1940 May – June Fall of France and the Battle of Dunkirk
World War II had barely begun and Hitler had already conquered many smaller countries in Europe such as Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in May of 1940.
This brought the Germans to the northern border of France. The Germans launched a massive armored attack through the Ardennes Forest slicing across the northern part of France in what came to be known as a blitzkrieg campaign combing tank divisions and coordinated air strikes in lightning quick maneuvers designed to take the enemy by surprise. This was extremely effective because the Germans had reached the English Channel by May 20th, 1940.
The assault effectively cut off the British Expeditionary Force (or BEF), as well as a large number of French and Belgian troops, from the rest of the Allied forces in France. With the resistance to the German surprise invasion collapsing fast the British Expeditionary Force fell back to the port of Dunkirk where Churchill ordered that they evacuate as many troops as possible to England. This evacuation was referred to as Operation Dynamo and lasted nine days. Operation Dynamo rescued 338,226 soldiers from Dunkirk using any vessel it could find that was operational.
Below is a short film that describes Operation Dynamo or as some refer to it as the Miracle of Dunkirk.
This brought the Germans to the northern border of France. The Germans launched a massive armored attack through the Ardennes Forest slicing across the northern part of France in what came to be known as a blitzkrieg campaign combing tank divisions and coordinated air strikes in lightning quick maneuvers designed to take the enemy by surprise. This was extremely effective because the Germans had reached the English Channel by May 20th, 1940.
The assault effectively cut off the British Expeditionary Force (or BEF), as well as a large number of French and Belgian troops, from the rest of the Allied forces in France. With the resistance to the German surprise invasion collapsing fast the British Expeditionary Force fell back to the port of Dunkirk where Churchill ordered that they evacuate as many troops as possible to England. This evacuation was referred to as Operation Dynamo and lasted nine days. Operation Dynamo rescued 338,226 soldiers from Dunkirk using any vessel it could find that was operational.
Below is a short film that describes Operation Dynamo or as some refer to it as the Miracle of Dunkirk.
The situation in France went from bad to worse with the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force, the French Army and remaining British troops were left to defend a long front with minimal forces and no reserves. This was compounded by the fact that much of their armor and heavy weapons had been lost during the fighting in May. On June 5th, 1940 the Germans renewed their attack and quickly broke through the French lines. Nine days later Paris fell and the French army was in a full retreat to the south. The British evacuated the remaining 215,000 troops from Cherbourg and St. Malo. On June 25th, 1940 the French surrendered and signed an armistice with Germany. German forces now occupied much of northern and western France, while an independent, pro-German state (Vichy France) was formed in the southwestern France.
Follow this link and then the onscreen instructions to see an animated map version of the Battle of Dunkirk and the evacuation of Allied troops from France to England. The animation was created by the British Broadcasting Company.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/
wwtwo_map_fall_france/index_embed.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/
wwtwo_map_fall_france/index_embed.shtml