SOURCES
Source 1
This source depicts some French crewmembers of the French destroyer known as Bourrasque which had been recently been sunk by mine on May 30 1940 during Operation Dynamo. The photo was taken from the perspective of a British vessel attempting to haul the crewmates off their sinking life boat and to the safety of the British ship.
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This source shows us how tough and desperate the conditions of Dunkirk really were, and how the bravery and perseverance of not only the soldiers but the crew members and civilians affected by the war.
French crew members of the French destroyer Bourrasque, sunk by mine at Dunkirk, are hauled aboard a British vessel from their sinking life raft (1940) Image retrieved September 1 2020 from: https://time.com/4867431/colorized-dunkirk-photos/
Source 2
"The whole front was one long continuous line of blazing buildings, a high wall of fire, roaring and darting in tongues of flame, with the smoke pouring upwards and disappearing in the blackness of the sky above the roof-tops.
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Along the promenade, in parties of fifty, the remnants of practically all the last regiments were wearily trudging along. There was no singing, and very little talk. Everyone was far too exhausted to waste breath. It was none too easy to keep contact with one's friends in the darkness, and amid so many little masses of moving men, all looking very much alike. If you stopped for a few seconds to look behind, the chances were you attached yourself to some entirely different unit.
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A group of dead and dying soldiers on the path in front of us quickened our desire to quit the promenade. Stepping over the bodies we marched down the slope on the dark beach. Dunkirk front was now a lurid study in red and black; flames, smoke, and the night itself all mingling together to compose a frightful panorama of death and destruction. "- Anonymous account made by a British artillery officer describing what it was like waiting at the beaches of Dunkirk
This extract is from an anonymous account made by a British artillery office describing his and other's experiences of waiting on the beaches of Dunkirk.
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This source shows us the destructive and devastating effects that the battle of Dunkirk caused to the physical landscape and buildings as well as the Allies and possible civilians who were there at the time.
Source 3
"18th May, 1940: Every hour is precious. F H.Q. sees it quite differently. Führer keeps worrying about south flank. He rages and screams that we are on the way to ruin the whole campaign. He won't have any part in continuing the operation in a westward direction, let alone to the south-west, and still clings to the plan for the north-westerly drive.
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24th May, 1940: The left-wing, which consists of armoured and motorized forces and has no enemy in front of it, will be stopped dead in its tracks upon direct order from the Führer. The finishing off of the encircled enemy army is to be left to the Luftwaffe.
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26th May, 1940: Brauchitsch is very nervy. I can sympathize with him, for these orders from the top make no sense. In one area they call for a head-on attack against a front retiring in orderly fashion, and elsewhere they freeze the troops to the spot where the enemy rear could be cut into at any time. Von Rundstedt, too, cannot stand it, and has gone up forward to Hoth and Kleist to look over the land for the next armoured moves.
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30th May, 1940: Bad weather has grounded the Luffwaffe and now we must stand by and watch countless thousands of the enemy getting away to England under our noses." - Franz Halder
This source is of a diary kept by a German chief of staff named Franz Halder in May 1940 depicting the German point of view on the events the occurred during Dunkirk including Adolf Hitler's direct order to halt the progress of the panzer tanks on May 24.
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This source provides insight into the German perspective of the Battle of Dunkirk as well as how the German forces operated at the time.