Battle of Dunkirk

battle_name=Battle of Dunkirk

Operation Dynamo

From May 22 preparations for the evacuation began, codenamed Operation Dynamo, commanded from Dover by Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay. He called for as many naval vessels as possible as well as every ship capable of carrying 1,000 men within reach. It initially was intended to recover around 45,000 men of the British Expeditionary Force over two days, this was soon stretched to 120,000 men over five days. On May 27 a request was placed to civilians to provide all shallow draught vessels of 30 to 100 feet (9 to 30 m) for the operation, that night was the first rescue attempt. A large number of craft including fishing boats, fire ships, paddle steamers, private yachts, and Belgian barges, together with Merchant Marine and Royal Navy vessels, were gathered at Sheerness and sent to Dunkirk and the surrounding beaches to recover Allied troops. Some of the vessels came from as far as the Isle of Man and the West Country. Due to heavy German fire only 8,000 soldiers were recovered.

Related Topics:
May 22 - Operation Dynamo - Dover - Bertram Ramsay - British Expeditionary Force - May 27 - Belgian - Royal Navy - Sheerness - Dunkirk

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Another ten destroyers were recalled for May 28 and attempted rescue operations in the early morning but were unable to closely approach the beaches although several thousand were rescued. It was decided that smaller vessels would be more useful and boatyards were scoured for suitable craft, gathering them at Sheerness, Chatham and Dover. The Allied held area was reduced to a 30 km² block by May 28. Operations over the rest of May 28 were more successful, with a further 16,000 men recovered but German air operations increased and many vessels were sunk or badly damaged, including nine destroyers. During Operation Dynamo, the RAF lost 177 planes and the Luffwaffe 132 over Dunkirk.

Related Topics:
May 28 - Chatham - Dover

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On May 29 there was an unexpected reprieve: the German armour stopped its advance on Dunkirk leaving the operation to the slower infantry, and the Luftwaffe (Hermann Göring, then in great favour with Adolf Hitler, had promised air power alone could win the battle) but due to problems only 14,000 men were evacuated that day. On the evening of May 30 another major group of smaller vessels was dispatched and returned with around 30,000 men. By May 31 the Allied forces were compressed into a 5 km deep strip from De Panne, through Bray-Dunes to Dunkirk, but on that day over 68,000 troops were evacuated with another 10,000 or so overnight. On June 1 another 65,000 were rescued and the operations continued until June 4.

Related Topics:
May 29 - Luftwaffe - Hermann Göring - Adolf Hitler - May 30 - May 31 - De Panne - Bray-Dunes - June 1 - June 4

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A total of five nations took part in the successful evacuation from Dunkirk - Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Poland.

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