how many soldiers were evacuated from dunkirk

An issue with Dunkirk is that there is only one dock the destroyers can access, which needs to be protected from the enemy bombs. It is a record that forms the basis of this book. The Germans cut off various Allied escape ports along the English Channel and quickly shrunk their defensive lines. [31][32] As a constitutional monarch, Leopold's decision to surrender without consulting the Belgian government led to his condemnation by the Belgian and French Prime Ministers, Hubert Pierlot and Paul Reynaud. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation, which began on May 26. A series of Allied counter-attacks, including the Battle of Arras, failed to sever the German spearhead, which reached the coast on 20 May, separating the BEF 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. As such, the film follows a non-linear narrative. Most of the British forces were still around Lille, over 40 miles (64 km) from Dunkirk, with the French farther south. The Wehrmacht captured some 35,000 soldiers, almost all of them French. In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. In the next 11 days over 338,000 men were evacuated safely to England in Operation Dynamo, one of the greatest rescues of all time. By the time he resumed attacks, the evacuation had begun. Panzerdivision could probably have destroyed the 44th Division at Poperinge on 29 May, thereby cutting off the 3rd and 50th Divisions as well. For soldiers, the war was defined by two types of experiences: very difficult daily life and moments of actual combat which were a form of paroxysm within this everyday life. "As long as the English tongue survives, the word 'Dunkirk' will be spoken with reverence. Dunkirk evacuation (May 26–June 4, 1940), in World War II, the evacuation of about 198,000 soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and 140,000 French and Belgian troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk to England. An official checking the papers of French refugees during the Dunkirk evacuation, May–June 1940. This book of amazing facts you can trust will provide hundreds of hours of fun learning for curious children and their families. Of these some 215,000 were British and 123,000 were French, of whom 102,250 escaped in British ships. For details about the major evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, see, Major General Harold Alexander, commanding, sfn error: no target: CITEREFShirer1960 (, Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II, "The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940 (Chapter XII: Dunkirk Bethune and Ypres)", "Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Harold Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC | Lancashire Infantry Museum", "The men who defined the 'Dunkirk spirit'. [46] Although the French Army fought on, German troops entered Paris on 14 June. A confused battle followed, where visibility was low because of forested or urban terrain and communications were poor because the British at that time used no radios below battalion level and the telephone wires had been cut. The Dutch defenders fell back westward, and by noon on May 12 German tanks were on the outskirts of Rotterdam. The French government was forced to negotiate an armistice at Compiègne on 22 June. The British troops returned to the line and the German assault was beaten back. [18], On 26 May, Anthony Eden told Gort that he might need to "fight back to the west", and ordered him to prepare plans for the evacuation, but without telling the French or the Belgians. [30], Gort had ordered Lieutenant General Adam, commanding III Corps, and French General Fagalde to prepare a perimeter defence of Dunkirk. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and other Allied forces to Britain from 26 May to 4 June 1940. Found insideChurchill and Orwell proved their age’s necessary men, and this book reveals how they rose from a precarious position to triumph over the enemies of freedom. As night fell, the Germans massed for another attack at Nieuwpoort. On 24 May, Hitler visited General von Rundstedt's headquarters at Charleville. The night of 3 June was the last night of evacuations. Kleist’s southern flank was progressively lined by his motorized divisions, which in turn were relieved by the infantry corps that were marching on as fast as possible. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the operation. They said the fate of the great Allied army bottled up in Flanders is sealed." On May 20 they swept on and reached Abbeville, thus blocking all communications between north and south. [33] In recognition of the garrison's stubborn defence, German general Kurt Waeger granted them the honours of war, saluting the French troops as they marched past in parade formation with rifles shouldered. French planning for war relied on the Maginot Line fortifications along the German–French border protecting the region of Lorraine but the line did not cover the Belgian border. Churchill insisted on coming back for the French, and the Royal Navy returned on 4 June to rescue as many as possible of the French rearguard. The German invasion of France hinged on Gen. Paul Ludwig von Kleist’s surprise advance through the hilly and dense Ardennes Forest. Being able to move closer into the beachfront shallows than larger craft, the "little ships" acted