History of the Event
The battle of Dunkirk happened in 1940. It occurred in a small town on the coast of France, named Dunkirk, where the British Expeditionary Force and other Allied soldiers were stranded alone. The soldiers were surrounded by the invading Germans and needed immediate evacuation, which began in May and ended in June 1940. By the end of the evacuation, 338,000 British soldiers and other Allied troops had been rescued. The evacuation operation is called the “Miracle of Dunkirk”.
The need for the battle of Dunkirk came at a time when the Germans had invaded France. France had boasted that its Maginot line, a wall of concrete barricades and obstacles, could not be breached. It was built by France in order to deter an attack by the neighboring state; Germany. However, Germany advanced through the dense and hilly Ardennes forest. Thus, the German forces broke the French defenses and poor security measures. As they moved through France, towards the English Channel, the German forces cut off communication between the different branches of the Allied forces. The surprise attack of the Germans pushed back the Allies to the Dunkirk beaches. The British Expeditionary Force commander, General John Gort, saw evacuation by sea the only option of saving his men from annihilation at the hands of the invading Germans.(Lord)
The evacuation process is called “Operation Dynamo”. It was led by Vice Admiral, Bertram Ramsay. The operation was made difficult amidst the battle that was taking place between the German Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force, the former bombed the harbor and the latter countered their attacks to delay them from reaching the beaches. However, the Royal Navy vessels were not always able to reach Dunkirk, as Dunkirk had a shallow beach. Thus, the Navy began to requisition fishing boats or leisure crafts, many of which were manned by their civilian owners themselves. These boats and crafts, called “Little Ships” played an important role in saving the lives of 300,000 soldiers. It was only because of joint military and civilian efforts that the battle of Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo became a success.
Primary Source
The battle of Dunkirk and the evacuation has best been described in Walter Lord’s book, “The Miracle of Dunkirk: The True Story of Operation Dynamo” Walter Lord was an American author, known for his documentary style accounts of historical events such as the sinking of the RMS Titanic. In this book, Lord described the battle based on the interviews he conducted with the survivors of Dunkirk. He told their fears, their expectations and their experiences. He concluded that to the British, Dunkirk symbolized a willingness to sacrifice for the common good.(Lord)
Film Analysis
The film, which captures the spirit of the battle and the subsequent evacuation, is Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk.” It tells the account from three different perspectives: the sea, the land and the air. It portrays the fears and doubts of the British Expeditionary Force. These soldiers await their fate, which is either death or evacuation(Mottram). The film keeps shifting to the navy vessels and the civilian Little Ships, which are to rescue the men in uniform. The film also portrays the struggle of the Royal Air Force, which fought the Luftwaffe in mid-air despite being low on fuel.
It depicts the plight of the soldiers and the mental wounds they have suffered which alters their personalities(Mottram). One such evidence from the film is that of a shell-shocked British soldier. He is devastated by his experience at Dunkirk that he refuses to be taken back to the same place when a boat rescues him from the sea. In his struggle to reverse the boat back to England, he knocks down a young man aboard and causes him a severe head injury.
Historical Context
Many had expected that the British would face annihilation at the hands of the Germans. However, the “Miracle of Dunkirk” became a symbol of British resilience at a time when Europe had fallen to its knees before Hitler. This victory was a blow to the German confidence. Despite this, the Germans were successful in invading France. Thus, one can say that all the events which followed afterwards were a direct consequence of the battle of Dunkirk. If France had not fell, if the British had not gained ground after the evacuation, there might never have been a D-Day. There might not have been the sweeping success the Allies were met with in the European theatre of war against the Axis.
Works Cited
Mottram, James. The Making of Dunkirk. Insight Editions, 2017.
Lord, Walter. The Miracle of Dunkirk: The True Story of Operation Dynamo. Open Road Media, 2012.
