Operation Dynamo Persuasive Essay

Can you imagine a world where the Hitler and the Germans the won World War II, instead of the Allies? If not for Operation Dynamo, this likely would have been what happened. Operation Dynamo was the evacuation of Allied troops back to England that were being cut off and cornered along the coast of France by Hitler and the Germans. In a span of nine days, over 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated and saved from becoming German prisoners of war. Important parts of the evacuation include the cause of the evacuation, the evacuation process, problems the evacuation had, the reasons the evacuation was successful, and the results of the evacuation. The evacuation of Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk was key to the Allies’ war effort and without

this evacuation, World War II could have ended very differently.
The cause of the evacuation was the Allied troops were being surrounded and cut off by incoming German troops. On May 10, 1940, the Germans ended the ‘phony war’, which was the period at the beginning of World War II were there was no military operations, and started advancing through Europe. Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France, and Belgium surrendered within a few days. Once the troops reached northern France, “France was falling rapidly, and by the 14th and 15th of May, the main German force had moved into the River Meuse, advancing in the west direction towards the English Channel” (Simple History). The Allies needed to respond and try to counter the German advances, but their counter-attempt failed, “The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), which had advanced into Belgium to meet the German attack, was in danger of being surrounded and cut off” (ed. Merriman & Winter). The Germans continued advancing through Europe and their army split up into two groups, “A smaller one swept through Holland and Belgium into northern France, drawing the main Allied forces north to meet it. The other, main German force advanced through Luxembourg, broke through the French lines at Sedan, and sliced across northern France to the coast. Moving rapidly with armoured columns, these armies trapped the Allies in an ever-decreasing pocket” (English Heritage). The Allied troops were forced back to the coast to avoid being cut off, but they still were in danger. Both the French and the British were against evacuation at first, but once the troops were forced back to the coast, Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England at the time, viewed evacuation as the only option (History). Operation Dynamo began on the night of May 26, 1940.
Over 900 ships, including fishing vessels and personal yachts, went to Dunkirk from Britain to help with the evacuation process. The British Royal Navy sent out a public message to all of their citizens asking for them to help with the evacuation in any way that they could, and many answered the call (English Heritage). Hundreds of citizens crossed the English Channel to Dunkirk in their own boats which varied from pleasure boats to fishing vessels, “Crewed mainly by volunteers, these tiny vessels bravely and repeatedly picked up soldiers queuing patiently on the beaches and in the water, and ferried them out to the waiting larger ships, under severe attack from German aircraft and artillery. Many also took troops back across the Channel themselves” (English Heritage). Although the so called ‘little ships’ played a huge role in the evacuation, the role of the ‘big ships’ can’t be forgotten, “Its ‘big ships’ – mainly destroyers, minesweepers and requisitioned merchant vessels with naval crews – crossed to Dunkirk time and time again, without rest, and suffered terrible losses” (English Heritage). During the evacuation, it was very tough for the troops waiting to be evacuated. “The discipline of the rear echelon troops as they waited for evacuation was not always good. Officers organizing the long queues were on occasion forced to maintain order at the point of a gun” (ed. Merriman & Winter). This was because they waited in lines that stretched across miles of sand and water and “Rescue was painfully slow at first – only 8,000 men were rescued on the first day. It took several days for the operation to gather pace” (English Heritage). Sometimes, soldiers even had to wait in water that was up to their necks (ed. Merriman & Winter). But, as the little ships started arriving, the process sped up and “On May 29, more than 47,000 British troops were rescued; more than 53,000, including the first French troops, made it out on May 30” (History). Without the help of the volunteer ‘little ships’, the Allies wouldn’t have been able to ferry troops out to the ‘big ships’, making the evacuation go much slower and causing less troops to be evacuated.
Even though the evacuation ended up being a enormous success for the Allies, they faced many problems during the evacuation. Most of the problems they faced during the evacuation were caused by the Germans. The Germans continuously bombed Dunkirk while the Allies were there and as a result “The Germans had put the main docks at Dunkirk – the best place from which to evacuate troops – out of action. The two alternatives – the spindly breakwater, or mole, on the east side of the harbour, and the beaches to the north of the port – were far from ideal” (English Heritage). Along with continuous bombing runs, the Germans also tried to force their way into Dunkirk on the ground, “The Allies had to defend a small pocket around Dunkirk that was under constant attack. Many thousands of men were crammed into streets and buildings, and along the beaches – so they were very vulnerable to intense German air attacks and shelling” (English Heritage). Another problem the Allies faced was caused by the landscape of Dunkirk itself. “The beaches at Dunkirk shelve gently into the sea. Even at high tide, a destroyer couldn’t approach within a mile of the shore” (English Heritage). Even with these problems, the evacuation was still a success and the Allies were able to keep on fighting.
Operation Dynamo was successful because of almost perfect weather and a little help from Hitler and the Germans. The weather during the evacuation could not have been better for the Allies. It was very cloudy the whole time during the evacuation which gave the ships evacuating troops cover from German bombing runs and the sea was very calm which made it easier for ships to get closer into the shore (ed. Merriman & Winter). The Allies also got some help from Hitler himself during the evacuation. “On 24 May, Adolf Hitler issued the notorious halt order that prevented German tanks, which were close to Dunkirk, from advancing for three days” (ed. Merriman & Winter). This gave the Allies some extra time that ended up being key because “by the time the tanks began to roll again the BEF had strengthened its defense line, the troops were streaming into Dunkirk, and the chance to cut them off had disappeared” (ed. Merriman & Winter). Without the almost perfect weather and help from Hitler, the evacuation would have been much tougher and the amount of troops evacuated would have been much smaller.
Operation Dynamo was seen as a disaster by some of the Allies and as a miracle by other Allies.

The people who viewed it as a disaster did so because “thousands of French troops were left behind and taken prisoner by the advancing Germans. Also abandoned on the shores of Dunkirk were massive supplies of ammunition, machine guns, tanks, motorcycles, jeeps and anti-aircraft artillery” (History). Also, soon after the evacuation, France surrendered to Germany and this left Britain alone to fight the Germans (English Heritage). Those who viewed it as a miracle did so because it was expected that they would be able to evacuate 45,000 troops at the most, instead they evacuated over 338,000 (History). The evacuation was so important to the Allies, and Britain especially, because ‘by rescuing the bulk of the army, in what was the biggest evacuation in military history, Operation Dynamo returned to Britain a priceless asset – most of her trained and experienced troops. If they had been lost, the whole conflict might have taken a very different course” (English Heritage). Operation Dynamo was also a huge morale booster for the Allies because “Germany had hoped defeat at Dunkirk would lead Britain to negotiate a speedy exit from the conflict. Instead, the ‘Miracle at Dunkirk’ became a rallying cry for the duration of the war, and an iconic symbol of the British spirit, leaving a cultural legacy of pride and perseverance that endures nearly eight decades later” (History). The Allies used Operation Dynamo as motivation for the rest of the war and this allowed them to continue their fight against Germany and eventually

win.
This evacuation of over 330,000 Allied troops was extremely important to the Allies’ war effort, and very well could have saved the Allies from losing the war. Everything that happened during the evacuation was vitally important, including the cause of the evacuation, the evacuation process, the reasons for success, and the result of the evacuation. If this evacuation never happened or failed, the Allies would have lost most of their trained troops, and this would have been a huge blow to them. With the Allies losing most of their trained army, Hitler and the Nazis probably would have won World War II and they might still be in power today, 78 years later.