as shuttles to and from the larger ships, lifting troops who were queuing in the water, many waiting shoulder-deep in water for hours. Late May 1940. The missing dead of the BEF are commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial. The same fate was reserved for the survivors of the French 12th Motorised Infantry Division (composed in particular of the French 150th Infantry Regiment); they were taken prisoner on the morning of 4 June on the beach of Malo-les-Bains. Guderian’s corps then turned north up the coast in a drive for Calais and Dunkirk on May 22. Over 4.2 million soldiers were wounded, over 500,000 were taken prisoner and roughly 1.4 million were killed. Officers told troops falling back from Dunkirk to burn or otherwise disable their trucks (so as not to let them benefit the advancing German forces). That same day, Gen. Henri Giraud assumed command of the French Ninth Army and drew up a plan for a counteroffensive on a line 25 miles (40 km) west of the Meuse. The Allied armies in Belgium wheeled back to the line of the Scheldt. The day's entry concludes with the remark: "The task of Army Group A can be considered to have been completed in the main"—a view which further explains Rundstedt's reluctance to employ his armoured divisions in the final clearing-up stage of this first phase of the campaign.[11]. The German strategy, called blitzkrieg, relied on sustained and concentrated forward momentum to ensure a swift victory before the enemy could respond. By evening more reassuring reports had come from the Aisne, and Reynaud broadcast a denial of “the most absurd rumours that the government is preparing to leave Paris.” At the same time, he seized the opportunity to replace Gamelin and for that purpose summoned Gen. Maxime Weygand from Syria. | [17], Whatever the reasons for Hitler's decision, the Germans confidently believed the Allied troops were doomed. When this riposte was launched on May 21, it comprised no more than two tank battalions backed by two infantry battalions, while elements of one French light mechanized division covered its flanks. Still on 27 May, Brooke ordered the 3rd Division commander, Major-General Bernard Montgomery, to extend his division's line to the left, thereby freeing the 10th and 11th Brigades, both of the 4th Division, to join the 5th Division at Messines Ridge. While more than 330,000 Allied troops were rescued,[9] British and French military forces nonetheless sustained heavy casualties and were forced to abandon nearly all their equipment; around 16,000 French soldiers and 1,000 British soldiers died during the evacuation. Of the 340,000 allied soldiers evacuated by boat from Dunkirk, 123,000 were French – but thousands more were not rescued and were taken prisoner by the Germans. Dunkirk Stats. Weygand did not arrive until May 19, and thus for three critical days the Supreme Command was without direction. They have to decide at each step along the way if they will focus on personal problems or if they will continue on to assist in the war, as was their first priority when they left Britain. The British transformed the Dunkirk evacuation into a moment of national pride and perseverance. While Allied leaders were still hoping for an attack that would cut off the expanding “bulge,” German armoured forces raced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium. More dangerous still was the backdoor approach of Guderian, whose armoured forces were sweeping north past Boulogne and Calais. On the first day of the evacuation, there were only 7,011 soldiers evacuated. 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. Christopher Nolan brings his stunning cinematic vision to this recreation of one of the seminal battles of World War II The terrain around Dunkirk was thought unsuitable for armour. Learn about the German invasion of France and the neutral nations of Belgium and Holland and the Dunkirk evacuation. A few hours later, the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards of the 3rd Division, rushed to reinforce the line near Furnes, where the British troops had been routed. The British light tanks proved to be surprisingly effective against German antitank weapons, and this small drive into the corridor momentarily shook the nerve of the German High Command. 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.”. During the Battle of Dunkirk from May 26 to June 4, 1940, some 338,000 British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and other Allied troops were evacuated from Dunkirk … These numbered some 140,000 men, mostly logistic support and lines-of-communications troops, but also including the 51st (Highland) Division and the remnants of the 1st Armoured Division. German forces had already crossed most of the Netherlands before the French forces had arrived. [40][41][42], The desperate resistance of Allied forces, especially the French forces, including the French 12th Motorised Infantry Division from the Fort des Dunes, had bought time for the evacuation of the bulk of the troops. Found inside* * * Special 75th Anniversary Edition * * * Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man tells the story of the rescue in May 1940 of British soldiers fleeing capture and defeat by the Nazis at Dunkirk. Found insideCase Red captures the drama of the final three weeks of military operations in France in June 1940, and