War and Military Atlas

How Battles Were Fought
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Military Operation

Operation Dynamo

Modern

Operation Dynamo was the emergency evacuation of Allied forces trapped at Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940 during the Battle of France. Using a hastily assembled fleet of more than 800 vessels, including Royal Navy destroyers and hundreds of civilian small craft, the operation rescued more than 338,000 British, French, Belgian and other Allied troops from the beaches and harbour, though nearly all heavy equipment and vehicles were abandoned. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Operation Type
Evacuation 1
Start Date
1940-05-26 1
End Date
1940-06-04 1
Location
Dunkirk, France, and the English Channel 1
Participants
British Expeditionary Force, French, Belgian, Dutch and Polish forces; Royal Navy and a fleet of civilian 'little ships' 1
Objective
Evacuate trapped Allied forces across the English Channel before capture or destruction by advancing German forces 1
Outcome
More than 338,000 soldiers were evacuated, though the British Expeditionary Force suffered 68,000 casualties overall and abandoned nearly all tanks, vehicles and heavy equipment 1
Operation Type
Operation Type (category)
Evacuation 1
Connections

Commanders and Forces

Operation Dynamo was conducted by the Royal Navy, backed by the flotilla of civilian little ships

Source Wikipedia: Operation Dynamo
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Operation Dynamo
Wikipedia
  • Aftermath section (quoting Churchill's 4 June 1940 Commons speech)
    Wars are not won by evacuations.
  • In Category: Military Operations
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