Dunkirk spirit

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The Dunkirk spirit is a phrase used to describe the tendency of the British public to pull together and overcome times of adversity. It came into use following the evacuation of allied troops across the English Channel by flotillas of pleasure boats, working barges and other civilian craft at the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940. In nine days, 338,226 French and British soldiers were taken off the beach by a quickly assembled fleet of about seven hundred vessels. The evacuation was codenamed Operation Dynamo.

The St George's Cross flown from the jack staff is known as the Dunkirk jack, and is only flown by civilian ships and boats of all sizes that took part in the Dunkirk rescue operation. It is frequenly used in the colloquialism " full marks for dunkirk spirit."

[edit] See also

• The Blitz
• Stiff upper lip

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