(06-06-2014 10:52 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(06-06-2014 09:57 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(06-06-2014 01:01 AM)stAtecamera13 Wrote:  

(06-06-2014 12:51 AM)GoApps70 Wrote:  Britain was not going to surrender even if there had been no rescue from Dunkirk.

Capture their expeditionary force and they have nothing left that early in the war. Hit them with the one two of capturing that force and then the African campaign and concentrate all your efforts into destroying the RAF and its a pretty easy decision, be invaded by air, or give up your colony's and territories. Which does Britan do? That I don't know. That early in the war it's hard to say what kind of effect that would have had.

I think you may be understanding the British a bit. I know a few people over there...they would never surrender to anyone. They'd arm civilians and fight soldiers hand to hand in the streets if they had to. This is a government that managed to convince a decent portion of its London population to send their kids off to live with complete strangers for a few months to keep them safe from German bombs.

Many forget that the British spent most of the war taking in refugees. They had tons of Jews who escaped continental Europe into England, a bunch of French made it over anticipating a German invasion, and they had practically the entire school children population of the Channel Islands relocate to the country for the entire war. There wasn't a way on planet earth they'd give up...especially knowing that the US and Canada would never force them to fight on their own.

I agree with this assessment. Hitler was correct in letting the Brits escape at Dunkirk because it provided valuable time to consolidate assets an move his front westward. Capture the British forces and then trying to ransom a negotiated peace out of Churchill seem highly improbable. Then what does Hilter do? Killing them would definitely bring the US and Canada in those forces would land in France unopposed.

Yep, if Hitler captures the forces or even decimates them at Dunkirk, the result is an even more determined British people who would still hold strong, and it probably ends up provoking the US into entering the war, and Hitler did not want to mess with the US Army that early in the game. Not without having time to establish his defensive fronts in France.

History dictates that you don't mess with the British...especially on their own soil.

Ironically, if Hitler had decided to capture and Dunkirk, the US Probably enters the war early, and Pearl Harbor may not have happened because we would be on a more heightened alert, and probably wouldn't have as large a fleet stationed there.