Post by wilkyisdashiznit on May 26, 2020 15:21:08 GMT -8
80th Anniversary of Operation Dynamo and the beginning of the Miracle at Dunkirk.
On May 10, 1940, the Germans enacted the Manstein Plan, involving a diversionary invasion into Holland followed immediately by an invasion into France through the Ardennes Forest.
Despite having more tanks that had better armor and firepower (but were categorically slower), the French forces were overwhelmed. 10 days later, General Heinz Guderian had his tanks at Abbeville on the English Channel, ignoring several, but not all, orders to stop or slow to allow other elements of the German Army and Luftwaffe to catch up.
The speed of the Germans was such that elements of the British military started to prepare for an Invasion of England itself on May 19th. Because of the Invasion of France on May 10th, Neville Chamberlain was replaced by Winston Churchill on the 13th.
On May 21st, The British and French, North of the German line, attacked Arras the next day in an effort to re-establish a link to British and French forces to the South. The attack began with Allied units accidentally attacking one another. After realizing their mutual mistake, the Allies recovered to penetrate 10 miles into the German line before being repulsed. Some communications emanating from the German field commanders were picked up by the German High Command. Conservative anti-tank elements assumed the worst and ordered the tanks to wait and allow other elements of the Army and Luftwaffe to catch up.
Two days later, and against orders, Lord Gort in charge of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) determined that a breakout was impossible and that the only way to save the bulk of the BEF and the remaining portions of the Belgian, French, and Polish armies North of the German line was for them to escape by sea back to England at Dunkirk.
The German High Command, unnerved by the early reports at Arras worried that the tanks had moved too quickly and that the area around Dunkirk was too muddy for tanks ordered all tanks to halt 12 miles from Dunkirk. Hermann Göring requested the right to destroy the Allied forces at Dunkirk, which was granted.
Guderian regularly ignored orders from German High Command, but Hitler personally visited on May 24th and ordered the tanks to go no further. Guderian would only permit his subordinates from coming within 10 miles of Dunkirk and only when it made military sense to do so. After the Luftwaffe failed to destroy the Allies at Dunkirk, Hitler issued another order at 1530 on May 26th for the tanks to start moving forward. However, most of the tanks could not start moving forward again until the following day.
British news did not print stories about the devolving situation in Western Europe. However, on May 26, 1940, the British churches and synogogues offered prayers for British soldiers "in dire peril in France." These prayers confirmed the BEF's situation in Western Europe to the general public.
With the bulk of German tanks about 10 miles away and the British High Command finally realizing the gravity of the situation that faced the BEF and having received un-coded German messages concerning the halt order, Churchill ordered Operation Dynamo just before 1900 hours on May 26, 1940. The stated goal of Operation Dynamo was to save 73,000 men with the expectation that the Allies only could hold out for approximately 48 hours. 48 hours later, only 53,000 men had been evacuated on 35 ships. Surprisingly, the Allies were able to hold out for nine days. By that time, Churchill was able to evacuate 338,226 men on 861 ships. After holding out for nine days, the largely French rearguard of around 48,000 surrendered on June 4th. The majority of those below the rank of corporal worked as slave labor for the remainder of the War.
Churchill heralded the Miracle at Dunkirk. On June 4th he made his famous "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" address in the House of Commons. The final paragraph was:
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
On June 5, 1940, the Germans enacted Fall Rot ("Case/Situation Red" in English), the invasion of the rest of France. The French were able to hold for two days before German air superiority broke the French defenses. Paris fell on June 14th. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resolved to continue the War; however, his Cabinet balked. Churchill proposed a Franco-British Union, which Reynaud supported. However, a majority of the French cabinet either preferred union with Germany or thought that a Franco-British Union was merely a ploy for the British to steal the French colonies. Because of the Cabinet's initial opinions, Reynaud resigned on June 16th and was replaced by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Pétain immediately sought an armistice. Hitler demanded that the negotiations take place in the railway carriage, where the 1918 armistice was signed. After listening to the preamble on June 21st, Hitler left to show his disdain for France. The armistice was signed the following day, Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel, filling in for Hitler. It took effect six hours after the Franco-Italian Armistice was signed in the early morning hours of June 25th.
At the Clairière de l'Armistice (Glade of the Armistice), the Nazis left one statute of Marshall Foch. The train car and a large stone tablet which read in French "HERE ON THE ELEVENTH OF NOVEMBER 1918 SUCCUMBED THE CRIMINAL PRIDE OF THE GERMAN REICH, VANQUISHED BY THE FREE PEOPLES WHICH IT TRIED TO ENSLAVE" were taken back to Germany as trophies. Within three days, everything else at the Glade of the Armistice was completely destroyed.
10 of the most important forts on the Maginot Line had surrendered prior to the armistice. 47 others surrendered once they had the opportunity to review the armistice. The final Maginot Line fort held out until July 10th, when it finally surrendered under protest after being order to surrender by General Alphonse Joseph Georges.
