It seemed like a defeat. And, in some ways, it was. Yet the evacuation of Allied troops from the port of Dunkirk, France — an operation that began 77 years ago, on May 26, 1940 — remains one of World War II’s best known examples of heroic success.
With the capitulation of Belgium, British and French troops were left trapped between German forces — hundreds of thousands of ground troops, plus their air force — and the coast. The destination for many of those troops was Dunkirk, and so that was the destination for their pursuers as well. As TIME later explained, Britain and France managed to get more than 300,000 troops off the beach during the retreat (compared to an estimated 45,000 who’d been predicted to make it) and across the water with the help of 1,200 boats, many of which were civilian leisure and fishing boats put to unexpected use.
