DUNKIRK AND THE FALL OF FRANCE, 1940

The war was already eight months old whenthe Germans finally launched the westernoffensive that would see Holland, Belgium andFrance subdued in little more than six weeks,and the last of the British Expeditionary Forcedramatically evacuated from the beaches ofDunkirk only hours ahead of the Germanadvance.

The French and British had used the months of'phoney war' to prepare for the assault that wassure to come. Defences stretched from theMaginot Line to the sea and most of the tendivision British Expeditionary Force (BEF)under the command of General Lord Gort hadbeen on the Franco-Belgian border sinceOctober 1939. The Dutch and Belgians,though retaining their neutrality, had alsomobilised their armies and were prepared. Butthe Allied defensive plans, which looked backto the last German invasion in 1914 and reliedheavily on assumptions about pace andmovement, would prove woefully inadequatein the face of the new German Blitzkrieg, or'lightning war' tactics, making innovative useof tanks and mechanised and airborne troops.

The blow finally fell on 10 May 1940, the dayWinston Churchill became Prime Minister inBritain, when the Germans launched a seriesof daring and ingenious attacks on targets inHolland and Belgium. The French and Britisharmies were drawn forward from the border tomeet them, but it was further south, where thedefences were at their weakest, that thebreakthrough would come. In the first tankbattle of the war, German armoured panzerdivisions surged through the Ardennes to breakthrough the French line between Dinant andSedan on 13 May, splitting the Allied armies intwo. In the following days, events escalatedwith alarming and devastating speed.Dismayed by the momentum of the Germanthrust for the coast, the Allies missed crucialopportunities to counter-attack and close thebreach in their line. Lines of communicationwere in disarray and the rear areas were inchaos, choked with fleeing refugees.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

InformationSheet

The engraved Dunkirk Memorial window, designed by John Hutton, depicts the deliverance of the British Expeditionary Force

The dead from the campaign are buried in hundreds ofcemeteries and churchyards across northern France andBelgium. Unlike later campaigns, the nature of thefighting left few associated ‘war’ cemeteries of any size.Thousands of burials were made in communal cemeteriesand churchyards and, as the front swept across much of theground fought over during the First World War, manygraves were added to the existing cemeteries from thatconflict. A representative selection of these burial sites, toonumerous to mention here individually, is given in thesepages. Further graves were added to many of them in 1944when Commonwealth forces passed across the area again.

Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium (3km south of Leuven)The BEF was involved in a few isolated incidents duringthe earliest days of the German offensive, but it was theRoyal Air Force which suffered the first significant losseson 12 May 1940 when undertaking operations in support ofthe heavily pressed Belgian land forces. Pilot OfficerDonald Garland and Sergeant Thomas Gray won the firstof four Victoria Crosses awarded during the campaignwhile leading an attempt to destroy a bridge across theAlbert Canal. They lie with their comrades in HeverleeWar Cemetery.

Bruyelle (6km south of Tournai) and Esquelmes (10 kmnorth of Tournai) War Cemeteries, BelgiumThe Germans attempted to cross the river Scheldt nearEsquelmes on the morning of 21 May, but were repulsedafter heavy fighting. They eventually crossed on 23 May,

when the BEF withdrew. Some of those who died areburied in these cemeteries, both of which were enlargedwhen burials were brought in from the surrounding arealater that year by the Belgian authorities.

Ypres Town Cemetery Extension, Belgium (1km east oftown centre)Ypres (now Ieper), which became a symbol for Alliedresistance during the First World War, saw heavy fightingbefore it fell to the Germans on 29 May 1940. Threecivilian hospitals in the town, Hôpital de Notre Dame, theClinique des Soeurs Noires and the Red Cross Hospital inSt. Aloisius School, D'Hondstraat, cared for the wounded,and those who died were buried in the Town CemeteryExtension. Others buried on the battlefield were laterbrought in by the Ypres town services. Many of the

numerous First World War cemeteries around Ypres wereused at this time; Bedford House Cemetery, EnclosureNo 6 (2.5km south of Ieper) and Bus House Cemetery(4km south of Ieper) contain burials relating to the defenceof the Ypres-Comines canal and railway. The canal lies onhigh ground on the west side of Bedford House Cemetery.

