TODAY - August 22

 

NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS

ON: AUGUST 22

New edition

TODAY’s LENGTH:

This day is here in Denmark 3 hours and 3 minutes shorter than June 21. Its length is 14 hours and 36 minutes – from 06.05 to 20.41.

See more – also in English – about where you are on:  www.dagenslaengde.dk

TODAY’s NAME:

This day is called SYMFORIAN's DAY.  He was a young Christian from Roman Gallia ( nowadays France ). He was beheaded by the Roman authorities, because he refused to give gifts to the gods in the Cybele temple. It happened in 179 AD.

According to old Danish weather warnings today is the first day of autumn.

In Belgium the day’s name is SAINTE MARIE-REINE – after the mother of Jesus.

TODAY’s EVENT:

1864: Red Cross is created at the initiative of the Swiss Henri Dunant. And its first activity took place the same year in the short war between Prussia and Denmark.

TODAY’s QUESTION:

Dunkirk - what is the story ?

This is a small town in north-eastern France - at the coat of the English Channel. The area is called French Flanders, because this wa originally a Flemish speaking region. The name of Dunkirk was and is in Flemish: Duinkerken, meaning the Church in the Dunes. The French name is Dunkerque.

This place became very famous during World War II, because it was here the German forces i  May 1940 managed to surround a huge British-French army.  It was taken by total surprise by the German attack on the Netherlands on May 10 and some days later on Belgium. Already on May 20 the Germans had reached the Channel south of Dunkirk, where a large part of the British-French army was placed. And as the German army was already occupying the Netherlands to the north the Allied were surrounded.

Due to the speed and overwhelming power of the Germans the British and French were at a certain moment thinking of surrendering. But on May 24 the Germans stopped their frontal attack. This gave the British time to plan an evacuation.  This took place in the days from May 26 to June 3.  Altogether 338.000 soldiers ( 215.000 British and 123.000 French ) were brought back to England by all sorts of ships, including a lot of small private boats.  This happened while part of the French army kept fighting to cover the evacuation. Most of those 35.000 French soldiers were afterwards taken as German prisoners of war.   Also the air forces of the two enemies were fully in action. The Brits lost 106 planes, while the Germans lost 135.

The big question is: why did the Germans stop the attacks for some days at a moment, when they most certainly could have won an all-out victory?  One guess is that Hitler at this point still hoped that he could make peace with England before his big attack on the Soviet Union the following year. Another guess is that the Germans thought that the British-French army was stronger than it actually was. Another possibility is that Hermann Göring's offer to Hitler that Luftwaffe could destroy the whole British-French army in Dunkerque was accepted - but certainly failed. And the third possibility is that the enormous efforts done by the people involved in the evacuation combined with the very strong French resistance was enough to ensure the Allied success.

The British and French lost many soldiers and had to leave behind modern equipment enough for 8 divisions. But it is beyond any doubt that the success of the evacuation was a huge boost to the moral in the UK - making it ready for many more serious challenges to come such as the Blitz on London and much more. The French surrendered at the end of June, and the Americans only joined the war at the end of 1941.  So the name Dunkirk still means a lot in British and also in French war history.

A new film called Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan from 2017 is very realistic and very much worth seeing.

QUESTION FOR TOMORROW:

Lutein - what is that?  And why is it very important?

47 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT EUROPE:

EUROPE AT WORK     www.europe-at-work.be

 

TODAY’s QUOTE & FAMOUS PEOPLE :

1.  Yesterday’s quote:

Bentley is the fastest lorry in the world.

            This was said by the car maker  Ettore Bugatti .

    2.Today’s quote:

It is not important if the cat is black or white - as long as it can catch mice !

Who among today’s persons has said that?

 

2.  Famous people born on this day:

1846:  Amalie Skram  ( died 1905 )

1862:  Claude Debussy  ( died 1918 )

1902:  Leni Riefenstahl  ( died 2003 )

1904:  Deng Xiaoping  ( died 1997 )

1928:  Karlheinz Stockhausen  ( died 2007 )

     1934:  Norman Schwarzkopf  ( died 2012 )

3.  Famous people died on this day:

           1922:  Michael Collins  ( 32 years )

            1978:  Jomo Kenyatta  ( 86 years )

 

Niels Jørgen Thøgersen

niels4europe@gmail.com  

www.simplesite.com/kimbrer   +  EUROPE AT WORK   www.europe-at-work.be