Timeline Tuesday 4 June 1940

Events on Tuesday 4 June 1940 2

• 1940 Dunkirk evacuation Operation Dynamo rescues 338,000 Allied troops Between 26 May and 4 June more than 338,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk. Naval ships were joined by hundreds of civilian craft, the "little ships". The operation saved the core of the British Army, though almost all of its heavy equipment was left behind.
• 1940 We Shall Fight on the Beaches speech Churchill vows Britain will never surrender On 4 June Churchill reported the Dunkirk evacuation to the House of Commons and warned that "wars are not won by evacuations". He declared that Britain would fight on the beaches, the landing grounds and in the streets. It is one of the best-known speeches in the English language.