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Show MILITARY DARING OF DUNKIRK WAS MASTERPIECE Realizing that the. small British Brit-ish force in France and Belgium in the Spring of 1940 could not hope to stem the swift German advance that was crushing the French resistance the British commanders com-manders ordered a retreat to the channel ports. On May 20, 1940, units of the British expeditionary force began moving towards Os-tend Os-tend and Zeebrugge. Belgian and French troops screened the withdrawal. with-drawal. By the 23rd, German armored columns had thrust through to the channel coast, hemming in the British, French and Belgian troops. On the 28th, the Belgians surrendered and the British and a few French units had to fall back to the neighborhood of Dunkirk, a medium-sized channel port. By the 30th, it was obvious that there was nothing for the British to do but to try to get home to England which would soon be in. So. abandoning their heavy equip- ment, the 300,000 men of the BEF hastened to the waterfront and began embarking in any ship they could find. So began the epic withdrawal of Dunkirk. Constant Bombardment . . . Under constant bombordment and strafing from the German air force, as well as submarines and destroyers, the British piled into any sort of craft that would float. Men came back to England in row-boats, row-boats, ferry boats, private yachts, collapsibles and fishing boats and of course, troopships and naval vessels. Many of these craft had been obtained from private citizens citi-zens who risked their 'lives and crafts to sail their vessels through the choppy channel. The Royal navy and Royal Air Force did their best to protect the thousands of boats in the channel. Fortunately fog hamper ed the Nazi planes somewhat, but the boats that reached the English Eng-lish coast had been under almost! constant attack for hours. The Germans, knowing that Britain would be almost defenseless if the men in the boats were destroyed, made extreme efforts to kill as many as possible. Because of the stout British defense, and the fact that so many miscellaneous craft were dispatched to evacuate the BEF, the Germans failed. All during the 30th and 31st, boats and ships streamed back and forth across the channel, and by the first of June the most remarkable remark-able withdrawal in history had been accomplished. Only a few thousand of the BEF were captured cap-tured by the Nazis. Most of the sorely needed force was safely returned re-turned to England. |