Retreat And Rearguard Dunkirk 1940 PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download Retreat And Rearguard Dunkirk 1940 PDF full book. Access full book title Retreat And Rearguard Dunkirk 1940.
| Author | : Jerry Murland |
| Publisher | : Pen and Sword |
| Total Pages | : 272 |
| Release | : 2016-03-31 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1473881048 |
Download Retreat & Rearguard: Dunkirk 1940 Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
The dramatic story of how a quarter million men were evacuated from the coast of France—and how the British Expeditionary Force fought on. This book, part of the Retreat and Rearguard series, covers the actions of the BEF during the retreat from the Dyle Line to the evacuation points of Dunkirk, Boulogne, Calais, Saint-Valery-en-Caux, and finally the Cherbourg Peninsula. Some of the engagements are relatively well known (Cassell, the Arras counter-attack, and the notorious Le Paradis SS massacre), but the author has unearthed many less known engagements from the long and painful withdrawal. While the main Dunkirk evacuation from the port and beaches was over by early June, elements of the BEF fought on until June 21. In relating those often heroic actions, this book catches the atmosphere of desperate defiance that typified this never-to-be-forgotten period.
| Author | : Jerry Murland |
| Publisher | : |
| Total Pages | : 257 |
| Release | : 2016 |
| Genre | : HISTORY |
| ISBN | : 9781473881051 |
Download Retreat and Rearguard Dunkirk 1940 Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
| Author | : Julian Thompson |
| Publisher | : Simon and Schuster |
| Total Pages | : 511 |
| Release | : 2011-10-11 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1628721898 |
Download Dunkirk Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A gripping account, Dunkirk reveals the British Expeditionary Force’s (BEF) brave stand against the German army and the dramatic rescue of 338,000 British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in the midst of World War II. In May 1940, the small BEF was sent to help the Belgians and French against advancing German forces. Ill-equipped and under-trained, the Allied troops conducted a fighting withdrawal in the face of the formidable Germans. Winston Churchill feared that nearly all of the BEF would be killed or captured, but thankfully most were rescued and a defeat was turned into a victory—one that lives on in the annals of history. General Julian Thompson draws from previously unpublished and rare materials to recreate the action on the beaches of the small town—from the misunderstandings between the British and French generals to the experiences of the ordinary soldier trying to fend for his life and return to his homeland. Unlike other books on the subject, Thompson’s account gives full weight to the fighting inland as the BEF found itself in mortal danger due to the Belgian army’s collapse on one flank and the French troop’s failure on the other flank. Thompson aims to correct popular myths about the evacuation and set the history straight once and for all about the events that unfolded in May 1940.
| Author | : Henry Buckton |
| Publisher | : Amberley Publishing Limited |
| Total Pages | : 332 |
| Release | : 2017-05-15 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1445664836 |
Download Retreat Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A look at the evacuation of British and Allied forces from Dunkirk and other ports during the collapse of France following the German invasion of May 1940.
| Author | : Jerry Murland |
| Publisher | : Casemate Publishers |
| Total Pages | : 236 |
| Release | : 2017-05-31 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1473852668 |
Download Cassel and Hazebrouck 1940 Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
This is the first detailed account of the rearguard action that took place between 25 and 29 May 1940 at Cassel and Hazebrouck on the western perimeter of the Dunkirk Corridor. By 25 May the decision to evacuate the BEF via Dunkirk had already been taken, Lord Gort, commanding the BEF in France, had given instructions to Lieutenant General Sir Ronald Adam to relinquish his command of III Corps and prepare a perimeter of defense around Dunkirk. As part of the western defensive line of the Dunkirk Corridor, 145 Brigade were deployed to Cassel and Hazebrouck with the instructions to hold the two towns until the last man. Under the command of Brigadier Nigel Somerset, the brigade occupied Hazebrouck with the infantry of 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion and Cassel with the 4/Ox and Bucks Light infantry together with the regulars of the 2nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. Attached to Somersets meager force was a number of units that had previously been part of two of Gorts ad hoc formations—Macforce and Woodforce, and it was with these men that the two towns were fortified against the advancing German armored divisions.While Hazebrouck was overwhelmed very quickly, the hilltop town of Cassel held out for much longer with German forces failing to consolidate any penetration of the perimeter. The book looks closely at the deployment of units in both towns and focuses on the individuals involved in the defense and the subsequent breakout, which ended in capture or death for so many. There are two car tours that explore the surrounding area of Cassel and the deployment of platoons within Hazebrouck. These are supplemented by two walking tours, one in Cassel itself and the second further to the west of the town around the area controlled by B and D Companies of the 2nd Gloucesters. The book is illustrated with ten maps and over 100 modern and contemporary photographs.
