Battle of Dunkirk

The Battle of Dunkirk (French: Bataille de Dunkerque) (Also known as Operation Dynamo) was a major battle in Dunkirk, France during World War II. It lasted from the 26 May until 4 June 1940.

Battle of Dunkirk
Part of The Second World War
Date 26 May – 4 June 1940 Location Dunkirk, France Result German victory Allied evacuation
Belligerents
United Kingdom France Belgium	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Lord Gort Maxime Weygand Georges Blanchard René Prioux	Gerd von Rundstedt Ewald von Kleist (Panzergruppe von Kleist)
Strength
approx. 400,000 338,226 evacuated	approx. 800,000
Casualties and losses
30,000 killed or wounded 34,000 missing or captured 6 destroyers and over 200 smaller vessels 106 aircraft	52,252 killed or wounded 8,467 missing or captured 101—240 aircraft

Battle

The Allied forces were split in two by a German armoured advance to the Channel coast at Calais. The British and French commanders had been taken by surprise at the speed of the advance. The northern part of the army was surrounded In Dunkirk, France, a port on the English Channel. There they made a perimeter and waited for an evacuation.

Evacuation

See the main page: Dunkirk evacuation

In the Dunkirk evacuation, over 900 small British ships rescued around 340,000 British, French, and Belgian soldiers from the beaches between 26 May 1940 and 4 June 1940. This was most of the British and about half of the French soldiers who fought in the battle. About 40,000 troops, mostly French, had to stay behind to keep the Germans away during the evacuation.

Many of the evacuated French troops landed elsewhere and continued the Battle of France.

Related pages

• Dunkirk evacuation
• World War II
• Allies of World War II

Other websites

• WW2DB: Invasion of France and the Low Countries