Dunkirk and the battle of Britain.

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Dunkirk and the battle of Britain

All three of the sources A, B and are useful in their own unique way, but they all have limitations, so they can only describe a small snippet out of the big picture, on how it was like at the battle f Dunkirk on the beaches.

Source A seemed useful to me, because it gave me a real idea about the atmosphere and morale, when the British undertook the rescue. The person giving the statement is commander Thomas Kerr, who was one of the naval officers sent to organize the evacuation. Seeing that he is of this rank, he seems that he is trustworthy because as commander he seems trustworthy. I also noted that the statement was a very personal one because the way he spoke about the British side, it would have been censored. The statement is a very personal view, so it must be from a diary or personal log. Seeing as this could be true, it does make it seem that it is more believable. Also the commander isn’t giving us any “stiff upper-lip”, he’s not living in the world of half told stories, stretched truths and blatant lies, he isn’t being biased, he is critical of his own side. The only problem I might have with the Kerr’s statement is that he could be boasting about the navy, I sensed this by reading this part in the statement; “ the sight of naval uniforms restored some order to the rabble”, this does seem he is boasting against the army. On the other hand, Kerr did have other things on his mind judging by the situation he was stuck in. The source is also primary meaning that he actually witnessed it, so perhaps it gives us a realistic idea on how the battle was like.

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Source B was also useful because analyzing the evidence we had of the battle, it seems that he is giving more of a factual statement than a opinion, making it more believable. This statement is also primary; it was from a seaman manning one of the boats of the minesweeper, Bill Elmslie. So seeing that he was in the middle of this all, it does look like he’s trustworthy. I got a firm idea about how it was on the beaches by the way he writes: “I glanced back at the beach and saw a german fighter streak across ...

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