| Author | : Philip Watson |
| Publisher | : |
| Total Pages | : 0 |
| Release | : 2023-10-15 |
| Genre | : |
| ISBN | : 9781804514962 |
Download The Greatest Hour Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
There can be few military stories which have been written about in such great detail. The story of Dunkirk has found its way into the British consciousness, to such a degree it has come to epitomize the very essence of Britishness at times of national hardship. The phrase 'Dunkirk Spirit' has been used to define the British character. Cartoons of the day re-defined the abbreviation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to mean Bravery, Endurance, and Fortitude! This has been the prevailing national narrative of May 1940. A story of small boats that came to the rescue of a stranded Army on the beaches of Dunkirk: brave soldiers who would have died, or been captured had it not been for the flotilla that came to their rescue. This is supported by strong images of stoic British soldiers waiting patiently on the beaches for deliverance. Historians have subsequently identified other factors which contributed to the success of Operation DYNAMO. These include the mild weather and calm sea, as well as the use of the East Mole for the large ships. The smoke which hung in the air as a result of the German shelling and bombardments helped mask the BEF's activities, and Hitler's earlier somewhat unexpected Halt Befehl gave the BEF time to consolidate its bridgehead at Dunkirk. However, if Gort's statement as quoted by Shand is true, that 'without the Twelfth Lancers only a small part of the Army would have reached Dunkirk, ' then it would appear there is another element of the story which is still to be told. It was to account for the five Battle Honors the Regiment would win in just 21 days.
| Author | : Robert Jackson |
| Publisher | : Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
| Total Pages | : 180 |
| Release | : 2012-07-26 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1780224524 |
Download Dunkirk Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A gripping account of the most famous military defeat and retreat in history, now the subject of a major motion picture, written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance. The NEW YORK TIMES of 2 June 1940 summed up the greatest disaster in British history thus: 'As long as the English tongue survives, the word 'Dunkirk' will be spoken with reverence.' This book tells the story of the Dunkirk evacuation. It traces the fortunes of the British Expeditionary Force during those dark days of May 1940 when boys armed with little more than rifles took on the might of Hitler's Panzer divisions - and held them while Allied armies crumbled on all sides. The evacuation at Dunkirk lifted more than 338,000 men from France to the safety of Britain using everything from Destroyers to pleasure yachts. It was the biggest single defeat ever suffered by British arms, but it was also one of the most astounding exoduses in history.
