Battle Battle of Dunkirk

1 battle

1.1 fight west
1.2 battle of wytschaete
1.3 action @ poperinge
1.4 belgian surrender
1.5 defence of perimeter
1.6 retreat dunkirk

battle
fight west

map of battle.

on 26 may, anthony eden told general lord gort, commander-in-chief (c-in-c) of bef, might need fight west , , ordered him prepare plans evacuation, without telling french or belgians. gort had foreseen order , preliminary plans in hand. first such plan, defence along lys canal, not carried out because of german advances on 26 may, 2nd , 50th divisions pinned down, , 1st, 5th , 48th divisions under heavy attack. 2nd division took heavy casualties trying keep corridor open, being reduced brigade strength, succeeded; 1st, 3rd, 4th , 42nd divisions escaped along corridor day, did one-third of french first army. allies fell back, disabled artillery , vehicles , destroyed stores.

on 27 may, british fought dunkirk perimeter line. le paradis massacre took place day, when 3rd ss division totenkopf machine-gunned 97 british , french prisoners near la bassée canal. british prisoners 2nd battalion, royal norfolk regiment, part of 4th brigade of 2nd division. ss men lined them against wall of barn , shot them all; 2 survived. meanwhile, luftwaffe dropped bombs , leaflets on allied armies. leaflets showed map of situation. read, in english , french: british soldiers! @ map: gives true situation! troops entirely surrounded – stop fighting! put down arms! land , air-minded germans, sea seemed impassable barrier, believed allies surrounded; british saw sea route safety.

besides luftwaffe s bombs, german heavy artillery (which had come within range) fired high-explosive shells dunkirk. time, on 1,000 civilians in town had been killed. bombardment continued until evacuation over.

battle of wytschaete

gort had sent lieutenant general ronald adam, commanding iii corps, ahead build defensive perimeter around dunkirk. lieutenant general alan brooke, commanding ii corps, conduct holding action 3rd, 4th, 5th, , 50th divisions along ypres-comines canal far yser, while rest of bef fell back. battle of wytschaete, on border in belgium, toughest action brooke faced in role.

on 26 may, germans made reconnaissance in force against british position. @ mid-day on 27 may, launched full-scale attack 3 divisions south of ypres. confused battle followed, visibility low because of forested or urban terrain, , communications poor because british @ time used no radios below battalion level , telephone wires had been cut. germans used infiltration tactics among british, beaten back.

the heaviest fighting in 5th division s sector. still on 27 may, brooke ordered 3rd division commander, major-general bernard montgomery, extend division s line left, thereby freeing 10th , 11th brigades, both of 4th division, join 5th division @ messines ridge. 10th brigade arrived first, find enemy had advanced far closing on british field artillery. between them, 10th , 11th brigades cleared ridge of germans, , 28 may securely dug in east of wytschaete.

that day, brooke ordered counterattack. spearheaded 2 battalions, 3rd grenadier guards , 2nd north staffordshire regiment, both of major-general harold alexander s 1st division. north staffords advanced far kortekeer river, while grenadiers reached canal itself, not hold it. counterattack disrupted germans, holding them little longer while bef retreated.

action @ poperinge

the route brooke s position dunkirk passed through town of poperinge (known british sources poperinghe ), there bottleneck @ bridge on yser canal. of main roads in area converged on bridge. on 27 may, luftwaffe bombed resulting traffic jam thoroughly 2 hours, destroying or immobilising 80 percent of vehicles. luftwaffe raid, on night of 28–29 may, illuminated flares light burning vehicles. british 44th division in particular had abandon many guns , lorries, losing of them between poperinge , mont.

the german 6. panzerdivision have destroyed 44th division @ poperinge on 29 may, thereby cutting off 3rd , 50th divisions well. historian , author julian thompson calls astonishing did not, distracted, investing nearby town of cassel.

belgian surrender

gort had ordered lieutenant general adam, commanding iii corps, , french general fagalde prepare perimeter defence of dunkirk. perimeter semicircular, french troops manning western sector , british troops eastern. ran along belgian coastline nieuport in east via furnes, bulskamp , bergues gravelines in west. line made strong possible under circumstances, on 28 may belgian army, largely outnumbered attacking germans, , still under direct command of king leopold, had refused abandon troops , belgian refugees inside little enclave of remained of unoccupied belgium, surrendered. left 20 mi (32 km) gap in gort s eastern flank between british , sea. british surprised belgian capitulation, despite king leopold warning them in advance. constitutional monarch, leopold s decision surrender without consulting belgian government led condemnation belgian , french prime ministers, hubert pierlot , paul reynaud.

king george vi sent gort telegram read:

countrymen have been following pride , admiration courageous resistance of british expeditionary force during continuing fighting of last fortnight. faced circumstances outside control in position of extreme difficulty, displaying gallantry has never been surpassed in annals of british army. hearts of of @ home , magnificent troops in hour of peril.

gort sent battle-worn 3rd, 4th , 50th divisions line fill space belgians had held.

defence of perimeter

british prisoners of war pzkpfw ib german tank

while still moving position, ran headlong german 256th division, trying outflank gort. armoured cars of 12th lancers stopped germans @ nieuport itself. confused battle raged along perimeter throughout 28 may. command , control on british side disintegrated, , perimeter driven inwards toward dunkirk.

meanwhile, erwin rommel had surrounded 5 divisions of french first army near lille. although cut off , heavily outnumbered, french fought on 4 days under general molinié, thereby keeping 7 german divisions assault on dunkirk , saving estimated 100,000 allied troops.

the defence of dunkirk perimeter held throughout 29–30 may, allies falling degrees. on 31 may, germans broke through @ nieuport. situation grew desperate 2 british battalion commanders manned bren gun, 1 colonel firing , other loading. few hours later, 2nd battalion, coldstream guards of 3rd division, rushed reinforce line near furnes, british troops had been routed. guards restored order shooting of fleeing troops , turning others around @ bayonet point. british troops returned line , german assault beaten back.

in afternoon, germans breached perimeter near canal @ bulskamp boggy ground on far side of canal , sporadic fire durham light infantry, halted them. night fell, germans massed attack @ nieuport. eighteen raf bombers found germans while still assembling , scattered them accurate bombing run.

retreat dunkirk

feature film re-enactment of british troops under fire on beach @ dunkirk.

also on 31 may, general von kuechler assumed command of german forces @ dunkirk. plan simple: launch all-out attack across whole front @ 11:00 on 1 june. strangely, von kuechler ignored radio intercept telling him british abandoning eastern end of line fall dunkirk itself.

the morning of 1 june clear–good flying weather, in contrast bad weather had hindered air operations on 30 , 31 may (there 2 , half flying days in whole operation.) although churchill had promised french british cover escape, on ground french held line whilst last remaining british soldiers evacuated. enduring concentrated german artillery fire , luftwaffe strafing , bombs, french stood ground. on 2 june (the day last of british units embarked onto ships), french began fall slowly, , 3 june germans 2 miles (3 km) dunkirk. night of 3 june last night of evacuations. @ 10:20 on 4 june, germans hoisted swastika on docks many british , french troops had escaped.

the desperate resistance of allied forces, french 12th motorised infantry division fort des dunes, had bought time evacuation of bulk of troops. wehrmacht captured 35,000 soldiers, of them french. these men had protected evacuation until last moment , unable embark. same fate reserved survivors of french 12th motorised infantry division (composed in particular of french 150th regiment of infantry); taken prisoner on morning of 4 june on beach of malo-les-bains. flag of regiment burnt not fall hands of enemy.

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