June 04, 2004
A Little History
Today is 64th anniversery of the completion of the evacuation from Dunkirk. 338,226 British soldiers were picked up off the beach in France and returned to England with not much more than the clothes on their backs. I have to wonder - were the appeasers gloating? Were they saying "I told you so?" Were the university professors cheering because this would be the death knell of imperialism, or at least take the greatest empire down a notch? Was Lord Gort, commander of the BEF, reviled because 20% of the men under his command were killed or captured during their defeat in France?
History records that the British considered Dunkirk a victory, and any hopes of knocking England out of the war were ended when Churchill delivered (another) famous speech:
"We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender."
Today is the 62nd anniversary of the start of the Battle of Midway. The battle was the turning point in the war in the Pacific - the destruction of cream of the Japanese navy and with it the end of their running wild. The outcome of the battle it is said heavily depended on luck. And there is some truth to that, but that really isn't the whole story. Without the courage and sacrifice of the men in the torpedo bombers that pressed home attacks despite total loss, there would not have been a chance for the dive bombers to sink four Japanese carriers.
Posted by Kevin Murphy at June 4, 2004 01:07 PM | War On TerrorRalph Peters makes the point in In Praise of Attrition that the war on terror will come with continued/necessary losses: it's a war of attrition or wearing down of our enemies.
