Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk

Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk
With Robert Kershaw
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Our guest today is Robert Kershaw who joined the Parachute Regiment in 1973 and ultimately commanded 10 PARA. He attended the German Staff College, spending a further two years with the Bundeswehr as an infantry, airborne and arctic warfare instructor. He speaks fluent German. On leaving the British Army in 2006 he became a full-time author and a military analyst.

The British evacuation from the beaches of the small French port town of Dunkirk is one of the iconic moments of military history. The battle has captured the popular imagination through LIFE magazine photo spreads, the fiction of Ian McEwan and, of course, Christopher Nolan's hugely successful Hollywood blockbuster. But what is the German view of this stunning Allied escape?

Today, Robert Kershaw will talk about the German advance for the Channel ports based on his new book - Dünkirchen 1940, which is the first major history on what went wrong for the Germans at Dunkirk. As supreme military commander, Hitler had seemingly achieved a miracle after the swift capitulation of Holland and Belgium, but with just seven kilometres before the panzers captured Dunkirk - the only port through which the trapped British Expeditionary force might escape - they came to a shuddering stop. Hitler had lost control of his stunning advance.

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Other WW2TV shows that relate to Dunkirk
The Royal Scots Fusiliers - The Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal 1940 with Iain Miskimmin
The RAF in the Battle for France 1940 with Matthew Powell
Operation Aerial - Churchill’s second miracle of deliverance with David Worsfold
Dunkirk and the Little Ships 1940 with Phil Weir

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[wwhistoryuncovered]

Another superb episode and what a fantastic guest. I absolutely adore Robert's take on the German perspective of Market Garden. It Never Snows in September is probably my favorite WW2 history book.

[davidk]

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative conversation. I learned a great deal. I look forward to future contributions by Robert. Thanks Woody!

[TheShrike]

My great grandfather worked for the Belgian railroads. My grandmother told me a story about how he left with a refugee train from Evere, near Brussels. Evere was important because it had an army airport defending Brussels, our capital. Anyways, in May 1940 Evere was bombed, and people started to flee towards France. And my great grandfather conveyed a refugee train to France. After a while he came back saying " We're not fleeing. Over there it's just hell."
He later joined the resistance and was executed in 1943.

[TheVigilant]

Fantastic episode by Robert. Great to hear the German perspective. Look forward to reading the book. Learned a lot tonight. Many thanks

[caryblack]

A really outstanding episode. Here is what I learned or made me think about in a different way:
There was anxiety about the gap between the panzers and foot soldiers among officers and upper command.
That the Germans were not that concerned about the British evacuation since they would ask for peace regardless.
That there was a feeling this was too easy and were wary of a surprise attack.
That the Germans did not plan an endgame and were not prepared to attack Dunkirk from the east when Belgium surrendered.
That there was an arrogance and overconfidence after the French surrender.
That the Germans did not understand how effective combined arms (blitzkrieg) would be to an enemy that was unprepared-France.
The Germans were really more focused on completing the conquest of France than trapping the British.
That he flooded terrain was quite a problem for the Germans around Dunkirk perimeter.
That Hitler only confirmed the halt order that was already given by von Rundstedt.
That the Germans had now seen the effectiveness of the blitzkrieg (combined arms) and assumed that this would be equally effective when attacking the USSR without taking into account the size, population, terrain, fighting spirit, weather or logistics that would effect their attack.

[lewistrott]

Excellent interview, I look forward to reading this book now. Well done as usual.

[davidlavigne]

Chiming in after the bell has rung again as I missed the livestream once again. The sense of the feeling amongst the Junior Officers, NCOs and soldiers that they have already won this phase of the war, and that what really mattered was finishing off France that Mr. Kershaw alluded to is compelling. It kind of reminded me of the Allied Armies thinking after the German retreat from France that as the winter approached and they paused at the German border that the "War would be over by Christmas." This was a quality interview by WW2TV.

[PurpleCat]

Thank you so much for having Robert Kershaw on. He is one of my favourite WW2 historians.

[KevinJones-yhjb]

Thanks to Robert, now a real explanation as to the German halt at Dunkirk. This is one of the best and accurate explanations I have ever heard. Thank you Robert and Paul, such fantastic in-depth presentation

[sparkey]

Thank you for another fantastic presentation.

[nickwoolmer]

Bob Kershaw is absolutely brilliant at unravelling the hype and misconceptions around German actions in WW2 and looks at things that seem obvious when he explains them but not so obvious when you just go with the standard view from previous analysis a rare skill. Excellent presentation by both interviewer and interviewee. I now think about this campaign completely different light.

[maul]

Woody/Robert, Fantastic presentation on a well know subject but from a different angle! Really enjoyed. Regards, Bob

[TheBurr]

Learnt so much from this... fantastic stuff

[philbosworth]

Some very interesting food for thought from Robert in this episode. Its been a good week again from WW2TV.

[patm]

Brilliant episode, very informative.

[gregorydotreppe]

Thank you for the video. Another very good book on the performance of the Belgian Army under King Leopold III in May 1940 is Roger Keyes' 1984 work Outrageous Fortune. Some German perspectives on the Belgians as compared with the BEF and the French are also mentioned.

[MrRugbylane]

Totally excellent and a refreshing change of perspective on this event.

[douglascapron]

Thanks for the great interview. That was excellent!

[scottgrimwood]

Robert gives an excellent presentation on German side of Dunkirk. The German view of this iconic battle has been overlooked for too long.

[johnappleby]

Again a good piece which breaks new ground. Dunkirkchen is a very good book by a distinguished author.