Remembrance

June 6 is not a day of celebration.  It is a day to remember what happened on that fateful day in 1944 when the Allied Forces broke down the door along Germany’s Atlantic wall.  Two periods around the same time of the year beg our attention.  D-Day is the second, but before that, there was another remarkable event: Dunkirk.

Background to the Battle of Dunkirk

During the interwar period (1920 – 1939), French military planners adopted the idea of fortifying France’s borders and developed a series of defensive positions called the Maginot Line.  In 1932, France decided not to strengthen its northeastern border because the low-lying terrain made constructing suitable defensive works technically challenging.  Additionally, since France and Belgium had formed a military alliance in 1920, French officials concluded that the best defense against potential German aggression would be to defend Belgium.  If there was to be fighting, the French reasoned, let it be on Belgic rather than on French soil — and safeguard French industrial centers in the northeast.

Belgium destroyed this strategy in 1936 when it declared neutrality and abandoned its military alliance with France.  Then, in the event of a German invasion, there would be no coordination between Belgium and France in common defense. 

French war planners had identified three possible defensive lines inside Belgium. The first was along the Albert Canal, which ran inside the Belgian border with Germany. However, since Belgium’s declaration of neutrality, the French reasoned that should an invasion occur, it would happen so quickly that there would be nothing the French could do to stop it.

The alternative was the line of the River Scheldt (in French, Escaut), which ran from Ghent to Antwerp. The river was a formidable defensive line, but it was not impossible to breach it (as the Romans had demonstrated on more than one occasion), so the French developed Plan E—the abandonment of large amounts of Belgian territory by the Germans, including Brussels.

The final possibility was to form a defensive line along the course of the River Dyle (France’s Plan D).  This idea would preserve more Belgian assets, but within this much shorter region, there was no unbroken line and no natural obstacles to help withstand a German attack.

When the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) deployed to France in September 1939, it was amalgamated with the French 1st Army Group.  This group was responsible for defending France along the Belgian and Luxembourg border, from the Channel coast to the westernmost end of the Maginot Line.  The officer commanding the BEF was Field Marshal John Vereker, Lord Gort.

The French 1st Army Group also included the First Army (General of the Army Georges Maurice Jean Blanchard) and the Ninth Army (General of the Army Andre Coran).  Overall command fell under the Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast Front, General Alphonse Joseph Georges.  The section assigned to the BEF was the area of the Franco-Belgian border from Armentieres westward toward Menin and then south to where the border met the River Escaut (forming a salient around Lille and Roubaix.  The BEF began to fortify their sector with trenches, weapons pits, and pillboxes.  It was known as the Gort Line. 

Initially, General Maurice Gamelin, the French Commander-in-Chief of the Armies, favored Plan E — and in a directive he issued on October 24, 1939, Gamelin stated that an advance to the Dyle could only be considered if the 1st Army Group were able to deploy into Belgium before a German attack.  Meanwhile, the Belgians had tentatively begun to fortify the Dyle Line, known to them as the K – W Line, which initiated a change in Gamelin’s opinion.  General Georges, who was a cautious and thoughtful officer, disagreed.  At a meeting on November 9, a meeting of Allied commanders in Vincennes agreed to adopt Plan D.  The French Supreme War Council confirmed this decision on November 19.

The British remained dubious about any advance into Belgium, but given the small size of the BEF, when compared to the size of the French Army Groups, Lord Gort felt that he had little choice but to agree with French war planners.

The Mechelen Incident

In January 1940, a German aircraft carrying their secret invasion plane crash-landed in Belgium.  These plans confirmed General Gamelin’s suspicions that the Germans would attempt to rerun the 1914 Schlieffen Plan by attacking France through Belgium.  The plan also revealed Germany’s intent to occupy the Netherlands.  In March, Gamelin revised Plan D with the Breda Variant, in which the French Seventh Army (General of the Army Henri Giraud) would be removed from reserve at Rouen and placed on the border to the left of the BEF.  Thus, in the event of a German invasion, the Seventh Army would race northwards and link up with Netherlands forces at Breda, protecting the approaches to Antwerp from falling into German hands.

