pzu (#10938),
Watched it last night, thought of starting a Thread on Miliary Aviation with the following, but have forgottten how to do it. So here it is, for what it's worth:
Dunkirk: The New Evidence (Channel 4, 2/7/17 20:00 BST).
"As usual, it was all done by Spitfires: the poor old Hurricanes didn't get a mention - although they appeared on one or two of the "clips". Interesting to see that the "Stukas" all used the wing-over into the dive (I saw only one push-over, presumably too low for a wing-over). Much more comfortable the wing-over way, as you have the target in full view all the time (and no negative 'G').
Although the film showed relentless bombing of the beaches, the fact that 300,000 plus got away shows that it "wasn't as bad as all that" (but bad enough, in all conscience). Interesting that the commonly held supposition (that Hitler had ordered his armour to halt, although they could easily have pressed on and taken the lot "into the bag)" seems to be true. His thinking must've been: "The Englander are beaten to the wall; they must sue for peace now; why should I have to feed and house this lot in the meantime ? Let the Englander have that headache !"
The returning troops seem all minus their rifles: were they lost or was there a collection point in Dover ?
It was touch-and-go, the Chamberlain/Halifax Government might well have run up the white flag. Luckily, Churchill showed up - and the rest is history.
Danny42C.
"