Dunkirk

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Lang

The great unanswered question is why did the Germans give the allies a reprieve which enabled most of the British Army to be rescued?

Lang

According to the doco on TV a few weeks back, Goering promised Hitler the Luftwaffe would finish off the British at Dunkirk with prolonged bombing . The doco claimed , most historians have ignored what the RAF actually did - save the day . The TV doco was dispelling the furphy that the RAF was not seen above the beaches and the Luftwaffe had a free sky to do whatever .

They interviewed veterans , and the RAF was actually doing quite a lot behind the beaches , unseen by the guys trapped on the beach.

The doco praised the Spitfire in particular , its first encounter with German fighters was described. The Luftwaffe lost many aircraft , hundreds during the battle for France . The French air force put up a decent fight , it wasn't another Polish debacle.