Battle of Dunkirk

25th May 1940

A part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe.
Lord Gort made the decision to evacuate on May 25, 1940, and the last troops departed France on June 4.

Winston Churchill called the events in France "a colossal military disaster", saying that "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. He hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance".