Spinning Dunkirk

Page 7 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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'Miracle' at Dunkirk

On the day the king's letter to Gort was published, 126,000 troops had already been evacuated, so that the BEF's situation, while serious, was by no means as desperate as it had been made to appear. The scene had been carefully set for a 'miracle'. It came on Friday 31 May, with newspapers and the BBC announcing that an evacuation had been underway for several days, and a large part of the BEF had already been rescued.

The Times editorial, the 'Sea Grip', a peon to British maritime prowess, was followed by 'Anabasis - the Sea', which drew a parallel between Gort and the BEF, and Xenophon and the escape of the 10,000. Other papers with less literary leanings gave the public the news with screaming headlines - 'Saved' - 'Disaster Turned To Triumph' - 'Rescued From The Jaws Of Death'.

On Sunday 2 June, the Dean of St Paul's referred to the 'miracle of Dunkirk'. During the following week papers were filled with letters from readers making an obvious association. It was remembered that the Archbishop of Canterbury had announced that the Day of National Prayer might well be a turning point, and it was obvious to many that God had answered the nation's collective prayer with the 'miracle of Dunkirk'. The evidence of God's intervention was clear for those who wished to see it; papers had written of calm seas and the high mist which interfered with the accuracy of German bombers.

'The message was clear - although the army had been driven from the continent, its spirit had not been broken.'

With a great national drama unfolding, the BBC sought and got permission to conduct radio interviews with the troops as they landed, while newsreel cameras filmed soldiers coming ashore smiling, waving, and giving thumbs-up signs. The message was clear - although the army had been driven from the continent, its spirit had not been broken.

In his first radio postscript for the BBC on 5 June, JB Priestly, the popular novelist, added a new dimension to the miracle of Dunkirk. Priestly told the story of 'Gracie Fields', a paddle steamer named after Britain's most popular singer, which served as a ferry between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, before she was used in the evacuation. According to Priestly ...

' ... this little steamer, like all her brave and battered sisters, is immortal. She will go sailing down the years in the epic of Dunkirk. And our great-grandchildren, when they learn how we began this War by snatching glory out of defeat, and then swept on to victory, may also learn how the little holiday steamers made an excursion to hell and came back glorious.'

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Published: 2004-02-06