(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)
By the night of June2/3, 1940, the struggle to evacuate from Dunkirk members of the British Expeditionary Force and French troops came to an end. Here’s part of what the BBC's report to the British people on June 4.
The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, has described the "miracle of deliverance" from Dunkirk and warned of an impending invasion.Normally I don't editorialize, but I couldn't read the "we" and not make a comment. I'm guessing just about all of you understand.
His moving speech to Parliament came on the day the last allied soldier arrived home from France at the end of a 10-day operation to bring back hundreds of thousands of retreating allied troops trapped by the German Army. […]
Major-General Harold Alexander inspected the shores of Dunkirk from a motorboat this morning to make sure no-one was left behind before boarding the last ship back to Britain. (Actually, some were left behind to serve as a covering force for the last evacuees. Others, especially medical personnel, volunteered to remain behind to care for those who could not be evacuated because of the severity of their wounds. – JinC)
The beach and sea were in chaos. There were bodies floating in the water and we were under constant attack from machine-gun fire, bombing, explosions sending shrapnel in every direction. (Note the BBC referring to “we.” You wouldn’t have that today. One man’s Nazi or other sort of terrorist is now the BBC’s and other news organizations' “militant” or “insurgent.” – JinC) […]
Many thousands were taken straight off the beaches, struggling in shallow waters to board small vessels that transferred them to the waiting ships.
When those who survived the evacuation arrived exhausted in England they were welcomed as returning heroes and offered plenty of tea and sandwiches as they boarded special trains. […]
This afternoon Mr Churchill admitted to the House that when Operation Dynamo was launched on 26 May to rescue allied forces cornered by the advancing Germany Army, he expected about 20,000 or 30,000 would be saved.
But thanks to the valour of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, no less than 338,000 British and French troops were rescued and brought back across the Channel to fight another day.
Mr Churchill tempered his admiration for the success of Operation Dynamo with these words: "Wars are not won by evacuations".
He said there was no doubt in his mind that the last few weeks had been a "colossal military disaster".
The BEF had to leave behind all its heavy armour and equipment.
The French army was weakened, the Belgian army had surrendered, Channel ports, valuable mines and factories in France and Belgium had been taken over by the enemy.
He said the nation should brace itself for another blow. "We are told that Herr Hitler has a plan for invading the British Isles," he said.
He ended his speech with a defiant message to Hitler's armies.
"We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender."
Britain would "ride out the tyranny of war, if necessary for years, if necessary alone."
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4 June 1940: "Dunkirk rescue is over - Churchill defiant" (BBC.co.uk)
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