Did the Battle of Dunkirk stop the Axis winning WWII? – Tags: 1940, Allies, Axis, Battle of Dunkirk, Churchill, Dunkirk evacuation, England, Europe, Flanders, Germany, history, Hitler, military history, Nazi Germany, UK, war, war strategies, war theories, World War 2, WWII, WWII battles, WWII Dunkirk

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Examining the theories and counter-theories from May-June 1940

The “Conventional” Wisdom about the Battle of Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo

The successful, relentless advance by German Army Group A under the direction of Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt, under operation Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), left over 400,000 Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk, their backs to the sea, forced to abandon all their equipment.

With victory over “perfidious Albion” in his grasp, the Führer inexplicably stopped his troops advancing on Dunkirk on 24 May 1940. This blunder gave the retreating Allies enough time to create a defensive line.

This indecision on dealing the coup de grâce allowed 338,000 British and French troops to escape. Churchill and his battered British Expeditionary Force (BEF) returned to fight another day. Hitler lost his best chance to defeat the last remaining resistance in Europe. And the rest, as they say, is history.

But was it that straightforward? Let’s take a step back from this simplistic assessment. Let’s explore what was taking place in the cauldron of war and the arguments about the Battle of Dunkirk, and the Wehrmacht’s strategy that still exists until this day.

What Actually Happened Between May and June 1940?

The invasion of France and the low countries by Army Groups A and B under Rundstedt and Generaloberst Fedor von Bock, began on 10 May 1940. The assaults on Belgium and the Netherlands accompanied a “surprise” advance through the Ardennes by Rundstedt’s Army Group A.

This bold move, bypassing France’s “impregnable” Maginot Line, was the brainchild of Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein, who would feature prominently in many other theatres of the war. With the Ardennes Forest successfully navigated, Army Group A emerged on 14 May, moved on toward Sedan, and turned north toward to the English channel.

Despite the best efforts of the retreating Allied armies, the German advance split the BEF, under Lord John Gort, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and the French and Belgian armies from French troops further South.

Reaching the Channel by 20 May, the German troops continued their northward advances. The prospect of the capture of British and French personnel, and the occupation of key strategic ports, was firmly in their sights.

Surely an outnumbered BEF, and a retreating, soon to be beaten French army, would be no match for the clinical tactics of Blitzkrieg?

So Why did the German Advance Stop?

With over 400,000 Allied troops now pinned into the Dunkirk pocket and facing the menace of Army Group A, something inexplicable happened.

Rundstedt ordered a halt to the advance (and the inevitable capture of the Allied troops) on 23 May. This instruction was endorsed by Hitler the day after with the full assent of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW or High Command of the Armed Forces) under the direction of Generaloberst Wilhelm Keitel (soon to become Generalfeldmarschall after the armistice was agreed with France in July 1940).

With little prospect of keeping the German forces at bay, the task of leading an evacuation mission, code-named Operation Dynamo, was given to Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay. With a headquarters established in the tunnels beneath Dover Castle, a rescue plan came into force. Between 26 May-4 June, the rescue of over 338,000 British and Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk took place.

 

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