Last Stand at Le Paradis - Dunkirk 1940 (WW2 Documentary)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- By late May 1940, hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers found themselves trapped in an ever-shrinking pocket around the French port of Dunkirk. Relentlessly harassed by both ground and air, they engaged in a bitter fight to hold the Dunkirk perimeter, ultimately saving more than 300,000 men from death or capture. Those remarkable feats achieved in one of the most famous episodes of WW2 did not come for free. Thousands of men lost their lives or liberty, and hundreds more, unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of the notorious SS would be killed even after the fighting had stopped. This is the story of one such group, who fell victim to the SS Totenkopf Division in what became known as the ‘Le Paradis Massacre’.
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Le Paradis Massacre website - (www.leparadisma...)
A fantastic and highly detailed set of resources covering the events of 27th May 1940, including:
Multiple Veteran Accounts
War Crimes Trials Affidavits and Cross-Examination Files
Battalion War Diaries
Various related images and military records
Written References:
C. Jolly, The Vengeance of Private Pooley (1956)
R. Lane, Last Stand at Le Paradis (2009)
J. Murland, The Battle for the Escault 1940 (2016)
B. Shape, Massacre & Murder in Le Paradis (2012)
General Sources:
Imperial War Museum Sound Archive (IWMSA)
US National Archives (NARA)
War Diaries of the Battalions (NMP)
British Newspaper Archive (BNA)
The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
Google Earth Pro & Web Versions
Maptiler Pro (Desktop Version)
Bundesarchiv (Images)
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-720-0303-22 / Vennemann, Wolfgang / CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1980-072-33 / Voigt / CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-009-0869-12A / Schröter / CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-065-2302-20 / Koch / CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-720-0303-21 / Vennemann, Wolfgang / CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1977-143-11 / Woscidlo, Wilfried / CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-055-1570-06A / Weber, Robert / CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-054-1531-11 / Eckart / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Credits:
Research: Dan Hill
Script & Narration: Dan Hill
Editing: Shane Greer
Voiceovers: Hugo Salter
Thumbnail Design: Linus Klassen
Image Optimization: Linus Klassen
Music & Sound Effects: Epidemic Sounds
My dad got away on a coal boat from dunkirk all thanks to the incredible bravery of men like this
God Bless Them All, Never To Be Forgotten...
We agree.
Are you German?
@@francesco245 what with a Union Jack as a profile pic lol, but why do you ask
why would he be@@francesco245
@@BattleGuideVT i disagree. do you think any single British soldier would have fought if they could see our country today?
My granny’s two cousins were apart of this last stand. They were last seen operating a machine gun on Dunkirk. God rest their souls true British grit native to south London 🙌🏼🙌🏼
They were covering the boat that got my grandad out, then, so thank you for that from a Mancunian.
Look at England now
@@jackthomson5618Don't worry mate. Western youth are growing ever more tired and angry
@@velvetinedrapes4359 well I hope to God you are right
A very good account. My wife's grandfather (Acting RSM) CSM John Martin aged 36, of the Royal Scots Regiment was killed on the 27th of May 1940 at Le Paradis. His gravestone in the tiny hamlet of Le Paradis bears the date he was killed as the 25th May 1940. However, having researched the activities that took place at that time by the Royal Scots Regiment, a diary written by Major J Bruce came to light. In the diary (Acting RSM) CSM John Martin was mentioned amongst others as having distinguished himself and shown particular gallantry in the initial defence of the Battalion HQ on 27th May in Le Paradis and had been killed. We have visited the grave on a number of occasions and it is an extremely well maintained cemetery and we are grateful to the people of the village for ensuring this.
Thanks for the comment and sharing your story!
Wow, salute to your wifes grandad and the rest of those men, my dad and his brothers came back 4 years later and hopefully made her grandad proud, RIP all of them.
I visited the graves at Le Paradis on June 4, 5, and 6 this year. A family member of mine was Drummer Angus Cain. I totally agree with you., The graves are immaculate.
I was very well received by the three men caring for this cemetery. As I walked in, they saw me looking for Drummer Cain's grave, and one very politely asked which grave I was looking for.
I told him and without a second thought he took me straight to it. Absolutely amazing. I have posted photos of these men on the Le Paradis website. Such respect for these falling men.
Well done France.
My first wife's father, Captain John Woodwark, served in the Royal Norfolk Regiment and survived the massacre because he had been injured earlier in the fighting and had been laid in a ditch with some other wounded to shelter them. The SS didn't discover them. Wermacht soldiers eventually found them and he spent the rest of the war as a POW. He was a fine man and an absolute gentleman, may he rest in peace.
