15 Facts About Dunkirk

Dunkirk is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

However, in the course of the Western Schism from 1378, English supporters of Pope Urban VI disembarked at Dunkirk, captured the city and flooded the surrounding estates.

At the beginning of the Eighty Years' War, Dunkirk was briefly in the hands of the Dutch rebels, from 1577.

Dunkirk's port was used extensively during the war by British forces who brought in dock workers from, among other places, Egypt and China.

In October 1917, to mark the gallant behaviour of its inhabitants during the war, the City of Dunkirk was awarded the Croix de Guerre and, in 1919, the Legion of Honour and the British Distinguished Service Cross.

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Dunkirk was again contested in 1944, with the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division attempting to liberate the city in September, as Allied forces surged northeast after their victory in the Battle of Normandy.

The artillery siege of Dunkirk was directed on the final day of the war by pilots from No 652 Squadron RAF, and No 665 Squadron RCAF.

The commune of Dunkirk absorbed the former commune of Malo-les-Bains in 1969, Rosendael and Petite-Synthe in 1971, Mardyck in 1979 and Fort-Mardyck and Saint-Pol-sur-Mer in 2010.

Dunkirk is part of Nord's 13th constituency, The current Member of Parliament is Christine Decodts of the miscellaneous centre.

Dunkirk has the third-largest harbour in France, after those of Le Havre and Marseille.

Cuisine of Dunkirk closely resembles Flemish cuisine; perhaps one of the best known dishes is coq a la biere – chicken in a creamy beer sauce.

Dunkirk was the most easterly cross-channel measuring point for the Anglo-French Survey, which used triangulation to calculate the precise distance between the Paris Observatory and the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Two belfries in Dunkirk are part of a group of belfries of Belgium and France, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005 in recognition of their civic architecture and importance in the rise of municipal power in Europe.

Dunkirk has a ferry route to Dover that is run by DFDS, which serves as an alternative to the route to the service to nearby Calais.

Dunkirk has an oceanic climate, with cool winters and warm summers.