Editing Battle of Dunkirk (section)

===Retreat to Dunkirk===
[[File:The British Evacuation From Dunkirk in 1940 HU2286.jpg|thumb|British anti-aircraft guns lie abandoned at Dunkirk in May 1940]]
Also on 31 May, General [[Georg von Küchler|von Küchler]] assumed command of all the German forces at Dunkirk. His plan was simple: launch an all-out attack across the whole front at 11:00 on 1 June. Strangely, von Küchler ignored a radio intercept telling him the British were abandoning the eastern end of the line to fall back to Dunkirk itself.{{sfn|Lord|1982|p=210}} During the night of 31 May to 1 June, [[Marcus Ervine-Andrews]] won the [[Victoria Cross]] in the battle when he defended {{convert|1,000|yd|m}} of territory.<ref name=LIMus>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/captain-later-lieutenant-colonel-harold-marcus-ervine-andrews-vc/|title=Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Harold Marcus Ervine-Andrews|publisher=Lancashire Infantry Museum|access-date=21 August 2020|archive-date=1 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801083550/https://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/captain-later-lieutenant-colonel-harold-marcus-ervine-andrews-vc/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The morning of 1 June was clear—good flying weather, in contrast to the bad weather that had hindered air operations on 30 and 31 May (there were only two-and-a-half good flying days in the whole operation) Although Churchill had promised the French that the British would cover their escape, on the ground it was the British and mostly the French who held the line whilst the last remaining British and then French soldiers were evacuated. Enduring concentrated German artillery fire and {{lang|de|Luftwaffe}} strafing and bombs, the outnumbered French and British  stood their ground. On 2 June (the day the last of the British units embarked onto the ships),{{refn|Major General Harold Alexander, commanding [[I Corps (United Kingdom)|I Corps]], was one of the last to leave. Just before midnight on 2 June, Ramsay received the signal: "BEF evacuated".{{sfn|MacDonald|1986|p=18}}|group="Notes"}} the French began to fall back slowly, and by 3 June the Germans were about {{Convert|2|mi|km|abbr=|spell=}} from Dunkirk. The night of 3 June was the last night of evacuations. At 10:20 on 4 June, the Germans hoisted the swastika over the docks from which so many British and French troops had escaped.{{sfn|MacDonald|1986|p=16}}{{sfn|Lord|1982|p=246}}{{sfn|Liddell Hart|1970|p=46}}

The resistance of Allied forces, especially the French forces, including the  [[12th Infantry Division (France)|French 12th Motorised Infantry Division]] from the [[Fort des Dunes]], had bought time for the evacuation of the bulk of the troops. The Wehrmacht captured some 35,000 soldiers, almost all of them French. These men had protected the evacuation until the last moment and were unable to embark. The same fate was reserved for the survivors of the French 12th Motorised Infantry Division (composed in particular of the French [[150th Infantry Regiment (France)|150th Infantry Regiment]]); they were taken prisoner on the morning of 4 June on the beach of Malo-les-Bains. The flag of this regiment was burnt so as not to fall into enemy hands.{{sfn|Carse|1970}}{{pn|date=December 2021}}