Anyone who says the Brits "ran away and let the french do all the work" show them this.
15k (maybe 20k) French were killed and 35k were lost to protect this retreat, and yes, after Dunkirk they were alone to fight on the ground.
It's important to have a well balanced assessment of History and not give in to nationalist stereotypes, regardless the nationality. The British never "ran away", they just withdrew toward the coast (in a rather orderly manner), which was the best thing to do given the situation. The French were simply ordered to protect this evacuation and save as many men as possible ((both British and French, plus a few belgians). The staggering losses suffered by the French (16,000 KIA + 34,000 wounded and POWs in 10 days from May 25th to June 3rd) highly contributed to the safe repatriation of almost 200,000 british soldiers to their homeground, which surely changed the course of History. The French indeed lost a battle but, with hindsight, sowed the seeds of the final victory, allowing the British to hold their ground during the Battle of Britain and to counterattack in North Africa the same year. Without Dunkirk, no El Alamein, nor Monte Cassino, nor Normandy Landing.
@@jeromelemoine1942 Exactly I'm tired of this narrative.
*French
@@chemcom276would you reinforce failure by holding your positions while your allies, Belgians to the north east and French around sedan, were fleeing without a hope of a rallying. Would you stand to the last man knowing you are being surrounded by better armed and led troops. If you think they were left alone purposely then more fool you
My father was wounded at Dunkirk he being a good swimmer swam out to the boats and was rescued by his father, he went on to serve in the war and landed on Sword beach. He served from 1937-49.
Your father was rescued at Dunkirk by your grandfather? If thats what you are saying then I doubt thats a true story.
@@czar6595
Stranger things have happened
The 3rd SS pz div : the triple 💀 💀 💀 division
1_ German tank force ☠️
2_ SS ☠️
3_ Totenkopf division ☠️
@@minhthunguyendang9900 its a provable lie, a story like that would have made news, would have been propaganda, no evidence of anything like it exist for the evacuation of Dunkirk, so no.
@@minhthunguyendang9900 if this was a true story there would be some kind of record of this, this would have become a propaganda story it would have been a national story, but literally no evidence this ever occurred.
Another video well done. People tend to forget that for those to escape at the retreat to Dunkirk others had to give their lives. Another great one to do would be The Siege of Lille where the remnants of The French 1st under General Molinie held up a massive German force of over 160,000 men and nearly 900 tanks for four days which was utterly crucial as these forces would have joined in on the attack at Dunkirk, and if they had done so hardly anyone would have escaped. Churchill paid tribute them in his memoirs as vital in enabling the evacuation. Look forward to more great content.
Thank you for this. My great aunt’s husband was with the Norfolks and was one of those killed at the barn in the massacre.
I only previously knew a little of what happened from the family talking about it. Now I understand a lot more of what occurred.
Rest in Peace brave souls.
Heartwrenching and horrifying. The testimonies are powerful. The maps and images are helpful too. Excellent video.
Thank you very much!
@@BattleGuideVT Anytime. Your videos are great and I learn a lot from them.
A tough one to watch and impossible to imagine. Such brave souls. Those soldiers are heroes.
Excellent video. My father was in the Norfolks and went out with the BEF. He was one of the men who went on to St Valery and was captured there. He was a POW for the duration. He didn't find out about the massacre until the 1960's when he discovered Pooleys book. He didn't like to talk about anything much that happened during the war, and although I have read several books around the subject, and visited the area, your video has helped me visualise the battle very clearly. Thank you.
My Grandfather was at St Valery, serving in the Black Watch and was captured there too. Spending the rest of the war in various POW camps, and briefly, due to escaping a few times, a concentration camp. Before being handed over to the Americans by the Russians.
I absolutely love how you incorporate maps into your videos.
When I read historic accounts, and historical fiction, I always look at the areas described in goog maps and try to follow along, so these videos are incredibly on-point for me.
Well this made me cry, Accurate and well done. Jayne ( Bert's gran daughter) .
You should be very proud of him Jayne.
@@CIMAmotor I am... Very.
@Britishempirewillneverdie how do you know though?
@BritishempirewillneverdieI hope you are wrong. Stolen valour (if true) is deplorable but I reserve judgement.
Fantastic content, really important things like this which should never be lost to history.
My grandfather was in the same position with the Queens Regt, defending a bridge over the same canal, he was captured after days of shelling and survived the war after being a PoW for 5 years.
Well edited and written docu and a touching memorial to those brave men of the Norfolk Regiment . Lest we forget .
