The Dunkirk Evacuation - WartimeNI (2024)

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The Dunkirk Evacuation - WartimeNI? ›

The evacuation of Dunkirk

From May 26 to June 4, over 338,000 British and French troops were safely evacuated from Dunkirk. Critical to this process was the British Royal Air Force, which intercepted German bombers above the beach. Together with the civilians who aided the Royal Navy, they saved countless lives.

The wind was from the east which blew smoke from the burning port of Dunkirk across the beach offering a bit of cover from air attack and also there's some low cloud for most of the period of the evacuation. Low cloud over the beach also protected the troops from air attack so they won in every sense weather-wise.

The true reason for the decision to halt the German armour on 24 May is still debated. One theory is that Von Rundstedt and Hitler agreed to conserve the armour for Fall Rot ("Case Red"), an operation to the south.

The initial plan for Operation Dynamo was for it to last two days and rescue 45,000 troops. The actual operation lasted nine days and rescued 338,226 troops. Evacuations by day during the Dunkirk evacuation: On May 27, 1940, 0 troops were rescued from the beaches and 7,699 from the harbour.

The Evacuation Began on 26 May

'Dynamo' began on 26 May. Strong defences were established around Dunkirk, and the Royal Air Force sent all available aircraft to protect the evacuation. Over 800 naval vessels of all shapes and sizes helped to transport troops across the English Channel.

Dunkirk was in essence a defeat, but there was a victory in the impact it had on the country's morale and national identity during the war – which was largely shaped by the British media.

Dunkirk was a miracle in the sense that an irreplaceable British army escaped to join its homeland's defense against invasion.

For every seven soldiers who escaped through Dunkirk, one man became a prisoner of war. The majority of these prisoners were sent on forced marches into Germany. Prisoners reported brutal treatment by their guards, including beatings, starvation, and murder.

The army was lost, the air force still weak. No help could be expected from the United States. Continuing hostilities would probably result in pointless destruction, quite possibly in a German invasion of Britain. A negotiated end could prevent the relentless bombing of British cities and a potential German occupation.

What was the German mistake at Dunkirk? ›

As German victory looked inevitable almost 350,000 Allied soldiers began to be evacuated from Dunkirk to escape the German onslaught. It was strange that Hitler and his commanders did not push on and finish the Allied troops off. But they decided not to and let the Allies escape.

However, in light of mounting Luftwaffe losses in the Battle of Britain and the absence of any sign that the Royal Air Force had been defeated, Hitler postponed Sea Lion indefinitely on 17 September 1940. It was never put into action.

The French Perspective

For the French, the loss of Dunkirk was a national disaster and the prelude to the end of the Third French Republic. The newly established 'puppet régime' in Vichy France was quick to seek out scapegoats for the defeat.

He carefully avoided saying that escaping Dunkirk amounted to a victory because “wars are not won by evacuations.” He instead acknowledged the failure on the continent, hailed the “miracle of deliverance” at Dunkirk, and looked to the future.

Hitler declared the evacuation a decisive victory for Germany. But by rescuing the bulk of the army, in what was the biggest evacuation in military history, Operation Dynamo returned to Britain a priceless asset – most of her trained and experienced troops.

ww2 Dunkirk history

Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, more than 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated from Dunkirk and the nearby beaches on the northern coast of France. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the rescue. It became one of the most celebrated episodes of the Second World War.

If you mean swam across the Channel, then the answer is no. A number did swim far enough to be taken aboard the small craft evacuating the beach.

In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Under air and ground cover from British and French forces, troops were slowly and methodically evacuated from the beach using every serviceable naval and civilian vessel that could be found. At the end of this heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were safely evacuated.

Dunkirk / Film synopsis