The Battle of Dunkirk May 26Th 1940 – June 4Th 1940 the Battle of Dunkirk Was Located Just North of France in a Place Called Dunkerque Across the English Channel

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The Battle of Dunkirk May 26th 1940 – June 4th 1940 The Battle of Dunkirk was located just north of France in a place called Dunkerque across the English Channel. The speed of the German Blitzkrieg (lightning 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. 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. No actual fighting occurred, Dunkirk was an evacuation of the British troops caused by a German attempt to attack the British. The German‘s equipment was far superior to the French, British, and Belgian governments. So the British were forced to flee across the English channel. Events Leading up to Dunkirk: The border between France and Germany was defended by an series of forts on the Maginot Line. If Germany wanted to invade France it couldn't do it through there. England and France thought Germany would invade south through the Netherlands and Belgium. The British and French piled up against the Belgium border, waiting for the Germans. The German's waited until almost all the Allied armies had passed northward, then launched the real invasion south. As a result, the British and French armies were cut off, with the whole German army lying between them and France. The British were left trying to make their way back to the coast as best they could before they were destroyed by the Germans. This lead them to the evacuation of Dunkirk. The Germans failed to overwhelm the allies so a rescue plan was launched to save the hundreds of thousand soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. 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. There were lines of men waiting in queues until boats arrived to transport What does them. The queues stood there fixed and regular, no this source bunching, no pushing.” tell us about the From a first-hand account evacuation of by a gunner officer, 1940 Dunkirk? Britain thought Dunkirk was a success because the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) evacuated most of the troops there. British soldiers that were rescued were then able to fight again. It gave the British and their Allies time to regroup, retrain, re-arm and go back and win the war. If the Germans had captured all the troops at Dunkirk, we might not have won the war..

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