Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk of 27 May-4 June 1940. totals of men evacuated from Dunkirk - 338,226 One of the most accurate judgements on the miracle of Dunkirk was made by Winston Churchill during his speech to Parliament on 4 June. The tone of his speech was generally upbeat, and concentrated on Churchill’s confidence that any Nazi invasion of Britain would be defeated, but Churchill did strike one note of caution – “We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations” – Operation Dynamo saved the experienced professional core of the British army from total destruction, but it did nothing to prevent the fall of France. Only in the context of a much longer war than was expected in Paris or Berlin by the end of June 1940 did the evacuation from Dunkirk begin to take on its true significance. The presence of the BEF in the south of England, even without their heavy equipment, made it much less likely that the Germans would be able to invade successfully, and made it much more likely that Britain would fight on. Church’s speech ended with one of his most famous passages, which would have been pure bombast without Dunkirk:
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight in the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air; we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender; and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.”
нет, это совецкая армия в 41-м гнала немцев до Берлина
totals of men evacuated from Dunkirk - 338,226
One of the most accurate judgements on the miracle of Dunkirk was made by Winston Churchill during his speech to Parliament on 4 June. The tone of his speech was generally upbeat, and concentrated on Churchill’s confidence that any Nazi invasion of Britain would be defeated, but Churchill did strike one note of caution – “We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations” – Operation Dynamo saved the experienced professional core of the British army from total destruction, but it did nothing to prevent the fall of France. Only in the context of a much longer war than was expected in Paris or Berlin by the end of June 1940 did the evacuation from Dunkirk begin to take on its true significance. The presence of the BEF in the south of England, even without their heavy equipment, made it much less likely that the Germans would be able to invade successfully, and made it much more likely that Britain would fight on. Church’s speech ended with one of his most famous passages, which would have been pure bombast without Dunkirk:
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight in the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air; we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender; and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.”