# Canonical recap data for Dunkirk Evacuation (1940)
# Source: https://recap.at/1940/dunkirk-evacuation
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: dunkirk-evacuation
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1940/dunkirk-evacuation"
title: Dunkirk Evacuation
aliases:
- Operation Dynamo
- Miracle of Dunkirk
- Dunkirk Evacuation
subtitle: The Allied retreat and evacuation of over 330,000 troops from Dunkirk became a symbol of survival against Nazi encirclement and strategic regrouping.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1940-06-04
datePrecision: day
year: 1940
decade: 1940
country:
name: France
slug: france
summaryShort: In the Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, more than 338,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation began after large n
summaryLong: In the Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, more than 338,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation began after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France.
lede: In May 1940, Nazi Germany's invasion of France trapped over 300,000 Allied soldiers on the beaches around Dunkirk with their backs to the sea and no way out by conventional means. Over nine days, a hastily assembled fleet of military vessels and civilian boats—including fishing trawlers and pleasure craft—ferried troops across the English Channel in one of World War II's most desperate and pivotal rescues.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Dunkirk_26-29_May_1940_NYP68075.jpg/1280px-Dunkirk_26-29_May_1940_NYP68075.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Dunkirk evacuation"
importance: 87
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Troops evacuated
  value: 338,226
- label: Duration
  value: 9 days (26 May – 4 June 1940)
- label: Civilian boats deployed
  value: 800+ (including fishing boats, lifeboats, ferries)
- label: British troops evacuated
  value: 215,000
- label: French troops evacuated
  value: 123,000
- label: Allied casualties and captured
  value: 68,000
- label: Operation codename
  value: Operation Dynamo
- label: Commander of evacuation
  value: Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay
timeline:
- date: 1940-05-10
  title: Germany invades France and the Low Countries
  description: Nazi forces launch Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), breaching French defenses at Sedan and pushing toward the Channel coast.
- date: 1940-05-20
  title: German tanks reach the English Channel
  description: Panzer divisions cut off the British Expeditionary Force and French First Army near Dunkirk, trapping over 400,000 Allied troops with the sea at their back.
- date: 1940-05-26
  title: Operation Dynamo begins
  description: Vice-Admiral Ramsay initiates evacuation from Dunkirk harbor and beaches. Initial plan assumes 20,000 troops could be removed; actual capability far exceeds expectations.
- date: 1940-05-27
  title: Civilian vessels mobilized
  description: British Admiralty calls for small boats—fishing trawlers, lifeboats, pleasure yachts, ferries—to supplement military transport. Hundreds of civilian crews volunteer.
- date: 1940-05-29
  title: Peak evacuation tempo
  description: Over 47,000 troops evacuated in a single day. German Luftwaffe attacks increase but cannot halt the operation due to poor weather and RAF fighter cover.
- date: 1940-06-02
  title: British forces largely evacuated
  description: Remaining British troops complete withdrawal. French forces and rearguard continue holding defensive perimeter to cover final departures.
- date: 1940-06-04
  title: Operation Dynamo concludes
  description: Last evacuation ships depart. 338,226 troops safely transported across the Channel; German forces occupy Dunkirk the following day.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation"
  title: Dunkirk evacuation
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The evacuation preserved the fighting capacity of the British Expeditionary Force and kept Britain in the war when Nazi conquest of Western Europe seemed inevitable. Without those 338,000 rescued troops, a negotiated peace or outright invasion of Britain became far more likely in the summer of 1940.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- occupation
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- mobilization
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: cascading
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: 338,000 Allied troops evacuated from Dunkirk beaches in 9 days, May-June 1940. Nazi invasion, civilian boats, military survival.
wikidataQid: Q911972
peoplesVoice:
- source: Winston Churchill, UK Prime Minister
  voiceType: official
  context: Churchill addressed Parliament on June 4, 1940, days after the evacuation ended, seeking to reframe military defeat as moral victory.
  excerpt: We shall go on to the end... we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated... the New World, with all its power and might, would step forth to the rescue.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 90
  attribution: Speech to House of Commons, June 4, 1940
  publishedAt: 1940-06-04
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay, Operation Dynamo Commander
  voiceType: official
  context: Ramsay reported on the evacuation's logistics mid-operation, expressing cautious optimism about civilian vessel participation.
  excerpt: The little ships have done wonders. Without them, we could not have saved a quarter of the men we have brought off. Every fishing smack and pleasure yacht that can cross the Channel is worth its weight in gold.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 75
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - official dispatches, May 1940
  publishedAt: 1940-05-31
  originalLanguage: en
- source: A British newspaper correspondent (anonymous field report)
  voiceType: media
  context: A war correspondent filing from the Dunkirk beaches during evacuation captured the chaos and human cost firsthand.
  excerpt: The beaches are chaos incarnate. Men stand waist-deep in water for hours. Shells fall near the moles. Yet somehow order prevails. It is not victory, but it is not defeat either - it is survival.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - British press dispatches, May 27-30, 1940
  publishedAt: 1940-05-29
  originalLanguage: en
- source: General Alan Brooke, British Expeditionary Force Commander
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Brooke assessed the strategic implications of the evacuation in his private diary, reflecting on the narrow escape from total annihilation.
  excerpt: A miracle has occurred... but it remains a bitter pill. We have lost France, our equipment, our position. Only the men remain - and men alone do not win wars.
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 70
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - War Diaries, June 1940
  publishedAt: 1940-06-02
  originalLanguage: en
- source: A Dunkirk boat owner (civilian participant)
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Local fishermen and pleasure boat owners spoke to reporters after returning from evacuation runs across the Channel.
  excerpt: My boat is not much - forty feet and she leaks in a storm - but I took forty soldiers across yesterday. Today I will take forty more. What else is there to do?
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 55
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - British newspaper interviews, May-June 1940
  publishedAt: 1940-06-01
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260531041212/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-31
  label: Dunkirk evacuation
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation"