On May 10, 1940, the Germans enacted the Manstein Plan, involving a diversionary invasion into Holland followed immediately by an invasion into France through the Ardennes Forest.
Despite having more tanks that had better armor and firepower (but were categorically slower), the French forces were overwhelmed. 10 days later, General Heinz Guderian had his tanks at Abbeville on the English Channel, ignoring several, but not all, orders to stop or slow to allow other elements of the German Army and Luftwaffe to catch up.
The speed of the Germans was such that elements of the British military started to prepare for an Invasion of England itself on May 19th. Because of the Invasion of France on May 10th, Neville Chamberlain was replaced by Winston Churchill on the 13th.
On May 21st, The British and French, North of the German line, attacked Arras the next day in an effort to re-establish a link to British and French forces to the South. The attack began with Allied units accidentally attacking one another. After realizing their mutual mistake, the Allies recovered to penetrate 10 miles into the German line before being repulsed. Some communications emanating from the German field commanders were picked up by the German High Command. Conservative anti-tank elements assumed the worst and ordered the tanks to wait and allow other elements of the Army and Luftwaffe to catch up.
Two days later, and against orders, Lord Gort in charge of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) determined that a breakout was impossible and that the only way to save the bulk of the BEF and the remaining portions of the Belgian, French, and Polish armies North of the German line was for them to escape by sea back to England at Dunkirk.
The German High Command, unnerved by the early reports at Arras worried that the tanks had moved too quickly and that the area around Dunkirk was too muddy for tanks ordered all tanks to halt 12 miles from Dunkirk. Hermann Göring requested the right to destroy the Allied forces at Dunkirk, which was granted.
Guderian regularly ignored orders from German High Command, but Hitler personally visited on May 24th and ordered the tanks to go no further. Guderian would only permit his subordinates from coming within 10 miles of Dunkirk and only when it made military sense to do so. After the Luftwaffe failed to destroy the Allies at Dunkirk, Hitler issued another order at 1530 on May 26th for the tanks to start moving forward. However, most of the tanks could not start moving forward again until the following day.
British news did not print stories about the devolving situation in Western Europe. However, on May 26, 1940, the British churches and synogogues offered prayers for British soldiers "in dire peril in France." These prayers confirmed the BEF's situation in Western Europe to the general public.
With the bulk of German tanks about 10 miles away and the British High Command finally realizing the gravity of the situation that faced the BEF and having received un-coded German messages concerning the halt order, Churchill ordered Operation Dynamo just before 1900 hours on May 26, 1940. The stated goal of Operation Dynamo was to save 73,000 men with the expectation that the Allies only could hold out for approximately 48 hours. 48 hours later, only 53,000 men had been evacuated on 35 ships. Surprisingly, the Allies were able to hold out for nine days. By that time, Churchill was able to evacuate 338,226 men on 861 ships. After holding out for nine days, the largely French rearguard of around 48,000 surrendered on June 4th. The majority of those below the rank of corporal worked as slave labor for the remainder of the War.
Churchill heralded the Miracle at Dunkirk. On June 4th he made his famous "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" address in the House of Commons. The final paragraph was:
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
On June 5, 1940, the Germans enacted Fall Rot ("Case/Situation Red" in English), the invasion of the rest of France. The French were able to hold for two days before German air superiority broke the French defenses. Paris fell on June 14th. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resolved to continue the War; however, his Cabinet balked. Churchill proposed a Franco-British Union, which Reynaud supported. However, a majority of the French cabinet either preferred union with Germany or thought that a Franco-British Union was merely a ploy for the British to steal the French colonies. Because of the Cabinet's initial opinions, Reynaud resigned on June 16th and was replaced by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Pétain immediately sought an armistice. Hitler demanded that the negotiations take place in the railway carriage, where the 1918 armistice was signed. After listening to the preamble on June 21st, Hitler left to show his disdain for France. The armistice was signed the following day, Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel, filling in for Hitler. It took effect six hours after the Franco-Italian Armistice was signed in the early morning hours of June 25th.
At the Clairière de l'Armistice (Glade of the Armistice), the Nazis left one statute of Marshall Foch. The train car and a large stone tablet which read in French "HERE ON THE ELEVENTH OF NOVEMBER 1918 SUCCUMBED THE CRIMINAL PRIDE OF THE GERMAN REICH, VANQUISHED BY THE FREE PEOPLES WHICH IT TRIED TO ENSLAVE" were taken back to Germany as trophies. Within three days, everything else at the Glade of the Armistice was completely destroyed.
10 of the most important forts on the Maginot Line had surrendered prior to the armistice. 47 others surrendered once they had the opportunity to review the armistice. The final Maginot Line fort held out until July 10th, when it finally surrendered under protest after being order to surrender by General Alphonse Joseph Georges.