Dunkirk Archives

Dunkirk

Operation Overlord’s Colonel Alexis von Roenne

During the early part of 1944, an event took place that would change the outcome of World War II. It seemed insignificant at the time, but would have a profound influence upon Operation Overlord, code name for the invasion of German-occupied France, as well as the resulting Battle of Normandy and the breakout that followed.;  Read more

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding led RAF Fighter Command against the bombastic Hermann Goering and the Luftwaffe in the 1940 Battle of Britain.

Dunkirk

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding & Hermann Goering

by Michael Haskew

By the summer of 1940, Hitler’s Nazi war machine had advanced from victory to victory, crushing Poland, overrunning France and the Low Countries, and ejecting Allied forces from the continent of Europe at Dunkirk. Read more

On September 6, 1940, the destroyer USS Buchanan exits Boston Harbor en route to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and new Lend-Lease duties with the British Royal Navy. Buchanan was renamed HMS Campbeltown and gained everlasting fame during the commando raid on St. Nazaire in 1942.

Dunkirk

Trade of 50 American Destroyers for British Bases in World War II

By William H. Langenberg

In early September 1940, the world was in turmoil. The battle of Britain was nearing its climax, and elsewhere global tensions ran high. Read more

The Battle of Buna during the defense of Australia in New Guinea saw both sides battle stubborn resistance, harsh jungle, and treacherous mountains.

Dunkirk

The Battle Of Buna: Costly For Both Allies and Japanese

By Glenn Barnett

In March 1942, General Douglas MacArthur was ordered out of the doomed Philippines by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to organize the defense of Australia. Read more

Dunkirk

Operation Archery: The British Commando Raid

By Robert Barr Smith

They came out of the sea, out of the darkness, and they brought death, terror, and destruction with them. Read more

Dunkirk

The Battle of France: Furor Teutonicus & Gallic Débâcle

By Blaine Taylor

The year 1939 was one of massive military parades across Europe. On April 20, the largest ever was held in Berlin to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday, complete with the paratroopers, wheeled artillery, tanks, half-tracks for motorized infantry, and overhead Luftwaffe fly-bys that would mark the coming campaigns and revolutionize warfare forever. Read more

In the early years of World War II, Allied leadership was in a desperate struggle to match Nazi Germany's political and military command.

Dunkirk

May 1940: Allied Leadership Was On the Brink

By Blaine Taylor

In May and June of 1940 the attacking Germans had a supreme authority, Hitler, and an army that—if skeptical, even in places traitorous—was subdued and followed orders with astonishing competence. Read more

After the fall of France, Britain prepared for the inevitable: Operation Sea Lion, a Nazi invasion of England. So why did it never happen?

Dunkirk

Why Operation Sea Lion, the Nazi Invasion of England, Never Happened

Michael E. Haskew

Without doubt, the fall of France was an unmitigated disaster for the Allied cause. However, for all its failures in command, strategy, and tactics, it could have been much worse. Read more

From Around the Network

Erwin Rommel’s War Photos: Images the Desert Fox Took Himself

Storming Riva Ridge

Alvin York became the most famous of a group of U.S. doughboys who went into harm’s way to thwart a German attack on October 9, 1918.

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