Units unable to get on ships trying to leave Saint-Nazaire made a fighting retreat south to Saint-Jean-de-Luz,[1] where they flocked onto the beach and the pier in the fishing port.
The Gdynia-America Line passenger ships Batory and Sobieski anchored in the harbour, where local fishermen volunteered to ferry the soldiers out to them.
The sea was rough and the fishing boats had difficulty approaching the side of these ships to enable the men to transfer without falling into the water.
Diplomats and officials of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also embarked on these ships, and some French who had been inspired by General De Gaulle's appeal of 18 June to continue the struggle against Germany.
[1] Bad weather and low clouds prevented a Luftwaffe attack and hence another disaster like the sinking on 17 June of the British liner RMS Lancastria at Saint-Nazaire, which was laden with thousands of troops and refugees as part of Operation Aerial.