Dunkirk - A success or failure?

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Dunkirk Coursework

Was Dunkirk a miracle or a disaster?

Dunkirk was the coast of France near the border which separated Belgium and France, this was the area where the Allies who were, the British and French troops, were forced to as they could not determine and hold the speed of the German lightning attack as they were caught by surprise. As the war went on in April 1940 the German army invaded France which links to why the Allies were pushed back to the beaches of Dunkirk. Because of the Allies only had to ways of survival they were to either, try and attack through the Germans or they could go through the cold waters of the British Channel. The Allies came to the conclusion that their only route of escaping alive was by the sea, The British army began to feel that they were in real danger they believed that their lives in the world had come to an end, the clock had run out and that would have been nearly 300,000 British men dead this was before the war had even officially began. The British government had found this information out, the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, enforced a plan called ‘Operation Dynamo’ into action. The point of this plan was to get the British troops out of Dunkirk by ship, as well as the use of the Royal Navy people of Britain used their own boats like fishing boats, dinghy’s, pleasure streamers and crafts to rescue the troops, this operations was partly successful and partly a failure although it raised British morale greatly.

Dunkirk was classified as a miracle to the British side of the war this is shown is source 1 which was created by an Historian called David Knowles, writing from his study of Dunkirk and its effects in a book called ‘Escape from Catastrophe, in 2002. This source tells us of the unity of Britain as the people of the country came together to rescue their troops as shown ‘Many of the little ships’, also telling us how they boosted the morale of the country which made it a great miracle for the army and the country ‘the escape captured the minds and hearts of the British people’. This source is quite valid as it gives us clear and accurate information however the time distance between when it occurred and when this source was created is a big gap which reduces its validity therefore making it a secondary source as well as information must have been gathered from somewhere for David to collect the information.

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Source 4 also shows the great miracle and success which Dunkirk was to the British as a whole, Source 4 is a map showing the area around Dunkirk it was created by an unknown source/ illustrator. The source was created to show us where the allies’ troops were and how and where the German army attacked them from and also to show the plan for the troops to have an escape route. This source is valid as it is a primary source and it shows the position allies were in to make it a miracle as they were rite on ...

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