Who started the battle of Dunkirk?

Answer 1

On September 29th 1940 as the German army were taking control of http://wiki.answers.com/hub/World-War-2-Germany-Invades-Poland; Adolf Hitler told his generals that an offensive should be launched immediately against France.

By pupil from the Gilberd

Answer 2

More than 300,000 troops were evacuated fromDunkirk and the surrounding beaches in May and June 1940. At the time the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said it was "a miracle of deliverance". Dunkirk writer David J. Knowles explains what happened.

"A miracle" - is the best description of what happened at Dunkirk in May and June 1940.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were rescued from the German advance in the nick of time.

The troops were desperately needed back on the home shores to help defend against a Nazi invasion.

They were rescued from the harbour and beaches near to Dunkirk by a curious assembly of many different types of craft.

Many of the little ships, such as motor yachts, fishing boats and all manner of other such craft, were privately owned.

German forces underestimated

Although a large number of these ships were taken across the channel by navy personnel - many were also taken over by their owners and other civilians, all eager to help in what had become a catastrophe.

The British, French and Belgium governments had seriously underestimated the strength of the German forces in their equipment, transport and fire power - which was far superior to much of our outdated armoury.

Consequently the British Expeditionary Force, as well as the French and Belgian forces, found themselves defending positions against overwhelming odds.

Desperate retreat

Before long, with the Germans effectively cutting off nearly all of the escape routes to the channel, the BEF found itself desperately retreating to the harbour and beaches of Dunkirk.

Vice Admiral Ramsay - who was in charge of Operation Dynamo - had sent destroyers and transport ships to evacuate the troops, but they only expected to have time to lift off about 30,000 troops.

However, before long, the harbour became partially blocked by ships sunk in consistent attacks from enemy aircraft. It became necessary to take the troops off the nearby beaches as well - something that was thought to be an almost impossible task because of shallow water.

Seemed like a victory

This is when the little ships came to play their part. A variety of motor boats, fishing smacks, trawlers, lifeboats, paddle steamers and many other types of craft came over the channel to assist in the escape.

They mainly ferried the troops from the beaches to the destroyers laying offshore - but thousands of troops came all the way back to England in some of these boats.

The escape captured the minds and hearts of the British people at a time when it looked probable that we too would soon be invaded.

It seemed like a victory in just getting the troops back - over a third of a million of them - to fight another day.

Hundreds of civilian ships helped the soldiers to escape

The Battle of Dunkirk was the defense and evacuation of the British and Allied forces that had been separated from the main body of the French defenses by the German advance.

After the seven months of the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940. To the east, the German Army Group B invaded and subdued the Netherlands and advanced westwards through Belgium. On the 14 May, Army Group A burst through the Ardennes region and advanced rapidly to the west toward Sedan, then turned northwards to the English Channel, in what Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein called the "sickle cut" (known as the Manstein Plan).

A series of Allied counter-attacks, including the Battle of Arras, failed to sever the German spearhead, which reached the coast on 20 May, separating the British Expeditionary Force near Armentières, the French First Army, and the Belgian army further to the north from the majority of French troops south of the German penetration. After reaching the Channel, the Germans swung north along the coast, threatening to capture the ports and trap the British and French forces before they could evacuate to Britain.

The Battle of Dunkirk lasted from around May 25 to June 3, 1940. After the Phony War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May, 1940. German armour burst through the Ardennes region and advanced rapidly driving north in the so-called "sickle cut". To the east the Germans invaded and subdued the Netherlands and advanced rapidly through Belgium.

The combined British, French and Belgian forces were rapidly split around Armentières. The German forces then swept north to capture Calais, holding a large body of Allied soldiers trapped against the coast on the Franco-Belgian border. It became clear to the British that the battle was lost and the question was now how many Allied soldiers could be removed to the relative safety of England before their resistance was crushed.

Germany: 19th Panzer Corps, under General Heinz Guderian; 41st Panzer Corps, led by General GH Reinhardt

As France fell rapidly, the Allies' northern and southern forces were separated by the German advance from the Ardennes to the Somme. The Allied armies in the north were being encircled.

By 19 May 1940 the British commander, Viscount Gort, was considering the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) by sea. But London was demanding more action and on 21 May, Gort launched an attack from Arras.

This attack lacked the necessary armour and General Heinz Guderian's tanks continued past Boulogne and Calais to cross the canal defence line close to Dunkirk, the only port left for an Allied withdrawal from Europe.

