In Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man, we are given an unprecedented vision of these harrowing days. Hugh Sebag-Montefiore has described how the group of men who were left behind fended off the German army so that hundreds of thousands of their comrades could exit this doomed land. He makes clear that without these brave troops from the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army who held a series of strong points inland and fought to the last man, the other battered battalions could not have escaped to the coast...

IN MAY OF 1940, the armies of Nazi Germany were marching through France. In the face of this devastating advance, one of World War Irs greatest acts of heroism would be a retreat: the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk.

In Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man, we are given an unprecedented vision of these harrowing days. Hugh Sebag-Montefiore has described how the group of men who were left behind fended off the German army so that hundreds of thousands of their comrades could exit this doomed land. He makes clear that without these brave troops from the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army who held a series of strong points inland and fought to the last man, the other battered battalions could not have escaped to the coast.

Much has been written about how the Royal Navy, helped by an armada of little ships, shuttled the entire British Army to safety. Here, however, we are given an unparalleled look inside this massive operation and the invaluable role played by the BEE Without the ferocity and bravery of the officers and ordinary soldiers on the ground,the German Army would likely have encircled nearly half a million Allied soldiers.Thisis an aspect of the story that has been overlooked by previous accounts. The loss of these battalions, Sebag-Monteflore argues,could have dramatically changed the direction of the war, and enabled Hitler to invade a weakened Britain.

Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man offers a judicious analysis of the movement of the war, and a vivid feel of what it was like to be on the front line. Using new material from British, French, Belgian, German, Russian, and Czech Republic archives, and interviews with the last surviving witnesses of the campaigns,Sebag-Montefiore brings these men--the forgotten heroes of Dunkirk--to life. It is their valiant exploits and devotion to their brethren that form the heart of this ground breaking book.

Hugh Sebag-Monteflore was a former attorney and journalist and is now a full-time author. His last book was Enigma:The Battle for the Code. Two of his ancestors were rescued from Dunkirk.

List of Illustrations

List of Maps

Introduction

Note to Readers

Moment of Truth

The BEF Arrives in France

The Mechelen Affair

The Final Warning

The Matador's Cloak

Charging Bull

Into Battle

Over the River Meuse

Flight

Battle of the Bulge

Lambs to the Slaughter

The Arras Counter-Attack

We Stand and Fight

Escape from Arras

Boulogne and the Useless Mouths

Evacuation of Boulogne

Calais and the French Complaint

Calais - Fight to the Finish

Lucky Breaks

Siege at Cassel

Surrounded at Le Paradis

Massacre at Le Paradis

Manhunt

Crisis in the North

Up the Glosters

Massacre at Wormhout

Escape to Dunkirk

The Dunkirk Armada

Beached

Entente Cordiale

Evacuation

Rearguard

Mission Accomplished

Payback

Sacrifice of the 5Ist Highland Division

The Sinking of the Lancastria

Epilogue

Maps

Appendices

Dramatis Personae

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography and Sources

Acknowledgements

Index