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Why the (true) history of 'Dunkirk' matters
Washington Examiner ^ | 19 July 2017 | Tom Rogan

Posted on 07/20/2017 6:29:23 AM PDT by Rummyfan

Never has so much ignorance been rendered on such a great feat by so few.

Such is the historical record of reviewers of the new movie, "Dunkirk."

First, a brief historical primer. Dunkirk was the site of the British Army's evacuation from northern France in May-June 1940. The evacuation was made necessary after the British Army in France, deployed as the British Expeditionary Force, was encircled by a rapidly advancing German army. Thanks to the immense courage of rearguard forces, RAF pilots, and British civilians (who lent their boats to the effort), 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French, Belgian and Polish soldiers were saved from capture.

Now to the reviews...

At USA Today, Brian Truitt laments "the fact that there are only a couple of women and no lead actors of color." This, Truitt explains, "may rub some the wrong way."

Let me be clear. The "some" that might be offended are the same "some" that attempt to swim with polar bears and saltwater crocodiles. The Washington Free Beacon's Alex Griswold beat me to it, explaining

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dunkirk; hollywood; militaryhistory; moviereview
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To: dfwgator

As poster JimSEA noted, the “Zinn Effect.”


41 posted on 07/20/2017 8:30:04 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Leaning Right
v\The French in WW II have gotten a bad rap. They weren’t the “surrender monkeys” some wags like to portray them as.
Many French officers melted away rather than serve under the Vichy. Many reappeared as Partisan and Free French, including my Grandfather in North Africa.
42 posted on 07/20/2017 8:35:12 AM PDT by Dominick ("Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." - JP II)
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To: Rummyfan

I have read in many historical accounts that Hitler held back and somewhat allowed the evacuation for numerous reasons. One of which was a desire not to get too heavily involved in combat with the British, out of a desire to avoid it completely if possible.

I would bet this film doesn’t hit on that aspect at all.


43 posted on 07/20/2017 8:39:12 AM PDT by The Toll
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To: Rummyfan

The winners write history. For that very reason history is unfair. We need to indoctrinate people in the views of the losers .... so they too can learn how to be losers. //


44 posted on 07/20/2017 8:42:20 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: RightGeek

The Last King of Scotland is pretty good as well.


45 posted on 07/20/2017 8:57:05 AM PDT by castlegreyskull
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To: RightGeek

The Last King of Scotland is pretty good as well.


46 posted on 07/20/2017 8:57:05 AM PDT by castlegreyskull
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To: Rummyfan

The one thing that the politically correct left is consistent in and that is never let the facts get in the way of their ideology. Historical facts have no meaning to the Left and are to be used or modified to support whatever the current Leftist thinking is.


47 posted on 07/20/2017 9:21:31 AM PDT by falcon99
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To: KyCats

I curse the very mention of the steaming pile of PC crap called “Pearl Harbor”. My father and I just rolled at the special effects and sites they used.

What ever happened to having a John Ford type director, with a docudrama approach?


48 posted on 07/20/2017 9:51:30 AM PDT by Molon Labbie (In Safe Space, no one can hear you weep....No one cares either.)
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To: All

Interesting details of the ships used at Dunkirk here -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ships_of_Dunkirk

The “fleet” even included a “Ferry across the Mersey” (before Jerry and the Pacemakers though...:^) and most of the Liverpool - Isle of Man - Belfast ferries.


49 posted on 07/20/2017 9:54:49 AM PDT by az_gila
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To: Leaning Right

No. But they weren’t particularly well-led, either. You could say the same thing of most armies above the battalion, and sometimes company-levels. Takes a while for good general officers & their staffs to develop.


50 posted on 07/20/2017 12:01:41 PM PDT by Tallguy (Twitter short-circuits common sense. Please engage your brain before tweeting.)
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To: ealgeone

Great movie, but like a lot of history based movies it does stray considerable from the true events and personages involved.


51 posted on 07/20/2017 1:13:49 PM PDT by Bull Snipe
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To: ealgeone

Great flick. It is like a lot of historical movies that play loose with accuracy of events and the persons involved,
but still is a hell of a good war movie.


52 posted on 07/20/2017 1:20:08 PM PDT by Bull Snipe
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To: SES1066; Rummyfan; henkster

It’s fascinating living through a historical event and living to see how it gets reviewed much much later on. While I was not involved directly. My recollection only comes from news coverage at the time and through a movie.

The movie “Mrs Miniver” gives one a pretty good idea how the Brits rallied around that evacuation organizing every type of privately owned sea craft capable of channel crossing to provide crossing transport. Which most did several times. BTW Let’s not forget WWI and Paris taxies. So if you can and if available view it.

Because the bulk of Brit forces were brought back by these craft and because these were privately owned the French were evacuated mainly in Royal Navy troop transports there were some complaints . Which is where I was coming from when I mentioned the number of French (mostly army units) who were also evacuated. Since I haven’t viewed “Dunkirk” there were tons of equipment left but every attempt to disable that stuff was made. Don’t know it that aspect was covered in that flick


53 posted on 07/20/2017 1:50:47 PM PDT by mosesdapoet (Mosesdapoet aka L.J.Keslin)
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To: mosesdapoet

I’m not aware of Germans using a lot of captured British equipment later on. In the desert, they did use captured Matildas and Cruiser tanks, but those were local caputures, not what had shipped from the Continent.

The Germans did use a lot of captured French equipment, but they captured French equipment in vast quantities everywhere, not just at Dunkirk. Some of the French light artillery wound up on the Eastern Front as anti-tank guns issued to infantry units. The French had a large truck park, as their army was fully motorized. In the fall of 1941, most of those trucks burned out their transmissions in the mud between Smolensk and Moscow, and were left frozen in place.

Many of the French tanks, such as the H39s and Somuas, wound up as a “lend lease” program and went to equip the Hungarians. These tanks were no match for the T34/85 when the Soviets entered Hungary in late 1944.


54 posted on 07/20/2017 2:32:47 PM PDT by henkster (Ask your favorite liberal to take the "Snowflake Challenge.")
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To: Rummyfan

Like a 4 year old whining that the color of his waffles isn’t correct. “Fix it!”


55 posted on 07/20/2017 2:41:27 PM PDT by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: IronJack; All
...let’s rewrite history to make it more palatable to PC tastes.

The Left did this about 25 years ago, by telling black students that the Ancient Egyptians were black.

At the time, other educators said, "You can't say that. It isn't true".

The liars' response was, "It's OK. We're just saying it to make them feel better about themselves."

This is how the Left does business.

56 posted on 07/20/2017 9:50:04 PM PDT by ChicagahAl (Stay safe out there. The Haters (TM) are dangerous. Very dangerous.)
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To: ChicagahAl

They’re still trying to do it with all this claptrap about how important muslimes were in the founding of this country, and how women contributed so much to the advancement of science and the arts, and how Abraham Lincoln was a homo, and Hitler was a right-wing fanatic and ...

The Left’s entire ideology is built on lies. Outright, provable, bald-faced lies.


57 posted on 07/21/2017 5:36:19 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Rummyfan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-eMt3SrfFU

A trailer for the new movie on Dunkirk that opens today.


58 posted on 07/21/2017 5:52:10 AM PDT by exit82 (The opposition has already been Trumped!)
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To: exit82

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QijbOCvunfU

Five minute clip from “Dunkirk” shot in a single take.

Beach scene awaiting evacuation.


59 posted on 07/21/2017 5:54:53 AM PDT by exit82 (The opposition has already been Trumped!)
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