The way you describe and give details on the videos is great!! Feels like traveling to the places… thanks a lot!! 🙏🏻
So nice of you
Brave men, regardless of nationality, were overwhelmed by a well equipped, tactically innovative and motivated enemy. No disgrace. The actions of both those brave British and French defenders was heroic and enabled events to be changed in time. We owe all of them a debt of gratitude. Lest we forget.
We have just watched your video and think it is really good in its accurate and clear telling of this terrible massacre. Jeannette Hawkes (née Pooley)
Really excellent lecture. I knew about this and other breaches of the genevere convention, but not in such detail and thanks for the "tour" of the crime scene.👍👍👍
Glad you found it interesting!
Another absolutely superb vid from the Battle GuideVT team. Having been to Le Paradis with Dan and seen it for real, this video really does the place and the events of that day, justice. The best military history channel on YT!
Thanks Ben, much appreciated mate and hope you had a great Xmas!
My grandfather was part of the BEF and captured at St Valerie. He was a dispatch rider with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and was part of the “long march” to Poland. He didn’t get home until late 1946, to my Grandmother. Mum was born in 1947 and he wouldn’t talk about his experiences until the late 1980’s, when he met up with a few of his companions from pow camp. I sat in awe listening to the tales as a 10yr old during the day. Heartbreaking to hear such brave men in tears after bed time listening to their stories on the stairs of my grandparents.
Bless all those who served. The lucky ones who came home and lest we forget those who did not make it home.
My brother played the bugle on Remembrance Day in Colwyn Bay as a schoolboy when there were still a lot of veterans alive rather than listening to the radio broadcasts from London. Truly a moving experience for me (as a Scouts flag bearer), himself and all of the veterans.
One chap appreciated it so much that he gave my brother a bottle of scotch the second year he performed at the ceremony- he was 12.
God bless all who served
Nicely put together. The aerials used were very helpful.
BRILLIANT job on this lads
For the algorithm important video thank you
Thanks very much Dan
An excellent documentary. I live in Norfolk and the massacre is commemorated in the Castle Museum in Norwich. God rest their valiant souls.
Amazing presentation and research!
Bless all these brave men who held back so the rest could live another day!
Thank you kindly!
very well done perfect mix of information to understand the events, thank you.
thankyou for bringing this story and their lives to us .
Thank you for compiling and posting this video, which I found to be an accurate account of the events that day, as well as very moving. I visited Le Paradis on 27th May last year, my connection being that my cousin-once-removed, Pte. Francis Porter of 2Bn, Royal Norfolk Regiment was killed in battle earlier that day at Pont d'Avelette. A memorial to the 97 men who died now stands in the grounds of Norwich Cathedral, dedicated in a service there on May 27th 2021, where Dennis O'Callaghan, William O'Callaghan's son, took one of the readings. A further memorial to the 97 is planned at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Thank you for this post. Most educational.
Another brilliant video. I've always wanted to stop off here and film when on my 'booze-cruise replen'. Thank you for sharing. What a story!
Thanks mate, sorry, no idea how I missed this, keep up the great work! Dan
A truly first class presentation. Thank you so much for this.
Glad it was helpful!
Subbed! What a wonderful video. We must keep the memory and lessons from this event and these people alive.
These short documentaries you guys make are by far the best war docs made. The research, pictures, maps and presentation is 2nd to none. Bravo!
Excellent presentation of a cruel event. Thank you.
This was very well done. Visually, and also the commentary was respectful and informative. Fine efforts. Thank you
This channel is really good. Love your stuff guys. The way you bring all these story's and memory's together is just first class. Thank you so much for putting out this content. It's first rate. 👍💛👊
The yanks where very fond of making fun of our boys at Dunkirk it is such a shame that their soldiers weren't a patch on ours
I never heard an American say anything like that, I hope it’s not true, much respect
Keeping the story alive is vital.
This is very well done.
Thanks.
Lest we forget.
🦘🇦🇺👍
Great quality and meaningful content. Well done!
Many thanks to these brave lads!..God bless them!..
A wonderful account of a brutul story .. well done ... lest we forget
Read Sean Longdon’s book: ‘The Men they Left Behind’ for more on the bravery of British forces in France which allowed the escape from Dunkirk to happen. One of the best books I have read on this part of the war. 🇬🇧
Incrediblely informative documentary!
Glad you enjoyed it!
My Granddad Frank Butterworth was a rear machine gunner at Dunkirk. Wish I knew more about what he got up too. He did say he grabbed men onto the boat that would of drowned.
Well done to the makers of this film.
Christopher Lee's Wartime Service would be great ! Keep up the Good Work your Channel is Brilliant. Well Done.
