THE BATTLE OF DUNKIRK

Finding Victory Inside Defeat

The Battle of France began when Germany invaded the Low Countries, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and France on 10 May 1940. The Germans had changed warfare with their Blitzkrig tactics and were operating on Manstein’s plan - Case Yellow. The plan was a reverse of Molke’s plan in the Great War. The previous plan was to draw the Allies into Germany and encircle them with an attack through the low countries. Manstein’s plan was to attack the Low Countries, draw the Allied forces there and then encircle them with a pincer from the Ardennes to the English Channel.

It worked perfectly.

While the French First and Seventh Armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were being drawn into the Low Countries the Germans made a breakthrough at the Ardennes and Sedan. Now the French First Army, BEF and Belgian Army were all cut off and their only hope of escape was the port of the French city Dunkerque.

Soldiers from the BEF fire at low flying German aircraft during the Dunkirk evacuation. Source Wikipedia.

As the Allies retreated, confusing battles raged along the perimeter. The Germans surrounded five French divisions near Lille. Cut off, the French fought on valiantly for four days, buying the retreating Allies valuable time.

The French soldiers fought valiantly but were held back by late orders, communication issues, poor supply and lack of anti-aircraft support.

On 24 May the Germans halted their advance. They had met their major objectives in 14 days of Blitskrieg and now consolidated their gains and reorganized their armies for a continued offensive. The German airforce was given the task to destroy the forces trapped at Dunkirk.

The Panzer I, JU 87 Stuka and Panzer II were all at the forefront of the German invasion of France.

This respite gave the Allied forces time to reorganise, build their defence and pull back their exposed forces. It also gave the Royal Navy a chance to implement the rescue of the Allied troops in Operation Dynamo. Initial plans were modest, to save 45.000 men in two days. On the first day only 7,669 Allied soldiers were saved but this number grew daily. Soon the navy was aided by the little Ships of Dunkirk, 850 privately owned boats crewed by officers and sailors of the Royal Navy as well as civilians. The small boats made it possible to reach the troops on the beach directly rather than entirely relying on harbour facilities.

The 2nd battalion of the Cheshire regiment, 5th Brigade and 70th Brigade were all part of the BEF in France and among those evacuated at Dunkirk.

On 26 May the Germans renewed their offensive and the Allied rearguard fought bitterly to keep the evacuation beaches open. The Luftwaffe attacked the beach with heavy bombing. The RAF flew over 3,500 sorties to support Operation Dynamo, never giving the Luftwaffe the chance to operate freely.

After nine days 338,226 soldiers were rescued, 224,320 British and 123,906 French and Belgian. The losses were also staggering. Almost all the BEF heavy equipment was lost, 6 destroyers sunk, 220 other vessels sunk, including small craft sunk and the RAF lost 145 aircraft.

The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill initially called the Battle of Dunkirk a colossal military disaster. Yet this sentiment would change. The core of the British Army, its soldiers, had been saved to fight another day. Civilians and military had all pitched in to bring the boys home. The English nation was galvanised to continue the fight. This pulled everyone together in the Dunkirk spirit. In defeat, the British found victory.

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

- Winston Churchill, 4 June 1940 at the House of Commons.

Allied troops in Dunkirk stoically waited in line for passage to the safety of England.