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==Introduction==
Dunkirk is a 2017 war film scripted, produced and directed by the Englishman Christopher Nolan. The film has an all-star cast, that includes Harry Styles, Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy. The movie is an international co-production between the US, UK and France. Nolan, regarded as one of the finest directors of his generation wrote the script for the movie from three angles, land, sea and air, in order to present a comprehensive overview of the events at Dunkirk. The film was mostly shot in location in Dunkirk, France. Nolan’s motion picture was a critical and box-office success and one of the hits of the summer of 2017. The film is based on the Battle of Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo in May 1940, the operation to evacuate the British Expeditionary Force from France. Hitler’s army had launched its Blitzkrieg across western Europe and had conquered the Low Countries and France. The Nazi army and especially its Panzer tanks had proven too strong for the allies. They have managed to drive a large force of British and French troops into an area around the port of Dunkirk. The British and the French, numbering over 300,000 were surrounded and under constant aerial bombardment. However, the British Royal Navy with the assistance of many merchant navy and civilian craft evacuated most of the Anglo-French army, in a plan codenamed Operation Dynamo. The British hailed this as a major success and Churchill described it as the ‘miracle of Dunkirk’<ref>Taylor, A.J.P. and S.L. Mayer, Eds. A History of World War Two. London: Octopus Books, 1974, p. 57</ref>. It was widely believed that if the British has not been able to evacuate their forces from Dunkirk that the country would have been defenceless and that the Germans would have gone on to win the war. The evacuation of Dunkirk was a major boost for British morale at a time when they had effectively to fight the Nazis and their allies on their own. It is widely believed that Hitler did not order a final and all-out attack on Dunkirk because he was overconfident. He ordered his Panzers to halt their advance<ref>Frieser, Karl-Heinz. The Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. 2005), p. 145</ref>. He probably did not think that the British could evacuate their forces from Dunkirk. There has been some controversy regarding the accuracy of the movie. This article will discuss how historically accurate is Christopher Nolan’s movie.
== The aerial battle over Dunkirk==
The movie begins when the British surrounded in an enclave around the port of Dunkirk. It shows them under constant aerial attack from the Luftwaffe and losing many men to the much-feared German air force. The movie does not accurately show the reality of the Luftwaffe attacks on the British units assembled at Dunkirk. In the film, many of the attacks are carried out by Meschershmidt ME fighters, who are show strafing the beaches at Dunkirk. This is true but the movie does not show that many Stukas’ were also involved in the German air raids and these dive-bombers wreaked havoc on the British units in May 1940<ref>Freiser, p 117</ref>. This is a glaring omission. Moreover, the movie fails to show that while the Luftwaffe was very effective against troops and vehicles they were very ineffective against the British ships. In the movie, the Luftwaffe are showing as sinking many Royal Navy and other vessels. This was not the case as the German air force was not able to sink a great number of British ships and this was to be one of the main reasons for the success of Operation Dynamo. The movie does show the role of the British Spitfire in the evacuation. As in the movie it provided much needed air cover to the British and the other troops on the beaches. Churchill had previously held the Spitfires back from the action in France. He knew that the French were defeated and that after Hitler had conquered Paris that he would turn his sights on Britain. The Spitfire was needed to protect the United Kingdom against the onslaught of the Luftwaffe. However, given the situation at Dunkirk, Churchill ordered the RAF to the area to offer the British forces some protection. These air planes played a crucial role in the successful evacuation of Dunkirk. In the movie, the pivotal role of the Spitfire is shown very accurately. In one scene, the troops on the beach are showing clapping and cheering as the see one of the planes in the sky and this actually happened<ref> Lord, Walter. The Miracle of Dunkirk. New York: The Viking Press, 1982 / London: Allen Lane, 1983, p. 156</ref>. In total, the RAF flew some 3500 sorties over Dunkirk and they lost some 150 planes <ref> MacDonald, John. Great Battles of World War II (Toronto, Canada: Strathearn Books Limited, 1986) </ref>. However, there were some who believed that the RAF could have done more. There was some animosity at the time between the soldiers on the ground and the RAF. The movie does not show this animosity very accurately. In one scene, a pilot played by Jack Lowden is rescued from his downed plane by a boat, and is greeted warmly. However, at least one occasion, RAF pilots had to fight their way onto rescue boats, with more than a few of those on board shouting to let them down.
