Spinning Dunkirk

Page 4 of 9

• 1. Bad news
• 2. The people and the media
• 3. Government and the media
• 4. Shaping disaster
• 5. Men of valour
• 6. Day of National Prayer
• 7. 'Miracle' at Dunkirk
• 8. A very British story
• 9. Find out more
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Shaping disaster

In the early summer of 1940 the government had to deal with the greatest defeat ever suffered by the British army, which resulted in the most dangerous situation the country had faced since the summer of 1805. It had to change news stories that told of Anglo-French successes in Belgium between 10-14 May, with stories which would prepare the public for the possibility of defeat.

The men at the centre of this process, Churchill and Duff Cooper, weren't sure what the outcome would be. They had to be flexible, and adopt different positions to accommodate ever changing circumstances. In short, they made it up as they went along.

'... it was announced that the government had designated Sunday 26 May as a Day of National Prayer for the British army ...'

Churchill first learned of the full extent of the disaster that had overwhelmed the French at Sedan, when he flew to Paris for a meeting with the French government on 16 May, and found them in a state of near panic. Back in London the following day, Duff Cooper urged him to prepare the British people for the receipt of bad news. Although documentation in the form of cabinet minutes is sparse, the campaign that emerged can be pieced together from newspapers and recordings and transcripts of radio programmes.

On 17 May newspapers carried the first open acknowledgement of the German breakthrough on the Meuse, though editorials by military experts reminded the readership that the Germans had broken through in March 1918 and had still been defeated. Despite such reassurances, it was announced that the government had designated Sunday 26 May as a Day of National Prayer for the British army 'in peril in Flanders'.

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Published: 2004-02-06