English Heroics in Protecting Dunkirk

The mostly English battalions of the British 2nd Division who were tasked to slow the German advance in the escape from Dunkirk 1940. Here are excerpts below from this link. The English battalions of the Norfolks and Warwickshires had to fight the infamous Waffen SS were murdered when captured because of their stubborn resistance:

• That same morning at Festubert, the 2nd Dorsets were attacked by German panzers. However, clever use of the buildings in the town meant that they held out until nightfall before being ordered to retreat northwards to Estaires, some eight miles away. A fighting cross-country retreat to Estaires, which was being held by French troops, was successfully accomplished by day-break.

• The 2nd Glosters and 4th Oxford and Bucks Light infantry turned the French town of Cassel into something resembling a fortress. They also had sufficient time to cleverly site and dig-in their anti-tank guns. This town, on a hill, had a commanding view of the Flanders plain and it was vital that it was held to buy time to establish defences around the Dunkirk beachhead itself. The town was surrounded and subjected to fierce and prolonged tank and infantry attack, but held out for three crucial days between the 27th and 29th May. Running low on food and ammunition, a breakout by the troops was attempted on the night of the 29th May. However, few managed to evade the besieging German forces and the bulk of the force was captured and taken prisoner.

• In the case of the defenders of the villages of Le Paradis (2nd Norfolks) and Wormhoudt (2nd Royal Warwicks), they had the misfortune to encounter SS troops of the SS Totenkopf and SS Liebstandarte. In each case, after surrendering, the survivors were shot by their captors, infuriated at the stiff resistance which they had encountered and their heavy losses.

The quote below is taken from here on the same site:

• However, the utterly ruthless nature of the SS was also demonstrated when they came up against determined opposition in the shape of regular British troops, defending the Dunkirk perimeter. Infuriated at the heavy losses which their inexperienced troops had suffered, two separate massacres of British PoWs took place. Firstly, on the 27th May 1940, having been held up for 36 hours by the 2nd Bn Royal Norfolk Regiment, the Totenkopf division murdered 97 PoWs at La Paradis. There were only two survivors. On the 28th May at Wormhout, the Liebstandarte had also endured two days of hard fighting against the 2nd Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Eventually, the SS overran the defenders, taking approximately 100 prisoners, who were subsequently shot. Amazingly, a few men did survive the atrocity and were later given medical attention by regular German troops.

What the heroics of the 2nd Division meant:

• The 2nd Division took heavy casualties trying to keep a corridor open, being reduced to brigade strength, but they succeeded; the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 42nd Divisions escaped along the corridor that day, as did about one-third of the French First Army. As the Allies fell back, they disabled their artillery and vehicles and destroyed their stores.

During the retreat, two members of the division were awarded the Victoria Cross: Second Lieutenant Richard Annand of the 2nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry and Company Sergeant Major George Gristock of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment. They were the first two of three to be awarded to members of the division throughout the war. - Wikipedia.