In the final version of Plan D, France expected the Belgians to delay a German advance and then retire from the Albert Canal to the Dyle line, reestablishing a defensive line between Louvain and Wavre (a distance of twelve miles).  The Belgians would accomplish this with nine infantry divisions.  The First French Army, on the right of the BEF, would hold a twenty-two-mile line with ten infantry divisions from Wavre to Namur.  The Ninth Army would defend from Namur, along the Meuse to the left (northern) flank of the Second French Army.

By March 1940, the BEF had doubled to just under 395,000 men.  Two months later, the BEF consisted of ten infantry divisions within three Corps and an air component of the Royal Air Force (around 500 aircraft) (including a long-range bomber force).  Serving in the BEF reserve were the British 5th Infantry Division, the 1st Army Tank Brigade, and the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Brigade (along with artillery, signals, pioneers, and logistical units).

En garde, monsieur

On May 10, 1940, at around 01:00, French national headquarters received information from Brussels and Luxembourg that a German invasion would commence at around 04:35 and that the assault would include France and the low countries (the Netherlands and Belgium).  General Gamelin was notified at around 06:30 and directed Plan D to commence.  The code word Plan David initiated the BEF’s part of Plan D.

The British vanguard, spearheaded by the 12th Royal Lancers (armor), crossed into Belgium at around 13:00 local time.  Three infantry divisions (an infantry Corps) proceeded toward their pre-designated positions only to discover that Belgian troops had already established a defensive line along the River Escaut and refused to shift their location to a different area.  General Georges ordered the British to shift their position instead. 

General Georges ordered the British to move to a different position.  British infantry battalions began to dig trenches on May 11th. These preparations were protected by a screen of light tanks and lightly armored Bren Carriers deployed to keep German patrols out of Belgium.  On May 14, these allied forces were withdrawn when front-line units destroyed bridges that crossed into Germany.

Plan D

The first appearance of German forces on the BEF’s front occurred on the afternoon of May 14, when reconnaissance elements of three German infantry divisions arrived in motor cars and motorcycles.  The Germans were unaware that British forces had taken positions in several locations.  As they approached the River Dyle without taking cover, they became easy targets for small arms and artillery fire.  German field guns fired on Allied positions later that evening.

Coordinated German assaults commenced on May 15, but the British 3rd Infantry Division (under Major General Bernard Montgomery) repulsed the German 19th Infantry Division.  However, on the left of the British 3rd Infantry Division’s line, the British 1st Grenadier Guards were forced to abandon their forward positions and withdraw behind the River Dyle.  At that new location, the BEF could hold off the German advance.

Germany initiated a two-hour-long barrage at dawn the next day on the Louvain Rail Station and adjacent rail yard.  Still, after a prolonged fight, the Germans were thrown back by the 1st Royal Ulster Rifles and the 1st King’s Scottish Borderers.  Further south, the River Dyle was barely fifteen feet wide, which did prevent tanks from crossing at that location but had little effect in blocking the assault of infantry forces. 

During a German attack south of the BEF line near Wavre, British 2nd Lieutenant Richard Annand of the 2nd Durham Light Infantry earned the Victoria Cross by preventing the German 31st Infantry Division from crossing a demolished bridge by tossing grenades.  When finally ordered to withdraw, he attempted to rescue a wounded comrade by pushing him to an aid station in a wheelbarrow.  All the German bridgeheads across River Dyle were either repulsed or effectively contained by British counter-attacks.  However, by the morning of May 16, events far to the south caused Lord Gort to withdraw his forces to the River Escaut.

The Battle of Belgium

On May 11, the French Seventh Army drove forward along the northern flank with advanced elements reaching Breda.  There, they found that the Moerdijk bridges had been captured by German paratroops, cutting the link between southern and north Holland and forcing the Dutch Army to withdraw toward Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Driving forward, the French collided with the 9th Panzer Division accompanying infantry.  Stuka dive bombers and tanks forced a French retreat with French heavy tanks still on trains south of Antwerp.  The Breda variant had been thwarted in fewer than two days, and on May 12, Gamelin ordered the Seventh Army to Plan D and cover Antwerp.  As the Seventh Army retired from the Bergen Op Zoom–Turnout Canal Line (20 miles outside Antwerp, the Dutch Army surrendered.

