Figure 1.--The French Navy also threw its ships into the Dunkirk cauldron, losing three destroyers that came in close to protect the men on the beach. They also took out some French civilians, including these children here being given something to eat. Unfortunately the press caption is lost. Written on the back of the photograp is 'Dunkirk orphans'. We do not have, however, any details on the evacuation of orphans. Hopefully one of our readers will know more.

There were countless heroes whose sacrifice made the Dunkirk evacuation possible. Normally the credit goes to the Royal Navy and the small ships. And they certainly deserve accolades for all that they accomplished. In fact, however, the success was much more of a mixed arms and Allied effort than is commonly reported. Surely the steadfast and disciplined performance of the BEF under enormous German pressure was critical to the evacuation. The RAF was criticized by many of th men on the beaches for being absent. In fact, RAF Fighter Command played a major role in breaking up attacking Luftwaffe formations, preventing them from getting through to the beaches. The RAF did most of this out of sight of the men exposed on the beaches who only saw the German planes that bombed and strafed them after getting through the RAF patrols. The RAF took substantial losses in this effort. The RAF lost 145 aircraft, including more than 40 Spitfires. This may not sound like a large number, but combined with the losses in the squadrons deployed to France, Fighter Command had been battered. This was of great concern to Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, commanding Fighter Command and already preparing for the Luftwaffe assault to come. And another blow was when the French returned the Luftwaffe pilots shot down to the Germans. The performance of the outnumbered and out-gunned French First Army played a major role in slowing down the German advance on Dunkirk. And almost absent from Dunkirk accounts is the performance of the French Navy. The Royal Navy and French navies both went in close to protect the men on the beach and and take on men. The Royal Navy lost six destroyers and the smaller French Navy three destroyers (Bourrasque, Sirocco,and Le Foudroyant). Apparently one of the other French destroyers took on civilians, in this case orphans (figure 1), but we do not yet have the details on this.

Created: 6:27 AM 12/13/2013
Spell checked: 5:43 PM 12/13/2013
Last updated: 5:43 PM 12/13/2013