Source 20 talks about how easy it was to kill many Allied soldiers on the Beach. The German pilot claims it was “Cold blooded killing”. I have taken from this source that the Luftwaffe found killing soldiers easy due to soldiers not taking any anti aircraft guns with them. This source is one person’s account; he is biased towards Germans. The source is primary evidence so the soldier may be a part of German propaganda. However, there is one part in the source that is reliable he says “The beaches were jammed with soldiers” which I know from my background knowledge is true because Dunkirk was a relatively small beach with a mass of soldiers on it.
The number of guns lost was colossal with 92,000 guns lost and 500,000 tons of ammunition during nine days of a manic and disorganised evacuation. Six hundred tanks were also lost this was due to the fact that there was no room for heavy machinery, so hundreds were left behind and they fell in to German hands. A depleted R.A.F lost 474 planes in nine days of Battle. The R.A.F. was already out numbered by Hitler’s air force after Dunkirk the situation seemed bleak. After the rescue operation Britain’s military forces were on their knees, they had lost a lot of weaponry, which would take weeks to replace (27072 guns, 600 tanks 20,0000 motor vehicles and 474 planes were lost). The allied forces also lost thousands of well trained and experienced soldiers, unlike machines, training up new soldiers which would put up some resistant to Hitler’s troops, would takes months. The saviour of the B.E.F. was the only bright military aspect Britain could take out of Dunkirk. Without them Britain would have lost the war there and then.
Historians feel that Dunkirk was a defeat for morale with the British Armed forces morale left in tatters and for the first time the British public realised that they could actually lose the war. their in tatters the armed forces had lost machinery men and most importantly the soldiers had lost the belief that they could beat the Nazis. Many sources back up this view by various Historians.
Source 14 (part II) Describes a situation with the question “Anyone know how to use a Bren gun?” was asked to thousands of Dunkirk soldiers on board the “Pillar of Fire” ship deck, but nobody was prepared to offer any help. Somebody must have known how do use a Bren gun. The rescued soldiers no longer want any further involvement in the war. This source is an eyewitness account, so it may be unreliable because it is only one-persons perception of the event. You would expect Atkins to be biased towards the allied troops but his views of the event are negative towards the British troops, this suggests reliability.
Source 15 is an extraction from Richard Hillary’s book the “The Last Battle” the source describes how the Allied sources were tired, frustrated and despondent. Some sections of the troops were angry because while at Dunkirk they felt the R.A.F. did not do enough to stop the dive-bombing Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe frequent air attacks sunk many ships and killed thousands of soldiers. Soldiers arrived disorderly and without equipment with their spirits low .I expect this source to be reliable because it is taken from an respected historians book. Richard Hilary is British therefore he might be biased towards allied forces, but he does not seem to favour the allied soldiers at all.
Source7 tells me how soldiers were fighting amongst each other to scramble on to the evacuation boats. This shows that morale was very low and soldiers felt they were fighting for their own survival. Overall this shows that the soldiers were desperate and only thinking about themselves. This source came from a British Private it is primary evidence and therefore could be biased towards allies, however this source is very negative towards the Allies this would suggest that it is reasonably reliable. This source is also one-persons account of the evacuation, so this incident may be an isolated one.
Morale was low in the armed forces due many soldiers dying and men not knowing when they would be evacuated. Some men had been on the beach for the duration of the evacuation so it was not surprising that men were frustrated tired and wanted no further part to play in the war. Soldiers felt frustrated because there was nothing they could do, because the army had very little equipment. The dive-bombing Luftwaffe had bombed allied soldiers repeatedly, every man on the beach had seen one of their friends die in the raids so it is no surprise when boats came men were scrambling to get on. Nobody wanted to spend a minute more in hell.
Defeat, Deliverance or Victory?
Victory
Historians argue that Dunkirk was a victory. But first we must define a natural, morale and military victory. A natural victory is the amount of soldiers saved compared to government figures and how organised soldiers were during the evacuation. A morale victory relates to maintaining a high spirit during the evacuation of the armed forces and the British public. A military victory is the amount of machinery saved. Morale in the public domain was boosted by the use of propaganda. The British Forces managed to save the B.E.F, which kept Britain in the war. The B.E.F. being saved generally boosted morale in both the armed forces and the public.
Many other Historians feel that Dunkirk was a victory of morale. This is a popular view among historians due to the high sprits of the British public, and the bravery of normal people who helped save thousands of soldiers by sailing boats across the English channel to save their fellow countrymen. These sources backup this view.
Source 11 is extracted from Churchill’s memoirs “The Second World War.” He comments on
“How in the midst of our victory, glory came to the island people”. I would expect this source to be reliable because the Prime Minster has all the facts available to him. But Churchill may be biased towards the allies this source is also a part of a propaganda piece, so some relevant points may be left out. This source is primary evidence and Churchill may have wanted to boost his reputation
Source 16 comments on how Britain snatched glory out of defeat and also the bravery of the public who made an excursion to hell on holiday steamers and came back victorious. This source is primary evidence and was extracted from a speech from J.B. Priestley a very highly respected radio presenter. His show was broadcasted every Sunday. J.B. Priestley was British so he could be biased towards the allied forces. Also his speeches were a main source of propaganda to keep the British public thinking that the Allies would be victorious. So his speeches may leave out information that the forces are doing badly in the war. He may also exaggerate the good aspects of the British army.
