Battle of Dunkirk-success or disaster
Was the battle of Dunkirk a triumph or success? A question with no simple answer and probably a question we will never know the true answer to. In the 70 plus years since the battle, a variety of medias, for example textbooks, diary logs and newspaper articles have continued to influence peoples different interpretations on whether or not the events at Dunkirk deserve to be remembered as a triumph or in fact a failure for Britain and its people.
In the month of May 1940, Hitler's army was winning against France, despite Britain sending over 300,000 troops to help them out. Most of the allied forces had been surrounded and trapped by the fast-advancing German Army onto the beaches around Dunkirk. Despite countless severe casualties the British troops could not retreat as their escape routes were all blocked; they were sitting targets for the Germans. At this point there was a real danger that the entire British Army could be wiped out before the War had really got under way.
On 27 May the British government, now led by Churchill, put into action a plan called ‘Operation Dynamo’. The plan was to evacuate all the troops to Britain by ship. On the end of the ninth day a total of 338,226 soldiers had been rescued from the beaches in an assembly of around 800 different boats; yachts, fishing boats and small ships were just a few that were privately owned and sacrificed from the people back at home. “The escape captured the minds and hearts of the British people at a time when it looked probable that we too would soon be invaded.” Source B1.The people of Britain really were becoming united and proud to Be British; although they were down they were not out. Dunkirk was called a “miracle” by Winston Churchill and how Britain were still up, back and ready to fight another day many see as a triumph in itself.
An example of this is Source B2, a cartoon by British artist David Low, published in the London Newspaper on the 8th of June 1940. The cartoon shows the great range
In the month of May 1940, Hitler's army was winning against France, despite Britain sending over 300,000 troops to help them out. Most of the allied forces had been surrounded and trapped by the fast-advancing German Army onto the beaches around Dunkirk. Despite countless severe casualties the British troops could not retreat as their escape routes were all blocked; they were sitting targets for the Germans. At this point there was a real danger that the entire British Army could be wiped out before the War had really got under way.
On 27 May the British government, now led by Churchill, put into action a plan called ‘Operation Dynamo’. The plan was to evacuate all the troops to Britain by ship. On the end of the ninth day a total of 338,226 soldiers had been rescued from the beaches in an assembly of around 800 different boats; yachts, fishing boats and small ships were just a few that were privately owned and sacrificed from the people back at home. “The escape captured the minds and hearts of the British people at a time when it looked probable that we too would soon be invaded.” Source B1.The people of Britain really were becoming united and proud to Be British; although they were down they were not out. Dunkirk was called a “miracle” by Winston Churchill and how Britain were still up, back and ready to fight another day many see as a triumph in itself.
An example of this is Source B2, a cartoon by British artist David Low, published in the London Newspaper on the 8th of June 1940. The cartoon shows the great range