Veterans Gather for 50th Anniversary of Dunkirk
Misty-eyed veterans of the “miracle” evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk converged Saturday under a sea of Union Jacks to mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary Operation Dynamo.
The historic harbor was lined three-deep with 75 of the original “little ships” that ferried troops, most of them members of the British Expeditionary Force trapped by the advancing German blitzkrieg, from bullet-strafed beaches to the safety of English ports from May 26 to June 4, 1940.
Ceremonies marking the “Miracle at Dunkirk” peak this afternoon with a solemn service on the beach, at which thousands of veterans were expected.
The Dunkirk retreat followed a thorough thrashing of Allied troops by Adolf Hitler’s armored panzer divisions, which raced through Holland, Belgium and France.
Historians say the successful evacuation was crucial to the Allies’ eventual success because so many trained troops lived to fight another day.
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