Battle of Dunkirk

Battle of Dunkirk

The Battle of Dunkirk (French: Bataille de Dunkerque) was a major battle during World War II which lasted from around May 26 to June 4, 1940. A large force of British and French soldiers were cut off in northern France by a German armoured advance to the Channel coast at Calais. Over 330,000 Allied troops caught in the pocket were subsequently evacuated by sea to England in Operation Dynamo.

Background

After the Phony War, the Battle of France began in earnest on May 10, 1940. The German Army Group A burst through the Ardennes region and advanced rapidly to the west, then turned north in the so-called "sickle cut". To the east, Army Group B invaded and subdued the Netherlands and advanced westward through Belgium.

A British counterattack southward towards Arras on May 21 failed to sever the German spearhead, which had reached the coast the previous day, separating the British Expeditionary Force near Armentières and the Belgian army further to the north from the majority of French troops south of the German penetration. Next, the German armor swung north along the coast, threatening to capture the Channel ports and trap the British army and the adjacent French First Army before the soldiers could retreat to the relative safety of England. However, the unopposed German panzer divisions halted outside of Dunkirk on May 24. This order allowed preparation for a new southward advance against the remaining French forces. In addition, the terrain around Dunkirk was considered unsuitable for armor, so destruction of the British forces was initially assigned to the Luftwaffe and the German infantry organized in Army Group B.

The Dunkirk Pocket

On May 25, General Lord Gort, the commander of the BEF, decided to evacuate British forces. From May 25 to May 28, British troops retreated about 30 miles northwest into a pocket along the Franco-Belgian border extending from Dunkirk on the coast to the Belgian town of Poperinge. Meanwhile, the Belgian army surrendered, followed by most of the French 1st Army on May 29.

Starting on May 27, Operation Dynamo began the evacuation of Allied troops from the Dunkirk area. The German Panzer divisions were ordered to resume their advance the same day, but improved British defenses halted their 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.

Aftermath

The successful evacuation of troops from Dunkirk ended the first phase in the Battle of France. It provided a great boost to British morale, but left the French to stand alone against a renewed German assault southwards. German troops entered Paris on June 14 and accepted the unconditional surrender of France on June 22. Many soldiers lost their backpacks and shoes while they were treading through the mud. It has been suggested that the German fighters may have put Quicksand on the beach[citation needed].

What if?

The battle of Dunkirk poses one of the great "what-ifs" of World War II, which has attracted speculation from many military historians. If Hitler had not ordered the German panzer divisions to halt from 24 May to 26 May, but instead ordered an all-out attack on Dunkirk, the retreating Allies could have possibly been cut off from the sea and destroyed. If the whole of the British Expeditionary Force had been captured or killed at Dunkirk, morale in Britain could have possibly sunk so low as to have toppled the government and replaced it with one more disposed to making an accommodation with Nazi Germany, like the Vichy regime in France. Without the need to oppose the British in the Atlantic and North Africa — or even with the assistance of a Quisling government in Britain — perhaps the troops and resources thus freed would have been enough to wholly defeat the Soviet Union in 1941 and led to German conquest of the whole of Europe and Asia.

On the other hand, the panzer divisions were stopped for repairs and resupply, and to allow the rest of the army to catch up. Had they pushed forward recklessly, they could have outrun their supply lines and become vulnerable to being cut off themselves. Even if the British Expeditionary Force had been cut off and destroyed, few in Britain wanted to collaborate with the Nazis — Churchill had become Prime Minister after the fall of the Chamberlain government on May 10, 1940 precisely because his uncompromising belligerence reflected the mood of the nation.

Later fighting at Dunkirk

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" and left to wither on the vine. The German garrison in Dunkirk held out until May 1945, denying the Allies the use of the port facilities.

Operation Barbarossa

At 5:30 a.m. on 22 June 1941, the German ambassador met with Molotov to announce a declaration of war on the basis of gross and repeated violations of the Russo-German Pact. The two largest and most powerful armies ever assembled confronted each other along a 3,000 kilometer line from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. While the Russians were well aware of German preparations, and were tipped off to the impending invasion by both their own intelligence, as well foreign sources, the Germans achieved total surprise. The Germans employed three army groups (North commanded by Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb, Center commanded by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, and South commanded by Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt), and planned to destroy all Soviet resistance in swift advances on Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev. Hitler threw 183 divisions into the assault, while the Nazis faced 170 divisions, which represented 54 percent of the Red Army's total strength. Subsequently, the German armies were to occupy a line reaching from Archangel on the White Sea to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea.

