The operation was preceded Process_start by the better known rescue of and French soldiers from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo On 20 May , the Germans had captured Conquering Abbeville at the mouth of the Somme and cut off Hindering the main Allied armies in the north .

From about half of the German bridgehead south of Abbeville was recaptured Conquering by Franco-British troops ; the Allies were reinforced Cause_change_of_strength by infantry divisions and the `` 4e '' Division `` cuirassée '' ( 4e DCr , Colonel Charles De Gaulle ) but lost Earnings_and_losses many of their tanks and the Germans much of their infantry , some units running Self_motion back over the river Somme .