0530_01: Pyrrhic Victory at Dunkerque_Alt - PzC 12 France '40

Dunkerque, France, 30th May 1940: On may 24th, the German XIX and XLI Panzer Korps had established a bridgehead over the Aa Canal. German panzers were poised to strike towards Dunkerque from the west and seal the fate of the BEF and the rest of the allies trapped inside a huge pocket with their backs to the North Sea. At that moment, the order to halt the left wing of the German advance came. Hitler ordered Guderian and Reinhardt to halt along the Aa Canal and furthermore, they were instructed to abandon the bridgehead they had established. The final glory was to be left to Herman Goering and his Luftwaffe. As the days passed, the Luftwaffe, already stretched thin from the lightning campaign across France, was hard pressed to finish the job. This was further compounded by the deteriorating weather conditions and the British RAF that had concentrated all of its remaining fighters in England over the flotilla of ships evacuating the defenders at Dunkerque. Several days would pass before Hitler would change his mind and order the panzers to advance yet again. The failure of the Luftwaffe and Hitler's hesitation to resume the advance would result in the evacuation of 337,000 allied troops to fight another day. Although the BEF had been defeated in France, the Germans suffered severely at the lost opportunity to eliminate the British during the campaign. This misfortune would result in only a German pyrrhic victory [size medium]