The Dutch, overwhelmed in the north, had surrendered on15 May, and the French and British, now joined by theBelgians, were falling back to new defensive positions.When the Germans reached the Channel coast at the mouthof the Somme on 20 May, this northern Allied force wasleft cut off and in danger of encirclement.

The Germans were themselves surprised at the speed oftheir advance and were beginning to sense the dangers ofover extension when General Gort launched an unexpectedcounter-attack on the German flank near Arras on 21 May.Though not successful, the attack made the Germanscautious and influenced their decision to halt the advanceof their panzers between 24 and 27 May. This was toprove of crucial importance in the evacuation to come.

On 25 May, with the ring closing around the Allied forcein the north and with the Belgian army to the north-eastclose to collapse, General Gort decided that the time hadcome to withdraw the BEF to the Channel ports to be takenoff by sea. The garrisons at Boulogne and Calais, thoughresisting grimly, would soon be overwhelmed and so,fighting desperate rearguard actions, the main body of theBEF fell back on Dunkirk.

On the other side of the English Channel preparations forthe evacuation, known as Operation Dynamo, were in thehands of Vice-Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Flag OfficerCommanding Dover. It began on the evening of 26 May,but it soon became clear that the few destroyers and other

naval vessels at his disposal would not be enough to clearthe thousands of British and French soldiers alreadywaiting on the beaches and harbour at Dunkirk, and thethousands more still making their way there. In thefollowing days these vessels were joined by a huge,makeshift fleet of trawlers, passenger ferries, pleasuresteamers, yachts and countless other privately owned craft- the 'little ships'- which plied back and forth across theChannel. By the early hours of 3 June 338,226 men, morethan 140,000 of them French and Allied, were got away.By 4 June Dunkirk was in German hands. About 200

vessels had been sunk and RAF Fighter Command, whichsupported the operation, had lost more than 100 aircraft.

To the south of the German 'wedge' the three Britishdivisions remaining in France fought on, but soon they toowere forced to fall back for evacuation from points everfurther west and south as the relentless German advancetook out port after port: St Valery, Le Havre, Cherbourg,Brest, St Nazaire, Nantes. On 25 June, the day hostilitiesin France ended, the last British troops sailed fromBayonne and St Jean de Luz, to the south of the FrenchAtlantic seaboard.

All of the BEF's tanks, large guns, vehicles and equipmentwere left behind in France, but in all 368,491 Britishtroops were successfully evacuated. Losses were morethan 68,000 killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

The Dead

The Dunkirk Memorial, France (south-east part ofDunkirk, south of the canal, on the road to Veurne)With thousands of men separated from their units in theconfusion of the fighting and the withdrawal, it laterproved impossible to establish exactly where, or indeedwhen, many died. Others, buried hastily where they fell,did not find their final resting places until long after thefighting was over and by then few could be identified.

More than 4,500 soldiers of the British ExpeditionaryForce (including the Royal Indian Army Service Corps)who died in the campaign and have no known grave arecommemorated by name on the Dunkirk Memorial whichstands behind the Second World War Commonwealth wargraves section of Dunkirk Town Cemetery (see below).Their names are engraved on a series of rectangularcolumns on either side of a broad avenue which leads to ashrine, at the back of which is a window of engraved glassshowing scenes from the evacuation. The sailors and airmenwho died in the campaign are commemorated elsewhere. Bruyelle War Cemetery, Belgium

Esquelmes War Cemetery, Belgium

Ypres Town Cemetery Extension, Belgium

Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium

The Dunkirk Memorial, France

the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, killed on27 May by the German SS unit to whom they were obligedto surrender following a prolonged and stubbornresistance. The local people were ordered to bury the deadwhere they lay, but in 1942 the bodies were moved to thepart of Le Paradis Churchyard which now forms the warcemetery.

