Dunkirk and the Aftermath (Paperback)
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Series: Images of War
Pages: 176
Illustrations: 180 black and white photographs
ISBN: 9781526738691
Published: 13th October 2021
In the press!
As featured in the Daily Mail: 'Photos taken after Dunkirk evacuation show the thousands of vehicles and weapons abandoned to Nazis.' Click here to read the full article.
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Operation Dynamo, the successful evacuation of Belgian, British, Dutch, French and Polish troops from the beaches at Dunkirk between 27 May and 4 June 1940, was not only a pivotal moment of the war, but one that changed its final outcome.
There has been much debate in the years since the end of the war concerning the “Hitler Halt” order, which was given to German Panzer units waiting patiently on the outskirts of Dunkirk to be allowed to finish the job they had started. Many theories have been put forward as to the reasons behind this, but the consequence was that it allowed Britain to remain in the war.
A total of 338,226, British and Allied troops were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk, aboard a total of 861 vessels, of which 243 were sunk. For those left behind, official figures record that up to 80,000 French and British troops were captured, whilst during the time of the actual evacuation, somewhere in the region of 16,000 French and 1,000 British soldiers were killed.
Equipment wise British forces left behind somewhere in the region of 90,000 rifles, 11,000 machine guns, huge supplies of ammunition, 880 field guns, 310 large calibre artillery pieces, 500 anti-aircraft guns, 850 anti-tank guns, 700 tanks, 45,000 cars and lorries, and 20,000 motor cycles – enough equipment to arm nearly ten divisions of soldiers.
It is known that two atrocities took place during the Battle of Dunkirk: the Massacre at Le Paradis, and another at Wormhoudt, carried out by Waffen- SS soldiers, against British and French troops who had already surrendered.
Although the Battle of Dunkirk must ultimately go down tactically as a German victory, the rescue of so many of its men, ensured that like a phoenix, Britain rose from the ashes of defeat to gain a great and lasting victory.
'The Dunkirk and the aftermath' written by Stephen Wynn, describes those last few epic days when the Royal Navy rescued British, French and Polish troops from French beaches. Dunkirk concentrates public minds, but other attempts from Atlantic ports remain in its shadow. Stephon Wynn describes the British 1st Armoured Division and the 52 Lowland Division evacuation from Cherbourg, the 1st Canadian division at St Malo, 32,000 British personnel from Brest and others from St Nazaire, La Pallice, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and Bayonne and Le Verdon.
Richard Gough - Historian, writer, author of the Escape from Singapore, The jungle was Red, Outpost of the Empire, SOE Singapore 1941-42. Waiting publication Tony Poe, CIA Paramilitary in SE Asia.
The book is well researched and lists the names of 80 men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment who were captured and massacred, by Waffen SS, and the names of men killed in action from the 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment, 2 Battalion Royal Scots and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Packed with photographs and a street map of Dunkirk.
A good read and a page turner and allow time to browse over the page filled photographs.
"I found the book very informative and enjoyed the pictures, as well as the text."
IPMS/USA, June 2022
"The majority of the photos are large enough to enable good study of what’s depicted."
AMPS, January 2022
"...will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike."
IPMS/USA
This is the second title I have looked at from Pen and Sword as part of the Images of War series covering the Dunkirk evacuation and as always I am pleased with what I have seen and read. I have built up a steady number of the books in this series as they are affordable and provide visual resources on specific units, events or equipment that are hard to beat for the price.
Armorama
Read the full review here
Pen and Sword's latest volume in their iconic Images of War series tells the story of what happened in the hours and days following the evacuation of Dunkirk. Amazing images!
Books Monthly
I have really enjoyed reading this book, it’s one of those events that have fascinated me for a while, and I have lots of questions about various things but that is probably for another day. As usual, I love these images of war books and although we can shout out about the photographs the writing is always detailed and informative.
UK Historian
Read the full review here
There are quite a few well known images from Dunkirk in this book - but some have left me thinking. Rather than review ‘Dunkirk and the Aftermath’, I prefer this week to just feature some of the images with captions from this volume, along with a short excerpt.
WW2 Today
Read the full review here
The spoils of Dunkirk: Unseen photos taken soon after historic Allied retreat reveal just some of the thousands of vehicles and weapons abandoned to the Nazis
Daily Mail Online 07/09/21
About Stephen Wynn
Stephen is a retired police officer having served with Essex Police as a constable for thirty years between 1983 and 2013. He is married to Tanya and has two sons, Luke and Ross, and a daughter, Aimee. Both Stephen’s grandfathers served in and survived the First World War, one with the Royal Irish Rifles, the other in the Mercantile Marine, whilst his father was a member of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War.
When not writing Stephen can be found walking his dogs with his wife, Tanya, at some unearthly time of the morning when most normal people are still fast asleep.