Dunkirk: Triumph or Defeat

1. Dunkirk: Triumph or Defeat Year 9

2. Operation Dynamo The speed of the German Blitzkrieg (lightening war) caught the Allies by surprise In April 1940, the Germans invaded France. They were so quick that the French and the British armies were pushed back to the beaches of Dunkirk. The troops were trapped between the German army and the cold waters of the English Channel. The only escape route was by the sea.

3. There was a real danger that the entire British army (over 300,000 men) would be wiped out before the war had really got under way! On 27th May 1940 – the British government, led by Winston Churchill, put a plan called ‘Operation Dynamo’ into action. The aim was to evacuate the troops to Britain by ship.

4. As well of the ships of the Royal Navy, all sorts of craft – including pleasure steamers and fishing boats – were used. Most of the soldiers were rescued. Today we remember Dunkirk for the heroism of those caught up in it. At the time it was a military disaster - and one that took the British public by surprise.

5. Source 1 Qu.1. What does this source tell us about the evacuation of Dunkirk? Use evidence to support your answer “There were lines of men waiting in queues until boats arrived to transport them. The queues stood there fixed and regular, no bunching, no pushing.” From a first-hand account by a gunner officer, 1940

6. Source 2 The story of this amazing rescue will live in history as a glorious example of British discipline.  Every kind of small craft have sped here to bring back the brave British and French troops. Men wade to a ship, its crew waiting to haul them aboard. Only once or twice do we see German planes fleck the sky, and the German Navy is nowhere to be seen! Qu 2.What evidence is there in this source to suggest that Dunkirk was a success? Qu3.Does this source support Source 1? Explain your answer.

7. Pictures of Dunkirk This image of British soldiers being taken prisoner by Germans at Dunkirk was shown in an American newspaper. Qu 4: Is this the same as the British images? Qu 5: What does this tell us about what the government told the people?

8. Comparing Sources "Dunkirk Taken" ran the headline in a German newspaper. It reported that the German army had taken 40,000 British prisoners with another 40,000 drowned in the Channel. Qu 6: Does this source agree or disagree with British reports? Why would the Germans and the British tell their people different stories?

9. A British News Report, 1940 There were no journalists at Dunkirk and it was five days before the government allowed any reports to be made. Even then, journalists had to rely on what they were told by the government for information. However, more information emerged later on.

10. First-hand account by a British gunner officer, 1940 Stepping over the bodies we marched onto the beach. A horrible stench of blood and mutilated flesh pervaded the place. There was no escape from it. We might have been walking through a slaughterhouse on a hot day. Qu 7: How useful is this source to an historian wanting to find out about the evacuation of Dunkirk? Hint: who wrote it, when it was written, what information does it give, where was he?

11. The reality • The British army left behind 2,500 guns, 84,500 vehicles, 77,000 tons of ammunition, 416,000 tons of supplies and 165,000 tons of petrol.   68,000 soldiers were killed or taken prisoner. • Dunkirk was a massive defeat.   Historians have called the image of the evacuation which grew up in Britain ‘the necessary myth’ [a myth is like a story] in other words, it wasn’t true but it made people feel better.  • Although many men behaved with perfect discipline, there were some who didn’t! Some troops stole food from local people, and some officers even left their men on the beach and went to be evacuated first. • In private, Churchill called Dunkirk ‘the greatest military defeat for many centuries’.  

12. British newspaper headlines, 1940 When a few days after Dunkirk a troopship was bombed in the French port of Saint-Nazaire, killing thousands of British soldiers and sailors, not a word appeared in print. "Tired, dirty, hungry they came back -- unbeatable" ran the headline above an eyewitness report from an unnamed south coast town. "We shall fight them on the beaches... We shall never surrender!“ Prime Minister Winston Churchill Qu 8:How reliable [true] do you think British newspaper reports of Dunkirk at the time were? Did they tell the full story? Why do you think this was? Hint: propaganda, censorship, morale