The Little Ships

The Little Ships
Author: Louise Borden
Publisher:
Total Pages: 32
Release: 1999-05-20
Genre: Dunkerque (France), Battle of, 1940
ISBN: 9781862053472

May 1940: 500,000 British and French troops are trapped in northern France by the Nazis. Their only escape is the sea, and an incredible armada of 800 craft known as the little ships. This is the story of a young girl and her father, who sail from Deal to Normandy to lend their help.

The Miracle of Dunkirk

The Miracle of Dunkirk
Author: Walter Lord
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 478
Release: 2012-03-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1453238506

The true story of the World War II evacuation portrayed in the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Day of Infamy. In May 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, broken by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, retreated to Dunkirk. Hemmed in by overwhelming Nazi strength, the 338,000 men gathered on the beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear. Unable to retreat any farther, the Allied soldiers set up defense positions and prayed for deliverance. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26, expecting to save no more than a handful of his men. But Britain would not let its soldiers down. Hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure yachts, and commercial vessels streamed into the Channel to back up the Royal Navy, and in a week nearly the entire army was ferried safely back to England. Based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and told by “a master narrator,” The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the outcome of World War II hung in the balance (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.).

Dunkirk and the Little Ships

Dunkirk and the Little Ships
Author: Philip Weir
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2020-10-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1784423734

During 1940 the German army swept with devastating speed across the Low Countries and into northern France and drove Allied forces back into a small pocket around Dunkirk. Without a swift withdrawal across the English Channel, the latter faced certain death or capture. The evacuation plan – Operation Dynamo – initially calculated that 45,000 men might be rescued, but between 26 May and 4 June 338,226 men were in fact brought back to England. Naval historian Philip Weir shows how this was made possible by a vast armada of disparate vessels including destroyers, minesweepers, fishing vessels and, most famously of all, the privately owned 'Little Ships'. He explores the vessels' various roles within the evacuation, and their subsequent fates, including preservation and participation in commemorative return runs to the port, which now take place every five years.

The Little Ships

The Little Ships
Author: Louise Borden
Publisher: White Lion Publishing
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2010
Genre: Children's stories
ISBN: 9781847800817

The dramatic story of the historic rescue of over 300,000 men from the beach of Dunkirk.

Dunkirk

Dunkirk
Author: Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 1005
Release: 2007-05-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 0141906162

* * * Special 75th Anniversary Edition * * * Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man tells the story of the rescue in May 1940 of British soldiers fleeing capture and defeat by the Nazis at Dunkirk. Dunkirk was not just about what happened at sea and on the beaches. The evacuation would never have succeeded had it not been for the tenacity of the British soldiers who stayed behind to ensure they got away. Men like Sergeant Major Gus Jennings who died smothering a German stick bomb in the church at Esquelbecq in an effort to save his comrades, and Captain Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC who single-handedly held back a German attack on the Dunkirk perimeter thereby allowing the British line to form up behind him. Told to stand and fight to the last man, these brave few battalions fought in whatever manner they could to buy precious time for the evacuation. Outnumbered and outgunned, they launched spectacular and heroic attacks time and again, despite ferocious fighting and the knowledge that for many only capture or death would end their struggle. 'A searing story . . . both meticulous military history and a deeply moving testimony to the extraordinary personal bravery of individual soldiers' Tim Gardam, The Times 'Sebag-Montefiore tells [the story] with gusto, a remarkable attention to detail and an inexhaustible appetite for tracking down the evidence' Richard Ovary, Telegraph Hugh Sebag-Montefiore was a barrister before becoming a journalist and then an author. He wrote the best-selling Enigma: The Battle for the Code. One of his ancestors was evacuated from Dunkirk.

