United Kingdom. Belgium [ 2 ] Canada [ 3 ] France. The Netherlands. The Dunkirk evacuation , codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk , or just Dunkirk , was the evacuation of more than , Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk , in the north of France , between 26 May and 4 June The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian , British , and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France.
After Germany invaded Poland in September , France and the British Empire declared war on Germany and imposed an economic blockade. Three panzer corps attacked through the Ardennes and drove northwest to the English Channel. BEF commander General Viscount Gort immediately saw evacuation across the Channel as the best course of action, and began planning a withdrawal to Dunkirk, the closest good port.
Adolf Hitler approved this order the next day, and had the German High Command send confirmation to the front. This gave Allied forces time to construct defensive works and pull back large numbers of troops to fight the Battle of Dunkirk. From 28 to 31 May, in the siege of Lille , the remaining 40, men of the French First Army fought a delaying action against seven German divisions , including three armoured divisions.
On the first day, only 7, Allied soldiers were evacuated, but by the end of the eighth day, , had been rescued by a hastily assembled fleet of over vessels. Many troops were able to embark from the harbour's protective mole onto 39 British Royal Navy destroyers , four Royal Canadian Navy destroyers, [ 3 ] at least three French Navy destroyers, and a variety of civilian merchant ships. Others had to wade out from the beaches, waiting for hours in shoulder-deep water.
Some were ferried to the larger ships by what became known as the Little Ships of Dunkirk , a flotilla of hundreds of merchant marine boats, fishing boats , pleasure craft , yachts , and lifeboats called into service from Britain.
