British and German Losses
In stating that 335,000 men, British and French, had been withdrawn from Dunkirk, the Prime Minister added that the losses to the B.E.F. in killed, wounded and missing (which includes prisoners) were 30,000. Grievous as this loss is, it is a small total when we consider the severity of the fighting and the circumstances of the withdrawal. There are obviously no completely reliable figures on which to base an estimate of German losses in the battle against Dutch, Belgians, French and British. Conservative French estimates suggest 500,000, and the number according to some authorities is much higher. At different stages of the three weeks' battle the relative pro- portions of the losses varied much. During the lightning advance of the mechanised German units from the Meuse to Boulogne it is probable that the attackers lost fewer men than the attacked. But at all points where the German infantry were engaged and held they suffered far more than the Allies. The German figure of 61,238 in killed, wounded and missing may have been arrived at by the simple process of dividing by ten. In regard to material, Mr. Churchill says that we have lost nearly f,000 guns and all our transport and armoured vehicles with the Army in the north. Against this it is fair to set the fact that German losses in aeroplanes from British action alone have been at least four to one. Also a consider- able proportion of the whole German tank force is out of action.
