Final answer:
The code name for the Dunkirk evacuation was Operation Dynamo. It symbolized the large-scale retreat of Allied forces in World War II from May 26 to June 4, 1940, and was considered a miraculous success as almost 340,000 soldiers were rescued.
Step-by-step explanation:
The massive and desperate evacuation of Allied soldiers from Dunkirk during World War II is one of the most dramatic events in military history. This operation was codenamed Operation Dynamo. It began on May 26, 1940, when British, Belgian, and French troops were trapped by German forces around the small French port of Dunkirk. Supported by the British Royal Air Force, a vast fleet of naval and civilian vessels embarked on the hazardous journey across the English Channel to rescue the stranded soldiers.
Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, while addressing the nation after the completion of the evacuation, stressed that military retreats do not win wars, despite the fact that the evacuation was considered a success. Almost 340,000 soldiers were ferried to safety in an operation that ran until June 4. The event came to be known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, given its seeming improbability and the morale boost it provided to the British public.
It is important to remember that although Dunkirk was a tactical retreat, it set the stage for the later Allied invasions and campaigns which would ultimately liberate Europe from Nazi occupation, such as D-Day during Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944.