The day after the Le Paradis incident, some 80 men of the2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment, the Cheshire Regimentand the Royal Artillery suffered a similar fate atEsquelbecq, near the town of Wormhoudt. Many of theirgraves are to be found in Wormhoudt CommunalCemetery and at Esquelbecq Military Cemetery (both20km south of Dunkirk).

Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery (36km south ofDunkirk) and Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery,Morbecq, France (3km south-west of Hazebrouck)Both of these First World War cemeteries were used tobury some of those killed in late May 1940 during thefighting which covered the withdrawal to the Dunkirk-Nieuport perimeter.

Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, France(northern outskirts of Boulogne)Wimille was devastated when the garrison at Boulognesucceeded in holding back the Germans between 22-25

May, giving vital cover for the withdrawal to Dunkirk.Some of those who died were buried in this substantialFirst World War cemetery which suffered considerabledamage both from the shelling in 1940 and later under theGerman occupation.

Violaines Communal Cemetery, France (4km north-westof La Bassée)The Aire-Le Bassée Canal was stubbornly defendedtowards the end of May in an attempt to hold the Germanadvance as the BEF withdrew north. At Violaines, wherethe canal passes about 2km from the village, the dead wereburied where they fell on the canal banks and in thesurrounding fields. It was not until 1942 that the occupyingforces permitted the local people to transfer the graves tothe communal cemetery. Some of the others who died in

defence of the canal are buried at Mont-BernanchonChurchyard (6km north-west of Bethune) and in thecommunal cemeteries at Hinges (5km north-west ofBethune), Essars (4km east of Bethune) and Givenchy-les-la-Bassée (6km of east Bethune).

St Venant Communal Cemetery (between Hazebrouckand Bethune, 15km north-west of Bethune) and MervilleCommunal Cemetery Extension, France (15km north ofBethune)By the end of May 1940 St Venant and Merville were at thesouthern end of a deep but narrow area occupied by theBEF and saw desperate fighting when delaying actionscovered the withdrawal to the coast. British troops werestill fighting at St Venant after the evacuation, and 90 ormore were buried in a mass grave in a nearby field. Thesegraves were later moved into Plots 3 and 4 of thecommunal cemetery with the remainder of the May 1940

burials. The casualties at Calonne-sur-la-Lys CommunalCemetery (11km north of Bethune) were buried by theGermans, and came mainly from the village school, whichwas used as an aid post. Originally, the graves were in thefield behind the school, but in 1942 the local people movedthem into the communal cemetery.

Le Paradis War Cemetery, France (10km north ofBethune)The withdrawal to Dunkirk saw much fierce rearguardfighting and some brutality. Le Paradis War Cemeterycontains the graves of many of the 97 officers and men of

Mont-Bernanchon Churchyard, France

Merville Communal Cemetery Extension, France

Hinges Communal Cemetery, France

Le Paradis War Cemetery, France

Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, France

Terlincthun British Cemetery, France

Wormhoudt Communal Cemetery, France

Esquelbecq Military Cemetery, France

Pornic War Cemetery (51 km west of Nantes)The evacuation from ports west of Dunkirk continued well

into June 1940. Casualties from the final evacuation were

comparatively light but the troopship SS Lancastria was

sunk by aerial bombardment off St Nazaire on 17 June, in

what was the single greatest maritime loss of life in the

whole war. The ship was crammed with between 6,000

and 9,000 servicemen and refugees - it has not been

possible to establish the exact number - and only 2,500

were saved. The bodies of many of those who died were

washed ashore along the western coast of France and are

buried there in numerous communal cemeteries and

churchyards. Most of the burials in Pornic War Cemetery

are from the Lancastria. Other victims of the disaster are

buried at Escoublac-la-Baule War Cemetery (13km westof St Nazaire).

On 4 June 1940 the 51st (Highland) Division, with some

tanks, artillery and infantry of the French Tenth Army,

carried out an attack on Abbeville, strongly held by the

Germans. The attack failed and the 51st Division suffered

heavy casualties. The next day the Germans launched a

powerful offensive against the whole Somme front from St

Quentin to the sea.

