BEF

[Deleted]

Its still a wonder why the Germans / Hitler let the Empire get away at Dunkirk , some Gremans say it was because their Panzers needed repair the troops needed rest , ect , seems to me though when you have the enemy on the run you bag 'em .

[Swampy]

I read up on Dunkirk every month or so, but I'm not in my WWII mood yet - when I am, I'll get back to you. Thanks for bringing the "military" back to the military forum.

[Deleted]

Yes the German attitude concerning Dunkirk has always wondered my mind , I have to presume there was a game plan , but what was it ? .

[Sir John]

Overconfidence I think.

I am sure hitler did not imagine a fleet of 'little ships' would appear on the horizon and steal his POWs away from him. He probably thought he had a week or so up his sleeve.

JMO



SJ


PS, Three of the ships are still rusting on the beach at Dunkirk.

[Swampy]

I've read up on this quite a bit, and the Germans were more preoccupied with a second "Miracle of the Marne", which occurred in WWI when the French rallied and stopped the Kaiser's armies. Another issue was the need for the troops to rest and have their vehicles refit, which was why von Rundstedt gave the "halt order". Not only that, the marshes around Dunkirk were not tank friendly, which also gave the Germans pause.

[mcnoch]

The answer is very easy, Hitler was listening to Goering, who promised that his Luftwaffe could win this battle from the air, so the Wehrmacht, overtasked with many parallel operations, just had to mop up later.

[boxcar]

From Wikipedia............

In one of the most widely-debated decisions of the war, the Germans halted their advance on Dunkirk. Contrary to popular belief, what became known as "the Halt Order" did not originate with Adolf Hitler. Gerd von Rundstedt and Günther von Kluge suggested that the German forces around the Dunkirk pocket should cease their advance on the port and consolidate, to avoid an Allied break. Hitler sanctioned the order on 24 May with the support of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW).[4] The army were to halt for three days, giving the Allies time to organise an evacuation and build a defensive line. Despite the Allies' gloomy estimates of the situation, with Britain discussing a conditional surrender to Germany, in the end over 330,000 Allied troops were rescued.

[Swampy]

I've been wondering how easily the Germans could have taken Dunkirk anyway. It was a town with narrow streets, which would make it difficult for their armor and give the advantage to the defenders. In 1944, the outnumbered British paratroopers held out for over a week against two panzer divisions, so taking a fortified urban area isn't so easy.

[mcnoch]

To be ruthless, you wouldn't had to take it, just kill all the people inside.

[Swampy]

Feb 24, 2013 10:57:07 GMT -5 mcnoch said:

To be ruthless, you wouldn't had to take it, just kill all the people inside.

Sure, but they couldn't do that in 1940.

[Sir John]

They did it in Spain.

...and London about four months later.



SJ

[Swampy]

The issue, John, is if the Germans could have prevented the BEF from evacuating Dunkirk. I'm saying that, with the narrow corridors of that town, the Germans would have had to take time to capture the BEF, giving them time to get away. And the Luftwaffe didn't have the capability to take out the entire BEF - witness their efforts against the Royal Navy.

[Sir John]

The RN was a moving target, VERY hard to hit with a Ju87.

In fact, of the 5 or 6 larger ships sunk at Dunkirk, ALL were stationary. Nevertheless, RAF Fighter Command put on a maximum efforts to defend the troops from air attack on the beach, and the 'little ships' also of course.

SJ



SJ

[Deleted]

The Germans for whatever reason let the BEF get away by not bagging them , but how would one corral 350,000 men the logistics would have been a nightmare , and by bagging them would not have ended the war , the Brits had a whole commonwealth of subjects to call on , plus they were being inventive about dragging the Yanks into the fray , as Churchill said England will stand as long as theres one American still on his feet

[Sir John]

"as Churchill said England will stand as long as theres one American still on his feet"


Reference please!