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MR CHURCHILL then turned to the situation at Dunkirk. The position there, as far as he knew it, was that up to noon on that day, 165,000 men had been evacuated by sea. This was an extraordinary feat. It proved the non-existence of German sea-power and the limitations of German air-power. The Germans had done their best to hinder the evacuation by air action; there had been terrible scenes at the ports and on the beaches. Nevertheless, the German Air Force had been held off or beaten. The total of evacuated included 10,000 wounded, but so far only 15,000 French soldiers.
M REYNAUD drew attention to the difference in numbers between the French and the British evacuated. Of 220,000 British troops in the Low Countries, 150,000 had been evacuated, whereas of 200,000 French troops only 15,000 had been taken off. He was most anxious that the French should be withdrawn in greater numbers.
MR CHURCHILL said that he was very much aware of this factor. But they had to realise the great difficulties that arose when Armies were forced to retreat. Orders had now been given that the evacuation of French troops should as from today take precedence over that of British troops.
MR CHURCHILL said that we now had a hope of avoiding complete defeat. The British intended to fight their way back to the very edge of the sea. No doubt part of the rear-guard would be crushed, but there was a good hope that all except the rear-guard would be evacuated. If present hopes were confirmed, 200,000 able-bodied troops might be got away. This would be almost a miracle: four days ago, he would not have wagered on more than 50,000 as a maximum. He must add, however, that the British would lose all their equipment with the exception of small arms and personal equipment. Some 1,000 British field guns, all the heavy guns, and all the mechanical transport would have to be left behind: everything except what an Infantry soldier could carry with him. Yet it was precisely that equipment of which the British were so terribly short; for example, they had now lost more than double the number of guns that existed in the United Kingdom.
MR CHURCHILL said that the troops that had returned to England were in good spirits, of high morale, and anxious to return to the fight. They felt that despite the confusion, they had dealt the enemy a severe blow and proved themselves superior whenever they had come face to face on fair terms.
MR CHURCHILL then turned to the situation at Dunkirk. The position there, as far as he knew it, was that up to noon on that day, 165,000 men had been evacuated by sea. This was an extraordinary feat. It proved the non-existence of German sea-power and the limitations of German air-power. The Germans had done their best to hinder the evacuation by air action; there had been terrible scenes at the ports and on the beaches. Nevertheless, the German Air Force had been held off or beaten. The total of evacuated included 10,000 wounded, but so far only 15,000 French soldiers.
M REYNAUD drew attention to the disparity in numbers as between the French and the British. Of 220,000 British troops in the Low Countries, 150,000 had been evacuated, whereas of 200,000 French troops only 15,000 had been taken off. He was most anxious, from the point of view of French public opinion, that the French should be withdrawn in greater numbers; otherwise the public might draw unfortunate conclusions.
MR CHURCHILL said that he was very much aware of this factor. But they had to realise the great difficulties that arose when Armies were thus forced to retire; these difficulties had been greatly enhanced by the Belgian desertion, which had forced the British to cover the whole left flank…. The British troops were regular divisions, among the best troops in the BEF. They had suffered some casualties, but were far from broken. They would act as a rear-guard…. Orders had now been given that the evacuation of French troops should as from to-day take precedence over that of British troops.
…
MR CHURCHILL said that we had now a hope of avoiding anything in the nature of a capitulation, although the Germans might at any moment shatter that hope. The British intended to fight their way back to the very edge of the sea. No doubt part of the rear-guard would be crushed, but there was a good hope that all except the rear-guard would be evacuated…. If present hopes were confirmed, 200,000 able-bodied troops might be got away. This would be almost a miracle: four days ago, he would not have wagered on more than 50,000 as a maximum. He must add, however, that the British would lose all their equipment with the exception of small arms and personal equipment. Some 1,000 British field guns, all the heavy guns, and all the mechanical transport would have to be left behind: everything except what an Infantry soldier could carry with him. Yet it was precisely equipment of which the British were so terribly short; for example, they had now lost more than double the number of guns that existed in the United Kingdom.
…
The troops that had returned to England were in good spirits, of high morale, and anxious to return to the fight…. They felt that despite the confusion, they had dealt the enemy a severe blow and proved themselves superior whenever they had come face to face on fair terms. This must indeed have been the case or they could not have got back to the coast, and the gap caused by the Belgian desertion could not otherwise have been filled.
This is an extract from records of a meeting of the Supreme War Council on 31 May 1940, as the evacuation from Dunkirk was in progress. The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, are discussing the situation.
As the source shows, there were tensions at times between the British and French commanders as to the numbers of French troops being evacuated. However, French and British military commanders did work closely together and by the end of Operation Dynamo, over 100,000 French troops had been taken to Britain.
Remember we are hoping that this source can be useful to us in investigating whether the Dunkirk evacuation was a triumph or a disaster. Sources usually help historians in two ways:
Which of the inferences below can be made from this source?
| On a scale of 1-5 how far do you agree that this source supports this inference? | Which extract(s) from the source support your argument? | |
| An incredible number of Allied troops have been evacuated. | ||
| The evacuation from the beaches went smoothly. | ||
| Britain abandoned their French allies. | ||
| The evacuation went better than expected. | ||
| The loss of equipment was unimportant. | ||
| The Dunkirk evacuation was a triumph. |
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