Operation Cycle

Operation Cycle
Part of the Battle of France
The German offensive to the Seine, 4–12 June 1940.
Type	Evacuation
Location	Le Havre 49°29′N 00°06′E / 49.483°N 0.100°E / 49.483; 0.100Coordinates: 49°29′N 00°06′E / 49.483°N 0.100°E / 49.483; 0.100
Objective	Withdrawal
Date	10–13 June 1940
Executed by	Royal Navy French Navy Allied naval vessels
Outcome	Allied success

Operation Cycle is the name of the evacuation of Allied troops from Le Havre, in the Pays de Caux of Upper Normandy from 10–13 June 1940, towards the end of the Battle of France, during the Second World War. The operation was preceded by the better known rescue of 338,226 British and French soldiers from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo (26 May – 4 June). On 20 May, the Germans had captured Abbeville at the mouth of the Somme and cut off the main Allied armies in the north. South of the river, the Allies improvised defences and made local counter-attacks, to dislodge the Germans from bridgeheads on the south bank and re-capture river crossings for an advance northwards to regain contact with the armies in northern France and Flanders.

The 1st Armoured Division arrived in France from 15 May, without artillery and short of units that had been diverted to Calais. The division joined the large number of lines-of-communication troops south of the Somme, many of whom were hurriedly organised into the Beauman Division and other improvised units, despite a lack of training and weapons. French troops were sent into the area, as Général d'armée Maxime Weygand attempted to build up a defence in depth on the south bank of the Somme and make bigger attacks to eliminate the German bridgeheads. From 27 May – 4 July, about half of the German bridgehead south of Abbeville was recaptured by Franco-British troops; the Allies were reinforced by infantry divisions and the 4e Division cuirassée (Colonel Charles De Gaulle) but lost many of their tanks and the Germans much of their infantry, some units running back over the river Somme.

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