The Dunkirk evacuation Removing , code-named Operation Dynamo , also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk , was the evacuation Removing of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk , in the north of France , between 26 May and 4 June 1940 .

The Dunkirk evacuation Removing , code-named Operation Dynamo , also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk , was the evacuation Removing of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk , in the north of France , between 26 May and 4 June 1940 .

The Dunkirk evacuation Removing , code-named Operation Dynamo , also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk , was the evacuation Removing of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk , in the north of France , between 26 May and 4 June 1940 .

The commander of the BEF , General Viscount Gort , immediately saw evacuation Removing across the Channel as the best course of action , and began Process_start planning Arranging a withdrawal Escaping to Dunkirk , the closest Motion good port .

This gave Giving trapped Allied forces Hostile_encounter time to construct Creating defensive Defending works and pull Hold back large numbers of troops Hostile_encounter to fight Defending the Battle Hostile_encounter of Dunkirk .

Some were ferried Sending to the larger ships Sending by what came to be known as the Little Ships of Dunkirk , a flotilla of hundreds of merchant marine boats , fishing boats , pleasure Change_sentiment craft , yachts , and lifeboats called Request into service Supply from Britain .

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 .