The Miracle of Dunkirk

I knew what happened at Dunkirk, but I did not know the details. With the release of the movie “Dunkirk,” I decided to read more about it before watching the movie. I selected “The Miracle of Dunkirk: The True Story of Operation Dynamo” by Walter Lord since it was the book that came most highly recommended by reviewers.Initially, “The Miracle of Dunkirk” was a bit confusing. As an American, some of the military terms, acronyms, and colloquial British words and phrases had me confused. Walter Lord was also able to transfer the utter confusion and chaos of the British military and political leaders about Dunkirk to his readers. After a few chapters, my confusion about what was happening turned into organized chaos and the events at Dunkirk became clearer.The fact that 338,000 British and French troops were rescued is a “miracle”. The details that Walter Lord gives puts the readers in the midst of the chaos. There were heroes. There were cowards. The fog of war caused numerous friendly fire casualty. The execution of British POWs by the Nazis did not surprise me. I was, however, surprised at the recounting of British officers shooting and killing their own men who deserted their defensive position.The evacuation of Dunkirk is seen as a British “miracle,” but Walter Lord’s portrayal of the French troops and their commanders gives a good background on their important contribution to the “miracle.” Without the French troops delaying the German advance, the “miracle” would not have happened. The image of all the French troops abandoned on the beaches of Dunkirk as the last rescue ships leave is haunting.I haven’t yet seen the move “Dunkirk,” but I think I will appreciate and better understand what happened more now that I’ve read Walter Lord’s “The Miracle of Dunkirk.”I read the Kindle edition. The maps, diagrams, and photos on the Kindle edition don’t have the best resolution so they're hard to read.

I alternately loved and dreaded this book. Many chapters felt like long interludes between the storyline I sought. Consequently I speed read several long chapters in the middle.His comprehensive reporting of a highly complex story are understandably tedious at times, at least for me.I loved his last chapter which highlighted a number of key lessons and takeaways from Dunkirk. It was, in my limited view, an early turning point that determined the nature of the remaining years of the conflict.The loss of over 100,000 French soldiers, unable to be transported, led to the fall of France, only two weeks later. I often wondered why their resistance was so small. Now I know.The activities at Dunkirk served to galvanize England's resolve to fight. The returning troops were treated like heroes, much to Churchill's dismay. He understood the worst was yet to come, but the rescue of 340,000 soldiers felt more like a victory to the British citizenry. Instead of sapping their resolve it increased it.Churchill's inspirational speech about fighting in the air, on the beach, at home etc. was the conclusion of his Dunkirk report to parliament. It's interesting how this rescue campaign changed the future of the world. This rescue's legacy can not be overstated. France fell easily, Britain would be next. Then Russia would fall no doubt fall, and the world would be completely different than it is, largely because of Dunkirk.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written and researched book on Dunkirk. Walter Lord did a very convincing job of telling the story and delved into many of the facets that I had PRE-existing questions about such as 1) why did the panzers halt, 2) what happened to the BEF and French divisions covering the retreat, 3) how did they organize so many non-Navy boats so quickly, 4) where were the Spitfires and Hurricanes and 5) how did they get so many troops off the beaches/docks in so short of a time period and during Stuka attacks?I had just finished Horne’s “To Lose a Battle” so this was the perfect follow-up, especially as this book (and the Dunkirk movie a few years back) was a bit light in Operation Dynamo although it did cover the Encirclement very well. This book covered exactly what I wanted to know in regard to where the troops were and where the ships and planes were during during the 26 May-4 June time period. It also got into the key personalities involved from Churchill to Ramsay, Gort, Clouston, Wake-Walker, etc.I also wanted some of the detail on important facts like weather and tides and the impact on evacuations. I like the ship by ship research as the role played by smaller ships was incredible, especially on the beach loadings. The German decision-making was very interesting from how the panzer divisions were deployed to how the Luftwaffe was used and also the increasing focus on the Somme and Paris which seemed to snub the huge momentum to the coast that Guderian and Rommel has following the Meuse break-out.The role played by average citizenry during this operation was amazing and deserved to be told and told again. Many rushed to aid an army that needed them most at this critical juncture. Also, the French covered the BEF in a manner that has been rather unsung compared to the Maginot collapse. Key units played critical roles during this week and despite the British attempt to evacuate as many French as possible, between 30-40,000 were left behind. I also appreciated the role played by the BEF rearguard and the elite units that came out last like the Coldstream Guards and Green Howards. The French paid a larger price but they were directly fighting for their country. The BEF and Allies with Free French would regroup but it would take time. The Alliance was tricky to manage at times but personalities such as Eisenhower and Churchill were able to hold it together.The what Ifs surrounding Dunkirk are huge. What would have happened if Germany closed the noose right away and the impact on the overall war effort well before D-Day was even a thought. Germany would have been able to focus more solely on the Eastern Front. Many large questions to ponder. I wholly recommend this book for a top to bottom look at Dunkirk and why it probably deserves more attention for military historians and others who just like to read about ‘miracles.’

