The Miracle Of Dunkirk

Author : Walter Lord
Publisher : Open Road Media
Page : 478 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2012-03-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781453238509

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The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord Pdf

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.).

Author : John Grehan,Alexander Nicoll
Publisher : Frontline Books
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2020-04-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781526770363

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Dunkirk Evacuation, Operation Dynamo by John Grehan,Alexander Nicoll Pdf

“Takes you right to the scene of the action in late May and early June 1940, when more than 300,000 soldiers were saved from capture or death.” —Rambles The “miracle” of Dunkirk is one of the most inspiring stories of all time. The British Expeditionary Force had been all but surrounded, and, with the French armies collapsing on all sides, it appeared that Britain was about to suffer the heaviest defeat in its history. When Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet finally accepted that the Battle of France had been lost, preparations were made to try and rescue as many soldiers as possible from one of the few ports left open to the British Expeditionary Force—Dunkirk. So rushed and chaotic was the retreat to the Channel coast, with thousands of guns, vehicles and tanks being abandoned, there was little time for soldiers to consider taking photographs of the shocking scenes of death and destruction which surrounded them. Yet images do exist of the ships and boats of all descriptions which braved the bombs and guns of the German Air Force to rescue Britain’s only field army from the clutches of Hitler’s panzer divisions. One man in particular, Sub-Lieutenant John Rutherford Crosby, a member of the crew of the minesweeper, and converted Clyde paddle steamer, HMS Oriole, left a legacy of dramatic images. These include the never-to-be-forgotten scenes of long lines of tired and anxious troops stretching into the sea and of bombs exploding on the packed beaches—all with his own personal little camera. Other images in this book paint a vivid and memorable picture, as no words ever could, of the greatest evacuation of troops under fire.

Author : Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 720 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2007-05-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9780141906164

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Dunkirk by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore Pdf

* * * 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.

Author : Martin Mace
Publisher : Frontline Books
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2017-09-30
Category : Dunkirk, Battle of, Dunkerque, France, 1940
ISBN : 1526709902

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The Dunkirk Evacuation in 100 Objects by Martin Mace Pdf

At 18.57 hours on Sunday, 26 May 1940, the Admiralty issued the directive which instigated the start of Operation Dynamo. This was the order to rescue the British Expeditionary Force from the French port of Dunkirk and the beaches surrounding it. The Admiralty believed that it would only be able to rescue 45,000 men over the course of the following two days. Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, however, when Dynamo officially ended, an armada of ships, big and small, naval and civilian achieved what had been considered impossible. In fact, in this period a total of 338,682 men had been disembarked at British ports. Such a figure has exceeded the expectations of most. Little wonder, therefore, that an editorial in The New York Times at the beginning of June declared, So long as the English tongue survives, the word Dunkirk will be spoken with reverence. Through 100 objects, from the wreck of a ship through to a dug-up rifle, and individual photographs to large memorials, all of which represent a moving snapshot of the past, the author sets out to tell the story of what came to be known as The Miracle of Dunkirk. The full-colour photographs of each 100 items are accompanied by detailed explanations of the object and the people and events which make them so special or relevant.

Author : Julian Thompson
Publisher : Pan Macmillan
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2009-05-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780330508452

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Dunkirk by Julian Thompson Pdf

A masterly work of military history, Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory is also a tribute to the soldiers whose courage and self belief sustained them through their darkest hours. The evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk is one of the pivotal moments in the Second World War – an astonishing endeavour that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Sent to help the Belgians and French hold back the German army, the small British Expeditionary Force was ill-equipped and under-trained. When Hitler attacked on 10 May 1940 and the French and Belgian armies collapsed in the face of Germany's swift and brutal advance, the British soldiers found themselves in mortal danger. In Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory, Major General Julian Thompson recreates the action as the British fought hard for three desperate weeks, conducting a successful fighting withdrawal in the face of a formidable foe. He describes the individual acts of bravery and sacrifice and analyses the decisions of the commanders who made the choice to evacuate. He also takes us to Dunkirk harbour and onto the beaches, where the British army was trapped and under attack, while the Royal Navy and the 'little ships' raced against time to rescue them.

Author : Edward Keble Chatterton
Publisher : London Hurst & Blackett [1941]
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 1940
Category : Dunkerque (France), Battle of, 1940
ISBN : UOM:39015003456657

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The Epic of Dunkirk by Edward Keble Chatterton Pdf

Author : Joshua Levine
Publisher : Random House
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2010-05-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781407031293

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Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk by Joshua Levine Pdf

The subject of the new major film by Christopher Nolan It could have been the biggest military disaster suffered by the British in the Second World War, but against all odds the British Army was successfully evacuated, and 'Dunkirk spirit' became synonymous with the strength of the British people in adversity. On the same day that Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, Nazi troops invaded Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium. The eight-month period of calm that had existed since the declaration of war was over. But the defences constructed by the Allies in preparation failed to repel a German army with superior tactics.The British Expeditionary Force soon found themselves in an increasingly chaotic retreat. By the end of May 1940, over 400,000 Allied troops were trapped in and around the port of Dunkirk without shelter or supplies. Hitler's army was just ten miles away. On 26 May, the British Admiralty launched Operation Dynamo. This famous rescue mission sent every available vessel - from navy destroyers and troopships to pleasure cruisers and fishing boats - over the Channel to Dunkirk. Of the 850 'Little Ships' that sailed to Dunkirk, 235 were sunk by German aircraft or mines, but over this nine day period 338,000 British and French troops were safely evacuated. Drawing on the wealth of material from the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk presents in the words of both rescued and rescuers in an intimate and dramatic account of what Winston Churchill described as a 'miracle of deliverance'.

