The Battle of Dunkirk

The Battle of Dunkirk, also known as “Dynamo”.

The Battle of Dunkirk lasted from around May 25 to June 3, 1940. the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe. The battle was between the Allies and Germany. After the Phony War, the Battle of France began in earnest in May 1940.

German forces attacked the Low Countries. Moving to their aid, French troops and the British Expeditionary Force were unable to prevent their fall. The Germans began heading towards the English Channel on May 14. The forces of Britain, France, and Belgium, could not halt the German advance. The German forces reached the coast, therefore cutting off the British force, as well as many other allied troops. German forces sought to capture the Channel ports before the Allies could evacuate.

Hitler urged commander, General Gerd von Rundstedt, to press the attack. Assessing the situation, von Rundstedt advocated holding his armor west and south of Dunkirk, while utilizing the infantry of Army Group B to finish off the British forces. Withdrawling, the British forces, with support from French and Belgian troops, established a perimeter around the port of Dunkirk. In England, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay met at Dover Castle to begin planning the evacuation. The operation was given the name “Dynamo”. The evacuation was to be carried out by a fleet of destroyers and merchant ships. Supplementing these ships, were over 700 “little ships” which largely consisted of fishing boats, pleasure craft, and smaller commercial vessels. In planning, they estimated to only save about 45000 men, as they thought German interferences would cause the operation to end. Commencing on May 27, Operation Dynamo rescued 7,669 men on the first day and 17,804 on the second. A lot of heavy materials had to be abandoned as the ships could only hold a certain amount of weight, and there wasn’t enough space. Air Force battled to keep German aircraft away from the embarkation areas. 47,310 men were rescued on May 29, followed by 120,927 over the next two days. This occurred despite a heavy Luftwaffe attack on the evening of the 29th and the reduction of the Dunkirk pocket to a five-kilometer strip on the 31st. With German air attacks intensifying, daylight operations were ended and the evacuation ships were limited to running at night.

332,226 men were rescued from Dunkirk in total. During the operation, the British losses included 68,111 killed, wounded, and captured, as well as 243 ships, 106 aircraft, 2,472 field guns, 63,879 vehicles, and 500,000 tons of supplies.