explains the great impact it had on the course of relations between Britain and France during the remainder of the war. Between them, the 10th and 11th Brigades cleared the ridge of Germans, and by 28 May they were securely dug in east of Wytschaete. In a bid to escape total slaughter, 338,000 British and other Allied troops were evacuated, starting on May 27, 1940, from the coast of France to Great Britain as part of Operation Dynamo (often called the Miracle of Dunkirk). [43], The War Office made the decision to evacuate British forces on 25 May. Why was the Dunkirk evacuation necessary? [citation needed] Discarded in France were, among other things, huge supplies of ammunition, 880 field guns, 310 guns of large calibre, some 500 anti-aircraft guns, about 850 anti-tank guns, 11,000 machine guns, nearly 700 tanks, 20,000 motorcycles and 45,000 motor cars and lorries. Summer of Deliverance is a powerful and moving memoir of anger, love, and reconciliation between a son and his father. Hailed as a literary genius of his generation, James Dickey created his art and lived his life with a ferocious passion. The evidence of God's intervention was clear for those who wished to see it; papers had written of calm seas and the high mist which interfered with the accuracy of German bombers. Now, with the relentless German Luftwaffe hammering the beach, and with the distance between England and continental Europe just 33.3 kilometres across the Strait of Dover, the massive evacuation operation code-named Operation Dynamo commences, involving hundreds of naval and civilian vessels. " Hers is a humanity that touches all who come to her work, whether for the first time or, as so many do, time and time again. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, most enduring best. BEF commander General Lord Gort VC commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the BEF agreed, writing to Anthony Eden, "I must not conceal from you that a great part of the BEF and its equipment will inevitably be lost in the best of circumstances". [52] The medal was initially awarded only to the French defenders of Dunkirk, but in 1970 the qualification was expanded to include British forces who served in the Dunkirk sector and their rescue forces, including the civilians who volunteered to man the "little ships".[53]. Over 26,000 French soldiers were evacuated on that last day, but between 30,000 and 40,000 more were left behind and captured by the Germans. This highly successful idea hugely increased the number of troops that could be embarked each day, and on 31 May, over 68,000 men were embarked. [according to whom?] On June 4 Prime Minister Winston Churchill roused his country by declaring: “[We] shall not flag or fail. On 27 May, the Luftwaffe bombed the resulting traffic jam thoroughly for two hours, destroying or immobilising about 80 percent of the vehicles. By the time they arrived on May 27, the Belgian centre had cracked, and there were no reserves to fill this fresh gap. Directive No. After Gamelin’s startling message, French Premier Paul Reynaud hastily decided to move the seat of government from Paris to Tours. Dunkirk was a critical turning point in World War II. Several factors were at play, one potentially being Hitler’s belief that the British would more readily negotiate if he exhibited clemency. Yet the trapped army was saved. After this flash in the pan the Allied armies in the north made no further effort to break out of the trap, while the belated relieving push from the south was so feeble as to be almost farcical. Queen Wilhelmina and her government left the country for England on May 13, and the next day the Dutch army surrendered to the Germans. This book fills a gap in Osprey's coverage of World War II (1939-1945), as no Campaign titles have yet covered the Dunkirk evacuation, and, unlike previous treatments of the subject, provides a description and assessment of the operation ... The British 44th Division in particular had to abandon many guns and lorries, losing almost all of them between Poperinge and the Mont. May/June 1940. It ran along the Belgian coastline from Nieuwpoort in the east via Veurne, Bulskamp and Bergues to Gravelines in the west. The invasion of Belgium also began on May 10, when German airborne troops landed on the fortress of Eben Emael, immediately opposite Maastricht, and on bridges over the Albert Canal. 338,226 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk between 27th May & 4th June 1940; 98,780 men were lifted from the beaches; 239,446 from the harbour at Dunkirk; 933 ships took part in Operation Dynamo, of which 236 were lost and 61 put out of action. [40][42][44], The docks at Dunkirk were too badly damaged to be used, but the east and west moles (sea walls protecting the harbour entrance) were intact. By the 9 th day of the operation, there would be 338,226 soldiers evacuated by the 850 boats that took part in the operation. The last British troops left France on 25 June, the day the French Armistice came into force. [33], Meanwhile, Erwin Rommel had surrounded five divisions of the French First Army near Lille. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The enemy forces have cornered four hundred thousand British and French soldiers on the French coast at Dunkirk. With their country overrun and their backs to the sea, in a small strip crowded with refugees, the Belgians were driven to sue for an armistice that evening. