During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Operation Cycle was the evacuation of Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 troops from Le Havre

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 at the end of the Battle of France

Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

. From 10 to 13 June 1940, 11,059 British and Allied forces were evacuated.

As the line on the Somme

Somme

Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....

 was breached, the British 1st Armoured and the 51st (Highland) Infantry Divisions, along with French units tried to fall back to the coast. Part of these groups made it, and despite the loss of the personnel ship HMS Bruges were evacuated by British destroyers and other craft.

As part of Cycle, an attempt to rescue the remaining men along a line from St. Valery-en-Caux to Veules was conducted on 10–11 June. It was only partially successful, since thick fog hampered operations. A total of 2137 British and 1184 French soldiers were removed, but the remainder, including over 6000 men of the Highland Division, were captured.

Cycle was preceded by the better known Operation Dynamo

Operation Dynamo

The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...

, the rescue of 338,226 British and French soldiers from Dunkirk from 26 May to 4 June, and followed by Operation Ariel

Operation Ariel

Operation Ariel was the name given to the World War II evacuation of Allied forces from ports in western France, from 15–25 June 1940, due to the military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germany...

, over 215,000 soldiers embarking from Cherbourg, St. Malo, and other ports between June 14 and 25.