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N0KFQ > TODAY 05.06.11 01:40l 81 Lines 3917 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jun 4
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Sent: 110604/2312Z 8555@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Jun 4, 1940:
Dunkirk evacuation ends
On June 4, 1940, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk on
the Belgian coast ends as German forces capture the beach port.
The nine-day evacuation, the largest of its kind in history and
an unexpected success, saved 338,000 Allied troops from capture
by the Nazis.
On May 10, 1940, the Germans launched their attack against the
West, storming into Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. Faced with
far superior airpower, more unified command, and highly mobile
armored forces, the Allied defenders were a poor match for the
German Wehrmacht. In a lightning attack, the Germans raced across
Western Europe. On May 12, they entered France, out-flanking the
northwest corners of the Maginot Line, previously alleged by
French military command to be an impregnable defense of their
eastern border. On May 15, the Dutch surrendered.
The Germans advanced in an arc westward from the Ardennes in
Belgium, along France's Somme River, and to the English Channel,
cutting off communication between the Allies' northern and
southern forces. The Allied armies in the north, which comprised
the main body of Allied forces, were quickly being encircled. By
May 19, Lord John Gort, the British commander, was already
considering the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force
(BEF) by sea.
Reluctant to retreat so soon, the Allies fought on and launched
an ineffective counterattack on May 21. By May 24, Walther von
Brauchitsch, the German army commander in chief, was poised to
take Dunkirk, the last port available for the withdrawal of the
mass of the BEF from Europe. Fortunately for the Allies, Nazi
leader Adolf Hitler suddenly intervened, halting the German
advance. Hitler had been assured by Hermann Goering, head of the
Luftwaffe, that his aircraft could destroy the Allied forces
trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk, so Hitler ordered the forces
besieging Dunkirk to pull back.
On May 26, the British finally initiated Operation Dynamo--the
evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk. The next day, the
Allies learned that King Leopold III of Belgium was surrendering,
and the Germans resumed the land attack on Dunkirk. By then, the
British had fortified their defenses, but the Germans would not
be held for long, and the evacuation was escalated. As there were
not enough ships to transport the huge masses of men stranded at
Dunkirk, the British Admiralty called on all British citizens in
possession of sea-worthy vessels to lend their ships to the
effort. Fishing boats, pleasure yachts, lifeboats, and other
civilian ships raced to Dunkirk, braving mines, bombs, and
torpedoes.
During the evacuation, the Royal Air Force (RAF) successfully
resisted the Luftwaffe, saving the operation from failure. Still,
the German fighters bombarded the beach, destroyed numerous
vessels, and pursued other ships within a few miles of the
English coast. The harbor at Dunkirk was bombed out of use, and
small civilian vessels had to ferry the soldiers from the beaches
to the warships waiting at sea. But for nine days, the evacuation
continued, a miracle to the Allied commanders who had expected
disaster. By June 4, when the Germans closed in and the operation
came to an end, 198,000 British and 140,000 French troops were
saved. These experienced soldiers would play a crucial role in
future resistance against Nazi Germany.
With Western Europe abandoned by its main defenders, the German
army swept through the rest of France, and Paris fell on June 14.
Eight days later, Henri Petain signed an armistice with the Nazis
at Compiegne. Germany annexed half the country, leaving the other
half in the hands of their puppet French rulers. On June 6, 1944,
liberation of Western Europe finally began with the successful
Allied landing at Normandy.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@centurytel.net
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