Operation Dynamo || 2017

2017 was the year of Operation Dynamo at the movies, with both “Dunkirk” and “Darkest Hour” winning multiple Oscars. Dynamo was the hastily-conceived plan to evacuate British troops from French beaches after the German invasion of France in May 1940. Over 338,000 troops were rescued, a miracle that allowed Great Britain to regroup and eventually win the war in concert with its Allies.

The movie “Darkest Hour” suggests that the name was given to the operation in haste, after Churchill demanded that the rescue begin and telling his commanding officer that it needed a name. The officer glances up and sees a physical dynamo with a metal badge that says “Dynamo” and the movie cuts to the next scene without further comment. Sometimes the best names are the ones you don’t think too hard about.