| Author | : Hugh Sebag-Montefiore |
| Publisher | : Penguin UK |
| Total Pages | : 1005 |
| Release | : 2007-05-31 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 0141906162 |
Download Dunkirk Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
* * * Special 75th Anniversary Edition * * * Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man tells the story of the rescue in May 1940 of British soldiers fleeing capture and defeat by the Nazis at Dunkirk. Dunkirk was not just about what happened at sea and on the beaches. The evacuation would never have succeeded had it not been for the tenacity of the British soldiers who stayed behind to ensure they got away. Men like Sergeant Major Gus Jennings who died smothering a German stick bomb in the church at Esquelbecq in an effort to save his comrades, and Captain Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC who single-handedly held back a German attack on the Dunkirk perimeter thereby allowing the British line to form up behind him. Told to stand and fight to the last man, these brave few battalions fought in whatever manner they could to buy precious time for the evacuation. Outnumbered and outgunned, they launched spectacular and heroic attacks time and again, despite ferocious fighting and the knowledge that for many only capture or death would end their struggle. 'A searing story . . . both meticulous military history and a deeply moving testimony to the extraordinary personal bravery of individual soldiers' Tim Gardam, The Times 'Sebag-Montefiore tells [the story] with gusto, a remarkable attention to detail and an inexhaustible appetite for tracking down the evidence' Richard Ovary, Telegraph Hugh Sebag-Montefiore was a barrister before becoming a journalist and then an author. He wrote the best-selling Enigma: The Battle for the Code. One of his ancestors was evacuated from Dunkirk.
| Author | : John Grehan |
| Publisher | : Frontline Books |
| Total Pages | : 273 |
| Release | : 2020-04-30 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1526770369 |
Download Dunkirk Evacuation, Operation Dynamo Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
“Takes you right to the scene of the action in late May and early June 1940, when more than 300,000 soldiers were saved from capture or death.” —Rambles The “miracle” of Dunkirk is one of the most inspiring stories of all time. The British Expeditionary Force had been all but surrounded, and, with the French armies collapsing on all sides, it appeared that Britain was about to suffer the heaviest defeat in its history. When Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet finally accepted that the Battle of France had been lost, preparations were made to try and rescue as many soldiers as possible from one of the few ports left open to the British Expeditionary Force—Dunkirk. So rushed and chaotic was the retreat to the Channel coast, with thousands of guns, vehicles and tanks being abandoned, there was little time for soldiers to consider taking photographs of the shocking scenes of death and destruction which surrounded them. Yet images do exist of the ships and boats of all descriptions which braved the bombs and guns of the German Air Force to rescue Britain’s only field army from the clutches of Hitler’s panzer divisions. One man in particular, Sub-Lieutenant John Rutherford Crosby, a member of the crew of the minesweeper, and converted Clyde paddle steamer, HMS Oriole, left a legacy of dramatic images. These include the never-to-be-forgotten scenes of long lines of tired and anxious troops stretching into the sea and of bombs exploding on the packed beaches—all with his own personal little camera. Other images in this book paint a vivid and memorable picture, as no words ever could, of the greatest evacuation of troops under fire.
| Author | : Hans-Adolf Jacobsen |
| Publisher | : Casemate Publishers |
| Total Pages | : 245 |
| Release | : 2019-03-19 |
| Genre | : History |
| ISBN | : 1612006604 |
Download Dunkirk Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A history of the battle from Germany’s perspective: “An interesting account of a campaign that was decisive, but not as decisive as it could have been.” —Miniature Wargames The German Army invaded France on May 10, 1940, and in just over ten days their rapid advance, led by three panzer corps, had left three French field armies, Belgian forces, and the British Expeditionary Force with their backs to the sea, trapped along the northern coast of France. General Gort realized that evacuation was the only option, and so began a chaotic withdrawal toward the port of Dunkirk. While the Luftwaffe continued to attack pockets of Allied forces, the German ground forces were ordered to halt their advance on May 22. These orders were changed four days later—but these crucial four days of inaction allowed the Allies time to retreat into Dunkirk and prepare a defensive perimeter. The fighting during the last days of May was desperate, with the remnants of the French First Army surrounded at Lille, holding off seven German divisions until finally forced to surrender, and the Belgian Army forced to capitulate to the east of Dunkirk. Though the cost was devastatingly high, Dunkirk was held long enough for over 300,000 Allied troops to be evacuated back to England, with the remainder of the rearguard of French troops surrendering on June 4. The British narrative of the retreat and evacuation that prompted what was perhaps Winston Churchill’s most famous wartime speech has long been well-known. Only now is Hans-Adolf Jacobsen’s detailed account of the battle from the German perspective available in English.
