Dunkerque Dunes De Flandre

Battle of Dunkirk Operation Dynamo May 1940: The North of France is swept up in the frightening upheaval of war. The German army’s lightning advance towards the English Channel has entrapped the French and British troops like fish in a net. Their only chance of salvation now lies in the sea: all eyes are on Dunkirk. Envisioned on 19 May and carried out from 26 May to 4 June, Operation Dynamo led to the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and thousands of northern French soldiers. It was the largest evacuation effort in military history, and an unimaginable success at the heart of a humiliating defeat, a “miracle” that allowed 338,226 allied soldiers (including 123,095 French and 16,816 Belgian soldiers) to escape the hell of Dunkirk and reach Great Britain, the nation that had become the spearhead of the fight against the Nazis. Each stage of this “path of remembrance” that we invite you to follow pays homage to all of the Allied forces who embodied the “Dunkirk spirit,” an immense hope of resistance and liberation. 2 www.dunkirk-tourism.com www.dunkirk-tourism.com 3 Stage 1 Stage 3 Starting point – Dunkirk, Place Jean Bart The Princess Elizabeth Bassin de la Marine – Dunkirk, city centre The massive bombing of Dunkirk began on 18 May, and intensified from 24 May to 3 June 1940. Built in 1926-1927 and baptized according to The city itself was of no strategic importance since Royal Navy tradition in honour of the birth of King the Allied troops were stationed in the harbour and George V’s granddaughter, the future Queen of on the beaches, yet that didn’t stop the German England, the Princess Elizabeth is a paddlewheel air force from methodically applying its strategy steamboat that was first used as a pleasure, of terror. Entire streets were wiped of the city map, excursion, and cruise ship offering passage falling victim to the successive waves of bomber between Southampton and Cowes (Isle of Wight). planes and rapidly spreading flames. But the statue When the Second World War broke out, it was of pirate Jean Bart, the symbol of the city, remained transformed into a minesweeper, before serving standing, miraculously spared by the bombs. On during Operation Dynamo. It made four voyages Stage 4 4 June 1940, Dunkirk was an apocalyptic sight: to France, evacuating 1,673 soldiers, 500 of whom the majority of the city had been completely were French. It then served as an anti-aircraft vessel The British Memorial decimated. The German Occupation and Siege of for the duration of the war. When the war ended, Cemetery, route de Steendam - Dunkirk 1944-45 only made things worse. In all, more than the Princess Elizabeth returned to its original function “Here, beside the graves of their comrades, 80% of the city would have to be rebuilt. and sailed until 1965, when in was transformed are commemorated the soldiers of the British into a floating casino, then a restaurant and pub Expeditionary Force who fell in the campaign in London, where it was docked along the Thames. of 1939-1940 and have no known grave.” It was purchased by the Chambre syndicale This is the inscription found, in both English typographique de Paris (Parisian Typographical and French, on the two columns surmounted Stage 2 Association) in 1987; docked on the Seine at Quai by stone urns at the entrance of the Dunkirk Eglise Saint-Eloi and the cenotaph de Javel, it became an exhibition and conference Memorial. Inaugurated in 1957 by Queen 2 Rue Clemenceau – Dunkirk, city centre centre. In 1999, the Princess Elizabeth arrived in Mother Elizabeth, this site of remembrance Dunkirk, where it serves as a venue for city events Marne, Yser, Flanders, Artois, Somme, the Aisne, was erected by the British government as an and festivities. Much more than a simple landmark, Champagne… the monument lists all the important expression, on French soil, of the nation’s battles at which thousands of soldiers fell during the Princess Elizabeth has earned its place among gratitude to the soldiers lost in the turmoil of the the Great War, historically considered to be the Dunkirk’s sites of remembrance. events of 1940. Lining each side of the central first demographic catastrophe of the 20th century. avenue are columns bearing the names of the In 1923, Dunkirk chose to honour the memory of 4,528 British Army soldiers and 6 Indian Army its 1,212 sons who gave their lives to France by soldiers, representing 110 different units, who placing a memorial at the very heart of the city. rest in unmarked graves. The memory of these Embedded in the wall of the Tower, an old steeple- lost soldiers is thus engraved in Portland stone turned-belfry and a symbol of local liberty, the for all eternity. Designed by Philip Hepworth, cenotaph stands