An pocketable battleground guide that also provides an excellent overview of the retreat into the Dunkirk perimeter and the attempts to delay the German Panzers long enough to evacuate more than 350,000 British and French troops from the open beaches. This is a well-written and lavishly illustrated guide book which also covers the frequently neglected battles that made the evacuation such a spectacular success – Very Highly Recommended
NAME: Battleground Dunkirk, The Dunkirk Perimeter and Evacuation 1940, France and Flanders Campaign FILE: R2935 AUTHOR: Jerry Murland PUBLISHER: Pen and Sword BINDING: soft back PAGES: 218 PRICE: £14.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWII, World War II, World War 2, Second World War, Battle of France, Flanders Campaign, BEF, Operation Dynamo, Dunkirk Evacuation, French Army, German Army, cockpit of Europe
ISBN: 1-47385-223-4
IMAGE: B2935.jpg BUYNOW: tinyurl.com/y669ouew LINKS: DESCRIPTION: An pocketable battleground guide that also provides an excellent overview of the retreat into the Dunkirk perimeter and the attempts to delay the German Panzers long enough to evacuate more than 350,000 British and French troops from the open beaches. This is a well-written and lavishly illustrated guide book which also covers the frequently neglected battles that made the evacuation such a spectacular success – Very Highly Recommended The story of the Dunkirk Evacuation has been told in many books, articles and films. Any army having to withdraw from a battleground cannot claim it as any kind of victory, but the evacuation was a spectacular victory that saved the war for Britain, frustrated the Germans and provided the platform from which the liberation of Europe could be later launched. What captures the imagination is how a huge fleet of tiny vessels of every type braved the Luftwaffe to come close in to the shore to take off exhausted troops from the open beaches. These vessels were fishing boats, lifeboats, coastal craft and pleasure craft, mostly manned by their owners as volunteers. To return now to the beaches on the Dunkirk Little Ships is moving and an experience of how difficult it can be even in clam weather and without the threat of enemy guns and bombs. Even the RN Flagship in the final stages was a 68 ft torpedo boat, MTB102 which was built as a private venture and became the pattern from which Vospers built many hundred MTB and MGB Coastal Forces warships. Built of wood, this pocket warship is still preserved by operation and has made many return anniversary visits to Dunkirk. On her decks it is easy to appreciate how terribly exposed her crew were and amazing to know that she survived a 500lb bomb exploding only 3ft from her transom. The extraordinary courage of the Little Ships has naturally taken focus away from the equally vital fighting withdrawal to the Dunkirk Perimeter. This guide provides a complete picture of how the battles related to each other. It also pays tribute to the air defence which was often invisible to the soldiers in Dunkirk, who unfairly felt badly neglected by the RAF. The RAF did fly fighter and bomber missions in support of the fighting withdrawal and lost many planes in the process, as did the Fleet Air Arm which flew sorties with Blackburn Skua dive bombers, using them as close support aircraft and even as dog fighters, suffering heavy losses but causing much damage to the Germans and delaying the German advance.