EVACUATING DUNKIRK 53
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18 th
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Dunkirk beaches Allied positions May 28
THE FIRST DAYS OF EVACUATION
MAY 26–29, 1940
Dunkirk’s shelving beaches meant that larger ships
could collect soldiers only from Dunkirk Mole—a
long stone jetty in the harbor—and there were
not enough small boats to ferry soldiers to ships in
deeper water. On May 27, only about 8,000 men
were rescued. By May 29, the British public were
asked to help, and hundreds of private boats arrived
in Dunkirk, vastly increasing the numbers evacuated.
2
May 27 The Belgian
Army is defeated; King
Leopold surrenders.
May 28–31 Siege
of Lille; the French 1st
Army hold off the Germans for
three days before surrendering.
Barely one week after Hitler had ordered the invasion of France and
the Low Countries, the German army had pushed the Allied forces
into a corner of north-east France near the port of Dunkirk. Under
attack from the Luftwaffe, the retreating soldiers of the British
Expeditionary Force (BEF), together with their French, Canadian,
and Belgian allies, faced roads blocked with vehicles and a flood of
refugees. However, in one of the most pivotal decisions of the war,
Hitler called a halt to the advance of his panzer divisions, giving
the Allies sufficient breathing space to evacuate more than 330,000
men from the beaches of Dunkirk.
The evacuation was ordered by Winston Churchill and planned
by logistics expert Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay from a room in
the naval headquarters at Dover that once housed a dynamo (which
gave the operation its name). It began on May 26. Even though the
Germans did not launch a full-scale attack on the retreating Allies,
the evacuation was accompanied by fierce fighting. Once on the
beaches, soldiers often stood shoulder-deep in water, waiting for
rescue, while the Germans bombed the sands from above.
Although the BEF left behind nearly all their equipment, the
“miracle” of Dunkirk saved what Churchill called “the whole root
and core and brain of the British Army” from a disastrous campaign.
Without it, the Allied war effort would probably have collapsed.
EVACUATING
DUNKIRK
In just ten days from May 26 to June 4, 1940, 338,000
British and Allied troops were carried aboard a flotilla
of boats and ships from Dunkirk to safety in Britain.
Known as Operation Dynamo, it was the biggest
military evacuation in history.
Air attacks and battles
Dunkirk harbor destroyed
THE BATTLE IN THE AIR
MAY 26–JUNE 1, 1940
The evacuation was under near constant attack
from the Luftwaffe. On May 29, the harbor at
Dunkirk was destroyed and the channel to the
open sea was almost blocked with damaged ships.
Despite being overstretched and inexperienced,
the pilots of the RAF kept up patrols over Dunkirk
and ran bombing raids on the German positions.
By June 1, Luftwaffe attacks were so intense that
evacuations ceased during daylight hours.
3
PLANS AND PREPARATIONS
MAY 20–26, 1940
Preparations for the evacuation began around
May 20 when it became clear that the Allies were
trapped. Vice-Admiral Ramsay’s plan envisaged
the rescue of 30,000 to 45,000 troops in just
two days using a fleet of destroyers and transport
ships. At Dunkirk itself, canals and waterways
were pressed into service as defenses were
built to protect the town from the German
infantry and artillery.
1
Allied positions May 26
THOSE LEFT BEHIND
Substantial Allied forces remained
in France after the evacuation
from Dunkirk; 35,000 French
and as many British soldiers were
forced to surrender. The majority
were taken as POWs and forced
to march for days before being
transported to camps in Germany,
where they remained for rest of
the war. Several thousand French,
British, and Canadian troops
eluded capture, and by June 5
were ranged along the Somme,
hoping to halt the German
advance. Many were rescued
in later evacuations.
Allied captives at Dunkirk
THE ALLIED RETREAT
As the Germans closed in on the
port of Dunkirk from all directions,
thousands of Allied troops retreated
through a corridor maintained by fierce
fighting, to be evacuated across the
Channel to Britain.
KEY
British sea routes Shallow
areas
TIMELINE
German
advances
Major
battles
MAY 20, 1940 MAY 25 MAY 30 JUN 5
2
3
4
1
German 6th Army
advances on Dunkirk.
US_052-053_Evacuation_of_Dunkirk.indd 53 22/03/19 2:38 PM