Battle of Dunkirk

For details about the major evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk see Operation Dynamo

This article is about a Second World War battle in 1940, for the 1658 battle of the same name see Battle of the Dunes (1658)

Battle of Dunkirk
Part of World War II
A famous image of Dunkirk: "A British soldier fires at German aircraft strafing him on Dunkirk's beaches"[1].
Date May 26, 1940–June 4, 1940 Location Dunkirk, France Result German tactical victory, Allied evacuation.
Combatants
United Kingdom France Belgium Battlehawks	Germany Nemesis
Commanders
Lord Gort General Weygand	Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Ewald von Kleist (Panzergruppe von Kleist)
Strength
approx. 400,000	approx. 800,000
Casualties
30,000 killed 34,000 captured 6 destroyers and 200+ smaller vessels sunk 177 aircraft (106 Fighters)[2], 60 Fighter Pilots killed[3].	10,252 killed, 42,000 wounded and 8,467 missing 101 aircraft[4]

The Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of the British and Allied forces that had been separated from the main body of the French defences by the German advance.

After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940. To the east, the German Army Group B invaded and subdued the Netherlands and advanced westward through Belgium. On the 14 May Army Group A burst through the Ardennes region and advanced rapidly to the west toward Sedan, then turned northward to the English Channel, in what Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein called the "sickle cut" (known as the Manstein Plan).

A series of Allied counterattacks, including the Battle of Arras, failed to sever the German spearhead, which reached the coast on May 20, separating the British Expeditionary Force near Armentières, the French First Army, and the Belgian army further to the north from the majority of French troops south of the German penetration. After reaching the Channel the Germans swung north along the coast, threatening to capture the ports and trap the British and French forces before they could evacuate to Britain.

The battle

On 24 May Hitler visited General Gerd von Rundstedts headquarters at Charleville. Von Rundstedt advised him that the infantry should attack the British forces at Arras, where they had shown themselves capable of significant action, while Kleist's armour held the line West and South of Dunkirk in order to pounce on the Allied Forces retreating before Army Group B^[5]. This order allowed the Germans to consolidate their gains and prepare for a southward advance against the remaining French forces. In addition, the terrain around Dunkirk was considered unsuitable for armour^[6] , so the destruction of the Allied forces was initially assigned to the Luftwaffe and the German infantry organised in Army Group B. The true reason for Hitler's decision to halt the German armour is a matter of debate. The most popular theory is that Von Rundstedt and Hitler agreed to conserve the armour for future operations further South - namely for Fall Rot^[7].

On 25 May 1940, General Lord Gort, the commander of the BEF, decided to evacuate British forces. From 25th to 28th of May, British troops retreated about 30 miles northwest into a pocket along the France-Belgian border extending from Dunkirk on the coast to the Belgian town of Poperinge. The Belgians surrendered on May 28, followed the next day by elements of the French 1st Army trapped outside the Dunkirk Pocket.

Starting on May 27, the famous evacuation of Dunkirk began. The German Panzer Divisions were ordered to resume their advance the same day, but improved defences halted their initial offensive, although the remaining Allied forces were compressed into a 5 km wide coastal strip from De Panne through Bray-Dunes to Dunkirk by May 31.

A total of five nations took part in the successful evacuation from Dunkirk — Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Poland.

British fisherman giving a hand to an Allied soldier while a Stuka's bomb explodes a few metres ahead .

The necessary defence of the perimeter led to the loss or capture of a number of British Army units such as the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment who were involved in the Le Paradis massacre on 26 May. 35,000 French soldiers were made prisoners. Between May 27 and June 4, 338,226 men left France including 120,000 French and Belgian troops, together with a small number of Dutch troops.

Number of men rescued (in chronological order):

• 27 May (7669 men)
• 28 May (17,804 men)
• 29 May (47,310 men)
• 30–31 May (120,927 men)
• 1 June (64,229 men)
• 2–4 June (up to 54,000 men)

In accordance to military principle where priority is given to men over arms, the Allies left behind 2,000 guns, 60,000 trucks, 76,000 tons of ammunition and 600,000 tons of fuel supplies.

• 10,252 German soldiers lost
• 42,000 wounded
• 8,467 missing
• 1,212,000 Dutch, Belgian, French and British prisoners taken
• 30,000 British died
• 338,000 men saved in the evacuation

The Germans gained:

• 1,200 field guns
• 1,250 anti-aircraft guns
• 11,000 machine guns
• 25,000 vehicles

Aftermath

Battle of Dunkirk memorial.

The successful evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk ended the first phase in the Battle of France. It provided a great boost to British morale, but left the remaining French to stand alone against a renewed German assault southwards. German troops entered Paris on June 14 and accepted the surrender of France on June 22.

A marble memorial was established at Dunkirk (Dunkerque), it translates in English as: "To the glorious memory of the pilots, mariners, and soldiers of the French and Allied armies who sacrificed themselves in the Battle of Dunkirk May June 1940"

The loss of so much materiel on the beaches meant that the British Army needed months to resupply properly and some planned introductions of new equipment were halted while industrial resources concentrated on making good the losses.

The Dunkirk Spirit

British troops evacuating Dunkirks beaches

The successful evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, and particularly the role of the "little boats" was subsequently exploited very effectively in British propaganda. The "little boats" were private vessels, such as fishing boats, that independently assisted the official evacuation out of patriotic duty. The result was that for many decades after the war the catch-phrase "Dunkirk spirit" stood for an almost romantic belief in the solidarity of the British people in times of adversity.

Later fighting

The city of Dunkirk was besieged in September 1944 by units of the Second Canadian Division; German units withstood the siege, and as the First Canadian Army moved north into Belgium, the city was "masked" by the Allied troops, notably 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade, and left to the rear. The German garrison in Dunkirk held out until May 1945, denying the Allies the use of the port facilities. Finally the fortress under command of German Admiral Friedrich Frisius eventually unconditionally surrendered to commander of the Czechoslovak brigade group commander Brigade General Alois Liška on May 9th 1945.^[8]

See also

• Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II
• Blitzkrieg
• Battle of France

References

• Holmes, Richard, ed. (2001). "France, fall of". The Oxford Companion to Military History, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866209-2.
• Hooton, E.R (2007). Luftwaffe at War; Blitzkrieg in the West. London: Chervron/Ian Allen. ISBN 978-1-85780-272-6.
• Keegan, John. (1989). The Second World War, New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 0-670-82359-7.
• Liddell Hart, B.H. (1970). History of the Second World War, New York: G.P. Putnam.
• Murray, Williamson and Millett, Allan R. A War to Be Won, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press. ISBN 0-674-00163-X.
• Taylor, A.J.P. and Mayer, S.L., eds. A History Of World War Two. London: Octopus Books, 1974. ISBN 0-70640-399-1.
• Weinberg, Gerhard L. (1994). A World at Arms, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44317-2.
• Wilmot, Chester. (1952). The Struggle for Europe, Old Saybrook, Conn.: Konecky & Konecky. ISBN 1-56852-525-7.
• Salmaggi, Cesare and Alfredo Pallavisini. "2194 Days of War", New York: Gallery Books. ISBN 0-8317-8885-2

1. ^ * Taylor, A.J.P. and Mayer, S.L, p59.
2. ^ E.R Hooton, p74
3. ^ E.R Hooton, p74
4. ^ E.R Hooton, p74
5. ^ A.J.P Taylor & Webbe, p59
6. ^ A.J.P Taylor & Webbe. p60
7. ^ A.J.P Taylor & Webbe. p60
8. ^ (Czech) Czech army page

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