---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shiva Shankar <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 8:33 AM
Subject: Why Hitler halted at Dunkirk
>From "The German Generals Talk" by B.H.Liddell Hart -
...... On wheeling north, Guderian's Panzer Corps headed for Calais while
Reinhardt's swept west of Arras towards St.Omer and Dunkirk. On the 22nd,
Boulogne was isolated by Guderian's advance, and next day Calais. That same
day Reinhardt reached the Aire-St. Omer Canal, less than twenty miles from
Dunkirk - the only escape port left to the British forces. ....
"At that moment," Field Marshall Rundstedt told me, "a sudden
telephone call came from the OKH (the Army High Command), saying that
Kleist's forces were to halt on the line of the canal. It was the Fuhrer's
direct order - and contrary to General Halder's view (then chief of the
General Staff). I questioned it in a message of protest, but recieved a curt
telegram saying: "The armoured divisions are to remain at medium artillary
range from Dunkirk" - a distance of eight or nine miles. ...
Kleist said that when he got the order it seemed to make no sense to
him. "I decided to ignore it, and push on across the Canal. My armoured cars
actually entered Hazebrouck, and cut across the British lines of retreat.
... But then came a more emphatic order that I was to withdraw behind the
canal. My tanks were kept halted there for three days."
Thoma, who was chief of the tank side of the General Staff, told me
that he was right up forward with the leading tanks, near Bergues, where he
could look into the town of Dunkirk itself. He sent back messages direct to
OKH, begging for permission to let the tanks push on. But his appeal had no
efect. ...
Meanwhile the British forces stremed back towards Dunkirk, and
cemented a defensive position to cover their re-embarkation. The German tank
commanders had to sit and watch the British slipping away under their very
nose. ...
................
..... But certain members of Rundstedt's staff ... believed that Hitler had
a deeper motive for his halt order. They connected it with the surprising
way he had talked when visiting their headquaters, the day after the
armoured forces had been halted in their stride. ...
---> AND NOW FOLLOWS THIS QUOTE FROM GENERAL BLUMENTRITT (Rundstedt's
Operations Chief)
".. Hitler then astonished us by speaking with admiration of the British
Empire, of the necessity for its existence, and of the civilization that
Britain had brought into the world. He remarked, with a shug of the
shoulders, that the creation of its Empire had been achieved by means that
were often harsh, but "where there is planing, there are shavings flying".
He compared the British Empire with the Catholic Church - saying they were
both essential elements of stability in the world. He said that all he
wanted from Britain was that she should acknowledge Germany's position on
the Continent. The return of Germany's lost colonies would be desirable but
not essential, and he would even offer to support Britain with troops if she
should be involved in any difficulties anywhere. He remarked that the
colonies were primarily a matter of prestige, since they could not be held
in war, and few Germans could settle in the tropics.
"He concluded by saying that his aim was to make peace with Britain
on a basis that she would regard as compatible with her honour to accept. "
................... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--
You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a
nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the
foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole.
-AMBEDKAR
http://venukm.blogspot.com
http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur
http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Green Youth Movement" group.
To post to this group, send an email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
