75th Anniversary Of The Evacuation/Boat Lift Of British Forces At Dunkirk France.

WhatInThe

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May is the 75th anniversary of the evacuation/boat lift of British forces at Dunkirk after France was overrun by Germany in early World War II.

http://www.reuters.com/video/2015/0...rance-f?videoId=364320692&videoChannel=117760

https://notwhatyoumightthink.wordpress.com/2015/05/23/thinking-aloud-75th-anniversary-of-dunkirk/

Read some estimates of 380,000 men/troops were evacuated. Also a bit of a debate wether the Germans let or should've let those men escape. Or was it actually possible or was Germany saving for war with Russia. Military equipment was left behind. Many speculate which all it is that if the Germans had captured those 380,000 men it would've changed the war outcome.

But as it turned out many of those men escaped and lived to fight another day.
 

Whichever way you look at it, the evacuation from Dunkirk was an inspiring event.
It stands beside the Battle of Britain as one of Britain's "finest hours".

Less inspiring was the evacuation of Allied troops from Greece in 1941.
It was a debacle.

That seems to be a forgotten episode from WWII

In hindsight I look at how ill prepared many of the Allied countries were at the beginning of WW II. I think Germany's strategic use of newer technology like planes & tanks caught a lot of Allied commanders by surprise. Even Japan's use of aircraft carriers surpassed almost everyone until Pearl Harbor. But I guess if you planning for global domination you will use anything and everything at your disposal wether it's technology or strategy.
 

"Also a bit of a debate wether the Germans let or should've let those men escape."

To some degree they had no choice.

Far too many, particularly in the UK, denigrate the French.

While they were badly let down by their politicians, the average polu, knowing his country was lost, and he was going into the bag, fought valiantly on, in a desperate rearguard action while the evacuation, which included 100,000 French troops, a third of the total, went ahead.
 
"Also a bit of a debate wether the Germans let or should've let those men escape."

To some degree they had no choice.

Far too many, particularly in the UK, denigrate the French.

While they were badly let down by their politicians, the average polu, knowing his country was lost, and he was going into the bag, fought valiantly on, in a desperate rearguard action while the evacuation, which included 100,000 French troops, a third of the total, went ahead.

French held onto Lille outnumbered and outgunned long enough to contribute/allow the evacuation at Dunkirk. Pretty standard military fare to secure an objective before moving on which what the German staff was probably thinking. France had a lot of issues during WWII but this was a shining moment. The Siege Of Lille.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lille_(1940)
 

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