June 4, 1940 (April 29), the Dragon, the British and French armies Dunkirk retreat end. the British destroyer Column


full load British and French forces officers and soldiers to retreat to the territory of northern France and Belgium, England In May 1940, nearly 400,000 British, French troops forced to retreat to France Dunkirk, a narrow strip of the northern end of the brink of the English Channel. Front of them is a choppy sea, followed by ruthless pursuers the troops Diukuixiejia, defeated, powerless organization backs against the wall. Avoid the only hope was lost, only evacuated from Dunkirk crossing the sea. (Lssdjt.cn)
At this point, the German armored forces had entered to the place and saw Dunkirk gracefully battle ready for the final battle was. While the situation is extremely critical, Hitler suddenly issued a command to tank troops stopped at the canal front line is no longer moving forward. This gave an unexpected British and French troops, rare respite. Repair fortifications, coalition soldiers to cover the retreat. The UK Department of the Navy under the command of Churchill started called "engine plan" major retreat. Britain has long retreat to prepare, the Department of the Navy quickly recruited more than 850 vessels of various types of vessels, from cruisers, destroyers to ordinary yacht, wooden sailboat, many of them by the British coastal city residents volunteer driving. French naval and merchant ships also took part in the action.
from May 27 to June 4, the British and French sailors and crew braved heavy bombing and artillery bombardment of the German facilities Figure cassette bombers, after nine days and nights of hard work, 33.8 thousand troops from the German tiger's mouth under evacuated to the British Isles. British army of 22 million people, the French army of more than 80,000 people. These troops later became the backbone of the counterattack. Retreating British and French troops Tens of thousands of people dead, more than 40,000 people were captured, 243 the size of the vessel was sunk. All the 10 divisions of the British Expeditionary Force weaponry and vehicles became German booty. This is called the "war in the history of a miracle" Dunkirk retreat. (Lssdjt.com)