Source F, a primary source is an account written in 1962, (assuming it has been written in a book or diary) written by a soldier (supposing British) who fought at Dunkirk. This source shows the reality of events. “The evacuation has been over-glamorised…I walked along the beaches several times and never saw a corpse, there was very little shelling. In every unit there are some men who have no stomach for a fight.” From this quote we can infer that the scenes weren’t chaotic, the soldiers were gutless and weak. The bombings weren’t as bad as they were made out to be. This source was created to show people the reality of what actually happened at Dunkirk. It also informed people that the “miracle” was not a miracle at all. However, this source is limited in its usefulness as the event was recalled twenty-two years later; this may have resulted in slight exaggeration and memory loss. Also, it is one person’s view of the events that occurred which makes it less reliable. It is useful because it is detailed and informative. It is also useful as it was not censored however it is limited in its usefulness as certain points may have been exaggerated to get the soldier’s point of view across or to assume him selling the book he had written. The quote “he never saw a dead body” is clearly an exaggeration as we know that even though people were evacuated, many also lost their lives.
Source J is a table which gives us statistics about Dunkirk; it is a secondary source as it was produced after the war. The data includes the amount of British casualties (over 68,000 men were killed, captured, wounded or missing), equipment that they had lost (2,500 anti-aircraft and field gun, 11,000 machine guns, 75,000 vehicles (including tanks), total number of troops that were evacuated (338,226), and the total number evacuated by civilian (not army) craft (26,500). The source is reliable as it informs you about the number of British casualties, equipment lost and people evacuated. However the source isn’t useful because from the statistics we can infer that even though these figures are shown, there is no reference as to what, when, who, where, why and how this source was produced. It doesn’t tell you who created this source or when it was produced, the source is limited because it’s a use of propaganda therefore it could have been staged by the British government.
Some sources however show the opposite and support the fact that the evacuation was a “miracle” and a success. There are several sources to demonstrate this. Source C, a primary source is a cartoon by David Low, it was published in the London Evening Standard and was published in the 1900s, (assuming around 1915). It shows a soldier (possibly British) standing defiantly on the shores of Dunkirk with one arm in the air showing determination and courage. He is trying to portray to the Germans that he is not afraid; he is adamant not to give up and is showing a positive attitude. It shows that the soldier is proud to be British. In the picture we can see planes (we assume this is the German Luftwaffe). This source was created to boost morale, Britain had to fight Germany alone, and their ally France had let them down either by surrendering or being captured as prisoners. From this source we can infer that the British soldiers were brave and that even though they were alone they were not willing to back down. Their ally France had let them down and now they had to face what was to transpire on their own. This also shows us that the evacuation was a success. This cartoon was created to encourage support for the BEF, build patriotism, to engender a feeling of happiness and to create a positive thought about the evacuation of Dunkirk. This source is useful because it shows the successes and was created from the time. However, this source is limited in its usefulness as it is censored; it is a cartoon, so it is not as reliable. It could also have been staged as it was published in the London Evening Standard, so it could have been perceived to show only the braveness of the soldiers and to show the public there was nothing to worry about. It is also one person’s interpretation which makes it limited; there are no facts which make it highly unreliable. It only shows the successes. It is a source of propaganda and is biased. The government used censorship because they wanted the British public to support them; they wanted them to believe them. The government could have edited the cartoon to make it look like a success, that the British have it all under controlled. It was created to show the positive reflection of what had happened in the war. The source is reliable as it was created at the time however the source is limited because it doesn’t show Dunkirk was a disaster, it just shows the positive points. Although the Germans were bombing they missed the British, this allowed them to escape.
Source E, a primary source shows an image of British soldiers waiting to be evacuated whilst sitting on the beach at Dunkirk. The British soldiers are shown as being relaxed and happy. We assume this photograph was taken by a British person and was staged. The reason for this being because of what its purpose was which was to raise recruitment. It showed that the evacuation was a success and the braveness of the soldiers. This gave Britain a false sense of hope and deluded them into thinking something which was not true. However, this has limitations as the photograph could have been staged. The photograph only shows us a positive side, and from our understanding and knowledge we know this was not the case. From this we can infer that the photograph was deliberately hiding something; the truth, which was that it was not all easy work, there were British soldiers out there fighting for their country and weren’t sat on the beach of Dunkirk calm and relaxed. This false misconception was to deceive the British into thinking that there was nothing to be concerned about.
