Dunkirk 1940

Soldiers of the East Lancashire Regiment defending a section of the Canal de Bergues, part of the British defences around Dunkirk . This rear-guard action, carried out by many British and French regiments, helped the evacuation of many Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk .

In May 1940 German forces invaded the Low Countries in lightning attacks known as Blitzkrieg. Belgium and Holland are quickly subdued then the Germans moved onto to France . The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) and the French forces were quickly forced back and eventually surrounded on the French coast around Dunkirk .
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Churchill ordered the evacuation, by sea, of as many BEF and French forces he could salvage.
Operation Dynamo was put into action and over 338,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated from the bomb-blasted beaches