In May 1940, the British Expeditionary Force was trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, facing destruction from the advancing German army. By every visible measure of military equipment, battlefield position, and numbers, the Allied forces were defeated. Yet, the later rescue effort involving hundreds of civilian boats and the refusal to surrender turned a possible disaster into one of history’s greatest evacuations. The soldiers on the beach did not suddenly receive better weapons or stronger forces. The change came from leadership that united their purpose.
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