Table of Contents
How many soldiers did Churchill want from Dunkirk?
5. Over 300,000 soldiers were rescued. Churchill and his advisers had expected that it would be possible to rescue only 20,000 to 30,000 men, but in all 338,000 troops were rescued from Dunkirk, a third of them French.
Was Dunkirk a success or failure for Britain?
Dunkirk was in essence a defeat, but there was a victory in the impact it had on the country’s morale and national identity during the war – which was largely shaped by the British media.
How many lives were lost at Dunkirk?
The BEF lost 68,000 soldiers (dead, wounded, missing, or captured) from 10 May until the armistice with France on 22 June. 3,500 British were killed and 13,053 wounded.
What would’ve happened if Britain lost the Battle of Britain?
In either case, with Britain defeated, American entry into the war against Germany would have become even less likely and German forces would have been free to throw more resources into the invasion of the Soviet Union, perhaps leading to a different outcome in that theatre.
How many British soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk?
During nine fateful days, from May 26 to June 4, 1940, the British managed to evacuate more than 200,000 men of the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches of Dunkirk. From what seemed like certain destruction, the cream of the British army had been rescued to fight another day.
What if Dunkirk had succeeded without the French rearguards?
Dunkirk would not have succeeded without the bravery of the French rearguards: whatever the flaws of the French military in 1940, for a few crucial days, they held the Germans at bay while the evacuation continued. What if those French troops had retreated or surrendered?
Why did Churchill send an expeditionary force to Greece?
Churchill even dispatched an expeditionary force in March 1941 to support Greece against a German invasion. It was a doomed and military foolhardy move, but it signaled the world—and potential allies like the United States—that Britain was still in the war.
Did the Third Reich win the Battle of Dunkirk?
From radios across Nazi-occupied Europe comes the triumphal blare of martial music followed by the news: the Third Reich has won a glorious victory at Dunkirk. In cinemas around the world flicker the newsreels of glum, haggard British prisoners streaming into German prison camps.