The Miracle of Dunkirk

by Walter Lord

It was the collective refusal of men to be discouraged by this relentless sequence that is important.

Ramsay, an immensely practical man, realized that the battlefront was changing faster than meetings could be held. By now everybody knew what had to be done anyhow; the important thing was to be quick and flexible. Normal channels, standard operating procedures, and other forms of red tape were jettisoned. Improvisation became the order of the day; the telephone came into its own.

Seems as applicable today as it did back then.

It was a bit “hot” there, he added, and they might like to fortify themselves at a pub across the way.

Second Lieutenant Arthur Rhodes managed to get his men into a basement liberally stocked with champagne and foie gras, which became their staple diet for some time.

Sounds like a perfectly acceptable diet to me...

Ironically, Churchill was a prime mover in creating the very mood he sought to dispel. His eloquence, his defiance, his fighting stance were almost bewitching in their appeal. Like Abraham Lincoln in the American Civil War, he was perfectly cast.