# Yet another WWII question: return to Dunkirk **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-wwii-question-return-to-dunkirk/680801 "2014-02-08T00:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-wwii-question-return-to-dunkirk/680801/1 "2014-02-08T00:35:10Z")
Sorry if this was asked before, I couldn’t find it. During Operation Overlord the landings obviously happened at Normandy. The Germans thought that the landings might happen at Calais. Was there ever any thought to landing at Dunkirk? I would think that it would be a major propaganda victory to do so. Would the terrain not be suited for a landing? I have seen pictures from the evacuation and there appeared to be a large beach but I have not done a comparison. One other problem I could see would be that it may be too close to Calais. They did hope to keep German troops at Calais waiting for the landing that didn’t come. Dunkirk isn’t that far away on the map. So was Dunkirk ever considered for the landing? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-wwii-question-return-to-dunkirk/680801/2 "2014-02-08T01:00:48Z")
According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk) > [@](#): > > The city was again contested in 1944, and the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division attempted to liberate the city in September, as Allied forces surged northeast after their victory in the Battle of Normandy. However, German forces refused to relinquish their control of the city, \*which had been converted into a fortress, \*and the garrison there was “masked” by Allied troops, notably 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. (emphasis added) So the Germans had reinforced Dunkirk after they captured it, and I guess the Allies decided there were other places that would be easier to attack. ---
**Author:** ![WheatCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@WheatCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WheatCat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-wwii-question-return-to-dunkirk/680801/3 "2014-02-08T01:25:00Z")
A book I am now reading states more than once that 17th century Dunkirk was somehow virtually cut off from the rest of France. I just now looked up “Geography of Dunkirk” and apparently the city is situated in an area of canals and dikes. Such terrain should favor a defender, especially if large areas could be flooded by blowing up the dikes. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-wwii-question-return-to-dunkirk/680801/4 "2014-02-08T01:36:28Z")
Yep, Dunkirk was under siege until the end of the war: > [@](#): > > The Dunkirk garrison did not surrender until 9 May 1945, when 15,500 German troops and three U-boats were captured by the Czechoslovaks. > **[1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Czechoslovak_Armoured_Brigade)** > > The 1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade Group (Czech: Československá samostatná obrněná brigáda, Slovak: Československá samostatná obrnená brigáda) was an armoured unit of expatriate Czechoslovaks organised and equipped by the United Kingdom during the Second World War in 1943. > The brigade landed in Normandy in August 1944 and was given the mission of containing the German-held port of Dunkirk for the rest of the war in Europe. In May 1945, the brigade moved to Czechoslovakia and was... ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-wwii-question-return-to-dunkirk/680801/5 "2014-02-08T07:39:02Z")
Interesting fact: Calais was [English territory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Calais) between 1346 and 1558. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-wwii-question-return-to-dunkirk/680801/6 "2014-02-08T15:03:41Z")
The Calais area was the obvious way to go and the Germans had invested a good deal in concrete defences and long-range artillery batteries (some of which still survive). Agent GARBO convinced the Germans for a long time that the Normandy landings were a feint and the real effort would come in the Calais area in the late summer/autumn.