The Albert Canal defensive line in Belgium was based on the fortress Eben-Emael.  This line was defeated when German glider troops landed on the roof and captured it by noon on May 11th.  Two bridges over the Meuse were captured at Maastricht, forcing the Belgian Army to retreat towards the line from Antwerp to Louvain on May 12.  Meanwhile, the French Cavalry Corps reached the Gembloux Gap on May 11th; its officers reported that the area was far less “fortified” by Belgians than anticipated.  There were some steel barriers, but none of the anti-tank minds that were supposed to protect them.  Some obstacles were so poorly cited that one French officer wondered if the Belgians had asked the Germans for their advice about where to place them.

On May 15, the Germans attacked the French First Army along the Dyle Line — causing an engagement that General Gamelin had intended to avoid.  During the Battle of Gembloux, the French First Army repulsed the XVI Panzer Corps on May 14-15, but the French high command realized too late that it was merely a diversion; the main German attack had materialized further south, through the Ardennes, which was lightly defended.

Dunkirk

As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defense of the port city of Dunkirk and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Forces and allies to Britain between May 26 and June 4, 1940.

After the Phony War, the Battle for France began earnestly on May 10.[1]  To the east, Germany’s Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and advanced westward.  Subsequently, General Gamelin ordered the implementation of Plan D, and British and French troops entered Belgium.  French defensive planning relied on the Maginot Line, but the line did not protect the Belgian border, and it is not likely that it would have been effective even if it had extended into Belgium.

In any case, before British and French forces could arrive in Belgium, the Germans had already crossed most of the Netherlands.  General Gamelin instead committed his three mechanized troops to head off the Germans at the River Dyle.  On May 14, German Army Group A crashed through the Ardennes, advanced rapidly toward Sean, turned north toward the English Channel, and successfully flanked Allied forces.

A series of Allied counterattacks failed to sever the German spearhead, which reached the coast on May 20.  This effectively isolated the BEF near Armentières, the French First Army, and the Belgian Army further north from most French troops south of the German concentration.  After reaching the Channel, German forces swung north along the coast, threatening to capture Dunkirk and Calais and trap the British and French troops.

In one of the most debated decisions of the war, the Germans halted their advance on Dunkirk.  Known as the “Halt Order,” Colonel-General Gerd von Rundstedt suggested that German forces around the Dunkirk pocket consolidate their invasion force to avoid an Allied breakout.  With the support of the German high command, Adolph Hitler sanctioned von Rundstedt’s suggestion on May 24, 1940.

However, few historians today accept the view that Hitler’s behavior was influenced by the desire to let the British off lightly in [the] hope that they would then take a compromise of peace.  Directive No. 13, issued by the German High Command on May 24th, called explicitly for the destruction of French, English, and Belgian forces in the Dunkirk pocket, and the German Luftwaffe was ordered to prevent the escape of the English forces across the channel.

Whatever the reasons for Hitler’s halt order, the Germans confidently believed the Allied troops were doomed.  American journalist William Shirer reported, “German military circles here tonight put it flatly.  They said the fate of the great Allied army bottled up in Flanders is sealed.”  Lord Gort, the BEF commander, agreed with Shirer.  In writing to Anthony Eden, he said, “I must not conceal from you that a great part of the BEF and its equipment will inevitably be lost in the best circumstances.”

Hitler rescinded the halt order on May 26. Those three days gave the Royal Navy time to arrange the evacuation of British and Allied forces.  In eleven days, around 338,000 men were rescued.  Of those, 215,000 were British, and 123,000 were French.  Of the French escapees, 102,250 escaped in British watercraft.

