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Thread ID: 87956	2008-03-10 03:07:00	Germany’s “Dunkerque.”	Roscoe (6288)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
648219	2008-03-11 09:10:00	Except for the pesky Americans and their war against the English the English have always won in the end. Not so. Try : ~ the battle of Hastings in 1066 ~ the hundred years war with the French : the turning point was a defeat at Orleans in 1429 (Jeanne D'Arc anyone?) culminating in defeat at Bordeaux in 1453 ~ the loss of India in 1949 ~ the loss of Ireland ~ the loss of Egypt ~ the loss of South Africa...and so on for the rest of their former colonies the English never having lost a war (other than the Amercian War of Independence) is a myth.... XRNZA :)	andrew93 (249)
648220	2008-03-11 09:27:00	What's Dunkerque? The Dunkerque evacuation was one of the "highlights" of WW2 and has been called "The greatest evacuation in history . " The Poms were very lucky as Hitler did not want the panzers to become bogged down in the marshes around the town, so he held them back with the idea of giving Göring's Luftwaffe the honour of destroying the Allied armies . But finally Hitler relented after reports of heavy shipping in the English Channel suggested an evacuation and so permitted his panzers to move on Dunkerque . By then they had been stationary for three days and the Poms took advantage of the respite to prepare for withdrawal . The evacuation used the cover name Operation Dynamo . The German delay had given the British and French time to establish a defensive ring around Dunkerque . Even so, the marshy ground, mechanical failure and tough allied resistance made life difficult for the German advance . The panzers were withdrawn and it was left to the infantry and Luftwaffe to crush the armies heading for the port . The allied troops fell back in good order and practically all the British and French troops escaped . The Germans failed to recognise the size of the evacuation . Even Churchill thought that no more than 30,000 troops could be taken off the beaches but about five times that amount was rescued . The British had mobilised a motley fleet of 1,000 warships, yachts, barges, trawlers and tugs . Poor flying weather and the RAF kept the Luftwaffe at bay and allowed the escape of 68,000 troops . When the Germans finally marched into Dunkerque they found chaos . The beaches were littered with hundreds of corpses and acres of abandoned equipment - 2472 guns, 63,879 vehicles, 76,097 tons of ammunition and 40,000 French troops . Thanks to the poor judgement by the Führer and several top commanders, the epic of Dunkerque would provide its own epilogue: 338,226 Allied soldiers had been saved to fight again . To call Dunkirk by its frog spelling in a British commonwealth country is the most pedantic thing I have ever heard . If the idea was to show how smart the frog speller was it failed big time . The port of Dunkerque is French although some may have missed that fact . I do not understand why spelling the town correctly shows "how smart the frog speller was . " I suppose that spelling the names of Göring and the Führer correctly using an umlaut is being smart as well? Does that show "how smart the Kraut speller was"?:rolleyes:	Roscoe (6288)
648221	2008-03-11 10:40:00	The result was history’s biggest and most successful seaborne evacuation . Which doesn't mean that there weren't losses, in 2 ships alone sunk by the same Soviet submarine there were over 12,000 killed .	PaulD (232)
648222	2008-03-11 10:55:00	lol (stash.ableapp.com) (unfortunately no mention of the Dunkerque incident)	sal (67)
648223	2008-03-11 10:57:00	Or someone could've simply told me. Plus, Wiki is unreliable for a lot of things. Its not. We bloody try very hard to keep it upto date and reliable. Why dont you pitch in and fix some things then?	beeswax34 (63)
648224	2008-03-11 11:45:00	I hope the Germans learned a lesson after coming second in two world wars Well, I think so... Right now Germany has about 200.000 soldiers under weapons with only about 700 tanks (compared to 450.000 soldiers and ~3400 tanks [FRG only] while "cold war"). Actually, "the huns" aren't even a threat to Liechtenstein, Luxemburgh, Denmark or San Marino. Feel safe! :) But: if New Zealand is interested to conquer Germany during the next weeks - in history it has never been easier to do so. :punk	Thor Branke (13486)
648225	2008-03-11 14:19:00	The Dunkerque evacuation was one of the "highlights" of WW2 and has been called "The greatest evacuation in history." The Poms were very lucky as Hitler did not want the panzers to become bogged down in the marshes around the town, so he held them back with the idea of giving Göring's Luftwaffe the honour of destroying the Allied armies. ... The Germans failed to recognise the size of the evacuation. Even Churchill thought that no more than 30,000 troops could be taken off the beaches but about five times that amount was rescued. ... Thanks to the poor judgement by the Führer and several top commanders, the epic of Dunkerque would provide its own epilogue: 338,226 Allied soldiers had been saved to fight again. Well, I learned it slightly different: When Manstein started his "Sichelschnitt"-campaign, his intentions were different from Hitlers. He wanted to bring the campaign to a fast and complete end. Hitler instead is quoted, that he was satisfied with the first victories in Belgium and France. He ordered to stop the march towards the channelcoast, but Manstein knew better: if he had stopped, his forces would have been cannonfodder because of the very long left flank. So he refused to follow orders and marched on till his army reached the surroundings of Dunkirk. Then Hitler in an attempt of "arm-wrestling" with his leading military staff ordered again to stop. He must have known, that there were reasons to continue, but if giving in, Manstein would have won the argue - leaving bad reputation behind for Hitler. In the end Hitler succeeded with his powergame. Moreover all german decisionmakers underestimated the bristish abilities to handle the crisis, the remarkable strong will and the great solidarity within the british people. I'm glad, that so many british soldiers were able to escape; and I'm glad, too, that years later, so many german soldiers and civilians were able to reach the western shore of the baltic sea. My hometown, a small fishing harbour with a - at that time - important torpedoe-test-range, had about 10.000 inhabitants till Dez. 1944. Between Jan. - May 1945 the number exceeded to more than 20.000 due to the refugees. You can easily imagine the problems this caused. Nowadays it has still about 23.000 inhabitants and has become a really beautiful little town (google earth: 54.28N - 09.51E). Btw.: my father is from Memel (nowadays Klaipéda, Lithuania); in the summer of 1944 at the age of four he, my grandmother and other mostly female members of my family left the town, about 6 month before what was explained in post #1. Otherwise I probably wouldn't be here to write these words. :)	Thor Branke (13486)
648226	2008-03-11 18:32:00	Well, I think so... Right now Germany has about 200.000 soldiers under weapons with only about 700 tanks (compared to 450.000 soldiers and ~3400 tanks [FRG only] while "cold war"). Actually, "the huns" aren't even a threat to Liechtenstein, Luxemburgh, Denmark or San Marino. Feel safe! :) But: if New Zealand is interested to conquer Germany during the next weeks - in history it has never been easier to do so. :punk We will send Wolf F in first to reconnoitre. Danke Branke.	Cicero (40)
648227	2008-03-11 20:04:00	I just read that they are going to show Allo Allo on German TV with German voices ! I wonder how that will go down in Germany and I wonder how they will do the various accents ? Regards Digby	Digby (677)
648228	2008-03-11 20:08:00	We will send Wolf F in first to reconnoitre. Danke Branke. :banana :lol: I will go too - as long as we can spend a few days in Sweden on the way. :p	wratterus (105)
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