British sailors go the the aid of a comrade who fainted on the historic beaches at Dunkirk 5th June , during cerelbrations marking the 25th Anniversary of the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches in June 1940 , during World War II . During the celebrations , 400 of the 337 131 men of the force who were rescued by an armada of Little Ships from Britain , lined up on the beach and marched to a service of rememberance in front of the simple Allied war memorial on the sand dunes . About 40 Little Ships which actually took part in the evacuation sailed into Dunkirk from Ramsgate to take part in the 25th Anniversary celebrations , Dunkrik , France 7 June 1965