The 51st Division, by this time exhausted after twelve days

of continual movement and battle, and without

reinforcements, was forced back 24 km to the line of the

River Bresle, again with considerable losses. Some of

those who died in these actions are buried in Mareuil-Caubert Communal Cemetery (6km south of Abbeville)and Incheville Communal Cemetery (26km south-west ofAbbeville).

The Division made its last stand fighting alongside the 2nd

French Cavalry Division at St Valery and was practically

wiped out, most of its members being taken prisoner. Many

of those who died are buried at St Valery-en-Caux FrancoBritish Cemetery (32km west of Dieppe) and Veules-les-Roses Communal Cemetery (24km west of Dieppe).

Les Moeres Communal Cemetery, France (13km east ofDunkirk)Les Moeres was the northern point of a line held by British

units on 31 May 1940 and saw heavy fighting during the

latter stages of the withdrawal to Dunkirk. The communal

cemetery was used for the burial of those killed in the

defence of the village.

De Panne Communal Cemetery, Belgium (18km east ofDunkirk)De Panne was the site of the final General Headquarters of

the BEF in 1940 and there was a casualty clearing station

on the beach, which was an embarkation beach for the

evacuation from 27 May to 1 June. The first German

troops reached the village between 14.00 and 15.00 hrs on

31 May and, after heavy fighting, the commune was

completely occupied by about 09.00 hrs on 1 June.

The beaches east of Dunkirk were used for embarkation

and many men were killed in raids by German aircraft as

they waited to be taken off. After the war, more than 150

graves were moved from the beaches at Bray Dunes to

Marquise Communal Cemetery (between Boulogne andCalais). Malo-les-Bains Communal Cemetery (3km eastof Dunkirk) contains almost 100 more. More than 500

servicemen (200 of them unidentified) who died in May

and June 1940 are buried in Dunkirk Town Cemetery, in

Plots 1 and 2, next to the Dunkirk Memorial. Many of the

graves contain multiple burials and were made by the

people of Dunkirk after the town had been occupied

by the Germans.

Incheville Communal Cemetery, FranceLes Moeres Communal Cemetery, France

Dunkirk Town Cemetery, France

After the Evacuation from Dunkirk - Cemeteries South of the Somme

Directions to the Featured Cemeteries and Memorials

Heverlee War Cemetery Leave Leuven on the

Naamsesteenweg (N251), signposted Namen, Waver and

Heverlee. Take the first left after crossing the railway line

at Heverlee into the Hertogstraat. At the end, turn right at

the Sport Hall onto the Kerpelstraat and carry on until you

come to a crossroads where you will find the cemetery.

Bruyelle War Cemetery is located to the south of the

village at the junction of the N507 and the N52.

Esquelmes War Cemetery Approaching Esquelmes from

Tournai on the N50, turn right onto the rue du Village. Take

the first left onto the chemin Garenne. The cemetery is

about 200m along this road.

Ypres Town Cemetery Extension Leave Ieper on the

N332 heading east. At the junction with the N345, turn

right. The cemetery is 300m along this road on the right

hand side.

Bedford House Cemetery Leave Ieper via the Lille Gate

(Rijselpoort) on the N336 towards Armentières. The

cemetery is 2km beyond the junction with the Ieper ring

road (N37B) on the left hand side of the road.

Bus House Cemetery Leave Ieper via the Lille Gate

(Rijselpoort) on the N336 towards Armentières. After

approximately 4km turn right at the roundabout into the

Sint-Elooisweg towards Voormezele. The cemetery lies

500m along this road on the left hand side.

Violaines Communal Cemetery Extension is 400m

south-west of the church on the left hand side of the D167E

(Rue de l'Eglise). The Commonwealth graves will be found

in the near right hand corner.

Mont-Bernanchon Churchyard is in the middle of the

village and the Commonwealth plot is in the north-east corner.

Hinges Communal Cemetery From the church head

south-west on the Rue de Bethune. Hinges Military

Cemetery (First World War) is 400m from the church on

the left hand side and the communal burials are behind it.