This is my replacement copy of the book which I originally bought fresh off the Press as a First Edition. It is one of the best "broad-spectrum" books about the Dunkirk evacuation, [and I think I have now read them all while doing research into a so-far unreported aspect of the history of the "inshore flotilla".] You won't get a lot of pictures of the little ships involved or the chaos ashore, but Mr Lord - even though researching from the USA, - was very successful in tracking down survivors, and getting their stories recorded, so the book is packed with textual detail in précis form. With the aid of this book and further contact facilitated by the Author, I was able to contact the man who as a very young and not-fully-trained Naval Officer - had been given charge of my family's 150ton Fleet flagship on May 28th, 1940, - and get from him in a couple of very detailed letters the story of her last four days, before she was sunk. In exchange for Mr Lord's help, I was able to gift him with the background story of the requisitioning of our Family's little fleet of 7 excursion boats with pictures of the original Requisitioning and Compensation Claim documents ; and information about the aftermath - when owners were told their boats had been "lost"; and about the process of owners trying to claim compensation from a miserly Government - information which Mr Lord, working from his home in America had not been able to find from other sources.

The miracle of deliverance, as the evacuation of Dunkirk undoubtably was from 24 May and 4 June 1940, was one of the most significant events of the second world war. It can only be imagined what would have happened if this miracle had never occured and how different history would have been if it had failed and the soldiers evacuated had become prisoners of war instead.The German blitzkreig across France that was unleashed on 10 May 1940, drew the French and British armies north into Belgium as it was anticipated that the German army would take the same route as it did in 1914. This is what the Germans hoped would happen and the French and British obligingly walked into the trap prepared for them. The German army then attacked much further south than the French and British expected and when it reached the sea at Abbeville, the allied armies were trapped. The much vaunted French army which was believed to be the strongest in Europe proved to be a paper tiger and not the force it was in 1914 and it disintegrated and the British army proved to be far too small and outdated in its attitudes and was completely outfought by the Germans with a deadly combination of fast moving panzer divisions and control of the air.Walter Lord tells the story of the events that lead up to the evacuation in a vivid, exciting and compelling way largely from the perspective of those who were eye witnesses to what happened and it is described in a manner that makes you feel you are actually an eye witmess yourself. It often reads more like a thriller than a documentary account. It tends to concentrate on what happened on and near the beaches, in the little ships or in the operations room at Dover of Operation Dynamo, as the evacuation was called, but like so many accounts it tends to overlook the contribution and sacrifices made by the soldiers on the perimeter south of Dunkirk without whom no evacuation would have been possible. Since the war many British people have not been sufficiently aware that it was the courage of the French army on part of the perimeter holding off the German army that enabled so many British solidiers to escape to England. Lord outlines how the controversial decision was made to evacuate the British army which infuriated the French (and still does to some extent) but it was surely right to do so as Normandy was to prove.David Rowland

Having read other books about Dunkirk, where the authors bog you down in highly detailed and incomprehensible accounts of the retreat and fighting, but then gloss over the actual evacuation, I looked high and low for a book like this.A straightforward story where the retreat and fighting and the naval operation is more balanced, with if anything a bias in favor of the naval account. I wanted to know more about the little ships. I wanted some accounts from the sailors and civilians who took part. I wanted to read about the jetties made out of lorries. I wanted to get a flavor of how it was to wait in Dunkirk for several days before being picked up. Mr Lord's book gives the reader just that.If there's anything to criticize, it might be that the books is rather upbeat, even though the author does mention quite a few unsavory facts, such as British officers shooting their own, to instill discipline and the such. Instances of cowardice, the shirking of duty, it's all there, but Mr Lord doesn't dwell on those facts too much, but I wouldn't say his account is biased. The event on the whole demonstrates courage, solidarity and how a resounding defeat didn't turn into a complete disaster.

A really good book on the Dunkirk retreat and evacuation. Easy to read and yet full of detail. Captures the essence of the improvisation without being over the top.

Really gets into the evacuation and also the events on land in France that helped make it happen