Very well Compiled, best ive seen on YT, more please. UK
My grandfather was in the British infantry that was pushed into the sea where he decided to swim out to a boat. He later returned to France in a Sherman with the Grenadier Guards.
Brilliant as always! Keep up the good work! 👍🏿
Thanks for this great video. This is an awesome way to approach history. Keep going
Love these videos, my great grandad edgar plunkett was a captain at Dunkirk, he led stragglers over the mossy wet rocks at night to make it the beach, tracers would fly overhead close, Dunkirk was on fire, he went on to become a major in el alamein and monte cassino and survived.. I took my nan his daughter to watch Dunkirk in 2017, she was yelling in the cinema at the screen that it was wrong and thst fire and bombs were everywhere 😂 she wasn't wrong
My great uncle was injured at Dunkirk, he was Welsh. Then on 6th June 1944 alongside my granddad (who was a Dubliner, Irish) landed on Gold Beach and was injured again. Don't make them like that these days. They married two English sisters who would cycle past their road block, pre-Normandy landings. The stories they would tell of the war had us kids riveted. I've got photos of them both, arms around each other with a pint glass raised at the Hotel Atlantic, Hamburg, celebrating the end of the war together, as well as a heap of other photos during the war period.
They'd roll in their graves if they knew people would be willing to roll over for a dictator like Putin, people learn nothing from history. To think people in politics like Farage idolise Hitler. My granddad lost a brother and my gran lost a brother fighting fascism (both on different bomber crews). Gran also had a sister blinded from a bomb raid.
WW2 affected everyone my grandparents age when I was a kid, everyone had a story, it wasn't that long ago.
Fabulous presentation
Thanks for your great efforts here, it was an incident I was not aware of.
British very strong in defence:
~ Rorke's drift
~ Le Paradis
~ Arnhem
~ Gloster Hill
~ Port Stanley
~ Lungi Lol
~ Musa Qala
My wife grandfather had to find his commanding officer on the beach of Dunkirk to ask to leave. He was some of the last men out. He then returned on D-day behind enemy lines to take Horsa bridge inland to prevent armour reinforcements.
Thanks for making this video
Brilliant as always, respectfully told .
Thank you.
RIP to all the brave British soldiers who fallen in this battle 🙏 ⚘️🌹
On the going down of the sun.
We remember them.
Thank you for the maps and slick graphics, this is how I learn. I’ve never been so interested in WW’s until now!
I think it would be extreamly difficult for any one of us who was not there in France in may 1940 to apeciate the utter force terror hellishness and sense of armageddon that those men who were there fought in.
Thank you gentlemen for those freedoms still left to us that have not yet been weaseled awy by power hungry cowards.
I’m ex-Royal Hampshire Regiment, 1978-1990, now PWRR. Massive respect for the Royal Norfolks. Their descendants comprise The Royal Anglian Regiment. British line regiments may not be glamorous. Rather they are indispensable. Few remain today as Europe seems less stable than at any time since the Berlin Blockade.
Thank you so very much for bringing this little known event to light, to say it was a massacre is a polite way of saying it was a bloodbath, all of those who participated in the killing should have been brought to justice, am am glad that the officer in charge was caught and sentenced, how anyone could carry out such an atrocity is beyond me, pure evil. 🇬🇧🏴🇺🇦👍😀
An excellent video presentation.
Thanks for watching
Some interesting trivia. Major Lisle Ryder, A/CO 2nd Royal Norfolk, is the brother of Commander Robert 'Red' Ryder who earned the Victoria Cross for leading the British naval forces in the audacious British naval and commando raid 'Operation Chariot' on the Nazi occupied Normandie dry dock in Saint Nazaire in March 1942. I've just finished writing the script for a movie on 'Operation Chariot'. Jeremy Clarkson narrated a terrific documentatry on the raid. Of course Red Ryder didn't learn about this brutal massacre until after the war, all he knew was his brother was killed in action fighting this rear guard action.
Amazing! We are releasing a documentary about Operation Chariot on Friday and were unaware of this connection... absolutely fascinating!
The third Ryder son died in a Japanese captivity after the fall of Singapore.
There men truly were fighting utter evil. We owe them so much.
Brilliant content, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it
The 'Last stand' was actually made by the Highland Division, which was still fighting at St, Valery on the coast, up until the 12th of June. Days after the evacuation of all the 'B.E.F.. Strange that this sacrifice is never mentioned or seen in documentaries/films of the Dunkirk evacuation !
