The
Dunkirk evacuation, code-named
Operation Dynamo, also known as the
Miracle of Dunkirk, was the evacuation of
Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of
Dunkirk, France, between 27 May and 4 June 1940, during
World War II. The operation was decided upon when large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by the
German army during the
Battle of France. In a speech to the
House of Commons, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill called the events in France "a colossal military disaster", saying "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. In his
We shall fight on the beaches speech on 4 June, he hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance".