Eighty five years ago was the second full day of the evacuation of Dunkirk and the day Belgium surrendered. The timeline is attached:
https://www.britannica.com/story/timeline-of-the-dunkirk-evacuation#:~:text=Evac
The story of the fall of France, Holland and Belgium is an astonishing one. Shambles, chaos brilliance, incompetence, bravery, humiliation between 9 May and 22 June 1940.
Dunkirk was just one event, but it has entered into British legend (Dunkirk spirit etc) and deservedly so. The evacuation was unparalleled before or since. A real life miracle engineered by extraordinary people including the 40,000 French who defended the perimeter so bravely.
The significance of the rescue of 338,000 British and allied soldiers is simple to quantify. Without it, the war would have been lost.
If you visit the IWM in Lambeth you will see an insignificant little boat called Tamzine. It took part and I always pay it a visit and have a quiet moment. Silly really, but sometimes insignificant objects really do carry meaning.
The films tend to focus on the little ships when in reality most people were rescued from the Mole. But that’s ok, everyone played their part and that’s the point. |  |
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