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Pete,
You say that more than half the German casualties in France were suffered AFTER Dunkirk. I find this rather surprising. Dunkirk was over on June 3 1940, the Germans entered Paris on 14 June and on 22 June the French concluded the armistice with Germany. Eleven days seems rather a short time in which to inflict such heavy casualties on the Germans, especially as a great number of French troops were also taken off the beaches at Dunkirk. Perhaps you'd let us know your scource for the statement. I'm not being awkward, or saying you are wrong, just curious where that figure comes from.
A very interesting book about this period is For Your Freedom and Ours. The Kosciuszko Squadron. The forgotten heroes of World War II. by Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud. This is the story of the Polish airmen who escaped to England after the fall of France. Before the fall they were attached to L'Armee de l'Air. Their reception by the French pilots, and the French pilots' lack of enthusiasm in engaging any German aircraft over their homeland, makes chilling reading. There were also about 75,000 men in the Polish army and General Weygand ordered them to lay down their arms. Prime Minister Sikorski rejected the order. The Polish army distinguished itself in the heavy fighting after Dunkirk, while covering the French retreats. On June 13 a Polish armoured brigade repulsed a heavy German attack near Montbard, mounted a counter-attack and inflicted heavy casualties. At Belfort, the 2nd Polish Infantry Rifles Division held German forces at bay for six days, facing an artillery barrage three times stronger than its own. General Weygand remarked that if he had had only a few more Polish divisions, he might have been able to halt the Germans. Most of the Polish troops who fought in France were killed, only 20,000 made it to England. This number, with airforce etc, grew to well over 30,000. So, again, I think the French are being a little bit selective in their account of that time. But then, losers always are. Who's to blame them.
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