Evie Young.
Evacuation of Dunkirk.
Over nine dramatic days from May 27th to June 4th 1940, a third of a million British and Allied
service men had to be rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk. It is debateable whether or not
the evacuation of Dunkirk should be seen as a miracle of a defeat because the future of the
British army had been preserved, but it was seen as a defeat because the military was
defeated.
Dunkirk could be seen as a triumph because of how many civilians rallied together to rescue
the stranded BEF. The source B4 shows the chaotic scene of the evacuation and the dangers
the men and the resources faced in this operation. It supports the idea of Dunkirk to be seen
as a miracle because despite all the dangers we see, a vast majority of men were saved. It
also highlights how heroic the little ships were in taking the men back to safety. The painting
was completed after the evacuation which could damage the reliability because the artist
had to use him impression of the event to complete the painting, which may make some of
the images exaggerated or more dramatic. It was also produced by the government which
could affect the reliability of it.
For many Dunkirk was also seen as a triumph because despite what the soldiers had been
through, the moral of the soldiers that had been rescued from Dunkirk still remained high
which is shown in source B6. The source also shows us that the men never lost faith and
given the right equipment they would be able to win the war. The source shows us the spirit
of the men in contrary to how the politicians about their choices of winning the war.
Because it is a primary source, details may have been forgotten and he is writing with the
benefit of hindsight.
Dunkirk can be viewed as a triumph because despite the military defeat the government and
press at the time were successfully able to portray Dunkirk as a miracle. Source B5 is useful
because it shows us how Dunkirk was portrayed to the British public at the time. It
emphasises Dunkirk as a miracle highlighting the bravery of the little ships when they say
‘ships of all sizes dare the German guns’, and how the British forces worked together to
deliver ‘one of the most magnificent operations in history’. The source is primary and
because it was written for a newspaper it could have been biased and used for propaganda.
For many the triumph of Dunkirk is the way everyone rallied together in order to rescue the
stranded soldiers and despite early predictions of only being about forty, fifty thousand
soldiers being saved. Despite that figure they managed to bring back quarter of a million
men. Source B1 supports this because it says ‘the escape captured the minds and hearts of
the British people at a time when it looked probable that we too would soon be invaded. It
seemed like a victory in just getting the troops back to fight another day. This is useful
Evie Young.
because it tells us about how the troops were rescued and how the rescue captured the
miracles and hearts of the people. Because the source is written by a historian you would
assume he had done a lot of research.
However Dunkirk could be seen to be a defeat because of the loss of life, military strength of
the Germans, the fact the British were forced into a retreat, the loss of military equipment,
the fall of France and because of the followed invasion of Britain.
Source B9 is a secondary source, and it tells us about the loss of men, equipment and the fall
of France. It tells us that even Winston Churchill called Dunkirk ‘the greatest military defeat
for many centuries’. This source was produced by a historian so you would assume that this
person has done a lot of research into the topic, however the reliability may be affected
because we don’t know where he got the statistics from and how he can comment on
Churchchills private views on Dunkirk. This source is useful because it explains the losses of
the British forces and what how it led to the fall of France.
In source B12, a BBC news reporter said on a news broadcast what he thought about the
happenings of Dunkirk. This source explains how victory was taken from this defeat by
newspapers and the government playing on the miracle of the numbers of men rescues and
the heroic spirit of the little ships. He says ‘victory was being plucked from defeat’ by the
newspapers and government showing that they were making it look like a miracle so moral
stayed high. However it described Dunkirk as a military disaster and defeat when he says
Dunkirk was a ‘military defeat but a propaganda victory’. The source is also produced by the
benefit of hindsight.
The source B16 is trying to undermined British confidence when he says ‘How many of the
BEF, British Navy and the RAF were sacrificed on the beaches of Dunkirk so that your Prime
Minister could tell you that you now stand alone?’. The sources questions Dunkirk, it
questions the loss of life worth it and it mocks Churchill and the British Government. British
public would have been able to hear such broad cast which tried and failed to undermined
their interpretation of Dunkirk. The reliability of this source can also be questioned because
it is seen as German propaganda.