Essars Communal Cemetery is 500m east of the church

on the left hand side of the main road. The Commonwealth

graves will be found to the right of the entrance.

Givenchy-les-la-Bassée Communal Cemetery From the

church in the centre of the village head north. After 300m

turn right in front of the 55th West Lancashire Division

Memorial. The cemetery is a further 100m along this road

on the right. The Commonwealth graves will be found to

the left of the entrance.

St Venant Communal Cemetery Leave the church and

head east crossing the main road at the base of the bridge

over the river. The car park for the communal cemetery is

about 500m along this road on the left hand side.

Merville Communal Cemetery Extension is on the

north-east side of the town to the north side of the road to

Neuf-Berquin. The extension is now surrounded by the

communal cemetery.

Calonne-sur-la-Lys Communal Cemetery surrounds the

church which is in the middle of the village. The

Commonwealth graves are in four plots.

Le Paradis War Cemetery is an extension of the Le

Paradis Churchyard, Lestrem, which is found behind the

village church.

Wormhoudt Communal Cemetery is about 800m north

of the church and 50m east of the main road; the turning for

the cemetery opposite the Gendarmerie is narrow and not

easily seen. The Commonwealth graves are on the right

hand side at the far end of the cemetery.

Esquelbecq Military Cemetery is about 1km west of thevillage, 200m south of the road to Zegerscappel.

Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery From the GrandPlace in Hazebrouck take the D916 Bethune road. Crossthe first set of traffic lights and the communal cemeterywill be found 200m further along on the right hand side ofthe road, as indicated by a signpost. The Commonwealthgraves lie immediately inside the entrance to the cemetery.

Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery From the churchin Morebecque head north on the D916 towardsHazebrouck. After approximately 1km there is a plantnursery on the left hand side. Take the small road whichgoes through the nursery and the cemetery will be found onthe right hand side, in farm land.

Terlincthun British Cemetery From junction 3 of the theA16 between Calais and Boulogne, follow the D96E forWimereux Sud. The cemetery is about 1km along this roadon the left hand side. The entrance to the cemetery is in StMartin's Road, the road on the left immediately after thecemetery.

Les Moeres Communal Cemetery is about 150m north ofthe church and the Commonwealth graves are near theeastern boundary.

De Panne Communal Cemetery The N35 Pannestraatjoins De Panne to Veurne. From this road, take the N34towards Adinkerke. The communal cemetery will appearon the left after about 2km, just after a distinct bend in theroad.

Marquise Communal Cemetery From the church takethe road towards Desvres/Rinxent. At the T-Junction turn

right onto the D191 and then immediately left onto the ruedu Cimitiere. The car park is 200m on the right hand side.The Commonwealth plot is to the right of the entrance.

Malo-les-Bains Communal Cemetery is 275m east of theTown Hall approached via Rue General Hoche and RuePasteur. The Second World War graves are in the north-eastern corner and some graves from the First World Warwill be found in the south-western part.

Mareuil-Caubert Communal Cemetery is situated in theold commune of Mareuil on the D503 road to Limeux

Incheville Communal Cemetery is situated on a minorroad to the west of the village. The Commonwealth graveswill be found to the rear, on the left side in a hedgeenclosed plot.

St Valery-en-Caux Franco-British Cemetery lies on thesouth eastern outskirts of the town adjoining the civilcemetery about 200m from the church. Follow St. Valerytown centre, and the first CWGC sign is on the right of themain road.

Veules-les-Roses Communal Cemetery is on the westside of the village. The Commonwealth graves will befound in a small corner plot at the top end of the cemetery.

Pornic War Cemetery is on the north-eastern outskirts ofthe town 1km east of the church on the south side of theroad to Chauve.

Escoublac-la-Baule War Cemetery is south-east ofEscoublac and east of La Baule behind the small airport.The cemetery is well signposted.

Published by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 7DX, England. Tel: 01628 507200 Fax: 01628 771208 Web site: www.cwgc.org E-mail: For Casualty & Cemetery Enquiries: casualty.enq@cwgc.org ISA22 12/02