The German invasion represented a great gamble. Germany was already at war with Great Britain and occupied much of Europe. Russia possessed an inhospitable climate, a vast area, and tremendous manpower reserves. Hitler himself expressed ambiguous feelings on Operation Barbarossa, the German codeword for the Russian invasion. To one of his generals he said, "We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down," but shortly later he also stated, "At the beginning of each campaign one pushes a door into a dark, unseen room. One can never know what is hiding inside."

Coupled with the element of surprise, the Germans possessed better training, more extensive experience, and were able to obtain decisive superiority at the points selected for attack. The Russians had large amounts of obsolete equipment, were poorly deployed to meet the attack, and lacked defensive positions. As a result, the Russian frontier was quickly overrun and the Germans achieved penetrations in many places. By 16 July, 1941, the Germans had captured Smolensk, which was less than 250 miles from Moscow, and ArmyGroupCenter alone had captured about 600,000 men and 5,000 tanks.

The Soviet attitude can perhaps best be summarized by Molotov, who said, "Surely, we have not deserved that," when notified by the German ambassador, Friedrich von Schulenberg, that Germany had been forced to take 'counter-measures' in light of Russian military build-up on the border. Stalin is said to have had a "nervous collapse" when told of the invasion and did not speak for 11 days.

On 3 July, Stalin finally made a radio address to the Russian people, which contained several elements of Russian strategy. He evoked a sense of nationalism in his opening words: "Comrades, citizens, brothers, and sisters, fighters of our Army and Navy." He declared, "We must immediately put our whole production to war footing. In all occupied territories partisan units must be formed. . ." Stalin continued to say that losses had been severe and although the Red Army was putting up a heroic resistance, the country was in moral danger, but Stalin reminded them of the fates of Napoleon and Kaiser Wilhelm. Stalin justified the Russo-German Pact on the grounds that it gave the country the time to build its defenses. Stalin also announced a "scorched earth" policy to deny the Germans "a single engine, or a single railway truck, and not a pound of bread nor a pint of oil." He also announced with "a feeling of gratitude" the offers of assistance from Britain and the United States. So desperate did the Russians become during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa to gain any support and assistance, they even signed an agreement with the Polish government-in-exile, with whom they were not in speaking terms since the Russian occupation of Eastern Poland in September, 1939.By the end of July the Germans controlled an area of the Soviet territory more than twice the size of France.

The Battle of Britain

Immediately after the defeat of France, Adolf Hitler ordered his generals to organize the invasion of Britain. The invasion plan was given the code name Sealion. The objective was to land 160,000 German soldiers along a forty-mile coastal stretch of south-east England. Within a few weeks the Germans had assembled a large armada of vessels, including 2,000 barges in German, Belgian and French harbours.

However, Hitler's generals were very worried about the damage that the Royal Air Force could inflict on the German Army during the invasion. Hitler therefore agreed to their request that the invasion should be postponed until the British airforce had been destroyed.

By the start of what became known as the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe had 2,800 aircraft stationed in France, Belgium, Holland and Norway. This force outnumbered the RAF four to one. However, the British had the advantage of being closer to their airfields. German fighters could only stay over England for about half an hour before flying back to their home bases. The RAF also had the benefits of an effective early warning radar system and the intelligence information provided by Ultra.

The German pilots had more combat experience than the British and probably had the best fighter plane in the Messerschmitt Bf109. They also had the impressive Messerschmitt 110 and Junkers Stuka. The commander of Fighter Command, Hugh Dowding, relied on the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire.

On the 12th August, 1940, the German airforce began its mass bomber attacks on British radar stations, aircraft factories and fighter airfields. During these raids radar stations and airfields were badly damaged and twenty-two RAF planes were destroyed. This attack was followed by daily raids on Britain.

As a result of the effective range of the Luftwaffe, the battle was mainly fought over southern England. This area was protected by Fighter Command No. 11 under Keith Park and Fighter Command No. 12 led by Trafford Leigh-Mallory. They also but received support from the squadrons based in the eastern counties.

Between 1st and 18th August the RAF lost 208 fighters and 106 pilots. The second half of the month saw even heavier losses and wastage now outstripped the production of new aircraft and the training of pilots to fly them. Those British pilots that did survive suffered from combat fatigue.

