The film tells the true story of the sea evacuation of nearly 340,000 Allied soldiers from Dunkirk, France in the face of German assault in summer 1940.
At the UK Express, James Moore and Reiss Smith have compiled forty staggering facts about the historical event that inspired the film. Let’s take a look at the top eleven:
1. During May 1940 the so-called “ phoney war” came to an end as the Germans swept through Belgium and Northern France in a Blitzkrieg that left many soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force stranded as they were pushed back towards the sea.
2. The new prime minister, Winston Churchill, ordered the BEF’s commander, Lord Gort, to evacuate as many troops back to Britain as possible as the army retreated to the area around the port of Dunkirk.
3. On May 20 the British began formulating Operation Dynamo, led by Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay.
It was named after the dynamo room in the Dover cliffs where their operation HQ was based.
4. “Nothing but a miracle can save the BEF now,” said General Alan Brooke.
5. Initially it was estimated that just 45,000 men could be...
