The Miracle of Dunkirk

by Walter Lord

To commanders brought up on World War I—where successes were measured in yards rather than scores of miles—it was incomprehensible.

For perhaps the last time in history, the English bow—the weapon that turned the tide at Crécy and Poitiers six hundred years earlier—had again been used in battle.

:-o

they learned the hard way the old military maxim: never do a task too well, or you’ll be stuck with it forever.

History is full of occasions when armies have rushed to the aid of an embattled people; here was a case where the people rushed to the aid of an embattled army.