On May 24, Hitler, true to his original invasion plans but against the counsel of his officer corps, ordered his forces to turn toward Paris. Had the German armored formations followed the retreating Allied forces, they would have obliterated them by narrowing the pockets of territory that they continued to hold. The greatest concentration of Allied troopsΓÇö380,000 soldiers in allΓÇöwas trapped by German forces at Dunkirk, in an area of 60 square miles.
Hitler waited two days before ordering his forces to attack the troops at Dunkirk. By then, however, it was too late to attain a sweeping victory. The evacuation of the trapped forces at Dunkirk began on May 26 in one of the most dramatic retreats in military history, as 861 ships and boats were mobilized and began to remove the trapped forces. Within a week, 224,585 British soldiers and 112,546 French and Belgian fighters were taken to safe shores; 40,000 French soldiers were left behind. 231 vessels were sunk, most by the Luftwaffe. The British left behind 11,000 machine guns, 1,200 cannons, 1,250 anti-aircraft and anti-tank pieces, and 75,000 motor vehicles.
At BritainΓÇÖs most difficult hour, Churchill addressed the House of Commons and proclaimed: "We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing ground, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender."
