The Defense of Dunkirk: Canada’s First Stand in the Second World War
In the spring of 1940, as Europe descended into the chaos of the Second World War, the sands of Dunkirk, France, bore witness to an extraordinary chapter in Canada’s military history. The Defense of Dunkirk was one of the earliest confrontations for Canadian forces in the war, an encounter where young soldiers, scarcely prepared for the brutality that lay ahead, found themselves facing the full weight of the German onslaught. The days that unfolded there in May 1940 would be marked by desperation and courage, as the Canadians stood shoulder to shoulder with British and French troops in a valiant bid to hold the perimeter while hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers embarked on a perilous escape.
The Situation at Dunkirk: A Nation in Peril
By late May 1940, the German Army’s Blitzkrieg tactics had left the Allied forces reeling. France’s defenses had collapsed with shocking speed, and the Germans had pushed British and French troops to the northern coast. Historian Anthony Beevor described this retreat as “one of the most devastating and rapid collapses in modern military history,” a rout that left the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) trapped against the English Channel (Dunkirk: The Battle for France). For the Canadians, who had just begun their service in Europe, the Dunkirk defense was both an unexpected ordeal and a baptism by fire.
The Canadian contingent at Dunkirk was small but resolute. While Canada had not yet committed large numbers of troops to the European theater, the Royal Regiment of Canada and the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment were among those assisting in defensive positions around the Dunkirk perimeter. The mission was simple but daunting: hold the line at all costs, buy time for the trapped BEF, and give as many men as possible a chance to escape the tightening German noose.
The Defense Begins: Setting the Perimeter
As German forces tightened their encirclement, the Allies hastily organized a defensive perimeter around Dunkirk, a fragile bulwark against an advancing enemy. The task was to create a ring of resistance to slow the German advance long enough to evacuate the hundreds of thousands of soldiers crowded along the beaches and in the town itself. Historian Hugh Sebag-Montefiore noted, “Every minute that the defenders could hold on the perimeter was a minute more for another soldier to get aboard a ship bound for England” (Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man). Canadian forces, though relatively few, took up positions with determination, digging trenches, reinforcing defensive points, and preparing for a relentless onslaught.
The Canadians’ positions, stretched thin along the perimeter, were vulnerable to German artillery and bombing runs from the Luftwaffe. Overhead, German aircraft dominated the skies, diving and strafing with a brutality that was still new and terrifying to the Allied forces on the ground. But the Canadians held firm, standing their ground despite the rain of bombs and the constant artillery barrages. Private William Lawson of the Royal Regiment of Canada later recalled, “We had no choice but to stand there and take it. Every time a bomb exploded, you knew it could be your last moment, but still, we held on. There was no other way” (quoted in Granatstein, Canada’s Army).
Holding the Line Under Fire
The perimeter defense was a series of desperate actions fought from hastily dug trenches, barricades, and fortified buildings along the Dunkirk outskirts. As German infantry units pressed forward, probing the Allied defenses, Canadian soldiers met them with determined resistance. The Royal Regiment of Canada, bolstered by soldiers of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, mounted a series of counterattacks, using every available weapon to push back the advancing enemy. Canadian forces had limited anti-tank and artillery support, relying heavily on small arms and improvised defenses to hold their positions.
In one notable skirmish, Canadian troops repelled a German assault in the vicinity of Ghyvelde, a village near Dunkirk. Here, the Canadians took advantage of the natural cover provided by the landscape, using hedgerows, farm buildings, and trenchworks to hold back the Germans. Historian Jack Granatstein recounts, “The men of the Royal Regiment fought with a grim tenacity, every skirmish becoming a fight for survival as they held the line at Dunkirk” (The Canadian Military Experience).
German pressure on the perimeter increased with each passing hour. Luftwaffe dive-bombers strafed Canadian positions, artillery shells tore through trenches, and German infantry moved methodically, trying to break Allied defenses. The Canadians, though outmatched in firepower, displayed remarkable discipline and resilience. Brigadier E.L.M. Burns later observed, “They were raw soldiers, but they fought like veterans that day. Dunkirk showed that Canada could fight, and fight well, under the most extreme conditions” (Burns, Between Two Wars).
A Desperate Stand Amidst the Chaos of Evacuation
As the evacuation operation, code-named Operation Dynamo, began on May 26, the situation grew more desperate. The sight of soldiers filing onto ships was both a relief and a reminder of the peril faced by those still holding the line. Canadian troops watched as waves of their British and French comrades disappeared over the horizon, each vessel a symbol of hope, but they knew they would remain until the very end. Historian Tim Cook notes that “Dunkirk was not just about evacuation; it was about those who stayed behind, willing to die so others could live” (The Necessary War).
At night, the Canadians endured further air raids and artillery bombardments, while by day they held off German advances at close quarters. Every counterattack, every hour of resistance, slowed the German advance. In the words of Major J.C. Mitchell of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, “We knew we weren’t going to be the ones going home on those boats. But we also knew what it meant for us to hold on, to keep fighting” (Mitchell, Reminiscences of Dunkirk).
The Final Hours: Leaving Dunkirk’s Shores
By June 3, with most of the BEF and many French soldiers safely evacuated, the Canadian units defending Dunkirk were ordered to withdraw. Their mission—to hold the line as long as possible—had succeeded, allowing 338,000 Allied soldiers to escape capture. The Canadians, who had fought and endured in the mud and ruins of Dunkirk, were among the last to leave. As they boarded the final vessels to England, their relief was tinged with exhaustion and grief for those who had not survived.
The Canadian defense at Dunkirk was one of sacrifice, tenacity, and selfless commitment to a greater cause. While they were few in number, the Canadians’ role in holding the line had contributed to one of the war’s most remarkable evacuations, a retreat that would prove essential to the Allied cause. Historian C.P. Stacey observed, “In the annals of Canadian military history, Dunkirk stands as a testament to the resilience of our soldiers. Their actions bought time, and with it, hope” (Six Years of War).
Legacy of the Dunkirk Defense
The Dunkirk defense, though only a beginning, symbolized Canada’s commitment to the Allied effort. For the soldiers who returned to England, Dunkirk was both a harrowing memory and a hard-earned badge of honor. They had stood their ground against a formidable foe, displaying the courage and resolve that would define Canadian contributions throughout the war.
Granatstein eloquently summarized the legacy of Dunkirk: “Canada’s soldiers arrived at Dunkirk as fresh recruits, but they left as veterans. Dunkirk had transformed them, forged their spirit, and set a standard of service that would guide Canada through the dark days that lay ahead” (The Canadian Military Experience). The Defense of Dunkirk remains a proud, if somber, moment in Canada’s history, an early stand in a war that would demand much and give little. But as those soldiers stood against impossible odds on that windswept coast, they knew that their sacrifice had mattered, that they had been part of something greater than themselves.
References
- Beevor, Anthony. Dunkirk: The Battle for France. Penguin, 2017.
- Burns, E.L.M. Between Two Wars. Clarke, Irwin, 1962.
- Cook, Tim. The Necessary War: Canadians Fighting the Second World War, 1939–1945. Penguin Canada, 2014.
- Granatstein, J.L. The Canadian Military Experience: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. HarperCollins Canada, 1998.
- Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh. Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man. Harvard University Press, 2006.
- Stacey, C.P. Six Years of War: The Army in Canada, Britain, and the Pacific. Queen’s Printer, 1955.