May 25 in Military History — On This Day

⚔️📍 London, England1940

Churchill Orders Dunkirk Evacuation — Operation Dynamo

With 400,000 Allied troops trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk by the German advance, Churchill approved Operation Dynamo — the evacuation of as many men as possible using naval vessels and civilian boats. The operation began the following day.

Dunkirk's 'miracle' saved the British Army and allowed Britain to continue the war; Churchill's subsequent 'We shall fight on the beaches' speech galvanized the nation.

Outcome

338,226 soldiers evacuated; heavy equipment abandoned

Battles of Latrun

Israel launched three frontal assaults on the Latrun police fortress, which the Arab Legion used to control the main road to Jerusalem. All three attacks failed with heavy losses. New immigrants who had arrived just days earlier from Holocaust-survivor camps were thrown into battle with minimal training. Col. Mickey Marcus, an American volunteer serving as Israel's first general, was accidentally killed by a sentry the night before the first ceasefire.

Latrun was Israel's costliest defeat of the war and a rare Arab Legion success. Unable to take the fortress, Israel instead built the 'Burma Road' — a bypass through the hills — to break the Jerusalem siege. The fortress itself remained in Jordanian hands until 1967.

Full battle details →