Download or read book We Remember Dunkirk written by Frank Shaw and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-11-21 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Yes we were scared. It could be seen on the faces of the men. No food didn’t help. We stopped to suck pebbles during the day as our tongues began to swell through lack of water ... We had an order come through to us one day. Every man for himself. And then the soldiers – Belgian, French and British – were side by side in silent soddy ranks in columns, zig-zagged across the beaches. I still believe this was done to minimise casualties. We had to wade out up to our necks in water to get onto a boat, ducking under the water when the Germans tried to mow us down. Eventually I managed to grab a chain hanging off a Naval motorboat, and it was fully loaded but I hung on ...’ Arthur Thomas Gunn, Walsall Between 27 May and 4 June 1940 over 900 vessels rescued 338,226 people trapped at Dunkirk. Cut off by the advancing German Army hundreds of thousands of Allied troops gathered on the beaches – exhausted, hungry and scarred by war. Operation Dynamo saw British destroyers and the hundreds of ‘little ships’ bring these men safely back to England, where they were welcomed back by the locals with tea and sandwiches, and hailed as heroes. In We Remember Dunkirk we hear stories from the soldiers who made the perilous journey to Dunkirk and came under constant attack from Nazi aircraft as they boarded British ships and attempted to cross the Channel. But we also hear from the nurses who tended the many returning wounded; the young women who, along with the rest of their communities, rallied to make food and gather whatever they could to give the soldiers; and what it was like witnessing all this through a child’s eyes. Above all, we see how the solidarity of the British people gave rise to the unfailing ‘Dunkirk Spirit’.
Download or read book We Remember Dunkirk written by Joan Shaw and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book We Remember Dunkirk written by and published by . This book was released on with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book We Remember Dunkirk Over 100 Personal Accounts written by F. SHAW and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book We Remember Dunkirk written by Frank Shaw (Collator of war-time memories) and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battle that took place in May 1940 was the first great epic of the Second World War. The battle itself was won by the German Army, inevitable once they had reached Abbeville on May 20 before the Allied High Command had realized the danger. But in a sense, the battle was also won by the soldiers and sailors of the British Expeditionary Forces and its allies, to the extent that although all equipment was lost, almost 340,000 men were brought out safely.--Google Books.
Download or read book The Miracle of Dunkirk written by Walter Lord and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of the World War II evacuation portrayed in the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Day of Infamy. In May 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, broken by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, retreated to Dunkirk. Hemmed in by overwhelming Nazi strength, the 338,000 men gathered on the beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear. Unable to retreat any farther, the Allied soldiers set up defense positions and prayed for deliverance. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26, expecting to save no more than a handful of his men. But Britain would not let its soldiers down. Hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure yachts, and commercial vessels streamed into the Channel to back up the Royal Navy, and in a week nearly the entire army was ferried safely back to England. Based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and told by “a master narrator,” The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the outcome of World War II hung in the balance (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.).
Download or read book The Aftermath of Dunkirk written by Stephen Wynn and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2021-12-31 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation Dynamo, the successful evacuation of Belgian, British, Dutch, French and Polish troops from the beaches at Dunkirk between 27 May and 4 June 1940, was not only a pivotal moment of the war, but one that changed its final outcome. There has been much debate in the years since the end of the war concerning the “Hitler Halt” order, which was given to German Panzer units waiting patiently on the outskirts of Dunkirk to be allowed to finish the job they had started. Many theories have been put forward as to the reasons behind this, but the consequence was that it allowed Britain to remain in the war. A total of 338,226, British and Allied troops were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk, aboard a total of 861 vessels, of which 243 were sunk. For those left behind, official figures record that up to 80,000 French and British troops were captured, whilst during the time of the actual evacuation, somewhere in the region of 16,000 French and 1,000 British soldiers were killed. Equipment wise British forces left behind somewhere in the region of 90,000 rifles, 11,000 machine guns, huge supplies of ammunition, 880 field guns, 310 large calibre artillery pieces, 500 anti-aircraft guns, 850 anti-tank guns, 700 tanks, 45,000 cars and lorries, and 20,000 motor cycles – enough equipment to arm nearly ten divisions of soldiers. It is known that two atrocities took place during the Battle of Dunkirk: the Massacre at Le Paradis, and another at Wormhoudt, carried out by Waffen- SS soldiers, against British and French troops who had already surrendered. Although the Battle of Dunkirk must ultimately go down tactically as a German victory, the rescue of so many of its men, ensured that like a phoenix, Britain rose from the ashes of defeat to gain a great and lasting victory.
