Operation Aerial was the evacuation of Allied military forces and civilians from ports in western France. The operation took place from 15 to 25 June 1940 during the Second World War. The embarkation followed the Allied military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germany. Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk and Operation Cycle from Le Havre, had finished on 13 June. British and Allied ships were covered from French bases by five Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter squadrons and assisted by aircraft based in England to lift British, Polish and Czech troops, civilians and equipment from Atlantic ports, particularly from St Nazaire and Nantes.
Satellite photograph of the western English Channel between south-west England and north-west France
British motor unit on the quay at Cherbourg awaiting evacuation to England, June 1940.
RAF personnel being evacuated from Brest
Lancastria sinking off St Nazaire (HU3325)
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France.
British troops lined up on the beach awaiting evacuation
Lord Gort (gesturing, at centre) was commander of the British Expeditionary Force.
Soldiers were strafed and bombed by German aircraft while awaiting transport.
Troops evacuated from Dunkirk arrive at Dover, 31 May 1940