WAR infographic

 

Prelude - May 1940

 

• The Germans swept through France, Belgium Netherlands and Luxembourg in a Blitzkrieg.

• After a few days of intensive fights, they trapped the British and French armies on the beaches around Dunkirk.

• 330,000 men were trapped here and they were easy targets

• This location was surrounded by marshes and possessed sand beaches

• The soldiers were fearing the worst - capture or death.

 

• Suddenly, Hitler ordered his troops to stop 10 kilometers outside of Dunkirk. He halted a full-scale attack on Dunkirk with his Panzer tanks.

  • Goering had promised that air power could win the battle

 

• On the other side, Admiral Ramsey planned Operation Dynamo to save from the beaches as many soldiers as was possible.

• It was estimated that 45,000 men could be evacuated in two days.

• The beach was on a shallow slope so no large boats could get near.

• smaller boats were required for this operation

• “Nothing but a miracle can save the BEF now” - General Alan Brooke.

• Civilians joined the effort by using their own yachts, lifeboats, paddle steamers, motor launches, and barges.

• The smallest boat was the Tamzine, a 4 meters fishing boat

 

May 27

 

• 8,000 soldiers were rescued. 

 

The next eight days

 

• German air attacks intensified so daylight rescuing operations were ended and the evacuation ships were running only at night.

• The RAF fought incredibly to combat the bombs falling down on the beaches

• The sky was lighten with fighter planes engaging in terrific dogfights.

• Some units had been ordered to fight to the last man

• a total of approximately 340,000 British soldiers were successfully brought back

• a total of 140,000 Polish, Belgian and French troops was also saved.

• The total number of involved vessels with civilians at the helm was around 900.

• Rescuing operation had impression of people waiting for a bus, with no pushing

• Churchill: “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!”

• The phrase “Dunkirk spirit” became part of the language used to toast all heroes from Operation Dynamo.

 

June 5

Dunkirk fell to the German army

the 40,000 remaining allied troops surrendered

Hitler celebrated the battle as a great victory.

 

Aftermath:

 

• the fact: the Dunkirk was a defeat for the Allies.

• Allied losses: 50,000 vehicles, 9 destroyers, 200 vessels, 177 aircrafts,

• German losses: the Luftwaffe lost 132 planes

• More than 1,000 Dunkirk citizens are killed

 

Interesting facts

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Churchill - “We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations."

 

The British and the French blamed each other for the situation that led to the Dunkirk evacuation.

 

Many French believed that the British escape was built upon a betrayal.

 

In the town of Dunkirk, soldiers were hiding in cellars or were drinking coffee in the open as if they were on vacation.

 

A scene from the beach during the Luftwaffe attack runs: A soldier is reading a novel and sunbathing at the beach

 

A British sergeant and four soldiers were trapped behind enemy lines. They took a truck and joined the enemy convoy. They succeed to escape.

 

Captain Jack “Mad Jack” Churchill killed a German soldier with a bow and arrow.

 

The battle has become one of the great 'what-if' battles. What would happen globally in WW2 if the German army was not halted in their advancement on Dunkirk?