Darkest Hour is a great movie and a compliment to the recent film Dunkirk. The setting was London in 1939. Britain was losing the war with Germany, and many, if not most, of the Brits, thought the war was a lost cause. Some negotiations for surrender were taking place at about the same time that the Prime Minister was being replaced.
The film portrayed the horrendous German assault taking place and the incredible stoic resistance of the Brits. Winston Churchill, played by Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman, was not a shoo-in for being selected as the Prime Minister. The time frame was June and July 1939 — the Germans had recently surrounded the 300,000 plus troops in the French town of Dunkirk, and all were likely to be lost. The Brits were resigned to another great loss along with a certainty of a war ending defeat; and, they had no plan as to how to rescue them. Having shortage of navy ships, Churchill commandeered ALL private boats to sail or motor to Dunkirk and save about 200,000 troops.
This was a stopping point of the free fall for Britain. Well portrayed in the movie was Churchill’s request of America to assist. President Roosevelt was sympathetic, but the then current laws forbid the US to supply war materials to any nation. However, the US was permitted to sell aircraft to Canada which promptly delivered them to the war effort. One of my questions has been, “was Roosevelt playing his poker hand for the next dramatic events to take place twelve to sixteen months later,” The famous Garden Hose story and the Atlantic Charter, events that changed the world? See my blog, “The Greatest Poker Hand Ever Played.”
R.J. Meyer, Blogger and Author
