Dunkirk Disaster

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The Great Escape: Dunkirk January 27, 2011 World History since 1900’s On May 27, 1940, one million allied soldiers were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. With the Nazi forces breathing down their neck, Britain pulled a miracle out of their hat. The evacuation of the troops on the beaches of Dunkirk was a victory for the allies and a major mistake for the Nazi regime. This essay will examine how Britain rescued 1/3 of a million troops, how the Nazis let 1/3 of a million troops go and why Sir Keith Park and the Royal Air force were major benefactors to the Dunkirk escape. Without these contributions, the miracle of Dunkirk would have been the tragedy of Dunkirk. Firstly, The evacuation of Dunkirk was a victory for Britain, because…show more content…
It was in the Dynamo room where British Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsey planned out Operation Dynamo and updated Sir Winston Churchill along the way.[3] Due to wartime censorship and the want to keep the British morale up, the full degree of the disaster around Dunkirk was not published. The initial plan was the recovery of 45, 000 troops from the British Expeditionary Force within two days.[4] They expected the German forces would be able to block further evacuation. Britain expected the Luftwaffe would be the main force to block the evacuation. Many troops were able to get on board the flotilla form the harbor’s protective mole onto 42 British destroyers and other large ships. Ten additional destroyers join Operation Dynamo on May 26. Two French divisions remained behind to protect the evacuation and allow them to escape the Germans. Although they halted the German advance they, soon surrendered on June 3rd and were captured and became prisoners of…show more content…
Without the help of Sir Keith Park and the Royal Air Force, the casualty number would have been a lot larger. Sir Keith Park commandeered the 11th Group of Fighter Command. Keith also created a brilliant plan for the defense of London and the South East of England. Keith was in command of the squadron that fought for the Battle of Britain. The failure of the Luftwaffe to defeat the Royal Air Force in 1940 at the Battle of Britain is seen as Germany’s first major mistake in the Second World War against the western front. The Nazi Troops called Sir Keith Park “the Defender of London”. Sir Keith Park was a decorated fighter pilot in World War one and would become Commander of the Royal Air Force during the evacuation of Dunkirk. Chief of the Royal Air Force, Lord Tedder said this about Sir Keith Park after the battle for Britain, in February 1947, “If any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did. I do not believe it is realized how much that on man, with his leadership, his calm judgment and his skill, did to serve, not only this country, but the world.”[7] Sir Keith Park and the 11th squadron of the Royal Air Force, were considered the most vital squadron of the Royal Air Force, even by Sir Winston Churchill. They were put in charge of protecting the Southern coastline of Britain, the South
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