The Struggle

On May 16, British Prime Minister Anthony Eden informed Lord Gort that he might need to “fight back to the west” and ordered him to prepare plans for an amphibious evacuation of his three corps.  Eden did not inform the French or Belgians, however.  Gort had anticipated the order and had preliminary plans in hand.  His first plan called for a defense along the Lys Canal, but German advances on May 26 pinned down three of Gort’s infantry divisions.  Gort’s 2nd Infantry Division took heavy casualties while trying to keep a corridor open.  Ultimately, heavy casualties reduced the division to brigade size, but they completed their mission, allowing the 3rd, 4th, and 42nd Infantry Divisions to escape (along with one-third of the French First Army).

On May 27, the British fought back to the Dunkirk perimeter.  This was the day when the German 3rd SS Division murdered 97 British and French prisoners of war near the La Bassée Canal.  The British prisoners were from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment, part of the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division.

As the British and French troops made their way to the coast, German aircraft bombed and strafed them and dropped leaflets with maps that demonstrated how critical their situation was.  Besides the aerial bombs, German heavy artillery also fired high-explosive shells into Dunkirk.  By this time, over 1,000 civilians in the town had been killed.  This bombardment continued through June 4, when the evacuation was completed.

Lord Gort sent Lieutenant General Ronald Adam, the III Corps commander, ahead to construct a defensive perimeter around Dunkirk.  His Corps command passed to Lieutenant General Sydney Rigby Wason from the GHQ staff.  Lieutenant General Alan Brooke, commanding II Corps, was ordered to conduct a holding action with the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 50th Infantry Divisions along the Ypres-Comines canal as far as Yser.  At the same time, the rest of the BEF fell back.  Brooke’s battle of Wytschaete (in Belgium) was the harshest action he ever faced as a military commander.

After the Germans made a reconnaissance in force on May 26, they launched a three-division attack the following day south of Ypres.  A confusing battle followed.  Visibility was low because of forested or urban terrain, and communications could have been better because, at the time, there were no field radios below the regimental level.  Telephone communications were interrupted by severed landlines.  Meanwhile, after the Germans began using infiltration techniques with English-speaking Germans, the British were beaten back.

Lieutenant General Ronald Adam and French Lieutenant General Marie Bertrand Alfred Fagalde focused on preparing a Dunkirk Defense.  They produced a semi-circular perimeter with French troops defending the western sector and British soldiers guarding the eastern sector.  It ran along the Belgian coastline, from Newport in the east to Gravelines in the west.  The two commanders and their engineers did their best under limited and trying circumstances.  On May 28, the Belgian Army fighting under King Leopold III’s command surrendered, leaving a twenty-mile gap on Lord Gort’s eastern flank between the British forces and the English Channel.  Leopold’s surrender without first consulting with his government and Belgian allies drew much criticism, and the surrender forced Lord Gort to send the battle-worn 3rd, 4th, and 50th Infantry Divisions to replace the Belgians.

Meanwhile, General Erwin Rommel managed to surround five divisions of the French First Army near Lille.  The French fought for four days despite being cut off and outnumbered.  The effort was suicidal, but it did tie up seven German divisions and prevented their assault on Dunkirk.

The defense of the Dunkirk perimeter was held from May 29 to 30, with the Allies falling back by degrees.  On May 31, the Germans nearly broke through at Nieuwpoort.  The situation grew so desperate that two British battalion commanders manned a Bren gun, with one colonel firing and the other loading.

A few hours later, the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, 3rd Infantry Division, rushed to reinforce the line near Furnes, where the British troops had been routed.  With young men in a panic and lacking firm officer and NCO leadership, Coldstream Guards restored order by shooting some of the fleeing troops and turning others around at the point of a bayonet.  After these British troops returned to the line, the German assault was beaten back.

A Most Remarkable Evacuation

On May 25, the British War Office decided to evacuate British forces from Dunkirk.  In the nine days between May 27 and June 4, 338,226 men escaped — including 139,997 French, Polish, and Belgian troops and a few Dutch soldiers.

