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WWII On This Day: May 25

What happened on May 25 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1940 and 1941, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1940
German troops in northern France during the campaign of 1940.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1808-10A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Battle of France 1940

Gort turns the British Expeditionary Force toward Dunkirk

Lord Gort redirected the main effort of the British Expeditionary Force toward the Channel and Dunkirk on 25 May as the prospect of a coordinated north-south counterstroke faded. British formations began securing withdrawal routes and positions protecting the port while French units continued fighting around Lille and on the southern edge of the pocket. The decision placed preservation of the BEF at the centre of British operations in the north. It also increased the importance of maintaining cooperation with French forces whose defensive positions covered approaches essential to the evacuation…

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British troops rescued in a ship at Dunkirk (France, 1940).
Divide and Conquer (Why We Fight #3) directed by Frank Capra
Dunkirk: Operation Dynamo

Gort turns the British Expeditionary Force toward Dunkirk

Lord Gort concluded that the planned Allied counteroffensive to the south could not be mounted with the forces and communications available. He ordered British formations to secure routes to Dunkirk and shorten the front. The decision prioritised preserving the army over continuing a coordinated southward attack.

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1941
The German battleship Bismarck in Grimstadfjord near Bergen on 21 May 1941, photographed from Prinz Eugen before the Atlantic breakout.
Naval History and Heritage Command · Public domain
The Bismarck Chase

Bismarck slips the shadowing cruisers

Bismarck turned behind the British cruiser screen and escaped contact. The manoeuvre left the Home Fleet searching on uncertain bearings while the German ship continued southeast toward France. A long radio transmission from Lütjens later provided direction-finding information, but British plotting initially mishandled the bearing. For several hours the pursuit was moving on the wrong assumptions while Tovey also had to manage the fuel state of ships operating far from base.

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German paratroopers descending on Crete during Operation Merkur in May 1941.
Bundesarchiv Bild 141-0864 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Battle of Crete

New Zealand troops retake Galatas in a night counterattack

German troops captured Galatas on 25 May after heavy fighting threatened to split the western Creforce position. Colonel Howard Kippenberger gathered available troops for an immediate counterattack rather than allow the village and its road junction to remain in German hands overnight. Two British light tanks led companies of the 23rd New Zealand Battalion back into Galatas shortly after 20:00. The counterattack drove German troops out of the village and temporarily restored the local position. The success could not repair the wider front. German pressure from Maleme continued, the defenders…

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