Source B is a photograph of troops waiting in lines on one of the beaches of Dunkirk. The photo is reliable as it is a definite view of what happened at that exact time. However, it only shows one beach at one exact moment in time and could have been staged, but this is unlikely as it wasn’t used by the government or any newspapers at the time. The soldiers are waiting in orderly lines so this shows that they weren’t in a panic or under attack. This shows a great Deliverance as so many soldiers are being saved from certain death.
Source C is another photograph, showing British troops firing at German planes with ordinary rifles and bodies floating in the water. This is reliable as it is evidence of what happened at that time, but is limited as to what it can show. It shows Dunkirk as a Great Disaster as they resorted to such desperate measures and also because there are British Casualties.
Source D is a speech by Anthony Eden, Minister of War, made in June 1940. The speech is called “The Spirit Of The British Army” It is very biased as he probably would try to raise moral or put a certain spin on Dunkirk. “…great losses in equipment.” This phrase supports the view of Dunkirk being a great Disaster. But Anthony Eden also describes the BEF as “a body of seasoned veterans.” and also says they have a “refusal to accept defeat”. Although the Minister of War admits they had great losses in equipment he does not believe it matters as they have grown hugely in morale and have gained a self belief that “is the guarantee of final victory”. If this is to be believed then it illustrates a great deliverance.
Source E is an extract from The Daily Express in May 31 1940. It uses emotive language such as “Destroy…defeated…dispirited…glory” to try and raise morale and convince the public that it was a Deliverance. But this extract is propaganda as the newspaper would have been censored to stop something derogatory or that might damage morale. It is therefore unreliable. It tries to show a great deliverance as they have snatched victory from the Germans and suggests that the operation was a resounding success and belittles the fact that they were beaten by the Germans in the first place to get to the position of the operation taking place. This does agree with Dunkirk being a great deliverance, but only in the face of a great disaster.
Source F is a view by a British Historian, AJP Taylor, who published a book in 1965. This source is completely reliable as he has no reason to be bias but is secondary. “338, 226 men were brought to England from Dunkirk” “Almost the entire B.E.F was saved” this gives evidence as to Dunkirk being a great deliverance
On the other hand, source F, says “Six Destroyers had been sunk and nineteen damaged. The R.A.F had lost 474 aeroplanes.” “it had lost virtually all it’s guns, tanks and other heavy equipment…many of the men had abandoned their rifles” this shows Dunkirk as a great disaster as practically all of the equipment was lost.
From my own knowledge I know that 340,000 Allied troops were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk between 27th may & 4th June. The government had hoped that 50,000 would be rescued. If the BEF had not been rescued then Britain would have been out of the war, but because they were they could still fight the Nazis. This gives evidence showing Dunkirk as a great deliverance as it was better than anticipated.
I also know that almost 27,000 of the troops rescued were done so by Civilian boats and this was a huge morale boost and shows the unity of the Britain. All of this lends weight towards Dunkirk being a great Deliverance.
The British left behind 1200 field guns, 1250 anti-aircraft guns, 11,000 machine guns and 75,000 vehicles. This was a great disaster for the British as they would have to quickly make all of this again. Overall, 1,121,000 Dutch, Belgian, French and British Prisoners were taken in just 6 months leading up to and at operation dynamo. This was a great disaster
After Dunkirk, the German army turned south and quickly captured Paris and the remaining parts of France, almost the whole of Europe was under Nazi control. The French officially surrendered three weeks later. This effectively meant that Britain was out of the war and was a great disaster.
In conclusion I believe that Dunkirk was a great Disaster because their evacuation from Europe meant that they would have to invade Europe by Sea or Air, whilst the entire German army was stationed there. I also think that their huge losses in equipment would have a huge effect as they would have to build all their vehicles and a lot of weaponry again.
By
David Locke