Source 17 is a speech from the British Prime Minister. He states that whatever happens in Dunkirk victory or defeat Britain will fight on. He also comments on a
“over powering white glow which has ran through the country from end to end.” This speech kept the spirits high of fellow politicians and the British public. This source has been extracted from Churchill’s memoirs published in 1959 but written during the war; therefore this source is primary evidence. I would expect this source to be reliable because the Prime Minster has all the facts available to him. However he will probably be biased towards the allied forces. This is because he does not want to create public concern. Also his speech is propaganda so facts would be left out or exaggerated.
All these sources show that the British public morale was up beat even though lots of soldiers and machinery was lost during Operation dynamo. The morale was kept high buy speeches from the inspirational Prime Minister Winston Churchill, his optimism kept the people of Britain thinking that they would win the war whatever the outcome of Dunkirk. Propaganda also kept spirits high. Churchill speeches encourage thousands of fellow countrymen to help with the war effort. Hundreds of people gave their boats to the navy to help with the evacuation from Dunkirk. But some heroic people sailed their small holiday boats and paddle steamers across the English Channel to save the lives of brave soldiers, they ignored all the dangers of being killed by the Luftwaffer and help saved many more lives. Churchill acknowledged their Bravery.
It is a popular view that Dunkirk was a natural victory due to the amount of men that where saved in such a short period. Here are sources back up this view.
Source 6 is two pictures of allied soldiers neck high in water boarding vessels in an orderly line. The men look organised and there is no sign of frantic struggles for the boat. The second picture shows lines of men queue along a beach waiting to be picked up by evacuation vessels. The evacuation looks organised. This source is reliable because photographs do not lie. The source is primary evidence so it maybe another piece of government propaganda. I feel this source is reliable because due to my background knowledge I know that there were thousands of men on the beach lined up orderly. I also know that men had to wade into the water to board boats because the beach was too shallow and there was no appropriate docking area.
Source 10 is a table of the dates of the evacuation, number of soldiers saved on each day and the total number of soldiers saved during Operation Dynamo. The source states the evacuation went on for a total of nine days saving 338,226 allied troops. The table is extracted from the “Admiralty Records” quoted from Winston Churchill. The source is primary evidence so it may be a part of propaganda and tell the people that more soldiers were saved than there actually was, however the figures seem accurate. The information from this source is correct operation Dynamo lasted for nine days. However what the sources leaves out is how many men were actually on the beach at Dunkirk in the first place it omits how many died. Without that information, the number of men saved is irrelevant. If there were only 500,000 soldiers on the beach then the number of soldiers saved is a success, but if there was one million soldiers on the beach then the 338,226 soldiers saved is quite poor because many men perished and very few were saved. Even thought the information is reliable it was put into context.
Source 21 is an eyewitness account of Sir Harold Franklin a Divisional Commander at Dunkirk. He says that reports of merciless bombing and the Hell of Dunkirk were rubbish; he walked up and down the beach and never saw a single corpse and very little shelling. I feel this source is not reliable because it is one-persons account of events, and he seems to be very biased towards the allies especially as he is an army officer and he may want to paint a good picture of Dunkirk so he and his army do not look so bad. This piece of evidence also disagrees with many other sources. From my background I know that planes bombed soldiers on the beach vigorously and many men perished during operation Dynamo. So I conclude that this source is unreliable.
Many historians thought that Dunkirk was a natural victory due to the number of soldiers saved in such a short period of time. Operation Dynamo was a great success. After the loss of Calais and Boulogne two adequate ports for such a large operation, Dunkirk and its surrounding beaches remained in allies hands. The operation started on the 27th of May saving only 7,669 soldiers. The beach was very shallow so large ships came as close as possible to the bay wre soldiers had to wade out to them. It was a miracle that 338,226 men were saved. Smoke from burning wrecks prevented the Luftwaffe from bombing the ships and because of this thousands more men were rescued than expected. 338,226 Allied troops were rescued with 139,097 of them being French that were all saved from small port from right under the Nazis noses, the fete was unimaginable.
Another view among historians was that Dunkirk was a victory for the military. The military did very well to hold the port of Dunkirk for long enough so around 340,000 soldiers where saved. Also saving the B.E.F. was considered a major military victory because without them Britain would have been defenceless against the Nazi onslaught. These sources back up that Dunkirk was a victory from a military aspect.
Source 1. is written by A.J.P. Taylor a respected British historian. The source is about how successful Operation Dynamo was. The source states that the operation started on the 27th of May, 338,226 soldiers where saved using 860 ships. Operation Dynamo exceeded all expectations. A.J.P. Taylor is a very respected historian so I expect this source to be reliable. He is British so he maybe biased towards the allies. However, his book the topic of “English History 1914-1945” does not specify purely on Dunkirk so therefore some pieces of information could be left out or glossed over.