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}51°02′03″N 2°22′37″E / 51.0343°N 2.37682°E / 51.0343; 2.37682, 1940 battle between the Allies and Germany in France, This article is about the Second World War battle in 1940. On 2 June, the Dean of St Paul's, Walter Matthews, was the first to call the evacuation the "Miracle of Dunkirk". The counterattack disrupted the Germans, holding them back a little longer while the BEF retreated. Once again he was too late, for the German panzer divisions outran his retreating troops and were across that barrier on May 17. However, Dunkirk’s beach was too shallow for Royal Navy battleships to safely approach, so the British admiralty assembled approximately 700 civilian craft that would transport troops to battleships waiting in the North Sea. In the process, they have to ensure their own safety in order to provide what is needed for the ground soldiers, which includes knowing about things like fuel levels and having enough to make their way back to home base whenever required. On 2 June, Lieutenant General Brooke was ordered back to France to form a Second BEF together with two further infantry divisions to follow, a project which Brooke believed was doomed to failure. The army was to halt for three days, which gave the Allies sufficient time to organise the Dunkirk evacuation and build a defensive line. The historian and author Julian Thompson calls it "astonishing" that they did not, but they were distracted, investing the nearby town of Cassel. B. H. Liddell Hart wrote that Fighter Command lost 106 aircraft over Dunkirk and the Luftwaffe lost about 135, some of which were shot down by the French Navy and the Royal Navy. The Allied forces' destruction was thus initially assigned to the air force while the German infantry organised in Army Group B. [34], The defence of the Dunkirk perimeter held throughout 29–30 May, with the Allies falling back by degrees. After the evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940, allied POWs faced five years of brutal captivity, forced marches and executions. The 19th century brought huge numbers of Italians, Irish, Jews (from Russia and Poland mainly), Germans and Poles. This book draws all their stories together in a compelling narrative. At the end of this heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were safely evacuated. Valuable time was bought that enabled the Dunkirk perimeter to be established. The fact that well over half a million allied soldiers were brought over to England is in itself a tribute to their tenacity. This is their story. Plot Keywords In this book, adopting a day by day approach, the author provides a clear portrayal of the unfolding drama on the perimeter around Dunkirk, in the port itself and along the beaches to La Panne and the Belgian border.Reports from many of the ... Omissions? German troops and French prisoners of war crossing the Meuse River after the Battle of Sedan, May 15, 1940. Eighteen RAF bombers found the Germans while they were still assembling and scattered them with an accurate bombing run. The perimeter was semicircular, with French troops manning the western sector and British troops the eastern. The British Expeditionary Force alone lost some 68,000 soldiers during the French campaign. To the east, the German Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and advanced westward. Under air and artillery fire, the motley fleet evacuated 338,226 soldiers. This is that story, seen through the eyes of a soldier amongst those trapped forces, two Royal Air Force fighter pilots, and a group of civilians on their boat, part of the evacuation fleet. After crossing the Oise on May 17, German Gen. Heinz Guderian’s advance troops reached Amiens two days later. The Guards restored order by shooting some of the fleeing troops and turning others around at bayonet point. Your troops are entirely surrounded—stop fighting! This book is remarkable."—Karen Cushman, author The Midwife's Apprentice "Beautifully told."—Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall "I read this novel in two big gulps."—Gary D. Schmidt, author of Okay for Now "I love ... However, making it aboard a ship does not necessarily ensure their survival, and in the final story, Mr. Dawson, his young-adult son Peter, and their seventeen-year-old friend George are on Dawson's pleasure craft making its way to Dunkirk to do their part in the war effort, all realizing the dangers involved. Corrections? Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II. Parents Guide. World War II. Aftermath Young Canadians went to the movies to see their cartoons and comedies, but many also watched war films like Mrs. Miniver— the story of the evacuation of British soldiers from Dunkirk, or wartime thrillers like Casablanca. The 10th Brigade arrived first, to find the enemy had advanced so far they were closing on the British field artillery. Found insideThis book explores the formation's origins, the scale of defeat in France and the campaign's considerable legacy. Army equipment available at home was only just sufficient to equip two divisions. New York Times Bestseller The epic true story of Dunkirk—now a major motion picture, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, and Mark Rylance In 1940, the Allies had been beaten back by the ... Taglines Even if the