During the Battle of Britain Trafford Leigh-Mallory came into conflict with Keith Park, the commander of No. 11 Fighter Group. Park, who was responsible for the main approaches south-east of London, took the brunt of the early attacks by the Luftwaffe. Park complained that No. 12 Fighter Group should have done more to protect the air bases in his area instead of going off hunting for German planes to shoot down.

Leigh-Mallory obtained support from Vice Marshal William Sholto Douglas, assistant chief of air staff. He was critical of the tactics being used by Keith Park and Hugh Dowding, head of Fighter Command. He took the view that RAF fighters should be sent out to meet the German planes before they reached Britain. Park and Dowding rejected this strategy as being too dangerous and argued it would increase the number of pilots being killed.

The climax of the Battle of Britain came on the 30th-31st August, 1940. The British lost 50 aircraft compared to the Germany's 41. The RAF were close to defeat but Adolf Hitler then changed his tactics and ordered the Luftwaffe to switch its attack from British airfields, factories and docks to civilian targets. This decision was the result of a bombing attack on Berlin that had been ordered by Charles Portal, the new head of Bomber Command.

The Blitz brought an end to the Battle of Britain. During the conflict the Royal Air Force lost 792 planes and the Luftwaffe 1,389. There were 2,353 men from Great Britain and 574 from overseas who were members of the air crews that took part in the Battle of Britain. An estimated 544 were killed and a further 791 lost their lives in the course of their duties before the war came to an end.

The Battle for Stalingrad

After the narrow failure of Hitler's invasion of Russia in 1941 the German Army no longer had the strength and resources for a renewed offensive of that year's scale, but Hitler was unwilling to stay on the defensive and consolidate his gains. So he searched for an offensive solution that with limited means might promise more than a limited result. No longer having the strength toattack along the whole front, he concentrated on. the southern part, with the aim of capturing the
Caucasus oil which each side needed if it was to maintain its full mobility. If he could gain that oil, he might subsequently turn north onto the rear of the thus immobilised Russian armies covering Moscow, or even strike at Russia's new war-industries that had been establishedin the Urals. The 1942 offensive was, however, a greater gamble than thatof the previous year because, if it were to be checked, the long flank of this southerly drive would be exposed
to a counterstroke anywhere along its thousand-mile stretch.

Initially, the German Blitzkrieg technique scored again - its fifth distinct and tremendous successsince the conquest of Poland in 1939. A swift break-through was made on the Kursk-Kharkov sector, and then General Bwald von Kleist's 1st Panzer Army swept like a torrent along the corridor between the Don and the Donetz rivers. Surging across the Lower Don, gateway to the Caucasus, it gained the more westerly oilfields around Maikop in six weeks.

The Russians' resistance had crumbled badly under the impact of the Blitzkrieg, and Kleist had met little opposition in the later stages of his drive. This was Russia's weakest hour. Only aninstalment of her freshly raised armies was yet ready for action, and even that was veryshort of equipment, especially artillery.

Fortunately for Russia, Hitler split his effort between the Caucasus and Stalingrad on the Volga,gateway to the north and the Urals. Moreover when the first attacks on Stalingrad, by Paulus's6th Army, were checked in mid-July, although narrowly checked, Hitler increasingly drained his forces in the Caucasus to reinforce the divergent attack on Stalingrad. This was by name,'the city of Stalin' so Hitler could not bear to be defied by it - and became obsessed by it.
He wore down his forces in the prolonged effort to achieve its capture, losing sight of his initial
prime aim, the vital oil supplies of the Caucasus. When Kleist drove on from Maikop towards
the main oilfields, his army met increasing resistance from local troops, fighting, now to defend
their homes, while itself being depleted in favour of Paulus' bid to capture Stalingrad.

AtStalingrad the Russians' resistance hardened with repeated hammering, while the directnesa,
and consequent obviousness, of the German attacks there simplified the Russian Higher
Command's problem in meeting the threat. The Germans' concentration at Stalingrad also, and
increasingly, drained reserves from their flank-cover, which was already strained by having to
stretch so far, nearly 400 miles from Voronezh along the Don to the point where it nears the
Volga at Stalingrad, and as far again from there to the Terek in the Caucasus. A realisation of
the risks led the German General Staff to tell Hitler in August that it would be impossible to
hold the line of the Don as a defensive flank, during the winter, but the warning was ignored by
him in his obsession with capturing Stalingrad.