OPERATION DYNAMO
Greta, a Thames barge and the oldest ship in the fleet, is believed to have rescued hundreds from the beaches. 70 years later she approaches Dunkirk Harbour once again
The struggle was protracted and fierce. Suddenly the scene has cleared. The crash and thunder has momentarily, but only for the moment, died away. The miracle of deliverance achieved by the valour and perseverance, perfect discipline, faultless service, skill and unconquerable vitality is a manifesto to us all – Winston Churchill on the retreat in Flanders (June 4, 1940)
5,000 soldiers lost their lives and 235 vessels and 106 aircraft were destroyed. The BEF had to leave behind all its heavy armour
and equipment on the beaches of Dunkirk: 2,500 guns; 84,500 vehicles; 77,000 tons of ammunition; 416,000 tons of supplies and 165,000 tons of petrol had to be abandoned. Much of this equipment was deliberately destroyed or disabled, rendering it use- less to the German forces. To ensure every last soldier returned home safely,
the final evacuation effort was made in the night of June 3. The last ship to leave was the Royal Navy S-class destroyer HMS Shikari, leaving Dunkirk at 03:40 on June 4. Between May 26 and June 4, 338,226 British, French and Belgian troops were rescued from Dun-
kirk. British losses exceeded 30,000 wounded, killed or missing.
The aftermath Back home, the organisation at the port was first-rate. Ships were unloaded at great speed and returned back to France to fetch more men and women. Southern Railway laid on extra trains to clear thousands of exhausted troops from Dover. All along the railway lines, soldiers were cheered by civilians who provided food, drink and blankets. Casualties were treated at Dover’s Buckland Hospital and all but 50 severely ill and injured men were saved. After Dunkirk, the various units which made up the BEF were re-grouped and eventually formed into
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF)
The BEF was deployed to France at the start of the war. Unlike a regiment, the BEF was an expeditionary force made up of all kinds of combat and support units flexible enough to form an effective fighting force in any condition. In France, it had spent its time building defences and undertaking training programmes with territorial divisions. It was highly mechanised and mobile, but had to abandon more than 90% of its heavy equipment on the beaches.
www.armedforcesday.org.uk SHOW YOUR SUPPORT 53
© Eva-Luise Schwarz
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