Download or read book Twelve Turning Points of the Second World War written by Philip Michael Hett Bell and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this gripping new look at the 20th century's most crucial conflict, historian Bell analyzes 12 unique turning points that determined the character and the ultimate outcome of the Second World War.
Download or read book I Fought at Dunkirk written by Mike Rossiter and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-08-02 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SURVIVOR STORIES FROM DUNKIRK, NOW THE SUBJECT OF A MAJOR FILM FROM CHRISTOPHER NOLAN When Britain declared war against Germany in September 1939, thousands of young men sailed across the English Channel to fight for their country. Among them were the seven soldiers who share their stories in this book. Some joined up out of patriotism, others for adventure or the prospect of a secure wage. They were fit, trained and proud to wear the armband of the British Expeditionary Forces. For many, the first months were strangely peaceful, but when the Germans invaded in May 1940 they advanced with shocking speed. The German armoured columns sliced through neutral Holland and Belgium. The French Army collapsed and within a week the soldiers of the BEF were forced to retreat. Fighting tough and bloody rearguard actions, they endured relentless shelling and fearsome dive-bomb attacks. Constantly on the move, and facing a German onslaught on three fronts, they were soon exhausted, hungry and low on ammunition. They headed finally to their one chance of salvation: the beaches of Dunkirk. Mike Rossiter tells the stories of seven veterans who went through a hellish baptism of fire in the first battles on the front line, and fought in the last-ditch defence of Dunkirk. They saw their comrades bombed and drowned off the beaches. Their accounts give us a fascinating and privileged insight into the reality of the war and what it was really like to face the German Blitzkrieg in 1940. They take us from the confident, idyllic days of the phoney war in the French countryside to the sudden shock of battle, from the fear and confusion of retreat to the wait for an uncertain rescue. These are the compelling stories of seven men who are proud to say I Fought at Dunkirk.
Download or read book We Can Take It written by Mark Connelly and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-10 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: `We Can Take It!' shows that the British remember the war in a peculiar way, thanks to a mix of particular images and evidence. Our memory has been shaped by material which is completely removed from historical reality. These images (including complete inventions) have combined to make a new history. The vision is mostly cosy and suits the way in which the Britons conceive of themselves: dogged, good humoured, occasionally bumbling, unified and enjoying diversity. In fact Britons load their memory towards the early part of the war (Dunkirk, Blitz, Battle of Britain) rather than when we were successful in the air or against Italy and Germany with invasions. This suits our love of being the underdog, fighting against the odds, and being in a crisis. Conversely, the periods of the war during which Britain was in the ascendant are, perversely, far more hazy in the public memory.
Download or read book Dunkirk written by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2007-05-31 with total page 1005 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * * * 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.
Download or read book Dunkirk written by Sean Longden and published by Constable & Robinson. This book was released on 2008 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 2am on the morning of the 3rd of June 1940, General Harold Alexander searched along the quayside, holding onto his megaphone and called _Is anyone there? Is anyone there?_ before turning his boat back towards England.Tradition tells us that the dramatic events of the evacuation of Dunkirk, in which 300,000 BEF servicemen escaped the Nazis, was a victory gained from the jaws of defeat. For the first time, rather than telling the tale of the 300,000 who escaped, Sean Longden reveals the story of the 40,000 men sacrificed in the rearguard battles.On the beaches and sand dunes, besides the roads and amidst the ruins lay the corpses of hundreds who had not reached the boats. Elsewhere, hospitals full of the sick and wounded who had been left behind to receive treatment from the enemy_s doctors. And further afield _ still fighting hard alongside their French allies - was the entire 51st Highland Division, whose war had not finished as the last boats slipped away. Also scattered across the countryside were hundreds of lost and lonely soldiers. These _evaders_ had also missed the boats and were now desperately trying to make their own way home, either by walking across France or rowing across the channel. The majority, however, were now prisoners of war who were forced to walk on the death marches all the way to the camps in Germany and Poland, where they were forgotten until 1945.Praise for Sean Longden'Forget The Great Escape. Forget The Colditz Story. This is the real thing.' Les Allan, founder of the _National Ex-Prisoner of War Association.__A powerful indictment of the crimes perpetrated against men who had surrendered in good faith....Never again, after Mr Longden's excellent work, shall we see the plight of POWs as anything other than unremittingly monstrous.' Andrew Roberts, Daily Mail_The sex_n_drugs_n_rock_n_roll of soldiering_ The Times_Longden_s a master at building the big picture detail-by-detail, using veterans_ memories to good effect, creating an absorbing history of the period in question. He_s a historian to read, regardless of theme, especially as he chooses such compelling subjects.' Sue Baker, Publishing News
