[soc.history] 50 Years Ago: Sunday, 26 May, 1940

military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (06/02/90)

Sunday, 26 May, 1940

Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Allied forces from Northern France, 
begins.  The troops are to be removed using an assortment of military and
civilian vessels, with the evacuation centering around Dunkirk.  The RAF
flies constantly overhead, countering heavy Luftwaffe activity.

Calais falls to attacks by the 2nd Panzer Division, and Hitler orders
a renewed advance by the Panzer columns.  The German 6th Army begins a 
powerful attack against the Belgian Army, whose situation is now critical.
King Leopold III refuses a suggestion that he fleed Belgium.

General Sir Edmund Ironside is appointed Commander in Chief of British
Home Forces, while General Sir John Dill succeeds him as Chief of
Imperial General Staff.  A day of national prayer is ordained.

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Bill Thacker			            military@cbnews.att.com
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"Let no one be mistaken; it is no mere territorial conquest that our
enemies are seeking.  It is the overthrow, complete and final, of this
empire and of everything for which it stands, and after that the conquest
of the world." - King George