2006-10-20 01:34:00 · 7 answers · asked by Patrick J 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
This is widely recognized as Hitlers first, but certainly not his last, major blunder of WWII. He could have captured or killed almost all of the BEF had he attacked at Dunkirk. Instead he let them slip away to fight another day, which they did: D-Day.
2006-10-20 02:09:36 · answer #1 · answered by Shane L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, although the evacuation was not a victory it wasn't a defeat. It was a really miraculous occurrence, even the weather cooperated. This did something for the morale of Great Britain. A failure would have led the people to ,if not demand, at least acquiesce to an armistice. With the Spirit of Dunkirk to live up to, emulate and display as the possible outcome to resistance surrender and support for those who called for it was not on. Great Britain was on it's knees, defending the island was up to a few squadrons of aircraft and a mostly disarmed army(they had left their armour and artillery in France) and the Navy, which was stretched very thin. All they had was a morale and a voice on the radio that said they would win. If the BEF had been destroyed ,killed or captured in France then the people would have never believed that they could win They knew that the average person in those little boats had saved the Army to fight again. They didn't care about the weaponry lost just the men saved to fight and, they were certain. win. Hitler should have sent in his panzers. This, with many other stupid mistakes, lost him the war. Thank the Goddess.
2006-10-20 11:44:01 · answer #2 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From a British and French perspective it was a great decision, but not very wise militarily from a German point of view.
Don't however assume that the German tanks would have had it all their own way as the Dunkirk perimeter was a small area to defend and consisted of many pieces of field artillery which could have made a mess of any bottlenecked tank formations.
Also don't forget that the rearguard troops of the British Expeditionary Force put up one hell of a fight anyway in order to allow as many troops to get off the beaches onto ships home. The Germans did not simply sit back and watch.
2006-10-20 10:09:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was one of many mis-steps he made during the war. One of the other major ones was holding back the Panzer reserves prior to the Normandy invasion. Even after the Allies landed, the Panzer reserves were not released, since they were expecting an invasion at Pas De Calais. Eventually they were released piecemeal and too late to make a difference on the beaches, the way Rommel had wanted.
2006-10-20 15:25:20 · answer #4 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If Hitler had crushed the Dunkirk perimeter there'd have been about 300,000 less allied soldiers to defend England. Now, does that sound like a mistake to you?
2006-10-20 14:16:28 · answer #5 · answered by Yak Rider 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Considering they lost the war, I'd say any decision they made was the wrong one. LOL
2006-10-20 08:37:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it was wrong
2006-10-20 09:02:44 · answer #7 · answered by John B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