Download or read book Rees Howells Intercessor written by Norman Grubb and published by CLC Publications. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Indian Contingent written by Ghee Bowman and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2020-05-21 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'An incredible and important story, finally being told' - Mishal Husain On 28 May 1940, Major Akbar Khan marched at the head of 299 soldiers along a beach in northern France. They were the only Indians in the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk. With Stuka sirens wailing, shells falling in the water and Tommies lining up to be evacuated, these soldiers of the British Indian Army, carrying their disabled imam, found their way to the East Mole and embarked for England in the dead of night. On reaching Dover, they borrowed brass trays and started playing Punjabi folk music, upon which even 'many British spectators joined in the dance'. What journey had brought these men to Europe? What became of them – and of comrades captured by the Germans? With the engaging style of a true storyteller, Ghee Bowman reveals in full, for the first time, the astonishing story of the Indian Contingent, from their arrival in France on 26 December 1939 to their return to an India on the verge of partition. It is one of the war's hidden stories that casts fresh light on Britain and its empire.
Download or read book The Nolan Variations written by Tom Shone and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth look at Christopher Nolan, considered to be the most profound, commercially successful director at work today, written with his full cooperation. A rare, revelatory portrait, "as close as you're ever going to get to the Escher drawing that is Christopher Nolan's remarkable brain" (Sam Mendes). In chapters structured by themes and motifs ("Time"; "Chaos"; "Dreams"), Shone offers an unprecedented intimate view of the director. Shone explores Nolan's thoughts on his influences, his vision, his enigmatic childhood past--and his movies, from plots and emotion to identity and perception, including his latest blockbuster, the action-thriller/spy-fi Tenet ("Big, brashly beautiful, grandiosely enjoyable"--Variety). Filled with the director's never-before-seen photographs, storyboards, and scene sketches, here is Nolan on the evolution of his pictures, and the writers, artists, directors, and thinkers who have inspired and informed his films. "Fabulous: intelligent, illuminating, rigorous, and highly readable. The very model of what a filmmaking study should be. Essential reading for anyone who cares about Nolan or about film for that matter."--Neal Gabler, author of An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood and Walt Disney, The Biography
Download or read book Dunkirk written by John Harris and published by Canelo + ORM. This book was released on 2021-10-21 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the miracle on the beaches saved a nation. A gripping account of one of the most famous episodes of the Second World War In May 1940 British and Allied troops on mainland Europe were in a perilous situation: cut off and surrounded, at the conclusion of the bloody Battle of France they faced complete annihilation. It would be a devastating blow, handing Europe to the Nazis. But over a few frantic days, the greatest evacuation in history managed to salvage hope, saving the total destruction of the army and hundreds of thousands of soldiers lives. It was a pivotal and defining moment in the war, one Churchill described as a ‘miracle’ in his ‘we shall fight them on the beaches’ speech. Bestselling author John Harris describes in vivid detail how the evacuation developed on a day-by-day basis, and destroys more than one myth associated with Dunkirk. Packed with authentic atmosphere and first-hand recollections, the retreat and the desperate lifting of the weary British expeditionary force is seen in its tragic but spirited entirety, an epic of courage and confusion without parallel. Perfect for readers of James Holland and Guy Walters.
Download or read book Dunkirk written by Joshua Levine and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1940, at the French port of Dunkirk, more than 300,000 trapped Allied troops were dramatically rescued from destruction at the hands of Nazi Germany by an extraordinary seaborne evacuation. The true history of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians involved in the nine-day skirmish has passed into legend. Now, in this gift edition, the story Winston Churchill described as a 'miracle' is narrated by bestselling author Joshua Levine in its full, sweeping context, including new interviews with veterans and survivors.