The Americans brought that power and watching them march through London, Churchill allowed himself to believe fully for perhaps the first time since becoming prime minister in May 1940 that Britain would not just survive but would win.

When I see these young men, he had said, I know we are going to win this war.

It was not a boast.

It was not propaganda.

It was a statement of fact spoken by a man who had carried the weight of Britain’s survival for two years and who could finally watching those American soldiers march past set that weight down and share it with allies who had the strength to help carry it.

The war would grind on.

There would be setbacks and losses, difficult decisions and terrible casualties.

But the fundamental equation had changed.

Germany now faced not just Britain’s defiance, but America’s might.

And that Churchill knew watching those young Americans march through London streets would make all the

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