The Sailor
15-02-2008, 04:35
Despite the success of this operation, all the heavy equipment and vehicles were abandoned. Six British and three French destroyers were sunk, along with nine large boats. In addition, 19 destroyers were damaged. Over 200 of the Allied sea craft were sunk, with an equal number damaged.
Winston Churchill revealed in his volumes on WWII that the Royal Air Force played a most important role protecting the retreating troops from the Luftwaffe. Without the support of the RAF, the allies would not have had such a successful evacuation. Churchill also said that the sand on the beach softened the explosions from the German bombs.
The RAF lost 474 planes, compared to 132 for the Luftwaffe.However, the retreating troops were largely unaware of this vital assistance because the weather was too foggy to see them, and many bitterly accused the airmen of doing nothing to help.
This is when the little ships came to play their part. A variety of motor boats, fishing smacks, trawlers, lifeboats, paddle steamers and many other types of craft came over the channel to assist in the escape.
They mainly ferried the troops from the beaches to the destroyers laying offshore - but thousands of troops came all the way back to England in some of these boats.
The escape captured the minds and hearts of the British people at a time when it looked probable that we too would soon be invaded.
It seemed like a victory in just getting the troops back - over a third of a million of them - to fight another day
Major ships lost
The Royal Navy's most significant losses in the operation were six destroyers:
HMS Grafton, sunk by U-62 on 29 May;
HMSGrenade, sunk by air attack off the east pier at Dunkirk on 29 May;
HMSWakeful, sunk by a torpedo from a Schnellboot (E-boat) S-30 on 29 May;
HMSBasilisk
HMSHavant
HMS Keith, all sunk by air attack off the beaches on 1 June.
Winston Churchill revealed in his volumes on WWII that the Royal Air Force played a most important role protecting the retreating troops from the Luftwaffe. Without the support of the RAF, the allies would not have had such a successful evacuation. Churchill also said that the sand on the beach softened the explosions from the German bombs.
The RAF lost 474 planes, compared to 132 for the Luftwaffe.However, the retreating troops were largely unaware of this vital assistance because the weather was too foggy to see them, and many bitterly accused the airmen of doing nothing to help.
This is when the little ships came to play their part. A variety of motor boats, fishing smacks, trawlers, lifeboats, paddle steamers and many other types of craft came over the channel to assist in the escape.
They mainly ferried the troops from the beaches to the destroyers laying offshore - but thousands of troops came all the way back to England in some of these boats.
The escape captured the minds and hearts of the British people at a time when it looked probable that we too would soon be invaded.
It seemed like a victory in just getting the troops back - over a third of a million of them - to fight another day
Major ships lost
The Royal Navy's most significant losses in the operation were six destroyers:
HMS Grafton, sunk by U-62 on 29 May;
HMSGrenade, sunk by air attack off the east pier at Dunkirk on 29 May;
HMSWakeful, sunk by a torpedo from a Schnellboot (E-boat) S-30 on 29 May;
HMSBasilisk
HMSHavant
HMS Keith, all sunk by air attack off the beaches on 1 June.