The withdrawal was undertaken amid chaotic conditions.  Abandoned vehicles blocked narrow roads, and a flood of refugees blocked all arteries as they attempted to avoid hostile engagements.  Due to wartime censorship and the desire to keep up British morale, the full extent of the unfolding disaster at Dunkirk was not widely publicized.  However, King George VI called for a national day of prayer for the men at Dunkirk.

On May 26, at 19:00, newly elected Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the commencement of Operation Dynamo—initial plans called for the evacuation of 45,000 men from the BEF within two days.  However, only 25,000 men could be evacuated, with just under 8,000 on the first day.

On May 27, the first full day, one cruiser, eight destroyers, and 26 other watercraft actively participated in the withdrawal.  Meanwhile, admiralty officers began combing boatyards for small (but suitable) craft that could ferry personnel from the beaches to larger craft in the Dunkirk harbor and larger vessels that could load from docks.  The British government made an emergency call for additional help.  By May 31, nearly four hundred small boats participated in the effort.

As efforts were made to evacuate British and French forces (and others), German Luftwaffe bombed and strafed Dunkirk.  An estimated one thousand civilians were killed (about one-third of Dunkirk’s civilian population).  Sixteen squadrons of RAF fighters overflew Dunkirk, providing what cover they could for the withdrawing troops.  On 28 May alone, the RAF downed 38 German fighters, losing 14 of their own.  German Stuka dive bombers attacked and sank an 8,000-ton steamer, Aden, and the troopship Cote d’Azur.  All told, 300 German bombers and 550 fighter aircraft assaulted Dunkirk in 12 raids and dropped 15,000 high explosives and 30,000 incendiary bombs, which destroyed oil tanks and wrecked the harbor. 

After the Belgian Army surrendered to Germany on May 28, Lord Gort had to throw in several British divisions to cover the gap.  The German Air Force flew fewer sorties that day, switching their attention to Belgian shipping ports.  In any case, the weather over Dunkirk was poor and not conducive to dive-bombing operations.  On that day, the RAF flew 11 air patrols and 321 sorties, claiming 23 destroyed enemy while giving up 13 of their own.  On May 28, nearly 18,000 troops were evacuated.  The next day, another 47,000.  The British destroyer HMS Grenade was sunk, and the French destroyer Mistral was seriously damaged.

On 30 May, Prime Minister Churchill was informed that all British forces and more than half of the French First Army were behind the defensive lines.  By this time, the perimeter was reduced to around seven miles from the coast, along a series of canals, and in a marshy country ill-suited for heavy tanks.  Captain (later Admiral) William Tennant, RN, assumed command of beach operations, managing the evacuation.  When these activities appeared too slow, he re-routed evacuees to two long stone and concrete breakwaters (the east and west moles) while continuing to evacuate men from the beaches — thousands of whom had been standing in the waist-deep frigid water for four days.

On May 31, nearly 54,000 men, including the first French soldiers, were evacuated.  Lord Gort and 68,000 men departed on June 1, and 75,000 men between June 2 and 4. On June 4, 40,000 French soldiers surrendered to the German Army.

Sea Routes       

The Royal Navy allocated three routes to the evacuating vessels.  The shortest was termed Route Z, a distance of 39 nautical miles, but it hugged the French coast, making these craft particularly susceptible to enemy fire from shore batteries and aircraft.  Route X, the safest from shore batteries, traveled through a heavily mined area of the English Channel, a distance of 55 nautical miles.  Because of the landmines, this route could not be used at night.  The longest route was Route Y, a distance of 87 nautical miles, averaging four hours.  Due to the route, these ships were most likely attacked by German surface vessels, submarines, and aircraft.

