Editing Calais (section)

===World War II===

[[File:Monument to Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill in Calais.jpg|thumb|Monument to Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill in Calais]]
[[File:Old bunkers at Calais 1 (Piotr Kuczynski).jpg|thumb|right|World War II bunkers at Calais]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-383-0337-19, Frankreich, Calais, zerstörte Fahrzeuge.jpg|thumb|right|Debris from the siege of Calais]]

Calais was virtually razed to the ground during [[World War II]].<ref name="Michelin2010">{{Cite book |last=Michelin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQB7D5ILi4sC&pg=PA412 |title=Michelin Green Guide France |publisher=Michelin Apa Publications |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-906261-78-8 |page=412}}</ref> In May 1940, it was a key objective of the invading [[Germany|German]] forces and became the scene of a last-ditch defence—the [[Siege of Calais (1940)|siege of Calais]]—which diverted a sizable amount of German forces for several days immediately prior to the [[Battle of Dunkirk]]. A total of 3,000 British and 800 French troops, assisted by [[Royal Navy]] warships, held out from 22 to 27 May 1940 against the [[10th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|10th Panzer Division]]. The town was flattened by artillery and precision [[dive bombing]] and only 30 of the 3800-strong defending force were evacuated before the town fell. This may have helped [[Operation Dynamo]], the evacuation of Allied forces at Dunkirk, as 10th Panzer would have been involved on the Dunkirk perimeter had it not been busy at Calais.<ref name="Mitcham2008">{{Cite book |last=Mitcham |first=Samuel W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DW66ejQS2xoC&pg=PA325 |title=The rise of the Wehrmacht: the German armed forces and World War II |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-275-99659-8 |page=325}}</ref> Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, some 330,000 Allied troops escaped from the Germans at Dunkirk.<ref name="Apple2006">{{Cite book |last=Apple |first=David J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMVSVumHzHUC&pg=PA118 |title=Sir Harold Ridley and his fight for sight: he changed the world so that we may better see it |publisher=SLACK Incorporated |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-55642-786-2 |page=118}}</ref>

During the ensuing German occupation, it became the command post for German forces in the Pas-de-Calais/Flanders region and was very heavily fortified, as the Germans generally believed  that the Allies would invade there.<ref name="Rider2005">{{Cite book |last=Rider |first=Nick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwG65xpOh9oC&pg=PA32 |title=Short Breaks Northern France, 2nd |publisher=New Holland Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-86011-183-9 |page=32}}</ref> It was also used as a launch site for [[V1 flying bomb]]s and for much of the war, the Germans used the region as the site for [[railway gun]]s to bombard the south-eastern corner of England. In 1943 they built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles on the southeast of England.<ref name="KirschFlint2011">{{Cite book |last1=Kirsch |first1=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M__6c49rdz4C&pg=PA160 |title=Reconstructing Conflict: Integrating War and Post-War Geographies |last2=Flint |first2=Colin |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4094-0470-5 |page=160}}</ref> Despite heavy preparations for defence against an amphibious assault, the Allied invasion took place well to the west in [[Normandy]] on [[D-Day]]. Calais was very heavily bombed and shelled in a successful effort to disrupt German communications and persuade them that the Allies would target the Pas-de-Calais for invasion (rather than Normandy). The town, by then largely in ruins, was [[Operation Undergo|laid siege to]] and liberated by [[Daniel Spry|General Daniel Spry]]'s [[3rd Canadian Infantry Division]] between 25 September and 1 October 1944.<ref name="Chant1986">{{Cite book |last=Chant |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNcNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA312 |title=The encyclopedia of codenames of World War II |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-7102-0718-0 |page=312}}</ref> On 27 February 1945 Calais experienced its last bombing raid—this time by [[Royal Air Force]] bombers who mistook the town for Dunkirk, which was at that time still occupied by German forces.<ref name="Vance2011">{{Cite book |last=Vance |first=Mark A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsA1cH8gBswC&pg=PA157 |title=Flight of the Forgotten |publisher=Mark Alan Vance |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-615-47376-5 |page=157}}</ref> After the war there was little rebuilding of the historic city and most buildings were modern ones. {{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}