The Miracle of Dunkirk

Winston Churchill had been Prime Minister only about two weeks when the devastation of the entire British Army seemed all but certain. The Allied Forces in southern France had been shattered by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, and by May 24, 1940, nearly 400,000 troops were trapped against the northern French coast near the port of Dunkirk.

Evacuation seemed the only option. After all, Dunkirk was only 40 miles across the English Channel. But German tanks were closing in and the Allied Forces were already beaten and in disarray. To pull off a rescue operation of the necessary magnitude seemed beyond the resources of either the British or French military. Churchill estimated only 10% of the British Expeditionary Forces might be saved.