Dunkirk Evacuation summary

Learn what happened at the Dunkirk Evacuation

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Dunkirk Evacuation, (1940)In World War II, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and other Allied troops, cut off by the Germans, from the French seaport of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) to England. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation, which began on May 26. When it ended on June 4, about 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved. The operation’s success was due to fighter cover by the RAF and (unintentionally) to Adolf Hitler’s order of May 24 halting the advance of German armored forces into Dunkirk.

France Summary

France, country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the

World War II Summary

World War II, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many