Dash to Dunkirk

With the success of Von Mannstein’s Sickle-Cut plan, the Wehrmacht had broken through the densely forested and hilly region of the Ardennes, bypassing the main Allied forces placing them in danger of being cut off. This led to an all-out …

1940-05-29

KS01

With the success of Von Mannstein’s Sickle-Cut plan, the Wehrmacht had broken through the densely forested and hilly region of the Ardennes, bypassing the main Allied forces placing them in danger of being cut off. This led to an all-out withdrawal from Belgium. Soon the only escape route left open to the Allies was the port of Dunkirk, from which hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers would eventually be evacuated to safety by boat to England. This was to become known as the “Miracle of Dunkirk.” Many troops, however, did not make it there. This scenario depicts a group of BEF soldiers desperately pushing for Dunkirk with German vanguard units hot on their trail. Will they make it there in time? The answer lies in your hands.

Dunkirk, France

The Battle of Dunkirk was fought in Dunkirk (Dunkerque), France, during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation to Britain of British and other Allied forces in Europe from 26 May to 4 June 1940. After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940. To the east, the German Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and advanced westward. In response, the Supreme Allied Commander, French General Maurice Gamelin, initiated "Plan D" and British and French troops entered Belgium to engage the Germans in the Netherlands. French planning for war relied on the Maginot Line fortifications along the German–French border protecting the region of Lorraine but the line did not cover the Belgian border. German forces had already crossed most of the Netherlands before the French forces had arrived. Gamelin instead committed the forces under his command, three mechanised forces, the French First and Seventh Armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), to the River Dyle. On 14 May, German Army Group A burst through the Ardennes and advanced rapidly westward toward Sedan, turning northward to the English Channel, using Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein's plan Sichelschnitt (under the German strategy Fall Gelb), effectively flanking the Allied forces.

Wikipedia: Battle of Dunkirk

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