The Royal Navy provided the cruiser HMS Calcutta, 39 destroyers, nine sloops, corvettes, and gunboats, 36 minesweepers, 113 trawlers, three unique class vessels, three ocean-boarding vessels, 13 torpedo boats and anti-submarine patrol boats, 40 Dutch Schuyts, 26 yachts, 45 privately owned seaworthy boats, eight hospital carriers, 12 Naval Motor Boats, 34 tugboats, the merchant navy supplied passenger ferries, hospital ships, and other ships based on availability.  British citizens, Belgians, Dutch, Canadian, Polish, and French allies also provided vessels.  Of other small craft, 311 — totaling 693 British ships.  On average, British destroyers carried 900 men per trip.  Of the total, including other than British ships, there were 861, with 243 sunk during the operation.

The Aftermath

Before Operation Dynamo was completed, there was scant hope for a successful conclusion.  On May 28, Prime Minister Churchill warned the House of Commons to expect “hard and heavy tidings.”  Subsequently, Churchill referred to the outcome as nothing short of a miracle, and the British press hailed it a “disaster turned to triumph.”

As the British people expressed relief at the outcome of Dynamo, Churchill was more cautious.  On June 4, he warned the House of Commons, “We must be cautious not to assign the attributes of a victory to this deliverance.  Wars are not won by evacuations.”  He was right, but close to a half-million British troops had just gone through a massive series of battles against overwhelming enemy forces.  Following that, they had stood on beaches, quays, and moles for several days, all the while having to endure aerial bombings and artillery fire.

In France, the unilateral British decision to evacuate through Dunkirk rather than counterattack to the south and the Royal Navy’s perceived preference for evacuating British forces at the expense of the French led to some bitter resentment.  According to Winston Churchill, French Admiral Francois Darlan, he was initially ordered that the British troops should receive preference.  Still, on May 31, he intervened at a meeting in Paris to request that the evacuation should proceed on equal terms and that the British would form the rearguard.

Post Scrip

The British Territorial Army (renamed the British Army Reserve in 2013) is an army of volunteers that supports the regular British Army.  Volunteer units have existed in the UK for centuries, but in 1908, they were merged to form the so-called Territorial Force.  Members of the Territorial Force were mobilized in the First World War and serviced alongside the regular army.

In 1920, the Territorial Force units were formed into the Territorial Army, which was again mobilized in the Second World War.

The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot.  The regiment fought in many conflicts, including both world wars.  In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) to form the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th and 44th Foot).  Then, in 2007, the regiment was again amalgamated with the Cheshire Regiment and the Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales) to form the Mercian Regiment.

In the 1930s, the Worcestershire Regiment consisted of regular and territorial units.  Before the beginning of World War II, the regiment’s regular battalions served at various locations according to the needs of the foreign office.  In this context, two battalions served in Southwest Asia, later transferring to service in the Indian Army in Southeast Asia.

Two of the regiment’s battalions, the 7th and 8th (Territorial) battalions, began recruitment and training for territorial forces in the mid-1930s.  Both battalions were infantry units serving alongside the 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire, each of which became part of the 144th Infantry Brigade.  The brigade was assigned to the 48th (South Midlands) Infantry Division, which served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France.  Worcester territorial battalions evacuated at Dunkirk between May 26 and June 4, 1940.

In 1939, Albert Edward (Ted) Dinley (1916 – 1971) enlisted into the 8th Battalion, Worcester Regiment (Territorial).  On June 1, 1940, Ted was one of 338,226 men evacuated from Dunkirk.  He stood in waist-deep water, in formation with the rest of his battalion mates, and awaited evacuation.  He never spoke to his children about this ordeal or any of his military service; it isn’t something a father shares with his children.

Following repatriation, Dinley and tens of thousands of other soldiers in the BEF went through rest and retraining.  Many were sent to serve with the 8th British Army in North Africa.  Ted was one of them.  He subsequently served in Sicily and mainland Italy. Ted returned to his home in Worcester, England, in late 1945.  He was discharged from active  service upon demobilization of the British forces.  Ted Dinley, who passed away from stomach cancer in 1971, was my wife’s father.

Notes:

[1] The Phony War was an eight-month-long period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front — when French military forces invaded Germany’s Saar district.  Nazi Germany carried out the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and the Phony War began two days later.  It was called a Phony War because no actual warfare occurred for several months after the UK and France declared war against Germany.

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