Called a "miracle" by Winston Churchill, and code named Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation was the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and other Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk to England between May 26 and June 4, 1940, during World War II.

The evacuation is often referred to as "the miracle of Dunkirk" because only 30,000 to 45,000 were expected to be rescued, but in fact, between May 26, 1940, and June 3, 1940, more than 300,000 troops were able to get off the beach.

Hundreds of naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation. When it ended on June 4, about 1,98,000 British and 1,40,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved.

Where and what is Dunkirk?

Dunkirk, located in the north of France, on the shores of the North Sea near the Belgian-French border, is a small town on the coast of France and the scene of a massive miliatry campaign during the World War II.

The strait of Dover, where the distance between England and France is just 21 miles across the English Channel, is located to the southwest.

Because of its seaside location near the borders of three major European powers, Dunkirk aka Dunkerque in French, and the surrounding areas have been the scene of centuries of trade and travel, as well as numerous bloody battles.

The Battle of Dunkirk

On May 10, 1940, he Germans launched their attack against the West, storming into belgium, Holland and Luxembourg with lightening speed. Faced with vastly superior airpower, a more unified command and highly mobile armed forces, the Allied defenders were a poor match for the German Wehrmacht.

On May 12, the Germans had entered France, going around the northwest corners of the Maginot Line, alleged by French military commanders to be an impregnable defense of their border. On May 15, the Dutch surrendered and Belgium would surrender unconditionally two weeks later.

The role of Indian army in Dunkirk

The Indian soldiers of the Royal British Army played a huge part during the evacuation of Dunkirk.

The Indian soldiers went to France all the way from Bombay with 2,700 mules so that they could travel through the rough terrains that vehicles couldn't cover along with carrying massive bulks of supplies for the British. The mules had their voice boxes surgically removed so that they didn't bray and attract the Germans' attention.

After all the efforts by the Indians and their mules, the British decided that they did not need the extra burden while going home, so they decided to abandon them at Dunkirk.

Thankfully, British military leaders like Colonel Ashdown, who turned a deaf ear to the abandonment orders got his troop of Indian soldiers to Dunkirk beach anyway. But he was sentenced with a Court Martial.

Many soldiers had to save themselves. Junior officer Jemedar Maula Dad Khan saved his entire troop from being shelled, for which he got an honorary medal later.

Indian soldiers fought not only in France, but in Persia, Iraq, Hong Kong, Greece, Italy and Eritrea.

Without the Indian Army, the Japanese would have overrun India and would have linked up with the Germans in Iran and the whole world could have come under the dominance of the Axis alliance!

Over 36,000 Indian soldiers died during the Second World War.

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