Q&A: Nolan previews war epic 'Dunkirk'

If I may share my thoughts:

It is indeed an important story. More than just British soldiers were evacuated, but those Brits were essential for Britain being able to carry on the war. Many of them, after a period of rehabilitation, were sent to North Africa to fight. If they had been captured they would not have been able to do that, and the Africa Korps might have captured or negated the Suez Canal.

In his series of books about World War II, Churchill wrote at length and authoritatively about the Dunkirk evacuation. One of the things that stuck with me from his writing was his list of how many were evacuated from different nations. There were even a few thousand Germans evacuated.

The responsibility for the failure of the German armed forces to stop the evacuation rests squarely with Hitler himself. He made the decision to stop the army from quickly crushing the hapless Allied forces with their blitzkrieg, and gave the job to the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe worked best when it was working in coordination with the panzers. By itself, it was incapable of destroying an army.

There have already been some excellent documentaries made about this subject. While I hope for the best, it is easy to doubt that any new projects will be better than the efforts that have already dealt with the Dunkirk evacuation.