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What's the matter with the Dunkirk retreat? One minute to understand the Dunkirk retreat

4hw.org: Recently, the movie "Dunkirk", which is regarded as the great God by numerous fans, was released. For a while, there was a lot of dust about that period of history. Dunkirk's retreat was an indelible military action in the history of World War II. Students with bad history, let's take a look at the events of Dunkirk's retreat!

1. Why did the British French coalition choose to withdraw from Dunkirk?

In September 1939, Germany flashed Poland and World War II broke out. Later, the German army captured Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. The British French allied forces defeated the German troops in Belgium and France. Under the German attack, the French government lost its fighting spirit. Britain plans to withdraw from France in order to preserve its strength. Meanwhile, Churchill replaced Chamberlain as British Prime Minister. Churchill opposed negotiations with Germany, saying he would "fight for victory at all costs.".

On May 20, 1940, Churchill suggested that 'as a precautionary measure, the Department of the Navy should have a large number of boats ready to go to French ports'. After that, the war continued to deteriorate. On May 25, all traffic lines were completely cut off, our weak counter attack was defeated & hellip; & hellip; all our hopes of escaping to the South were lost (Churchill's memories). The only way left was by sea. On the 26th, the British Navy officially ordered the implementation of the "generator" operation and ordered the troops to gather in Dunkirk, a port in the northeast of France, to cross the English Channel and withdraw to the UK.

2. Why did Hitler suddenly stop attacking?

In the course of Dunkirk's great retreat, there is an unsolved mystery, that is, why Hitler issued an order of "stop attack" on May 24, 1940, so that the British and French allied forces could occupy Dunkirk first.

So far, the German generals and historians of various countries have made a variety of interpretations on this issue. It was said that Hitler's intention to stop the attack was to set aside the British Expeditionary Forces for a living so as to facilitate negotiations with Britain. It was also said that Hitler had given Goering a chance to make a contribution and let his air force, without the support of the ground forces, seriously destroy the coalition forces. Both of these statements remain at the level of speculation and lack of historical evidence.

The most credible explanation is that rundstead suggested to Hitler that 'the armored forces have gone so far, so fast, and their strength has been greatly weakened. They need to stop for rectification and redeployment so as to carry out the final attack on the enemy'. Hald, the former German army chief of staff, also said that Hitler was' worried about these armored forces because they would take great risks to enter an area with crisscrossing canals and disadvantages, but would not get any significant gains'. He believed that only relying on air forces could prevent the British and French allied forces from withdrawing from the sea on a large scale. Some German generals (including those at the front) expressed dissatisfaction with the order, believing that they had missed the plane.

When the German army resumed its attack, the British and French allied forces had seized Dunkirk and started to deploy the operation "generator".

3. How can the Allied forces block the German army and guarantee the great retreat?

In order to ensure the smooth progress of dunkerk's great retreat, the British and French allied forces who blocked the German troops in the periphery made great sacrifices.

In Calais, for example, an infantry brigade and a tank battalion of the British army were ordered to help the French garrison, and their retreat was strictly forbidden. Afterwards, the British government spoke highly of their contribution. "In the four days of life and death, the garrison fought to the death and restrained at least two German armored divisions. Otherwise, the British retreat to the sea could be cut off. The German Panzer Division swept through the country like a scythe, but made a stumbling block in Calais & hellip; & hellip; 'this battle won time for the great retreat.

Bouchard, the commander of the first French army group, refused to withdraw. Five divisions under him bravely resisted in lil, ensuring the safety of Dunkirk. All these French troops were later captured by the German army. In the West and southwest of dunkerk, the 16th French army regiment led by fajard is responsible for defense. After the end of the great retreat, more than 40000 people of fajard and his subordinates were captured. As Churchill later said, 'please bear in mind that if there is no Dunkirk guard to keep fighting. Our work in Britain to rebuild an army to defend our homeland and win the final victory will be greatly frustrated '.

4. Why is the British Army dissatisfied with the British air force?

The RAF played a more critical role in covering the evacuation.

They flew 300 times a day from British airports to fight German planes in the sky over Dunkirk. Churchill said: 'again and again, they rushed into the German fleet of fighters and bombers, scattered them in pieces, drove them out of the sky and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy. "During the cover of the great retreat, the RAF lost 106 aircraft, but down 156 German aircraft.

However, the British Expeditionary soldiers stranded on the beach can only feel that they have been bombed by German planes, and it is difficult to see their own planes fighting against the German air force in a few miles or above the clouds, so they were extremely dissatisfied with the British air force at one time.

Churchill was also helpless: 'because he did not know the situation, there was even a strong anger in the army towards the air force, and some troops insulted people wearing air force uniforms when landing at Dover or Thames port. They were supposed to shake hands with the air force, but how could they know that? 'he had to' make every effort to explain this fact 'in parliament, stressing that Dunkirk' the victory was won by the air force '.

5. When the British retreated, did they ignore the French?

The French were told by the British of their plans to withdraw when operation dynamo was about to begin.

