The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, between May 26 and June 4, 1940, when British, French and Canadian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk in the Second World War. Winston Churchill called it the greatest military defeat for many centuries, warning that "the whole root, the core, and brain of the British Army" was stranded in Dunkirk. He hailed their subsequent rescue as a "miracle of deliverance."
On the first day only 7,000 men were evacuated but by the ninth day a total of 338,226 soldiers — 198,229 British and 139,997 French were rescued by the hastily assembled fleet of 860 boats. Many of the troops were able to embark from the harbour's protective mole onto 42 British destroyers and other large ships, while others had to wade from the beaches toward the ships, waiting for hours to board, shoulder deep in water. Others were ferried from the beaches to the larger ships, and thousands were carried back to England, by the famous "little ships of Dunkirk", a flotilla of around 700 merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and RNLI lifeboats — the smallest of which was the 15-foot fishing boat, Tamzine, now in the Imperial War Museum — whose civilian crews were called into service for the emergency. The "miracle of the little ships" remains a prominent folk memory in Britain.
On May 29, 47,000 British troops were rescued in spite of the first heavy air attack from the Luftwaffe in the evening. The next day, an additional 54,000 men were embarked, including the first French soldiers. 68,000 men and the commander of the BEF, Lord Gort, evacuated on May 31. A further 64,000 Allied soldiers departed on June 1, before the increasing air attacks prevented further daylight evacuation. The British rearguard departed the night of June 2, along with 60,000 French soldiers. An additional 26,000 French troops were retrieved the following night before the operation finally ended.
Two French divisions remained behind to protect the evacuation. Though they halted the German advance, they were soon captured. The remainder of the rearguard, largely French, surrendered on June 3, 1940.