Dunkirk Spirit - l’esprit de Dunkerque


Thoughts in Darrick Wood by Trevor Morgan 11 May 2020 (traduction française ci-dessous)

I ran through the woods yesterday and thought about the Dunkirk spirit and about how it has been invoked recently to encourage people to prepare for a final victory. In my view this is totally inappropriate.

We are not under threat from a tyrant or the threat of further war. Any change to our way of life is a result of our own decisions to mitigate the spread of the virus. The virus is not an enemy, it does not think, and it does nothing with any sort of intention.

The Dunkirk spirit that Britain can act alone is a myth that only the British people believe. At Dunkirk in 1940, Britain had to co-operate with the French army which supplied the bulk of the forces which fought the rear-guard action. Without the French army doing this the British Expeditionary Force would have been captured. Britain would have lost most of the armed forces which went to fight on.

Germany was not and could not have been defeated by Britain alone. Without the Russians and Americans joining in the war effort, the Nazis would not have been defeated. The Americans ran the show on the Western front and the Russians on the Eastern one. America and Britain had to ally themselves with Stalin who was a tyrant almost as odious as Hitler.

At Dunkirk people were forced to get up close to rescue and treat troops; there was so little personal protection equipment for anyone, and it was an emergency.  Co-operation not separation was essential for the survival of the British Army.

Britain above all should learn some lessons from this. We cannot assure our future without the co-operation of our nearest and dearest friends; especially when there is a crisis.



Pensées dans Darrick Wood par Trevor Morgan 11 mai 2020

J’ai couru dans les bois hier et j’ai pensé à l’esprit de Dunkerque et à la façon dont il a été invoqué récemment pour encourager les gens à se préparer à une victoire finale. À mon avis, c’est tout à fait inapproprié.

Nous ne sommes pas menacés par un tyran ou la menace d’une nouvelle guerre. Tout changement à notre mode de vie est le résultat de nos propres décisions visant à atténuer la propagation du virus. Le virus n’est pas un ennemi, il ne pense pas, et il ne fait rien avec une quelconque intention.

L'esprit de Dunkerque selon lequel la Grande-Bretagne peut agir seule est un mythe auquel seul le peuple britannique croit. À Dunkerque en 1940, la Grande-Bretagne a dû coopérer avec l'armée française qui a fourni l'essentiel des forces qui ont combattu l'action d'arrière-garde. Sans l'armée française, le Corps expéditionnaire britannique aurait été capturé. La Grande-Bretagne aurait perdu la plupart des forces armées qui allaient continuer la lutte.

L'Allemagne n'a pas été et n'aurait pas pu être vaincue par la seule Grande-Bretagne. Sans les Russes et les Américains se joignant à l'effort de guerre, les nazis n'auraient pas été vaincus. Les Américains ont mené la campagne sur le front occidental et les Russes sur le front oriental. L'Amérique et la Grande-Bretagne devaient s'allier avec Staline qui était un tyran presque aussi odieux qu'Hitler.

À Dunkerque, les gens ont été forcés de se rapprocher pour secourir et traiter les troupes; il y avait si peu d’équipement de protection individuelle pour quiconque, et c’était une urgence. La coopération et non la séparation étaient essentielles à la survie de l’armée britannique.






La Grande-Bretagne devrait surtout en tirer des leçons. Nous ne pouvons pas assurer notre avenir sans la coopération de nos amis les plus proches, surtout en cas de crise.



http://friendsofdarrickandnewsteadwoods.co.uk/



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