The Battle of Dunkirk

The Battle of Dunkirk

Who could have ever imagined 'Dunkirk' a word containing only a few

letters, a word which caused immense havoc, annihilation, death and

suffering could signify something so powerful, a word of great

reverence, a word of saviour, hope and spirit for the British. Was

Dunkirk a defeat or victory? There are countless views on Dunkirk,

some say its defeat, other say it was a victory or perhaps even both.

Either way the price that troops, civilians and even nature had to pay

was unforgettable. It is fair to say that the root causes of Dunkirk

started from the effects and result of World War I Germany resented

Britain, America, and France because of Treaty of Versailles German

had to receive. The main thirst of Germans cruelty was their hunger

for revenge and expansion. World war II was announced on 3rd September

1939, by 20th May of 1940 the Germans effortlessly (due to a powerful

new method of attack-Blitzkrieg) managed to trap the BEF (British

Expeditionary Force) and French troops in northern France. Dunkirk was

a seaport located in northern France, on the English Channel and was

the allies' only hope of survival. The evacuation was from May 27th-June

4th 1940. The beaches and harbour of Dunkirk was used for the life

saving operation. The story of Dunkirk begins here.

Defeat

======

It is fair to say that some people may view Dunkirk as a Defeat for

the British. There are numerous definitions of defeat, it could be the

fact that the evacuation was of a disordered nature and the sheer

amount of panic presented, the loss of equipment and troops. The

demoralization of troops and civilians, etc.

We ...

... middle of paper ...

...er of a million men in captivity would have had

to sign a peace treaty, and without the army, how would have Britain

recovered?

And most importantly, not the government estimation of 40,000 men

saved but an actual total of around 340,000

Was it a Victory or was it a defeat?. Dunkirk did have its advantages,

an amazing amount of troops were saved, spiritual boost to the nation,

the fact that it might have contributed to the later defeat of Germany

etc. But the reason why the French and British troops were trapped at

the first place meant that this was a rescue mission, yes and luckily

it succeed, but success with a price a phenomenal loss of military

equipment and lives.

And like Churchill said: -

'We must be very careful not to assign to this the attributes of a

victory. Wars are not won by evacuations'