10 Facts You Did Not Know About Dunkirk
10 Facts You Did Not Know About Dunkirk
The BEF Were a Mix of Regulars and Territorials
- Most of those who were in the Army in WW2 were conscripts, but the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in 1939/40 was unusual in that it was largely a volunteer army. Regular soldiers were predominantly volunteers, and some had served for many years. A large proportion of the BEF were Territorial Army (TA) units, and these were all volunteers, often referred to as "Saturday Night Soldiers" as their role in the armed forces during peacetime was part-time. The size of the BEF in 1940 was estimated at over 300,000 men.
The Dunkirk Perimeter Was Massive and Covered Two Countries
- As the Allies pulled back across Northern France, a decision was made to defend the Dunkirk area to allow men to be evacuated. The defensive perimeter set up, largely along the lines of canals and waterways, which offered a natural barrier, extended more than 10 miles inland from the beaches and across 25 miles from Dunkirk.