Thats a story that also needs to be told. Its said that after the war the ones that survived the "last stand "got a fair bit of stick because they spent the rest of the war as POWs avoiding all the future fighting. Pretty sad considering the sacrifice.
This channel is amazing. Thank you
Actually they and many others during the campaign were the real heroes of Dunkerque that stayed behind and defended so the rest could be evacuated..
Such a brave unit. Their bravery probably saved many British soldiers lives. We owe as so many others are freedoms today. May they all RIP.
My Grandad Clifford Maxwell Butler of the London Rifles escaped through Dunkirk thanks to the bravery of these men. The Army was reformed and he then was reassigned to the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards as a Sherman Tank driver and took part in Operation Market Garden. He was one of the first to come across the atrocities at Belson Concentration camp. He finished the war in Germany and only spoke to my father once or twice about his exploits. On Dunkirk he said the safest place to take cover was a shell hole the logic being the chances of an artillery round or bomb from a Stuka having the exact same trajectory as the one that made the hole was unlikely. In that madness I suppose you had to find a strategy to settle your mind to stay alive.
My uncle Jim Knight was captured at Dunkirk spent the rest of the war in a POW camp
I am full of admiration for these men. I do wonder what they would think if they could return and see the way our "elites" have betrayed the country and are well on the way to ruining it.
All gave some, some gave all. Lest we forget.
My father private jesse bennett a londoner was in the Royal Norfolks as part of the BEF holding back the germans by the time he got to dunkirk all the boats had gone and he was captured. He was then force marched hundreds of miles put on cattle trucks and imprisoned in poland for 5 years. He told me about le paradis and other massacres as he thought the same could happen to him thank goodness he survived and was able to come home in 1945. we shall never forget.
Another excellent presentation
Great video thank you.
Were the soldiers ever identified or just laid to rest as I know but to god thank you for your time and post
Damn
Traditional British Army thinking was to deploy a Celtic regiment to do the mad attacking but use a stolid English county regiment to defend.
The Ryder family played an honorable part in WW2. Of the three sons, Lisle was murdered at Les Paradis, one brother died in Japanese captivity shortly after the fall of Singapore and a third captained HMS Campbeltown in the raid on St Nazaire and was awarded the VC.
My Grandad was at Dunkirk
He was in the Green Howard’s Regiment
Thank you for posting this video, I found it incredibly difficult to listen to and it moved me close to tears. Bravery under insurmountable odds, admiration from the enemy and the awful consequence of being held prisoner by brainwashed maniacs.
My Dads younger brother( my uncle Joe Woolley) was Kia 26th may 1940 while serving with 2nd battalion Royal Scots fusiliers on rearguard duty, he was 20 years old and is buried in Bus house cemetery near Ypres. God bless all who served 🙏💙🕊️Lest we forget😢
My Grandfather Walter Drury was at Dunkirk a corporal in charge of 25 pounder . He went on right through Europe . He served till 1947 .Miss him he die in 1980 GOD BLESS YOU Granddad love you always .thank you for your service R.I.P ❤❤❤❤❤
My father only just escaped one such atrocity in Poland by the SS in 1939
Great documentary laying out the circumstances on a sad day for the Norfolks. As a Norfolk native myself I’d like to point out that if anyone is in Norwich, there is a further memorial to the men next to Edith Cavell’s resting place in the grounds of the Cathedral.
Oh, one more thing it does make us Norfolk people laugh how people think we speak like we’re from the West Country! We don’t sound like that at all 🤣🤣
Noted. :)
tha's roight bor!👍
@@PegasusWings23 go you steady 🤣👍
@@foodofthemasses 🙃👍
127 000 french troops lifted off the beach and then later returned to their homes in france.. bit of a waste of effort.
A very moving account and we’ll told. Thank you. 21:02
Many, if not most, British and French soldiers showed great courage in the face of German attacks and SS atrocities. They deserved to be remembered with reverence. Lest we forget!
Wow, what an account.
I can't believe how brave those men were, nor how savage and brutal the SS were.
They ensured that BEF could escape from Dunkirk, live to fight another day and ultimately, thank God defeat Nazism
My father served under a bill lacey in the 60s he gave up a place on a boat to an injured man and was running round France for weeks before borrowing a fishing boat and getting back to the UK Bill after leaving the army on end of service ended up as a postman
Such brave lads god bless them all thankyou for helping us to keep our freedom
Superb video.
Thanks a lot
'Had his ashes scattered among his mates' 😔
What a tough bunch of Brits! 🇺🇸🤝🇬🇧
My great grandad was at dunkirk as a rear gunner not sure what that means but thankfully he got away otherwise i wouldn't be here