On 24 May, just as Guderian was expecting to drive into Dunkirk, Hitler gave the surprise order to withdraw back to the canal line. Why the order was given has never been explained fully.

One possible explanation is that Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, assured Hitler that his aircraft alone could destroy the Allied troops trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk. Others believe Hitler felt that Britain might accept peace terms more readily without a humiliating surrender. Whatever the reason, the German halt gave the Allies an unexpected opportunity to evacuate their troops.

Evacuation began on 26 May and gained urgency the next day, when Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch, the German Commander-in-Chief, persuaded Hitler to rescind his orders and German tanks again advanced on Dunkirk.

By this time the Allies had strengthened their defenses and the tanks met heavy resistance. Almost immediately, Hitler ordered them instead to move south for the imminent attack on the Somme-Aisne line, another lucky break for the Allies.

Heavy German bombing had destroyed Dunkirk's harbour, and there were hundreds of thousands of men on the beach, hoping to be rescued. The Luftwaffe attacked whenever the weather allowed, reducing the town of Dunkirk to rubble.

On 29 May, the evacuation was announced to the British public, and many privately owned boats started arriving at Dunkirk to ferry the troops to safety. This flotilla of small vessels famously became known as the 'Little Ships'. The contribution these civilian vessels made to the Dunkirk evacuation gave rise to the term 'Dunkirk spirit', an expression still used to describe the British ability to rally together in the face of adversity.

By 4 June, when the operation ended, 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved, but virtually all of their heavy equipment had been abandoned. Six destroyers had been sunk, along with eight personnel ships and around 200 small craft, from a total of around 860 vessels of all sizes.

A further 220,000 Allied troops were rescued by British ships from other French ports (Cherbourg, Saint-Malo, Brest, and Saint-Nazaire), bringing the total of Allied troops evacuated to 558,000.

Although the Germans had taken over a million Allied prisoners in three weeks at a cost of 60,000 casualties, the evacuation was a major boost to British morale and enabled the Allies to fight another day - even if that fight was to be on home turf, resisting the expected German invasion of Britain. I disagree simply because the Battle of Dunkirk was a part of the chain of events that led to the withdrawal. Britain lost every battle as they got pushed back to the sea because as they were led to the sea, they would become squashed with nowhere to move and most would drown. Every step towards the sea was a failure for Britain.

Yet at the Battle of Dunkirk, we have to weigh the successes and failures of the operation. They managed to escape being massacred which would have been likely if they couldn't pull the evacuation off. They completed their aims of withdrawal. Germany missed its chance to knock Britain out of the war.

I'd say it was a failure if the aim of Dunkirk was to push back the Germans to gain more room but through losses, they had to evacuate. Yet the British aim from the start was to leave France and they pulled this off well.

Then we have to take into consideration what a military success is. I'd call it putting yourself in a better position to win the whole war through the results of the battle. I believe Britain achieved this by escaping the massacre.

Answer 3

On September 29th 1940 as the German army were taking control of http://wiki.answers.com/hub/World-War-2-Germany-Invades-Poland; Adolf Hitler told his generals that an offensive should be launched immediately against France.

By pupil from the Gilberd

Answer 4

The Battle Of Dunkirk was in essence a defensive one in which the allied troops were seeking to retreat by any means possible from Occupied Europe. As to who "started it" the transgressor was Germany as they sought to stop the allies reforming an attacking unit. Germany had by this stage occupied Holland and Belgium - their overwhelming momentum lead to this battle.

Answer 5

The year was 1940. The Germans were advancing into France. The French were fighting but the British devised the fight was futile. Saving soldiers was the decision as to have fighting men for an attack later on. On the evening of May 23, the British odered his commanders to retreat to the near-by port of Dunkirk an action that would save the British Army to fight another day.

Answer 6

Dunkirk was the retreat of the British Expeditionary force from France, it did not directly start the Battle of Britain.

Dunkirk was the retreat of the British Expeditionary force from France, it did not directly start the Battle of Britain.

Answer 7

THE GERMAN ARMY DEFEATED THE BRITISH AND THE SPANISH ARMY !!

Answer 8

Dunkirk actually happened during World War II. The Allied troops became trapped by the German Army at the Port of Dunkirk. They had no means of escape except by sea.

Answer 9

Dunkirk was the retreat of the British Expeditionary force from France, it did not directly start the Battle of Britain.