Battle Of Dunkirk Research Paper

Two major events: Battle of Dunkirk Battle of Britain
Dunkirk
A part of the Battle of France on the Western Front; The Battle of Dunkirk took place during the Second World War it was between the Allies and Germany. The Battle of Dunkirk was the defense and evacuation of allied forces (mostly British) in France from May 26–June 4 1940. Dunkirk took place after the German army had executed “plan yellow” which basically flanked the allies and caught them off guard. The allies tried to counter attack the Germans but to little result. Germany had the upper hand on the allies as they had the opportunity to seal off the coasts and trap all the troops in France which would lead to their doom. Germany however decided to stall and try to unite all their troops together to prevent
and allied resistance or breakout. The German army waited for 3 days before attacking the remaining allied armies but by this time the British navy had already assembled in an attempt to rescue the allied troops out of France and back to Britain.
The allies even though they were surrounded by the German army still fought back and resisted even after the Belgian army surrendered (May 28). The Germans bombed and destroyed most of Dunkirk and its surrounding areas as they were kept a distance by the allies who had set a perimeter that slightly kept falling back until they got to Dunkirk where they were evacuated. Many allied troops died keeping the Germans out of Dunkirk but all these sacrifices helped save the life of approximately 338,000 men all these troops were saved in the span of 11 days, the Germans may have taken over Dunkirk but many allied troops were able to live another day and the evacuation also saved the British many soldiers who were able to fight another day. The battle of Dunkirk was important in WW2 because had the Germans sealed off and killed all those troops that were evacuated the whole momentum of the western front war would have gone to Germany. The Dunkirk evacuations moralized the British army as they didn’t suffer major defeat and were able to save the life’s of a lot of men. Had Germany killed all those men the outcome of the war on the
western front may have been different as the British may have surrendered.
Britain
On June 18 1940 the prime minister of Britain gave a speech saying "the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin." This statement was very true because as soon as France surrendered to the Germans the Germans turned all of its focuses on Britain. The actual Battle of Britain was really an air battle as both countries only attacked each other with fighter planes and bombers. The battle began on July 10 1940 almost a month after France’s surrender. The German air force (the Luftwaffe) and the British air force (RAF) were pretty evenly matched the Luftwaffe had many advanced fighter planes and bombers while the RAF had radars that could detect incomings raids as well as home field advantage. The German planes were also known for its short distance fighting and their ineffectiveness in long distance battles. The Luftwaffe concentrated on attacking shipping in the English Channel and also the coastal towns located around that area. Later on Goering (Luftwaffe commander) shifted his focus to the destruction of the RAF, attacking radar bases and airfields. Goering however got annoyed on how the British aircrafts still continued to fight off his attacks. The Luftwaffe changed tactics for this battle again as the British air forces were still defending their country Hitler decided to send the Luftwaffe on an all-out attack on London and all the major cities. This strategy was what cost Hitler the battle as while the Luftwaffe attacked the citied the RAF were able to regroup. On September 15 the RAF fought a major sky battle with the Luftwaffe and managed to win by taking out all the German aircrafts, this day was known as “Battle of Britain Day”. On September 17 Hitler decided he would stop attacking Britain and “postpone” German invasion as he wanted to focus on taking out the Soviets. Battle of Britain was one of the British’s biggest victories in World War 2 as they had managed to hold off the all-powerful Germany and maintain Western Europe out of complete German control.

Turning point of the war: Operation Overlord (D-Day) or the battle of Normandy The Turning point of World War 2 in the Western front was D-Day or the battle of Normandy as some like to call it. D-Day code name operation Overlord was a plan that involved assaults on five beaches west of the Orne River near Caen (codenamed Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah) by the British, American, and Canadian troops. On 6th June, 1944, 2,727 ships sailed to the Normandy coast and on the first day landed 156,000 men on a front of thirty miles. It was the largest and most powerful armada that has ever sailed. After landing, all the troops had their assignment on which beach to attack and take over. The allied forces faced heavy German resistance and the German army had complete control of all the French shores. The allies however facing many casualties fought through the beaches and pushed the Germans back. The battle of Normandy began on June 6 and carried out until August 25th, the operation was complete when the German forces were sent retreating over the Seine River. This event was a major turning point in the war because before D-Day there had been no serious attempt to take back France and begin a military campaign on the western front of Germany. Had this operation not had happened Germany would have been able to focus on the soviets and not have to worry about a two front war. The Normandy campaigned resulted in many casualties fo both sides but the allies came out victorious due to sheer numbers