What was dunkirk

On June 17, Rommel covered miles westward and on June 19 he captured Cherbourg. The French government, which had been in a state of crisis for weeks, signed an armistice on June It had taken the Germans just 18 days after Dunkirk to capture France. Britain now stood alone against the Nazis and many wondered whether it would be the next to concede. Some members of the British government, beginning to regret the rise of the uncompromising Churchill, considered what sort of an agreement might be reached with the German leader.

Hitler tentatively planned for a British invasion, code-named Operation Sea Lion, but he knew that such an incursion would be risky, difficult and very costly, and so he waited for a British peace offer.

Churchill was having none of it. He quickly replaced the equipment lost in France. He began currying a relationship with U. President Franklin Roosevelt, who signaled his intention to assist the British in any way he could. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. The assault failed to produce the desired results, with the British capital escaping serious harm.

Instead, 20 German planes were damaged and another 60 shot down. To cut his losses, Hitler scaled back the raids in favor of the limited nighttime strikes known as the Blitz, which continued until May The RAF had stood up to the Luftwaffe and won. The threat of a German invasion was over. During the next five years, Churchill and the British leadership were able to expand the size of the British army, add new planes to the resources of the RAF, repair and replace the ships lost at Dunkirk and reestablish the British Navy as one of the most powerful in the world.

Without Dunkirk, none of this would have been possible, nor would Britain have been able to hold out until December and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the Americans into the war as a critical ally.

When the Allied forces landed in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, , three of the eight divisions that took part were British. Two were dropped from the air and one arrived by ship and stormed the beaches beside its American allies.

The victory that followed was sweet for all involved, but for the British, it was more than that. It was redemption. Contact us at letters time. Get our History Newsletter. Put today's news in context and see highlights from the archives. Please enter a valid email address. Please attempt to sign up again. Fleeing Dunkirk: A holiday in hell.

Dunkirk spirit revives Ealing memories. Image source, Warner Bros. Dunkirk tells of British and Allied troops trapped on a beach surrounded by enemy forces in The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called Styles' performance a "perfectly strong acting debut".

What was 'Dunkirk'? Why were they on the beach in the first place? Related Topics. Published 18 July Published 15 July It was a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. Yet this was anything but a military success. On May 10, , the British Expeditionary Force BEF — totalling approximately , at the height of the campaign and commanded by Lord Gort — was deployed in Belgium, alongside its allies, as part of a defensive line against German invasion.

Within a week, German panzer divisions had reached the French coast south of Boulogne, trapping the BEF and the French 1st Army in a small pocket around the channel ports, cutting them off from the main Allied force. The British retreat to Dunkirk was controversial. But poor planning , intelligence , leadership, and communications had left the Allies in a desperate situation. Prime minster Winston Churchill had promised the French that the BEF would play its part in a coordinated counterattack against the German flank.

However, Lord Gort was preparing to evacuate his troops, apparently with the blessing of the secretary of state for war, Anthony Eden. Covered by rear-guard actions by both British and French units, exhausted troops converged on Dunkirk.

Naturally, there was panic and chaos on the beaches. The town and port were bombed and time was running out. Discipline was often tested: historians have found anecdotal evidence that order was sometimes restored through the severest of measures, with guns being trained on troops by their own officers and men.

Crucial time was bought by those covering the retreat.