Source G, a primary source is a BBC radio news bulletin, 31st May 1940. This source shows how Dunkirk was a success. “All night and all day men of the undefeated BEF have been coming home. The men have come back in glory. Their morale is high and they are anxious to be back again, “to have a real crack at the Germans”. This is clearly an exaggeration of the reality of what the BEF soldiers were actually facing. This source does not tell us the number of casualties/fatalities or anything negative. The BBC was glorifying the victory of the British soldiers. However, this has limitations as because it was the BBC; a highly respected and trusted news organisation controlled by the Government who reported this news, the British public had no reason not to believe them. It is an example of propaganda because the British government could have modified the truth which was the opposite of what they were illustrating to the British public so that they would have their support. They wanted to destroy the truth, boost morale and encourage further recruitment. In the source it says ‘all night and all day men of the undefeated BEF have been coming home. The men have come back in glory’. However, I know this is false as using my own knowledge I know that on June 1940 the British soldiers were captured by the Germans, I also know that they were defeated. This source has been exaggerated. The source is useful because it was created at the time and it is positive. It is reliable as it informs you about the atmosphere of the soldiers. On the other
hand it was the voice of the government and it was globally well respected. This source is limited because it mentions all the positive factors; it does not mention any negative points or disasters.
Source I is a media report, (we assume) from the early 1940s, therefore it is a primary source. It was reported at the time of Dunkirk. Movie Tone News reported it like this. “More cheering evidence of the success of this amazing military exploit is the presence in Britain of large numbers of French soldiers…The story of that epic withdrawal will live in the history as a glorious example of discipline (amongst our troops)…”. The source tells us that the British were heroes for the reason that they saved France (saviours). It is showing the hospitality of the British in receiving the French. This tells you that even cinemas described the evacuation as a triumph. This would calm the people of Britain telling them that the soldiers were well and coming home safe; this raised the morale of the British. It encouraged recruitment and informed the British public everyone was reunited, that the evacuation was a success. It shows Britain as being tolerant as they welcomed foreigners sharing their traditions amongst their neighbours. The source is reliable because it is a primary source. However, this has limitations as it was biased and propaganda was used. Also, it is one person’s view of events that happened from the BBC and government could have told them what to depict (peer pressuring) to make the British look brave. It was created for a public audience (the British). They welcomed the French. This source shows how they all united together. The British government manipulated the information. It says truimphalistic military music was played (successful music). The source is useful because it helps you to understand British propaganda, how the British media was used throughout the entire evacuation. There are elements of the truth however it doesn’t tell you the disasters or how horrible it was. It says it was a success, however using my own knowledge I know this information is false as I know there were casualties and fatalities. Also there were soldiers that had been captured by the Germans. This proves the evacuation wasn’t a total success; however the source is limited as it does not show you any failures, and it is just presenting a positive outlook. It does not inform you about the horrific things that had happened, the casualties or the fatalities.
Source B is from a book published in England in July 1940 shortly after the events at Dunkirk. From this source we can infer that the evacuation was a success. There wasn’t anyone who wasn’t willing to give up their life. There was a sense of patriotism and both boys and men were involved. It was created as an example of propaganda. Its purpose was to make men come away from the war as strong soldiers who were proud of what they had accomplished for their country and to keep their morale high. However, this has limitations as it does not mention any negatives, it is one-sided and censorship has been used.
Following my analysis of the sources, the evacuation from Dunkirk in World War 2 was a great disaster for Britain. The reason for this is because there were many casualties in this battle. Despite the overall success of evacuating the troops, all of their vehicles and heavy equipment had to be abandoned during the retreat. A total of six UK destroyers sunk during the operation along with nine large boats. Additionally, nineteen destroyers were damaged and more than two hundred of the Allied sea craft were sunk with just as many damaged. There were sixty-eight thousand BEF casualties. Along with the loss of vital lives came the massive losses of equipment. Overall, nearly forty thousand pieces of equipment were surrendered to the enemy, including seventeen machine
guns, twelve thousand field guns, two thousand eight hundred anti-aircraft guns and four hundred and seventy five tanks. This was one of the worst losses of equipment ever sustained by the British military. These were obscene numbers of equipment lost. Even though they rescued thousands of men, many were still lost. It was also a disaster because they Germans fully expected Great Britain to make peace. However, it was also a success in some areas such as the fact that it was a miracle in how many people were saved and how British fishermen were prepared to sacrifice their lives to help save the soldiers. America also agreed that it was a miracle as they were stunned at how many people were rescued and unharmed. In my opinion, I think that the British people’s thoughts of Dunkirk were only a miracle as they were lead wrongly and mislead by the press and media. Also, censorship and propaganda influenced the people’s thoughts and understanding. People were only told the good points about Operation Dynamo and Dunkirk to keep the morale up and so that the people would not doubt Churchill.
