The defense of Calais is a foundational story of extraordinary, self-aware sacrifice in British military history. In May 1940, as the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) retreated toward Dunkirk, the 4,000-strong mixed British and French garrison at Calais was given an impossible, tragic order: hold the port to the last man to buy time for the BEF's escape. For four unrelenting days, these heroes stood against the full weight of Hitler's elite Panzer Divisions, fully aware that no rescue was comin