Dynamo, Cycle, and Aerial were separate but connected evacuations, and Dunkirk did not end the British withdrawal from France. Aerial covered the French Atlantic coast from Cherbourg to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, while destroyers also entered small fishing ports to collect smaller groups. The operation removed British, Polish, French, Czech, and Belgian troops, and another roughly 13,400 troops escaped by Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, aircraft, or other routes. The distances ruled out a repeat of Dunkirk's little-ship effort, so large merchant ships, destroyers, and cruisers carried most of the load. Civilian evacuees included engineers, scientists, and diplomats whose skills could support British industry and the wider war effort. Aerial's scale places it alongside Dunkirk in any account of the 1940 campaign.
Chapter · 2:39-10:50
Operation Aerial after Dunkirk
Dynamo was only the first of three major evacuations from France in 1940. Aerial later rescued nearly 192,000 troops and tens of thousands of civilians.