Source 9. Describes how important it was that Nazis tanks halted because this gave enough time for allied troops to dig in and hold the port. The port was held for nine days, which was long enough to save 340,000. The source also says that the significance of Dunkirk was only realised after as Hitler realised that Britain could continue in the war. The source is written from a respected historian Allan Bullock, so I expect this source to be reliable. However, his book again is not specifically on Dunkirk therefore he may leave out important fact and the details of the evacuation may not be very thorough.
Source 22. The source says that Dunkirk was a step forward to the defeat of Hitler’s army. The evacuation of the BEF meant that Britain still had an army. It also made Churchill’s position of prime minister stronger. The source is extracted from the book “The incredible Escape”, written by an American, Norman Gelb. The book is released 50 years after Dunkirk, so therefore he has the advantage of hindsight, he also had all the facts available to him and it was not affected by propaganda. I feel this source is reliable.
These sources agree with the view that Dunkirk was a military victory. Historians believe Dunkirk was a military victory purely to do with the fact the BEF were saved because with out them Britain would have been at the mercy to Hitler’s force. Dunkirk is also considered a military victory because after that evacuation Britain and the allied forces went onto win World War II. Getting nearly 340,000 soldiers off the beach was considered to be the start of the victory for Britain. The speed in which such a scratch operation was put together was considered to be a victory. If the British military spent anymore time planning operation Dynamo the number of people saved would have seriously diminished. The military had already been given more time by the unexpected halt of the German panzers, this gave troops at Dunkirk enough time to build adequate defences to defend the beach for nine days. It also gave the British government more timse to organise such an influential operation on the outcome of the war.
Conclusion
After evaluating all these sources and taking all the facts into consideration, I have come to the conclusion that Dunkirk was a Military defeat. I have come to this conclusion due to the amount of machinery lost. The retreating Allied troops lost:
- 2,472 guns.
- 90,000 rifles.
- 63,879 motor vehicles.
- 20,548 motorcycles.
- 500,000 tons of ammunition.
The soldiers left behind lots of machinery due to the speed of the attacks from the German Panzers. The retreat was so swift and unorganised that soldiers did not have enough time to gather up guns and vehicles. The number of boats and aircraft lost was also very high. Out of 860 ships used to save 340,000 men 243 boats were sunk by attacks from dive-bombing Luftwaffe. So many boats were lost because Dunkirk was not an appropriate port for such an operation. The beach was to shallow and with the no piers safe to use because of structural damage. Therefore boats were forced to dock a few hundred feet off shore and wait for men to scramble aboard which obviously took time. This meant they were still in range for the Germans tanks on land and they were easy targets for the Luftwaffe who came up against very little resistance.
The RAF also lost valuable planes, in total 474 aircraft were lost trying to offer men stranded on the beach and ships some much needed air cover from the Luftwaffe. The RAF was already out numbered by the Nazi air force so after Dunkirk the situation worsened. The sources that back up my view that Dunkirk was a military defeat are: source 3,Source 4 and source 24. All three of these source state that the British army numerous guns, motor vehicles, boats and aircraft.
However I do also think that Dunkirk was a natural and morale victory as well. I feel that it was a natural victory due to the amount of men saved during operation Dynamo. Operation Dynamo exceeded all expectation initial the government figures expected to save 40,000 men but the actual total of saved was 340,000 this was an extraordinary fete. Considering this operation was put together in a couple of days it was extremely effective. The government used all the ships it could get their hands on, pleasure boats were used to help the evacuation. The halt of the German tanks gave Ramsay more time to put the operation together and also gave the Soldiers more time to put up defences and hold Dunkirk for nine days. It is not clear why the tanks halted but without question that delay increased the number of soldiers saved. Another factor that helped the evacuation was the cloud of smoke from burning wreckages this offered the ships cover from the Luftwaffe, 47,310 men were saved because the smoke hindered the nazi attacks on the evacuating boats. Sources that have helped me come to this conclusion that Dunkirk was natural victory are source 5 part (I), and source 10 this sources informed me of the number of allied troops saved and the effectiveness of Operation Dynamo. Operation Dynamo lasted nine days and saved 340,000 soldiers and this is why is think Dunkirk was a natural victory.
I also think that Dunkirk was a morale victory because of the up-beat mood of the nation through out the country during the evacuation. Propaganda made the public that Britain would become victorious no matter what the outcome of Dunkirk. Churchill had a big part to play in keeping the spirits high with optimistic to the public and to politicians. The propaganda machine encouraged people to help in the war effort. Hundred of people gave their boats to help evacuate soldiers off the beaches of Dunkirk. So brave Britons also sailed there boats across the English Channel some with no military experience and help save the lives of their fellow countrymen. These acts of braveness were acknowledged by some of the top figures. J.P Preistly stated on one of his radio broadcast.
“How little holiday steamers made an excursion to hell and came back glorious” Sources that back up my view are source 16,and 17 these sources are examples of the propaganda machinery that kept British people believing that they would win the war.
So overall I conclude that Dunkirk was a military defeat but also a success because of the way the country contributed to the war effort and also the extraordinary amount of soldiers who were saved from imprisonment or death.
