Dunkirk Spirit

I mentioned Dunkirk Spirit in my post on idioms last week, and coincidentally today was its 70th anniversary.

In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, sparking World War II.  However, despite having overwhelming forces, and ignoring their own commitments, both France and Britain chose not to attack, leading to a nine-month lull during which Hitler was able to regroup and, in May 1940, launch a blitzkrieg against the Allies.

In just two weeks, the Luftwaffe and Panzer tank divisions cut separate lines through the Netherlands and France, separating the British and French forces, and trapping nearly 400,000 troops -- mostly British -- at Dunkirk, on the coast.  The shores were too shallow to effect a rescue, the land too flat to mount a defense, and the Germans tanks were prepared for a final assault which would effectively wipe out the British military.  The situation was bleak--King George VI told the entire country to pray, and the War Cabinet considered surrender.

But on May 25, Hitler ordered the tanks to wait for the infantry, which was three days behind, and in what can only be described as the greatest "hail mary" of all time, Britain put out a call for all seaworthy vessels to gather in southern England.  Defended by the Royal Air Force, a flotilla of some 700 boats -- mostly fishing vessels and pleasure craft, the smallest only 15 feet long -- sailed to Dunkirk on May 27, shuttling soldiers to the British destroyers offshore.  Military experts estimated only 30,000 soldiers would be saved, but instead the Germans were held off for 9 days while 338,000 soldiers were rescued.

Winston Churchill called it a "miracle of deliverance" but also reminded Parliament it was "a colossal military disaster" and "wars are not won by evacuations."  Nearly 50,000 soldiers had been captured, Britain lost most of its heavy artillery, Belgium had already surrendered, and France saw it as an act of abandonment, which no doubt contributed to their surrender three weeks later.

However, Churchill went on to say:

You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be.... We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on 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 on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

(Full audio transcript here.)