29 Oct 1939
France
France
- The body of Kapitänleutnant Dietrich von der Ropp, commanding officer of U-12, washed ashore near Dunkerque, France; the submarine was lost to a mine on 8 Oct 1939. ww2dbase [U-12 | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
21 May 1940
France
France
- The French destroyer L'Adroit (T23) was in company of two other destroyers when German He 111 bombers attacked. One aircraft hit her with a bomb that exploded just in front of the bridge. One third of the ship was ripped off and her commanding officer Captain Henri Dupin de Saint-Cyr beached her at Malo-les-Bains, Dunkerque, France at 0035 hours where she was on fire. As she had just been reloaded with ammunition and torpedoes for a mission on the Scheldt Estuary to the northeast, the entire crew abandoned ship, and locals of Malo-les-Bains were also evacuated. At 0230 hours the ship was destroyed by seven large explosions. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
25 May 1940
France
France
- Adolf Hitler continued to hold off his tanks from engaging on an offensive even though those armored division were merely 10 miles from Dunkerque, France. At Calais, France, Heinz Guderian obediently, albeit frustratingly, ordered his tanks to halt per Hitler's orders, but the field commanders continued to push back the British and French troops. In the evening, British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort began to fall back to Dunkerque. On the same day, the French Army relieved 15 generals of their commands. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | TH]
26 May 1940
France
France
- At Dunkerque, France, British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort received the formal authorization for a withdraw; Operation Dynamo, the code name of the massive evacuation, was headed by British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler rescinded the order to halt the offensive near Dunkerque. At Calais, after a heavy aerial and field artillery bombardment, German troops crossed the canals and moved toward the Citadel; at 1600 hours, Brigadier Claude Nicholson surrendered. Elsewhere, the French 1st Army was nearly encircled by the Germans, while the Belgians was pushed back to the Leie/Lys River. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
29 May 1940
France
France
- The 393-ton former Royal Mail Steam Packet Company paddle steamer Gracie Fields, serving in the capacity of a minesweeper since 1939, was hit by a bomb on her second trip to Dunkerque, France. Eight of her crew died in the attack. The ship remained afloat and an effort to tow her back to Britain would be mounted. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
30 May 1940
France
France
- The 3,236-ton French steamship Monique Schiaffino was bombed and sunk by German aircraft on at Dunkerque, France. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
- The 393-ton former Royal Mail Steam Packet Company paddle steamer Gracie Fields, serving in the capacity of a minesweeper since 1939 and damaged off Dunkerque, France on the previous day, sank while under tow early in the morning. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
- The Devonia, a side paddle steamer that had previously been requisitioned by the British Admiralty, came under heavy artillery fire and bombs from Stuka dive bombers as she approached the embarkation jetty by the beaches at Dunkerque, France. The ship had to be abandoned and beached. Her wreckage is still to be found on the beach. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
31 May 1940
France
France
- Poor weather clouded over Dunkerque, France, giving the British a chance to bring in modern destroyers into the area to assist the evacuation with less fear of German air attacks; 68,014 (45,072 from harbor and 22,942 from beaches) were rescued on this date, including British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort. French destroyer Leopart and British destroyers HMS Express, HMS Icarus, HMS Keith, and HMS Winchelsea were damaged by German aerial bombing. German torpedo boats damaged French destroyers Sirocco and Cyclone; Sirocco was finished off by German aircraft, killing 59 crew and 600 troops. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | TH]
- Oliver Leese was evacuated from a beach near Dunkerque, France. ww2dbase [Oliver Leese | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
1 Jun 1940
France
France
- Under a heavy German air raid at Dunkerque, France, Sergeant George Benton, RAMC, was carrying wounded men on stretchers to a ship at the East Mole when a bomb blew a hole in the walkway. Unflinching, he calmly placed a stretcher over the gap and carried on with the evacuation of the wounded. ww2dbase [Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
9 Oct 1941
France
France
- No. 601 Squadron RAF mounted a mission with four P-39 Airacobra aircraft, strafing German barges near Dunkerque, France. This was to be the final Airacobra mission with the RAF. ww2dbase [P-39 Airacobra | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
9 Feb 1943
France
France
- Coronel ran aground off Dunkerque, France. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
10 Feb 1943
France
France
- Coronel was freed after running aground off Dunkerque, France on the previous day. Dashing through the English Channel, she sailed past the British coastal guns at Dover, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
24 Feb 1943
France
France
- Coronel arrived at Dunkerque, France. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
28 Apr 1945
France
France
- Type XXVIIB5 Seehund submarines were used to supply food to the German garrison at Dunkerque, France. ww2dbase [Type XXVII | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
2 May 1945
France
France
- Type XXVIIB5 Seehund submarines were used to supply food to the German garrison at Dunkerque, France. ww2dbase [Type XXVII | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
10 May 1945
France
France
- The German garrison in Dunkerque, France surrendered to a Czechoslovak armoured brigade, two days after the surrender of the main German army in its homeland. ww2dbase [Germany's Surrender | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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