YESTERDAY'S BIG STORYTHE SAGA OF DUNKIRK: MAY 26; 1940- the beaches at Dunkirk and the beginning of an eight-day saga that prevented the complete annihilation of the Allied Armies. With 900 small craft; the Allies evacuated 345;585 British and French troops who were trapped in a Nazi pincer movement after the collapse of Belgium. In the miracle of Dunkirk these men were evacuated to Britain where they were to form the nucleus of an invading force five years later.