The Need for Organisational Resilience - Chapter 7

against the enemy in occupation; to nourish in secret new military forces; and to prepare

patiently and clandestinely for better days. This was part of the policy of General

Weygand and of myself, and the greater part of our colleagues shared our hopes. It was

our intention to follow this programme without faltering, and we took the risks it involved

clear-sightedly and without fear. (Baudouin 1948, 144)

Vast swathes of France and the Low Countries lay in ruins. The collapse of the Allied

Forces was as sudden as it was unexpected. Indeed, five days into the capmaign, at the

time when the Germans broke out, the fate of France was already sealed.

A destroyed Dunkirk. (BArch, n.d.)

With France having surrendered, Britain was left on its own. Britain’s struggle to keep the Germans at bay lasted four years until their troops set foot in France on June 6 th , this time with overwhelming firepower and on their side an economic and military juggernaut, the United States of America. The liberation of Paris took place on August 25 th 1944. Germany capitulated on May 8 th 1945.

Roads to Resilience

In the previous chapter, we evaluated two opposing managerial approaches from a strategic,

operational and tactical (leadership) as well as logistical perspective. In essence, the French

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