Remembering World War 2 in Chesterfield

The city of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) in the north east France was the location of the now infamous Operation Dynamo; the Dunkirk Evacuation.   In May 1940 the German armies were tearing their way through Allied countries; the Netherlands and Belgium were forced to surrender and France was swiftly being overrun.   For the British army and their Allies all options of retaliation were beginning to look less promising as the German army moved at pace through the country of France.   The German advance resulted in hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops becoming trapped close to the city of Dunkirk, just 10 Kilometres from enemy occupied Belgium.   Winston Churchill was all too aware that the situation may well result in a devastating defeat and in consequence lead to the British Isles becoming the next target for an invasion.   Something had to be done, urgently.   With no means of escape other than by sea, a feat which until that time would have be...