Quote:
Originally Posted by CurrentlySober
My Grandad stormed the beaches at Dunkirk. It was a family story that he did a bit of fighting, but then got freaked right out and hid in a shed until it was all over. He was found by soldiers from our side who were looking for survivors.
I cant blame him really - He didn't choose to serve - He was conscripted so had no choice. A very small gentle weak man. I'm glad he chose to hide.
If he hadn't, I'd never have known him. He died of old age in a nursing home in 1991. It was just after my Son was born. We think he had been 'holding on' to see him...
RIP Grandad x
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Not to take away from your grandfather's service to his country but no beaches were stormed at Dunkirk, 4 years later at Normandy they were. British, French and Belgian forces were trapped in Dunkirk, outflanked by the Germans in all directions. It was a hopeless situation and only a decision by one of Hitler's generals with Hitler's ok to call a halt for 3 days saved 300,000 soldiers from death or imprisonment as POWs. That decision is still debated by historians - some say it was Hitler giving a break to the British in the hopes he could reach a peace agreement with them. In fact Hitler wrote in the political testament he wrote not long before the end for him and the war that's exactly what he did, he was showing mercy to Britain. The Brits were seriously considering surrendering to Hitler even before the Dunkirk evacuation. Had the evacuation been impossible there is little doubt the Brits would have cut a deal with Hitler. Churchill used the miracle of Dunkirk to rally the faith of the British people to not give up and to fight on.
Losing 200,000 men at Dunkirk would have been too much both militarily and psychologically.