Although Churchill had ordered that 'the French army and we should withdraw from Dunkirk as much as possible' and 'let the French army not rely solely on their own means of transportation', in practice, the British army was still the first to withdraw, and French soldiers were often rejected. As of May 30, only 6000 French troops were among the 120000 troops withdrawn to the UK.

In response to the pressure of politics and public opinion, Churchill had to reiterate once again that "to withdraw more French troops" would cause irreparable damage to our relations with the allies if we failed to do so ". The remaining British troops were asked to hold their positions as long as they could, so that the French could continue to withdraw. From June 1 to 4, about 98000 French troops were evacuated to Britain.

6. How many coalition soldiers have civilians rescued?

Churchill began by suggesting that the troops should be withdrawn. He ordered people to collect ships for preparation.

In addition to the destroyers, minesweepers and other warships of the British navy, the British people spontaneously provided 400 boats, including yachts, steam boats, tugs, lifeboats and fishing boats. People from all walks of life, including fishermen, dockers, car drivers and speedboat players, took part in the evacuation. They saved a large number of coalition soldiers gathered in Dunkirk in the rain of gunfire. During the operation, 125 civilians were killed.

Churchill said in his recollection, "small boats go between the coast and big boats. They stop at the beach to meet the soldiers. They take the people who Wade on the boat and rescue the people who fall into the water, regardless of the enemy's bombing, though they often suffer from sacrifice.". But the number of ships is enough to make up for the damage caused by the air raid. As far as the whole & lsquo; mosquito & rsquo; fleet is concerned, they can't sink. 'he praised,' just as we suffered defeat, the battle at Dunkirk beach reached the ears of our united and invincible Islanders. This glorious act will be remembered by all our history books forever. '

About 100000 soldiers returned to Britain in these boats.

7. How much does climate contribute to the smooth implementation of the great retreat?

In addition to Hitler's order to stop the attack, the climate also helped the British and French allied forces.

From May 26 to June 4, 1940, at least half of the time was spent in acid rain, coupled with the thick smoke brought by explosives, which made the visibility on the beach very low, and the effect of German air strikes was greatly reduced. As Chang Ziyi said, bad weather has become a major enemy of German aircraft.

At the same time, the English channel, which used to be subject to frequent storms, has been quite calm in these days.

British soldiers recalled: 'suddenly, for several days, the sea became calmer than the reservoir, and there was almost no ripple on the sea during the whole process of large-scale transportation. This greatly eased the pressure of the sailors, and ensured that they could still operate the ship in the water or on the ship when the ship had been overloaded by one or two times, and could sail smoothly when the water surface was only a few feet from the ship's side.

8. What is the real picture of the great retreat?

The movie Dunkirk focuses on the performance of people in retreat. From the memory of those soldiers in those days, it is not difficult for us to know the scene of Dunkirk's retreat.

For example, major William Middleton rivers of the British tank regiment recalled the situation on the beach: 'Dunkirk is full of noise, black smoke everywhere, and there are always German planes throwing bombs in the sky. A lot of soldiers are moving towards the dock, and there are a lot of soldiers on the beach. There have been attempts to organize the soldiers by area so that more soldiers can return to Britain on destroyers or boats. This is a mess! "

Due to the lack of ships, it is difficult for the British and French Union soldiers captured by the German army to maintain their boarding order. British signalman Wilfred & middot; Walters recalled: 'when I arrived in a motorboat, it was three inches short of sinking into the water. The scene was very chaotic. The soldiers pushed and jostled and wanted to get on the boat immediately. After a while, the boat capsized because there were so many people on board. 'Lieutenant Wilbur middot cook of the artillery regiment benefited from a good officer,' our officer is very good. When an unidentified soldier wants to force his way in, he pulls out his revolver and shoots in front of them. 'fortunately, most of the time, the soldiers are willing to obey the discipline.

Even on board, it doesn't mean safety. British Sergeant Frank Middleton Heller recalled: 'while on board, we were hit by German air strikes. More than 30 of us fell into the water together. Because of my leg injury, I can only swim with dog paddle. I rowed hard and finally came back to the beach & hellip; & hellip; waiting for the next chance to board '.

9. What is the significance of the great retreat?

There is no doubt that the great retreat of Dunkirk is indeed a miracle. As for its historical influence, it has long been determined. Giles McDonough, a British historian, is very representative in his book the history of the world campaign. He said, "although the British Expeditionary Army lost all its equipment and only trained troops were able to withdraw successfully, this retreat has preserved a living force for the British army and has great military significance. At the same time, the success of the great retreat also greatly boosted morale. '

If the British Expeditionary Forces were to be annihilated in Dunkirk, the consequences would be extremely serious. If Chang Ziyi, a Chinese scholar, analyzed in the miraculous Retreat: the battle of Dunkirk, "not only can weapons and equipment be difficult to sustain, but even soldiers and officers can't get together", because "this army almost contains all the cream of the British army … &hellip, so its losses can be said to be irreparable". Later in World War II