opposite Saint Eligius Church, this memorial, which perpetuates the glorious nicknamed the “Cathedral of the Sands,” which and painful epic of a fighting retreat, possesses contains the tomb of the pirate Jean Bart and still a monumental chapel with glass windows bears the scars of the bombings the city suffered engraved by John Hutton. This mausoleum during the Second World War. The monument’s juxtaposes a cemetery of 810 graves of soldiers main sculpture depicts the body of a soldier from both World Wars, the majority of whom resting on a sarcophagus beneath a barrel vault. fell defending the perimeter of Dunkirk or during In the tympanum of the arch above, two statues the evacuation operations in May-June 1940. symbolizing Justice and Liberty flank the altar of the homeland. This work by Parisian sculptor Pierre Fritel is inscribed in the city landscape as a reminder of how much Dunkirk suffered during the bloody conflicts of the 20th century. 4 www.dunkirk-tourism.com www.dunkirk-tourism.com 5 Mer du Nord De Westhoek Noordzee Dunes du Perroquet 9 Bray-Dunes Dunes Zuydcoote Marchand Dunkerque Leffrinckoucke Dunes Dune Fossile Dewulf D60 de Ghyvelde Malo les Bains 7 8 Ghyvelde Meulhoeck D601 5 Saint-Pol- A16 E40 sur-Mer t o o sl g D947 in R Uxem e Téteghem L Coudekerque- D79 Branche Les Moëres 6 Canal Quartier du des Moëres Grand Large Kromen-Houcke 21 D2 Cappelle- D4 la-Grande Coudekerque l de la B Cana asse Colme D3 Bois des Armbouts-Cappel N225 Forts E42 D3 Hoymille la Haute Colme Warhem D3 Canal de Petit-Millebrugghe Grand- Bergues D110 Millebrugghe Bierne D916A 3 D110 Killem Steene D52 D55 2 1 Place Jean Bart Socx Rexpoëde 1 2 Eglise Saint-Eloi, Cenotaph Quaëdypre D4 Crochte D928 Pitgam 3 Princess Elisabeth D110 West-Cappel D79 A25 4 British Memorial E42 Malo-les-Bains beach D52 Bissezeele D916 5 East Mole of Dunkirk harbour Bambecque Eringhem 6 Memorial du Souvenir D37 l’Yser 7 Leffrinckoucke Blockhouses 22 D55 Esquelbecq 8 Fort des Dunes 10 Wormhout Herzeele Zegerscappel Bray-Dunes - Zuydcoote 9D17 D928 10 Esquelbecq, la Plaine au Bois 4 Cartographie: © Cartographics.nl Stage 6 Stage 8 The Memorial du Souvenir The Fort des Dunes Battle of Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo Museum Chemin du Petit Fort - Leffrinckoucke Rue des chantiers de France - Dunkirk Built from 1878 to 1880 in the town of Leffrinckoucke, www.dynamo-dunkerque.com the Fort des Dunes is the northernmost structure Little remains of Bastion 32, which served as Admiral of the fortifications designed by General Séré de Abrial’s headquarters during the tragic events of Rivières after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) 1940, only the curtain walls that are now home to to protect France’s northern border. This defensive the Mémorial du Souvenir, a volunteer association structure played a crucial role in protecting Dunkirk whose mission is to perpetuate the memory of the and its harbour from land attacks. Nestled alone evacuation of the Allied forces. A large collection of among the dunes, it is composed of three distinct objects, military items, documents, and film footage retraces the frightening upheaval that shook Dunkirk areas: the infantry barracks, the artillery battery, and the north of France during this period. Visitors and the imminent defence system below. This fort’s Stage 5 learn about the German army’s lightning advance strategic importance, especially during the Second towards the English Channel which, in May 1940, World War, makes it a site of remembrance of Malo-les-Bains beach, the East Mole of entrapped the French and British troops like fish contemporary conflicts. Indeed, in the first few Dunkirk harbour, and the Allied Memorial in a net. The sea represented their only chance of days of June 1940, the fort, which had become the Digue des alliés - Digue de mer, Dunkirk- salvation, so all eyes turned to Dunkirk. Envisioned headquarters of the French 12th Motorized Infantry Malo-les-Bains on 19 May and carried out from 26 May to 4 Division, fell under heavy attack by German planes The Malo-les-Bains seawall promenade is one of the June, Operation Dynamo led to the evacuation of and became the scene of tragic events. On 2 June, the British Expeditionary Force and thousands of essential Operation Dynamo sites. Indeed, on the General Louis Janssen was killed by a German northern French soldiers. evening of 27 May 1940, the decision was made to bomb after having announced the evacuation plan divert the evacuation fleet to the beaches between Stage 7 to his troops. During the Occupation, the fort was La Panne (Belgium) and Dunkirk, due to the violence integrated into the Atlantic Wall system under the of the air raids on the harbour.

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