1/2 Crown - Elizabeth II Dunkirk 1940 - Soldiers

Gibraltar has issued commemorative silver in volume, but this particular piece marks the 80th anniversary of Operation Dynamo — the May–June 1940 evacuation in which roughly 338,000 Allied troops were lifted from the Dunkirk beaches by a combination of Royal Navy vessels and the famous flotilla of civilian "little ships." The operation succeeded largely because Hitler issued his controversial halt order on May 24th, giving the perimeter defenders just enough time to consolidate before the naval lift began.

Churchill refused to allow the public relief to obscure the military reality, warning Parliament on June 4th: "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory."