Military Model Scene

Title: Dunkirchen 1940
Author: Robert Kershaw
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-5437-7

The German view of Dunkirk, a new 352-page book from Osprey and author Robert Kershaw. I have many books about Dunkirk in 1940, but this is the first which specifically takes on the view from the attacking German forces.
With the Polish campaign behind them, and after the pause for what we refer to as the 'Phoney War', the German army was prepared for the invasion of France and the Low Countries. When it started in May the weather stayed fine, what the German troops referred to as 'Fuhrer Weather'. The 9 chapters then take us through the story, splitting it into a number of sections while keeping to the chronological sequence. It starts by looking at the progress of the German army soldier, particularly within the Infantry Divisions who still advance largely on foot, using horse-drawn transport. Then we get to the Panzer divisions which were the spearpoint of the German advance, the opposition they faced and their arrival at the French coast, cutting off the BEF and large numbers of French units after the surrender of both Dutch and Belgian armies. They captured Boulogne and moved back to Calais. The speed at which they had advanced had surprised pretty much everyone. Both vehicles and troops were suffering in the warm weather. There are plenty of descriptions of tiredness, coupled with elation at capturing ground which many veterans who had been there in WW1 found they had reached further than all the years of WW1, in just weeks. The famous Halt Order is considered and there are factors such as a lack of overall control and co-ordination between major unit commanders. The Luftwaffe involvement is also included, with the work of the Stukas in particular to support the advance. While the bulk of the personal accounts are German, there is a nice balance provided by other from British, French and Belgian veterans. The weather plus the geography of the coastal area also had their effects while the closer they got to the UK, so the RAF could offer more support for the BEF, even if the troops on the beaches didn't see it. As the situation was coming to a close, the German troops had the benefit of the large quantities of supplies that had been left behind, and captured vehicles, not all destroyed, became useful 'additions' to unit establishments.
There is a lot in this one, and I found it interesting reading, concentrating on the attacker's point of view, and how that end became closer, so the panzers, the Luftwaffe and even the heavy artillery units were withdrawn in preparation for the next stage of the conquest of France, what they knew of as Fall Rot (Plan Red). I enjoyed this, learnt from it and so very happy to recommend it.
Thanks to Osprey for the review copy.

Robin