Victory from defeat

I say old boy, stiff upper lip and all that, jolly good show 

The British have been well-known or notorious, depending on your outlook, at turning military defeats into victorious events worthy of celebrations. The most famous of all has been Dunkirk, France in 1940.

From the web I obtained (extracts):

The British retreat from Northern France in Spring 1940 is often referred to as 'almost a victory' and people discuss the 'Dunkirk spirit' at great length. This 'spirit' refers to the way that a large number of civilian ships crossed the channel to Dunkirk in order to help demoralised British forces return to Britain.

Undoubtedly these acts by ordinary British fishermen and sailors were heroic, undoubtedly the British retreat from Pas de Calais was a disaster.

When war was declared with Germany in 1939, Britain and France expected to fight in Northern France once more as they had done 25 years previously.

The German war machine (Wermacht) had moved on though, they had developed a new kind of warfare (Blitzkrieg - 'lightning war') that was storming across Europe routing armies at will. British and French forces were, with minor exceptions, swept away during the spring of 1940 by this new warfare.

Although the French and British, not wishing to give any credit to the Germans, may blame each other for the defeat, the British may accuse the French of not defending their homeland and the French may accuse of the British of trying to cut their losses early, the truth is that neither army was ready for the kind of war that the Wermacht were fighting.

The all-too-predictable result being that the Allied force was defeated and routed.

The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) struggled its way to the city-port of Dunkirk where as many as 300,000 troops were withdrawn to Britain despite being under continuous assault from German aircraft.

It is believed that the only reason the Wermacht failed to kill or capture the whole BEF was that Herman Goering insisted to Hitler that the Luftwaffe (German air force) be allowed the 'glory' of assaulting Dunkirk without ground support. Put simply, the German army was better prepared for the Battle of France in all areas, they soundly defeated the French and British forces.

Others were Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915 and Somme, France in 1916. Both battles have also been remembered every year by the Aussies and Kiwis, especially Gallipoli. Many Aussies define Gallipoli as the birth of their sovereign nation, an Australia detached from Mother England.

Further back in history and in South Africa was the battle at Isandhlwana (today's Durban) 1879. Again I obtained following extracts from the Web:

Some 1000 British and 2000 Zulus died after the Zulu forces cut off the line of retreat back to Rorkes Drift.

Once again it is interesting to consider the historical context and the way that this battle is often discussed in the British mainstream.

The fact that the colours of the 24th regiment (the British unit that fought in the battle) were not captured by the enemy and were recovered after being washed up down stream from a river where it is surmised that a Lt. Coghill died defending the banner is often seen as a coded victory for the honour of the British army.

What actually happened to the Regimental colours is a matter of historical interpretation as not a single soldier survived to tell the tale.

There have been numerous others, but let's now switch to today's Malaysia, especially in Sungai Kandis.

PKR has won as expected but alas, with its winning majority slashed by half (compared to GE14) due mainly to poorer turnout (less than 50% - main mahjong? wakakaka).

The diminished majority may reinforce perception that public confidence in the government is already waning just two months after they took over federal power, and I suspect UMNO will turn its defeat into a victory a la Dunkirk etc, wakakaka.

But UMNO also has had its vote capture chopped off by half. I am not sure whether PAS voters have played UMNO out, wakakaka. 

PKR candidate for Sungai Kandis Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni and his wife Azlinah Abdul Razak arrive at Dewan Besar Tanjung MBSA, Shah Alam August 4, 2018. — Picture by Mukhriz Hazim 

Yes, UMNO will now undoubtedly claim moral victory. Looks like we still have a few more lessons to learn from our previous colonial master, wakakaka.