Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture by Joshua Levine

Author:Joshua Levine
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: History, Military, World War II, Modern, 20th Century, Europe, Western
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-06-26T18:30:00+00:00

Seven

Escape to Dunkirk

For those continuing to fight the Germans on 28 May, the Belgians were already a thing of the past. The chief consequence of Leopold’s surrender was a twenty-mile gap that had opened up between the left of Montgomery’s 3rd Division and the coastal town of Nieuport, only twenty miles east of Dunkirk. Monty’s reaction was to call on 12th Royal Lancers, a venerable cavalry regiment equipped with Morris CS9 armoured cars, with orders to demolish every bridge over the Yser Canal from the division’s flank to the sea.

This was a very timely intervention – only ten minutes after the crucial Dixmude–Furnes road bridge had been destroyed, the first party of enemy motorcyclists arrived, followed by infantry in lorries. The Germans were surprised to find the bridge blown, and more surprised to find the 12th Lancers’ armoured cars lying in wait. All the motorcyclists and many of the soldiers were killed or wounded. Had 12th Lancers arrived any later, the Germans would have swept across the canal line towards Dunkirk.

In Nieuport, however, only one bridge had been destroyed, while the other was still intact. And as 12th Lancers’ B Squadron fought an entire day to keep the Germans out of the town, no engineers could be found to blow the bridge. As darkness fell, an officer and two sergeants tried to destroy it with hand grenades, creeping as close as they dared. Just as they were about to throw their grenades, the Germans sent up a flare, and the three men became visible. They managed to hurl their grenades, but none of them damaged the bridge, and one of the sergeants was killed as the other two men ran for their lives. Before long, the town was on fire, and 12th Lancers were forced to withdraw. The way was worryingly open for the Germans to advance along the coast into Dunkirk.

12th Infantry Brigade was immediately sent to Nieuport to block the Germans’ advance – but there was confusion in arranging their transport, and hours passed before they arrived. In the meantime, two field companies of the Royal Engineers were hurriedly sent to destroy the remaining bridges, and they managed to keep the Germans at bay until 12th Infantry Brigade finally arrived. And so, to the east of Dunkirk, the Germans had not yet broken through.

To the south-west, 2nd Infantry Division had the job of keeping the Germans back from a fifteen-mile stretch of La Bassée Canal. This was a crucial task, and a difficult one. The main British forces were retreating directly behind the canal, and an astonishing variety of German forces were trying to break through – including 3rd, 4th and 7th Panzer Divisions, and the SS Totenkopf Division. Now that the halt order had been lifted, the Panzers were aching to make up for lost time.

The town of St Venant, at the north of the canal line, held by the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Durham Light Infantry, was attacked on the morning of 27 May by German tanks and infantry.

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