From 10 May 1940 to 17 May, the Gladiators were in continuous demand on the front line, quickly losing numerous aircraft and their crews in the rapid action.[28] On 18 May 1940, a Luftwaffe bombing raid destroyed many of the BEF's Gladiators and Hurricanes on the ground at Vitry-en-Artois, shortly after which the BEF's withdrawal to Dunkirk for evacuation to mainland Britain begun.[29]