French had been able to mount a counteroffensive, they would not have found it easy to crush the invader. Early in the Second World War, in late May 1940, the Allied forces of British, French and Belgian troops were trapped by the invading German army on the coast of France and Belgium, in the area around Dunkirk. [22][23], Besides the Luftwaffe's bombs, German heavy artillery (which had just come within range) also fired high-explosive shells into Dunkirk. The SS men lined them up against the wall of a barn and shot them all; only two survived. The three days thus gained gave a vital breathing space to the Royal Navy to arrange the evacuation of the British and Allied troops. Look at the map: it gives your true situation! Drawing on the wealth of material from the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk presents in the words of both rescued and rescuers in an intimate and dramatic account of what Winston Churchill described as a ... The Le Paradis massacre took place that day, when the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf machine-gunned 97 British and French prisoners near the La Bassée Canal. Gort sent the battle-worn 3rd, 4th and 50th Divisions into the line to fill the space the Belgians had held. On May 19 Gen. John Gort, commander in chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), began to consider the necessity of evacuating his forces by sea and the preparatory steps that such an endeavour would require. The design of the bronze medal included the arms of the town of Dunkirk on one side, and "Dunkerque 1940" on the reverse side. Replaced in its context, Operation Dynamo is here narrated in detail with numerous period photos, maps, aircraft profiles and uniform plates.This military operation and human adventure without precedent breathes again, 77 years later thanks ... The British are leaving first and among those the wounded get first priority despite their taking up seven times the space of the able-bodied soldiers. The Germans used infiltration tactics to get among the British, who were beaten back. Over 26,000 French soldiers were evacuated on that last day, but between 30,000 and 40,000 more were left behind and captured by the Germans. Many of them were private vessels such as fishing boats and pleasure cruisers, but commercial vessels such as ferries also contributed to the force, including a number from as far away as the Isle of Man and Glasgow. Consequently, three of Gort’s divisions were withdrawn from the front and sent south to strengthen the line of canals that covered Dunkirk and the Allies’ rear. To the land- and air-minded Germans, the sea seemed an impassable barrier, so they believed the Allies were surrounded; but the British saw the sea as a route to safety. During the following days... it became known that Hitler's decision was mainly influenced by Goering. At 10:20 on 4 June, the Germans hoisted the swastika over the docks from which so many British and French troops had escaped. The film alternates between three different periods of time involving separate groups of people, leading up to their encounter at the Channel off the coast of Dunkirk, France. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. They read, in English and French: "British soldiers! On 24 May 1940, some 400,000 Allied troops lay pinned against the coast of Flanders near the French port of Dunkirk. Within this situation, four general stories are told. When, on May 15, French commander-in-chief Maurice Gamelin received an alarming report that the Germans were crossing the Aisne between Rethel and Laon, he told the government that he had no reserves between that sector and Paris and could not guarantee the security of the capital for more than a day. As a result, the outnumbered Allied Forces collapse under the sheer volume of the invader, and 400,000 troops find themselves with their backs to the cold North Sea, stranded on the sandy shores of the French coastal town of Dunkirk. In the third story, two soldiers meet on the beach, the two of them knowing that the longer they remain on the beach, the likelier they are not to survive this skirmish. In October soldiers of the Americal Division joined the battle; in November the Navy won a smashing victory in the waters offshore; and in early 1943 the Army's 25th Infantry Division was committed as well. [27], That day, Brooke ordered a counterattack. [51], A commemorative medal was established in 1960 by the French National Association of Veterans of the Fortified Sector of Flanders and Dunkirk on behalf of the town of Dunkirk. He quickly returned to Britain. Lord Gort was given the post of Inspector of Training and the Home Guard, and with nothing constructive to do visited Iceland, Orkney and Shetland. He went on to serve as Governor of Gibraltar (1941-42). 27th May to 4 June: Operation Dynamo, the Evacuation of Dunkirk, more than 300,000 French and British soldiers were evacuated by boats of all types from the beach. On 31 May, the Germans nearly broke through at Nieuwpoort. French seaport of Dunkirk to England is in itself a tribute to their tenacity armistice came into.... Allied soldiers were brought over to England is in itself a tribute to their tenacity was thus assigned. 28–29 May, thereby cutting off the 3rd and 50th divisions into the German invasion of France and other. 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