Operation Dynamo

Operation Dynamo
Author: Tim Benbow
Publisher: Naval Staff Histories of the S
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781910294598

"In May 1940, as France collapsed in the face of the German blitzkrieg, the British army and some French forces fell back on the Channel coast. The advancing Germans pushed them back and then briefly paused, confident that this cornered remnant of the allied forces was trapped. Yet the German command had failed to appreciate just what sea power could do to deny them the full fruits of their apparent victory; at short notice an evacuation was improvised which, it was initially thought, might if all went well last two days and rescue 45,000 men. The heroic rear guard action of the troops ashore against the renewed German advance, the ability of the RAF to provide just enough air cover, the tireless efforts of naval crews and those manning the priceless 'little ships', and the organisational genius of Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay saw Operation Dynamo succeed beyond all realistic expectation: two days became nine, and over 338,000 men were saved. Operational disaster in the Battle of France did not become strategic defeat in the war, and albeit at great cost to the Navy, the British army survived to be rebuilt. Above all, Britain could continue to fight. This volume reproduces the complete text of the Battle Summary written shortly after the war by the Admiralty historical staff, comprising a detailed and authoritative account of these dramatic events. This is accompanied by a comprehensive introduction, newly written for this volume, that explains the context for the operation as well as an overview of further reading on the subject."--Publisher website.

Dunkirk

Dunkirk
Author: Robert Jackson
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2012-07-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780224524

A gripping account of the most famous military defeat and retreat in history, now the subject of a major motion picture, written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance. The NEW YORK TIMES of 2 June 1940 summed up the greatest disaster in British history thus: 'As long as the English tongue survives, the word 'Dunkirk' will be spoken with reverence.' This book tells the story of the Dunkirk evacuation. It traces the fortunes of the British Expeditionary Force during those dark days of May 1940 when boys armed with little more than rifles took on the might of Hitler's Panzer divisions - and held them while Allied armies crumbled on all sides. The evacuation at Dunkirk lifted more than 338,000 men from France to the safety of Britain using everything from Destroyers to pleasure yachts. It was the biggest single defeat ever suffered by British arms, but it was also one of the most astounding exoduses in history.

The Evacuation from Dunkirk

The Evacuation from Dunkirk
Author: W.J.R. Gardner
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2014-02-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317973585

This is the Naval Staff History of "Operation Dynamo", originally published internally in 1949. British ships evacuated nearly 100,000 men of the BEF from the beaches, and over 200,000 from harbours. Other nations' vessels carried more than 30,000.

Escaping with His Life

Escaping with His Life
Author: Nicholas Young
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2019-05-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1526746646

“A fitting tribute . . . exceptional in covering the duration of WWII as a soldier, commando, POW, escaper, and on through D-Day to Victory.” —Firetrench Very few British soldiers could lay claim to such a full war as Leslie Young. Having survived the retreat to and evacuation from Dunkirk, he volunteered for the newly formed Commandos and took part in their first operation, the raid on the Lofoten Islands. He fought and was captured in Tunisia. He went on the run before his POW camp at Fontanellato was taken over by the Nazis after the September 1943 Italian armistice. He spent six months on the run in the Apennine mountains aided by brave and selfless Italians. Many of whom were actively fighting their occupiers. He eventually reached Allied lines but not before several of his companions were tragically killed by both German and American fire. On return to England, he immediately signed up for the invasion of North West Europe and despite being wounded eventually fought through to Germany. It is thanks to his son’s research that Major Young’s story can now be told. It is an inspiring and thrilling account which demands to be read. “Nicely retold by his son, Nicholas, this memoir ticks all the boxes . . . An incredible story of one man’s war. It’s excellent.” —WW2Talk “This wonderful account of the military life of Leslie Young is pure Boys’ Own Paper stuff, a tale of heroism and daring, of courage and fortitude. An amazing story, brilliantly told.” —Books Monthly

Dunkirk

Dunkirk
Author: Julian Thompson
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing Inc.
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2011-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611453143

Describes the events surrounding the Battle of Dunkirk and the rescue of British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk during World War II.