On this day in 1940, we saw the surrender of the 51st Highland Division to the victorious German Wehrmacht. They formed the rearguard along with several French Divisions around the encircled Dunkirk beaches. Without their sacrifice we would not have seen 300,000 troops rescued from the beaches. Under incredible fire from overwhelming odds they held firm at St. Valery-en-Caux, waiting for their extraction orders, which never came due to heavy fog and bad weather preventing the sailing of small ships. In order to save his men from slaughter Major General Victor Fortune took the difficult decision to surrender.
More than 10,000 of the Highlanders were taken prisoner. Of the 290 British soldiers that escaped captivity and managed to return home by the end of 1941, 134 were from the 51st Highland Division.
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