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Articles
Robert Kershaw Looks at Dunkirk from the Other Side
- By WILLIAM J. SHEPHERD
- | September 7, 2023
- Category: Books
Robert Kershaw, Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk. Oxford: Osprey, 2022. 354 pages. $30, Amazon $24.99, paperback $22, Kindle $12.60.
Robert Kershaw is a British army veteran, fluent German archive researcher, renowned Hitler biographer, and historian of the Third Reich. Here he has crafted an innovative, gritty, and almost real-time reinterpretation of a famous event in the Second World War. This, of course, was Churchill’s seemingly miraculous management of the escape of 338,000 British and allied soldiers from the clutches the Nazi Wehrmacht. For “Operation Dynamo,” as they called it, Churchill credited his commanders, Lord Gort, Bertram Ramsay, and Alan Brooke.
Kershaw: a different take
Kershaw observes that British accounts of “The Great Escape” at Dunkirk tend towards nostalgic patriotism and Churchill’s epic leadership. There are also mythic elements. One was Hitler’s ordering his raging panzers (tanks) to halt short of the town. A corollary is that he thought the escape would result in peace talks. Either way, go the usual accounts, Hitler foolishly enabled his future conquerors to live to fight another day.
Kershaw’s counter argument is that the “Halt” order was only for one day in a nine-day operation. The waterlogged terrain around Dunkirk was unsuitable for panzer operations, and furthermore, the tanks had far outranged their supporting foot infantry and horse-drawn artillery.
Most importantly, German land, sea, and air attacks were not well coordinated. The German focus was on destroying the still formidable and as yet undefeated French army farther south. Kershaw’s greatest accomplishment is to unpack established historical hindsight by depicting how letters, diaries, and reports of contemporary players reveal on-the-ground realities. This is particularly valuable through his use of overlooked or otherwise unknown German language sources.
How the Germans saw it
In particular, Kershaw shows how the Germans viewed their accomplishment in the Flanders Campaign. Not only did they quickly bypass France’s celebrated Maginot Line. But by the end of the Dunkirk battle on 4 June 1940, they had also destroyed 29 French, 22 Belgian, and 10 Dutch divisions. That left only 69 French divisions to the south, facing 136 German divisions, many not yet engaged.
The escape of a British Expeditionary Force of just ten divisions, without their tanks, vehicles, and guns, was only vaguely unsettling. The Germans saw it as a mere sideshow. Britain’s exit from the war was expected shortly, followed by Churchill’s removal and a negotiated settlement with a less robust successor.
A “finest hour” for military history
The author should be commended for performing no easy task. He has peered beyond Churchill’s immense contemporary presence and historical legacy, to unpack and present a forensic examination of a somewhat misunderstood critical event. Kershaw offers many overlooked details. For example, readers will be surprised to know the French army fought hard defending Dunkirk. Also, nearly a third of the soldiers rescued were French. Sadly, most of them were shuttled back to France south and later captured. Ironically, in May 1945 Dunkirk was the last French city to be liberated from the Nazi yoke.
Additionally, Kershaw ably relates the loss of the 51st Highland Division, often blamed on Churchill as an unnecessary and heartless sacrifice. Its destruction was almost entirely due to simple logistics. In a decision made long before Churchill became prime minister, the Scots had been deployed separately from the British Expeditionary Force, much farther south attached to the French army. This meant they had the longest distance to cover to even have a chance to be evacuated.
Dünkirchen 1940 is supported by photographs and maps. It is masterfully written, expertly organized, and impeccably researched. Its use of German language resources is something no other account in English has done. This book is a “finest hour” for military history.
The author
William John Shepherd, archivist and historian, is a long-time contributor to the Churchill Project, several academic journals, and popular history magazines.
Further reading
The Churchill Project, “Did Churchill Order the ‘Little Ships’ to Rescue Soldiers,” 2019.
Richard M. Langworth, “Nolan’s Dunkirk: ‘Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans,’” 2017.