This year is the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Commonwealth and some French troops from the Channel port of Dunkirk. During the period of 26 May to 4 June 1940, the Germans has pushed nearly 350,000 British, Canadian and French troops into a small defensive pocket around the port of Dunkirk. This pocket was made smaller and smaller as the days went by.

Such was the speed of the German breakthrough during the attack on Belgium, the Netherlands and France, that the Allied armies were not only split, but unable to properly reconstitute themselves for an effective defense. When it was pretty obvious that they were not going to be able to staunch the German juggernaut, the British and Canadian troops decided that retreat and evacuation were the only options. As the Germans had quickly overrun or blocked access other ports, the only choice left to the Allies was Dunkirk.

During wars, frequently decisions were made that later seemed to be the wrong ones. In this case, it was the decision to allow the Luftwaffe to 'finish off' the trapped troops. Unfortunately for their pompus leader, the Luftwaffe had very little in the way of forces within range to perform this job. Most of the Luftwaffe was properly supporting the German offensive to the south and what was left was at the limits of range to Dunkirk, meaning light bomb loads and insufficient fighter coverage. Still, the Luftwaffe did what they could with what was available and was still able to wreak havoc on the men on the beaches and the ships that had come to rescue them.

In this book on Dunkirk evacuation, author Douglas Dildy  starts with a preamble of events leading up to the battle, a look at the commanders of both sides and the men under their command. Then there is an inspection of the plans of both sides. The 'meat' of the volume is next with the various stages of the battle, including the incredible planning required by the British to get the ships needed and to have an orderly and swift evacuation. Finally, introspection on how the battle went, what was learned from it, and how it affected future events. There is also a look at the battlefield today. All of this is superbly illustrated with period photographs and the artwork of Howard Gerrard.

If you want insight into an operation that has not really had that much written aboutit,  or just a fascinating read, then this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I'm sure you will as well.

June 2009

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