TNA ADM 234 360

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OPERATION "DYNAMO" IS COMMENCED
CHAP. III
you that a great part of the B.E.F. and its equipment will inevitably be lost
even in best circumstances".
Later in the day Lord Gort received a further telegram from the War Office
which said, inter alia,
not
possible for French
to
effect
junction
with Northern Armies no course open to you but to fall back upon the
coast
you are now authorised to operate towards the coast forthwith in con-
junction with French and Belgian Armies".
It will be remembered that on the evening of the 21st May the King of the
Belgians had agreed that, if forced to abandon the Belgian positions on the
Lys, he would withdraw to the Yser, maintaining touch with the left of the
B.E.F. Now, however, late on the morning of the 26th May, a note was
received from General Michiels, the Chief of the Staff of the Belgian Army,
which said, inter alia the Belgian Army is being attacked with extreme
violence
and
the lack of Belgian reserves makes it impossible to extend
our boundaries
we have no longer any forces available to fill the gap in the
direction of Ypres. As regards the withdrawal to the Yser, the idea must be
ruled out since it would destroy our units more quickly than the battle.
The Belgian collapse was impending, if it had not actually taken place, and
the task of defending the Allied line as far as the sea had fallen on the British
and French troops.2
Dunkirk perimeter organised
Faced with this critical situation Lord Gort, on the evening of the 26th May,
put in hand his plans for withdrawing in to the bridgehead at Dunkirk³. Orders
had already been given for the embarkation of certain key personnel, and now
all units not required for battle were being withdrawn. It was possibly at
this juncture that, " owing to a misunderstanding, the personnel of certain
anti-aircraft units had been embarked instead of being retained for the defence
of the port of Dunkirk".⁴ The task of organising a bridgehead at Dunkirk
was delegated to Lieut.-General Sir Ronald Adam, Bt., Commander of the
3rd Corps.⁵
The Admiralty signals, "Operation 'Dynamo' is to Commence"
Meanwhile, in the morning of 26th May, a meeting had been held at the
Admiralty to give further consideration to the provision of small craft, and
the crews for manning both them and the ex-Dutch skoots. The meeting also
examined the number of craft available for the evacuation. The port of
Dunkirk had already been so damaged by air attacks as to be no longer avail-
able for unloading supplies, which would now have to be landed on the beaches
to the eastward.
Long before the operation was ordered, the Admiralty fully realized that
large numbers of small craft would be required for a beach evacuation; but
such was the secrecy of even the possibility of evacuation, that steps could
not yet be taken to collect craft for the purpose.
During the afternoon of the 26th May, under the pressure of the acute
military : situation, the Admiralty informed the Vice-Admiral, Dover, that
it was imperative for 'Dynamo' to be implemented with the greatest vigour,
I Lord Gort's Second Despatch, para. 44.
2 Lord Gort's Second Despatch, para. 45.
3 Lord Gort's Second Despatch, para. 47.
4 Lord Gort's Second Despatch, para. 55.
5
He handed over command of the 3rd Corps to Maj.-Gen. S. R. Wason.
15