[Download] The Miracle of Dunkirk: A Brief History by University Press ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

University Press returns with another short and captivating book – a brief history of the Miracle of Dunkirk.The Dunkirk Evacuation, code-named Operation Dynamo, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches of Dunkirk, in northern France.By late May of 1940, large numbers of British, Belgian, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called this "a colossal military disaster," saying "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured.British Expeditionary Force commander, General Viscount Gort, immediately saw evacuation across the English Channel as the best course of action and began planning a withdrawal to Dunkirk, the closest good port. Operation Dynamo commenced on May 26 and, just eight days later, 338,226 Allied soldiers had been rescued by a hastily assembled fleet of over 800 vessels, including Royal Navy destroyers and the “Little Ships of Dunkirk” - a flotilla of hundreds of merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft, yachts, and lifeboats that crossed the English Channel after being called into service from Britain.In his "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech on June 4, Winston Churchill hailed the rescue as a "miracle of deliverance,” and the British press presented the evacuation as a "disaster turned to triumph.” Churchill was quick to remind the country that “Wars are not won by evacuations,” yet, less than five years later, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies.This short book provides a captivating account of the heroic and heart-warming events of the Dunkirk Evacuation of 1940 – an account that you can read in about an hour.