4th June 1940: The evacuation from Dunkirk

The Premier [Winston Churchill] spoke on the retreat of the BEF today. It has undoubtedly been a most successful withdrawal, and has been brought about with the minimum loss of life. About 330,000 men have come home. Some have been landed at Harwich – I saw them at the station.

2 comments:

Barbara Butler said...

It's interesting the truth about sinking of the Clydebank-built Lancastria on 29 May 1940 has only just come to light. Eric's diary illustrates how well the British propaganda machine was keeping up morale. He and his contemporaries in Britain truly believed in the minimal loss of life and the success of the Dunkirk evacuations.

E J Rudsdale said...

Yes, it's very interesting to see how effective British propaganda was at this time, especially as Eric was usually quite sceptical about press reports.