page_title: Dunkirk
section_title: Liberation
hierarchical_section_title: Dunkirk / History / Dunkirk in World War II / Liberation
caption_attribution_description: English: I am the author of this file, it is located currently at www.calgaryhighlanders.com; I am the webmaster.
context_page_description: Dunkirk is a commune in Nord, a French department in northern France. It is the northernmost city in France, lying 10 kilometres from the Belgian border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune at the 2016 census was 91,412.
context_section_description: Dunkirk was again contested in 1944, with the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division attempting to liberate the city in September, as Allied forces surged northeast after their victory in the Battle of Normandy. However, German forces refused to relinquish their control of the city, which had been converted into a fortress. To seize the now strategically insignificant town would consume too many Allied resources which were needed elsewhere. The town was by-passed masking the German garrison with Allied troops, notably 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. During the German occupation, Dunkirk was largely destroyed by Allied bombing. The artillery siege of Dunkirk was directed on the final day of the war by pilots from No. 652 Squadron RAF, and No. 665 Squadron RCAF. The fortress, under the command of German Admiral Friedrich Frisius, eventually unconditionally surrendered to the commander of the Czechoslovak forces, Brigade General Alois Liška, on 9 May 1945.
caption: Map of Dunkirk surroundings during the Allied attempt to retake Dunkirk in 1944
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