Dunkirk the movie offers an amazing look at the Dunkirk evacuation, also known as Operation Dynamo, a military operation to evacuate Allied soldiers during World War II between May 26th and June 4th, 1940. While the movie has lots of real aspects, it does sort of follow a fictional path, with fictional characters focusing solely on the British side of things.
The real Dunkirk operation included lots of Belgian, British, and French troops. The Allies were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the 6 week battle of France. It was considered a military disaster, especially for the British army who had almost all their key forces stuck there. By May 24th, it was clear the Allies were not going to be able to break through the German lines. They were ordered to prepare defenses and a retreat.
On May 26th, Churchill ordered Operation Dynamo to commence and it started with 7,669 troops evacuating on the first day. On the 27th of May, one cruiser, eight destroyers and 26 other craft headed out. Officers combed nearby boatyards for small craft that could ferry personnel from the beaches out to larger craft in the harbour. An emergency call was put out for additional help and by May 31st, close to 400 small craft where voluntarily involved.
The same day, the Luftwaffe heavily bombed Dunkirk, both the town and the dock installations. As the water supply was knocked out, the resulting fires could not be extinguished. It was estimated 1,000 civilians were killed. RAF squadrons were ordered to provide air supremacy for the evacuation. The Luffwaffe responded with Stuka dive bombers which rained incredible destruction on Allies.
To make matters worse on May 28th, the Belgian Army surrendered causing the British to spread their forces even thinner to keep a defensive line so forces could be evacuated. A total of 17,804 troops were extracted successfully thanks to the troops holding the lines and RAF flying sorties to provide support.
On May 29th, another big push brought home 47,310 troops. They continued this success on May 30th, with 53,823 men evacuated. On May 31st, 68,014 men were evacuated and on June 1st a 64,429 troops made it home. Finally, on June 2, all British troops were behind defensive lines along with half the French First Army. On June 3rd, 75,000 French troops were evacuated. On June 4th, 40,000 French troops were forced to surrender to Axis forces. 3,500 British troops were lost and 13,053 were wounded. There was also a very large amount of heavy equipment such as 2,472 guns, 20,000 motorcycles, and almost 65,000 vehicles and tons of thousands of tons of ammunition and fuel.
