Dunkirk !

 I am watching a week by week recreation of WW2. 

In week 44, June 1940, Nazi Germany had overrun most of Europe, and USSR had annexed Eastern European countries.

The Netherlands and Belgium had surrendered to the Nazis in May, and France in June.

Dunkirk: 9 Lesser-Known Facts - HistoryExtra

Allied forces were beaten back to Dunkirk in France, just across the English Channel from Britain. To prevent their capture by the Nazis, a desperate operation was launched to rescue them via sea to take them back to England.

2 lakh british and 1.4 lakh mainly french soliders were rescued, but 0.8 lakh were left behind in Dunkirk (half of them British and the other half French) to hold off the Nazis while their compatriots escaped.

But all the equipment had to be left behind, desperately needed by Britain which now faced the Nazi war machine alone. The US had refused to be drawn in the war, despite British requests. 

The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France.

Winston Churchill, Britain's Prime Minister during World War II, called Dunkirk a "miracle of deliverance".

Initially it was thought the Germans would reach the beach within two days, allowing time for only 45,000 troops to be brought to safety.

But thanks to a combination of German confusion and Allied bravery, enough British and French troops were saved to see out the rest of the war.

After Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the British sent in troops to defend France. However, as Nazi Germany moved forward into Belgium and the Netherlands in May 1940, the allies made a near-fatal error.

The French-German border was defended by a series of barriers and weapons called the Maginot Line, but the area to the north was only blocked by a forest.

The forest was thought to be too thick to require heavy defence, but the Germans found a way through.

They marched around the back of the Allies in France and forced them over into Belgium, where they were faced with more Germans to the north.

The only option left was to retreat to Dunkirk, where they could be taken back to England.

With the majority of Britain and France's entire armies in one area - surrounded by the Germans - this could have been the turning point of the war. But Hitler ordered his troops to halt for three days. Attacking the trapped BEF, French, and Belgian armies was left to the Luftwaffe - Germany's air force. 

Evacuations from Dunkirk commenced on 26th May 1940, while 40,000 men of the French First Army fought a delaying action against seven German divisions.

The Allies were gifted with time. Naval ships, vehicles, passenger ferries, fishing boats, yachts and boats owned simply for pleasure were assembled.

A handful of civilians even joined the mission, sailing out into the Channel voluntarily.

Over the course of nine days this fleet, supported by British planes overhead, was able to rescue most of the troops.