the German Foreign Secretary had been informed that unless assurances for immediate cessation of hostilities in Poland were received by the British Government by 11 a.m. a state of war would exist between the countries from that hour. No reply has been received.
"We are ready," Mr Chamberlain declared. "It is a sad day for all of us. Everything that I worked for, everything that I had hoped for, everything that I believed in during my public life has crashed into ruins this morning."
All that was left him was to devote his strength and power to forwarding the victory of the cause for which we had to sacrifice so much, and he hoped that he might live to see the day when Hitlerism had been destroyed.
The Irish Times, September 4th, 1939.