FH2 CAMPAIGN #16 - DARKEST HOUR - IS NOW OPEN
BATTLE #3 - STONNE - WILL START IN:
Event created by Quicksilver
CMP FH2 Campaign #16: Darkest Hour
Battle #5: Zuydcoote
History
"After Nazi Germany invaded Poland in SEP1939, marking the beginning of the Second World War, the BEF was sent to aid in the defense of France. Nazi Germany invaded Belgium and the Netherlands on 10MAY1940, and three of their Panzer corps attacked France through the Ardennes and sped to the English Channel.
By 21MAY1940, the Nazis had trapped the BEF, the remnants of the Belgian forces, and three French armies in an area along the Northern coast of France. General John Vereker, Commander of the BEF, immediately saw that evacuation across the Channel was the best option and began planning a withdrawal to Dunkirk, the closest location with suitable port facilities. On 22MAY1940, a halt order was issued by the German High Command, with the approval of Adolf Hitler. This gave the trapped Allied forces time to deploy defensive works and retreat large numbers of troops toward Dunkirk, to fight the Battle of Dunkirk. From 28–31MAY1940, in the Siege of Lille, the remaining 40,000 troops of the French 1st Army fought a delaying action against seven Nazi divisions, including three armored divisions.
On the 1st day of the evacuation, only 7,669 men were evacuated, but by the end of the eighth day, a total of 338,226 soldiers had been rescued by a ragtag fleet of over 800 boats. Many of the troops were able to embark from the harbor’s protective pier onto 39 British destroyers and other large ships, while others had to wade out from the beaches, waiting for hours in the shoulder-deep water.Some of the evacuated soldiers were ferried from the beaches to the larger ships by the famous “Little ships of Dunkirk”, a flotilla of hundreds of merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft, and lifeboats called into service for the emergency. The BEF lost 68,000 soldiers during the French campaign and had to abandon nearly all of their tanks, vehicles, and other equipment."
Map pictures to be posted here soon