.22Fight back to the west.22 Battle of Dunkirk

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.