Author : Robert Jackson
Publisher : Hachette UK
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2012-07-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9781780224527

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Dunkirk by Robert Jackson Pdf

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.

Author : Sean Longden
Publisher : Hachette UK
Page : 608 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2009-06-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781849012300

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Dunkirk by Sean Longden Pdf

THE TRUE STORY OF THE 41,000 BRITISH SOLDIERS WHO WERE LEFT BEHIND AFTER THE EVACUATION OF DUNKIRK, MAY 1940 'Meticulously researched, very well written and deeply moving' Andrew Roberts 'Few readers will be unmoved by Sean Longden's account' Dominic Sandbrook At 2am on the morning of the 3rd of June 1940, General Harold Alexander searched along the quayside, holding onto his megaphone and called "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" before turning his boat back towards England. Tradition tells us that the dramatic events of the evacuation of Dunkirk, in which 300,000 BEF servicemen escaped the Nazis, was a victory gained from the jaws of defeat. For the first time, rather than telling the tale of the 300,000 who escaped, Sean Longden reveals the story of the 40,000 men sacrificed in the rearguard battles. On the beaches and sand dunes, besides the roads and amidst the ruins lay the corpses of hundreds who had not reached the boats. Elsewhere, hospitals full of the sick and wounded who had been left behind to receive treatment from the enemy's doctors. And further afield - still fighting hard alongside their French allies - was the entire 51st Highland Division, whose war had not finished as the last boats slipped away. Also scattered across the countryside were hundreds of lost and lonely soldiers. These 'evaders' had also missed the boats and were now desperately trying to make their own way home, either by walking across France or rowing across the channel. The majority, however, were now prisoners of war who were forced to walk on the death marches all the way to the camps in Germany and Poland, where they were forgotten until 1945. 'Sean Longden is a rising name in military history, and is able to uncover the missing stories of the Second World War' Guardian

Author : Walter Lord
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1963
Category : Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941
ISBN : UOM:39015026759962

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Day of Infamy by Walter Lord Pdf

Author : Walter Lord
Publisher : Open Road Media
Page : 429 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2012-03-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781453238479

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Incredible Victory by Walter Lord Pdf

The “remarkable” New York Times bestseller about the battle in the Pacific that turned the tide of World War II—from the author of The Miracle of Dunkirk (Los Angeles Times). On the morning of June 4, 1942, doom sailed on Midway. Hoping to put itself within striking distance of Hawaii and California, the Japanese navy planned an ambush that would obliterate the remnants of the American Pacific fleet. On paper, the Americans had no chance of winning. They had fewer ships, slower fighters, and almost no battle experience. But because their codebreakers knew what was coming, the American navy was able to prepare an ambush of its own. Over two days of savage battle, American sailors and pilots broke the spine of the Japanese war machine. The United States prevailed against momentous odds; never again did Japan advance. In stunning detail, Walter Lord, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Day of Infamy and A Night to Remember, tells the story of one of the greatest upsets in naval history. “Graphic and realistic . . . not an impersonalized account of moves on the chessboard of war, [but] a story of individual people facing crucial problems.” —The New York Times

Author : David Boyle
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2017-05-30
Category : Dunkirk, Battle of, Dunkerque, France, 1940
ISBN : 1547045361

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Dunkirk by David Boyle Pdf

Dunkirk has gone into British history as a myth, with its patient queuing on the beaches, its ferry boats and stew in cocktail glasses. We have forgotten the blood, thirst and desperation, and the extraordinary feat of organisation. This day-by-day account puts the story back in context. It records those crucial nine days in summer, looking not just at the beaches, the rearguard, the naval operation and the little ships, but at what was happening in the military headquarters, in the cabinets in London and Paris, and how people felt at the time about what was taking place - events that were to change Europe and the UK forever. It reveals not just a miracle, but an amazing feat of administration and endurance, that made the reputation of one man in particular - Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay.

Author : Tracy Groot
Publisher : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781414383231

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Maggie Bright by Tracy Groot Pdf

As a small cadre of British soldiers is making its way to the Dunkirk beaches for evacuation, will the Maggie Bright be deployed to help evacuate them?

Author : Nicholas Harman
Publisher : Jove Books
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 1990-05
Category : History
ISBN : 0515103063

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Dunkirk by Nicholas Harman Pdf

Author : Norman Gelb
Publisher : William Morrow
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1989
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015015329710

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Dunkirk by Norman Gelb Pdf

Presents an overview of ten days at Dunkirk and the effect the battle on the beaches had on the rest of the world.