Now for my generation, who were born just after the last world war “the miracle that was Dunkirk” was not a history topic we were taught in school.
What we knew about the event, was what we absorbed from films, and comics and everyday conversations with our parents.
For most of us it was a great victory given the number of British, and allied troops who were plucked from the beaches and only years later would I come to realize that this had in fact been a military defeat.
And it would be later still before I became aware of the degree to which the story had been manipulated in the interests of war propaganda and public moral.
Now I make no value judgement at what the Government did to the story back in 1940 and nor did Tom Grimshaw who offered an excellent, thought provoking talk on the stories of Dunkirk.
Starting with the popular interpretation of the event he ranged over both the actual history of those nine days, offered up information on how the French and German media dealt with what happened and finished up with the degree to which what we now regard as the story was guided by the demands of the war effort.
The talk was held at St Ninians on and hosted by Chorlton Good Neighbours.
There were bags of sweets on hand for those who answered Tom’s questions correctly in the introduction and the audience came away with a renewed interest in the subject.
Leaving me only to announce that Tom is most happy to offer the talk to interested groups.
Location; Chorlton Good Neighbours
Pictures; Stories from Dunkirk, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Chorlton Good Neighbours, https://chorltongoodneighbours.org/
Egerton Road South, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 0XJ Tel: 0161 881 2925
For most of us it was a great victory given the number of British, and allied troops who were plucked from the beaches and only years later would I come to realize that this had in fact been a military defeat.
And it would be later still before I became aware of the degree to which the story had been manipulated in the interests of war propaganda and public moral.
Now I make no value judgement at what the Government did to the story back in 1940 and nor did Tom Grimshaw who offered an excellent, thought provoking talk on the stories of Dunkirk.
The talk was held at St Ninians on and hosted by Chorlton Good Neighbours.
There were bags of sweets on hand for those who answered Tom’s questions correctly in the introduction and the audience came away with a renewed interest in the subject.
Leaving me only to announce that Tom is most happy to offer the talk to interested groups.
Location; Chorlton Good Neighbours
Pictures; Stories from Dunkirk, 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Chorlton Good Neighbours, https://chorltongoodneighbours.org/
Egerton Road South, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 0XJ Tel: 0161 881 2925
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