ww2

Dunkirk

On May 26, 1940, the boats came for the Allies at Dunkirk. Over the course of a little more than a week, more than 330,000 troops had been evacuated from France, bound for England. The Germans were coming—they had moved through the Netherlands and Belgium that month—and had broken through the French defenses. Soon, they would reach the beleaguered Allied forces. Under cover of bombardment by the Royal Air Force, those forces managed to escape. But, though the aerial fighting helped those on the ground get out, it took its toll. Dunkirk was left, as LIFE’s reporter John Fisher cabled the magazine shortly after, “a pile of rubbish.”

On May 26, 1940, the boats came for the Allies at Dunkirk. Over the course of a little more than a week, more than 330,000 troops had been evacuated from France, bound for England. The Germans were coming—they had moved through the Netherlands and Belgium that month—and had broken through the French defenses. Soon, they would reach the beleaguered Allied forces. Under cover of bombardment by the Royal Air Force, those forces managed to escape. But, though the aerial fighting helped those on the ground get out, it took its toll. Dunkirk was left, as LIFE’s reporter John Fisher cabled the magazine shortly after, “a pile of rubbish.”

“Every building was destroyed, not a wall intact,” he reported. “Bricks and stones, many feet deep, jammed the streets. Flames were still crackling and smoke swirled through the town as fires spread unchecked.”

At the harbor, “Frenchmen lay where they fell, their bodies bloated, legs and arms blown off, guts hanging out,” and refugees wandered the streets “dazedly.” Meanwhile, the German columns were already marching to the south, “looking for new battlefields.”

On May 26, 1940, the boats came for the Allies at Dunkirk. Over the course of a little more than a week, more than 330,000 troops had been evacuated from France, bound for England. The Germans were coming—they had moved through the Netherlands and Belgium that month—and had broken through the French defenses. Soon, they would reach the beleaguered Allied forces. Under cover of bombardment by the Royal Air Force, those forces managed to escape. But, though the aerial fighting helped those on the ground get out, it took its toll. Dunkirk was left, as LIFE’s reporter John Fisher cabled the magazine shortly after, “a pile of rubbish